Just Me, MocaGyrl

I’ll be glad to say adios to 2006. It was a year of change, good times, & some crap.

Hubby & I wisely decided to take our vacation in February, and discovered we could afford an all-inclusive in Jamaica. This was my most interesting, memorable Caribbean trip yet. While you get spectacular beaches & scenery all over the Caribbean & Mexico, my amazing experience was because of the people. Jamaicans are a unique bunch, full of life and honesty. I will always remember dancing to Reggae and drinking a Red Stripe underneath the stars of a dilapatated bar with no roof. I told the local dj who showed me some dance moves that I kept looking up because you can’t see stars in Toronto. I’ll never forget the late night walk along the beach with some people we met to find a secluded beach bar, and chatting with the founder of the Bob Marley Arts Institute at a bonfire. Experiencing a fun family oriented resort and the infamous Hedonism was a unexpected once-in-a-lifetime surprise for us, making it two vacations in one. Here’s the link, the review , incl pics., I wrote on our JA trip. (It’s under Hubby’s account name.)

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g612473-d223733-r4583940-Starfish_Trelawny-Falmouth_Jamaica.html

I left my job at the Red Cross to work for another non-profit, a disabled children’s treatment centre, in April. I worked my ass off all spring for that place, but kept my eye on the prize, looked forward to my favourite day of the year, Caribana. We hosted Easter weekend with 9 family members coming from other parts of the province and the US to celebrate 3 April family birthdays too. That was a fantastic weekend. We had my birthday BBQ in June, friends & some family came for that, making it another nice weekend. Unfortunately, a black cloud hovered over my Caribana day due to the first bit of crap at work happening 1 day before Caribana. I still had my time though, and we had our fun encore a week later in Hamilton.

We always talked about going to Labour Day Carnival in Brooklyn, & this year we went. New York was quite a fun experience, such an old dirty city with broken umbrellas everywhere. We managed to not get lost taking several subways to Harlem for such satisfying soul food; eat the tastiest rice ever in Chinatown; buy my “Prada” bag in Times Square; shop for great bargains in a West Indian neighbourhood in Brooklyn; scream (me) at the rats on the subway; & make our way to J’Ouvert at 3:00 a.m. I can now say I’ve experienced this different dawn celebration, complete with raggidy clothes & fake blood (Halloween purchase). We were faced with an unexpected situation Carnival morning - how do we crash a band? Talk about police presence!, we were not prepared for all the navy uniforms lined up against endless barricades, they outnumbered the spectators & masqueraders by far. Once we did sneak through after walking what felt like the entire route, & jump in with a band, we were then wondering how we’d casually drink from our bottle, since liquor is banned. Brooklyn Carnival kept us on our toes. VERY different experience from Caribana, & Trinidad, to say the least. The street meat I liked was chicken souvlaki on a stick, & had the best Philly cheesesteak near our hotel. There’s nothing like watching Law & Order in New York (watched a marathon when we were stuck inside during the rain storm). I know I always felt safe in New York.

The rest of September was quiet this year, with small celebrations for Hubby’s, MIL’s, Nephew’s, & our wedding anniversary. Thanksgiving was at my sister’s, with all the extended family there. We met cutie Cookie, their new kitten. My 17 year old cat Misty picked up some new habits this year, including forcing her self onto Hubby, no matter how he’s sitting/lying on the couch.

But then, we got the news I’ve been waiting for for 6 years now, we’re going to Trinidad Carnival!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From that point on, it’s been all about Carnival, all the talk of our costumes, how much Bailey’s Hubby’ll drink on the road, wtf do we wear to fetes?, & Hubby trying to get me into scotch & coconut water, which hah, is futile. I’ve been spending time yakking on blogs, started this blog, & because of a blog, I found my latest & greatest thing: BOXING!! I always get quite gung-ho about a new exercise regime, & this one is no exception. I’m in it for the results the exercises will give me, a lean, toned Carnival worthy body - not to fight. I realized the other day watching champion Carlos fight: I don’t want to get hit. It’s good to know this. So Coach is working me hard & is just going to increase the difficulty in my workouts starting January 3. I’m ready, I’m liking the progress so far, I feel all new burn in new places & know I’m stronger. Success!

