It's just.... lunch?

Today, after working a few hours at another person's desk, I went back to my own to find a few pieces of mail there. The first one was about some AutoCAD offer, the second from some vendor and the last was about... lunch. I turned it over only to feel my face slowly burn while reading the words, "It's just lunch. Intelligent dating". It was worse because my co-worker was standing next to me. I immediately threw it into the garbage can because I didn't want something like that sent to me at work. That was incredibly embarrassing. In case you don't know what that business is, they basically play matchmaker for busy professionals and set you up with someone for lunch. They hope that you find your soulmate, and that you pay them oodles of money if you do. I fly quite a bit, and these ads are always in the Air Canada, Delta, and Continental magazines. I've seen them before. In fact I have been on their website because I was curious to see what kind of people were on it but I never gave my personal information. I'm not sure if it was a cruel joke but quite honestly there's nothing I love more than for a piece of mail like that to make it's way through the office, with my name on it, and for a half dozen people to see it. Good grief.

In the past week, there has been an insane surge in engagement announcements and nuptials taking place. Two in the past week, one of which was my very dear Meeha. Don't get me wrong-- I'm incredibly happy that she and her hubby tied the knot. They are down to earth, and have neither suffered from smug-married couple syndrome nor gushy lovey duvey romantic garbage. They have what everyone hopes to have, or hope that their relationship will be like or become. It is rare to find two people so made for each other and so in love. Already going about 9 years strong (?) and never wavering, they will certainly have a long and fulfilling life together.

During the wedding I cried a lot. It was of course a constant, "I'm so happy for her and her husband", overlayed with the speeches that R and Aud gave and then mixed with the question and fear as to whether I would be so lucky. Then I cried harder! Ha ha ha. With 6 weddings taking place next year, sometimes it feels a little bleak that I will have the same good fortune. Then again I haven't been so interested in dating so I'm not helping myself either. One time I asked James whether or not he believed luck/destiny in the ways of love existed. If memory serves me correctly, amidst all the James-speak, it was a no. I'm not quite sure what to make of it-- part of me believes that eventually I'll run into the right person, and the other part of me believes that it is close to impossible. Obviously many people in my life have already found their special person-- count is at 6 weddings next year, a few engagements just happened and couples are shacking up at a rate of 1 per day. But there is a huge number of singletons out there. So why are the odds against people like me?

Bang-trasophe!

If there's nothing worse than a I-need-to-hide-my-head-in-a-paper bag bad haircut, it's the I-need-to-hide-my-head-in-a-paper bag bad bang cut.

For some sort of reason I felt possessed to cut my bangs. Actually I've been thinking about it for a while, something a little different to change things up a bit-- after all, it's just hair right? It'll grow back, right?

I think this is the first time I actually regret doing anything to my hair (maybe next to the time I gave my hairdresser permission to shave part of my head).

1) it was cut too short, and
2) it's just ugly.

My sole objective was to look like one of those hip and hot girls downtown, the trendsetter types. I am certainly anything but that :'( My face and hair could make small children cry. My bangs are so straight, I have to be careful not to cut my face. All traces of hotness has evaporated from my body.

I had wanted to go to the hair dressing place my sister frequents, but because it was closed, I ended up going to some random one. That is the last time I choose to do that. So for those folks that will see me in the next week, laugh your heart out. Ha ha ha, that's the amount of time it'll take for my bangs to grow out a bit! And hopefully by then it'll be A-okay again.

Yes, please ignore the previous post. I was stung by a wasp earlier that day, and it wasn't until a few hours later that I was finally able to take some meds to relieve the excruciating pain and swelling. Let's just say they were starting to kick in just after I posted yesterday's entry!

Bully Selling....

When I first started to look for a condo I was so incredibly excited but within a month or two it had grown steadily sour. It's not easy finding property to buy! My Uncle and I have gone and seen quite a few places and today we put in our second offer. I have no idea what the hell is going on, but the price which people are willing to pay is astronomical.

The question that we've been asking for every unit we see or choose to put an offer into is, "how much is it worth?". Is it worth the $270k, or $260k it's listed for? Or even that unit that's listed at $239k? Well honestly it doesn't even matter becuase everything I've ever been interested in has sold for $20k-$30k more than what I have offered. I guess the question we should be asking is, "how much will it take to get this place?" But is that even the right way to go? There is a large group of people who are rushing to buy because they like me still have their low interest rate locked in. However, even with that low rate, are they seriously gettinig ahead and getting a good deal if they pay $30k over asking?

I'm going on vacation soon, so it's not that feasible to buy a place next week and be able to complete the paper work efficiently. I'm planning on looking in August for the month, but after that I will have to take a break until October since I will be in Edmonton in September for work. I'm sure the math and time will work in my favour. If interest rates are slightly higher and no one is looking to buy, then I could probably get a good deal on a unit.

I Dream of Africa

The past week, I had been working on my application for this company sponsored volunteer program to Kenya. Only two weeks long, I figured it would be the best opportunity to get a taste of travelling to Africa. If I get selected, I would be one of twelve people in an international team chosen for an all expenses paid, fully escorted trip to help out a small village in Kenya. It's not supposed to be a vacation, but rather two weeks of hard labour doing construction, hauling around supplies, working with the school and families, and a lot of homework at the same time. I've always thought about doing something like this, but I could never find anything like a two week duration.

Anyway, what I wanted to say was that it took me a really long time to answer the very simple questions they were asking me. If it's one thing that I've always found difficult, it's knowing which words to use and articulating yourself in the best way possible. I want to go on this trip, so how do I answer them so that I'm honest but sell myself in a way so they select me?

However, there are some instances where it doesn't matter which words you choose, they just always get you into shit anyway and it always deals with the parental units. As Nids explained simply, they are more difficult to understand than men. I quite agree! Oh like a million times over.

So I hope that I get to go to Kenya. I met a guy a few weeks back who recently finished med school and he told me that he had been in Africa for a few years. I'm not sure if I could ever make that commitment, but I imagine it to be a place where no matter what I say (unless it's absolutely offensive), people will be happy and grateful that I'm there, and where I'm just as happy to be there helping them.