Furry Friday..sorta

Well, unfortunately I don't have any pictures today. The runs at the shelter are under construction so we need to walk all the dogs on leash, which is fine, but it puts a serious damper on my photo taking ability. I actually got one cute picture of the giant rottie Malcolm by getting him to follow the light that the camera was casting on the ground, then I quickly snapped his picture...but alas, I have left my camera at home.

I'm hoping to get some cute pictures this weekend, because this weekend is PET PICTURES WITH SANTA!! (plus a bake sale). The concept of Pet Pictures with Santa is hilarious to me, and I cannot even wait. So cute! Also...we are giving free bandanas to all the animals that have their pictures taken with Santa, so this means we have made teeny, tiny little bandanas, because if someone brings in their guinea pig...they are getting a bandana god dammit! Please stop a moment and picture the chaos that will likely ensue during this event. Hilarious yes? I can't even wait.

I baked up a storm this week, so hopefully all my goodies actually entice people to spend money.

I have mentioned before that the shelter is right next door to a Tim Hortons...the line up for the Timmies stretches right along the back outdoor run, and there is a patch of grass in between. When I walk the dogs outside, I usually walk them through this patch of grass. Last night I was walking this Catahoula Leopard Dog mix, who is just cute as a button, but he's huge and strong. He kept stopping, and I could not for the life of me move him. Of course he chose right by the Timmies line to be ornery. It's embarrassing. Then he decided it would be a great time to roll around in the ditch. This is usually the point where people start yelling things from the drive thru line, and I have to shrug my shoulders, like, "welps, not my dog, what can you do??" Most of them walk pretty well, but you get the odd one that just drives you insane.

What else, what else....a TON of the dogs are adopted and this makes me veeery happy. But Charlie still needs a home. I planted the seed in the assistant managers ear that maybe they could pitch a story to the local newspaper about Charlie, who has been at the shelter for almost a year now. People love a good sob story, and honestly at this point, I'm not above milking the situation a little. Charlie needs a home, and this is all I'm asking Santa for this Christmas. *Hopefully* something comes of the paper thing.

A couple disturbing things happening here in Canada regarding animal rights.

First off, over 100 neglected sled dogs found tied to trees in Quebec. The kicker?? Because this jackhole willingly surrendered the dogs, he won't get charged with anything. The laws for animal abusers need to be way tougher in this country.

Second, several employees at the Toronto Humane Society have been arrested on animal cruelty charges. This includes the General Manager, the head vet, the president and two others. I pretty much have no words for this. These people are supposed to HELP animals. They work for a HUMANE society. Jessssus. I was looking through some of the pictures that animal cruelty investigators took, and they are fucking appalling. Don't even bother clicking on the link because your faith in humanity will pretty much be out the window.

Thankfully, those huskies are getting a happy ending...a lot of them have already been placed with foster homes or adopted.

The Toronto Humane Society has over 1000 animals in their care. That is a huge responsibility, and god, you hope that when you have an organization like a humane society, that they would treat the animals, you know, humanely! Lord love a duck.

I hope karma gives these people a swift kick in the ass.

Anyway, happy news! Guinea pigs in christmas bandanas! Cats looking unimpressed at sitting on Santa's lap! Dogs barking for hours on end! Cupcakes!

I'll try to post some cute dog pictures if I can.

Happy Friday!!

Randomness and Blog Awards

Okay, I am sitting at my desk and the bosses are having a meeting. They are discussing a new publication that the office wants to put out, but the problem is there is nobody to write the editorial. Except that there is. Me. I went to school for journalism. I write for several websites, a magazine and a newspaper. They know this. I want to burst in there and be like "ummmmmm hello, am I really THAT invisible??? I can write!!" It's just...it's really frustrating and it makes me a little bitter. Why would no one think to ask me? Seriously! And yes, I could just volunteer myself, but I am in a place that is so frustrated and stuck, and I need that validation that comes from somebody saying, "hey, I think you would be good at this." It's like...the more they sit and ponder who is going to write this thing, the more I want to scream.

Do you ever have the feeling of being stuck in some sort of box and you are pounding on all sides, but you just can't get out? You go to school, you do well, and you leave expecting that your hard work is going to pay off in some respect, but then you end up in a job that you are horribly overqualified for, but you stay there because you need the money and there is nothing else. Is it just me??

It's not like I don't try...practically every moment of my day is spent visualizing and planning an exit strategy. I grew up thinking, knowing, that when I got older I needed to be doing something that is making a difference, that is putting good vibes out into the world, but I'm just not there yet. Not as much as I want to be.

Yesterday, I googled imaged "doink the clown unmasked", and although it is a valid question...who was doink the clown anyway? It's not a productive use of my time. That is not a piece of information I really need to store in my brain. I don't want to sum of my work day to be, "So, what did you do at work today", "well, I spent an hour researching WWF wrestlers from the early 90s, and then seeing where they are now. Did you know the Undertaker is now a preacher in Alabama?".

I don't mean to get all angsty and whiney, but sometimes I just get overwhelmingly frustrated and I need to vent it out. I just, I feel so positively stuck sometimes. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the city, maybe it's just a combination....all I know is, I really need to get out of this box or I will actually go crazy. Seriously, I will go mental and very likely have to be institutionalized.

Anyfrigginghoo, it's time for Blog Awards! I've received a couple of blog awards in the last couple of days, and it is time for me to pass them on.

The hilariously funny Carissa over at Carissa Jaded, gave me this award:



Carissa is a hilarious, extremely honest blogger, and you should definitely check out her blog if you haven't already. I never miss a post! Love her, she makes me laugh every day, which is always appreciated!! Thanks Carissa!

I'm suppose to hand this award out to four bloggers, so here it goes! Some of these people don't even read my blog, but I am going to say "Thank you for blogging" anyway, because I love their blogs just that much. Also, seriously, how cute are the little pilgrims on this award??

First off, one of my favourite blogs of all time is 2birds1blog Meg is hysterically funny. There are numerous times her blogs have made me laugh out loud at work, then I have to pretend I'm coughing, and it's just awkward. This blog seriously makes getting through the day a little bit easier, and a whole lot funnier! If you don't read this already, you must!! I'm extremely grateful for this blog.

Second, the Novelista Barista, is one of my fav bloggers. She updates all the time, manages to make her blog really interactive, is honest, funny and just seems really nice! Very cool blog.

I just came across The Travel Nerd, the other day. It's a great blog if you like travelling and are interested in travel writing. She doe a lot of interviews with travel writers, which I find extremely interesting.

