Thankful Thursday

Well folks, here we are again.

Another Thursday.

Another moment to reflect on things we are thankful for.

It's been a tough last two weeks for me, ups and downs and haves and have nots and what not.

So this week I am thankful for the the haves.

I have a great family.

A really, awesome, fantastic family.

(youngest member pictured here as representative)

I have a wonderful best friend.

(Yes, you)

I have lots of people who care about me. 

People who want me to succeed

People who want me to be happy

And really, isn't that what life is all about??

Elsie P

PS - What are you thankful for today?

Growing up

Over time, people change.

We all change.

It's a brilliant and exciting time we live in where all of us are in a constant state of evolution.

We are growing in ways we may not realize right now or ever. 

We are growing in ways that are ... obvious.

Painfully so. 

Having survived my early 20's (a period I define as ages 20-23) and subsequently conquered (with mad skill) my mid twenties (that would be 24-26) I am, in a few short weeks, preparing to embark on my late twenties. (27-29 for those of you playing along at home). As we all know, the late twenties is a march whose end lays in first real milestone of adulthood: Thirty.

Now, when I say that there are ways that we see -- painfully -- that we've changed, I do, in fact, have an example for you. 

It involves a shot glass.

A piece of glassware that has been instrumental in my life over the last 9  years. (Yes, I realize the math on that has me drinking shots before the legal age. Get over it! But don't tell my mum, k??)

So, you ask, what integral part has this 1oz wonder played in my life? 

I shall tell you. 

In my (almost) early twenties, I learned how to do shots. 

And I did lots of 'em. Y'know, For practice...

I would have to say that the shot of choice for me then was Tequila. The reason was that I had been brought in to the world of shots by hard liquor. And for those of you out there who have ever shot hard liquor, you know it doesn't come much harder than Tequila.

The guys I used to hang out with liked to drink it and more so liked to make girls drink it when they were obnoxious at the bar -- obnoxious in the form of asking the boys to buy them drinks.  A girlfriend of mine was behaving in such a manner as to deserve the purchase of said shot and I was merely a by product of this particular night. Subsequent events turned me in to part of the boys' group. Subsequent events meaning that they set the shot in front of me, I'd never done it before, and I just ... shot it. No salt, no lemon.

Straight

Up 

Tequila.
Apparently that was impressive.
Especially considering I thought it was quite tasty and didn't make that nasty "WTF!?" face afterwards. It endeared me to them and I was immediately welcomed as part of the group.

In my early-to-mid-twenties, I took a bartending course and found that I loved to be behind the bar. The boys from my early twenties owned a house that they all lived in together that had - you guessed it - a bar in the basement. One night, after I completed my course, they stocked the bar and threw a huge party. And yours truly was the bartender. At the time, I was using shot glasses to make money, so to speak. Tips for bartenders - especially hot, blonde, twenty-something ones - are pretty good. Usually. In this period of my late-early-twenties-to-early-mid-twenties I also learned the art of the body shot.
Ahhhh the body shot.
I will leave it to you find out the intricate details of the body shot.
Or the hooter shooter.
Ooohh to be a young, twenty-something.

Yesterday, was my birthday. I have officially (in my mind) entered my late twenties.
And you know what I use my shot glass for now?

 Eggs.
A softboiled egg in the morning, and a cup of herbal tea (thanks Tink!)

Oh, how the times have changed.

Elsie P

PS - What do you use your shot glasses for?

Sad monkey?

So, as I mentioned in this post, a very wonderful friend of mine has headed off to Japan for a few months and then back "home" to work and re-group.

But not before spending a week with me. A WHOLE WEEK! In my apartment, enjoying my life with me. And you know what? I really enjoyed having someone around. It was nice to feel like a part of a whole, y’know?

We had some great chats and spent a lot more time than I would have expected, in the mall of all places.

We enjoyed massages at the spa and good meals at home and a few drinks on Friday night. A few too many, I should say...(that's another story.)

I was absolutely okay as we drove to the airport.

I was absolutely okay as we checked him in and sorted out his bags.

I was absolutely okay as we walked to security.

I was moderately okay as he kissed me goodbye and headed to his gate.

I was less-than-moderately okay throughout the day as I got text updates from him before he left North America.

I was definitely not okay when the workday closed and I realized I was going home to an empty apartment.

I was less-than-definitely-not-okay as I got in the car.

