As Seen in Canada....

Its been awhile, eh?? EH??? Oh dear...

No really I dont say eh all the time, just when Im conversing with hardcore Canadiens...the ones I have determined are poutine eating, hockey playing, french speaking, boot wearing Canadiens. Aka, my husband.

Yes my husband! Over a month now since our wedding, time has flown by. We had a great wedding and wonderful honeymoon. Now we've been settling in and getting used to NOT having a plane ticket in the opposite direction.

Since I crossed the border in Toronto as a visitor, I've drank lots of Tim Horton's coffee, cleaned up after my former bachelor, bought a bedroom set, searched for jobs, had two interviews, actually got a part time job offer, watched a lot of the View (I'm so glad that Hasselbeck chick is having babies right now...I cant stand that woman), developed a love-hate relationship with the landlord, made some new friends, got a Christmas tree, drank more wine than I ever had before, hosted the in-laws for that dreaded "first meal," turned this apartment into a home and loved my husband more than is humanly possible.

Its been an adjustment for me I must say. I still dont know what temperature it really is in this Celsius part of the world, except that 0 C degrees is 32 F degrees...but a third grader knows that so that isnt really an accomplishment on my part. And what the fuck is a kilometer??? Near as I can tell, my only measuring stick (Haaaa!) is that 90 kilometers is approximately 60 miles...and for someone that is from North Dakota and measures distance in TIME not MILES...well I dont know how the hell long it takes me to get from here to there.

They recycle here...ok so thats not earthshattering because Americans arent completely recycling retarded...except me...because my mom didnt want to waste time recycling as she called it. So my job is to sort of figure out what is recycled, then set it next to the "blue box" as it is called, and then my husband is in charge of crushing said recycleable products to fit into tiny ass blue box. This much I know about recycling in the States...we had three boxes to recycle paper, plastic and glass....I get one, freaking "blue box" to pile all the crap into, and two WEEKS between recycling pickup. Garbage gets picked up on Tuesdays and Fridays.....sometimes Im just tempted to put the shit outside on those days because Im tired of it sitting in my home.

They drink milk from plastic bags...I cant find a gallon jug on this side of the border. And it tastes like ass, because that little cut you make in the bag allows for absorption of your other fridge items into the milk, causing the milk to take on other "flavours." Ewww...the only way this plastic bag business is even close to practical is if you have a separate fridge just for the milk. And thats a damn luxury these days. So thank the lord, they still believe in those cardboard cartons...

Speaking of groceries, they are really expensive here. Especially meat and dairy products. That has been one of the biggest shockers...and no its not just the taxes on that stuff that is high, its the base price that kills me. The taxes I dont notice yet. Oh and in case you didnt know, we are assessed in two tax brackets for products...the GST (Government Sales Tax) and PST (Product and Services Tax...and its provinicial). Something has gotta pay for that free healthcare!

The phone book is hilarious...well not really but in the Yellow pages there are listings for Escort Services. Something NOT seen in the US, at least now that I'm aware of. And I have seen more adult porn stores recently than I have in my entire life. The phone book isnt really hilarious its a big pain in the rear because they have things categorized differently...its a language thing I think.

What county am I in?? I dont know that either....I think its called a district.

Dumb question asked about Canada by me..."If there is an emergency, and I need help asap, what do I call??"

"911"...

"oooh, something familiar!!!

So I have a work offer but it takes 54 days to get a work permit...so I still sit here...talk about frustrating. I can totally not do this dutiful housewife thing...no offense to those that are housewives, you women rock the shit I cant even touch at this venture in my life. I hate staying home all day and when I do have the car for the day I wander aimlessly in the mall or grocery store just as bored as if I didnt have the car and was stuck at home.

I need a hobby. My husband has a keyboard so I've gotten back into playing a bit which is great.

We finally get tv on Friday and I'll get CNN, my outlet to American news. Right now I've been on MSNBC and CNN like a fiend.

My husband plays hockey weekly so I have become a hockey wife...I go to most of the games...and I'm excited for the tournaments coming up in the next two weeks...those are really fun and have the best parties. Thats how I've met some new people, through his hockey. We also watch hockey on tv when we get the chance...last night we went to Don Cherry's to watch Montreal vs Toronto. Hockey is definitely king up here.

Funny question asked by an American about Canada...

"Do they have Halloween up there?"

