Thursday, September 03, 2009

Sea Monkeys!

So apparently I need to update here more often with stuff. So here is some stuff. I have Sea Monkeys, specifically Sea Monkeys on Mars. The awesome little brine shrimp swim around in their martian styled habitat and don't do really much of anything.
We'll see how long I can manage to keep them alive...


I can't believe it's already September!

It's time for Chartered Accountanting recruiting to begin again. I need to polish off my CACEE form and apply to every single firm out there, if I don't get a job this time around I don't know what I'm going to do. I've spent the last five years working towards the goal of becoming a chartered accountant.


I also have something to look forward to in October, the chance to use this again:

Chantal and I are going back to Disneyland! October 10 to 14! We are going to eat turkey legs for thanksgiving! I found a super cheap flight/hotel combo through expedia, and since we already have annual passes to Disneyland, all we have to pay for now is food. It's going to be so much fun! It's also what I think of when I start to feel stressed and worried about finding an accounting job...

I wish I could fast forward to October now and skip the anxiety of CA recruiting and just go straight to Disneyland!

Monday, June 08, 2009

Disneyland was awesome!

So I'm back home again.
Chantal and I were in Disneyland from June 1 to the 5. It was awesome! I already want to go back.

We were almost late for our flight when we were leaving the morning of the first, we were flying out of Seattle and there was a big accident on the north bound I5 and the southbound lane was crawling because of people gawking.

We made it and got on the plane to Anaheim and a couple of hours later we were at our hotel, The Desert Palms Hotel and Suites. It is on the corner of Harbor and Katella, at the southeast corner of the Disneyland resort. Very much nicer than the motel we stayed at last night. We got a really cool suite with a giant jacuzzi tub and seperate sitting area. The hotel also had free breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, and potatoes. We ate it 3 of the 4 mornings we were there, it was good considering it was free.

We headed over to Disneyland and waited in our first line of the day, at the Main Street Bank. This time we got annual passports, since it wasn't too much more than 5 day park hoppers, we would get discounts on food, and we plan to go back again within a year. With our shiny new annual passports in hand we got ourselves a giant pickle. We had really regreted not getting one last time, so it was first on our list of things to do this time. It was really really good, cold and juicy. So good, definitely get one if you go to Disneyland.

We rode some rides, ate some bread bowl gumbo, and for the last ride of the night (by which point we had been awake for 18 hours) went on Space Mountain. The picture of us riding it was so good I just had to buy it.

Tuesday we got up early and headed back to Disneyland and California Adventure, I got severely sun burned on my head. In the afternoon we headed back to the hotel to relax a bit (and Tal put some aloe on my head). We had priority seating for the Cafe Orleans that night, but I was not feeling good after my sun exposure. It was decided that we needed hats, so back to the park we went and we each found a hat at the hat store next to the Main Street bank and headed to Cafe Orleans.
Cafe Orleans is supposed to have amazing Pomme Frites. French fries in garlic, parmesan cheese, and parsley. We split some Pomme Frites and went straight to desert. I had some mickey mouse shaped beignets, and almost choked on the abundance of powdered sugar, but the vanilla bean dipping sauce was amazing! Tal had some bread pudding, but said it had too much banana in it.

Wednesday night was a sneak preview of the the new fireworks show "Magical". We were worried it might be cancelled because of the wacky weather that had been happening. It had been randomly overcast and then light showers and then sunny again. We staked out a prime position in the hub by the partners statue of Walt and Mickey. The fireworks were very cool, and there was a anamatronic Dumbo that flew over the castle.

Earlier on wednesday we made priority seating reservations for the Carnation Cafe on Main Street for breakfast on thursday morning. We had planned to get Mickey Mouse shaped waffles, but when we looked at the menu we changed our minds and went with croissant eggs benedict. They were oh so good. Later in the day we got our souvenir shopping done and then went back to the hotel to rest before dinner. I had made reservations for Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel months ago. We went to Disneyland and rode the train to Tomorrowland, then rode the Monorail to Downtown Disney. Goofy's Kitchen is a buffet with characters that visit your table. We were hoping to see Mulan, but were disappointed. We did see Goofy, Pluto, Capt. Hook, Aurora, and Belle. Chantal was a little tipsy after a very strong coffee liquer and had a very animated conversation with Belle. We had a lot of fun.

Friday was our last day at Disneyland. We checked out of the hotel and stored our bags and made our last rounds of Disneyland and California Adventure. We were both pretty tired and Tal's feet were very sore, so we took it pretty easy and checked out some of the attractions that are commonly overlooked. Like the animation academy and turtle talk with Crush. We did some last souvenir shopping (Tal got an awesome Mulan statue and box of Mickeyroni with Cheese) and then went back to the hotel to collect our bags and catch our shuttle to the airport.

