2012 in Review

1. What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before?
Bought a house. Went to Las Vegas. Went to the Grand Canyon.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't think I made any. I don't usually make them.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?
The US of A.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
Passionate sex.

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
February 27 - taking possession of the house. February 28 - moving day. July 11 - an explosion at work.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Becoming a homeowner.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Leaving too much of the packing to the last minute.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yep. I sprained my right knee in the spring and injured my left rotator cuff in the fall.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A two bedroom townhouse.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My sister, for getting me to go on vacation with her, and I had a lot more fun than I expected to. She accepts me and validates me like nobody else has.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Anyone who shot another person (excluding in self-defense).

14. Where did most of your money go?
The house.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My garden.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2012
Call Me Maybe, The Water is Wide, Now Westlin Winds

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
I. happier or sadder? Both.
II. richer or poorer? Well, I have more assets. And less disposable income.
III. fatter or thinner? I think I'm a little thinner, since cutting down on gluten.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Packing, in January.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Waiting to see if my course reimbursement papers had been received.

20. How will you be spending the holidays?
I went to Edmonton and spent Christmas with my sister and her family.

21. How will you be spending New Year's?
I watched movies and I lit sparklers in my backyard at midnight.

22. Did you fall in love in 2012?
No.

23. How many one-night stands?
None.

24. What was your favourite TV program?
The New Girl. Grey's Anatomy plummeted in my personal ratings.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No.

26. What was the best book you read?
Wheat Belly by William Davis.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I already knew Kevin McKidd had a good voice, but The Speyside Sessions, which he had a hand in, is fantastic and expanded my knowledge of Scottish folk music.

28. What did you want and get?
A house. A garden.

29. What did you want and not get?
We didn't have time to see Donny & Marie in Las Vegas.

30. What was your favourite films of this year?
The Hobbit. I really enjoyed Brave, but it lost me during the middle because of where the plot went.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I just went to work. I went out to lunch with coworkers. I was 46 (still am).

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I should've dug out my light therapy box in September, to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder. I've been feeling depressed this fall and that needs to stop.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Same as usual - comfortable.

34. What kept you sane?
My sister, my friends, my kitties, my garden.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Kevin McKidd.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Not wanting the Wildrose Party to take power in the provincial election. They are too conservative and clearly have issues with same-sex marriages and abortion. They didn't take power. I voted PC for the first time, as it was the best vote against the incumbent Wildrose member. Wildrose won by 26 votes.

37. Whom did you miss?
My family to the East, particularly my oldest nephew.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Sarah. a coworker who calls me Sunshine and hugs me a lot. I'm not happy she's leaving.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012
I need to remember to bloom where I am planted.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
May it be the shadow's call
Will fly away
May it be you journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun

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Seven Things About Me

I was tagged on LiveJournal, and am reporting here.

I got tagged: Choose seven random things about yourself, then tag five other people.

1. I was tricked into auditioning for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in university. I knew I was tone deaf, so when a person encouraged me to try out, I asked her if there were non-speaking parts, and she said "yes" in order to get me to come to the audition. The truth is, there are about two spoken sentences and everything else is sung.
2. Obviously I wasn't prepared to sing at the audition. The director told the auditioners that "O Canada" was a good audition song. So I sang "O Canada" in French, because I'd memorized it in French class the previous year and it would make me different than the other people who sang it in English. I had a great time being in the chorus.
3. The next year, when auditioning for Godspell, I sang "Nothing" from A Chorus Line. It took chutzpah and a certain naiveness for me to do that. I had a great time being in the chorus.
4. I still haven't painted any rooms in my house. I realized that I'm still in the renter's mindset of not making drastic changes, so I'll paint a bathroom when I get back from Vegas.
5. I've submitted three photos to http://cat-shaming.tumblr.com. I love that blog!
6. This weird guy struck up a conversation with me at a C-train station last week. He mentioned that he works with special needs kids as some sort of inappropriate pick-up tactic. It didn't work.
7. I'm not going to tag anyone. I don't mind being tagged, but I get shy about tagging others. Besides, I have far more than five interesting people on my flist, how can I ever choose? :-)

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Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day, a photo by angelamermaid on Flickr.

Yes, that's my tattoo!

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On dumpster divers

I like Jess onThe New Girl. I like that she's brave enough to be so quirky. I like that she always wants to believe the best of everyone she meets.

I thought of her while bagging up my recyclables tonight. I haven't been to the bottle depot in years - it's just not worth driving to one and then standing in line, clutching my one garbage bag, behind five different people with at least five bags of bottles and cans.

So I leave my bags by the dumpster in my parking lot. They disappear quickly. Often, if I see a dumpster diver and they don't give me the heebie-jeebies, I'll give them bottles from my car, or grab a half-full bag from my apartment and bring it out to them.

Only once have I seen dumpster divers that have given me the heebie-jeebies. One guy was in the dumpster, ripping apart bags with a creepy zeal, while his cronies were apparently standing guard. They got no bottles from me. But everyone else has. Like Jess, I tell myself that they're good people and they need the bottles for good reasons. And if they want to go stand in line at the bottle depot, all power to them.

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2011 in Review

End of the Year Meme!

  1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before? 
Walked 16 km in one day. Screwed up my courage and got approved for a mortgage. Skyped with Kevin McKidd.

  2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions? 
Didn't make any.