Annnnd, last but definitely not least, Candice over at That's Tangly, is an awesome blogger. She's funny, loves travelling and is a great writer. I love reading all about her adventures in St. John's, as well as her travel writing career. So great.

This next award was given to me by Jen at Life, Love and Wine. Thanks Jen!! This is another blog I never miss! Check it out please!!



I'm supposed to write seven random things about myself...here goes:

1) Okay, this one is not about me at all, but I found it hilarious so I thought I would share. Some guy just walked in here, picked up a blank piece of 11by17 paper and said, "what is this, a map of the city?". The paper was blank, absolutely nothing on it. My reply, "no, it's blank paper". WTF???

2) One of my best friends in absolutely convinced I have ADD. Apparently I fidget constantly, and jump from one sentence to the next when things are completely not related. I prefer to call this, "bored easily".

3) I've wanted to be a writer since grade 2, when I wrote a story and got chosen to go to Young Authors Day.

4) I hate talking on the phone, a lot. I much prefer email, texts, or just seeing someone face to face. I would rather walk somewhere and talk to somebody then call them on the phone.

5) I am horrendous at math, and I need a calculator for even the simplest things. Except I know my times tables like nobody's business.

6)I have a deep deep love for Alex Trebeck and Jeopardy, even though I feel intensely stupid after watching it.

7) I love climbing things and exploring. I am still obsessed with tree forts. My dream house would have a huge tree fort in the backyard and a secret passageway, much like Dawn had in the Babysitter's Club.

Well! That was more difficult than it probably should have been!

Now to give the award out! I'm going to stick with 4 people, because.... I want to.

Dave at Mark My Words His blogs always make me laugh/think, and I love when he goes on a rant. I tHiNk hE MIGHT REALLY eNjOY ThIS sEnTENce.

Laura at Tidbits from My Mind I'm pretty sure I've given her an award before, but that's cool, because she deserves it! She always has interesting posts, and I never miss any!

Sami at Herding Cats. I started following her a while ago, and I have quite enjoyed her blog! Check her out.

Annnnd I'm giving the award to Carissa because she's awesome. I've already linked to her above, buuuut I"ll do it again. Check out her blog.

Okay, maybe I really do have ADD because that took me an eternity. And my eye won't stop twitching and is driving me slightly insane. That is all.

Happy Holidays!

CA-NA-DA

So, I got this email forward the other day that was supposedly about questions people around the world have been asking about Canada, since so many people will be travelling to Vancouver for the 2010 games. (Why am I not going to this?? I irritate myself.) Some of the questions in this email are ridiculous, and I definitely question their validity. I tend to think people, especially people who clearly have access to the internet, would send in any of these questions to an International Tourism Organization. The email never says which International Tourism Organization, and a google search for "International Tourism Organization" brings up nothing.

If this forward is actually valid, I can understand why people ask some of the questions. I don't really expect people to know everything about every country in the world, Lord knows I don't...but at the same time, I have basic knowledge about most areas in the world.

What do you guys think? Do you think these are actually real? The answers are sarcastic replies, but the questions are supposedly real:

Q: I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow?
( England )
A. We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch
them die.

This might be a reasonable question if the person wasn't you know, from England!

Q: Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? ( USA )
A: Depends on how much you've been drinking.

You know what? I can see how this might be a valid question if you don't really know anything about Canada. I mean, it's the same with Australia right? I'm sure people wonder constantly if there are kangaroos hopping around the streets. Kangaroos=Australia, Polar Bears=Canada. Now, never in my life have I actually seen a polar bear in the wild, but then again, I suppose I can see how some people would think they just roam around up here.

Q: I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto - can I follow the Railroad
tracks? ( Sweden )
A: Sure, it's only Four thousand miles, take lots of water.

This one had to be a joke right? Right? If not, I just, I can't comprehend!! Basic world geography!! Most people in the world know that Vancouver is at one side of Canada, and Toronto is in the middleish? Right? Can you imagine asking a question like this? Google Maps people! Save yourself from embarrassment!

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada? ( Sweden )
A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Huh?

Q: Are there any ATM's (cash machines) in Canada? Can you send me a
list of them in Toronto , Vancouver , Edmonton and Halifax ? ( England )
A: No, but you'd better bring a few extra furs for trading purposes.

Again, I suppose this can be a valid question. If I'm travelling somewhere, I want to know if I am going to be able to use my debit card. But the question says this person is from England, and that is what boggles my mind.

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada ? ( USA )
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe
Ca-na-da is that big country to your North...oh forget it. Sure, the
hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary. Come naked.

WTF? USA? Some Canadian had to have made up this entire email...

Q: Which direction is North in Canada ( USA )
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here
and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Again.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Canada? ( England )
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

The question makes sense I suppose. It's not like they asked, "Do they use cutlery in Canada?". Perhaps they bought someone a nice cutlery set and want to know if it is going to make it over the border...who knows right?

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? ( USA )
A: Aus-t ri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which
is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday
night in Vancouver and in Calgary, straight after the hippo races.
Come naked.

hahaha, come on now.

Q: Do you have perfume in Canada ? ( Germany )
A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year
round? ( Germany )
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of Vegan hunter/gathers. Milk is
illegal.

This question made me laugh a lot when I first read it. Come on Germany!! Half of my brain is taken up with random German knowledge!

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada, but I forget its
name. It's a kind of big horse with horns. ( USA )
A: It's called a Moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the
brains of anyone walking close to them. You can scare them off by
spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

"Big horse with horns"=best description of a moose ever.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? ( USA )
A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

You know what, I can give you this one USA! The English/French thing would probably be confusing to someone who doesn't live here.

Real? Fake? Mixture?

Happy Thanksgiving Tomorrow to all you Americans! Enjoy the holiday and all the yummy, yummy food!!

Travel Tuesday-A Ride on the Bus

A Ride on the Bus

I’m always a big fan of taking public transportation when I travel, because a) it’s just cheaper, and b) it is way better to see a place the way locals do. I am completely directionally challenged, and have found myself lost on foreign public transportation more times than I can count, but as a means of getting place to place I still prefer either walking or taking the subway/bus.

I was in Dublin with my parents and we decided we would go take a tour of the Guinness Factory, which is about a ten minute bus ride from the city centre. Luckily my parents agree with my “no taxi” philosophy, and we hopped on the bus to go down to the brewery. It was crowded, and it was standing room only. We made our way to the back of the bus and stood next to a woman with a small boy in the stroller. Nobody was really talking for the first couple of stops, but one of us must have made eye contact, because suddenly the woman was our new best friend.

There were no introductions, no “where you from”, her main mission was to impress us with her toddlers anatomy knowledge. The woman was clearly intoxicated, and she stumbled and slurred her words.