(I cried. A lot. All the way home! I can admit it!)

And I was sad when I got home.

I couldn’t eat.

I had a beer, but it didn’t help.

I talked on the phone, twice, with my best friend (who happens to be his very dearest friend as well).

I toddled off to bed around 8PM after contemplating writing sad, emo poetry.

I fell asleep instantly.
I am sure that this had to do with the fact that I hadn’t slept well the night before and was up at 5am.

I let myself be sad on Tuesday. I let myself feel the weight of his absence and grieve the loss of having someone to hang out with.  I let myself feel sorry for myself and I let myself sit on the couch in sweatpants watching trashy MTV Reality shows.

On Wednesday, I pulled it together. I got up early, I made breakfast, I styled my hair and I put on a cute outfit (I promise I’ll start doing outfit pics reallyreallyreallysoon) and I went to work. And I smiled. I checked the time in Tokyo three or four times, wondered if he’d made it all okay and whether or not he was safe. I texted with my best friend and we had some laughs. I teared up a few times during the day and my nose had that prickly-I’m-gonna-cry feeling twice. But I didn’t cry.

This is a really exciting adventure for him and a truly wonderful opportunity for me to refocus and re-centre myself for the year ahead.

But I was a bit of a sad monkey.

And that, friends, is okay.

Elsie P

PS – How do you deal with being sad?

Unnecessary Censorship

What is our world coming to? It has become more and more frustrating to express oneself due to the unnecessary censorship thrust upon the many by the few.

This morning, I heard that they are re-writing/editing a popular Dire Straits song. It's already happened in most locations online ... if you try and listen to the original song you're hooped. 

Have you heard about this?

It's the song Money for Nothing and the lyric in question is a term the British use as slang for cigarettes, that Websters Dictionary defines as a "bundle of wood or sticks" and which some people use as a reference to persons of a homosexual persuasion. 

Now, I did not hear whether or not the group pushing for this ban/re-write was an activist group comprised of homosexual people that found the lyric hurtful or derogatory, but I would hazard to guess that this is not the case. 

It seems that more and more the folks that are leading the charge against re-writing history, books, songs, etc are those that feel that they should be uncomfortable to hear that word. They are the overly-sensitive, what-are-people-going-to-think-if-I-DON'T-see-something-wrong-with-this types that choose to fight the least crucial battles. 

The announcer on my radio station made an excellent point. When he was 7 years of age and playing air guitar to this song, he wasn't enjoying it because of the potential inflammatory language. He wasn't jumping off the couch with his dad's Fender because Dire Straits said the word "faggot". It didn't make him stand up and say, "This is a great song because the band is demeaning a group of people through a generally accepted but oft ill-used slang word!!!" It wasn't even a thought in his mind and still isn't. 

I would challenge anyone to recall the exact lines that use this word, 'cause though my parents were big Dire Straits fans and I have heard this tune countless times, I couldn't recall the use of that word. 

Elsie P

PS - What do you think? Is it necessary to change all songs, books, speeches and history items that use words that are considered socially unacceptable in this day and age but were, at the time of publication, generally accepted? 

Thankful Thursday

Well, here we are again.

Another week has just FLOWN by. Like crazy fast!

I can't believe we're staring down the middle of the first month of 2011. Seriously, where did the last 13 days go??

As I posted last week in Thankful Thursday, I had a really wonderful friend here from out of town. He was preparing to go to Japan. And we had a wonderful time together. It was so nice to have another person around to enjoy the things that I like to do (and also to be there to keep me company during the things that I don't enjoy to do!!) So I am very thankful for that time.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
On Tuesday, I am going to start school again.
Lemme tell you, that's a bit of trip.
I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it and what it is going to mean for the next several years.
I am thankful for the opportunity and the financial stability I have to enable me to do this.

* * * * * * * * * *

I heard on the news this morning that a building downtown has been condemned. NBD right? Wrong. It's a big deal because that building houses a lot of low-income folks that can't afford a nicer place to live. It's a big deal because those people aren't necessarily -- or likley -- to be in a financial position to stay at a hotel for a few days before they are able to locate new housing. And it's a BIG DEAL because the high today is -21 degrees Celsius. With the windchill, it feels like -32. That's a big deal.

Elsie P

PS - In that last rant, I was trying to get across that I am thankful for the roof over my head.