Catching up
I didn't run out of things to miss, I just got tired and started running behind, and have been too tired to get caught up each day.
18. Peggy's Cove
It's the kind of place you really only visit for two reasons: either you have someone in your house who is visiting the Maritimes, and you want to blow their mind with the awesomeness, or it's simply a lovely day in May/June and you want to go somewhere appropriately adventurous and beautiful. You go in the late morning, skip on the crazy rocks, watch hopefully to see if some idiotic tourist gets washed away by the waves from walking too low down on the rocks, then paw through the tourist trap for a long time, as if actually planning to buy something, and then get lunch at the overpriced but with-a-view restaurant. And of course, swing by the Swissair memorial on the way out, nowadays.
I can hear the bagpipes now. Good times.
19. Risser's Beach
Naomi introduced me to it. She and her mother would go camping there once a year, and they often took me with them. The sand there is soft and white, the temperature of the ocean is often several degrees above freezing, which is practically balmy by NS standards, and they actually have essential amenities, like a fry-shack and an outhouse. Then you roast marshmallows and sleep listening to the waves. Except for that one time that we got rained out and headed for the nearest bed and breakfast we could find!
In later years, we would go sans adult, with Richard and whoever else wanted to come along. We'd go eat in Bridgewater (I had a delicious potato soup at that Bavarian place which has long since closed) usually get caught in that sad little parade that they always seemed to have whenever we were there, drink by the bonfire, and generally have a good old time.
My last good memory of Risser's is the trip that Heather, Corinne and I made the weekend that all the boys were away being boys. We decided to screw them and have our own adventure, so we drove down to Corinne's parent's house in my car, got to see Isaac, who was just a wee bug at the time, then went out to the beach in the evening and had a good swim with lots of giggling and ridiculousness. I remember I was waiting anxiously the whole weekend for a call from Bedford Vet to see if I got hired. As you know, I did.
20. Clam Harbour
Another excellent beach, with a different set of excellent memories. This has always been Mum's beach of choice, which I believe is related to, but not necessarily due to, the fact that her father, my grandfather, once lost his false teeth there to a particularly rambunctious wave.
It was a long drive, but we would try to make it at least once in the summer and spend the day there. The fries were tasty, the waves were strong, the water foot-numbing. It was awesome. I would moan about the seaweed and the sub zero temperatures (after four years in the Caribbean you can't help but look down your nose at the Bluenoser's concept of a "beach") but it was always fun.
Not to mention the sand sculpture contest. The time we all went there and spent a day making that amazing sea monster? Awesomeness. Sure, we didn't win, but that was still awesome. Plus I believe it was that same trip to Clam Harbour that Corinne deemed me as acceptable, largely due to my music selection, which included hot popcorn, where'd the cheese go, lollipop, and the tetris theme.
21. Alexander Keith's
Yeah, I know, I don't drink beer. Yeah, I know, they sell it out here. In fact, it's reasonably popular out here, in that people know what it is and I've even seen someone order it before. But unless you live in NS, you cannot understand that Alexander Keith's is not just a beer. It's an ethos. A way of life, even. People who hardly ever drink it still have one or two Keith's glasses sitting in their cupboards. People who aren't big on beer still go down to the Red Stag at the brewery for Open Mike night. Somehow, when a bunch of Nova Scotians get drunk and sing Barrett's Privateers, it's always a tribute to Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale, "the ambrosia of ales, and emissary of all East-Coast good times."
Some may recognise the last part as being from part of the Alexander Keith pledge, which I and many others have taken, pressed by the beer fairies who showed up at our home at 11 o clock at night bearing gifts of beer and coupons to Dooley's, and pressing us to "be faithful to Alexander Keith's." It worked. I am faithful. Sure, I don't drink beer, but if I ever did, it'd be a Keith's.
Sound extreme to you West Coasters? Allow me to try and explain. Alexander Keith came to Nova Scotia in 1817. Vancouver did not yet exist. He founded the brewery, which I have walked past and into many times and which can still be visited and toured, in 1820. Vancouver still did not yet exist. He became the mayor of Halifax, and he died (Grandmaster of the Freemasons) in 1873. Gastown existed, but Vancouver still did not. He is buried in Halifax, where my great uncle Dick (who remembered everyone making coffins on the street the day they brought the bodies from the Titanic to Halifax for burial) is also buried. People still visit Keith's grave on his birthday every year. Alexander Keith has been a part of Halifax heritage for longer than some cities have existed. That kind of thing gets into the social culture, after a while. Are there Nova Scotians who prefer other brands of beer? Sure. Propeller and Sleeman's have faithful followings, and there are tons of microbreweries, two of which I've already mentioned: Henry House and Paddy's. Seems to me even the Barnyard Barbecue in Moncton has a microbrewery. With blueberries! But if you throw a party at your house, you go out (preferably down to the brewery itself) and get a two four of Alexander Keith's. Especially since you'll get a glass or a coaster or something thrown in.