“Ssssshow the family where your poo comes from!!” she directed the child in a thick Irish accent. The child stared at her with a look I interpreted to mean “mother please, you are embarrassing me.” Personally, I think two years old is a little soon to be mortified of your parents, but in this case, I was totally on the kids’ side.

“I said, show them where your poo comes from!!” she said again, louder this time. My parents and I exchanged awkward glances with the other people on the bus, and they smiled back in that way people do when they mean to convey their sympathies at your situation, but have no intention of getting involved.

“Ohhhhh, he knows this!” the lady said to my mother, “show them where your poo comes from!!”

“It’s okay” my mother said, “he’s probably just being shy”, trying to alleviate the situation.

“No. No. Fine then!” throwing the child a fiery glance, “SHOW ME WHERE YOUR POO COMES FROM” she hollered. Everyone on the bus turned around and stared. It seemed to be taking forever to get to the brewery.

“Hey!!” she was suddenly shouting, pointing towards the front of the bus. “It’s our stop now!!” A small child started making his way from the front of the bus to the back where we were standing. The three of them got off at the next stop. Once they were off, everyone shuffled kind of uncomfortably.

“Yup”, one man finally said, “she’s on the bus with them all the time, every day, always drunk”. The situation was comical in one way, slightly tragic for the children in another.

We finally made it to the brewery, and hopped off the bus.

“That was pretty much the best bus ride ever”, I remarked as we made our way towards the entrance. We laughed about it, and then continued on the tour of the brewery. We came back from the tour with bags full of Guinness related items. Hats, mugs, chocolate bars-we had ‘em.

Standing at the bus stop, waiting for another bus to take us back to the hotel, it had started to rain. Large puddles had formed on the road, and we huddled under the bus shelter. A man came staggering towards us, walking partly on the road, partly on the sidewalk. He was clearly intoxicated. A car drove by him and splashed him with a huge amount of rain water.

“HEY!!!” he screamed, “You fucking wanker, come back here!!!” He started to run drunkenly after the car, but realized soon enough he was never going to catch it. He came stumbling back over to where we were standing. Being the only three people at the bus stop, he stopped and stared directly at us. His face was a mess; he had clearly been in a fight as his nose look broken and bloody, and his eye was blackened.

“Good day,” he said, directing his words towards my mother and I. “I’m very sorry for using such language in the presence of ladies.”

My mother and I stared for a minute before she said, “it’s okay!” He went on his way.

The bus came shortly after, and once again it was packed. We made our way towards the back, the crowd trying to make room as we went.

“Hello!!!”, we heard a familiar voice call out. “He’ll do it now. Show them where your poo comes from!!!”


And that is why I will always, always, choose public transportation to get me places when I travel.

Where exactly does the weekend go??

Geeeeeez, the weekends fly by way to fast for my liking. Every Monday morning I wake up and I feel like poking my eye out.

Anyway, this weekend was pretty super! It involved playing in an arcade, dance dance revolution, caesars, gossip girl, musicals and lots and lots of baking.

First off, has anybody seen this movie?



I had never even heard of it before, but it caught my eye at the video store, and I'm so glad I rented it, because it was so cute. Seriously, see this movie. I now have the hugest crush on John Krasinski ever. Plus, the soundtrack is so good. Must get.

My friend K and I went to hang out on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls on Friday. Living so close to Niagara Falls for most of my life, I have to say that Clifton Hill is a place I avoid entirely in the summer. Well, I try to, inevitably, I find myself there at least once. But it is so much more pleasant and less "get the hell out of my way" in the winter. For those of you who have never been to Niagara Falls, Clifton Hill is quite possibly the tackiest place on earth. Its juxtaposition right next to the actual Falls always struck me as rather poor planning, but I suppose I have grown to love it. I mean, here is this street filled to the very brim with haunted houses, fun houses, mazes, arcades, souvenir shops, candy shops, restaurants, rides, a total sensory overload, and then just down the street is one of the "wonders of the world", a sensory overload of a different kind. It's two completely different worlds. It's just so odd. Kind of great, but odd.

Oh, and this year they have built this new attraction called "Rink at the Brink", and it is an ice skating rink right next to the Falls. I cannot even wait to try it out. We were laughing because when you walk anywhere near the Falls, you get soaked by a very fine mist, so we were wondering how this might work in the winter whilst skating. We decided that it would be fecking freezing, but worth it. Niagara Falls in wintertime is one of the most beautiful things you ever will see. Everything freezes because of the mist, so benches, trees, lamp posts, etc are all covered in a layer of ice that is pretty damn magical, I must say. I've seen Niagara Falls approximately 1 billion times in my life, but it never gets less awe inspiring.

Anyhoo, that went completely off track. We hung out in the arcade for a while, playing guitar hero, dance dance revolution, skee ball and all those other wonderful arcade games. I believe I collected about 90 tickets, and for this I got a sticky hand, trick gum and some fake tattoos. Win! Afterwards we decided to go in the Funhouse, because as I remembered it from when I was 8, it was the coolest thing ever.

As we were entering, the lady at the entrance was like, "the exit is broken, so you can play your way back up to the entrance to get out". Blokay!

I have no idea if it has changed since I was eight, or my eight year old self was just impressed really easily, but the Funhouse is, well, it's shit. Don't get me wrong, we had fun, but it was just not worth the $10 it cost to get in.

Let's go on a little tour...you enter through a large spinning tube, step on a spinning disk (which stopped spinning when we stepped on it...guess we were too heavy), go over a moving bridge, then head downstairs. The first room you get to is a mirror room. I can tell you that this is the highlight of the entire Funhouse. Seeing yourself as a midget, extremely tall, fat, skinny, it never gets old. We stayed here until the girl brought the vacuum down and started cleaning. The universal signal for "we are closing now".

You then head down a hallway which is lined with doors, none of which actually open. Then you cross a rope bridge, and get to a room with 3 giant blow up balls in it. The floor is hard as rock, so you can't even jump on them without risk of injuring yourself. Then you crawl through a tunnel and come to a crooked room, then a black light room, then a room with a rope net. People, I could have built this thing in my basement, and it would be ten times better. Even children would go in here and be like "who came up with this crap???". I'm hoping it has changed drastically since I last went there, or else my 8 year old self was way to easily amused!

Anyway, I just wanted to warn ya'll in case you were in the vicinity of Niagara Falls and were enticed by the seemingly fun looking "Fun House". Don't do it.

Yesterday, I went to Toronto to see a musical called My Mother's Jewish Lesbian Wiccan Wedding. It was so good! The songs were catchy, the story was well told, and it was just one of those plays that make you happy. Well, all musicals make me happy, but this one did in particular.