Yes Virginia, there is a Great Pumpkin...

Are we there yet?? Huh?! HUH?!?!

Geez louise, I'm getting anxious the closer it gets, the more I just want it to be over already! Come on, lets get married!!

Invitations have been sent and the wedding party has all of their flights and such booked. Much anxiety and stress has been alleviated but with that comes more un-needed drama.

Sigh...people are idiots. Common sense is non-existant in this type of folk too.

Started working on music for the wedding and our bulletins. Found some stuff for favors too finally that wasnt going to force me to sell meth or something ridiculous like that. They want 6.99 for 12 freakin tulle bags. Are you kidding me??? And everything else is way too much. So I found something cheapo and we can do favors for less than 50 bucks now. Woot! And another bonus...little work to assemble and get it together.

Had my wedding gown on today for the first time since March. It was as beautiful as I remember! I cant wait to wear it for real.

I made my July plan at the Gem Store and there is a possibility that I could get a transfer to one of the stores in Canada. I spoke to the manager already so maybe she'll be able to do something. It would be a means to a small income until I get resident status which would be nice.

Golden Girls is on Lifetime. Of course its 1240am and there isnt much on, but what a great show! Haha, I remember watching this with my grandma when I was kid.

Ok so the pyro geeks that are playing with their bottle rockets nearby need to go to bed. Its late and they are still shooting the damn things off. Im sure J Hans is just thrilled...she's even closer to the action than we are and sometimes the windows shake!

Well, I'm off to bed. Enjoy the new video...it'll be on the playlist at the wedding!

56 days to go!!

Summer Cold....

No its been hot as hell here too though today was a bit cooler...still 80's.

I'm talking about my very own summer cold that has developed in the last two days. I had serious dry mouth...the kind only reserved for a night of hard-core drinky-drinking... at the store this last week and it all became clear when my throat closed up on Saturday...YES! I hate summer colds, its the worst time to get sick.

I worked a lot this last week as some people are on vacation and I'm filling in. I had today off thank god so Mom and I went to do some wedding stuff. I had a chat with the church and then we went to the bridal store and to price out flowers. That was fun and I think we have it figured out. Next week is cake and more issues with the dresses and tuxes. Still figuring that all out, but I think it will be fine.

I am not a to-do list person, but I actually made a list of things I need to call/check/do. I think that means I'm getting old.

Great-Grandma is home from the hospital...a few others in the family have gotten sick and salmonella appears to be the culprit. Might have been the food at the reunion. Not everybody has gotten sick so who knows but its been might uncomfortable for a few people.

Man this is a boring post...my life is boring. Which is ok for now. But if I'm bored now, I can only imagine what life will be like when I'm in Canada and not working.

Oh well oh well...

Nighto folks!

90 Days!

It comes down to this...only 3 more months, 90 days...until we're MARRIED!!! Wow the time flies...the next 3 months are going to go so fast.

So I've been working at The Gem Store...in my first 22 days I sold 4111 in jewels. Not bad. My july plan is for 15k...seems like a lot but it adds up. Ive had a slow start, the 4th of July was a complete waste of a day as we just stood around most of the day. I dig it though, it keeps me busy.

Wedding plans are coming along nicely. The invitations are addressed, stamped and ready to be sent. Way ahead of schedule on that which is awesome. Flowers, cake and minor details are to come on July 17th when Mom and I both have a day off to run around town and get it all ready. Not too happy about my bridesmaid dresses but I'll have to work with it...they are beautiful and will look awesome..just not what I expected color-wise. Oh well, nothing I can do so there is no sense in getting overworked about it. I meet with the church on Monday to discuss our Liturgy. After which I'll get music and such sent to my musicians.

Rumba is fantastic and supportive as ever. He moved into our new place on July 1 and I think we'll be pretty happy and content there for at least a year or longer. We plan to stay there as long as it takes to get immigration settled as we dont want moving to hassle with paperwork. Thereafter, I suppose it depends on jobs and the like for me.

Immigration is a huge hassle, but we've been practicing. We've done a few forms together and I've been starting to gather information for the questions I know we'll need to elaborate further. Its not really that bad, it just takes a lot of reading, some questions, some confusion and a lot of time. We hope to have it all submitted by November 1.

We had the family reunion in June...was nice to see all the cousins again. Everybody changes and we seem to get new people in the family all the time. Great-Grandma looked good then but she was back in the hospital with some food related issues so hopefully she gets on the mend here shortly.

