Big Changes Are Coming

It's been a bit since my last blog post but as some of you may know I have been extremely busy lately. I've been trying to put a lot of my focus into my work, not really sure why but it gives me something to think of all day. I have also been going to the gym or working out at home five to six days a week, and on top of that have been planning on changing my life.

What is this change? Well after a long year of living on my own, trying to find my place in this new world, and endless let downs, I decided it was time to start living the life I really wanted. I had made a decision in the fall when my sister moved to New Zealand on a working visa that I wanted to try the same thing. The plan was to pay down some stuff, take a leave from work and go for a year.

Initially my sister and I had a little plan of meeting up, maybe doing some traveling and some random work, and then when she set off for home I could do the rest of the year on my own. This plan seemed great in a lot of ways however there are a few things that came up that stopped this exact plan from working out. I live on my own in Ottawa where it isn't the cheapest place to live and save money, and second as of today my baby sister is home early from her journey in New Zealand. A choice that she knows I respect and just hope that she is happy in whatever she does, however I will miss talking to her at 3am when I have the dreaded insomnia!

So even though my sister came home I decided that I still needed to do something for me. I need to get out of this city and do what I love...travel! I have always wanted to go to Bali, Indonesia for as long as I can remember, even before Julia Roberts and the whole Eat, Pray, Love thing happened. I started looking at planning a trip there. Then I started seeing the surrounding areas, then the surrounding countries and all of a sudden I had seven countries that I now want to visit. How was I going to afford it? Could I do it on my own? When could I go? And then it happened...

I realized I'm not the first person to ever do this. The cost of backpacking around Southeast Asia has fairly minimal costs compared to many other places I want to go or have been before and with some careful planning I could do it. It all came to me very quickly and I realized that I could actually accomplish this. I would have to make some really big changes in my life now and until I could leave, but I could handle that. It was the first time in my life I had an opportunity to do something crazy like this. No ties here to hold me back, and that is very rare to happen. Plus, Justin Timberlake got married this year so my hopes of ever becoming his wife went down the drain. Over the next little while I will let you all in on my plans and how I'm getting to live my dreams. Big changes are coming.

Top 10 Mini Murrments

I have random murrments happen to me which I have shared on here in past blog posts. These are my top 10 normal pet peeve style things that drive me nuts. Otherwise known as mini murrments.

10. Being early for the bus for once and then it's late. This happens to me all the time, but more so on days when it is raining, snowy, windy, or I decide to wear a skirt to work. I'm planning on wearing a skirt tomorrow so I'm pretty sure I will be late.

9. Doing your eye make up perfect and when you put mascara on it smudges on your eyelid. This also only happens when you have to go out somewhere and have spent more time on your eyes than the normal throw on one color and go.

8. Being stuck behind people who don't know how to use an escalator. If you want to stand, stand to your right people. Some of us are in a hurry and the left side is meant for the ones who want to pass by.

7. Knowing there is a quarter of a bottle of lotion left but the pump doesn't go down far enough to pump it out. You pump and pump and nothing comes out. Screw you lotion bottle! How is it even possible that this happens these days? After years of this happening to me I thought they would have it right by now.

6. Finding a hairdresser that does a good job and then they leave or the place closes. I haven't had a consistent stylist in a decade. Wow that made me feel old!

5. Losing articles of clothing when you live by yourself and have your own washer and dryer. This happened to me yesterday. I tore apart my drawers, made a mess of my room and relived my teenage years with a disaster of a bedroom. I decided to wear jeans instead only to find the leggings at the end of the day. They were in the dryer that I looked through four times.

4. Forgetting words.
Example.
I say, "I was sick and watched a bunch of movies".
Other person says, "Oh what movies did you watch?"
Me, ".......Ummmm".
Pretty much I felt like a dumb ass. I am horrible with names. People, movies, books anything that has a name.

3. Going to take a picture of something great and then your memory is full. This is such a disappointment. Not only did you not capture the moment, you actually missed it because you were buggering around with your camera or phone and got nothing.