In October, my career in non-profit ended, which at the time, seemed awful, but ultimately, it’s a good thing. I knew over a year ago I should get out, too much estrogen for my taste, I need a balanced work place, bring on some freakin men for Dog’s sakes! I acquired my new role of HM (House Manager) & proceeded to start renovations of the basement. I began with hiring a Painter (myself), and reacquainted myself with brainless yet useful work that is an excellent stress reliever. Success!

Removing dirt really gives you time to think, so November/early December was very much occupied with “what should I do next?” I’ve already had 3 careers, which is the average for us Gen Xers. Nothing like being average. I took an intensive 2 week career workshop jam packed with personality & aptitude testing. I discovered I value people more than money, hah (?!), and it’s confirmed that I am a helper & a doer. My brother, an employment counsellor, said he could have told me I was an Orange, and that I should be in business. He understands what my problem is, what’s holding me back, that helper need, and thank Dog he got that out of his system. *Sigh* So I was left with lots to consider. Do I go back to reporting? Freelance writing? Become a firefighter, like my Myers Briggs suggested? One of the things I enjoyed the most from my 8 years in charity work was helping immigrants. So I looked into TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) @2 years ago, and it came up as a career for me with all this testing, so I’ve decided to make it my goal for the beginning of ‘07.

We had 10 family members make the trek for Christmas this year, & even though my hands were mostly always damp from washing dishes, I enjoyed all the work. There was a lot of preparations and clean up, but for once, the 25th didn’t fly by fast, it was a slow, sweet, lingering day with lots of eating, drinking, gift giving, and happiness. I think (hope!) everyone liked their gifts, if there’s one thing I love, it’s buying people I love gifts they love. Not a winter wonderland, it was a green Christmas, JA rules!

As is the case with any year end review, you reflect on what the past year brought you, and what you hope for in the new one. A constant theme for me has always been change. There’s been a lot of that in my life, and I’m ready for more.

Just because he’s cute he thinks he can get away with inflicting pain. “Oh, I’ll be chatty, distract her, then when I come in & stab her, it won’t hurt as much. So bittersweet it is.”

I’m lying back, he’s perched above me & I open my mouth for him. The needle was hidden out of my sight, & he’s so smooth, he e v e r s o s l o w l y brought it around, beneath my chin, yet still remaining out of sight, & suddenly into my mouth. He took his sweet time filling my gums with the needle contents, 5 freakin minutes must have past! My right eye watered & felt itchy. He said here’s your Christmas present. The realization then hit me, what was really going on, I could feel the slow sharp pain, there’s a NEEDLE IN MY GUMS!!!! My cheeks certainly felt like they ballooned up. He then left me for several minutes to be alone with my new freezing mouth, my numb puffy lips. I read a magazine & tried to focus on some Christmas entertaining ideas. I could make those first prize cherry squares! But how do I rip the recipe out?, the assistant keeps peering at me…

When he returned he sheepishly asked me how I felt. “my mwoth muss bwe fwozen.” Ah, good, & likedy split, he’s above me again with another instrument. I hate the sound, it’s worse than a baby shreaking, worse than a lawn mower at 7:00 am on a Saturday morning. It vibrates in my skull. But, ok, he moves on to my second tooth rather quickly so alright. But something is different. I twitch. He stops, repositions, & does it again. I move & say “owtch”. You can feel that?, he questions. “yesth” He was DRILLING A HOLE IN MY TEETH!!!!!! And I could feel it! I’ll have to freeze you again he decides. Soundts gootd, I think I say, but really, I’m lying, I’ve already decided never mind, I have more Christmas shopping to do afterall, howzabout we reschedule this for another… but he’s too quick, out pops the needle. As a rule, I don’t look at needles. But I got a look at this one. It was long & pointy & will no doubt be featured in my recurring dreams (read: nightmares) now. He pokes me again & gets back to drilling that hole again.

He tells me to go to the sink & rinse, he’s done with me. Alrighty, I stumble out of the chair & over to the counter which I need to hold onto, & try to sit on the stool positioned right in front of the sink, but it has octopus wheels & gets away from me, so I tell the assistant never mind the stool. She laughs. I try to put the cup into my mouth, but the water dribbles out. Oh fun. So I tilt my head back, get a bit in, & attempt to swish it around by mainly shaking my head, but all I manage to do is slobber on my chin. There’s no grace to any of this. You get pleasure out of making women drool, don’t ya doc?! I tell the assistant I feel off, she laughs & explains my mouth is frozen & helps me back to lie down again. Round three.

