The very belated meme stolen from my sister's blog a year ago that I forget to ever actually do.

Here's how you play. The idea is to note ten things you've done or facts about you that you think are pretty unique -- although, given what's happened in other blogs and journals where this game is being played, you'll be surprised at how many people end up saying "Hey, me too!" Put them up in your own journal and let the fun begin (you can also add your list in comments, or put a link back to any entry you write.)

1. I lock the bathroom door when I'm at home by myself. I don't like going in for a shower when I'm home alone with the water thundering and not being able to hear on the off chance some creepy sleaze breaks into my home to steal me blind and rape me. So I lock the door so at least if someone does sneak in I'll have a better chance to hear them when they're thwarted in their violent attempt to barge into the bathroom after me, and have enough time to scramble for the shampoo bottle as a half-assed attempt excuse for a weapon. It's just become habit. If for whatever reason I'm feeling jumpy that day I'll even keep my cellphone by the sink as well.


2. The god damn toilet paper roll must be facing outward. It drives me absolutely batty when someone replaces an empty roll with a new one and hangs it with the end of the paper facing or pressed up against the wall. It needs to be hanging outward, toward your hand, for easier accessibility and also so it's not smothered up against whatever filth and germs have settled on your wall or assorted bathroom cabinetry. I'll change it every time if it is, providing that the toiler roll dispenser is not overly complicated to master. If I have ever been in your bathroom then I have probably changed yours.


3. I'm not sure who or how popularity gets decided in middle school but in any event it was deemed on high that I was to have no part in it, and thus was teased and bullied, as all youth who get christened as such inevitably are. Upon the urging of one of my few friends (who I realized years later was never really a good friend to me in the first place), she convinced me to stop hanging out with another one of my friends -- who in my case had been my very best friend for ten years, and who was just as, if not more, teased and outcast than us -- in a last-ditch hope to fit in. Abandoning that friend is one of the biggest regrets of my life. It was completely selfish, cruel, and desperate; and being a dumb teenager then does not excuse the fact that I left someone I cared about completely alone and vulnerable when they needed me the most. I'm too much of a coward to explain or try to apologize for casting them aside, because I don't believe I deserve their forgiveness. To this day each time I think about what I did to that individual, I think a little less of myself.


4. I have a somewhat crazy and childish love for the NAPA Auto trucks. You know the white trucks and hatchbacks that you see driving around the city wearing the little yellow hats? Yeah, those ones. I LOVE THEM. X3 I'm not sure why I do, I just remember being a kid and seeing one of those trucks with the yellow hats and it made me flail and point and squeal "That truck is wearing a HAT!" O: I made my Dad turn around our car and follow one for a couple blocks once. I used to wonder where they went went when they weren't driving around on the roads. Where did these adorable little vehicles come from? Where did they sleep? And I'm not going to lie, it was of the more geeky highlights of my life when, years later as an -- apparently -- mature adult, I was finally shown. When we first began dating, Mason took me to the mysterious, secret land where the trucks lived (that is to say, he drove me through the back lot of the NAPA auto yard that I never even realized existed on the south end of St. Albert.) It was very exciting for me. There was some definite squeeing on my part.


5. The friends I made in high school changed my life. I spent a majority of my school years hating the world, other people, and myself; I am a vastly different person now than I was then, for the better; and I know that at least a part of who I am today is because of them. There are certain friends from high school, some who I don't even see very often anymore, and others who in turn have been introduced to me by those original friends from high school -- who I very honestly consider part of my family. In many ways they saved me, whether they're aware of it or not, and I don't know where I'd be now if I hadn't met them.


6. I hate talking on the phone. It doesn't matter who it is on the other end of the line, I just get uncomfortable and stuttery and fumble with my words; I prefer emailing or talking in person. In my opinion, phones are only needed for 1) emergencies, and 2) for short, informative messages such as what time I'll be picked up or if there's a change of plans for something. Don't phone me up to "chat". My mind will wander because I can't see your face and I'll either lose interest or be bored to tears. It's not an insult to whoever I'm talking to or what we're talking about, it's just what happens to me when I use the telephone. I could never be a receptionist. Ugh.


