I finally finished watching the movies I had rented: Last Holiday, Muriel's Wedding & Tara Road. Muriel's Wedding was totally bizarre. Tara Road was pretty good for a film adaptation. Still not as good as the book, but pretty good. And in order to get out of the house yesterday, I went to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets. It wasn't nearly as good as the first one, but it was still pretty good. And it had a nice ol' setup for a third film.

The DVD/Movie List:

1. The 4400: Season 2
2. Bones: Season 1 (WIP)
3. Juno
4. 27 Dresses
5. Grey's Anatomy: Season 1
6. Her Minor Thing
7. Knocked Up
8. License to Wed
9. The Ultimate Gift
10. Just Desserts
11. Last Holiday
12. Muriel's Wedding
13. Tara Road
14. National Treasure: Book of Secrets

My family is driving me crazy. Until Saturday I had not left the house, except to pick my brother up from school, for 4 days. My mom has been really sick. And this is going to make me sound like a bitch, but I can't take it anymore. I know she's sick, but I don't want to hear all about it. I've been waiting for my dad to come home so that he can take over the reins for a while, but he's at curling with my brothers. My brothers who eat all my food. I swear on all that I hold dear, that if one more person pisses me off, I'm going to go postal.

I watched Just Desserts last night. Lauren Holly rocks!

Also, I'm in love with George from Grey's Anatomy. He's so cute.

The DVD/Movie List:

1. The 4400: Season 2
2. Bones: Season 1 (WIP)
3. Juno
4. 27 Dresses
5. Grey's Anatomy: Season 1
6. Her Minor Thing
7. Knocked Up
8. License to Wed
9. The Ultimate Gift
10. Just Desserts

I watched License to Wed yesterday and The Ultimate Gift this afternoon. They were both okay. I found License to be extremely ridiculous. Gift made me cry. Another day at the Weeping Williams.

Updated List is here: http://misshigherpower.livejournal.com/26573.html

I went to get my hair done today. It's a little bit more red than I would have liked, but as usual it will fade to blonde in a few weeks. I have to get it cut shorter next time though.

I went for groceries today and I have a new pet peeve. I live in Edmonton. It snows. A lot. We're going to get another 10 cm tomorrow. I'm okay with that; it's part of living in Canada. What I hate is the fact that the City gives us 72 hours after a snowfall to clear that snow from our sidewalks and driveways, but then doesn't clear City property. I barely made it home with my shopping cart today because the City can't clear the walks. Stupid City!

I love my life! *sarcasm drips from every word*

I woke up at 4:15 this morning to the sound of my brother vomiting. A sound that didn't let up for several hours. As if being my mother's go to gal this week hasn't been awesome, I know get to help take care of him. I should be more understanding, considering that I have, in the past, been responsible for some stunning displays of digestive artwork, but I'm a sympathetic vomiter. The sound literally makes me want to be sick myself.

Before this lovely experience, I stayed up until 1:00 am watching Her Minor Thing. It was so ridiculously cheesy, and not in a good way. The only good thing about it was that Michael Weatherly and Christian Kane were in the same movie. I just wish that MW hadn't been the stereotypical frat boy/jerk/loser boyfriend that every chick flick requires. He has such amazing potential. Seriously, I love NCIS and I think he's awesome in his role, but I totally think that he should be the big star and Jessica Alba should be on network television. Not that there's anything wrong with network television, it is my main source of entertainment. It's just that she's a terrible actress. How on earth is she so popular? And what kind of loser would dump Michael Weatherly? He's made of awesome.

My mom and I started watching Veronica Mars: Season 3 today. I forgot how much I love Veronica. Logan is really ticking me off.

Updated movie and book lists are here: http://misshigherpower.livejournal.com/26573.html

So I did something today that I have never done before. I went to a movie on a weekday afternoon...by myself. Not that I've never been to the movies by myself, because you sit in the dark, it's not like you really spend quality time with the other person. I've just never done it on a weekday. The theatre was dead. I wondered if it was open when I got there, that's how dead it was.

