God.  I have to be awake in less than five hours!

And, I’m still *not* completely packed.  Nor do I have a pair of sandals, or shorts that fit me properly.  Yikes…

It’s been a crazy few weeks trying to get all the work done before I leave, and consequently, the personal stuff got left behind.

That’s just how it goes.  Thankfully, I’m only gone a little over a week, so anything I can’t get into the shared suitcase, or have forgotten, I can certainly pick up during my travels.

I’ll be in Florida, sipping some bevvies, and savouring some quality time off with my family by this time tomorrow.  And, the night after that, I’ll be on the boat, doing the same thing!  I have much to be thankful for!

Michael and I will try to blog while we are away… So, do check in!

I’ll be your unbalanced person for today.  At least I’m on the high end of the seesaw this morning!  I got into work early, enjoyed the crisp air while the sun brightened the morning horizon going into the office.  Yep, that’s right, the sun is shining!

I’m so thankful for a reprieve from the lousy weather!  I know *some* of us like it, but I’m not one of them!

And, on a separate note, I’m very thankful our neighbours to the south finally came to their senses and shifted the power last night… My Boyfriend can now stop calling himself a refugee of the Bush administration — Although, the puppet is still at the helm, he’ll have a tough time over the next two years to “stay the course” with all the very bad choices he’s made over the past six.

But, that’s just one chick’s view.  How are you feeling about the election results?

Not that I’m counting, or anything!

This weather is really getting to me.  All this torrential, record-setting rain over the past week has put a damper on my mood, and I’m finding that all I want to do is curl up in a little ball with a nice warm blankey and dream that I’m on a beach somewhere with the nice, warm sun beaming down on my glistening body, a margarita in hand, waves washing up on shore… Ooops.  Back to reality.

At least the rain has subsided, and I can cancel the order for the ark that I put in last week.  The cruise ship will do.

And, wouldn’t you know it?! I checked the weather forcasts for our ports of call, and dammit, there’s rain expected there, too!  I just can’t escape it!  So, instead of damp and cold, I’m going to be getting damp and hot.  Good times!

Okay, I think I need an attitude adjustment… I’m off to hunt and gather a stiff drink.  I hope you locals aren’t finding the Vancouver weather as dreadful as I am!  (and, if you are in a climate without rain, I envy you!  …I’d take snow and sun right now over this rain!)

Has anyone been on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines?  I’ve been on six previous cruises, but on Princess and Carnival… And, I’m just wondering if there’s any hints out there for RCCL?  Are there particular activities we should definitely do, or excursions we shouldn’t miss during our vacation?  We’ll be hitting Cozumel, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman, and Belize City on our travels.

A tip I always give out for people travelling on Carnival, for example, is it’s a ton of fun to get in on the horse race by buying a horse at the beginning of the cruise: Our gang did, oh so long ago, and had a fantastic time of dressing up our horse, bringing him to dinner each night, named him, and aptly so: Hoof Hearted (my ex and I were sharing a cabin with another couple, and the guy farted every night in their bed and stunk up the room… Ick!) — The horse became a conversation piece, and everyone on the boat knew us!

We’re embarking on Saturday morning… On the “Legend of the Seas“.  I’m already counting the moments!  — I’m not, however, looking forward to getting up at 3am for a 7am flight on Friday morning to fly to Tampa.  There ought to be a law!

Michael and I had a “date night” on Wednesday night — Can you call it a “date night” still, if you have been living together for months?  It was a really awesome evening of entertainment by the one-and-only David Sedaris.  Michael has often read his short stories to me, and unlike other novels we get engrossed in, his stories always keep me awake and wanting more.

Don’t know who David Sedaris is?  Actually, I didn’t either until Michael bought me one of this author’s great books about a year ago — M loves this book so much he bought me my very own copy!  The book was “Me Talk Pretty One Day” — Containing short, hysterical stories about David’s life.  I think my favourite story in that book has to do with a toilet bowl, a little something left behind in said bowl, and a garden party.  If you haven’t read it, you should!

While we listened to David regale us with is outrageously funny stories on stage at the Chan Centre, I found myself inspired by his wit and larger-than-life personality.  It’s nice to be reminded to have fun with life, and look at the world with rose-coloured (or green for that matter) glasses every once in a while.

David Sedaris makes me want to be a better writer…

Do you have a favourite David Sedaris story?

Dammit, every time I go to write a post, something comes up.  Mostly work.  But, I’m still loving my job!  Seriously!

Which is where I am right now, taking a very quick break to make an appearance here…

The Haunted Vancouver Trolly Adventure last week was a ton of fun — Who knew Vancouver was soo scary?!  Ha!  Twelve of us spent 2 hours touring the city, getting soaking wet in a cemetary while hearing ghost stories, and touring the retired city morgue… Tons of fun!  And, I finally got to meet Kimli of Delicious Juice, who’s blog I’ve been reading for many moons.  It’s too bad she and her husband couldn’t join a bunch of us afterwards for some drinks at Black Frog in Gastown!

Speaking of which — Man, does Darren and Reilly have some awfully funny stories from their past!  I couldn’t stop laughing at their antics from so long ago!  I told them that although I’m in my 30s, I deserve to have stories like those to tell the youngsters when I get old.  We really must get on that.  Except for maybe the part that would get us up-close-and-personal-like with the cops.  But, I do want some better stories of my own!

Girls night is on Friday — If you didn’t get an invite, and would like to join us chicks at my place for some laughs, chick flicks, drinking, and general bonding time, drop me a comment or email and let me know!

All Hallows Eve was uneventful for M and I — We were both exhausted, and M even fell asleep on the floor at 9… I think we’re both fighting some kinda bug, but I feel fine during the days, so who knows what’s up with us.  What did you get up to on Hallowe’en?

So, that’s my blog post for the first day of November.  Wasn’t that exciting?  Aren’t you glad you stopped by??! 

It’s looking very much like the company I’m working for will need to grow our team…

Are you a designer?  Do you specialize in print, but also know web?  Do you have a kick-ass portfolio full of unique brands?  Do you want to work for a fast-paced, growing company that has highly visible clients?  Are you in Vancouver, or close enough for the commute?

Email me!   Or, comment here!

Look for another post later today relating to my very spooky night, last night!  Good times!

Today marks the first full week at my new job, and so far, it’s been fantastic!  I must say, it’s a real change for me to go from working in an office full of programmers, to an office with strictly creative-types.  This isn’t a bad change, not at all, but it’s certainly different!

With my current project, I’ve been dispatched to finding exciting and compelling ways to make a fairly new radio network’s website into something special.  It’s a unique challenge, but one that I know I can easily manage.  I am really enjoying putting many of my talents to good use with this project.  I have a question for you… Have you ever visited a talk radio show’s website?  What brought you to their online presence?  Would you make a return visit?

Enough work talk, though!  Halloween is coming, and I’m looking forward to heading out with a group of friends tomorrow night (most are bloggers, as it turns out) to enjoy the “Haunted Vancouver Trolley Tour” — Good times!  I’m also looking forward to catching up with Miranda and Reilly on Halloween evening to watch some scary movies — I can’t think of a better way to enjoy the night, actually!

What are you doing for Halloween?  Are you celebrating this weekend, or the night of?28 weeks later divx