Not much else new. Baby Tange finally arrived and we now know him as Baby William. He's such a cute little bugger, looks just like his big sister. Saw my good friend EmmyLou who was most helpful and calming during this week's wedding crisis. I am so lucky to have good friends.

I miss the city this time of year, there is always tons of stuff going on, and of course, I miss my friends too! Hope to see them all again at the wedding.

Well thats it for now...enjoy the Kenny Chesney video...I really dont like him much, so he wont stay for long...but this tune aint bad.

Well, well well......

Man I've been lazy on this thing.

Well not entirely lazy. Its been a really busy two months. Is it already the second half of June?! Holy hairy balls....

So since April, I have finished my schooling and internship, moved home and only stayed home for 5 days before traveling to Ontario for 10 days.

That was awesome! Five months without R was torture, but what a reunion! Of course we didnt have a lot of time to play (like 3 hours) before we had to get to the first thing on our agenda for the week...the church prep.

It was better than I expected. No Catholic agenda was forced upon me which made me feel better about the whole thing. The Catholic deacon that did our paperwork also was very encouraging about raising our children with both of our faiths instead of just the Catholic faith. At least this one endorsed it...I'm sure there will be less "liberal" Catholics along the way. Oh well...

Smile and nod.

Then it was find a new apartment, get our engagement photo taken, work on details for our ceremony, his stag party and my shower his mom was throwing for me. All in all, it was a great time together.

Then I was home for a week where I started working at The Gem. I had worked there before, just not selling...so it was easy and familiar to get back into it. Have even had a few good days selling some items too which feels good. Its also summer and boring at times because we are slow during the day. I'm used to the Christmas madness. I'm just happy to have a job and an income again. Got my first paycheck yesterday in two years...man that was awesome...200 bucks more than I had a couple days ago.

Then it was another trip back to Chicago for my graduation. Also wonderful and R made it down as well. It felt really good to hear, "Master of the Arts" conferred upon us.

Despite the hard work and stress, the shitty people I met, and the troubles of living in the city, I'm so glad I didnt quit or give up on school. I really made a huge accomplishment that not many get to do and I made some wonderful friends I'll keep forever. Without the support of my family and R, it might not have happened. I am truly blessed.

Today started the official immigration process as I made my way to the local police station to get fingerprinted. I'll send out the paperwork to the FBI tomorrow. Here we go...no turning back now!!! You'll probably reading about the immigration stuff for awhile now as I enter this next stage and challenge in my life.

Wedding plans are coming along. Not much left to do, just cake and flowers and other small details. I'm ready for it to be over though, and just ready for the day. Lots of drama and crap which is per usual when it comes to weddings and I dont want to deal with it anymore. Lets just be married and start our life already!!! Only 3.5 months to go!!

Family reunion is this weekend so run, run, run again. Should be a good time, havent had one in a few years. Be nice to see my extended family, in particular those I havent seen since Christmas. This summer is just flying by I can hardly believe it.

My good friend Liz is due to give birth anytime....in fact she's a bit late...come on Baby Tange, the world wants to meet you!!!

EmmyLou is coming home tomorrow! I'm so excited since I havent seen her since February and we'll get to spend at least one day together when we head to Forks to see some friends.

Anywho, thats about it for now. I'll do better this summer, now that I have more time.

Woot!

Tax Season

I hate this year. I didnt make any money last year thus not being able to file...THUS not getting to claim the some 35k I spent on school and books last year...

stupidmotherfuckingIRSlovingtaxbastardscaneatahomelesswomansfishycooter.

Anyway...thats enough nasty language outta me.

Now that Ive unloaded about that, I can move on with life. As such I have only 2 weeks of school left. 2 weeks...unfreakingbelievable. As such, my profs have fantastic timing and decided to put everything in these last 13 days. Thanks for the 10-15 page essay douchebag on top of my other 3 exams. Mother almighty...

After that, I have 10 days straight of internship to finish out my hours. That will be the worst two weeks ever but it'll go fast too.

Then its pack pack pack real quick for 3 days before the rents arrive and move my shit into a big Uhaul and back to NoDak.

Yes I'll be 25 May 8th and living at home with my parents. Send me a sympathy card instead of a birthday wish this year.

No it shouldnt be that bad, considering its only for 4 months before I get married to Rumba.

