Not so nice

It's my Friday ritual. On my walk to work, I pop into a Starbucks and get myself a coffee. I see it as a reward for yet another work week knocked off. But this morning's treat was tainted.

As I walked in to the shop, this woman was humming and hawing over the baked goods and skittering back and forth between the case and the cash. In a thick German accent, she started asking the barista about what a scone is. Really?! See, it was 5:45am, and I had to be at work for 6. I was cutting it close, so I didn't really have time to listen to a bakery lesson. She got her shit, I got mine, and we ended up at the cream station together. She lookes up at me like I was Shrek when I reached for the cream and I scowled at her for being in my way, which she was. She made me angry. As I left the store, I had an epiphany.

I am a bitch.

Really, I did not want to be like this to her or anyone else. I just wanted coffee and be on my way. I'm going to try to be nice today, even to even the people who aren't nice to me.

The other day, Byron and I were walking along the streets, and I realized that no one here in Victoria says hello. They don't smile at people they pass, they don't say hi to the people they recognize from the 'hood. Maybe because this is a tourist town, people living here don't bother with niceties. I don't like it. When I smile at someone on the street, don't pretend I am not there. If I say hello to you it's because I see you every frigging day on my way home from work. Say hi back, you fool! It's even worse at work, when I see the same people day in and day out. No one talks in the halls, the elevator rides are eerily silent, and no one will hold a door open. I can't stand it! I also can't stand being the idiot saying hello fruitlessly to people.

It's time for a vacation. Speaking of which... two weeks from tonight Byron and I are flying home. Yippee!

Greetingly Yours,
xoxoSallyt

Tis the Season

In two weeks, Byron and I fly home for Christmas. It's been years since I was this excited for Christmas! But this year, Christmas has a different meaning to me.

Sure, when you're kids, it's all about Santa and presents. As I got older and moved away from home, it was about being around friends and trying not to be homesick. This year, it's about family. All about family. It's not about buying this for that person, or parties, or decorations. It's about being near family and the ones I love the most.

My family has yet to meet Byron, so that's the highlight of my Christmas right there. Plus, Jane and Craig will have their baby by then, so there's another present. Maybe the gifts of Christmas aren't the sweaters and books and things to unwrap, but the people you love.

After all, God is love, and then maybe those people who fight so hard to keep religion in the season can appreciate that the greatest gift out there is love. Whether it's the love of your life, your new niece or nephew, or your family, those are the greatest gifts anyone could ever give.

Merry Christmas,
xoxoSallyt

Bracing for Winter

It's my very fist winter in Victoria. I've been told there is practically no snow, and when there is some white stuff falling from the skies, the city shuts down. It does rain, though. They say it rains a lot, and it's gray everyday. And it's warm. I'm kind of looking forward to winter for a change.

Byron and I will be watching tv, and we'll see a clip of a snowstorm in the prairies. Or we'll be watchign the Weather Network (which, admittedly, we do a lot) and see that Edmonton is -3 that day while we are baking at +10. His dad always asks about the weather, his sister always tells us there's snow on the ground where she is. And we get kind of smug about it all.

But I have to admit, I think I might miss the snow. A bit. I miss that crisp chill in the air after a good snowfall. When the sidewalks are fluffly with white snow, and the sun is shining bright. It makes me want to go for a long walk and while a pot of homemade soup simmers. To see images of snow-covered trees and fields makes me yearn for big coats and hats and cuddle warm in my parka when it's cold outside.

It's weird to think that I'm not going to get that deep freeze this year. Instead, we'll be soggy and gray. I picture pruny skin and pasty cheeks - not the rosy ones of winter. But then I give my head a shake and remember the icy roads, the snowbanks to climb over, and the constant hat head.

You take the good, you take the bad, and there you have the facts of life.

Soggingly Yours,
xoxoSallyt

I just have to say...

... I have a good man. A wonderful man. A loving man. And I thank him for that.

I just have to say I am a lucky woman who is in love with the greatest man.

Swooningly Yours,
xoxoSallyt

Hold me! I'm scared!

Byron and I went to our very first, and last, wedding expo. It was free, which was the only way we would go to such a thing. But it was 30 minutes of my life I will never get back.

It was pointless, really, for us to go. We have all the big things booked for the wedding. And we have the little details like tags for the favours or attendents' gifts lined up in our heads. We did not need to see a ball cap with pink embroidery that reads "So Loved". Or some glass trinkets trying to pass itself off as a diamond necklace. Byron and I were stunned and shocked, and sickened.

It was almost precious. Someone actually greeted me with a "Congratulations" instead of saying hello. The idea of being a princess on your day was heavy in the air. Women were catered to and acted like they had won a prize for getting engaged.

I did get a prize in Byron. I got a wonderful gift in knowing him, loving him, and now marrying him. I don't need some second-rate vendors to tell me that. And this whole idea of being a princess of "your big day" drives me mental. I am not a princess, never have been and never will be. And to me, it's not "my day". It's our day, as in my and Byron's day. It's our day to share and cherish forever. And wearing some tacky tiara isn't going to make it any more special.

During the fashion show, we bolted. The dresses were heinous. All glittery and backless and sparkles and strapless. It was ugly, and our wedding is going to nothing like the load of crap they tried to shovel onto us yesterday.

I no longer fear hell for I have been to a wedding expo.

Conqueringly Yours,
xoxoSally

Growth Spurts

My family is growing.

Jane and Craig are having a baby in December. My brother will be getting married to Nicole, someone he met in New Zealand. I can't wait to meet her - the woman who makes my baby brother so happy. Byron's family feels like mine, now, too. His brother and sister feel like my brother and sister now... without all the history. You know, decades of quarrels, animosity, childhood traumas, and fist fights. Even Byron's aunt and uncle feel like family to me now. It's shockingly nice.

Jane and I have talked about this before, and we would both like to live closer to each other now that she's starting her family. We never grew up around cousins or aunts or uncles. Well, in all honesty some aunts and uncles of ours deserve to be in local loonie bin. We would like to be near each other so our babies can grow up knowing one another. I'd hate to have my nieces and nephews be strangers to me.

Babies and marriages and in-laws... oh my!

Expandingly Yours,
xoxoSallyt

I'm Gonna Call It...

Mark my words, Britney Spears will be dead within a year.

After much consideration, and after years of celebrity-watching, I am going to go out on a limb and say Britney is going to go the way of Anna Nicole pretty soon.

Foretellingly Yours,
xoxoSallyt