"Sociables!"
21. Barrington Street
Maybe I caught you at a bad time.
Maybe I should call you back next week.
Maybe half the fault was mine that
The sun didn't shine on Barrington street!
Its three o'clock in the morning,
And I'm hungry so let's eat.
Climb down three flights to the streetlights,
And the bar-fights, we're just taking in the sights.
I hope tomorrow that I wake up in my own bed.
Barenaked Ladies aside, I frigging love this street. This song makes me swell with happiness just because they mention Barrington Street! And yes, there are bar-fights in the streetlights, not far from my own bed on Church Street. Hell, of course there are! Did you know Halifax has more bars per capita than anywhere else in Canada? What did I tell you about Alexander Keith's legacy? And Barrington Street has its fair share of them. I can think of at least three that were a two minute walk from my house. But all the great artsy and bohemian stores were on Barrington, too. Loomis and Toles. Venus Envy. Little Mysteries. The Freak Lunchbox. Theatres. Places full of mystery, like that darkly shaded unit with the purple neon name "Apollo" and no other distinguishing features. Then there was the Discovery Centre, whose store always advertised its wares with deliciously geeky tag lines. It was always bustling with life, but it was a different kind of life than the bustle of Spring Garden Road. Spring Garden (aka Skin Garden) Rd always had a slightly distasteful flavour to me. It is just new and glitzy enough to seem tacky and out of place. But Barrington's ancient stone buildings and narrow old fashioned road never left that commercial aftertaste in my mouth. The occasional sparkling skyscraper just added to the charm - old and new existing in perfect harmony. Driving to work every day, my favourite part was Barrington.
I love Barrington in the summer, with Haligonians soaking up the sunshine, and sun filtering down through the old buildings to the narrow street below, and FRED crawling slowly along, stopping for pedestrians every two feet. Next best is Barrington at Christmas, filled with lights and Christmas shoppers. Even on the coldest, bitterest days, it looks positively Dickensian. But in fall, the old graveyard did its duty to perfection, with the moldering stone and the blazing orange leaves of the trees that had overgrown them shivering in the brisk wind. And in spring when that first breath of warm, moist air returns, and Haligonians come up from behind their scarves to sniff delightedly at the damp sea air as it melted the snow away.
Hello City, you've made a friend in me.
23. Privateer's Wharf
God damn them all
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier,
The last of Barrett's Privateers
Down on Lower Water Street, Privateer's Wharf is a must-visit for people who want a taste of Halifax. Built back in the days of Alexander Keith, the warehouses down on the wharf were owned by a variety of shady characters, like smugglers and privateers bringing spoils back to Wellington in the fight against Napoleon. Now the warehouses have been converted into stores and restaurants (the fries are delicious) but tall ships still dock there. The Busker Festival is held down there every year, and a visit to the buskers, and Cows, is part of Nova Scotia August tradition.
24. Sackville Snow
Sackville had the best snow ever. Besides the fact that it would sometimes fall 24 inches at a time, it was always so dry that it sparkled like a trove of diamonds. Just stepping in it felt like an act of immeasurable wealth. It put me in mind of the Fools of Chelm, who went to ridiculous lengths to avoid people treading on the sparkling richness of fresh fallen snow.
