Death Of a Hairclip

This black hairclip's life ended abruptly Saturday, January the Twenty-seventh. It was only a few weeks old.
The tragic event occurred after a long road-trip to Vancouver. Experts suspect that the clip was not packaged properly and was weakened after the bumpy ride. When forced into service the following day, it collapsed under the pressure.
In life it served the noble purpose of being exactly the right size and strength for my hair, and in death it shall be remembered as being the perfect clip.
Hairclip, you will be missed.

And replaced for $1.95 at Wal-mart.

Happy Birthday Ju!

Here's to the best cousin a girl could have!

Julie and I were born EXACTLY a week apart and spent years 0-5 inseperably, until my family moved away from Alberta into Kamloops. But that didn't stop us from growing up into awesome friends.
We've shared many MANY hilarious moments and have a limitless library of inside jokes (for example, the names "Herman", "Brandy", and "Hubert" will probably mean nothing to all of you, except her sisters might have some inkling...), both share a deep and abounding love for the Disney animated "101 Dalmations" (and you know what Ju, I LIKE Pongo, I never wanted to be Purdy anyway...), and we even began to write a joint best-seller, titled "Bearlock Holmes", featuring my favorite teddy. It was prime material, but we never did figure out who the killer was.
Its hard to believe we're 19 already, and not pretending to be buck-toothed rabbits inhabiting the Shuswap camping sites, or laughing hysterically over random little stick-people we carved. But we don't let that stop us from having a good time whenever we see each other, so here's to future visits, and to you, Ju. Thanks for all the memories!

Fun Weekend

To your left you can see a very interesting picture.
It is one of three pictures I took this last weekend (the other two were of the same subject*, but didn't turn out).
I'm developing a bad habit of not taking pictures of events in my life. I think I should hire someone to follow me around and photograph different moments of my life. I wonder if one day they'll invent a robot camera like that? That would be awesome! I would totally get one.
Anyway, the pictures that I didn't take, but should have, were of my Young Adults group as spent the weekend up at Loon Lake. It was soooo much fun!
We played "Apples to Apples" (of which I am the undefeated champion WITHOUT cheating, Ryan), ate scrumptious nachos, rode on GT's behind a truck, introduced two people to "The Princess Bride" (we were shocked and appalled they hadn't seen it yet), had pathetic snowball fights, and experienced life with minimal sleep and Mr Coffee.
Oodelally!
I'm going to miss the group so much when I head down to Homewood this March!

*Ryan created a tower of dominos that stayed upright for about 12 hours even though it was highly unstable!

iZombie

I do solemnly swear never to become an iZombie.
(By the way i never knew that was an actual coined word until I googled it. But what else is new?)

Nothing irks me more than otherwise normal, interesting people who choose to zone out and ignore the world around them by wearing head/earphones, and thus declare that their music is more important/interesting than anyone they might meet or talk to.

Ok, a loner of the bus can get away with it because let's face it, half the people on the bus your mother doesn't want you associating with anyway. But when you start to miss out on normal social interactions because you are tuned in to you ipod/mp3 player I think its time to put it away for a while and remember what life was like without an accompanying soundtrack.

So here's the news: I got an iPod nano for my birthday! Yay me! I love it. I really do. What an awesome gift! But I'm super paranoid I'm going to become an iZombie. I don't want to walk through my life ignoring everyone around me, interested in hearing only the things I choose to hear. I don't want people to feel that I'm only listening to them with one ear when they talk to me.

I will strive to only listen to my iPod when no one else requires my attention. If you see me turning into an iZombie, please, please, feel free to unplug me from my new toy and tell me. I'll be listening with both ears.

Thank God for Rational Parents

Honestly.
I was almost out of my mind last night. I'm such a freak-out prone person. As soon as this opportunity came up it send my head spinning in a million different directions.
For so long I've wanted to do something different, and go somewhere different, and try out my little almost-nineteen-year-old wings! This camp thing just seemed so convenient and it's come at such a good time, it sort of scared me. I've been talking about "flying away" for so long, now that the opportunity has come, I'm noticing lot of baby "feathers".
ANYWAY last night the only thing that kept me sane was my amazing parents. They gave me some really good advice, and sort of leveled my thoughts a bit.
So, with their input my tentative plan is to apply for the job in March, as opposed to February. I will spend most of February working at Tim Hortons some more, then take a week or so off to prepare myself for the move and such.
I talked to my manager today and told her February 16th will be my last day serving coffee.
So no matter if I DO got to the Island or not, I will not be at Timmy's past February 16th, which is a relief, and a step in the right direction I beleive.

