325 KWV or something

Okay so I know that some of you are having trouble with Skype/iChat.  Or maybe it's me.  It probably is.  But I just want to say DON'T GIVE UP!!!  Once it works, it's great.  My parents and I have been using it almost daily and it's working fantastically.  It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you're over the hump, it's awesome.  Tonight, Monster and Riley got to see each other on Skype!!  I swear they looked into each others' eyes.  Yes.  

So it's Friday...almost.  It's around 11:30pm on Thursday night.  The days are really long right now.  Mostly I attribute that to the fact that 85% of my days are filled with shit.  Trying to find a job, writing cover letters and tweaking resumes, dropping them off to find once again that the studio isn't hiring, spending 2 hours at the insurance office getting set up with BC plates (I didn't have to get the one with the terrible slogan!  I was hoping to just happen to get an awesome plate that spelled a great 3 letter word...but alas.  I think it's 325 KWV or something equally mundane), putting shelves up in the new IKEA wardrobe that is nearly done being put together, shopping for new sinks (which our landlord will pay for an have installed), going to IKEA again, ordering furniture (we ordered a couch and chair from EQ3 and it will take 8-10 weeks), buying and unpacking furniture (a new sofa-bed for all of you, our guests!), throwing out the 3rd bag of garbage this week (it's gutting.  I really hope we will go back to one every two weeks as soon as we finish all this unpacking), getting my car certified so I could be deemed good enough to grace the streets of Vancouver (after paying $600 for new tires as the old ones didn't pass)...really, I could go on.  

Fortunately, this 85% leaves 15% of good stuff.  Seeing Shawna, my new horsie that I'm part-leasing (whom I'm allowed to ride as much as I want and is only a 20 minute drive away), cuddling with my kitties, keeping in touch with friends and family through letter writing and receiving daily emails filled with anything from simply a line to say hello or paragraphs of wonderful updates, spending lots of time with Colin, going to fun halloween parties, having the time to relax a bit and sleep in once in a while without feeling guilty about it (not that I ever feel guilty about sleep!)  

This morning I got up at 9am to go riding but it was pouring rain.  I had a bowl of cereal and read some emails, then decided to go back to bed.  3 hours later, I got up, showered and dressed and went out to a studio then to do the car insurance.  When I got home a while later, it had stopped raining and was getting dark, so I decided that I would bust ass to get to the barn while it was somewhat non-threatening outside.  However, by the time I got there just after 5pm, it was starting to pour again and due to the fact that the light on the ring isn't too strong, I didn't want to attempt to ride around in sloppy footing while being rained on.  Instead, I took a broom, sponge and some Ivory soap that I happened to have in my tack box and set to cleaning out the tack room that I only have to share with one other person.  At my old barn, I had a small box of a locker.  At this place, I have a WHOLE ROOM!!  With some shelves and hooks and stuff!  Sure, there are cobwebs and what look like cocoons in the rafters, but it IS a barn after all.  I brushed Shawna and gave her and the others in her barn (Georgie and her daughter Rose, both Clydesdales, Jenny the rescue Clyde, and Hope, the little paint pony) some carrots and pets.  Hopefully it will be nice tomorrow during the daylight.  I don't have many plans aside from keep trying  to organize the house (shelves to put up, speakers to wire, pictures to arrange and put up, paint touch-ups to finish) so I can be relatively flexible with the barn.  

Colin's got some friends who live nearby, Angus and Cecilia.  Angus and Colin went to high school together, and he has been dating Cecilia for a few years, so I'd hung out with them the past couple of visits I'd made to Vancouver.  I love those two!  We spent quite a bit of time together last weekend, and they were over last night to sit on our new couch and watch Anchorman (there were four people between two parties on Friday who were dressed as Ron Burgundy so I figured it was worth a viewing!)  We may go see that newest Woody Allen film tomorrow night...I'm a bit skeptical of that film.  Has anyone seen it?  Anyhow I just mention this because it's funny how I don't know what to call them yet, comfortably.  They are my friends, but usually I say "Colin's friend and his girlfriend".  I think it's gotten to the point where I can start calling them "my friends."   But I don't know!  You know?  All I know is they are great and make me feel very at ease living here with them nearby.  

We went out for our first brunch last weekend!  So far we've experienced cheap, yummy sushi, delicious indian food, vegetarian fare at my favourite restaurant, some mediochre pizza and some wonderful pizza, and dinner at White Spot.  But I needed to find a good brunch spot as it's my favourite meal to go out for.  On Friday night, I decided that I would poll strangers at the party about their favourite brunch spot in town.  I only remembered to do this twice, but no one really seemed to be able to pinpoint one.  Maybe it's just not as coveted a ritual here in Vancouver?  However, Cecilia and Angus brought us to Cafe Zen on Sunday morning.  Now, I'm not looking to replace Aunties & Uncles, cause I know it won't happen.  That place is going to be one of those places I'm going to have to visit whenever I'm home for a visit.  But brunch is a yummy ritual!!  So anyhow, Cafe Zen was lovely.  A bit of a wait to get in but the line moved quickly and the waitresses were so friendly, even though it was super busy.  It takes a certain breed of person to be able to deal with hungover people en mass on a Sunday morning.    I had a benny like my favourite dish at Insomnia -- poached eggs on an english muffin with tomato and avocado under delicious hollandaise sauce.  The homefries weren't comparable, but the eggs were perfection.  I'm still gonna look, but this place has potential.  The great thing about looking for new yummy restaurants is the yummy restaurants :)

Okay well I know this post was really rambling and maybe a bit nonsensical, but that's all I got right now.  Here's a photo of some eagles that were hangin out with me at the barn on Tuesday.