7. From the time I learned how to talk to the middle of elementary school, I had a speech impediment where I couldn't for the life of me properly pronounce my R's. I toddled around for the majority of my very young life making comments about that "wed fiahtwuck", complaining that my sister "Wachelle" had stolen my favorite Archie comic, and proudly announcing my name was "Bwenna Saundaws". I worked with an instructor through out my first years of schooling to correct my flawed yet amusing pronunciation issues.


8. I cried when I found out my betta fish was dying.


9. I have Reynolds Phenomenon. It sounds like something horribly scary like cancer but it's not; basically the deal is that my fingers have very bad blood circulation. If exposed to cold temperatures my fingers can start to turn white and sometimes purple and they begin to sting like a bitch as if I have severe frostbite (and when I say cold, that doesn't just mean the -20 Canadian winter -- anything lower than +10 weather can prompt it, and occasionally even when I'm at work or at home and the room is cool.) It doesn't impair me much besides being generally annoying and forcing me to wear gloves outside still when other people are already shedding off their winter coats. It also excuses me from shoveling snow, which personally I find to be a plus. In my particular case of Reynolds it was most likely caused from getting some frostbite from carrying groceries outside as a courtesy clerk at Sobeys for a year and not wearing mittens like the retard teenager I was. (I'm a cautionary tale for all those dumb kids who walk around in the dead of winter with no hat and gloves. STOP BEING STUPID.) For more detailed information from actual doctory-type sources, go here.


10. I have an irrational fear of fiery death. I am timid and paranoid at the best of times, but anything to do with potential explosions, electrical shock, or general fire-related trauma makes me go a tad OCD. There's really no reason for my over-active fiery death paranoia other than the fact that I'm too fond of the idea of burning alive. It's right up there on my list of Worst Ways to Die with "being eaten" and "being slowly squished or ground up like a cartoon character". The fact that my boyfriend is an electrician helps to both sooth and worsen my paranoia since on the one hand he knows very well that "No Brenna, placing that power bar under the bed near the hot water heat register will not make it erupt into flames underneath you during the night"; but on the other hand is constantly working with scary electricity and constantly regails me with terrifying stories of men blowing their arms off on site, and making me fret moreso everyday he drives off to work.

C.J. fell ill to a very bad disease called Dropsy early this week and became extremely sick -- she completely stopped eating, her scales began to pinecone and patch in color, and she just hovered still in the corner near the surface of the water. I don't know what caused the disease, but it was very clear she was suffering; and with very little successful treatment options for Dropsy which is usually fatal, I made the decision to painlessly euthanize her yesterday evening by some common and simple directions provided online.

She was a good little betta fish. I was very attached to her, and I wish I could have done more to help her. *Pats empty tank sadly.*

This was a depressing birthday post. I'll make a happier one later. ^^;

Crisped rice chocolate bunnies? I had no idea before today that they sold such an Easter product. Like a Crunch bar but in an adorable animal shape. It's fantastic. *Munch munch munch*

While we were out jaunting about town doing errands this morning I bought C.J. some new aquarium plants~ She's very excited about them, I can tell. Her tail has that extra swish and wave that she does when she's excited.

I came home the other day to find a piece of mail for me from my previous employer which turned out to be an accursed T4 slip. It's felt like so long since I worked there that I completely forgot that I would have a 2007 T4 from them, so I didn't even think of it last week when I went and filed my taxes without it, and now I'm irked because I have to go back and redo them and wait even longer for my cheque full of free tax money to arrive in the mail.

I ordered my Sailor Moon DVDs on the wrong damn week. With a 3 - 5 day shipping period they really should be on my doorstep today but today's a holiday so now they're going to be pushed to next week, and not Monday, but Tuesday. Of all the times to have a four-day weekend this was not a prime pick. *Mumble grumble* The post office is not my friend right now. It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't still also waiting for the first two English dubbed seasons to download on Bittorrent, but they're taking FOREVER. The progress bar is just sitting there taunting me with it's smug 88.4% completed message.