I baked up a storm on Saturday for the bake sale coming up next weekend. All I need to do is make some more brownies tonight, make some cupcakes on Thursday and I'll be done.

I need to start writing more seriously. I'm thinking of signing up for some travel writing classes. They are pricey, but I think it might be worth it. I'm feeling massively stressy about money right now, so I keep flip flopping.

Anyway, this week is a leetle intense, but I will do my best to post a couple of times. (Travel Tuesday and Furry Friday for sure). I'm going to start working on my Travel Tuesday right now. Tune in tomorrow for a story about taking public transportation in Ireland!!

Happy Monday!

Furry Friday

Last night was like heaven for me. There were puppies galore. I walked in, and there was a husky puppy behind the front desk. A HUSKY PUPPY! I about died, because husky puppies are the cutest! I have no idea who he belonged to, but I think one of the staff. As soon as I saw him, my immediate reaction was, "oh my, so cute!!!", and the staff member literally looked at me like I just kicked a kitten in the head. It was THE most disgusted look I have ever gotten. I mean, the staff are never overly friendly, but holy shit, last night took the cake. Is there any other reaction to a husky puppy? Google "husky puppy" and I think you will agree.

Although, I always question when staff members at a dog shelter get a dog that clearly isn't from the shelter. Ummm you work at a dog shelter...there are dozens of dogs here that need adopting, not to mention hundreds, thousands around the province, yet you've adopted a purebread, expensive puppy from a breeder (I'm assuming this, but I have my doubts that he came from anywhere else) Buuuut, whatever, it's not my shelter. However, when I do eventually open up my own animal shelter one day, staff must have rescued dogs, because what the shite kind of example is it otherwise? Anyway! I want to work at Dogtown, as the staff there are always super happy, and probably wouldn't make me feel like I'm wasting their time by volunteering. Good thing I love the dogs. Errrm, anyway!

So once I got over the cuteness of the husky puppy, I walked into the kennel and who is there but a border collie puppy and a basset hound puppy. Holy cripes! Puppies are my favourite.

Anyway, it was pouring rain last night so I couldn't get great pictures, but I did my best!





This dog was so long I couldn't get him all in one picture. He was such a sweetie though. Very cuddly. The ears!! Oh my.



Again, horrible photo, but you can kind of see him. So cute. He's adopted already.



This was the little border collie pup, who was three months old, and was a stray. Which is just really odd to me. He's adopted already too.



The smudge on the camera is from his nose, when he kept jumping on me. I was like, "dude, I am trying to take a cute picture of you, and you are making it realllly hard!".



Love this dog. Bax is from Louisiana, and has been at the shelter for a while now. He's adopted, provided he gets along the with couples other dog. Here's hoping! I *think* he'll be okay.



Hehe, I'm such a sucker for scruffy dogs.

And that's all the semi good photos I got! Next weekend is the bake sale, so I'll be baking up a storm this weekend/next week. Hopefully I can make something edible and delicious!!

Random Hump Day Thoughts

Oh "hump day"...that phrase brought me back to high school!

I don't have it in me today to make one post about one particular topic, so I think I'll go for more of a random thought type of deal. Go with the flow, see where it leads me kind of thing.

I'm not going to lie, I spend 90% of my day fantasizing about either travelling or opening my own animal sanctuary. I just become increasingly bitter every day though, because I snap back to reality, and hey! I'm still here.

Trying to be a writer is brutal. I have enough rejection letters to wallpaper an entire room. It is so frustrating, some times I just want to be like, "screw it!", but then I think of my job, want to poke my eye out, and my resolve comes back.

The other day I went to the dentist, and this was the first time in three years that I had been. I have no dental coverage, don't judge me! Anyway, apparently I grind my teeth at night and now I need to wear a mouth guard at night. Attractive! I've only had it one day, and I hate the thing. But grinding my teeth while I'm sleeping? GROSS. I disgust myself. Apparently, grinding your teeth at night is an indication of stress, but I can't imagine what it is I'm str...orrrr maybe, it might have something to do with not knowing where the hell my life is going. Oh quarter life crisis, I want to punch you in the knee.

In an effort to make up for the extreme boriness of my daylight hours, I tend to try and find the most random things to do at night/on the weekend. Seriously, anything at all will do, as long as it's new. Extra points if I get to travel somewhere (anywhere). This past weekend, I dragged two of my friends to the World Championship of Rock, Paper, Scissors in Toronto. It was ridiculous. Like, I can barely put it into words, so perhaps I'll post pictures tomorrow.

I am trying to get one of my friends to go skeet shooting with me, but NO ONE will go for it. Seriously, anything random with the potential to be fun, sign me up!! Finding random and fun things to do in the Niagara area is kind of hard sometimes because for the most part, there is not a lot of stuff happening. But I found a nearby place to go skeet shooting, and nobody is sharing in my excitement.

Last week I made it my goal to get the autographs of all my favourite childhood stars (Fred Penner, Jeff from Today's Special, Jodie from Today's Special...), why, you ask? Because sometimes, at work, I am just that bored. Plus, having Fred Penner's john henry would be sweet. You better believe I would frame that and hang it on my wall. Anyways, so I was randomly googling "Jodie from Today's Special", whose actual name is Nerene Virgin, and it turns out she is a politician now. It also turns out she is on Facebook. So I randomly added her as a friend, and she accepted. Bwahahaha, Jodie from Today's Special is my friend on facebook. Is it wrong that this makes me so happy? Now I need to figure out the least creepy way to ask her for her autograph, preferably on a picture of her in the pink suit from Today's Special.

Last night, I went to see A Christmas Carol, the 3D version. Has anyone seen this?? I found it very....odd. I thought the setting was done very cool, London looked amazing!! It was some super cool animation. The story? You can't go wrong with the story, it's classic. However, this version was just...odd. First off, there are numerous parts in the movie that are scary. I'm talking oh shit, something just popped out and now I'm choking on popcorn scary. I hate scary movies with a passion, but I really wasn't going into A Christmas Carol expecting to jump out of my seat several times. I DO get easily startled, but this seemed excessive, especially for a movie that seems like it's meant for children. More importantly! What the shit was up with the Ghost of Christmas Past? The head twitch? The bizarre Irish accent? The eyes?? I couldn't concentrate during that entire part of the movie because the Ghost of Christmas Past was such a messed up mofo. Also...whoever made the decision to make the animated characters look a lot like their real life counterparts...wrong choice! It was creepy.