I desperately wanted to see 27 Dresses and nobody wanted to go with me, so I went by myself. That movie is totally made of awesome. It was even better than Juno (which I saw on Friday). I love romantic comedies. And thanks to sapphs I knew that the song "Bennie and the Jets" would be played at some point during the movie, but was still completely unprepared and know have it stuck in my head. I suppose it's better than Britney Spears's "Piece of Me," which I had stuck in my head last week. Oh, and the Backstreet Boys "Inconsolable." Sadly, my mother is now in love with...A.J. I think. I always get him and Howie mixed up. I'm 23 years old and reliving my Backstreet Boys years. That's cool, I guess, because before Christmas I was all about the Spice Girls. I think that had to do with the fact that Mel B. was on Dancing with the Stars. I still can't believe she didn't win.

I had a completely wonderful day. I had to get up to make sure my brother's got up, but I figured it was better than making my mom get up. She's been really sick since Christmas, and she may have to have surgery. Getting up for 15 minutes in the morning isn't going to kill me. I went back to bed until 10:30, at which point I got up, had breakfast, took a shower, watched part of The View and then hoped on the bus. I went to Michael's to get a new circle cutter and a few bits and bobs, and then headed over to the theatre. When the movie was over I went to Indigo, picked up the books my mom wanted for my brother's silent auction, bought myself a book, and caught the bus back home. I tried out my circle cutter and then I've been on the computer looking at the paper embroidery patterns that Harm and Lenie copied for me.

The best part of today is knowing that tomorrow I have a very similar day lined up. I'm getting my nails done and running a few errands for my mom, but nothing too strenuous. My aunt may be coming over tomorrow for a little bit, so I have to clean the bathroom and vacuum the kitchen, but I think I can manage. We'll find out tomorrow if my aunt has to have another mastectomy. Good times at the Williams's household. It'll fit though. My mom and I have been calling ourselves the Weeping Williams ever since we watched the Stargate: Atlantis episode "Sunday." Every night since then we've watched something that's made us cry. Sadly, it's been two weeks, and I'm still upset over the fact that Eileen had to give up Holly and then watching poor Liam tell Michelle about Dean. Coronation Street really knows how to pull the heart strings.

When my mom said to me yesterday that she might need to have surgery and that she would need me to stay home, I felt like maybe I should call Jane and tell her that I can start work on Monday, but I'm just so sick of working. I'm sick of my life being in limbo. I'm sick of being a temp. It's been a year since I've had a full time, permanent job. I'm sick of having to walk to the grocery store with my little old lady shopping cart for groceries. I'm sick of taking the bus to work. I want to move. I don't care if it's -65 degrees in Winnipeg; I just want this to be over. I want our house to sell and I want to go. And if my mom's going to be forgiving on the rent, then I can afford to take a little time off. It's not like I don't have the rest of my life to work.

My updated reading and movie lists can be found here: http://misshigherpower.livejournal.com/26573.html

I gave up on Olivia Joules & the Overactive Imagination. Snooze fest.

I finally finished watching The 4400: Season 2. I've seen it before, but I was rewatching. General thoughts: Lily's paranoid, Isabelle scares me, and Shawn is hot.

The updated viewing list can be found here.

Next up: Bones: Season 1

In honour of the new year, I have been doing some major housekeeping. I did a huge clear out of my communities and my flist. I only kept people if I make a point to try to read their journal (which is hard, but I do try). If you really want to be on my flist, let me know and I'll add you back in.

I'm trying to be more productive this year. It's not a resolution, as such, it's more of an "I always say I'm going to do blah" but never get around to it. I figure with the pending move (still pending, no actual movement) now is a good time to start simplifying things and deciding what is important to me.

I've just started a new fanfic, that once I get over this next bit of writer's block, I hope will be good. I'm going to go back to some of my old fics and challenges as well. Actually, I've left all of the challenges, but I'm still going to use the prompts, I just don't think they'll be fandom specific. My NCIS obsession has hit full blast, and I have an insane need to write, write, write. If I can get back into Gilmore Girls, I might even take a crack at the crossover fic I was thinking about writing. Writing is high on my list of priorities this year.

I also finished the 50bookchallenge that I started last year. I made it through 51 books, and started on a 52, but due to the holiday season and the wackiness that is my family, I didn't get it finished.