I'm so hard done by.

HA HA HA HA HA, best scene in Avatar ever. EVER.

First off, a heartfelt Happy Panda filled congrats to Coleen on her one year anniversary of sobriety! I shall buy you tasty cake next time I see you~ Tasty cake SHALL BE HAD.

So I thought poor C.J. was on the mend, her fins were growing back, and I stopped her Melafix treatment; but yesterday while I was cleaning her tank I noticed the re-growth is getting ragged and her fins and tail have blackish tips, so apparently she's relapsed. *So much sadness* It makes me especially sad because I feel somewhat guilty of maybe causing the relapse by stopping medicating too soon. I know she's just a tiny beta fish, but the way I see it, just like a dog or cat she's still a pet and I'm responsible for her, and I don't believe her being a fraction of the size excuses me of being concerned for her health. I did a big clean of her tank once more and started her on the medication again. It would be piles of help if the damn heater in our apartment would regulate itself so the aquarium water wouldn't keep constantly changing temperature.

Ugh. The microwave dinner I had for lunch is not agreeing with me... Tummy, behave now. Digesting food, stop poking tummy and go sit in the corner. *Scolds*

While playing losing a game of poker on the weekend, I had the strongest craving to go swimming at the WEM Waterpark; and since at that moment I was devoid of said wave pool, I suddenly realized exactly what I was going to do for my birthday this year! YAY waterpark! YAY waterslides! YAY relaxing tube ride! YAY new swimsuit bought in Hawaii! YAY tasty curly fries sold from the snack food vendor which had better still be there or I will cry! *Is very excited* Apparently there will also be bungee jumping involved, but it will not be directly involving me on any level other than the watching-from-the-ground sort of kind. I wish the four of you brave men a complete lack of doomy squishy death this coming April.

So I'm raising the bar of my geekery by drawing my Guild Wars characters~! :B It's been a stupidly long time since I've opened my art pad (and maybe for good reason since last time I tried to sit down and draw it twisted and curled and imploded in my face in a mess of frustrated scribbles never to be seen.) I finished Lady Hadelphia, my adorable necromancer/ranger, and now I've furiously trying to track down my lost reference images so I can draw in my Stalker, Newt. Then maybe I'll start on my ritualist, she'll be ten exploded bunnies worth of fun to draw~ I am such a geek.

*Hand flail* I've now officially caught up to the current episode in Avatar and it's HORRIBLE. What's with this crazy sporadic episode release schedule? March? I have to wait until MARCH? The latest episode was aired in January! D: How can the shiny television gods give me two and a half seasons of smarmy-ness and then dangle the last eight episodes just out of my reach? Bad Nickelodeon! Bad! *Rant rant bitterness stomp stomp kicking puppies*

Does anyone else notice how somehow Zuko manages to be a ridiculously badass ninja one moment, and the next moment be such a loser? Prince Zuko, you have no people skills. At all. Also, cut your damn hair. You have eight episodes in which to repent for your evil ways, swoon the girl, and make her forgive you for all your evil whatnots; but Katara will never fall in love with you in time for the season finale if you have emo hair.

Ho ho ho, grumpy Zuko avatarness FTW.