2. Having a bunch of open tabs on your computer and accidentally hitting the close button. No word of a lie I just did that while I was writing this. At least this time it was only the blogger tab and not all of the internet.

1. Getting ice cream on the back of your hand. You know when you reach into the ice cream container and the backside of your hand hits the side of the container and you get that little bit of ice cream on your hand? I can't handle this. It actually makes me cry. When I was younger I refused to get ice cream if it was close to empty. My best friend thought it was funny to do it on purpose to me one day. Let's say it didn't end well for the eggs in the fridge that day. I knew I was doing this post today and purposely put ice cream on my own hand to take a picture. What a horrible idea. I panicked after the picture was taken, but at least I got to lick off the ice cream and then had a bowl after.

Murrment Remedies- How to Shake Off That Murr Feeling

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. After some people got on my case I figured I would head back to blogging. The only problem has been I haven't had any murrments to write about. In general, life is pretty good right now so I can't complain. Then today I woke up just in a murr mood. One of those days where you feel like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed. You had bad dreams, you are feeling a cold coming on and there are suppressed feelings that decide to come out for no reason at all. It's a case of the murrrz as some people would tell me. So I decided to write about different things I do to get ride of those feelings. Each person deals with life in a different way but these are the things I have learned over the last year to help me.

Laughter

There is nothing I love more in this world than making someone laugh. I'm weird and have a messed up sense of humor and when I am feeling murr I tend to find something humorous that makes me laugh and share it with someone else. This may be through text, on Facebook or in person. In return I get to bring a laugh to someones day and I remember that this is what life is about for me. Plus most times I get something funny back from them.

Ice Cream

Anyone that knows me knows that I adore ice cream. I eat it everywhere I travel and it is my summer addiction. I hate being cold, so I don't get it as often in the winter and having it in my freezer is just bad news. Somehow it disappears really quickly. I think it ends up in my stomach somehow. In my family we will all agree that ice cream or tea will fix any problem and it usually does. Maybe it makes me feel good because it's a reminder of summer, of family, or because it's just so darn yummy.

Good Chat With Someone

This tends to be my first thing I do when I can't shake a feeling. It happens a lot that I'm not the only one having a murr day. It may be why it helps because you figure out that sometimes your issues are nonsense compared to someone else's. It always seems like someone you haven't talked to in ages will message you out of the blue on these days asking you how you are. Maybe it's a strange sign. Maybe that's why they are in your life that day. Who knows.

Music

The most important thing when using music is to listen to something that does not remind you of anyone. It can remind you of something you went through, somewhere you were or something you did but never listen to music that reminds you of someone when you need to clear your head. Find something that suits your mood and won't make it worse. I usually try and find something upbeat and maybe do a little dance around the house, yelling at the top of my lungs, just don't let your neighbors see you. Then you would have a murrment on your hands.

Yoga and Meditation

This is not for everyone and it takes a lot of practice to get it right but it is worth it. I keep my yoga mat out at all times and use this website http://www.doyogawithme.com/. On this site they have classes for any level, length of time or type of yoga. There are also a lot of breathing and meditation exercises available. I light my incense, take a deep breath, begin to clear my mind and end with the feeling of walking on clouds.


I did all of these things today and then wrote about it. Feels a lot better that is for sure. Hoping that today was just a temporary murr day and tomorrow it will have passed. If not I may be getting murringiteous.

Murrment of the Week: Quotes Going Wrong

It's time again for the Murrment of the Week. First of all I should let you know that my all time favorite movie is Dirty Dancing. I grew up watching this movie over and over again, knowing every line, every sound, and every dance. I can even tell you the moment you can pause the movie and have a screen full of Patrick Swayze's naked bum frozen on your tv screen. Needless to say, I always wanted to fall for a sexy bad boy like Johnny Castle. 