Cute dentist has no more use for me, he sends in a female to fill in my holes. She’s fast & it’s virtually painless.

Hmmm.

The receptionist asks how it was, I tell her I feel like a chipmunk, she says well, you don’t look like one. As I leave, I wish her a hatty christmas. D’oh! I’m sure she’s heard that many times before. I can’t believe what just happened, I’m giddy with fear & joy that I’m free, but I also have errands, I must buy super glue, so off go. But I can’t find any in the dollar store. My sister calls me then, & I feel like laughing/crying about what just happened. I tell her how awful it was & that I sound drunk, but she says I just sound like I have a huge wad of gum in my mouth. There’s a ton of ppl scrambling, Christmas shopping in the dollar store, their carts filled with gift bags & tissue paper - do they realize they’ll spend $15 on wrap? Crappy Tire has a gazillion meters of it for $3, duh. I realize I have to ask a clerk if they have any super glue. “Do you have any suter glue?” What? (frown on her face) Suter glue? “What?” (raises her eyebrows to guy next to her) s u t e r g l u e. Then thank duck the guy understands, “super glue, right over there”.

The assistant told me the freezing would go away in 1-2 hours. Good, I need to eat, I thought. Hah. It took 7 hours before the puffiness went away & my lips could fully close down on a straw. That’s when hubby got home, & when I told him I’m so hungry, I was going to attempt to sip soup, he said come on, I could eat solid food, “you’re not in pain, right?”

*sigh*

Now the dentist joins my optometrist on my fear factor list.

Sisters are doing it for themselves… Who tops the Rich Bitch list? Still Julia Roberts at $20 million per project. Not worth it IMHO. I’ve never seen what the big fuss was over her. Her acting, meh, & her films are nothing noteworthy (except for Erin Brockovich)… on the other hand, Nicole Kidman is a superb actress & her films are meaningful, but does that mean she deserves her $17 million per project? I’m a huge fan of hers, & her fashion style?… love it! I do wonder about her choice to marry adorable, yet addict Keith Urban (you think it was to beat the TomKat to the altar?) Everyone’s friend Jennifer Aniston gets $8 mill, while the other woman Angelina Jolie beats her out again, gets $10 million. Is their work worth millions? Does any celebrity deserve such a hefty salary?

Leo DiCapi… in theatres for us again big time, & promising Oscar worthy performances again. He’s no longer the boyish charmer, he’s tough & built now. But is it just me, or does his attempt at a South African accent bother anyone else? When I see commercials for Blood Diamond, I cringe at his awful accent. He says he partied a lot with locals to learn the slang, but I think he should have hired a voice coach. Since people are saying he’ll be nominated for an Oscar for this role, I must be missing something, maybe this is how some South Africans sound?!? I like the looks of The Departed, the hunkfest mob flick. It’ll be interesting to see him go up against Jack Nicholson.

He was hysterical as dumbass Ali G. But “comedian provocateur” Sacha Baron Cohen has made much more of a big name for himself with his character Borat. Who does he not piss off in his movie? Anti-semitism, misogyny, sexual deviance, bigotry, pro-Iraq war, homophobia, & incest - he covers it all. He’s dealing with controversy, protests & lawsuits as a result. Can just picture him sitting back smirking “just as I planned”.

Rockstar Lukas Rossi! Another (Toronto!) Canadian won Rockstar! Just gotta big up Supernova for choosing Lukas, the only choice for their lead singer. I knew from his first insanly amazing Billy Idol performance it’d be Lukas taking the title. It was more exciting than Rockstar INXS, esp watching Dilana duke it out with him. Looking forward to the CD!

Beyonce & Jay Z, still annoying reporters & fans by ducking the pesky “when are you going to get married?” question. Come on people, that’s so last year, get over it. Besides, she won’t marry him, she likes to remind everyone how she’s still young & having fun, the last thing she needs is to be tied down to a thug, er rap mogul.

