The Cellar (Dun dun dun...)

The house we're currently living in is really, really tiny, and it's really, really old. It's been fixed up, of course, but whoever did the fixing up really cheaped out on a lot of things, so this house causes us a lot of problems. And as we're just renting, it's not like we're going to throw away more money and fix these things, because honestly, our rent is really high for such a crappy place as it is.
Anyhow, yesterday it was pretty cold out, around -34 C in the morning, and our water pipes froze once again this winter. It has been as cold as -45 C this winter, but we realized the temperature and were smart enough to turn on the water and leave it running before anything bad happened. Well, yesterday we totally forgot. It was probably due to the fact that I woke up with a splitting headache, and spent the majority of yesterday curled up in bed napping, and that once my mom got off work, she herself ended up having a nap too. So around supper, when we're both finally up and moving around a bit, we notice we have no cold water. At all. Not even a drop.
This is normally where Gary (my moms boyfriend) comes in. Normally we've had to pull out the washing machine, go down into the cellar and stick a heater down there for hours before we've got running water again. But, Gary was off working yesterday and was going to be gone overnight, which meant mom and I had to do it ourselves. This means we would have to take the crappy door off, pull out the washer, climb over said washer, pry open a tiny door, climb down, and have someone lift the heater up and over the washer, and down into the cellar (since apparently the cellar is only made for really tall people, it's kinda missing top steps). Then, you need to try to plug the heater into the electrical socket...which is FACING THE WALL?!?! Why? I have no idea, I do not make crappy old houses that make no sense.

So, here is our laundry room. Awesome, isn't it? Please notice the insane amounts of sarcasm dripping off the word awesome, don't step in it, you might slip! Honestly, it is the most annoying laundry room, it doesn't have a proper door of any sort, and its right in the middle of the house so you can always hear it clunking and clanking away no matter which part of the house you're on. Oh, and I forgot to mention, you can only run either the washer or dryer at once, or you'll blow the breaker. You have no idea how long it takes to do laundry after every has returned from a trip.
Anyhow, in this picture, we've already taken off the door and pulled out the washer, which is a beast of a thing I might add. It's one of those smaller ones, why is it so heavy? I could barely move it an inch at a time.

So once we had the washer pulled out, my mom hopped (okay I lie, my mom does not hop. At least not over washers. She kinda, slowly crawled) over the washer and opened up the cellar door and made her way down to the cellar. Which I'm really glad for, knowing my allergies and the dust I saw down there, I would have sneezed myself silly (or stupid, perhaps). We then hoisted the heater over the washer, and down into the cellar. I was actually a bit scared at this point, because the heater is pretty heavy if you have to hold it over your head, and on those pathetic steps, it would have been easy to slip and have it land on top of you. Ouch.

I've come to the conclusion that our cellar is a dust bunny breeding ground. But why did they steal a Bounce sheet?

And then, once we finally have the heater down there, my mom shouts up that the outlet is facing the wall. Whaaaat? Who does that? Does that make any sense? I think it took her longer to plug in the heater than it took us to move the washer, which felt like it took a lot of time.

Eventually we did have our water running again ( around 4am, booyah!), but seeing as we've had to do this I think 4 times already this winter, it's starting to get really frustrating. It wouldn't be so bad if the door to the cellar wasn't in the most horrible spot, or maybe if it had an extra step on the way down or something. But oh well, what can you do with an old house like this. All in all, it was a very interesting adventure, though not one that I'd like to go on again, especially if I'm the one crawling down into the cellar next time.

Discoveries & Memories

I would be lying if I said right now I wasn't totally pissed off. I love blogger, it's so much easier and faster than many other places I've tried. But when I lose 2 long posts within 24 hours, it does make me a bit angry. You see, I was scrolling down an entry in compose mode, just about to finish it up, and suddenly the page reloads to a picture that I had in the post. Damnit! I quickly press the back button on my browser, hoping that everything will still be there...and no, it's only got the first paragraph. Damnit! I know it's my own fault, I must have clicked it without really noticing or something like that. But still, I'm really pissed off about it. Typing something over again isn't as great as it is the first time, I always leave something out and it just feels...incomplete. Anyhow, onto what I meant to post about!