( The Full & Complete 2007 List )

I'm going to track my reading and DVD viewing for year. Just for fun.

( The 2008 Book List )

( The 2008 DVD/Movie List )

I think that's all I needed to get out of my system.

So, it's only taken me four days of nabbing computer time whenever I could, but I have finally caught up on my friends page. My life since last Thursday has been pretty hectic, and it seemed like every time I sat down at the computer, someone (usually brothers) would need the computer. I, personally, think that IMing your girlfriend is not a vital activity. Especially since he's sort of grounded. Ugh!

I met up with a couple of friends from high school on Thursday. I was sort of dreading it and sort of looking forward to it. I had a major blow out with my friend, Julie, in September and we haven't talked since. So, I was definitely dreading seeing her. We used to talk to each other at least twice a week. I was so upset when we had our fight. I cried and I was upset for weeks, but this time I wasn't calling her. She's super opinionated and very tempermental. She has what I would consider a superiority complex. She graduated in April with a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis on East Asian History and felt that should qualify her for better paying jobs. I've been working my ass off for two years (since graduation) and she figured that she should be getting better jobs and getting payed what I get payed. All she ever does is complain about her receptionist job, and she seems to think that because her job is boring that all administrative jobs are boring. Let me tell you, so not the case. Before we had our major fight, she'd been really condescending, but I was willing to let it slide because her dad had just committed suicide, and she was, in effect, being evicted. Her mom and step-dad were moving to Victoria. They bought her a condo, so she wasn't being hung out to dry. But when she called me dehumanizing, I'd had enough. She may think that I'm a dehumanizing, uneducated fool, but my other friends don't. So I just didn't call her. And on Thursday, it was nice to see her and catch up, but I realized that my life is way less stressful without her. I think she's going to be a once a year type friend.

I was, however, super excited to see my friend Carol. I've known Carol since the 6th grade, but we really became friends in high school. She's studying for her Masters in Entymology at McGill. It was really good to see her. She's so off the beaten path and she's just so accepting of everything. And we always have the best time when we go to her place. Her mom's a storyteller and dinner conversation is always really interesting. This time we talked about the different types of intelligence. It was so much fun.

We exchanged gifts. I gave Carol Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and I gave Julie a Buffy Bobblehead. I received the new Tamora Pierce book from Julie and a pomello, Christmas light earrings, and I Capture The Castle from Carol. The funny thing was that Carol had given me the same book two years ago for Christmas. We got a good laugh out of that.

I had a horrible day on Friday. For the past two years, I've been working for the same company. They have a horrible problem with keeping staff. Especially in the Administrative area. My former boss (she quit, smart lady) and I pretty much ran the office. When Lori quit, I had to step up and do things that a lot of people two years out of college would not be doing. My thanks? They hired an Executive Assistant and basically demoted me. Fun times. To top it all off, the EA is a complete bitch. She bosses me around. Two summers ago, my friend Michelle (who was working there at the time) and I created a brand new filing system. It took us months to put together and no one wanted to provide any sort of input. The new EA gave me a half hour lecture on why the filing system is inadequate and that most staff members were in agreement. I almost cried. I managed to hold it together until I left the office (early, thank goodness). I did, however, provide several patrons of the Edmonton Transit Service with my opinions (I was on my cell phone with my mom). The one, bright, shining moment in my day was that one of the temp agencies that I had contacted called me. I did speak with her today. I just did the online testing and I have an interview on Tuesday morning.

Saturday was a cleaning and wrapping presents day. Sunday morning we went to church and then I took a nap, peeled potatoes, and then we watched Christmas music videos on CMT. We opened our Christmas Eve presents (pyjamas! Shocker!) and went to bed.