Now, I love Christmas movies as much as the next person, but if you are going to watch A Christmas Carol, stick with the Muppet version! Speaking of Christmas...there is no holiday I like better than Christmas. I am all for tacky decorations, cheer, wrapping presents, Christmas music, family and baking. I try to watch one Christmas movie a week up until Christmas Day to increasingly up my Christmas cheer. Up this week: Prancer. Also, we have one of those miniature Dickens villages, and I LOVE it. I am obsessed with it. Every year, new pieces are added, and I take hours setting it up and making sure everything/body is in a sensical position. We have a train that moves. We have a tunnel. We have a hoopa. If I could Honey I Shrunk Myself into that village, I would do so in a heart beat. I will post pictures of this years village once it gets set up. I cannot wait.

Wow, I was kind of in a bad mood at the beginning of this, but talk of the Christmas Village has made me merry!!



Okay, we are nowhere near this intensity. Yet. If I found a roller coaster and a ferris wheel to go in my village (and an extra room to house the entire thing in) I would die a happy woman.

Anyways, Happy Hump Day!

Travel Tuesday-The Crazy Roommate

I've been slightly MIA from the blogging world lately because I have been super busy, but I'm going to do my best to continue posting three times a week. The rest of November is still pretty busy, and then I"m heading to NYC at the beginning of December for a couple of days (yayyyyyy!!)

Anyway, enjoy today's Travel Tuesday!! This story took place during my first trip to Europe (different trip than Paul).


“Excusez-moi monsieur, mon ami, ummmmm, she needs to know her ummm how do you say, her exit, no, no, no her, departure gate! Oui, oui.” Jess started off in French and eventually trailed into speaking with a fake French accent.
The employee behind the desk gave us both a weird look, and said in a flat voice,
“It’ll be up on the screen shortly”.
We laughed, said “thanks” and went on our way. Jess had decided earlier in the day she really enjoyed French Canadian accents, and therefore was going to talk in one for the rest of the day. This didn’t shock me; nothing shocked me with this girl.

We were in London, England, getting ready to fly home to our respective Canadian cities of Toronto and Edmonton. My departure gate number finally flashed on the screen, and we slowly made our way to the waiting area. Our gates happened to be right next to each other, so we stalled and talked for a little bit longer. When it was finally time to board, my eyes welled up, and I pulled her into a hug.
“I am going to miss you so much!!!”
“I’m going to miss you too!!” We broke apart, gave each other a weak little wave, and tried to stop crying. I settled into my seat for the 8 hour flight back to Toronto. What a trip.

Three weeks earlier…

“I told you!” the girl shouted, “I wanted a private room in the hostel, not a fucking room with 8 fucking other people!!” I glanced over from where I was seated in the internet café. The girl was a tiny bit of a thing, and she had on a black hoodie with cat ears on top. She continued yelling. Whoa, was all I remember thinking. I left the café, stepping as far away from the girl as I could, then wandered back to my hotel and got ready for bed. I had to be up at 4am the next day to meet up with the tour group. We would be leaving at 5am sharp, and for the next three weeks would be making our way around Europe.

I got up in time, and although I wasn’t looking so hot (it was 4am, what do you want?), I was beyond excited to get the adventure started. I got to the meeting spot with the group after dragging my luggage down the street, and boarded the bus. As I got on, I recognized her, the girl in the cat hoodie, which she was incidentally still wearing. Yeah, friggin, right, was all I remember thinking. I sat far away from her, in a seat by myself, and shortly after that, the bus was en route to Dover, where we took a lengthy ferry ride across the English Channel. After that, we were back on the bus, and would be arriving in Brussels within a couple of hours. The girl in the cat hoodie had become a mere blip on my radar; there were so many people on the tour, I could likely avoid her the entire trip.

We made it to our first hotel and the tour manager gathered us all in the hotel lobby, where she would call out our roommate situation for the rest of the trip. Numbers dwindled until it was only Cat Hoodie Girl and I.

“Megan and Jess, you’re together!” Lou smiled brightly at the both of us. You have got to be kidding me, I thought.

We made our way up to our room making awkward conversation. She talked all about her boyfriend, and then she told me about all the boys she intended to sleep with on this trip. Her speech concluded with “What happens in Europe, stays in Europe.”

I was less than thrilled to be stuck with this girl as my roommate; I couldn’t imagine spending the next three weeks with her. It soon became apparent though, that I would be the one that was going to have to adjust, because she clearly wasn’t going to.

We had a break through in Amsterdam; up until that point we hadn’t really hung out. We saw each other at night obviously, but during the day we went our separate ways.

“What are you going to do today?” she inquired the first morning we were in Amsterdam, as we were getting ready.

“I’m going to go check out the Anne Frank House for sure”, I said, my inner nerd jumping with complete joy and excitement.

“Anne who?” she said, “Mind if I tag along?”

I was kind of floored she had never heard of Anne Frank, but I said of course I didn’t mind. Four hours later we were making our way out of the Anne Frank House and she was bawling.

“That was fucking amazing. Thank you!” she said.

That night our tour group was taking a group outing to a sex show (Hey, what’s more awkward then watching live porn with people you just met two days prior? Not much!) This place seemed pretty sketchy, but looking back, I’m pretty sure it was tame considering what could have been. At one point, some of the performers wanted members of the audience to get up on stage. Who was the first and only person to volunteer from our group? Jess. The audience volunteer portion of the show started with people eating a banana out of a ladies vagina and ended with a masturbating gorilla. The lights went on, and we all got up with the same sort of shell shocked look on our face. Except Jess, she was ecstatic.

That night I was slumbering away peacefully when Jess came into the room, stumbled on my bed and drunkenly slurred, “hey, do you have a condom??” I did have one, but I was pissed she woke me up so I pretended to be asleep. Eventually she went away. Then she came back an hour later, shout-whispering, “I totally just had sex with a random guy on a park bench!” The pretend sleep continued. My brain was saying, lalalala, so don’t want to hear this!

By the time we had made it to France, I was used to Jess’s antics. I loved the girl to death when she was sober, but when she was drunk, look the hell out. She was hilarious, she was always up for anything and she was just as excited to be travelling as I was. But she woke me up every single night of the trip; inevitably I was always in bed before her, no matter how late I was out. Sometimes when she got back to the room, she would grab the phone and proceed to have the longest, loudest conversations with her boyfriend in Alberta. She fell drunkenly onto my bed more than once. She fell down and smashed her head on more than one occasion, and I heard about way more rendezvous in random European parks then I ever cared too. She danced naked on our balcony in Nice, waving and screaming at cars while touching herself (I shit you not). I made a fast exit from our room and went and found my other friends.