Turmoil of the Worst Kind

Minus the gray hair (and the whole general apperance of this very frustrated woman, besides the fact that she is clutching her head), and you have a basic picture of myself.
As my career at Tim Hortons nears its close (I am giving notice...tomorrow? the day after? argh!) I am forced to look at other occuptational options.
In the distant future I was thinking of volunteering at Camp Homewood as an assistant cook for the Summer months. A couple nights ago I asked brother Mike (who works there full-time) to sort of test the waters for me in that department, and see if it looked promising.
Being the laid-back Islander he is, I wasn't expecting a response any time soon. I was mightily surprised to find that he had called this afternoon and left a message for me to call him back.
Well of course when I picked up the phone to do so, I got the "busy" signal. The same sound I heard every five minutes for the next hour and fifteen minutes! By then I was getting antsy. What did he have to say that made him call back so soon? It was totally unlike him!
Well when I DID finally get through, he said he had talked to the Director...and he was eager for me to come as early as February!!!
WHAT?!?!?!?!
That means I could be gone....soon! IF I go. But... but... but...
I'm totally ill-prepared mentally to leave so soon.
What about friends? Family? BEEBS! (i'd really, really, really, miss my little Beebs)
It wouldn't be a good move for making the moola, but I wouldn't be spending a lot either, so I could go either way financially.
And what if I hate it? I mean, I've cooked there before and its hard work, and I liked it...but what if I get sick of it? Would I be stuck there and hating it?
On the other hand:
What if I love it? What if moving away is just the sort of adventure I need right now? I'll get to explore the whole of Quadra Island with some of the funniest people on earth, I'll be closer to my good friend Karissa and possibly see her on weekends, and who knows I might meet someone during the summer that will want to go to Ireland with me!
I'm so confused. I need to think about this. Slowly. Thoroughly. Rationally.

AUUUUGHGHGHGHGHGH!!!!

Snow Camp 2007!

Last weekend the youth group went to Gardom Lake Bible Camp for the annual Snow Camp. And this year we had LOTS AND LOTS of snow!!! It was glorious! This meant that we spent a lot of time on their fantastic tube hill. Yes, Snow Camp is much more than tubing alone...but that was my favorite part! Above you can see the hill, it doesn't look so steep in the picture but it is quite scary when you're there.

We went whipping down that hill so fast! Here Angela is holding the remnants of the tube she was riding....AFTER they hit the tree! (no one died, so don't fuss)

Here you can see the classic beginning-of-the-end. The beginning of the hill was quite steep, so the top person would often slide off and consequently be squashed by everyone else as they took their turn (I was that person more often than not).Preparing to launch!!!

The Ultimate Face Wash.

Aftermath.

After a particularly painful wipe-out, I was sure I was bleeding somewhere. And my ear really hurt. When I returned to the lodge, I found out I had broken the stick of my earring (below) and it had scraped my earlobe badly (its scabbed over now, thanks for asking). Luckily, the earring was the only casualty of the weekend (besides the one tube).

WARNING!!! BLOOD!

Don't worry he was fine, just a little scratched up from a stick that was living quite peacefully until it was nastily disturbed by some rowdy children on a tube.

Wahhh....I don't want to go to Tim's tomorrow.

So...
I'm pretty sure I've told almost everyone I know (except -erk!- my boss) that I am quitting Tim Hortons THIS MONTH. I know without a doubt I need to move on from that...that...place.
The only thing holding me back is lack-of-another-job...and I admit I'm not the most diligent job-seeker. I can't think of anything that I could do that would be different from what I'm doing now and that I would like better. uuuugh.
But I'm looking at my calendar now, and since I have to give 2 weeks notice, the LATEST I can break the tragic news is the 17th...a day after my birthday. What a way to celebrate!
In case you can't follow where the point of this post is going, I'll tell you it is entirely me talking to myself and saying, "Hurry up and find another job before you wimp out and don't quit at all."
I know, I didn't catch that either.