25. Mic Mac Mall
Mic Mac Mall is a mall like any other mall. But I love it. It has such a nice distribution of shops. Some malls are all clothes and shoes stores, but lack a Chapters or Future Shop. Some have too many low-budget stores like Zeller's. But Mic Mac Mall has Thyme Maternity and La Senza, Toys R Us and Build A Bear. It has everything. Halifax Shopping Centre isn't half as good. The thing I liked best about the place in Dartmouth was our proximity to Mic Mac Mall. After Jonathan and I broke up, I didn't eat anything for two days. But I met Maeghan at Mic Mac Mall and New York Fries tempted my nauseated stomach. A couple weeks later I got up relatively early one morning, got to the mall by ten, and went to Toys R Us, and bought Kylie the keyboard I had wanted to buy for her. I bought a couple more Christmas presents, stopped for lunch at New York Fries while reading, and revelled in the fact that I had eaten a delicious lunch, gotten a bunch of shopping done... and it wasn't even time for work yet. From then on, whenever I needed a pick me up, I'd drive out to Mic Mac Mall with my book before work and eat lunch there. It seemed like an amazing freedom, to be so close to a mall that I could stop by casually before heading out to work. I even enjoyed the lonliness, because when you have poutine, how there is no loneliness - only delicious solitude.
Besides, who could forget that terrifying talking tree? It amused the heck out of me whenever I saw "woody" intimidating some nervous child below while his eyes roved eerily over the upper level of the mall.
26. Shameless Chinese-Canadian cuisine
The problem with Vancouver is not a lack of good Chinese food. There are tons of great places. But the thing is, a substantial part of the city is made up of actual Chinese people. So suddenly when you go out for Chinese with people, they order real Chinese food. Often in Chinese. And if you get chicken balls, and eat your meal with a fork, your friends smile with understanding at you, and then with nervous embarrassment at the waiter. They try to teach you how to use chopsticks, because it turns out the restaurant doesn't actually have any forks.
Benn and I can order Chinese cuisine to our door and eat the faux-Chinese stuff that no self-respecting Chinese person would eat. But there is a shame in it.
Besides, did you know that their egg rolls here just have bean sprouts? Where are the meaty egg rolls??
27. The Tides
Living on the Minas Basin, the tides are are constant presence - or non-presence - whenever you go for a drive. Either it's sparkling waters, or red mud flats. Either the boats in Hall's Harbour are floating in a jolly flotilla, or lying on their sides in the gravel, thirty feet below you, and the fishermen are climbing down to them with a ladder. And if you want to hang around for a couple hours, you can watch that all change. It never ceased to delight me.
28. The 101
I love the drive from Wolfville to Halifax. Sparkling lakes, rugged rock face, and shady pine forests. Traffic is always light. The trip is the perfect length of time - one CD length. When I came home for my two week externship at the vet clinic in Halifax in 2007, I drove to Halifax for my first day just singing in joy the whole way in the sun.
29. Drunken Singalongs
I don't think there are many Nova Scotians reading this who haven't had a few drinks and sung Barrett's Privateers or Northwest Passage or Farewell to Nova Scotia with their buddies. It's just something one does of a summer evening, often while out camping or possibly at someone's cabin. There's just a certain drink level which Maritimers reach which prompts them into a ceilidh of mournful Stan Rogers tunes.
30. Swearing
No one in BC swears! Ivy was the one who pointed it out first, but I'm totally in agreement. Your average, nice, middle class person doesn't swear much at all. No fuck this, fuck that, not even a Jesus H Merciful or Lord T'undering Jaysus. I'm considered to be foul mouthed out here. How messed up is that?
That should make me all caught up.
In other news - Benn and I have been looking at houses! I have a walk-through of our potential buy, but since it's massive (the video file, not the place), it will take approximately one bazillion, three hundred years to upload to the web, so it will be joining you later, if at all possible. Then you may judge it. It's a good place and the price is close to right, but the many buildings in the complex are slowly falling apart, and need new roofs, repaired foundations and so on. To pay for this, the strata has put maintenance fees through the roof (no pun intended). Do we want to pay this much every month? On the bright side, once renos are done, the value of the units should go up markedly. Plus the unit we're looking at has been renovated inside - new carpet/laminate flooring, new paint, new crown moldings, new stove, new light fixtures...
Still no word on the promotion front. I am now beginning to assume that the word "apprentice" doesn't actually mean "apprentice", since "apprentice" implies that there are a certain number of years of learning (i.e. 3) to be completed, and that each year completed brings one progressively closer to this goal (i.e. 1 of 3). No, I think "apprentice" to them means "someone we blackmail with vague promises of promotion while using her lowly status as grounds for making them everyone else's minion, because we know this is her dream job and can therefore never quit, no matter how crappy her wages are." So be it. I can accept it, but I don't have to be happy about it.
I had been doing well, but slowing, with the weight loss, but a pre-anniversary dinner out and a Jeff Dunham performance has made me slip and eat many many carbs. I think I've gained four pounds. Presumably this is water weight which I could re-lose fairly quickly?