“Jess is dancing naked on our balcony!!!” I told them. They just nodded and laughed, and told me I could totally sleep on the floor of their room if I wanted.

I could handle all this though, I mean, she really wasn’t hurting anybody. She was annoying the shit out of me, but it made for some pretty amusing phone calls home. There was only one time I wanted to throttle her. We were in Italy, just outside of Venice, and by some miracle we both ended up back in the room at the same approximate time. We were just going to sleep when we heard the door open. She was drunk and sleeping topless, and was completely out of it. I shot straight up in bed, and called out weakly, “who’s there?” I could hear people approaching the beds. I flicked on the lights, and standing before us were two Italian men in their underwear. One in boxers, one in briefs.

“Ummmm”, I stuttered, fearing slightly for my life. This is not how I want to die!! I was inwardly freaking right out.

“Did you want something??” I continued. They came closer still, and one of them bent down and picked something up off the floor. Jess’s bra. Around his chest it went, and he fastened it shut. He proceeded to dance around the room with her bra on. I think this was the one point of the trip where both Jess and I were equally shocked at something that was happening. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry (I laugh now, because that shit is hysterical!! But while it was actually happening? A little bit scary!)

“Who the hell are these guys??” I hissed at Jess out of the corner of my mouth.

“I think I met them in the bar…maybe they followed me up??”

“You think?? Jesus...” I trailed off and turned back to the men.

“Could you leave now? Please? Please leave!!” my voice became higher and more desperate with every word I spoke.

Naturally they spoke little to no English. The word they did know? Kiss.

“First, we must have a kiss”, one of them said, the other one nodding in happy agreement.

I folded my arms across my chest and glared at Jess. Go for it. She wrapped the blanket around her chest, and jumped out of bed, pecking them each quickly on the cheek. Then they left. I barricaded our unlockable door with my suitcase. Jess was snoring away by the time I got back in my bed.

The trip ended shortly thereafter, and somehow, Jess and I had become friends. We soon found ourselves at the airport saying a tearful goodbye. I wouldn’t miss sharing a room with her, but I would miss her. Sober her. Despite all the sketchy situations, I am glad we ended up roommates, and I can honestly say, I haven’t come across anyone quite like her since, and I highly doubt I ever will again.

Furry Friday

I had such good intentions of being a good little blogger this week and posting more than three times, and I even had a post all written out for yesterday, but then I didn't publish it, because it was slightly questionable, you never know who might find this and I should probably err on the side of caution.

Anyway! It doesn't matter because I'm here now!

I was presented with a conundrum while trying to take photos last night. What with the clock switch and all, by the time I get to the shelter it is dark, and this seriously ruins my pictures of the dogs because they get "red eye" (except it's not red, it's blue, or green), and look possessed. Last night I was like, "pshaa, I'll just edit them!", but then I discovered today that this computer does not in fact have a program which easily edits out red eye. I mean, I'm sure I could figure it out if I wanted, but reallly, I don't have a huge amount of time. So! Please enjoy these pictures of possessed looking (but cute) dogs! You may think a viable solution would be to just take photos of the dogs inside, however, I have a theory that all the dogs look way too sad and pathetic in their kennels. It's not true, but they appear that way what with the walls and general blandness. I will demonstrate this by putting up a kennel photo. I don't like making people feel sorry for these dogs, because I think in some ways that puts the dogs at a disadvantage. Most of these dogs are normal, happy dogs and should be treated as such!



See what I mean? She looks SO sad. But when she was outside? Happy!



Beagle/Chihuahua mix!



This is Charlie skulking down and checking out the drive thru cars(still working on the Christmas goal of finding him a home!)



Bulldog!! So cute!!

Taking good pictures of dogs is so hard, half the time I just settle for ones where I can at least see their face. Like, every Thursday the majority of my pictures are blurry, of dogs looking away, or just jumping off the table. It's comical/extremely annoying.

Anyway, tonight I will be helping out at an adopt a thon, so hopefully some of my friends will find some new good homes!

A couple dogs that have been adopted that I think I have put up pictures of before are: Portia (the black and white beagle), Lewis (the cute little shepherd mix from Louisiana), Malcolm the giant (but sweet) Rottie, Scruffy (the terrier mix that looked like a muppet)! yay!!

Have a good weekend!!

Travel Tuesday-Part Three

If you have missed them, you can read part one of this story here, and part two of this story here.

The bus drove away, and I slowly broke away from the group hug.

“Well, I feel dumb!” I said

“Don’t even worry about it”, replied Allison.

For someone I had hated with an intense passion the night before, I sure was glad she was there now.

The four of us (Me, Allison and two other girls) walked back to our hostel. We decided we would meet up later and go explore Budapest some more.

I wandered up to my room, which felt extremely empty now that Deanna was gone. I stared for several minutes, then went and hopped in the shower.

In about an hour we all met downstairs and made our way over to the Budapest Castle, stopping for lunch first in the market. As we walked along the dusty streets, weaving between crowds, we chatted about Paul.

“I knew it”, said Allison, “I knew it the night we had dinner in Zakopane!”

“Yeah, you guys were like, oblivious to the world”, chimed in Mel.

“I wish something like that would happen to me! I’ve been travelling for months now, and nothing!” said Jen.

“So, what are you guys going to do after??” Allison said.

I knew they meant well, but all I really wanted to do was to tell them to please stop talking because I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t really think there was anyway to have an “after”, so thinking about it just made me feel worse. On the rest of the walk to the castle, I heard countless travelling love stories. About how so and so met so and so in Australia, but one of them had to go back home, but months later they were reunited and got married. Stories like that. And believe me, everybody has one, or so it seemed.

By the time we made it to the castle, talk had drifted to other things, like how the hell we were going to climb that hill in such heat, and how badly we wanted to be at the top of the mountain. We eventually found the elevator which brought us up to the castle. The Budapest Castle is weird; it is like an entire village unto itself. Winding streets lined with shops, restaurants and statues everywhere. You wouldn’t know it from the bottom, but Budapest Castle was huge! For some reason, we decided it would be a great idea to go explore the Labyrinth. Just a forewarning to anybody who is going to Budapest, don’t go into the Labyrinth unless you can somehow scam the student rate, otherwise you’ll be pissed. It’s basically miles and miles of long tunnels and huge cavernous rooms that were used as bomb shelters in WW2. There is one area that says “enter if you dare”, which ended up being just a series of pitch black rooms. You walk in, the door shuts, and you can see absolutely nothing. The only way to get out is to follow a rope which winds itself all the way around and through the rooms, finally leading you to the exit. The whole time in there I thought I was going to shit my pants because I was expecting someone to jump out and scream, but no, we just followed that damn rope for a good 20 minutes. I have never been so excited to leave a room in my life.