Ps. Snow Camp pictures coming soon. yay!

Ack!

Please no! How could this HAPPEN?!
Apparently we must all pack away any hope of wearing comfortable pants that might balance out or hide any imperfections in our figures.
Now, if you are one of those lucky beings that was born with a body that looks good in anything, then you have nothing to worry about.
Unfortunately there are a few of us less fortunate people. And these horrible new "skinny jeans" will exploit a great many of us.
I thought we were done with *shudder* tapers back in the 80's and 90's but it would seem they've made a vengeful comeback. I won't be surprised if waistlines shoot waaaay back up, and we start wearing ponytails on top of our heads soon too. There is no evil those trendsetters will not stoop to.

2007

Things I Want To Do This Year:

-Make exercise a habit
-Break a bad habit
-Visit friends in Alberta
-Challenge myself to not buy clothes that blatantly sport Brand Names
-Expand my library of both books and music
-Get a new job
-Go to Ireland
-Get a credit card
-Move out

I know there is probably a lot more, but I''m tired and this is all I could think of. I'll check in Jan. 1/08 and see how well I did.

Ooo...a BIG secret revealed!

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

(Yeah, I know...lame post. But hey its something.)

The "Favorite Present" Post!

When getting gifts, like having children, you shouldn't have favorites.
But, you inevitably do. I mean, when surrounded by smelly, dirty, messy boys, who wouldn't prefer a nice little girl, right? So don't worry Mom, its only natural to love me best.
But I'm getting off topic.
My Favorite Christmas Present this year was a complete surprise...a very good surprise!
I am a HUGE Jane Austen fan. And I LOVE the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice. Last year my friend got her hands on a recording of it, and I remember the both of us zoning out in my room for the entire 6 hours at once. And after a short break, rewinding it and watching it again. That's right. 12 hours of P&P. And we didn't even fall asleep (something SOME people have a lot of trouble with *coughmomcough*). I KNOW....I'm sick.
While I don't think I could do that again any time soon, I still love the show, and I was THRILLED to receive the 10th Anniversary edition for Christmas! It even came with a bonus features DVD and a book, "The Making of Pride and Prejudice"!
I don't know what to do with myself...
Actually I do! I'm popping in Part 2 tonight!!!

For EXTRA P&P fun check out the Jane Austen Personality quiz!
I got "Mr Darcy" last time I took it, and this year I got "Elizabeth Bennet" so I guess I've changed a little in these last few months! But still as irrisistable as ever...

A Very Coulter Christmas

The Photographic Tour of an Adventure Gone Horribly Right

We thought an hour or two of GT-ing up in the boonies would be just the thing for our Christmas afternoon. Me & the boys popped into the Rav, with brother Mike behind the wheel. It would seem though that his winter-driving skills are somewhat lacking *cough*.

To make a long story short, he drove off the side of the road.
Though our combined strength frightening to behold, the wheels refused to cooperate.

Tim spent a few satisfying moments in the drivers seat.

Alas, all our efforts were in vain.

Paul desperately pleads, "Mom! Dad! Pick up the phone! SAAAVE USS!!!"

It seems all hope it lost...

Wait...! There! In the distance!

DAD TO THE RESCUE!!!

Dad pulled us out easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy.

"I will be a more responsible driver from now on."

....And a few short minutes later, we're back in the ditch. Good thing Dad is still behind us!
Mike ponders his shame.

In the end it turned out well, because they boys GT-ed down the snowy road and it was declared "the best ride EVER!"
And we all had fun laughing at Mike's stupidity! (Paul drove after the second dive)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Blogging Break

Ok, ok, I KNOW I've been really bad about blogging lately. And I'm sorry.
I've decided to take a little Christmas Holidays from blogging because
1. I don't have any ideas
2. I won't be posting anyway and this way its official so at least you all know I'll be back and I haven't just randomly dropped off the blogging world!

