Archive | November, 2009

Raspberry Jam

29 Nov

I hate public transit. This is not a secret for those that are close to me. And even those that are not. I signed up for a one year employee sponsored bus pass that started in September. I realize there are many benefits to taking the bus to work. The two major ones being for the environment and for my pocket book. Some would even say that it’s also less stressful not having to drive. That is not the case for me. Instead it makes me angry and makes me feel like I hate all people.

Last week was a particularly bad bus rage week. On Thursday morning I was on my way to work. I had my usual morning play list going on my iPod in an attempt to drown out all auditory senses that I was actually on the bus. I noticed a man get on with four pieces of toast. I didn’t think anything of this.

The ride to work was uneventful. My stop came up and a large portion of the riders got up to exit the bus. The man with the toast was in front of me and stepped off the bus. I followed and midway through my step between the bus and sidewalk, the toast man stopped and turned around…toast in hand. Toast with raspberry jam.

Luckily I was able to put squeeze past him and avoid smearing raspberry jam all over my white wool jacket. But not before I shook my head and said aloud “Oh for fuck’s sake!” Instead of saving the environment and saving myself a few dollars, the public transit option has made me into this people-hating crazy person that swears at people.

Oh, and yes, I am also susceptible to motion sickness on the bus. Great, I’ve become a crazy, cursing, people-hating, barfing woman. I’m not cut out to be a bus rider.

Good Bye Neighbours

21 Nov

Dear Neighbours,

I’m sorry that you are leaving. I will miss you staring at me through my patio door. I will miss opening up my curtains any time of day and having you stand there with your cigarette. It was like you were always there, just waiting for me.

I’ll miss how you would start conversations with me while I was talking on the phone already. I know how important it was for you to share with me that you had been stung by a bee. I’m so glad I was the one that you confided this information in.

I’ll miss how you would share stories about the previous tenants in my suite being methamphetamine addicts. And how you would reassure me how safe our neighbourhood was, because it’s where all the gang leaders live.

I always enjoyed hearing about your cat’s diabetes. And of course I’ll miss hearing you whisper about me to the lady downstairs.

I think most of all I’ll miss seeing your wife’s boob hang out of her nightie while she made breakfast. And of course, I’ll miss seeing you walk around naked in all your middle-aged, hairy man glory.

Take good care,

the Youngest Senior

Swearing At My Slippers

19 Nov

Since the past few months have been so busy, I’ve found myself needing to step out of activities intermittently. Some weeks I make it through all of the week’s activities and other weeks I skip out on certain ones. Last week I had Remembrance Day off work. The week before I took a day off sick. A few weeks before that I missed my Management Information Systems class. Before that, it was Thanksgiving and a missed Calculus class. Before that I missed dance class.

The first few days of this week were spent fighting a sinus headache and battling calculus concepts. By the time I made it home from work on Tuesday, I hadn’t considered that it was TRUEsday or what I was going to do to be TRUE. On Tuesdays I have about 45 minutes at home before I leave again for my Flamenco class. I usually try to have a small snack and relax (i.e. peruse Twitter and Facebook).

During this relaxing time I found myself struggling to put my slippers on. All of a sudden I heard my self cursing and swearing at my turquoise crocs as I tried jamming my feet into them. This really should not have a hard task.

Flamenco class is as much a physical activity as it is a brain exercise. The steps and rhythms don’t come naturally and a certain level of frustration must be reached before I am able to really dance the steps.

On this particular day I realized that if I was struggling to slip on my slippers the flamenco step frustration would be taken to a whole new level. In an effort to be TRUE and thinking ahead for the rest of the week, I decided to take the evening off.

So that’s what I did. I had a TRUE evening, staying home, watching a movie (The Ugly Truth…definitely take a pass on that one…horrible) and eating ice cream with my boyfriend. It’s funny how a simple evening at home can take you from a bad case of the swears to being TRUE.

Experiment in Slacking Off

18 Nov

I’ve decided to do an experiment. In honour of one of my classes that could very well be the biggest joke of a class ever, I’ve decided to see if it’s possible to do the entire class without reading the text book or doing any real studying. I will admit to briefly flipping through the text and I have attended all but one of the lectures.

Up until now, week 11 of a 14 week semester, I have done nothing outside of class time. So far I have 84% in the class and am still above the class average (by 1%, but that’s still above average). I have attempted to read the textbook, but as much as I try, I just can’t do it. The instructor wrote his own text and we bought it online as a PDF. I’m not sure that he has ever heard of an editor because one was most definitely not used.

Our lectures involve him opening up the PDF on the overhead screen and literally pointing at each line as he reads it to us. So I guess in one sense I have read the textbook. Mind you, his lectures are so all over the place that I barely pay attention at all. Last lecture we covered his use of “Just for Men”, his father’s alcoholism and how his mother prefers the “Depends” with flowers on them.