I mentioned yesterday that I'd found some interesting things while I've been cleaning/organizing my bedroom and tossing out junk that I'll never really use/need. Maybe this is why I have so much stuff in my room, but anything that has even the slightest bit of sentimental value, I just can't bring myself to throw out (Hell, or anything cute, or anything that just might come in handy somewhere down the road). Such as a movie ticket from the first Harry Potter movie (I was SO excited, you have no clue. I still get that way each time I line up to see each of the new movies), a penguin notepad, old school binders...

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Christmas at Dads

This Christmas, I spent a week at my dads and his girlfriends house out in Slave Lake, AB. I have been there a few times before, but only spent a day or so each time, and didn't get a chance to really get to know my dads girlfriend or her kids. I'm a shy person, so it takes me a while to really feel comfortable around new people, but I actually had a good time visiting there, even with people I didn't really know. Maybe it was because I had a few days to get used to the household before the majority of the kids showed up, or the fact that my younger brother was there too, but I felt pretty at ease most of the time.

I was really worried about going. I didn't want to feel left out, or like I was intruding on my dads other family's holiday. To be honest, the first few days before Christmas was the most fun. It was very relaxing, and despite being away from my computer and games, and all my stuff, I was rarely very bored. My dad and I watched some old Christmas videos that we used to watch when I was young, we went out with my brother and had a nice time shopping and just talking and catching up. And I actually had a fun time watchinga busy little 2 year old.

At my moms place we rarely eat meals together, and when we do, it doesn't quite feel the same as a big family meal all around a table. Of course, that could be due to the fact that we all work different hours, and that we don't have a kitchen table since our house is too small, so we use wooden dinner trays and sit at the couch. But it was nice to sit around a table with everyone talking, and laughing, and then all sitting around for a few minutes afterwards and just relaxing before cleaning up.

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Wedding Babblings

Oopsies.
I did start writing an entry yesterday, but I got tired and fell asleep, then lost the page. looool.

Anyways, it seems kinda crazy that the wedding is on Caturday. It felt like "Gah, the wedding is so far away!" and suddenly it's like "O SHT TEH WEDDIN' IS IN A F#*$ING WEEK!!!1". Yep. That's it basically.
Mother and I (Kay, I'm kidding, I don't call her mother, I was just trying to amuse myself and sound old-school-y at the same time) have been doing some tidying up the last few days, and today and tomorrow we will be too, and probably a lot of last minute things like finding the pom-pom things for the car since they're still lost in this crazy house. Also wrapping presents, and moving stuff into the shed so there's a bit more room in the house (yet it still looks insanely crowded in here to me). And I'm pretty excited for Wednesday, Wednesday feels like the beginning of the...wedding week, I guess? Because to me, that's when all the stuff that's been planned/worked on for so long is actually starting to come together, also both the Sara/h's and Daphne will be here, so it will be like, constant wedding stuff I think. I just hope everything goes good. And I hope everyone COMMUNICATES (unlike in some BG's on WoW...) and gets everything done on time! Yay.

Hair Trials

Yay, today we did the hair trails for Daphne's wedding, I'm seriously really happy with how mine turned out, even though it's not the same as what I showed her that I wanted done, haha. I feel very princess-y, and it's great.

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Christmas Excitement

I'm really, really excited about today (and tomorrow!). I think this is the first year that I've genuinely felt excited about Christmas, and spending time with my family. For a long time I was just excited about what new presents I'd be getting, or getting time off from school...but this year I'm just excited to spend time with everyone. When I think of Christmas, I keep thinking of everyone sitting around in Daphne's apartment and watching a movie and laughing, or some of us playing a board game...I don't know, I just feel really happy that we're not having a bunch of seperate Christmas' or something.
I really hope we end up watching a movie, or playing board games or something...I really want this Christmas to be fun and memorable for some reason.

