We're Not As Bad As We Seem...

(Our characters will be played by the two women in show business that are basically our alter egos. Naturally, I'm the Indian one).

I don't think it's a secret to the five (ok, three) people that read this blog that SM and I are pretty strange. In a hilarious way, naturally (she's by far much funnier than I am - the exchange below will prove that ten-fold!). We can always count on each other to put a positive spin on the indiscretions we make as we go about our daily lives (and there are MANY for both of us). The conversation below is a little snippet that isn't completely inappropriate to post online with my identity attached to it. Think of this as a precursor to the book and/or tv show that we will be writing in the near (or far - we can be pretty lazy) future. I hope you all find us as funny as we do.

SM: Bad Samaritan award goes to me today! Little kid's bead bracelet breaks beads everywhere - there's one right by my foot. He cries because he can't find all his beads! I didn't pick it up.

Me: LOLOL a boy shouldn't have a bracelet anyway

SM: Exactly and his mom shouldn't let him crawl all over the busy street car floor.

Me: That's disgusting; you were doing him a favour.

SM: I possibly saved this kid's life! I change my mind - I'm a hero not a bad Samaritan.

Me: He could have died from a disease. Ya you're a hero!

SM: I need a medal and a key to the city.

Me: At the very least.

SM: I should call Children's Aid on that mom.

Me: Ya and he could have choked on said beads. She's so lucky you were there.

SM: Aahh I'm such a good person

Me: You really are; we should all try to be like you.

And this is how we have developed a false sense of being amazing people - this is just a tiny example of the way we put a positive spin on being horrible people. But if you don't have a friend to support you through your good and bad moments, you don't have much!

Love,

M

Make New Friends, But Keep The Old...

Don't we look like we're having fun? (This is not us...though if it was, I would probably be the black one, on account of her crazy ass smile and, you know, darker skin...)

...one is silver and the other's gold. Great song.

It's midterm time in the life of this college student so, naturally, I'm writing a blog instead of studying (I already studied, okay? And it's open book, so it's pretty much not a "study for" test anyway - right? This logic makes some kind of sense, doesn't it?).

So, anyway, September was kind of a shit month, what with my aversion to doing...anything, and my inability to concentrate on school or life in general (except wine - I could concentrate on wine). I didn't really make any friends during this time (even though everyone I spoke to about school would constantly ask if I was making friends, which made me feel like I was 5 years old and also really lame because I, you know...wasn't) but all that has changed. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have made two many friends (and yes, it took over a month. Shut up).

Now that I have met these awesome chicks, and we talk and laugh and look like we belong on a Noxema commercial, they have started to let me know what they first thought of me - granted, they do it in a non-descript way, but I can tell what they're saying:

"I'm really surprised you didn't sit at one of the single seats on the first day so you didn't have to be near people." (I think this has something to do with the fact that I exclaimed, loudly, how happy I was that I didn't have to work in a group for an assignment - what? I hate group work).

"Are you sure this is your real number? Are you giving me a fake number because you don't want to be sociable?"

"Malory hates people." (Actually, they aren't being non-descript at all, come to think of it...)

But now they know me, and we can joke and they can see how depressing hilarious I really am. In fact, ALL my classmates are getting to know me so well, that one guy even asked me what the homework was, and when I (naturally) stared at him blankly because I wasn't listening was engaged in something important, he responded with, "Yeah, right, why am I asking you, you wouldn't know...". I was offended for about 2 seconds before I realized that he was not wrong.

So anyway, it's nice to finally have people to talk to when I go to class, and who finally understand that I'm not a bitch, but actually just incapable of social interaction shy, and who know me for who I actually am. Cue heartwarming, after school special music.

Love,

M

Thankful Thursday

Love them.

I'm a little late with the post about what I'm thankful for in honour of Thanksgiving, but I was too busy enjoying that which I'm thankful for to write about it until now.

Every year, I'm thankful for the same things. Loving and supportive parents, close relationships with M and R, and healthy, awesome grandparents. But this year was different. For some reason, I felt more emotional attachment to this holiday, and I think it has to do with my family being more scattered than usual.

My parents are currently on a trip of a lifetime to Hawaii and Australia, M lives in a different town, R is busy with work, and my grandparents had been away for 10 days in the States. So when I finally got to spend some time with my grandparents and M, K, and R, it meant that much more. I missed my parents, but I'm glad that they're able to take the trip and I'm thankful for email, because it lets me keep in touch with them when they're halfway around the world.

I also realized how thankful I am that, despite the issues that I may have with school, I am able to attend the program and live at home and have that decision supported by my parents. I have the ability to decide what I want to do, and the means to go after it. 