My strategy for the remainder of the semester is this: I will read the two remaining cases that will be covered in class. I will do the required work to complete the group project. That is it. I have test tomorrow evening. I still have not opened up the textbook. Let the experiment begin.

UPDATE: Success!! No studying or extra work was involved and pulled off a decent grade.

Keeping The Door Open

15 Nov

I’ve been in some form of post-secondary institute off and on for the past ten years. I’ve tried social sciences at university, art school, business administration at college, dance school, and now finally back to business administration at a technical institute. It seems that I’m one of those people who goes to school. Truthfully, I hate school. Hate it.

I’m so often frustrated with the classes I take. I struggle to see the relevance of it all. I feel like the one thing that I’ve taken away from all of the classes is how to play the game. You learn to figure out what the teacher wants and you satisfy that with the least amount of effort as possible. I don’t believe that is the real purpose of higher education. But in reality, it’s a transferable skill that will serve one well in life.

Higher education came up in conversation twice today.

First, a friend whose education background is not directly related to her current career told me that the one thing she has taken away from her education was the ability to solve problems. She can be given a task and find a way to figure out how to do it.

Second, I mentioned to my boyfriend how all I really needed to do was pass my class. He said, yes, but what about my grade point average? In reality, I don’t see myself going on to do a MBA or going on to do any higher education beyond my BBA. We then debated back and forth. I’ll admit that his reasoning made sense. Who knows what my future holds. Keeping my GPA up and finishing my degree will keep doors open. I’ve always been a believer about taking what opportunities present themselves in life. With that mindset, it makes sense to do everything in my power to keep all the doors open.

I think in some way we’re all saying the same thing. Problem solving skills or learning to play the game, it’s all going in the same direction. Opening doors. Creating opportunities. In my struggle to stay focused and continue taking classes I will try to keep the doorways in my mind. A reminder that there is a purpose to it all.

Chocolate Pear Upside Down Cake

12 Nov

I found a recipe on Epicurious for Upside-Down Pear Chocolate Cake. I decided to whip this up on Friday evening before heading out for drinks with friends. The weekend is usually when I have friends over for a quick cup of tea or a game of Scrabble. And if nobody ends up coming over, well, then you’ve got a snack for the weekend without having to go to Dairy Queen.

And whipping something up like this, like it’s no big deal, makes you seem like quite the catch. You do have to be careful to have the chocolate wiped off your face and that there’s no sugar crystals from the caramel dried in your hair. It’s not attractive. I learned this lesson the hard way.

I had three pears at varying degrees of ripeness, so I decided to use them all and see how the textures compared. The recipe called for ripe but firm pears. My preference was actually for the very ripe pear. It was easier to eat with a fork and the texture of the pear and cake went well together. The size of the pear slices varied as well. It made for a less “perfect” look. I ended up fitting them in the pan where they would fit in a very anti-Martha way.

The making and baking of the cake went quite well. I don’t yet have a stand mixer, so I had to use a hand mixer. Mine is on its way out and only works on the high setting. This only became problematic when I had to mix the cocoa powder in. This resulted in a large plume of cocoa powder rising in the air as the mixer attempted to mix the flour mixture with the sugar and chocolate. This is when things got messy and I ended up with chocolate on my face.

The baked cake came out looking perfect. It almost seemed a shame to turn it upside down.

Now this was the tricky part…and where I approached near cake disaster. I thought I had read to leave the cake upside down with the pan on top to cool for five minutes. After rereading the recipe I realized the cake should be sitting on the pan. I thought “oh I’ll just flip it back over”. It was midway through this flip that I realized this was a bad idea. The whole cake came flopping out on to the cooling rake. Amazingly it stayed in tact with only a few side pieces falling off.

I then managed to just slide the whole cake on to a plate. I’m yet to acquire a cake stand. In my mind, I’m waiting for the most beautiful, most perfect cake stand I can find. And also the funds to buy it.

I must say the cake is quite delicious. Perfect with a glass of milk. It is fairly sweet and I wonder if the caramel is required. Or maybe just half of the caramel? I will remember this for next time. I will make it again, and this time not nearly the dump the cake upside-down, or rather, right side-up.

TRUEsday

10 Nov

Tuesdays are a special day of the week for me and a few of my friends. It all started with a conversation I had with a friend about relationships and focusing on being true to ourselves. It is so easy to stray from this when we are being bombarded by life. Each of us have so many different things to keep in balance that being true to yourself can easily be forgotten.

Often these requests are all positive things. For me personally, I work, I go to school, I play sports, I take dance class, I have different groups of friends, and I have a boyfriend. I would never want to sacrifice putting full effort into any one of these things, but I know that I cannot being fully present to each without taking time for myself.