  3. What will your New Year's resolutions be for next year? 
Not making any.

  4. Did anyone close to you give birth? 
Not very close - a coworker and a casual friend did.

  5. Did anyone close to you die? No, thank goodness.

  6. What countries did you visit?
 America! I went to California for the first time.

  7. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? My own home!

  8. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 
October 13 - found out I have ovarian cysts and that my health needs further investigating. And then I Skyped with Kevin McKidd later the same day. Kevin freakin' McKidd.

 October 15 - I walked into a pet store intending to get a new cat toy or two, and walked out with a kitten, a bag of kitty litter, a bag of kitten food, canned kittten food, and a couple of cat toys.

 And yes, I think the two days are related - I decided "fuck this worrying, I`m getting a kitten!"

  9. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 
Starting the home ownership process.

  10. What was your biggest failure?
Not speaking up sooner about how much I hated how my work environment had changed.

  11. Did you suffer illness or injury? 
I started 2011 recovering from cervical disk replacement surgery, so it got better from there. I did have a bout of cellulitis and my blood pressure got out of control, but with new medication, my blood pressure has stabilized.

  12. What was the best thing you bought?
Hermione. In non-feline matters, I'd say my desktop computer.

  15. Where did most of your money go? 
Besides rent, credit card debt reduction.

  16. What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
 Going to San Francisco and meeting three women I've known online for years. The Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, meeting William Shatner, Felicia Day, and lots of other cool people.

  17. What song will always remind you of 2011?
 "Fireworks" by Katy Perry. Because baby, I am a firework.

  18. Compared to this time last year, are you: ii. thinner or fatter?
 Thinner.

  iii. richer or poorer?
 Richer.

  19. What do you wish you'd done more of? 
Knitting - I owe a friend a scarf that he wanted to give his wife for this Christmas. I'm almost done ...

  20. What do you wish you'd done less of?
 Wasting time on my iPad.

  21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
 My sister.

  22. Did you fall in love in 2011? 
Not with a human.

  23. How many one-night stands?
0.

  24. What was your favourite TV program?
Ooooh, tough. Grey's Anatomy and Glee have been uneven and are no longer must-see TV. I'd say The Big Bang Theory has been the most consistently enjoyable show.

  25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
 No.

  26. What was the best book you read?
 The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure.

  27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
Lately I've rediscovered The Doobie Brothers and discovered Straight No Chaser. Seeing SNC in concert this March.

  28. What did you want and get? 
A HDTV. I bided my time, watched the flyers, and got a good deal.

  29. What did you want and not get?
Dressy boots that fit my calves.

  30. What were your favourite films of this year?
 I didn't go to a movie theatre this year. Tangled is my favourite new film.

  31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
 I started the day at my sister's house, then I came home via the bus. I was (and am) 45.

  32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
 Fantastic sex.

  33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
 Concealing.

  34. What kept you sane? 
Pain relievers.

  35. Which celebrity/public figure did you like the most? Least?
 I liked Kevin McKidd the most - he raised a lot of money for Save the Children by going online and engaging his fanbase. He used Twitter, Twitpics, and chats to interact with viewers and did a lot of good.

Least - Kim Kardashian. I don't watch any of her shows, I never clicked on any stories of her "dream wedding", and I think she's a load of crap and I want her to go away. That's why I installed the "Dash-Out (Kardashian Blocker)" extension for Chrome.

  36. What political issue stirred you the most? 
The federal election on May 2 was very important. I was thrilled by how the NDP became the official opposition for the first time, and heartbroken when Jack Layton died on August 22 after leading the NDP to new heights.

  37. Whom did you miss? 
My Bonnie kitty.

  38. Who was the best new person you met?
 I'm going to say Vee. She's a copywriter at work and loads of fun. Her actual name is Verity but she prefers Vee. She brought her friend to the Christmas party and we all danced a lot together.

  39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
 It's okay to speak up about being miserable about something.

  40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
  "I'm beautiful in my own way, Because God makes no mistakes."

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I am a blood donor

I was scheduled to give platelets this Saturday. Yesterday morning, Canadian Blood Services called and asked me to come in tonight, as I was a match. I figured this was a special request, and I agreed to do it, although I said I might be late. I prefer to donate on Saturdays so that I don't have to deal with downtown traffic. I got there half an hour early, actually, by avoiding the Deerfoot. I had cookies until a chair was ready for me. One of the nurses was the one who helped track me down as a match - they were having a hard time finding someone for this particular patient. When someone needs a match, it means that their health is often so precarious that they want to match as many antigens as possible, or reduce the risk of antibodies and clotting. As someone with AB+ blood, I don't have any antibodies to pass on, blood type wise (in platelets, I don't donate any red blood cells). This patient is a woman who is in the Foothills Hospital, with aplastic anemia, and she was born in 1981. As always, I mentally cast some blessings on my platelets and told them to go out and do good things. My own platelet count was unusually high - another nurse thinks it was turkey from Thanksgiving this weekend. Whatever the cause, I was only hooked up to the machine for 55 minutes - a new personal record. Once I got the call yesterday, I began to drink extra glasses of water to juice up my vein. My vein was in a terrific mood today.

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Moving In

I've been using http://angelamermaid.livejournal.com as my blog since 2003. I closed it to the public a year ago, out of a greater desire to minimize my online presence.

Then I realized that I was posting to a diminishing audience, as more and more people leave LJ. So ... here is my new blog. I post for me, not an audience, but at the same time, I don't like feeling like I'm posting in a vacuum.

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