Sleep deprivation

Oh, to be able to sleep soundly. I have been having a hell of a week trying to get enough sleep. Maybe 2 of the last 5 nights have been good nights' sleeps. Yesterday was bad. I was so sleepy and exhausted (mentally that is), that I actually was snappy at Nathan. Now I'm sure some of you think, so what? Well, we're NEVER snappy at each other. It was only once and it was such a little thing to snap about, but I felt completely horrible the instant I did it. He said it was fine and actually kind of funny, but I still felt bad.

The last 2 weeks have been all over the map for me. My grandmother passing away, my mom leaving to go to Denmark, Nathan's parents almost 100% convinced they're moving to Nova Scotia, the truck not working, working, not working, deadlines at work creeping closer, contemplating changing jobs, the pool at the U having some sort of mechanical problem so no DWW class, etc., etc. I'm hanging on to my sanity and my temper by a thread here people! I resort to using my earphones at work, all day, every day, so I won't completely wig out on certainly guys at work.

I want it to be the 26th of April!! I want to go to France and relax for 3 weeks. At the moment, I'll admit I'm kind of in avoidance mode. I want to go away and forget about all of this, deal with it later. I know some of it will be resolved before we go, but at the moment, I feel like turtling.

And I need to buy some new capris. And socks.

To find the words

For more than a week now I have been trying to find the words to say goodbye to my grandmother. This has been much harder for me this time around, probably due to worry. I worry about my aunt, who has lost both her parents, her uncle and her husband in the space of about 9 months. I worry about my mom, who is in Denmark right now, dealing with the huge task of cleaning out her mom's little room at the nursing home and sorting all the stuff that was packed away after Morfar died last summer.

I'm sad Mormor is gone, but at the same time, I'm glad it was a peaceful passing and now she can be with Morfar. After living so long with one person (more that 65 years), it must have been extremely hard for her to be without him. But now they are together again, and I can almost feel them out there somewhere watching over all of us.

Goodbye.

Rest In Peace

It is with heavy heart that I must announce the passing of my dear friend, Strawberry Blue Viking. (For those of you that don't remember, SBV is my ipod)

SBV passed away suddenly on Wednesday night. He was an innocent, caught in the crossfire of a floor and a badminton net pole. For clarity: I hung my coat with SBV in the pocket on a badminton net pole at the university. Said pole promptly fell over with a crash to the floor.

I did not discover this tragedy until this morning, when I whipped out my trusty friend on the bus and discovered one of the headphones was cracked. Disappointing, but replaceable. Then I looked at the screen. A mess of broken digital inkiness. Sigh... So I had to listen to the lady with the bubbly belly laugh all the way downtown.

Time to shop for a new friend I guess... and quick. I can't stand that lady's laugh.

Tah Dah!

I just found this cool template online! Isn't it perfect? Ever so cute and just in time for spring. Do any of you html savvy people know how to center the blog in the window?

I got the Family Tree Maker software yesterday and had a lot of fun playing with it. It's very good and extremely easy to use. I'm excited about this project. I can't wait to have everything organized and clear (to me anyway!). If you're thinking of doing a family tree, I can recommend this program, even after just one day of usage. Very cool.

But now it might be time for a bed and a book. I had a headache for most of the day (related to the icky perfumey body wash I bought I think), and then I went and swam laps and then I shoveled the walk while Nathan cooked dinner. I am completely exhausted! But in a good way...

Places to go...

Nathan keeps giving me such good blog ideas! After looking at his list of things that he wants to do/see before he dies, I started thinking about my own list. Mine consists mostly of places to go, not surprisingly. I think I must have wanderlust. Anyway, here is the start of my list.

Ride the Trans Siberian Railway. I want to do this so bad! All the way from Moscow to Vladivostok. I don't know what season I want to do it in, but the whole thing sounds so adventurous and romantic.

Go North. In a similar vein, I would like to travel up to northern Canada. The Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut. Mostly, I think I want to see the landscape and the wildlife. Especially the musk ox. They're so cute and shaggy!

Walking tour of Spain. This actually fits quite nicely with Nathan's desire to go on a pilgrimage, and we didn't even plan it that way! I have a Lonely Planet book that is exclusively walking tours and they all look absolutely amazing. Now to pick one...

Australia. I want to go back just as a tourist. I want to go back to Adelaide and Uluru and then I want to go down the west coast. I know that the Great Barrier Reef is on the east coast, but the west is so wild and untamed and unpopulated that I think I would like it better. The natural land formations are amazing.

Fiji. I only stopped there for an hour on my way to Australia, but I've been in love with it ever since. The sunrise was beautiful, the airport was so quaint, and it just had an atmosphere that seeped into my soul. Must go there during the day next time.

Go on an African Safari. I don't care where. So long as there's hippos, I'll be happy. Lots and lots and LOTS of hippos. And yes, I know they won't let me cuddle them.

Develop our family tree. My uncle in Denmark has traced a branch of our family to way back in the middle ages (15th or 16th century, I can't remember) and I would like to expand on what he's done. Also, I'd like to do it was software program so we don't have to worry about losing a page or something. Inspired by these ideas, I bought a program on Amazon yesterday. It's even got website publishing software on it, to publish your findings. I'll keep you posted!

Become a gardener. I will make no aspirations to becoming a GOOD gardener, but I want to be one. I like to play in the dirt and watch things grow. Still hoping this will be my hobby.

Have a dog. I want one of my own. I want to do agility with it and cuddle it and love it. Must restrain myself....

And the big one...

Have a low stress, enjoyable, flexible, well paying job. 'Nuff said.

Well, that's my list so far. Like I said, mostly places to go, but I think it's all attainable eventually. I'd like to tick off the low stress job sooner rather than later, but that requires a certain effort by myself that I'm not quite willing to do yet. For the moment I can cope and my job has 2 of the 4 characteristics: well paying and enjoyable. Of course, the high stress has a negative impact on the enjoyability....

The world awaits. Travel safe!

Snore....

Is it 4:30 yet? I'm really sure it's time to go home now. Besides, all day yesterday I was convinced it was Friday, so that makes today Saturday and I'm working overtime, right? Sigh... I know, it doesn't really work that way. I can hope though...

Joy of joys, I'm going to do my taxes this weekend. I think I will make time for an afternoon nap on Saturday. Mmmmm, nap.

I guess I should at least LOOK like I'm working. The Blogger website just doesn't look like work, no matter how hard I try. Only and hour and a half left...