In an effort to not forget about ourselves, we came up with a code word that we can use to remind each other. TRUE. For some reason we always capitalize it. We remind each other to make TRUE decisions and to do something TRUE for ourselves…every TRUEsday. Our first TRUEsday was spent making something that would remind us of this. I painted this little canvas that I hang by the door. It reminds me every time I leave the house to be TRUE to myself.

Other TRUE activities have involved baking, spending time with a friend, dancing, or simply going to bed early. The most important part of TRUEsday for me is being conscious of the decisions I’m making and how they affect me. Little by little I’m noticing TRUEsday spilling out into other days of the week. And in the words of Martha “that’s a good thing”.

The Gift of "Being Okay"

6 Nov

My body has an odd way of telling me to slow down. Sometimes it’s a migraine, other times it’s vertigo, eczema or even a cold. The past two years I have suffered from a midterm exam back spasm. Last year it was so bad that I could barely walk, let alone work. I had to resort to the type of painkillers and muscle relaxants that make your face go numb.

This past week, I could feel it coming. Each day the sore lower back and a painful neck increased. I kept going. And going. And going. From one activity to the next. Counting down the weeks left of school (there’s six) and thinking of how I will do things next semester to not be so busy.

But still, it was Thursday. My allergies were killing me. In November. What is there to be allergic to in November? My back was still aching and stiff. My neck tweaked every time I stepped. I was exhausted.

I made it through the day at work. I made it through class. And I finally made it home. I had survived. But there was still one more day left in the week and a full weekend of class and studying. My apartment was a mess with a week’s worth of dishes sitting on the counter and a bathroom that hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. I was facing that dreaded feeling of “I can’t do it all!”

So Friday morning came round. I was still stuffed up and had a raspy throat. I went straight to the computer and wrote an email to my supervisor saying I wouldn’t be in. I needed a day of rest.

Unless I’m on death’s doorstep, I always feel guilty calling in sick. Yet, I needed to do just what I said I was going to do. Rest. I slept in for several more hours before moving to the couch with a sleeping bag. I finally rose from there at around 2:00. It ended up being a day of catching up. I caught up on sleep, chores, and studying.

At what point is it okay to call in sick? Is exhaustion being sick? If you’re exhausted, you’re at greater risk of getting sick. If you’re exhausted, you’re not going to be effective at work. In my opinion, those personal, mental health days are as important to take as staying home when you’re down with a flu.

I’m still tired, my back is still store and I’m still sneezing, but I have an odd sense that it’s all going to be okay. That is what my sick day gave me. The gift of “being okay” despite all that life throws at me.

Moving out, moving on.

2 Nov

I’ve wanted to start a blog for a while, but not until now have I had the confidence and desire to take the plunge. Feeling unsure about what I would write, I first timidly mentioned my desire to start one to my then boyfriend. His reaction was not the positive support I was looking for. Instead he said “What are you going to write? ‘Went to work, went to school, ate dinner, fell asleep?’” Admittedly I’m terribly busy and may struggle to find the time to post, but this was just one of the signs that something needed to change.

Since that exchange, many things have changed. I’ve moved out and moved on. Part of that process involved discovering “me” again and realizing all the things that I find interesting and all that I have to say.

In the early stages of breaking up, there was much excitement around the possibilities that the dating world held. It had been six years since I was last single. A lot of things had changed. Many friends encouraged me to start a blog documenting my dating experiences. I considered this and thought maybe this was the key to my long awaited blog. This idea didn’t last long as a friend introduced me to one of her co-workers. All of a sudden I was “going steady” and being swept off my feet.

As I entered into a new relationship I wanted to make sure that I was presenting the true me. Being honest about what I enjoy and I what I don’t and being comfortable with that became a goal. A recurring theme kept appearing. I really am the world’s youngest senior citizen. I moved to a neighbourhood notorious for its senior citizen population. I usually bake each weekend. I always have a knitting project on the go. I love kitchen appliances and “as seen on TV” products. (FYI, London Drugs has a section!) Friday nights are usually spent falling asleep on the couch by 10:30.

I’ve also become a Twitter addict in the past few months. I’ve discovered many people who blog and many people who share similar interests in crafts and food. All of this has led me jump right into the blogging world. Despite my hectic schedule and lack of free time, starting this blog is something that I want to do. For me. For the true me.

Hopefully my posts won’t be too far apart or incoherent due to lack of sleep. And hopefully I’ll have the confidence to tell people about the blog. Some of the best advice I’ve received in recent months is “Get confident, stupid.” So here it goes…The World’s Youngest Senior Citizen’s Blog. Enjoy!

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.