Last weekend I was in a little knick knack store and was ecstatic when I came across a Dirty Dancing key chain. It has buttons which will play one of six quotes from the movies, including the famous, "Nobody put's baby in the corner". After annoying my coworkers with this I decided on Tuesday to throw the key chain in my purse and go home for the day. 
I stopped at a little corner store on the way home to fulfill my craving for salt and vinegar chips. There was an Asian attendant behind the counter and as he gave me my total owing I reached into my purse. As always, I spent what seemed like an eternity digging through my purse looking for my wallet. At this moment of all things that could happen, I had to mistakenly hit the button on my key chain. There I was alone in the store with this man and very loudly all that you could hear was, "I'm scared of who I am, and most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you". All I could say was, "Wow that was awkward". I then explained to him what it was that made the noise and all he could say to me was, "Well at least what you said wasn't meant for me". Murr

I have since learned to take my key chain out of my purse, however I will never stop longing for my Johnny Castle....

Forever Alone?

 

The grass is never greener on the other side. I remember at times wishing I was living on my own, no one around to bother me, to have freedom to do whatever I want. Those things are great don't get me wrong, but living alone has it's downfalls too. So here are the best and worst things about living alone.



The Best

• You have the whole bed to yourself. You don't fight for covers, wake up to someone tossing, snoring, or talking in their sleep. You can sprawl out to all four corners of the bed. Most people would love this, however I still sleep in one corner of the bed and sleep in the same spot all night. When I wake up I don't even need to make one side of the bed. It's still perfectly in place.
• You can watch or listen to whatever you want. No fighting over the remote, no getting stuck watching shows that you can't stand. You can listen to whatever music you want, as loud as you want, at any time you want. There is always music on at my place, mainly because I can't handle the sound of silence, mixed with the humming of the fridge, but also because music is my life. It's on while I get ready, while I write, while I work out, while I cook and always when I just chill on the couch.
• You can make whatever you want to eat. I eat pretty much anything and some days I like to spend the time and immerse myself into cooking a big meal (this will last me for days of meals), and sometimes I come home and eat nothing. No one ever complains about how long it takes to cook, what is being made, or if they like what I cook. If it's bad, I don't make it again. If it's good I usually forget what I did.
• The only mess that is made is your own. You don't have to clean up from anyone unless you have company. My towels are always in place, everything is where I want it to be and if it's not I know I have to clean it up. My own mess.
• You are always right. By far my favorite. There is no one around to tell you if you are hanging a picture wrong, building something wrong, or just acting wrong. At the end of the day you always get to be right because there is no one to tell you otherwise. This won't always apply because as soon as you tell an outsider and they say you are wrong, you aren't always right.

The Worst

• When you are having a really bad day and you come home and just want to have a hug and cry it all away, there is no one there. This just makes the bad day even worse. At this point just go to bed.
• You can't blame anyone for anything but yourself. If there is a mess, something isn't done, a bill needs to get paid, you went over on you internet usage, or you are out of food, you can't blame anyone but yourself. This was the one that went in between the good and the bad when it came to the mess. You made it, but you also have to clean it all up.
• You spend way to much time talking to yourself. There are days I am sure I have gone crazy with some of the conversations I have had out loud with myself. I guess I'm never really lonely. Just a basket case.
• It's cold being alone. There are no hugs, snuggles, or anything to keep you warm. I have become attached to my wool socks and multiple layers of clothing to keep me warm. It doesn't matter how high I turn up the heat, there is nothing like skin to skin contact to keep you warm. This one makes me sad. Murr
• There is no one to make you comfort food. There are those days where it's cold out, you are grumpy, something has ticked you off, or you are just having a murrday. Those are the days I just want someone to make me a grilled cheese sandwich. It makes everything better. Making it yourself is not comforting. It seems like so much effort on those days. I usually just end up with toast with peanut butter instead.
• There is no one to share silly little moments with. I see, hear and do a lot of random things in my life and those really close to me get my texts all the time with strange pictures of something happening, but sometimes it's a lot of effort to send something and try to explain it rather than seeing it in person. This must be how I end up talking to myself.