I may post a day or two after Christmas, but if not, then I'll see ya'll in the New Year!
(Note the American accent. But thats a story for another day)

Decisions, Decisions

So after a long week of contemplation, I decided it was time to move on from Tim Hortons. I even told half a dozen people that I was going to give my "two weeks notice" in January. I'm tired of the same boring old routine every morning and a lot of the people I work with are starting to get to me (and as I usually have a fair amount of tolerance for annoying people, this was a clear sign that I'm wearing thin) so I decided that a new experience (aka job) was priority over the convenience of this one.
In fact, I had JUST finished declaring to my one good friend from work that I was through with Timmy's, when my manager called me over.
"So Jill, where do you see yourself going with the company?" She asked.

There was an awkward pause.

"Um, not very far, I guess." I sort of shrugged. Maybe I should have just said I was quitting then and there. It might have made things easier!
Basically, she offered me a promotion to the "prestigious" level of TRAINER. She had been hinting at this for a while, but it had been so long that I just assumed it was never gonna happen. When I hesitated to accept right there, she reminded me that the starting wage is $10/hr! That may not sound like much to you oldies out there who've been making more than that forever, but to little ol' me who's surviving off of $9/hr forever, its a step up. There's only one problem.

I DON'T WANT TO WORK AT TIM HORTONS ANY MORE!!!!

So now I'm torn between Free-spirit Jill who thinks the pursuit of her interests are the best thing for her, and Sensible Jill who can only think of how fast $10/hr will get her to Ireland!
I'd take up the Trainer job no problem if I didn't feel guilty about knowing that I'm going to quit in a few months anyway after I've saved enough to travel. I like my boss too much to waste his time/money like that.

Blogging Blahs

I've got 'em bad.
You may have noticed that I've been copping out with cartoons, short posts, and quizzes. You'll probably not be surprised to know I have a bunch of half-finished blog drafts sitting around my account screaming 'blah!', and I'm fairly certain they will never seen the light of a blogging day.
Everything seems boring and wordy and very un-entertaining, and not even remotely interesting.
I'm sure most of you have been in this place at one time. You feel my pain.

Perhaps you know of something that will help (please?).

Or perhaps you know that this situation is just a case of blogging constipation, and though I'm experiencing this painful blog clog, it'll just be a matter of time before I get regular again.

*whimper*

My Greatest Childhood Fear is My Destiny

Jill -- [noun]: A person who falls into an outhouse and dies 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

If the quiz says it will be so, then I really have no hope...

Annoying

I'm sending this out to Sonya and the "Treadettes"....Blogger is being silly and it won't let me post comments on your blogs, so if you're noticing a lack-of-comments coming from my end I swear I've tried and cried a few times now.
Everyone else- if you haven't got comments from me its because I havn't commented. Heh. At least I'm honest.

Sounds Like Something My Brothers Would Say

Haircut? What Haircut?

("Hmm, I think I will get a haircut.")

So for the last while my hair has been driving me NUTS! I decided it was time (I have a dread of haircuts. I'm always scared its not going to turn out and I'll waste that precious $23.35).
3:00 PM , December 4, was the appointment.
I decided I was going to do something DRASTIC. Something DARING. Something DANGEROUS.
I decided to GET MY BANGS CUT!!!!

!!!

!!

!

You must understand that I haven't had bangs for YEARS. and YEARS. And its not like you can hide bangs if they go all wrong. And it takes a long time for them to grow back (for me anyway). So I was feeling a little nervous.
The procedure was surprisingly quick and painless. I was pleased with the outcome.
I came home confident.
And only my Mom noticed.
Ok, I thought, that's pretty normal. The boys' idea of "drastic" is getting my head shaved, so I shouldn't be too concerned.
I snapped a few "after" pictures, glanced through them...and realized that I really DON'T look that much different! So much for drastic.
Well people at work are bound to notice, I thought. I have my hair pulled back in a ponytail so you'll really be able to see the new 'do, right?
Apparently not.
NO ONE said anything.
Maybe it just looks really bad and they don't want to say anything!
So then I'm beginning to wonder if it was all worth it...but hey, I like it and that's all that matters, right?

(See! They're SHORT. And it looks like the rest of my hair is too, but its actually just tied back)