The Puppet Master...

So...I've determined that I am now the puppet master. I work the strings behind the scenes that make the lame pieces of cloth look good to the audience. I'm getting a wee bit tired of it and the past few weeks are taking their toll on me. I am beyond frustrated that people can't function on their own without the assistance or in some cases approval of others. My horoscope today suggests that my puppeteering of my family will pay off soon and I will receive some thanks for the work I do. I doubt that will happen. At work, I expect some of the idiocy that I face simply because of the role that I play. However, it is becoming very tiresome dealing with selfish people who take no consideration of other individuals needs and wishes on a consistent basis. I have been taking all of the crap that has been thrown at me with a smile until today. They have broken me! I cannot take much more of this. I generally consider myself to be a strong individual, but today I am weak. :( With any luck the day will get better, but with each additional flake of snow that falls, I fear that simply won't happen. Wishing you all better days!

C.R.

I am NOT a babysitter!

Within 20 minutes of arriving at work this morning, I came to the realization that I am in fact paid to babysit people who have been doing their jobs for longer than I have AND who get paid significantly more. I can't wait for the day that big businesses realize that the little people are the ones that make things happen. The big people may make the decisions, but the little ones are the people who implement the ideas and enable the company to function and thrive!

Rant Complete.

80 days to go until I depart for NZ. My excitement has fallen slightly which is probably for the best. I have been so busy lately and with the holiday season already underway, it will only get busier. I can't wait to depart on my journey, but I do need to focus on current and near future events.

The Christmas Fruit cake has been baked! It is now in my fridge soaking up the rummy goodness from the cheese cloth.

The Christmas lights have been lit!

12 days until the tree goes up...it is all happening so fast...

Good thing most of my shopping is done now :)

C.R.

Let it snow? Let it snow? Let it snow?

So, I guess we don't really have a choice but to let it snow eh?

I have been in denial for a week or two now that any snow has fallen in "my world". ("My world" being the bubble in which I live) But today there was no mistaking it...well sort of. While sitting at my desk typing away or searching ebay, I heard my boss exclaim, "Oh wow! Look at the rain!". Turning around wondering what was going on, my eyes were met with the vision of snow and lots of it. Thankfully it has since melted, but it was quite the frightening vision at the time.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate snow. I am simply not ready for the cold weather it brings and the complete insanity that it causes with the traffic. I do NOT look forward to 1.5 hour drives to work (I only live 16km from the office). I do, however, look forward to Saturday mornings with a crisp layer of snow covering the neighbourhood. I only wish this was a perfect world.

For those of you who are curious, and I know that most of you are...it is a mere 84 days until I leave the soon to be cold and depressing weather of the Canadian winter behind me and venture off to the warm and beautiful climate of New Zealand.

As I see by the clock on my computer, it is now time for me to depart for the evening and battle through the traffic on my way home. Wish me luck making my left turn in less than 15 minutes tonight! Take care all!

R.

Only Thursday?

1.5 days to go until this week is over! WOO!!

Last night was the Jann Arden (www.jannarden.com) concert...so good! It has been a few years since I saw Jann in concert and she did not disappoint! Not that I think that is possible. Funny as always and with her powerful voice, I recommend that if given the chance to see her live TAKE IT!

The opener last night was a quirky fellow from Vancouver by the name of Bob Kemmis (www.bobkemmis.com). Bob is an interesting fellow who is a self-proclaimed acquired taste. Based on the slightly less than kind response of the obnoxious women in front of me, I'm not too sure if it was the advil migraine I had taken earlier in the evening, but I thought he was entertaining. I'll have to download some of his music to hear the complete songs as he was solo and acoustic last night - the song about the purse snatcher who got hit by a car was rather interesting. If you take a listen to any of his stuff, please feel free to give me your own opinion.

To Correne & Paul - Have fun on your journey! I'm so glad that you made it to Thailand and that your adventures have finally started...don't forget to keep in touch!

Countdown...91 Days to NZ! 45 Days to Christmas!

49 days to Xmas....94 days to NZ....

I'm having a debate (with myself as usual) as to when it is acceptable to start decorating for Christmas. I tend to follow the standard that the tree isn't to be assembled prior to December 1st...I'm thinking it will go up on the 2nd or 3rd this year (Friday or Saturday). I was rather late setting up and removing the decorations last season (apparently Valentine's Day is too late to dismantle the Christmas tree...or so I've been told by all of my 'friends').

My dilemma this year isn't regarding the tree, but my outside decorations. Now I feel that the lights can go up at any time really as long as they aren't turned on until a certain point (would this also be December 1st?), but I am having a problem determining when is acceptable to install the candy canes along the path at the front of the house. Should I wait until my December 1st start date for the beginning of the Christmas season? I really want to put them up soon... I'm in the Christmas mood early this year and want to get things done before I get tied up with other aspects of the season (i.e. baking and watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on TV 5 times in a row).

So after saying all of this, I know I should wait, but frankly I don't want to!

FYI...I already have a few people crossed off my shopping list as complete and yes, the gifts are already wrapped in the living room! I think I may start the fruit cake around the 20th this year so it will be nice and rummy for Christmas day!

As for New Zealand, I think I'm almost ready...I could probably leave tomorrow if I was able to :) On Wednesday, it will be 3 months until departure...pretty amazing since I first started planning back in July/August of this year...before you know it I'll be 18 hours ahead of you folks soaking up the NZ sun and meeting people from around the world...I can't wait!!

Back to lunch for now, will write again soon, please let me know your thoughts on Christmas decorations though...I'm really curious what you think!

They ran in fear....

So...to anyone who actually read my first posting, and who checked out craxy and craxyrae....you will note that neither of these actually exist! Soooo....why couldn't I have them? Is it a conspiracy? Let me know what you think...
C.R.

Another Craxy?

Those of you who know me will note that something isn't right with my blog URL. Craxy should never be spelled with xx...however, using the creativity that craxy was born from (my misspelling when creating a hotmail account) I took a leap and added the extra x out of necessity. Please note that both craxy and craxyrae were unavailable at the time of this blog creation. This has left me quite upset as craxy is something that is very personal to me. I will be investigating the blogs currently using my trademark to see what they are all about...I can pretty much guarantee that craxxyrae will be much more entertaining though! Well, I'd best get back to work now...it IS almost time to head to the mall for my lunch hour (who needs to eat when one can go shopping instead?!?!?). Take care my peeps! Love y'alls! C.R.