In the meantime, I'll be slingin hash at some rundown 24 hour Flying J for 5 bucks an hour and cursing my 100k education.

But at least I wont have any bills....

Oh wait...that pesky credit card...

And some of that 100k will come back to haunt me.

In wedding news, things are fine. Well not totally, but I'd rather not discuss it here. When I was home for spring break, I got a lot of shit done, thus not having to do much until I get home in May. I'm going to the North in May for a week to get a LOT of shit done as well:

Marriage counseling prep: Where we have to pretend we're good people, lie about sex and birth control and convince a man of God to marry us in the Catholic church so that my husband can provide for his family.

Meet with the Deacon: Because the counseling session is the "horse doovers" of marriage prep, according to our priest, and we need to lie some more.

Engagement Photo: Dress up, smile pretty, spend money.

Look for apartments: Key words: 2 bedroom, in-house laundry, rent falls below the anally violating level.

Bridal Shower: 20 people, 7 of which I have met...the others....well I guess it'll be a surprise.

Should be high entertainment.

I'm ready for a car again...Im tired of the train. And for food to be less expensive. And housing to be reasonably priced. And an income.

w00t.

I've always said that she had a great set of pipes but I didnt like Christina Aguilera back in her teeny-bopper days or that whole Dirrty thing. But I'm really diggin her new stuff and I think she should stick with what she's doing now.

I love the new video Candyman...but who doesnt love a buncha seamen?

Whitesnake-Greatest Rock Ballad Ever

View the new video. Know it, love it, write a report on it.

If you dont know it, love it or report back to me on the greatness of this rock ballad, may the rath of the musical gods rain down upon you.

The Proposal!

The Proposal!
The After Game!

Lions, Colts and DA Bears...oh my....

So the Bears lost....I was torn between the two. I pledge my allegiance to my college roomate for her obsession with the Bears and everything Chicago. And I do live here afterall. The Chicago media made it tiring after awhile, but it was really neat to see the flags, the lights, the helmeted lions, the El....I was hoping for a parade a la the White Sox, but alas...

But I was also cheering for the Colts too...how can anyone in their right mind hate Peyton Manning or Tony Dungy? I think their coach is just a really classy, deserving coach.

And the weather sucked. I mean honestly, the weather shoulda been given the MVP and the Caddy because it was a huge factor.

I didnt not go to a SuperBowl party. Rumba and I chatted throughout the game. Its too goddamn cold here to do anything. The building had a party but I was feeling antisocial so..meh.

The commercials were sub-par this year too. I only like maybe 2 or 3 of them out of like the 50 that were shown.

In other news..only 10 weeks left of school! Wootie woot! Ok, only a n00b would say wootie, but hey...im excited. Haha..n00b...

Wedding planning is going right along I guess. Have the big vendors booked, already been pissed off about some stuff, and have cried...yes!!!!!!!!! And all in less than a month...its been loverly, lemme tell ya.

I do have an awesome maid of honor that listens to me bitch about this stuff, soo yay for sanity! Rumb has been really great too, taking an active role in helping with the plans. He hasnt complained thus far. We've had a few tough spots too but its worked out. He has our honeymoon booked...we are sooo excited about that!!

Gophers were swept out by the Sioux. God bless America folks it was a good week to be a hockey fan.

My classmates are tiring. I hate Fridays...hate em....so frustrating. I swear to god I cant believe some of these people are getting the same degree as me. Oh well...they may be getting the same letters, but most definitely not the same education.

My friend BrownEyedGirl was struck by a crazy ass Chicago driver last week. Hellooo!! Scary!! Jesus tap-dancing Christ....she's ok though. She's got a lot of other stuff to deal with but thankfully she is still with us.

And its cold...as a witches titty...

And Im sick of teenagers. I'm not sure I want to have kids of my own after this working experience. Good god. Good news is that I hope to have a job when I get home with the VA. That would be an awesome position....government job and with adults, not teenagers (well not directly anyway). Veterans are a population that really have a lot of trauma related issues, and their families have a lot to go through as well. Its an interesting subset in our culture. So here's hoping. And Canada has a VA up there for their vets, so maybe I could get a transfer....

At any rate, its time for bed. Good night all..stay warm out there!

Train Friends.....

You can make a lot of "friends" on public....woo...I almost mispelled that world to the short and curlies....transpo

Anywho....