18. Peggy's Cove
It's the kind of place you really only visit for two reasons: either you have someone in your house who is visiting the Maritimes, and you want to blow their mind with the awesomeness, or it's simply a lovely day in May/June and you want to go somewhere appropriately adventurous and beautiful. You go in the late morning, skip on the crazy rocks, watch hopefully to see if some idiotic tourist gets washed away by the waves from walking too low down on the rocks, then paw through the tourist trap for a long time, as if actually planning to buy something, and then get lunch at the overpriced but with-a-view restaurant. And of course, swing by the Swissair memorial on the way out, nowadays.
I can hear the bagpipes now. Good times.
19. Risser's Beach
Naomi introduced me to it. She and her mother would go camping there once a year, and they often took me with them. The sand there is soft and white, the temperature of the ocean is often several degrees above freezing, which is practically balmy by NS standards, and they actually have essential amenities, like a fry-shack and an outhouse. Then you roast marshmallows and sleep listening to the waves. Except for that one time that we got rained out and headed for the nearest bed and breakfast we could find!
In later years, we would go sans adult, with Richard and whoever else wanted to come along. We'd go eat in Bridgewater (I had a delicious potato soup at that Bavarian place which has long since closed) usually get caught in that sad little parade that they always seemed to have whenever we were there, drink by the bonfire, and generally have a good old time.
My last good memory of Risser's is the trip that Heather, Corinne and I made the weekend that all the boys were away being boys. We decided to screw them and have our own adventure, so we drove down to Corinne's parent's house in my car, got to see Isaac, who was just a wee bug at the time, then went out to the beach in the evening and had a good swim with lots of giggling and ridiculousness. I remember I was waiting anxiously the whole weekend for a call from Bedford Vet to see if I got hired. As you know, I did.
20. Clam Harbour
Another excellent beach, with a different set of excellent memories. This has always been Mum's beach of choice, which I believe is related to, but not necessarily due to, the fact that her father, my grandfather, once lost his false teeth there to a particularly rambunctious wave.
It was a long drive, but we would try to make it at least once in the summer and spend the day there. The fries were tasty, the waves were strong, the water foot-numbing. It was awesome. I would moan about the seaweed and the sub zero temperatures (after four years in the Caribbean you can't help but look down your nose at the Bluenoser's concept of a "beach") but it was always fun.
Not to mention the sand sculpture contest. The time we all went there and spent a day making that amazing sea monster? Awesomeness. Sure, we didn't win, but that was still awesome. Plus I believe it was that same trip to Clam Harbour that Corinne deemed me as acceptable, largely due to my music selection, which included hot popcorn, where'd the cheese go, lollipop, and the tetris theme.
21. Alexander Keith's
Yeah, I know, I don't drink beer. Yeah, I know, they sell it out here. In fact, it's reasonably popular out here, in that people know what it is and I've even seen someone order it before. But unless you live in NS, you cannot understand that Alexander Keith's is not just a beer. It's an ethos. A way of life, even. People who hardly ever drink it still have one or two Keith's glasses sitting in their cupboards. People who aren't big on beer still go down to the Red Stag at the brewery for Open Mike night. Somehow, when a bunch of Nova Scotians get drunk and sing Barrett's Privateers, it's always a tribute to Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale, "the ambrosia of ales, and emissary of all East-Coast good times."
Some may recognise the last part as being from part of the Alexander Keith pledge, which I and many others have taken, pressed by the beer fairies who showed up at our home at 11 o clock at night bearing gifts of beer and coupons to Dooley's, and pressing us to "be faithful to Alexander Keith's." It worked. I am faithful. Sure, I don't drink beer, but if I ever did, it'd be a Keith's.
Sound extreme to you West Coasters? Allow me to try and explain. Alexander Keith came to Nova Scotia in 1817. Vancouver did not yet exist. He founded the brewery, which I have walked past and into many times and which can still be visited and toured, in 1820. Vancouver still did not yet exist. He became the mayor of Halifax, and he died (Grandmaster of the Freemasons) in 1873. Gastown existed, but Vancouver still did not. He is buried in Halifax, where my great uncle Dick (who remembered everyone making coffins on the street the day they brought the bodies from the Titanic to Halifax for burial) is also buried. People still visit Keith's grave on his birthday every year. Alexander Keith has been a part of Halifax heritage for longer than some cities have existed. That kind of thing gets into the social culture, after a while. Are there Nova Scotians who prefer other brands of beer? Sure. Propeller and Sleeman's have faithful followings, and there are tons of microbreweries, two of which I've already mentioned: Henry House and Paddy's. Seems to me even the Barnyard Barbecue in Moncton has a microbrewery. With blueberries! But if you throw a party at your house, you go out (preferably down to the brewery itself) and get a two four of Alexander Keith's. Especially since you'll get a glass or a coaster or something thrown in.
