at least i have tv

So life up here is quite dull. The main issue being that I don't know anyone and its hard to meet people. If this interview in Red Deer tanks I'll probably just find a job here that is crappy but will give me money at least.  On the up side, I have tv. Something I didn't have before coming here so I spend the time watching Star, Slice and Space.  I'm turning into a middle aged housewife who watches makeover shows in the middle of the day. 

I keep seeing all of these commercials for eHarmony. Its not like I'm looking for a relationship at all, but hey, it could be a way to make friends. Plus I'm always wondering about the interface design of a website like that. 

I need something interesting to do. There isn't much space in this house to do my more artistic photos either. 

unexpected, but awesome

I have a job interview.

vacation. sort of.

Yesterday I got back from a three day excursion to Edmonton. Nice to see friends and get some things done that I can't get done here, like visit Ikea since they are one of the few places that actually sells bedlinen in colours that are relevant to my interests. (Why am I not European? Seems like that would be a better lot in life for me.)

So outside of errands and seeing Inglorious Basterds which was dull, I got to spend a lot of time actually visiting with people and of course seeing "Captain Hook vs the Zombies" at Edmonton Fringe which I did the posters for. 

It was all fun which was to be expected I think.

Thursday night was my first night in town and upon arrival, which because of construction and trains was a 5 hour drive, I mostly just wanted to collapse. A friend and I walked to the local 7/11 and bought slurpees and I basked in the idea that you can go places and get things at 10:00 at night. (I have been living in small towns far too long.)

What I really haven't been expecting is how much I miss certain people and how actually getting to hang out with friends would make me miss them even more. There are two or so people who currently fit this category and I'm entirely confused by it. I don't generally miss people or, at least, not to an extent where I'm actually upset enough to cry about it. (Sometimes I'm just a heartless bitch, I know.) But the truth is, most of what I'm feeling is wanting to go back to where I was before so that I can see them.

Michael and I also might start a band for fun.

dirty towns and unpacking

Yesterday (when I meant to blog originally) it rained all day. Which is alright since I was inside and I didn't feel bad about hiding out inside a house when a beautiful day was just waiting for me. The funny thing about this place is that the rain doesn't feel like it refreshes you. It just feels more dirty.  I swear that it rains mud here. It might be from the oil sands stuff or the fact that the city has a lot of construction going on, but I feel like I haven't been clean since I got here.

I've been spending a lot of time in the new house unpacking it with my mom. We aren't in it yet, but hopefully soon we'll get out of this condo. (I've been living out of a suitcase since I got here.) The nice thing about our house is that it was entirely custom built so its quite unique. The bad thing about our house is that it was entirely custom built and so its quite unique.

Let me explain. We have gorgeous hardwood flooring, its a deep rich brown and quite different from any other I've seen.  The hallways are big and there are a ton of windows that open up as well as everything having a rustic, trendy feeling.  On the flip side, the hallway space makes for very little bedroom space, the basement door blocks an entrance when open, they painted it so dark you need lights at 2 am and every bathroom is missing not only towel racks but also toilet paper holders. My biggest complaint being that, again, my bathroom as no drawers. 

Its funny because the more we go through this house the more we find that these people we weird and left out very normal things. There are also 4 bathrooms with no similarities between them. It looks like every bathroom was designed by someone else for another house and grafted onto this one.

But I still can't wait to get out of this condo. Being downtown and so close to the highway, its always loud and I can't sleep.

sunday morning

So for the last four years I've been living in Lethbridge, away from my family, and not going to church. A family rule is that anyone staying in the house must attend church on Sunday morning. This includes house-guests who may not even be regular church goers, but you still have to.

Now that I'm back with them I was waiting for the moment where I'd be dragged back to this ritual. So today I was woken up before 9 and we all got ready and as a family we all drove up the hill to Fort McMurray Alliance Church for the morning. 

And I'm impressed Fort McMurray Alliance Church, I actually liked you. You have nice people, neat ideas, good worship and you're not a clique like some small churches. You like new people and that makes me happy.  So I was expecting crap, boring, what have you and I was quite surprised to leave having actually enjoyed myself and that is truly something.

what this is all about

I thought, for the sake of documenting this, that I would start up a blog chronicling my thoughts about how I feel about how unexpectedly my life has turned out. 

For some background: I'm currently a recent graduate, unemployed, nearly broke, living back with my parents who have just moved to a small town in Northern Alberta where I probably just saw a drug deal going on down the street. (And before you ask, yes, drug deals DO happen. Frequently. In fact, traffic actually picks up in the neighbourhood around 12 am and if that isn't sketchy I'm not sure what is.)  I have, in the past 8 or so months, been rejected from Grad School and every single job application and no, its not because I'm not talented (I have been successfully freelancing) or because I had bad marks. If I knew what it was I'd probably fix it if I could. People are blaming the recession and that may be true, but I also think that people have a very strong obsession with blaming something for the bad shit that goes on in their lives.

So truth be told, I did not expect to be 22, unemployed, living with my parents and watching the E! Network religiously on Youtube.  Although, Chelsea Handler where have you been all my life? To be fair though, sitting around watching episodes of trashy TV online makes me feel sad and pathetic, but I'm fine with it, because it seems like there is a high percentage population of people feeling the exact same way in this town and what can I say, shows making fun of celebrities or having news about anything media related is my crack. So I'm at least somewhat better than some of the population who's crack is actually crack.

And if you're expecting bitching and whining well you might get that. I can be a huge bitch and who doesn't whine when things don't turn out. But good stuff can be something that you don't expect to. For instance:

I am also a self-sustaining freelance graphic designer (also photographer and illustrator), a self published author who produced a children's book which I wrote and illustrated, I've had my work featured prominently in the Edmonton Fringe Festival catalogue and program and all my charming and beautiful clients give me far more word of mouth advertising than I could ever dream of.

So its not all bad.