Future-nicity

Ok, instead of a giant long update as to what's happened over the past... oh... almost 2 months since I last blogged, I'm giving a quick update and a look into the future. So... Update!

1) I have 20/20 vision now. Actually, better in 1 eye. It's amazing, but the full implication of never having to take out contacts again hasn't quite hit me yet.

2) Mike Nickel didn't get elected. hooray! I never knew so many people read my blog. hahaha.

3) I finished my job at municipal affairs and now know more about municipal elections than is really necessary. They also gave me a delicious assortment of second cup goodies on my last day. Deliceux.

4) I have a fancy new 8800 blackberry and a shmancy new laptop. So I now have 2 blackberries. One for personal and one for work. I'm completely aware that it's the dorkiest thing ever and might change things if I feel like having both is tremendously excessive.

5) I work from home now most of the time. I heart pyjamas.

6) Leah is into her last month-ish of her pregnancy with my future neice(s)/nephew(s). So exciting!

 

Now.... Future!

1) We're planning girls night and this year looks like it could be pretty epic. A one night stay at the River Cree Casino should make for a memorable night.

2) I'm looking forward to more time at home in my pyjamas, while sipping my warm coffee in the morning and, of course, working. Best set up ever!

3) Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. It's time to put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny, a hay penny will do. If you haven't got a hay penny then god bless you.

4) Heroes and the office are some of the best shows ever, but I'm more than happy to go without them during this writer's strike so that they're treated more fairly.

That's all for now! I think I'm going to try to make more random postings on here with fun things that I find on the internet. Why? Because fun things are fun to share.

I'm Right in My Element

Well, nomination day has passed and the municipal elections are officially upon us. I’m much, much, much closer to the issues this election and I understand more than one side an argument. I’m also lucky enough to be in Ward 5. The reason that I’m happy to be here is that this means I get a deciding vote on whether Mike Nichol is voted back onto council. I’m a one woman anti-Mike Nichol campaign. He is the councilor that administration and the rest of council cannot stand. The one where, if you know the way he operates, you wonder how on earth people could possibly ever vote him into office.

I don’t believe he’s out there for Edmonton – I think he’s doing this for himself. It’s for the power and future political possibilities. He managed to get the LRT extension, the 23 Ave interchange and a giant rec centre for his ward over the term. He may have worked hard for them, but when it came time to make the tough call and vote on the budget, he voted against passing the budget. It means that politically he can say he never voted for a tax increase, or for any unreasonable expenditures, when in fact his ward is responsible for close to a billion dollars worth of amjor capital projects in the next 1-3 years. Voting against the budget also means that he voted against everything the city would do; including those major projects within his ward. As you can imagine, the other councilors are not thrilled with the man that cheapens their tough decisions in an effort to publicize his easy one.

It’s also no secret that it’s likely he will run for mayor in 2010 if he gets onto council once more. Would I want a person so divisive in a chair where you need to be able to ensure council can work together and build consensus? Would I want that kind of person being an elected leader of my city at all? Nope. That’s why I’d much rather have Don Iveson replace him. Vote for Don!

As for other wards:
Ward 6 – Chin Wei Okelu is a great candidate who knows his stuff. He works at municipal affairs doing municipal dispute resolution and is fully aware of what being on council entails.

Ward 4 – Everyone wants Michael Phair’s seat and they have 15 people vying for it. Have fun with that!

Ward 2 – Kim Krushell is amazing and takes the job for the good of the city. If they vote her out, they’ll be sorry.

For all your Edmonton voting needs, check out edmontonelection.ca

Hardisty – My Dad was acclaimed as councilor in Hardisty!!! I’m the proud daughter of a town councilor.

Bad Blogger! Bad!

Ok, So I’ve been ignoring my blog a bit lately. Since I haven’t been blogging for all that long, I think I’m learning that my attention to it goes in waves. I’m conscious of it. I’m sure I’ll write more often again soon enough.

Anyway, I have some big updates!