I finally got my West Wing series DVDs delivered! YAY! I've lost a little bit of faith in Amazon after all the trouble I went through to get them, but I blame it more on the incompetent customer service person on the phone rather than the company itself. *Hugs her long-awaited seven seasons of the Bartlett administration*

My poor beta fish is in a state of doomy sick turmoil. I realized on Sunday when I was feeding her that her tail appeared noticeably shorter than usual, almost like it had been ripped or torn, but careful inspection of the gravel in the tank showed no evidence of any falling off. I did some frantic Googling and found out that C.J. has a disease called fin rot, in which the fins and tail start to deteriorate and can be lost entirely and kill the fish. D: I went out after work the next day and bought some antibiotics for her, so hopefully we start to see some regrowth pretty soon. *Stares sadly into tank and nurses Claudia Jean back to health* ;_;

So after careful consideration and some general playing around, WordPress = Awesome. I've spent the last week learning my way through the tagging and templating process and the CMS system, and on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a firm exploding bunny with half a rainbow. Blogger, eat your heart out. After I'm done this contract work I think I may make the switch over~

Speaking of joy that is probably not as exciting for anyone as it is for me, progress is actually being made in our apartment! Mason has been absolutely splendid and handy-man-ish and over the last month we've gotten the bathroom painted, doors installed, light fixtures changed, pictures hung; and when I came home the other day he had even completely cleaned out the chaos that was our computer room! XD *so much love and cuddles for sweet boyfriend*

We have also discovered the television series awesomeness that is Avatar: The Last Airbender. Mason downloaded the entire first season and we watch a couple episodes before bed each night. It's one of those shows that you don't really have much hope for when you first hear about it, but then you're pleasantly surprised and soon enthralled by the quality after watching a couple episodes~ The art style is kind of American anime-ish, the animation is great, and the dialogue is really where Avatar shines. They have some funny damn writers on that staff, fresh and clever. There's a few characters that you just can't help but love too. Color me addicted. :D

EDIT: OMG, I just found out that Admiral Zhao is actually voiced by Jason Isaacs! Jason. Freaking. Isaacs. Okay, see, now I understand why Makani gets all fluttery and fangirlish.

I actually finished all my Christmas cards! YAAAAAY! They took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it was worth it. There's something immensely satisfying about holding a giant stack of completed Christmas cards in your hands. It fills me with a warm squishy bundle of joy all wrapped in brightly colored paper and covered in glitter. XD

Baking has also (almost) been finished! Though...admittedly...not as much as I'd hoped. I'm not sure I'm going to have near enough to give out to all my friends like I wanted to; it may turn out to be more of a whole "people coming over to our place to play boardgames and just putting a plate of them on the table for anyone who wants some" thing. *sweatdrop* In any event Mason and I kicked Betty Crocker's ass last night and made two pans of nanaimo bars, it was a splendid baking extravaganza filled with chocolate and sugary sweet creme~

Hahahaha, oh man I want this book for Christmas: oPtion$: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs by Fake Steve Jobs (Daniel Lyons). The back of the book flap reads:

"Sometimes I feel like a great chef who has devoted his entire life to monastic study of the art of cooking. I've gathered the finest ingredients, built the most advanced kitchen and prepared the most exquisite meal. So perfect, so delicious, so extraordinary. More astounding than any meal ever created. Yet each day I stand in my window and watch 97% of the world walk past my restaurant into the McDonald's across the street."

Truer words have never been written. DFTBA, Mr. Jobs. (HOO! HA! NERDFIGHTER!)

Claudia Jean is thriving~ (You could even say she's doing swimmingly, ho ho!) C.J. and I have settled into a nice little routine with feeding and whatnot, when I get up in the morning and feed her she gets all excited and swims right up to the wall of the tank to greet me~ "OMG, you're awake! Yippe! YAY Brenna! I'm so glad to see you! Hi! Good morning! Do you see me? Look down here! Hi!" is pretty much the impression I get from her. It's very cute. (People insist that she just wants food, but I know there's real love there.)

My headaches aren't being caused by what I thought they were... I went off the pill weeks ago and I'm still getting them. >_< I need to book another appointment with the doctor but I can't do it until I get back from vacation in January. *Loads up on Advil on her carry on bag*

YAY, I get all of next week off work now! It was supposed to go in for a half day on the 24th and a full day on the 27th before we leave for Hawaii the day after, but there's going to be hardly anyone in the office so I don't have to come in~ LA LA LA~ *Hugs her holiday time*

Countdown until Hawaii: OMG 10 days! XD