Do you know anything about the Army?

I have an awesome new job...I'll have to tell you about it all later. But, in the "Coles Notes" version of it, I help newcomers and youth find jobs. We work out of a RV mobile trailer..it's awesome!

This is what transpired out of a person who hopped aboard today--word for word:

LuigiLover: Hi there, how can I help you?
CrazyGuy: Yeah, you know, I'm looking for a job
LL: Oh, ok...what kind of work are you looking for?
CG: I want to work at that moneymart over there....
LL: Ok...sure..do you have a resume, I can look it over and we can get you to apply there
CG: Yeah...I'm just tired
LL: Tired of what?
CG: You know what? Do you know anything about the army?

*enter coworker from lunch...thank GOD*

LL: The army?
CG: Yeah. I wanna shoot a gun
LL: A gun?
CG: Yeah. I'm tired of waking up and paying bills
LL: And you'd like to join the army because...
CG: Yeah, cuz I'm tired of waking up and paying bills.
CoWorker: You can get out of that vicious circle and you don’t have to shoot a gun
CG: Yeah, but I think going over seas and shooting a gun and shooting the Taliban would be the best for me.

Abnormal Psychology

I've started working towards getting my Master's Degree in Counselling through Athabasca University. Not the most prestigious university in the world, but I can do all my classes online and do my practicum in my own town. That was the selling point. Afterall, after I win the lottery, I can go to school full time, but not right now.....

After doing some investigation, I've realized that I don't have all the pre-requistes to apply for the program, so I'm going to have to brush up on some psychology classes prior to applying. With that being said, I've started "Adult Developmental Psychology" and "Abnormal Psychology".


Abnormal Psychology has been facinating. A lot of the stigmas and misconceptions about different diseases/syndromes/disabilities have been put to rest. It's great how education actually EDUCATES you, eh? Depression isn't just sadness; suicide attempters are seriously wanting to hurt themselves and not just craving attention; and phobias about things/objects/places are REAL and not a cry for attention.


The one negative thing about this course is that I've single-handedly convinced myself of the following:

1. I'm manic depressive/bipolar
2. I'm agoraphobic
3. That I'm mentally challenged
4. That I need a PET/CAT/MRI done on myself
5. I suffer from some kind of Post-Traumatic Stress disorder
6. I'm due for (my first) anxiety attack any second now
7. I will faint if I see blood (Blood-Injection-Injury Phobia)
8. I'm unipolar depressed
9. I'm hearing voices

I wonder how many psychiatrists go and see other psychiatrists?

Geddim Outta Heah!

Well, I just got back from my trip to Massachusetts. I had SUCH a great time...here are my top 10 highlights. I hope you enjoy them!

10. Bridges
If you hate/have a phobia about them as I do; be warned. They're everywhere. And they aren't puny little ones either. They're massive monstrosities.

9. Tolls
The wonderful country of the USA wouldn't be the same without tolls. One toll was $13.85 each way. Ouchie.

8. I-Pod
The drive is over 9 hours each way. Bring an I-Pod with your favourite music and you're rocking! I did and the time just flew by!!

7. Atlantic Ocean
I've seen the Pacific Ocean a few times, and I've flown over the Atlantic, but nothing beats seeing it in person. Breathtaking!

6. Allergies
Despite what people say, Boston is green. I have the massive reactions and Kleenex up my nose to prove it. Bring your allergy pills!

5. Sports
People in Massachusetts are VERY loyal to their sports teams. Even if the visiting team broke his arm to make a once-in-a-lifetime diving catch in the outfield, do NOT say it was a nice catch. Ever. You have been warned.

4. Turnpike Sign (see above)
The little hat on the Massachusetts turnpike sign is a pilgrim hat; not a leprechaun hat like I first thought. You know, the whole discovery of America thing. Yeah. It happened here. Hence the sign/hat. And don't embarrass yourself by telling your friends what you thought it was; unless you want to be known as the silly Canadian.

