I feel like puking right now.

…That’s what I’m going to hold on to.

I just said goodbye to Michael.  Well, actually, he said goodbye to me two days ago, but needed to come over today to finalize some financial stuff.  We had our time (a year and four days to be exact), but it’s over now.  He’s moving out on Monday.

Yes, I’m as shocked as many of you are.  I really didn’t see this coming, but it’s what he wants.  There was no changing his mind.

This whole situation makes me so horribly sad and hurt, but I’ll survive this.  I’ve got so many amazing friends and family who I’ll lean on for a bit while I find my strength again.  I was out with some of them last night, and managed to have a really great time… The hardest part was climbing into bed alone for the second night.

This Christmas season is going to be a tough one for me.

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” – Confucius

I’ll post about why when I can get my head around it.  Suffice to say, for now, that I’ll be leaning on friends and family yet again for support.  I thought my life was finally on track with my new job, but the personal side of things has just had a tornado go through it last night.

The best part of my day, yesterday?  Getting the car towed.  – Yes, you read that right.

I just want to curl up in a corner and melt away.

More soon.

Last night, Michael and I headed out to the border to renew his work permit, which expires fairly quickly.  I wanted to get out to boonies before the next snowfall hit, which has been forcast for mid-day today.  Pulling out of the garage yesterday morning for work was a bit scary, so I thought I was prepared when I pulled out of the alternate exit to pump up a low tire at a local gas station before we headed off for our 80 km journey.

Except, apparently, ice removal on major roadways downtown doesn’t appear to be a concept that Vancouver Public Works understands.  I’m talking about Bute, which is a steep hill, and hasn’t had any snow fall on it in 24 hours.  You’d think it would have been salted and sanded, but no!  When we pulled onto the road, it was obvious this was a mistake.  We were slowly sliding backwards down the hill towards the very busy Georgia Street. 

My heart started beating very quickly, as I tried desperately to stop the car.  My hands were shaking.  This was the very last feeling I wanted to be experiencing — It was almost 10 years to the day since my huge 18 car pile-up on black ice which left me disabled for almost four years.  I was so angry with myself for thinking that the roads were safe, and the hill wouldn’t be a problem.

Thankfully, I managed to pull (slide?) into a driveway on the other side of the road, and turn the car around.

When we finally got on to Georgia Street, after abandoning the idea of getting to the gas station up the road, I managed to calm myself down enough to embark on the journey… But, man, that is a horrifying experience I would be happy never to be a part of, again!

How about you?  Ever had an extremely scary experience in a vehicle?  Did it alter how you deal with road conditions?

Welcome to Snow Day 2006 in Vancouver!

Here’s the view from my office at home:

This is me, working from home to avoid the skating rink that would be my short commute into the office.  It’s been snowing for two days straight, and really quite cold out.  I wish I had a fireplace!

Tomorrow marks one YEAR for Michael and I.  It’s been a crazy, crazy year, and one he’s been up front and centre for during the whole time.  I love him with all my heart, and am so, so happy we’ve made it to the first year mark with very few scratches along the way…

We’re off to Le Gavroche tonight for dinner — Which is literally three blocks from where we live.  I’m sure we’ll have a delightful time, and it’ll be something new for both of us to experience.

Thank you, Love, for a super-duper amazing year… I can’t wait to see what the next year brings us!

Check back on Monday evening for a scan of a magazine article that was published (albeit short) about how we met!  It’s very sweet, and all thanks to the power of blogging! 

What’s everyone else kept busy with, this weekend?

PS: IT’S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn’t touch a computer for 8 days!  Aren’t you all proud of me?

But, I didn’t go to the gym on the ship, either.  I tried, though:  I wanted to hire a trainer on the ship, but RCCL was terribly disorganized and didn’t even know how much the rates were for an hour of training for the first two days.  By the time I found out on the third day, I was already in a different headspace… Besides, we had several activities / excursions planned that were active in nature, so it wasn’t like I was being a couch potato on my trip.

So, all in all, I thoroughly enjoyed traveling with my Sweetheart, my Dad, his wife Sharon, and their good friends.  It was a special trip for that.  The boat, the Legend of the Seas?  I have to say, it was my least favourite of the 7 ships I’ve now been on.  Small, not a lot of activities, very few food choices (and hell, it’s a cruise… It’s supposed to be about the food), disorganized due to it only being the second sailing back from the Med.  I can say that many of the staff were exceptionally friendly, and when we had a major problem with a high-pitched rotor noise waking us up at 5am 2 days in a row (the ship is old, lets face it) the staff did go the extra mile to try to correct the problem for us.

As for the ports of call… Three of the four of them I could have just stayed on the ship, but thankfully, we did have excursions planned for many of them.  Grand Caymen hasn’t changed… Still not a lot to do there, but we did do these “Sea Spi” things which was like snorkeling without getting wet.  Costa Maya?  Dirty, and undeveloped.  We did clear kayaking at that port, which was oversold, and the “kayaks” turned out to be plastic canoes.  We still managed to have fun, and more so once we consumed a couple of beers on the beach before heading back by “kayak” to the drop-off location.  Belize City?  If we hadn’t have gone on the beer part of the beer & city tour, I would have been really dissapointed.  The city is extremely dirty, but Belize’s only beer facility was very clean, and fed us lots of beer.  Finally, Cozumel was fun for shopping, but the weather was dark, so no beach time as we’d hoped.

I don’t think it was Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, but the boat.  I’d like to try one of their larger ships for one of our future cruises… Some of their cruise liners looks absolutely amazing.

I’m glad to be back home, but this whole boil-water-advisory is driving me mad!  What a pain in the ass!

Hope everyone else had a great week while we were away!

This is simply not a time any human should be awake and functioning.

Well, actually, scratch the functioning part.

Damn, I think I shrunk my new jeans.  I could barely do them up this morning, and now I have to sit on a plane with them digging into my gut. But, on the positive side, this is just the motivation and discomfort I need to get my ass in shape on the cruise.

So, any bets that I’ll step foot into the gym… For an actual workout or five?  Heh!

Happy Friday, everyone!  What’s everyone else doing this fine weekend?