I may have blogged about this before...

I have a pet peeve. Tonight I was reading various articles on the internet, as well as some college papers, and am saddened that we, as a generation, have not learnt how to properly spell. Nor have we learnt, grammatically, the proper usages of various words.

Please keep in mind, as I continue to rant, that I am not perfect when it comes to using the English language, nor will I judge you if you make mistakes, though I have been known to point them out sometimes, and welcome you to point out mine.

These are some of the things that seem to come up over and over again:
1. Improper use of where or were: Where were you?
2. Improper use of their, they're or there: They're not here tonight, because their car was not there when they went outside.
3. The use of apostrophe when not needed: Your car, not you're car. Sometimes I think we're just scared that we're forgetting an apostrophe, and throw it in for good measure...but it's wrong!
4. Improper use of weather or whether: I'm not sure how to address this one...maybe the teacher who was teaching these people didn't either.

I love language. Honestly, there is nothing like reading a really good book and allowing the words to soak into your mind, and carry you away to the land that exists inside of that book...whether it is real or the figment of someone else's mind. I know that many of my friends equally love language, and I think it's time we fight for it. I have no idea what that looks like, but I'm tired of seeing the same mistakes. Any ideas?

one of those "you had to be there" moments.

Some stories are hard to translate into...well...stories :)
Hopefully this one translates.

So tonight, Alicia and I were hanging out at Timmy's after watching Wild Hogs (which was a good laugh, by the way), and I was chatting about my cousin in Australia (hi Kyle!) and how he thinks Andrea (his sis, my cous) and I should come visit him there...and I was chatting about it, and all of a sudden changed over to saying "Amanda" instead of Andrea. I stopped myself and said to Alicia, "Amanda! Where did I get that from?" When we simultaneously heard a girl yelling into the back, "Amanda! Amanda!" I started laughing so hard. Not even realizing that this girl had been calling to the other, I had picked up on it, and used it in my own sentence. Talk about subliminal messages....

While it was hilarious in the moment (which could have done with the sugar rush and the tiredness we were both facing), I have also realized that I have been doing this a lot lately - saying the wrong thing. Which can kind of be embarassing when you're a waitress. For example, the other night, I was asking if i could bring more creams while I refilled the coffees at the table, but instead of coffee, said "ketchup"...cause i was looking at the ketchup bottle on the table. Needless to say, the table was a little confused as to why I would want to bring out more creams while refilling their ketchup...

I think the overall explanation is that I have been letting myself go into cruise control mode lately. Work has become pretty monotonous, and so I'm not fully thinking as I talk...more just asking the questions I'm supposed to, which also means I'm not always listening to the answers...also dangerous, especially when you arrive at the computer terminal, wondering what the heck the person just ordered from you.

The countdown has begun.

the past

Well. It's been a slow couple of weeks - working too much, but with nothing too interesting happening, other than spending quality time with friends before I gear up to take off again.

Yesterday my cousin and I were reminiscing about our childhoods, visiting our Grandparents on Saltspring Island. It's amazing how you can not think about something for a long time, only to have it really come back so vividly in your mind.

My grandparents built a cabin on Saltspring back in the day. Now before you think "Cabin in the woods" with roaring fireplaces and bear pelts...think a LOT more simply, like a one-room cabin with two cots, no insulation, and many simple things. But it had curtains, and a wall of teacups, old oil-lanterns, fuzzy blankets, and as a little girl, it was one of my favorite places to have tea with Grandma.

Yesterday, as we were talking, I walked away remembering a bright sunny afternoon, walking to the cabin from their house (which was down the road), poking around in the gardens, salting the slugs, and then sitting down to tea, while Grandma talked to me about Jesus, about the fact that I could never marry an only child (because then our children would have no cousins), about the roses that were growing outside the door....about anything and everything she thought I should know.

The other night while I was at WhiteSpot, an elderly lady walked passed me, smiling, and reminded me so much of Grandma that all those memories came back for a moment, and I just missed her.

Life is funny in the way that it cycles around, bringing back to us the things that we thought we'd forgotten.

I don't think I have much of a point here today...other than to say that I hope each of you have fond memories that you can return to when need be.

the rise and fall...

I am officially going to Costa Rica this summer. That's right, I bought my ticket! So from May 7th to August 2nd...we cannot hang out. That is, of course, unless you will be in Costa Rica with me!

I have to say though, that I feel like buying a plane ticket is a little like playing the stockmarket....or "Deal or No Deal". I kept my eye on that ticket for like 2 weeks....it rose...it fell...it rose again...it fell again...and then steadily fell....and I kept saving the new ticket on Expedia, until the one day I went to check on the price, my ticket was gone from the regular list! So, I went and bought my saved one...and I was thankful, because checking the price since then, I got the last ticket at my price - they are all now at least $100 more.

Whew.

Needless to say - there's a lot of stress in watching prices like that. I for one, would not make a good stock broker. And maybe I shouldn't try and get on "Deal or No Deal Canada". But I'm going to Costa Rica!

"under the weather"

This last week has been the first time I've been sick since leaving CBC...and it's been awful. I even called in sick to work this week (which I would NEVER do...but I don't think you want your waitress hacking all over you).

This is what I've felt like:

Word to the wise: Tylenol Cold and Flu with ColdBurst is my new favorite medicine...especially if you have a sore throat. They may have stupid commercials...but the stuff works!