Anyway! The day continued as such. We went out for dinner, hung out on the patio of our hostel with some wine, and went to bed relatively early. I was in my bed, just falling asleep, when the phone started ringing. I immediately panicked, as one does when the phone rings late at night. I jumped up and grabbed the receiver.

“Hello???”

“Megan?” crackle, crackle. “It’s Paul!” crackle, crackle, crackle. “I hunted your new room down!!”

I was filled with an extreme amount of happiness. “Oh my gosh, it’s so good to hear from you!!”

We discussed how depressing the bus scene was earlier that day. He told me all about Bled, which is apparently the most beautiful place in the world. I was so bitter to be missing it. I told him about our wanderings around Budapest and about a random cat sanctuary we found.

“You are not walking anywhere at night by yourself are you??” he questioned.

We chatted until his phone ran out, and I told him I would call him soon. I went to bed happy.

The next morning, Allison, Jen, Mel and I decided to meet and go to Hotel Gellert for the day. We were all dying for some pedicures. My last day in Budapest was so much fun, and we were all giggly and happy, and it was one of those moments that was just…perfect. I caught the train to Vienna that night, and when I arrived, quite late at night, I was hit with extreme loneliness. I was absolutely alone again. The trip had gone full circle.

It was pretty late, so I caught a cab and went straight to my hotel and went to bed. I woke up the next day ready to whip out the German language skills I had acquired in Munich and Salzburg and explore. And explore I did; I walked for hours every day. I was in Vienna for four days, and during that time, Paul and I exchanged a flurry of emails. It turns out he was going to be in Austria the day after I was leaving. I finally got ahold of him on his cell phone the night before I flew home and again we chatted until my phone card ran out.

I left for the airport the next day with the feeling that I would probably never see him again. It made me sad, but it just was what it was.

I got back to Canada and slowly got back into my routine. I got random phone calls from him, but I never managed to catch them. One of them was from 11 o’clock my time, which was about 5am his time. I finally got him on the phone one day as I was walking to work…I inquired about the 5am phone call.

“Oh yeah, umm, I was out with my friends, and missing you, so I called. I didn’t wake you did I?”

We chatted until I was at work.

That was the last time I ever spoke to him on the phone.

Now let’s fast forward two months (does this story ever end, you’re all wondering?? Well, I reply, I hope so).

I had basically moved on at this point, and I honestly did not expect to ever hear from him again. Like I said, it just was what it was. Then one day I signed on to MSN, and a message popped up “Paul has added you as a contact”. Interesting, I thought. Over the next several weeks, we chatted several times, often for hours. Then randomly one day he said, “so, how far are you from New York City?” To which I replied, “Fairly close by plane, and about 8 hours by car.”

He went on to tell me that he was thinking of going to New York this fall/winter, and maybe we could meet up there. He wanted to rent an apartment and really spend some time exploring the city. He was looking into places to stay, yada yada, and I said of course I would visit him. I didn’t even hesitate because 1) New York City is my favourite place in the world without a doubt, and 2) I wanted to see him.

A couple of days after this New York conversation, I decided to try and look up his blog that he had mentioned in passing, during one of our conversations in Europe. It was so easy…all I did was type his full name plus “photo blog”, and it popped right up. And what was right there as the newest entry? Pictures from a recent trip he and his girlfriend had taken to Amsterdam. Yup, his girlfriend. I went back further in his archives, and low and behold, this was the same girlfriend that he had back in April, pre Europe trip. The one that he told me he had broken up with.

I felt like the biggest moron on the planet, and quite frankly, like a huge sucker. For a while, I tried to justify it, thinking maybe that they had broken up before he left for Europe and got back together when he got back. But that wasn’t true, and I knew it.

I emailed Deanna after I made this discovery, and her reply: “what a massive tool”. And I guess it was true.

It’s been, oh, about a month now since I’ve “spoken” to him, and I still don’t know what to think about the entire situation. Aside from the obvious douchy behaviour, he is still one of the cutest, more charming boys I have ever met. And I guess it just is what it is. Or was what it was rather. Part of me wants to send him a slurry of emails telling him off, the other, self preserving part of me wants to just let it go.

What I do know is that next time around I need to be extra careful about the cute ones with accents.

So that concludes this three part series! The next travel Tuesday will involve no cute British boys!

Just Another Manic Monday

You know what has been making my mornings really great? The sesame street themed Google logos. I could be having a crappy, crappy morning, but I'll get to work, turn on my computer, see this:


or this



And I'm instantly happy. Especially with that Count one, because it reminded me of this:


and then that reminded me of this:



Holy crap, how awesome was Sesame Street?

Anyway, this train of thought eventually led me to think back to all my other favourite shows when I was a kid, and of course to try and find them on youtube, because I apparently have time for this.



Was anybody else obsessed with this show? I never missed it, and it led to me being slightly creeped out by mannequins for the rest of my life.

I was also partial to Under the Umbrella Tree, Sharon, Lois and Bram and of course the quintessential Canadian children's program:


Anyway, this isn't really a post so much as a trip down memory lane, fueled by my ADD tendencies while browsing youtube. Also, I'm incredibly happy that I now have all these clips on one place so I can watch them every day. Is Fred Penner still alive? Returned from Google. He is in fact still alive and is 63 years old. Excellent. Finding out Fred Penner was dead on a Monday morning would have totally ruined my week.

Well, this post is indicative of my state of mind at the beginning of any given week. Sporadic and fairly pointless.

Tune in tomorrow for Travel Tuesday!

Furry Friday

Wow, am I glad it is Friday. This week has been eternal! Every so often I get stuck in a "what am I doing with my life" funk, and I can't bring myself to do much of anything, let alone blog. Bahhh, the stress of it all. I tell ya. I think the problem is there are so many things I want to do in my life, and I start to panic because what if I never get to do them all? So many places to go, so many things to accomplish! Then I get lost in a pit of worry and woe is me, and it is just not pretty. However, I just have to keep on truckin' I suppose!

My doggie pictures from last night kind of suck, because I was attempting to take them while walking the dogs on a leash, which is apparently kind of hard! So I've thrown in some other random pictures for your amusement (?)