3. Baby Sign Language
This has nothing to do with Massachusetts per say; but I saw baby sign language for the first time being used in real life. It was adorable and fascinating. Little baby D was adorable communicating with his father using these signs!

2. Boston Accent / Language
Dang, this one is tough. The accent is a strong one, but they also have different mannerisms/words for things. Here are a few of my faves:

• Wicked - generally means good, or just a descriptor for everything, i.e. 'that chowdah was wicked good'
• All Set - said when one is done, ready or ok. i.e. "Finished your dinner?"/ "Yup, I'm all set"
• Packie - liquour store
• Geddim outta heah! - Get them out of here---said a lot during sporting events
• Beh - Beer
• Saddadeh - The day after Friday
• Southie - People from South Boston

1. Wonderful People
Finally, the people I met when I was there were amazing. Truly friendly, warm and welcoming. I hope I can sustain relationships and friendships with S, M, C and little D for a lifetime to come! Thanks so much for the wonderful stay!

Heyyy Girlll!

My Rav4 has this awesome feature where I can plug my iPod directly into the speaker system. Yeah yeah, I know...it's an electrical socket; but I love it.

So, I downloaded some new tunes and started blaring out the tunes. I put on Calabria 2007 and started to rock it as much as a white girl in a car can. I don't know a single word of the song--honestly, listen to it...I don't have a clue what's she saying. Who cares, I love the beat. So, I'm approaching a light, and keep dancing. Then..it happened:

Ugly Truck Driver: Heyyyyyy girlllll

LuigiLover: *Stare at him through sunglasses*

Ugly Truck Driver: "Sweet moves from a sweeeeet lady"

LuigiLover: *Oh God*

Ugly Truck Driver: Why don't you hop on board and show me some of those moves up close and personal?

LuigiLover: *Screeeeeech away*

*shudder*

Perception Misconceptions...

A really good friend of mine got into a pretty heated argument this week. In all actuality, the content of the argument is irrelevant; but what I don't understand is why it even happened. After reflecting on the day, I've come up the only logical answer. We had different perceptions about things.

One of the greatest things about human beings over other creatures on this earth is our mind power. We have the ability to reason, ability to rationalize and create new and beautiful things. Along with these abilities, we also run into trouble when things are vague, or unclear and we 'fill' in the blanks with the most "appropriate" solution possible.

This is where my friend and I didn't see eye to eye. What I thought was X, was their Y--all do to our own perception about the situation.

I'm happy to report that we're perfectly OK now; it would take a lot more than a silly argument to ruin our friendship. It's fascinating how two wonderful, well-rounded, logical people can perceive the same situation so differently.

While I was quite upset about the argument with my good friend, I'm happy it happened. I did learn a lot about myself and them. It is so important, especially with people who mean something to you, to be SUPER clear about what you mean. Try and leave little room for ambiguities...because perceptions and misconceptions about things can certainly let you down!

Partay up in heereee! Holla-holla!!

I had a wicked time on Saturday night....took Sunday and Monday to fully recover, but I'm alive to tell the tale! Lets just say there was a lot of alcohol involved with some friends. I know that the point of no return is when I start to declare my undying love for people--it happens, every time, sometime during the drinking fest. I've learned to accept it; so should you!

So it was time I took all those dreaded empties to the recycling facility. I packed up my car and away I went to work. It was a LOVELY day...and has been all week. It's been approximately 20C (60F for my Yankee friends) all week so I left the window open a crack. My dark blue SUV burns up with heat QUITE quickly in the beautiful sunshine. I knew I couldn't take the empties back on my way into work, so I'd do it during my lunch hour.

What I saw when I opened the back of my SUV will be etched in my head for many years to come.

There must have been, with not a word of a lie, approximately 50 flies crawling out of the assorted Pomtini, Mudslide and Vex bottles I accumulated over the month. Most of them were on their backs twitching their legs in drunken bliss (or stickiness...), and some where still trying (unsuccessfully) to crawl their way out of the bottles. I guess they lost all use of their legs....kinda sounds like me on Saturday!