"Sociables!"
21. Barrington Street
Maybe I caught you at a bad time.
Maybe I should call you back next week.
Maybe half the fault was mine that
The sun didn't shine on Barrington street!
Its three o'clock in the morning,
And I'm hungry so let's eat.
Climb down three flights to the streetlights,
And the bar-fights, we're just taking in the sights.
I hope tomorrow that I wake up in my own bed.
Barenaked Ladies aside, I frigging love this street. This song makes me swell with happiness just because they mention Barrington Street! And yes, there are bar-fights in the streetlights, not far from my own bed on Church Street. Hell, of course there are! Did you know Halifax has more bars per capita than anywhere else in Canada? What did I tell you about Alexander Keith's legacy? And Barrington Street has its fair share of them. I can think of at least three that were a two minute walk from my house. But all the great artsy and bohemian stores were on Barrington, too. Loomis and Toles. Venus Envy. Little Mysteries. The Freak Lunchbox. Theatres. Places full of mystery, like that darkly shaded unit with the purple neon name "Apollo" and no other distinguishing features. Then there was the Discovery Centre, whose store always advertised its wares with deliciously geeky tag lines. It was always bustling with life, but it was a different kind of life than the bustle of Spring Garden Road. Spring Garden (aka Skin Garden) Rd always had a slightly distasteful flavour to me. It is just new and glitzy enough to seem tacky and out of place. But Barrington's ancient stone buildings and narrow old fashioned road never left that commercial aftertaste in my mouth. The occasional sparkling skyscraper just added to the charm - old and new existing in perfect harmony. Driving to work every day, my favourite part was Barrington.
I love Barrington in the summer, with Haligonians soaking up the sunshine, and sun filtering down through the old buildings to the narrow street below, and FRED crawling slowly along, stopping for pedestrians every two feet. Next best is Barrington at Christmas, filled with lights and Christmas shoppers. Even on the coldest, bitterest days, it looks positively Dickensian. But in fall, the old graveyard did its duty to perfection, with the moldering stone and the blazing orange leaves of the trees that had overgrown them shivering in the brisk wind. And in spring when that first breath of warm, moist air returns, and Haligonians come up from behind their scarves to sniff delightedly at the damp sea air as it melted the snow away.
Hello City, you've made a friend in me.
23. Privateer's Wharf
God damn them all
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier,
The last of Barrett's Privateers
Down on Lower Water Street, Privateer's Wharf is a must-visit for people who want a taste of Halifax. Built back in the days of Alexander Keith, the warehouses down on the wharf were owned by a variety of shady characters, like smugglers and privateers bringing spoils back to Wellington in the fight against Napoleon. Now the warehouses have been converted into stores and restaurants (the fries are delicious) but tall ships still dock there. The Busker Festival is held down there every year, and a visit to the buskers, and Cows, is part of Nova Scotia August tradition.
24. Sackville Snow
Sackville had the best snow ever. Besides the fact that it would sometimes fall 24 inches at a time, it was always so dry that it sparkled like a trove of diamonds. Just stepping in it felt like an act of immeasurable wealth. It put me in mind of the Fools of Chelm, who went to ridiculous lengths to avoid people treading on the sparkling richness of fresh fallen snow.
25. Mic Mac Mall
Mic Mac Mall is a mall like any other mall. But I love it. It has such a nice distribution of shops. Some malls are all clothes and shoes stores, but lack a Chapters or Future Shop. Some have too many low-budget stores like Zeller's. But Mic Mac Mall has Thyme Maternity and La Senza, Toys R Us and Build A Bear. It has everything. Halifax Shopping Centre isn't half as good. The thing I liked best about the place in Dartmouth was our proximity to Mic Mac Mall. After Jonathan and I broke up, I didn't eat anything for two days. But I met Maeghan at Mic Mac Mall and New York Fries tempted my nauseated stomach. A couple weeks later I got up relatively early one morning, got to the mall by ten, and went to Toys R Us, and bought Kylie the keyboard I had wanted to buy for her. I bought a couple more Christmas presents, stopped for lunch at New York Fries while reading, and revelled in the fact that I had eaten a delicious lunch, gotten a bunch of shopping done... and it wasn't even time for work yet. From then on, whenever I needed a pick me up, I'd drive out to Mic Mac Mall with my book before work and eat lunch there. It seemed like an amazing freedom, to be so close to a mall that I could stop by casually before heading out to work. I even enjoyed the lonliness, because when you have poutine, how there is no loneliness - only delicious solitude.