Also! I would just like to relate the following incident that happened about half an hour ago:

Setting: elevator in an office building

So I'm in an elevator going up to an office because I needed to check on a phone number, and there were two men in the elevator with me. All of a sudden, another guy came running through the front door of the building, doing the frantic waving that happens when you want someone to hold the elevator for you.
I stared at him a while, then pressed the "open" button, and so he got in the elevator, looked directly at me, and said: "6th floor please". Then I just stared at him some more until he pressed the button himself. Whoa buddy, first of all, don't say thank you or anything for holding the door, and second of all, I'm not the effin elevator attendant! I'm not wearing a top hat and a cumberbund, what exactly do you think this is, and where do you think you are, The Plaza Hotel??? It's not like I am even slightly dressed up right now...I'm wearing jeans and boots with tassles. Seriously, who does that?? After it happened and he pressed the button for himself, I just stood there laughing like a crazy person, sincerely hoping that he felt dumb.

Anyways, dogs! And other random things!



Ummm probably the farthest thing from a dog ever, but you have no idea how proud I was of this pumpkin. It took me hours, and then it promptly collapsed within days. You can't see it in the photo, but I totally made another carving in the back of this pumpkin which cast a shadow of gallows onto the wall. I was hardcore about the pumpkins this year! It had to live on somewhere!!



How big of a nerd am I that I actually wear this hoodie places??



Oh. my. god. Do you guys recognize? It's Brooklyn!!! Holy shit. It was like she rose from the dead or something. Somebody told me she was done for because she got into a fight with another dog (not her fault), and I just accepted it as fact because it happens all the time. Well last night, around the corner I go, and she's sitting there in her kennel. I about cried. I smooshed her face and took her for a nice long walk. Apparently she was just in quarantine this whole time. Oh my, you have no idea how happy I was to see her. Also, she's wearing the muzzle because it's the law here in Ontario, not because she's a vicious beast!!



This dog totally sat on my lap, and it cracks me right up when big dogs do that. Love.

What else, what else. We are organizing a bake sale for the shelter at the end of November, and that coincides with Pet Pictures with Santa. Hahahaha, I can only imagine the hilarity that will be that event. And next Friday I'm helping out at an adopt a thon...should be fun!! That's all the shelter news for now.

Happy Friday everyone!!

Travel Tuesday-Story Time

Alright, today the story continues, last week we left off in Zakopane, Poland...today, we travel on into Budapest!

If you missed Part One of the story, you can read it here.

We left the restaurant and followed our group to a bar on the main strip of town. He bought me a drink and we continued to chat the night away. On the way back to the hotel, trailing behind the rest of the group, I told him how in university I took astronomy, and I pointed out different constellations that I remembered.
He replied, “you know what I always like about stars and the moons and all that? No matter where you are, it always makes you feel closer to the ones you love, because you know they are looking at that very same sky”.

Was this guy real? Never in my life had I come across someone quite like him. His next question came out shyly, like he was all of a sudden a small high school boy again.
“So, who do you normally sit with on the bus?”
“No one really, whoever has an open seat”
“Me too.”
“So, did you want to sit together tomorrow?”
And thus plans were made. We both went to our separate rooms, and I continued down the hallway with my two friends, Leslie and Deanna.
“Oh my god you guys, I love him!”
After they finished mocking me for a couple of minutes, Leslie said to me, “you know, he has been asking about you”
Swoon. I stopped briefly to think that I shouldn’t get so attached.
“We are sitting together on the bus tomorrow!” I squealed and headed off to my room.

I woke up in a panic. Oh my fucking god, I slept in. I’m not going to get a seat on the bus, and we won’t be able to sit together. Our tour group had become known for getting up extra early just to get a good seat on the bus. It was practically impossible to get a seat with someone you wanted if you got on the bus after 8am. I booted it out to the bus, and just as I suspected, everyone was there already. Silently cursing, I climbed on. I heard, “Megan!” from the back of the bus, and there he was, saving a seat with his photography bag.

We talked the whole bus ride, which was a good 7 hours. Through the bumpy backroads of Poland and on into Hungary, we talked. Every once in a while one of us would point at something out the window: “A poppy field! I’ve never seen a poppy field!”
You can cover a lot of ground in 7 hours.

Budapest is beautiful at night, it is in fact one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. Paul was snapping away with his camera, and I was enjoying the free drinks provided on the boat cruise with the rest of my tour mates. When we got back to the dock, we all decided to walk together to a bar to experience some of the legendary Budapest nightlife.

Upstairs at the bar, one of the girls from my tour, Allison, was all over Paul. I felt irritated at her, but more irritated at myself for getting irritated at her. He wasn’t mine, he wasn’t my boyfriend, not even close. He was a guy that I had just met, who I happened to really, really like. Deanna told me to not worry about it, but I couldn’t help watching Allison. To his credit, Paul looked like he was completely trapped. With one arm over each of his shoulders, Allison had him completely encased. Her neediness made me cringe.

“So”, I heard her slur, “are you allowed to hook up with people on the tour?” My stomach knotted, and I felt something that I have never felt before, at least not so intensely: complete jealous rage. I wanted to run over to her, pull her hair, and scream, “hey bitch, that’s my man!”. But THAT would have be ridiculous on a number of levels, so I just told Deanna that I had to leave. As we walked past Paul, I said, “we’re going now, night!”, and he said, “I’ll come with you”, and he ducked out from under her arms. As we broke out into the Budapest night, Paul whispered, “okay, walk faster, she might chase me”. We hightailed it back to the hotel.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” I asked him
“Wandering probably, talking photos”
“Me too.”
“Want to wander together?”
“Yes, I’ll meet you anywhere”.
Silly girl. Silly, silly girl.

I spent the entire next day with him and it was one of the most amazing of my whole trip. We wandered around Budapest for hours, going from one end of the city to the other, stopping for lunch, and stopping for ice cream twice. We played in fountains, saw the worlds biggest egg timer, took photos, met famous Hungarians and explored castles. We talked about meeting in Austria in a couple of days, and made a map of our travels. Because of this day, Budapest will always remain one of my favourite cities in the world: how could it not?

The next day, the bus was set to leave. Half the tour group was continuing on to Slovenia, half the group was ending the tour in Budapest. I was staying, he was going. Me and the other girls not continuing on the tour walked to the bus to see our tour mates off. Everybody hugged and told each other to keep in touch. I hugged him, and all I could think to say was “well, email me.” His reply, “so lovely to have met you”.

The bus drove away, and my eyes teared up. I missed Deanna, I missed Paul. I hated myself for getting in this situation, but I was just so sad. I was engulfed in hugs by the girls left over from my tour, and Allison, the one I was so irritated at the other night, simply said,
“Wow, you really like him, don’t you?”
I nodded yes and continued to cry. She had no idea.
Standing there on the bustling streets of Budapest, crying like a complete fool, I ached.
Silly, silly girl.

Okay, tune in next week for Part Three and the conclusion of this travel tale!