After my initial shock, I burst out into laughter. Cleaning the mess up was going to be a different story. And it honestly wasn't difficult. I just scraped them out of the car. They don't put up much of a struggle when drunk....kinda like me! bow-chick-a-wow-wow!

Idealist

As I've mentioned before, I have a lot of things going on in my life. Because of this, I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last few days and reflecting on certain aspects of it. On this little mind journey of mine, I've seen a lot of commonalities and similarities weaving through my life.

For as long as my memories take me, I've been called/assessed/labelled an idealist. I've been an "idealist" for much longer than I ever knew what one was. To be honest, I don't really know what an idealist is really either! According to Dictionary.com:

i·de·al·ist /aɪˈdiəlɪst/ [ahy-dee-uh-list] –noun
1. a person who cherishes or pursues high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc.
2. a visionary or impractical person.
3. a person who represents things as they might or should be rather than as they are.
4. a writer or artist who treats subjects imaginatively.
5. a person who accepts the doctrines of idealism.

I bolded the parts of the definition that I thought were particularly striking. This definition isn't the greatest of descriptions for a person is it?

I'm at a point in my life where a lot of things are coming to a head; personal relationships, work commitments and education pursuits. I have approached each of these aspects of my life with idealistic glasses--my knight in shining armour, a job I love with extraordinary pay, and degrees coming out of the wazoo.

So here I am.

No knight.

I love my job; which pays me well; not extraordinarily high, but well.

No Masters or PhD in sight.

So, once again, I ask myself why am I not happy?

I believe I'm unhappy because I've not met my those idealistic expectations I've placed on myself.

That all being said, I've now reached a point in my life; the proverbial "fork in the road". I'm sending this message into the cosmos of the Internet hoping to find some answers.

Do I continue to dream impossible dreams because that is what my "idealistic" mind/body/heart/soul wants.....

...or do I tell my mind/body/heart/soul that it will continue to be crushed because there won't be a knight in shining armour to rescue me?

This is an argument I will wrestle with for a lot time to come....but hope to hear some inspiration in the meantime....

Intuition

I've made a new friend recently who's turned out to be really great. Over the short period of time we've gotten to know each other, he's been able to pick up on a lot of things about me; but what's intrigued me the most is a statement that I've heard very often throughout my life but haven't truly examined before in my life. He's told me that I'm "incredibly intuitive."

In a society that surrounds itself with all things logical and factual, I wasn't entirely sure how to treat this 'compliment'. You can't exactly pinpoint to "intuition"...so how valid and important could this "intuition" be?

There have been plenty of times where I've encountered this "intuition" beast. Reflecting back on my life, I can honestly say that my intuition hasn't been 100% right--not by a long shot. I'm sure there are many reasons for this--but I believe the main reason why my intuition has been "wrong" is because I've been trying to convince myself that my intuition was wrong.

I have three major life events going on right now; none of which I feel comfortable sharing with you right now (perhaps some other time). I have preferred outcomes for each of them of course; however my intuition keeps kicking in. My intuition agrees on some level and disagrees with others....

To be honest, I think the main problem is that my intuition is closely linked to my heart. Can intuition and feelings be separate and distinct? I still have to reconcile this....I have no idea.

On a serious note, how do I tell my heart what it doesn't want to hear? How do I tell it that by accepting and confronting the situation now, it may save it a lot more pain later? I say may because what my heart wants and what my intuition says starts to blur, and I can't distinguish what is what. This is much more problematic.

Over the next few months, my intuition and heart will be going through some major challenges...and I must try and decipher what my heart is saying and what my intuition is trying to tell me.

At the end of the day, I truly believe that my intuition is a gift. It is my whisper of reason; it is my call of sanity in a world that has gone truly haywire. I am thankful for it, even if I don't what it is.....