Kirstie Alley, back in black! She lost 75+ pounds from doing Jenny Craig & lots of different exercise, including hiking & Yoga. She quit smoking, & remains clean & sober. Bringing sexy back. Yeah. I used to get a kick out of Veronica’s Closet & some of those Pier 1 ads were cute (she has an excellent stylist). Even as a Fat Actress, she was big n beautiful… but it’s good to see her healthy, & hopefully happy.

From one extreme to the next, Nicole Richie could learn some clean living tips from Kirstie. She couldn’t regain her claim to fame after her split w Paris Hilton by planning an elaborate wedding with a popular club DJ. She’s starving herself & yet still denying she’s anorexic. Back on drugging & driving. She’s just so sad & needs help, I hope she gets it in 2007.

Oh how we love to lust after Brangelina. Even before they were Brangelina, Brad & Angelina were hot, but now they are just too smokin for N. America, so they are conquering Africa & India. They are so Bad (we won’t let them forget what they did to poor Jennifer), yet they are so Good - adopting babies, embarking on goodwill missions & relief efforts, aiding earthquake victims, advocating for humanitarianism & being ultra charitable. They are pilots, world travelers, and they both could have any man or woman in the world with one smile. Could they be more intriguing? What will they do next? Rumor says they will get married on Christmas day in South Africa - ho hum, too boring, besides, you said you’d tie the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able. Remember that Brad? Hmmmm?
 

I had to do it - go to the basement, bring up a snow brush & put it in my car. On the way to the gym tonight it was not snowing & there was no white stuff on the ground, but when I got out, there was a light blanket of it on my car. I thought I had a snow brush, so I searched the entire car for it, even called hubby & asked him if he took it out of H Senior which I’m driving, & put it in H Junior, which he’s driving - he said no, but he has one. Ah, so it was in Jr. He’s still at work, another 13 hour work day. In a workshop today, a newcomer was grinning & said the bit of snow we got on the weekend was his first time seeing snow. We all applauded. That’s what you do, cheer the first time someone see’s snow. He won’t be smiling in mid January though. I can’t remember my 1st time seeing snow. It’s always been there.

Yesterday Sunday, I put up Christmas lights for the first time. Last year my sister gave us her old school ones, the un- environmentally friendly super bright ones, bc they switched to the low light LED ones. Since we’re hosting Christmas this year (all the family will be travelling to stay with us), it was the right time to put them up. She gave us multicoloured mini lights & big fat red and blue bulbs. I strung the multicolured ones along the porch railing & framed the window next to the door with them. I even put some inside the kitchen window that come along underneath the cabinet mixed with the pot lights. It really gives the kitchen a festive look. I put the big red lights in the livingroom picture window in a zig zag design. I love just staring at them, it really transforms that room, gives it such a warm glow. I like that we have blue bulbs too, so I can switch colours when I want, &/or do a combo of both. (We have blue furniture too, so I can really go nutz with my coordinating) At night, you don’t need to turn on any lights but the Christmas ones, I have such a fuzzy feeling that I can make our house look like this with something as simple as lights.

When hubby came home from work & saw the lights, he was squinting. I said what, don’t like them? He said they look nice, there’s so many, it’s bright. He thinks he’s funny. He was not going to put lights up, he said the electricity bill will skyrocket. He also doesn’t want a Christmas tree, he said let’s spend the money I’d put down on a fibre optic one I want, & get a second fridge instead. I said oh ok, sure, when everyone is here, we’ll all sit around the new fridge admiring it, & take turns opening it to grab a beer. (It can’t be the rum or Dog forbid the rum punch… he thinks he’s hiding that. ) I dont have to call him it, he calls himself Scrooge. So I’ll be going to get our tree at Ikea when he’s at work.

This has made me remember lights are one of my favourite things about Christmas. The years that I’ve put up Christmas a tree, I decorate it with purple & silver decorations. A few years ago my sister gave me a set of purple mini lights, Halloween leftovers. I’m telling you, that was one of the most thoughtful, appropriate gifts someone has ever given me, she knows about my l’il thing for colour coordinating, & they look just amazing!!!!

When there’s lots of snow, at night our boulevard looks like a Thomas Kinkade painting. I would not put any of his work in my house, not my style, but to actually drive around & see that kind of peaceful beauty is nice for a change. That’s what I like best about Christmas, the illusion is gives.

PS: Hubby just came home & said it looks like the red light district in here. *sigh*