Half Blah Birthday

Daphne and Dan are awesome! For my birthday, they came over (and actually got here at midnight, which was pretty cool of them, since they both had to work the next day, I think) and I got some pretty flowers (I'm not sure what kind, but they're pretty!) and a newnewnewnew monitor! I love it. Everything is so clear and everything looks amazing! I love it. <3
And my mom got me this cool watch set thing, it has a bunch of different color straps so you can switch it around and like color coordinate with outfits and everything, it's awesome! :D The only little thing is that it runs slow, but a new battery should fix that problem.

And now, my dad. He did technically pay for my Mary Kay stuff, which is awesome, I'm happy about that. But, he wasn't here for my birthday. He left for Sharon's the day before. All I have to say is, WHAT THE FUCK? I know Sharon is important to him, but how does he think it made me feel that he thinks it's more important to be with her than to at least spend a bit of time with me on my birthday? I was HOME ALONE on my BIRTHDAY. How do you think that made me feel? Maybe I'm being selfish, but spending your birthday alone is honestly one of the shittiest things ever.
I am so happy that Daphne and Dan at least spent the night, even though I only spent about an hour with them before they had to sleep/leave for work. It made me so happy that they at least came to spend some time with me. But spending the rest of the day all alone made me feel so insignificant.

Anyways, work is going pretty good. I still get messed up with a lot of the till stuff, like when to swipe debit cards or circling the crazy stuff at the bottom of the receipt...blah. But I'll get the hang of it eventually. I hope. :)

Engagement

Daphne and Dan got engaged last night! Weee! And guess who is a maid of honor? That's right, me! Yay! <3

Two legs and a heart beat

You know, I really don't mind cleaning somedays. And that's how I felt today, until I was grabbing some laundry from the washing machine to put in the dryer. Jonathon walks by and opens the bathroom door, turning on the lights and fan, and goes, "Clean that up." and of course, somehow a dog got in there and now there's dog shit on the floor.

First off, what the hell is he so busy with that he can't clean it up? And if he already noticed it why didn't he already clean it instead of leaving it there until he could tell ME to do it? And secondly, WHAT THE FUCK?! Did you just TELL ME to clean that up? What happened to, "I'm tired from shovelling the driveway, can you please clean that up?" and it's not like I would have said no today, because I was in a good mood. But you don't just walk around TELLING me what to do, especially when you aren't doing shit yourself. FUCKFUCKFUCK.

I'm tired. They can clean that shit on their own, I don't care. Do their own fucking laundry, and clean the kitchen after they make fucking messes.

Visiting & Mrs Johnstone

I spent the last two days at moms place. It was nice, and sorta refreshing. And I didn't really mind Gary that much either, though I have the feeling he was being a bit on the quiet side around me on purpose. But hey, it was nice. We didn't do anything too special, and mom and I kinda shopped around a bit today, then lounged around watching tv...very nice and...relaxing.

But, when dad came to pick me up (and drop Jonathon and Justin off at my moms place) he wasn't feeling good at all. I could tell as soon as I saw him that he was either grumpy or not feeling good. He said he was feeling really woozy (is that how you spell it?) and light-headed, which isn't good when you're driving. So I offered to drive, and he said that if he felt he was getting worse then he'd let me drive. Well, I was really worried. It looked like he was having a hard time concentrating on just driving, so I offered a few times to drive, saying that I would rather me drive and be nervous (it was a bit icy in spots and getting dark...scary!) than have him feeling pretty sick driving. So he pulled over before we reached the border and let me drive. The plan was originally to go home, and dad would crash in bed. But when we got closer to home he was feeling even worse, so we decided it would be best for him to go see the doctor at the hospital. So, I drove straight to Beaverlodge and it was only about 7:20pm, so we had to wait for about an hour before the doctor even got there.
Dad kinda just slumped down in the chair and dozed off. We were only there for about 10 minutes, and Mrs. Johnstone (teacher at the HRJHS) walked by (leaving from visiting someone) and she looked pretty worried when she saw that dad was feeling so sick. So she sat down and talked to him a bit, then asked if she could say a prayer for him, and he said yes. At first I though, she meant, say a prayer when she got home or something, but no. She actually prayed out loud for him, right there. At first I though, this is embarassing, but it wasn't really. It was touching and kind. I've never seen someone just...pray...like that. It's hard to explain. Anyways, dad kept dozing off until around 8:30, and he seemed to feel a lot better than before, but went in to see the doctor anyways, which is good.
The doctor said something about an inner ear infection, and dad has to go back tomorrow morning to see the doctor again. And he gave dad some pills to keep him from being so dizzy.