1) I’ve had my anniversary of being in my apartment by myself. Woohoo! I love my apartment. Though it lacks a balcony, I love that everything in it is mine and I don’t have to share it with anyone. It’s the 4th child syndrome; I’m NOT going to share anymore!!!

2) I have some wicked job opportunities that I’m looking at. More on that once I know something for certain and I have a contract in my anxious little hands.

3) I bought myself a shiny new gym pass. The YMCA is reasonably priced, especially considering a pool comes with the deal and it’s a new building. I only wish I could afford a premium membership, because then I would get a child-free locker room, a tv and newspaper in the locker room, towel service, hot tub and all the products that one could ever need to get ready. $80 is a bit too steep for me at this point, but it would be so nice to have all that!

4) MY SISTER IS HAVING TWINS!!!! Very very exciting. I’m going to be a double auntie, not just a single auntie. I’m even more excited that Leah is having the twins and not me. Genetics pays attention to whether or not your siblings have had twins when it figures out if you will, right? Haha… riiiiight. At this stage of my life, being over the moon about babies is awesome when it’s my sister, not so awesome when it’s about me. So YAY for Leah and Chris!

Anyway, that's all for now. If you'd like to reminisce about good old Ralph and remember the days where, even if the policy sucked, at least he was entertaining, HERE is a great article to inspire you to do so.

Grown-Up Goodness

It’s always funny how your things change as you get a bit older. There are the shifts from Barbie to Babysitter’s Club; from popular to indie and my current one, from young adult to actual adult.
An actual adult, in my mind, is self-sustaining. My rent, my car, my apartment, my insurance (my stuff is worth insuring?), my job, my decisions and my time are all my own. I control all of them and am completely responsible if one/all gets screwed up. Thinking about this when I was still in the protective cocoon of parent-subsidized living during university, I remember being slightly freaked out at having that much responsibility for my own life. What do you mean I have to pay ALL of my bills EVERY month? I’ll never make enough money for that! I have to cook ALL of my food? I have to use a Laundromat to do my laundry? I thought that came built in with any living arrangement.

However, it turns out that it’s great! Those questions that seemed scary five years ago are a non-issue. In fact, I kind of like the Laundromat. I have a nice TV, I like all the stuff that surrounds me and I get to make my own decisions.

Which brings me to the inspiration for this post: I am about to make the single largest purchase in my life so far and I made the decision without needing to consult with anyone on it. I talked to a couple of people about it, sure, but I didn’t need anyone to talk me into or out of it. On Nov. 1, Stephanie Betts will be able to see without glasses for the first time since grade one. Not being a candidate for lasik, I will be getting Implantable Contact Lenses (ICL) put into my eyes, below my cornea, and right on top of my own lens. I’ll be able to see!!! My brain has yet to fully comprehend what it will be like to not have to keep track of contacts, glasses and keeping prescriptions filled. Awesome will probably be what it is like.

It’s a biiiig expense; it’s my responsibility and I’m really excited about my decision. Being a grown up rulez! I’m going to be able to see!

PS. Everybody should check out the article Ed wrote about my friend Andy. This journalist is so in love with Andy and Aaron that I think he wants to have their babies. That’s how cool Andy is.

The Week's Recap

Well, It’s been a fairly eventful week!

Last weekend, Brett and I headed out to Jasper to do some hiking and camping for a night. We arrived in Jasper and found our great campsite, except for all of the mosquitoes. It was a walk-in site for tenting, so it wasn’t crowded at all and it backed onto a path leading straight to a river bed. After setting up camp, we were off to the Valley of the Five Lakes, a 9km hike just south of Jasper townsite. It was a perfect afternoon to go, with it being sunny, but never too hot that we were uncomfortable. After hotdogs, an epic card game of War, an uncomfortable sleep and pancakes made on the fire, we headed back towards Edmonton and more specifically, showers.