There are goods and bads to any situation but those are my thoughts on living alone. It's been a strange year for sure and it's taken a long time to realize the good, and they usually outweigh the bad. At the end of the day if I could have my own bed, a maid, my own room to listen to music in, while I had someone to keep me warm with snuggles, give me hugs and make me grilled cheese who would listen to my random stories, then I think it would be great. Or I could just get a maid/cook and a dog. That may also solve my problems but then I would be forever alone with a dog. Murrr

Murrment of the Week. Dirty Murr

This week was actually a very good week in respects to murrments. It was pretty uneventful and I was worried I wouldn't even have a Murrment of the Week post. Then I came home Wednesday after work, turned on my hot water, ran it for about twenty seconds and then it ran dry. This week has been ridiculously cold. At times with the wind chill it was minus forty Celsius, so my first thought was maybe the pipes were frozen. I don't know the first thing about plumbing. If you take me to a hardware store, the only thing I am doing in the plumbing section is admiring to copper color of the pipe pieces.

I called my landlord and there have been multiple attempts to fix the water but as of this moment it has been 3 days without running hot water. I just want a hot shower. They say when you can't have something you want it more. Well that is me this week. I want a bubble bath, a steaming hot shower, I even wanted to do dishes just so I could have a sink full of hot water, and I despise doing dishes.

My new best friend is my kettle. We are old friends and have a lot of history making warm tea together, but this week I have had to depend on him. I have had to boil water to bathe every morning. Those of you who know me well know I love camping and this isn't a huge deal to have to boil water to wash, but after a few days that novelty wears off. My horoscope this month told me I should learn to live with less. I get it. I feel like a genuine dirt bag. I think I am going to go to the gym tomorrow just so I can have a good shower. At least it's a good reason to get me there! Not many things make me really grumpy in life. I get cranky when I'm tired, I can't handle people snooping in my business, people who continually let me down and worst of all I can't deal with getting ice cream on the backside of my hand. Other than those things I'm pretty easy going. But this....is murr.

Why Straight Girls Should Go To The Gay Clubs

 

 

Last night I went with a good friend to Edge Nightclub downtown in Ottawa. This was not my first time in a gay club nor will it be my last, but I thought I would share for all the straight ladies out there why you have to experience this at least once in your life. I knew I was going to write this little piece before I went out, hence my random poses with people in the photo above. Anyone that knows me knows how much I love going out to dance. It's really the only reason I'm in a club. I'm not there to find Mr. Right, or a fling or anything to do with that and that is the number one thing I love about going out to the gay club. You can completely be yourself, enjoy the music and not worry about the creepers lurching around you. So here are my top five reasons why every straight girl should go out to the gay clubs.

 

 

1. It's a confidence booster. You have multiple men surrounding you telling you that you are gorgeous or beautiful or whatever may be and you know they aren't saying it to get in your pants like the majority of guys at a club would be.
2. It's has a co-ed washroom and by far the cleanest washrooms I have seen in a club. Going into the ladies room at a regular club is disgusting. It makes me ashamed of being a woman and these boys are clean. Plus you get to have chit chats about clothes while you wash your hands.
3. You can sing out loud to a whole Lady Gaga song and no one looks at you like you are strange when you are belting out lyrics at the top of your lungs. Look around, they are all doing the same thing.
4. They play amazing music that keeps you dancing all night! It doesn't have the typical flow of music like a normal club (The house to get the ladies dancing, the random rock to get the guys there, the hip hop to get the booty grinding and then the classic last slow song of the night, your last chance to pick up that one nighter)
5. You meet a ton of interesting people. No one is afraid to chat, take pictures, dance with you or just be crazy. People are very approachable and not awkward in any way.

 

So there it is. My top five reasons the ladies should try out a gay club. It's a lot of fun, minus when the bar runs out of vodka for the night. If you want a good place to dance the night away without the drama or the pressure then this is worth a try!