But yeah. lkjsldk I'm pretty tired.

I can't really hate you

I really feel like shit. Mom thinks that I hate her. Which, yes...I understand how she came to that conclusion. But I talked to her tonight and told her that I never hated her at all, it's just taking me time to adjust to things. I feel so bad.

You don't know if you believe in God?

Ergblah. I feel so sick. My stomach hurts and I feel like I should get sick any minute, but I don't. Which is annoying in itself. My head hurts, probably a headache from not drinking enough today..or yesterday I guess. And I can't sleep anymore. Damnit, damnit, damnit. And everyone is having fun on Burning Crusade and I want to put in a movie so I can hopefully fall asleep but the dvd player isn't really working right so I can't. And my body feels achy and my mouth is dry but I'm not even going to try to drink anything. We have no pepto bismol stuff....my room is too bloody hot even with the window open...

Other than that, I think I'm doing good.

Anyways, today dad asked me what I thought about him taking his Masters again. I said that I think he should, even though it would cost a lot of money and he'd been busy with that and school for the next few years (3 years I think it would be). I know part of the reason he didn't finish it before was because of me....and a lot of the other stuff that was going on at the time. So I guess I feel bad that he didn't get to do it then, so maybe that's why I keep telling him now that he should. But, I really think if it's still what he wants to do that he should go for it while he has the chance again. Even if the timing is a bit bad, especially if mom and dad get a divorce, etc.

He also asked me about going to church. Which really, surprised me. I've gone to church once I think. And that was with Jeri-Lynn, and it made no sense to me and all the people seemed really rude and stuck-up. I know, I used to think that of a lot of people, but still. That kind of tainted my view on church. Plus, Youth Group. I had fun a lot of times...but that was only because Brady was there and hanging out with me. If he wasn't there, or spent most of the time with someone else I felt left out and like I didn't really belong. But, that could just be me and how I think. I don't know.
 Anyways, dad asked if I believed in God. And I said I didn't know. And he gave me a shocked expression and said, "You don't know?" That....kinda pissed me off. Of course I don't know. I didn't grow up going to church, or reading bible stories or anything. We never really prayed, rarely said grace...etc, etc. And, it's not that I really don't know. Sometimes I do believe, but sometimes I don't. I can't explain it, and I'm not really going to try to.
Anyways, I told him I'd try going a few times, just to see how it was. Even though I'd really just rather not. So then I asked him if he thought Jonathon could sit through church, even if he didn't go every week. Dad said he'd have to. Well first off, Jonathon will probably have the same view on it as me. We didn't go to church or anything like Daphne did. It's just...foreign to us, pretty much. And telling him that he has to go to church until he's 18 (which is what dad said anyways) is a bit...oh, I don't know. Kinda crazy maybe. You just don't suddenly decide to go back to church after however many years, and force your kids to go. I don't know. Maybe it will be good, maybe Jonathon will like it.
I'm really good at babbling sometimes. Ha. But really, I think the whole church thing stemmed from the funeral dad was at yesterday. He said everyone was so nice, and that he'd really like to go back to church.