Upon returning from camping, I was filled with anticipation for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be waiting at my door. I was ready to sequester myself away and finish it as soon as possible. However, the only thing I returned to was a message from Amazon saying that they had shipped my book on Sunday. I went a little cooky during the week as my friends all finished it before I had even received my copy, but then Wednesday came and at long last, it was mine. My own… My precioussssss…..

Ahem… anyway….

24 hours and 400 pages later, my mind was starting to fry and I decided that it would be good for me to put it down for a while. So when Brett suggested heading to Capital Ex, I thought “perfect!” However, before I went to bed on Friday, it was totally finished.

Anyway, that brings me to Capital Ex, CapEx, K-Days, CapE, Capitex, whatever you feel like calling it. It’s close to the same old thing it’s ever been, but here are the rules I have gathered for myself over the years, with a new addition this year:


1) Watch the people. You have no clue how many unattractive people live in Edmonton until you attend this thing. I even contemplated starting a tally of how many people I saw that I couldn’t tell what sex they actually were.
2)Watch the fashion. I saw everything from see-through pants, to fanny packs, to hordes of sluttily-dressed teenagers.
3)The games are always a rip-off. Who wants a 4 foot tall stuffed spiderman that smells like carnie, anyway?
4)*NEW* Anything can be deep fried. Just because it can, doesn’t mean that it should. The deep fried coke seemed nothing more than deep fried dough with coke poured on top. Cheesecake is rich and good on its own. Why deep fry it? That’s my main question with this trend: Why?

Anyway, that’s all for this week, folks. I’ll see you on the flip side!

1991 Toyota Corolla

It’s the end of an era. Tuesday evening rolled around and I returned home after a long day at work and some drinks with the girls. As I walk out my back door to leave again, there is a car missing from a spot that is always full. It takes me only a half second to realize that the corolla, the car that symbolized my teenage years, is gone. I had scheduled for the Kidney Association to come and pick it up, so it wasn’t any kind of surprise, but there was still a little strain on my heart when I realized it was no longer in my life.

The car was never that great; it was never that bad. It gave me freedom in high school and reliability all the way through university (not to mention a few fights over sharing it with a certain sister. Haha!). It saw me through so many events and trips that I can’t help but be sad to see it gone. It’s kind of like losing a friend; a friend that you never actually liked all that much, but you got so used to having around that you feel a little empty when they are no longer there.

Goodbye old car. Trusty old corolla. Thanks for getting me out of that ditch and all the good times. I’ll miss you and I’ll always remember to ‘Mind the Gap’.

Birthdays and Laziness

Okay, so I've been a little lazy with the blog lately, as one or two people may have noticed. I blame it on a combination of it's too hot to do anything, my life isn't very exciting right now, facebook taking over the planet (and my mind) and lack of inspiration as of late.

But my life hasn't been all that boring lately. Last weekend was my birthday and I had a really good weekend. My birthday party was nothing if not memorable as we went and played at the space and science center before going to see Lazer Floyd. That's right, Pink Floyd's The Wall set to a laser show in the star theatre. Imagine the Window's Media Player graphics taken to epic proportions. That's what it made me think of. A little odd, but a one of a kind experience.

Anyway, after learning about dinosaurs, the human body and space travel, playing a floor piano and developing a slight case of ADD, we all headed out to Burger Delux. You should all go there. Like now. Stella Artois battered onion rings. Served in mini shopping carts. The thickest burger you'll be able to find in the city. Cotton Candy served instead of an after dinner mint. It's fantastic and delicious and my mouth is drooling just thinking of it.

Oh and we also solved a mystery that night. Remeber the ball machines that used to be strategically placed around West Edmonton Mall? The ball moved through a giant glass box hitting xylophones, going for loop-da-loops, setting off wind chimes, teeter totters and a hundred other things some bored mechanical engineer came up with. They were things of wonder and a kid could stand there for a half hour entranced by the motions of a small little ball. One day they were no longer present at the mall. What happened to them? Well, there is one located at the front entrance to the Telus World of Science. It wasn't running when we saw it, but it made me happy just to see it again and to know that it did, indeed, still exist.