Christmas was pretty lazy. We didn't even get out of bed until 11:30. We opened our stockings (Amy Grant CD, body butter, gloves, blue cable knit sweater, underwear, candy, a chocolate letter, and a Christmas orange). Our family gift from Santa was the Deal or No Deal DVD game. Then we lazed around for several more hours while we started on dinner and did our Christmas phone calls. We talked to my Opa at the rehab centre. He's really grumpy and negative. He's not even trying to get better. We had talked to Oma the night before. We opened our gifts from Holland (chocolate letter, craft knife and a 3D card book, with a single sheet from Marco at the market, for me and licorice, gouda cheese, kruidnoten, rum nut bar, and cookies for the family). Then we were on the phone with my Aunt Tiny, and then we spent at least an hour and a half on the phone with Harm & Lenie. I didn't get to talk to Tom, but I'll talk to him later. I told Lenie that I really want to work in Holland, and she said that if I come this summer (to live, but I think the invitation would still stand if I visited) I can go with them to Lyon, France. I really, really want to go back now. I miss them and Holland so much. And somewhere in there we talked to Grandma & Grandpa for a while.

When all of that talking was done, we moved on to presents. I got $75 from Grandma & Grandpa. Lachlan gave me socks and a Diddl pen (yay! I love Diddl). My mom bought the pen when we were in Holland last year and forgot about it. Colin gave me The Devil Wears Prada DVD. Before we opened presents, I had been sitting in the living room reading the book, so he was pleased. Graeme gave me the Angel Season 5 Angel action figure. I already have it, so I'm going to exchange it when I go to West Ed with my mom and cousin tomorrow. And, of course, I save the best for last. My parents gave me Keen Eddie: The Complete Series DVD set, a VCR (so I can watch all the stuff I tape on other VCRs in my bedroom), and a leather jacket. The leather jacket is so pretty and it smells really good.

The best gift I got, though, was not an actual gift. My brother, Graeme, is completely immature. He took a year off (which has now extended to two years, with no end in sight) to earn money. He promptly spent it all on comic books and DVDs. He's addicted to comic books like an alcoholic is addicted to alcohol. It's really sad. Anyway, my mom asks him what he's going to spend his Christmas money on and he starts talking about this Batman Lego set that he's going to buy. The day goes on and I don't think about it again until Lachlan, my 9 year old brother, is opening one of his gifts. I'm looking the gift he's unwrapping and as the paper is coming off, I think I see the Joker. So, I say as much, and as he tears more paper off I realize, yes! It is in fact the Joker. Mom & Dad got Lachlan the gift that Graeme wanted. I, meanwhile, have just about fallen of the couch laughing. There were tears streaming down my face, and my stomach hurt so badly. It was the best gift EVER!

We finished our day out by watching 1 vs. 100 on TV. We're big game show people.

Boxing Day was so lazy. I didn't get out of my pj's until 3:00. And I didn't leave the house. We braved the mall on Wednesday, where, all in all, it wasn't two crowded. I got some make-up remover and lip gloss. My mom got a $540 London Fog coat for $230. She put her Christmas money toward that. I almost had a freak out at the Disney Store. They're usually so well stocked after Christmas. I really wanted one of those stuffed animals done in the icy white colour, but they didn't have any. The stock was really limited. I picked out a purple Tinkerbell mug and a Tinkerbell sweatshirt that says Enchanted State. My brother got a couple of things. We then stood in line forever. They had three staff members working: two folding shirts and one on the till, where they were doing both refunds and exchanges. Then one of the girls folding shirts comes over to the till. She helps one customer while talking on the phone to the manager, who was in the back. Then, right when it's my turn, she leaves to tell a staff person who had come in and wasn't supposed to, the plan for the afternoon. Asking him when he wants his break, and other stupid things. Deal with the huge line, then talk with employees. Duh! She then goes back to folding shirts, and I still haven't been helped. By this point, my mom and I are loudly bitching about the situation. She finally comes back and helps me, and I ask for the name of the manager so I can complain and I find out that she's the assistant manager. My mom had to hold me back. I was ready to punch her out.

We went out to a party that night. The house was huge. And every house in the neighbourhood was huge. The smallest house out there was worth $750,000. I wish. My friend Bev and I went over to our friend Karen's house yesterday afternoon. And this afternoon I finally caught up on my friends page. Which brings me to now. If anyone read all of that, I will be extremely impressed.

I've read a ton of memes over the last little while, so I'm going to do a mass post when I finish with this one.