We arrived in Seattle a little past 10:30 at night, and collected my car and I started a very uncomfortable drive home. I was so tired and exhausted but we made it home safe (after stopping for duty-free liquor) and finally got to sleep at close to 2am.

It was an awesome vacation and I had tons of fun. I can't wait to go back again. I need a giant pickle and turkey leg!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Happiest Place on Earth...

By request, here is a happy update.

Chantal and I are going to the happiest place on earth (aka Disneyland) June 1 to the 5! I can't wait!

Hopefully it won't be too crowded. When we went last October it was way too crowded, being a holiday weekend and all. This time we are going mid-week when hopefully most kids are in school. Unfortunately it looks like we will miss the chance to see any fireworks because they only have them on the weekend that time of year. But we are also getting annual passes, so we are definitely going to go back again within a year, and we'll just have to make sure to go at a time when we know there will be fireworks.

I can't wait to spend five days with my love in the happiest place on earth!

Monday, February 02, 2009

One year ago...

It was roughly one year ago that my life was dramatically changed. Getting cancer has had repercussions that I am still feeling to this day. I still have some chemo-related side-effects. More importantly, I am still definitely dealing with it mentally. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be able to deal with the psychological ramifactions of having had cancer.

I have a CT scan tomorrow morning, so that's what is probably bringing these thoughts up. It's just another of the constant reminders that keeps me from dealing with this is the way I usually deal with traumatic memories, pretending it never happened. I can't pretend I never had cancer, I'm reminded of it too frequently.

I just have to find a way to deal with it...

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Stuff...

So here it is, 2009...

I'm waiting for my car to be "serviced" right now, so I thought I
would do a blog post.

Finally my return to Las Vegas is booked. I was supposed to go during
the summer, but couldn't because I was all chemo-upped. So almost 7
months later I'm going. I'll be there February 19 to 22 and staying at
the Bellagio! I better start practicing my blackjack strategy again.

Also, I'm totally taking Chantal with me back to Disneyland this year.
I found a really cheap flight/hotel combo for the week of June 1 to 5,
and then I'm going to get us annual passes to DL so we could possibly
go yet again within a year. I can't wait...

Monday, November 10, 2008

Lost...

I guess I'm way way overdue for an update here...
My life has been out of sorts the last couple of months.
For the first time in years I don't know what is coming next for me. I finish my degree in December, but I failed to get a chartered accountant articling student job. That combined with the failing economy has made me very depressed lately. I haven't felt this depressed for an extended period for years. I don't like the uncertainty of my future.

Maybe it's the depression talking, but it seems like nothing ever works out for me the way I want it to.

This has been a strange fall.
I finished chemo on September 1, just barely. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. I'm still not entirely back to normal, my skin still has marks on it, and I have weird feelings in my hands and feet sometimes. At least my hair finally started to grow again.
Chantal and I made it to Disneyland last month, which was fun but extremely crowded. I really want to go back again. At Disneyland you don't feel the worries of the rest of your life.

Usually I would start to look forward to Christmas around now, but not this year. Christmas just signals the end of the year and is another reminder that I have no job for 2009, and no idea what to do.

I hate being put in a position where I have to react, I prefer to be proactive and create my future, not react to external actions that limit my future.

I don't know what I'm doing, as the title suggests, I feel lost...

Monday, July 28, 2008

Another Test...

That Personality Test :: Your Results
The latest personality test from ThatSurveySite... now featuring more and better questions than ever!
 
Emotional (27%)[..........|||||.....]Logical (73%)
Concerned about self (78%)[....||||||..........]Concerned about others (22%)
Atheist (74%)[.....|||||..........]Religious (26%)
Loner (45%)[..........|.........]Dependent (55%)
Laid-back (58%)[........||..........]Driven (42%)
Traditional (56%)[.........|..........]Rebel (44%)
Impetuous (71%)[......||||..........]Organized (29%)
Engineering mind (73%)[.....|||||..........]Artistic mind (27%)
Cynical (62%)[........||..........]Idealist (38%)
Follower (54%)[.........|..........]Leader (46%)
Introverted (87%)[...|||||||..........]Extroverted (13%)
Conservative (50%)[....................]Liberal (50%)
Logical (51%)[....................]Romantic (49%)
Uninterested (49%)[....................]Sexual (51%)
Insecure (57%)[.........|..........]Confident (43%)
Selective (80%)[....||||||..........]Tolerant (20%)
Pessimistic (52%)[....................]Optimistic (48%)
Principled (20%)[..........||||||....]Pragmatic (80%)
Tolerant (32%)[..........||||......]Opinionated (68%)
Humble (10%)[..........||||||||..]Elitist (90%)
 
Take the test!