Besides, who could forget that terrifying talking tree? It amused the heck out of me whenever I saw "woody" intimidating some nervous child below while his eyes roved eerily over the upper level of the mall.
26. Shameless Chinese-Canadian cuisine
The problem with Vancouver is not a lack of good Chinese food. There are tons of great places. But the thing is, a substantial part of the city is made up of actual Chinese people. So suddenly when you go out for Chinese with people, they order real Chinese food. Often in Chinese. And if you get chicken balls, and eat your meal with a fork, your friends smile with understanding at you, and then with nervous embarrassment at the waiter. They try to teach you how to use chopsticks, because it turns out the restaurant doesn't actually have any forks.
Benn and I can order Chinese cuisine to our door and eat the faux-Chinese stuff that no self-respecting Chinese person would eat. But there is a shame in it.
Besides, did you know that their egg rolls here just have bean sprouts? Where are the meaty egg rolls??
27. The Tides
Living on the Minas Basin, the tides are are constant presence - or non-presence - whenever you go for a drive. Either it's sparkling waters, or red mud flats. Either the boats in Hall's Harbour are floating in a jolly flotilla, or lying on their sides in the gravel, thirty feet below you, and the fishermen are climbing down to them with a ladder. And if you want to hang around for a couple hours, you can watch that all change. It never ceased to delight me.
28. The 101
I love the drive from Wolfville to Halifax. Sparkling lakes, rugged rock face, and shady pine forests. Traffic is always light. The trip is the perfect length of time - one CD length. When I came home for my two week externship at the vet clinic in Halifax in 2007, I drove to Halifax for my first day just singing in joy the whole way in the sun.
29. Drunken Singalongs
I don't think there are many Nova Scotians reading this who haven't had a few drinks and sung Barrett's Privateers or Northwest Passage or Farewell to Nova Scotia with their buddies. It's just something one does of a summer evening, often while out camping or possibly at someone's cabin. There's just a certain drink level which Maritimers reach which prompts them into a ceilidh of mournful Stan Rogers tunes.
30. Swearing
No one in BC swears! Ivy was the one who pointed it out first, but I'm totally in agreement. Your average, nice, middle class person doesn't swear much at all. No fuck this, fuck that, not even a Jesus H Merciful or Lord T'undering Jaysus. I'm considered to be foul mouthed out here. How messed up is that?
That should make me all caught up.
In other news - Benn and I have been looking at houses! I have a walk-through of our potential buy, but since it's massive (the video file, not the place), it will take approximately one bazillion, three hundred years to upload to the web, so it will be joining you later, if at all possible. Then you may judge it. It's a good place and the price is close to right, but the many buildings in the complex are slowly falling apart, and need new roofs, repaired foundations and so on. To pay for this, the strata has put maintenance fees through the roof (no pun intended). Do we want to pay this much every month? On the bright side, once renos are done, the value of the units should go up markedly. Plus the unit we're looking at has been renovated inside - new carpet/laminate flooring, new paint, new crown moldings, new stove, new light fixtures...
Still no word on the promotion front. I am now beginning to assume that the word "apprentice" doesn't actually mean "apprentice", since "apprentice" implies that there are a certain number of years of learning (i.e. 3) to be completed, and that each year completed brings one progressively closer to this goal (i.e. 1 of 3). No, I think "apprentice" to them means "someone we blackmail with vague promises of promotion while using her lowly status as grounds for making them everyone else's minion, because we know this is her dream job and can therefore never quit, no matter how crappy her wages are." So be it. I can accept it, but I don't have to be happy about it.
I had been doing well, but slowing, with the weight loss, but a pre-anniversary dinner out and a Jeff Dunham performance has made me slip and eat many many carbs. I think I've gained four pounds. Presumably this is water weight which I could re-lose fairly quickly?