Anyways, I'm out of things to babble about

The Worst Creation

Geez. What is with dad? A little while ago he suddenly went out for some reason, and said something about women being the worst creation (or something like that) ever. Which...okay. Sure. Whatever...then he tries to explain it to me. I seriously don't care whatever is going on with whoever the hell you might be talking to...I DON'T CARE. Does the walking away while you're talking not give the hint? I'm sorry if it was rude, but how else will you shut up?
Then he keeps asking me if he's timid. And I say, "No, not really." then he'll ask me if I'm sure, or say, "Well if I was timid I wouldn't be able to do -insert random stupid thing here-."
Then he keeps asking if he's overly apologetic...which I said yes to. But he asked me like 4 more times...COME ON. JUST...shut up. Then of course, he apologized a few times for asking, then a few more times for bothering me. alskdjlk.
I'm so frustrated. I don't mind talking with dad and hanging out with him, but he keeps going on his stupid...whatever they are. He'll just babble and ask stupid questions, and I want to scream at him. alkjdlkjfkasjkjf
All better.

Anyways, Nate decided to play WoW last night. We played for hours...I was so happy. ^_^ I just had to say that, because it makes me happy. He seemed to have a lot of fun too, so I was happy about that. We're going to go into WSG together once he hits level 29. /cheer

Christmas '06

So, we got up around 7:30 to open our presents (though I don't think we actually started unwrapping any until maybe 8-ish?). Everyone seemed pretty pleased with what they got, though I felt a bit bad for Dan because he didn't really get anything...except that gift certificate for Future Shop. But, I guess it's alright because a lot of the things are actually meant for both of them (toaster, coffee maker..etc).
Jonathon didn't really seem too excited about his guitar, and I haven't even noticed him play with it today...so I don't really know if he's happy about that or not. He seems to be enjoying his new DBZ game though, so that's great.

And now, for what I got! I hope I don't forget anything.

[+] Penguin slippers
[+] Penguin robe
[+] Penguin soap..dispenser thing
[+] MP3 player
[+] Keyboard
[+] Guild Wars
[+] Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town
[+] Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire DVD
[+] The Chronicles of Narnia
[+] Penguin bookmark

I'm pretty sure that's everything. I feel like I'm forgetting something though. Hmm. Oh, and the Chronicles of Narnia book...is the huge one, with all the books combined. It's so great! <3

Dad and Jonathon are leaving for Saskatchewan tomorrow. So I get the house all to myself! I'm pretty happy about that. When mom found out, she said, "Well you should really get out." ...blah. I don't know why she always says that (well, I sorta do, but eh. I wish she'd stop saying it). It's really frustrating for me when she does that. As nice as it is to go out and do things with people (sometimes..), it's also great to have time completely by myself! And I don't mind staying home and looking after the puppies. I'm comfortable with that.

Christmas at Mom's

Exhausted. Why do I wake up so early to talk to Nate before he goes to bed? Well, I don't wake up early on purpose. It just happens sometimes, and Nate is online in the mornings for a bit now, so it's a good time to talk to him. Mostly.
Right now he's obsessed with Flyff, so that's all he'll talk about. It's kinda cute in a way, because he sort of babbles about it, until I mention how cute it is that he's babbling about it, then he quits. :D

Anyways, we got home from mom's last night. It was actually pretty good. We watched Ice Age, went out to Boston Pizza, watched Godzilla and The Devil Wears Prada, and Dead Mans Chest (yes, lots of movies).
And I got some pretty cool stuff from mom, TWO pairs of slippers. One pair is purple, and the other pair is yellow with a cute little penguin on them. They're so comfy! And I got pajamas and socks that match with the slippers. Very yellow. I think these are my only yellow clothes now...but the penguin is so cute! Oh yeah, and a big cup that matches with the pajamas too. I got some lip chap, and some bath stuff, three cool basket things, cute socks (christmas and penguin-ish), guitar strings, chocolate, a BARBIE, (if we want to get technical, I think this is the real..name: 2006 Bob Mackie Holiday™ Barbie® Doll [Yes, I had to look that up])...and, I got an awesome Johnny Cash cd set..thing! It really is cool, it has a dvd in there too! And hm. I guess that's mostly everything (I'm just too lazy to go look to see what else I got).
It was actually more fun than I thought it would be, except for yesterday, I woke up with a headache, but it was really bad by the end of the day even though I took tylenol. I still even have a bit of a headache, but not near so bad now. Anyways, me and mom also got to pick something up for Daphne! Which is good, I wanted to get her a little something extra.