But this year, the main thing that I was thankful for are my grandparents. They are the coolest - they aren't typical grandparents, and I'm so glad for that. I can talk to them about anything, and I laugh more with them than I do with some of my friends. I spent the afternoon with my Grandma, helping out in the kitchen (as much as I could actually do without ruining anything) to get ready for dinner. We took Benny for a long walk, and I sat in the living room and chatted for hours with both my Grandma and Grandpa about nothing and everything. I realized how lucky I am to have a close relationship with them, and to count them as much as friends as they are grandparents.

They take care of me when I need anything, and they are the very best next thing when I need a "fix" of the love that only a parent can provide. They would do anything and everything for their grandkids, and their love and dedication to us is something that I've never questioned. They're such an important part of my life, and I'm so thankful that they are healthy and happy. This post doesn't even really do justice to what I think of them, but I hope that it conveys a little bit how much I love them. The time I spent with them really drove home just how lucky I am to be their granddaughter.

And that's my bit for Thanksgiving. I hope you took - or take - the time to look at your relationships and realize how important they are to you. After all, isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about?

Love,

M

The Day I Almost Lost My (Pitiful) Life Savings to Rogers

This is an accurate portrayal of my reaction.

The other day I received an online payment notification from Rogers.

 

"That's strange," I said to myself, out loud and in a British accent. "I cancelled my account with them. This must be for any overlap that I used. It shouldn't be too much."

 

AMOUNT TO BE PAID: $790.

 

Excuse me?

 

I literally almost started to cry, because my bank account balance flashed before my eyes, and that poor little account could not handle a withdrawal like that. It just couldn't. (So okay, it wasn't my life savings but like...it was pretty close, you guys...)

 

So I called Rogers. And the conversation went something like this:

 

Me: [In a really high pitched, fast paced voice] "Hi I just got a bill for like a million dollars from you guys because it said I didn't return the equipment but I have the equipment I was just told that I had to give it back by mid-October and it's not mid-October yet so I didn't return it I don't know why I didn't return it yet I just didn't but I really really don't want to pay that money and I promise I will return it right away so I don't have to pay it right?!"

 

Rogers Guy: "Uh...sorry, what happened?"

 

We cleared it up, and all I had to do was return the items. Simple enough. So off I went. I arrived at the little kiosk thing with my grocery bag full of the items, and explained my predicament logically and rationally:

 

"Hi. So, I have to return this stuff, because I got a bill for like a billion [it went up] dollars since I kept it, even though I didn't have to return it until mid-October. Crazy right?! So we're good now though, right? Like I don't have to pay anything? Like all the money is off the account? Because I sooo do not have that kind of money. And I really don't want to pay that. So we're good? [At this point he actually swung the screen to face me in order for me to see that yes, indeed, the balance was zero, just as he said - poor guy]. Everything is in there. I included the remote. Just to be safe. Are we good?"

 

Then he almost took my bag. I told him he could have it if he wanted it but he said no. And then he told me to "enjoy". I'm not sure what I am supposed to be enjoying. My life as a crazy person, probably.

 

Love,

 

M

 

Stop Complaining!

I was at the gym tonight (second day in a row! Seriously, that's major), slugging it out on the treadmill running intervals (which, in hind sight, were way too intense for my level of fitness. I almost fell off), thinking about how much I wanted to stop and how easy it would be for me to get off and leave and no would ever know that I skipped out on a workout.

 

But I would know. And I would feel guilty. So I continued, the whole time thinking about what I would rather be doing and how uncomfortable I was (I also had come from a dinner out with some girlfriends, which, FYI, does NOT make running any easier), and how I could change what I was doing. I was looking for an out.

 

Surprise, surprise. I'm really getting tired of my "flight" response when things get uncomfortable or aren't what I expect. I expend so much energy worrying and searching for other things to do when I could be using it on actually sticking TO something and working through it.

 

I've resigned myself to the fact that while I may not enjoy my program at school, I've signed up for 8 months and I have to finish. I don't have a choice. I'll lose money if I don't and I have never been the type to quit at anything in school, no matter how much I wanted to or how difficult it was to get through.

 

And that's when it hit me. Why can't I apply that same knowledge to my workouts? No, I don't like them. No, I don't feel that great when I'm doing them, and I can think of 1000 other things that I would rather do. But when I feel that way about school, I still go. Because if I don't, then I won't pass. And if I don't work out, I won't get fit. It's simple.

 

I go to school because I have to. I made the choice to attend and I'm going to continue with it no matter how much angst and worry and discomfort it causes me. And I'll figure out how to cope with it in the best way that I know how. So from now on, my workouts will be regarded with the same outlook. I have a schedule. I know when I'm going to the gym (sure, there will be times when life gets in the way, but I'll have to adjust my schedule accordingly and make sure I fit it in some other time - just like I would make sure I caught up on the notes if I miss a class) and I'm just going to go. Even if I'm tired. Even if I'm sore. Because the only way that I'm going to see any positive changes in my physical fitness is if I stop incessantly planning out my strategy, and just DO IT.

 

Let's see how this works.

 

Love,

 

M