I was on the Amtrak train 6 times between October and December. Four of those trips were for most unpleasant trips and the other two were for the holiday.

My own unpleasantness on the 2nd trip home for my grandfather's funeral was exacerbated by the jackbags traveling to Portland. Please tell me what is wrong with the people on the West Coast? My god, my entire car was full of Portland travelers. Which means...I was stuck with them the entire 13 hours I was on the damn train....oh the humanity.

I really shouldnt bash West Coasters...my aunt and uncle live in Oregon themselves, but really, how bad is it when you are so drunk when you get on the train that you cant find your seat for the rest of the trip? Seriously, two drunk assholes got on in Chicago, had 2 cases of beer between them. One disappeared...never saw him for the rest of the 13 hours. You would think I would have spotted the dude somewhere..I mean honest to christ the train aint that big!! You only have 4 options to be...your seat, the lounge car, the dining car and the shithouse. I was at all 4 at some point, somewhere I should have saw the guy.

His friend on the other hand, I saw and heard and...wait for it...







Smelled...

Far far too much.

He was so drunk, he kept wandering between cars, bugging people, hitting on married women, falling on their chairs, tripping over himself.

Which if you dont know how to train surf, can be problematic. Dont make your troubles worse by drinking the county dry.

He was so drunk he couldnt speak coherently...and he tried speaking Spanish...badly...to the poor immigrant lady in front of us...god, that poor poor woman.

He was so drunk that as he gandered, tripped and fell around the aisle, he would let a few not so discreet ass solos along the way.

You know that noise your brother makes with his mouth to imitate long winded farts? Yep.

Also, when he did managed to find his seat and his beer, when he would bend over to pop another cold one, his ass would pop out another solo.

Even after he sat there staring into a drunk oblivion into the darkness of Wisconsin, he would direct the musical performance with no care in the world.

I'm glad his colon is working properly...honest to christ....

The other four thrills for that particular trip was this married couple and their two young children under the age of 5.

The children were fine. The infant cried occassionally, the young girl just sat there. Their parents were assholes to the finest degree.

They fought...yelled, cussed and called names...for 5 hours. From downtown Chicago until LaCrosse Wisconsin. Who has that much to fight about really? And the shit they were hurling at each other. No wonder the infant would fuss...he was reacting to his parents. If my husband ever tells me to shut up or fuck off or you're stupid bitch....ever...but especially in earshot of an entire train car of happy travelers....

Mr. Lawyer, we have a problem. I want my husbands assets...including his testicles.

Enough about that particular trip. The holiday trip was most joyous as well.

See the thing about the holidays is that the train is always full to the ceiling. Packed to the max and no chance of getting a seat to myself.

I did pretty well until the Cities. Then I was stuck with the woman that was riding behind me. Who informed a lot of people between Chicago and the Cities that she was a single mom, Ph.D I/O Psych student in Virginia, who lost 50 lbs in 2 months.

I HATE humble people....life is so boring with them around (insert sarcasm here).

And this only confirmed that I cant handle I/O psych people. You take the oily personality of a car salesman and the psychotic traits of a psych student....

Nuclear winter.

Oh and at 2:30 in the morning when I sleepily and not encouragingly looked over at her to see if she would move a bit to give me room (50 lbs lighter, you'd think she'd have more room there to share)....and she starts talking...AGAIN about her single mom, Ph.D badassness. Only she proceeded to get really narcissistic on my ass and said that she...she would be changing the, entire personality paradigm in I/O psychology, causing this massive shift in thinking about personality in the workplace and make millions and millions of dollars just with her dissertation and research.





Right.

And rainbows, clouds, and furry little kitties will come shooting out my ass...

October 5, 2007

Exactly 9 months until our wedding!!! Hoooraay!!!

As you can tell, the holiday with Rumba was most excellent and was capped by our engagement. Our favorite game to play together is Scrabble and my mom got him a really nice Scrabble game for Christmas. On Friday December 29th, just before we started to play, he spelled out Will You Marry Me on the game and was on one knee next to the board! It was so wonderful and special...and all those other happy adjectives people use to describe such a moment. I was speechless of course until I said "YES!!"

We have a church and reception hall booked and we're working on photography and a DJ by next week. Most of our wedding party is picked as well.

Here's to the next 9 months ahead...holy crap it will go fast!!