Hi ho, hi ho - it's off to work I go

Wish me luck!

The Pirate Ship

Last night I went to a VIP event at Playland with two of my peeps. It was a last-minute invitation, literally - got a text invite at 6:30pm, Dan and I picked our friend up at 7:20pm and we were on our way!

Yesterday was an ugly, rainy day but the rain totally let up and we didn't get a drop on us the entire night. I was thankful for that - I don't think going on rides and walking around the park would have been quite as fun if we were getting pissed on the whole time.

We had free hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, pop, midway games - and of course, all the free rides we wanted. Sweet!

It ended up being a big night for me - I faced a fear. I won't go as far as to say I "conquered" it - we'll just say I faced it straight on ... please let me explain ... when I was little, like 7 or 8, my big sister took my brother and I to Playland. She was quite a lot older (she would have been 16/17 at the time), so of course she wanted to go on ALL the cool rides. Jay and I were too small for her to just leave us alone so she could go on the rides, so she took us on all of them, whether we wanted to go on or not! One ride that REALLY freaked me out was The Pirate Ship. I cried the whole ride ... I can still remember it quite clearly. Jay freaked out pretty bad too. Needless to say, I never went on The Pirate Ship again. Until last night. How did it go, you ask? Well, mid-ride I calmly looked over at Dan and told him that I hope he was enjoying the ride, as I would never ever ever ever go on it again in my lifetime.

Tee hee! This is why I say that I "faced" my fear but didn't quite "conquer" it.

(oh btw, my friend said that she had a mini panic-attack while we were on that damn ship, so it's not that I'm a total chicken shit!)

It may not look all that freaky ... but it is. Really. Trust me on this one.

Carrying on

At this point in my life my top priority is travel. Perhaps my top priority should be buying a home, but ... well, it's just not. I would love to own a place, and it will happen, but right now I'm more focused on travel. That said, my current situation (being self-employed) simply isn't allowing for enough travel - so I have decided that I need to get a 2nd job so that Dan & I can carry on with our travels. We want to travel now, while we're young and healthy and happy - you never know what tomorrow may bring, so we need to live in the now and experience as much as possible. For a couple more years, anyways - then perhaps our priorities will change ...

My way of thinking changed when Dan's dad passed away from cancer. He was fine and healthy one day and the next he was told that he'd be lucky if he lived another 6 months. Life is too short - you need to make the most of it and live each day like you might not have a tomorrow.

So anyhoo, it'll be a super tough transition for me - going from living the life of self-employment to having a day job (AND still having my own business) but I need to do what needs to be done. I'm miserable if there's no prospect of travel in my plans, so I need to fix that!

How about you? Do you have anything that is a top priority for you, at this point in your life?

Pont du Gard, France

An update

Been wondering where I've disappeared to? Well, let me fill you in what I've been up to lately ... it's really nothing overly exciting, mind you.

Work has been busy. For those of you who don't know, I'm self employed - I design custom stationery (for weddings, etc). It's a busy time of year for someone such as myself, with wedding season upon us. I won't bore you with all the details, but yep - I've been super busy. My schedule hasn't allowed for much down time, hence my lack of blogging for the past while ...

Despite being busy with work, I took a few days off last month. My hubby had booked 2 weeks off from work and wanted to do something fun on his time off - so during the 2nd week I too took some time off and we went to Whistler for a night, and then went to Las Vegas for 4 nights. We had a nice little break, but to be honest, it doesn't feel like I had a break (I guess because I kept working throughout the so-called "break" - not the best of ideas!). So I still feel like I need a getaway ... a break from work, a break from the computer, you know?

Other than work stuff, I just haven't been feeling all that great for the past 6-7 weeks or so. Just not feeling myself at all, and it's pretty lame. I've had such super low energy ... ugh. Maybe it's because I need a real holiday?! ;)

Don't worry, I'm still alive

I've just disappeared for awhile!

Be back soon. xx

On the 11th day of May

Four years ago today, Dan and I exchanged wedding vows in a civil ceremony in Siena, Italy.

The City Councillor says (in Italian):

In the year two thousand and five, on the 11th day of the 5th month, in the Town Hall of Siena, in a room open to the general public, in my presence, Councilor of the Comune of Siena, Registrar of Marriages, are the following persons:

Are you Mr. DD?
(Dan answers yes)

And are you Miss CG?
(I answer yes)

For my duty as a City official, and for your guidance, I shall now read the following articles of law out of the Civil Code of the Republic of Italy, which relate to the mutual rights and duties, of married couples

Art. 143.
By marrying, husband and wife acquire the same rights and undertake the same duties. Marriage imposes mutual duties of faithfulness, moral and material assistance, co-operation in the interest of the family and cohabitation.

Both husband and wife each according to his (or her) own means and capacity in the professional or domestic field, must attend to the needs of the family.

Art. 144.
Husband and wife, must agree upon the direction of their family life. The family residence will be established taking into account the requirements of the family. Both husband and wife have the power to put into action the direction they have agreed upon.

Art. 147.
Marriage imposes on both spouses the obligation to support, teach and educate their children, taking into account the abilities, natural talents and aspirations of the children, themselves.

Do you Mr. D take Miss C as your wife?
(Dan answers yes)

And do you Miss C take Mr. D as your husband?
(I answer yes)

Have the witnesses heard?
(Angie & Kimberly answer yes)

In the name of the law I declare that Mr. D and Miss C are united in marriage.

After this, the wedding document was read in Italian and English:

In the year two thousand and five, on the 11th day of the 5th month, in the Town Hall of Siena, in a room open to the general public, in my presence, Councilor of the Town of Siena, Registrar of marriages, are the following persons:

DD, Bridegroom, born at [location] on [birthdate]
CG, Bride, born at [location] on [birthdate]

and they have asked me to unite them in marriage. To this purpose I read to the spouses the articles of law 143; 144 and 147 out of the Civil Code of Law of the Republic of Italy. Then I asked the bridegroom whether he wanted to take C as his wife, and whether the bride wanted to take D as her husband, and as both have answered affirmatively in the presence of the witnesses, I declared that they are united in marriage.

We always have fun together

Went and saw The Ting Tings at the Commodore on April 11. It was a fun show! I guess Dan & I were having a good night, as we had a good time goofing around on the way home.

Taken on the streets of Vancouver, in the wee hours of April 12 ... silly!

Dan ... jumping ...

Me ... err, not really sure what I'm doing!

Pretty packaging

Such pretty tape, oh my!