Don't cry in public places. It's awkward

So...today. Woke up, and Nate was still awake, so I talked to him a bit. He was pretty quiet, and eventually went to bed. I felt kinda sad and upset, like he doesn't want to talk to me anymore. Then on WoW, I messed up like 3 quests...then lagged and died. So I gave up on that and went to bed. Slept until 3:30, then went to GP with Dad and Jonathon. That was okay, except when we were in Wal-Mart, I felt like I was going to cry. But Jeri and Forrest came by and said hi, and I felt pretty stupid. Then dad asked like 5 times if I was mad at him. And no, I wasn't. After that we went to Smitty's and had supper, then did a bit more shopping. All of that was fine too. Then we came home and wrapped presents.
Then, I talked to Nate. And he was quiet again, then said he was going away until after Christmas. That was really, really horrible. It made me feel like he was leaving because he just got bored of me or something, even though he said he was going somewhere until Christmas was over...which I guess I can understand, I want to do the same thing. But, it still made me really sad and upset. As if christmas already isn't super crappy, he leaves too.

I guess I'm also still upset about when we talked yesterday, even though I was fine with it earlier today after thinking about it. It always leads back to me thinking that he doesn't want to talk to me anymore or something. And I know that really isn't the case (I hope..) but I can't help but think it.

I don't know. This doesn't make much sense.

Fable!

Daphne and Dan are officially in their new place. Of course they still have things that got left here, but I'm not surprised. Things always get left behind. I think it will be so much easier for both of them now that they're back in Grande Prairie. And of course they have the place all to their own, that's also good. I think the only crappy thing about it is the timing, being December and all.
But, it's good for me too because I get to move upstairs in the room they had. It's so much warmer upstairs. lol. I already have my computer and bed up here. It's cute because the dogs already come in and sit under my chair or on my bed. :)

And more good news, we found Fable! Yeah, this is really stupid, but it was in my xbox. Which is really confusing, because when we left for Saskatchewan we thought it was in Jonathon's x-box, and he played Fable at Uncle Ron's house (but the game he played there was Logan and Tylers, not mine). And of course once we got back and I thought I didn't have Fable I didn't want to play my xbox at all, so I ddn't bother with it. SO, I'm glad Jonathon was being silly and hooked my xbox up to my computer, because it means we were being silly and had Fable the whole time. Only bad thing, we can't get the sound to work. So I can play Fable and have it on my computer, just with no sound. Woe.

I remember feeling low

Mom is supposed to call me today. I sorta expected her to call earlier in the day, so now I kinda doubt she'll call at all. Oh well. No big deal anyways. She's supposed to come by the house and visit me and Daphne tomorrow. I hope she doesn't bring Gary.

Dad came home from work at like 1:30 this afternoon. He said he's going to the doctor, is going to get some time off work. And that he might be off work for a few months even. But he still get's paid for like 90 days of that...so. I don't know. He even called in to schedule an appointment with a counsellor too.
Jonathon is really grumpy too lately. Maybe it's just school/teenager stuff. I don't know. I get grumpy too though, especially last night, so I can't say much. But I guess last night was more...me being upset, rather than grumpy. I don't know. Everything is getting to me even more now. And mom wants me to go visit with her for a few days, I said I would...but if Gary is there...blah.

Anyways, Daphne and Dan are getting their apartment. :) Daphne is excited about it, so that's good!

Nate hasn't been online for a few days either. It's sad. :( It's no fun to play games or anything if I'm not talking to him at the same time. I think he just forgot to pay his internet though, so I hope that's it. Either that or his internet is being mean again. I don't know. :( I miss him.