We're getting more snow here! MORE!

I wonder if this means I will end up spending Christmas Eve alone...

There was recently a printer problem at work, and I don't think it's been resolved. I just tried to print a 177 page document double-sided and in colour -- only it came out single sided and in black and white. I also tried doing the same thing with a smaller document and I even wanted to print two pages to a side, and it still came out single-sided. I love saving paper! Instead, all I could hope for was to not get caught printing off iPod manuals!

Mr. Nick gave me an iPod Touch for my birthday! I can't wait to use it! Apple has gotten smart...they didn't include a manaual. They give you a URL for you to download the manual yourself! When I got my iPod Photo, the package was about the size of a small cake. When I got my iPod Touch, it was about the size of a deck of cards!

I was feeling really good!!!! There was a weight lifted off my shoulders because my dad's condo is officially SOLD!!

And I booked some movers for the granite table for the 30th. It's a day off for me and I'll be going to the Canucks game that night.

But then my mom just called. She wasn't satisfied with the moving date. 

Did you tell them that they will have to take stairs?
Did you tell them the table won't fit in the elevator?
What if they can't move it? Then we would have to find other movers? It will be so late!
The new owners take possession on the 8th, you know.

What am I? Some sort of idiot? An idiot that deals with idiotic moving companies? In the past, we've gone with Chinese movers who are cheap. But they're weak. One time we moved house, and they sent two movers. We had a piano to move. They had to call 2 extra guys. And this was an upright piano. 

I was straight up with the moving company with all the details, and details they knew to ask anyway. 

Oooh...

Um...

My mom just called sounding very happy. Someone wants the table, and they will find their own way to move it. We are giving away that beautiful table for free. *sigh* I am sad that I am going to part ways with that table forever. I think this person may also take the other granite counter top. And I am going to have to cancel the movers!

I saved a few LPs.

A friend said he was going to throw out his old CDs and that since he hadn't listened to them for 5 years, he probably wouldn't listen to them again. So that got me thinking...

Will I regret it if I get rid of my old CDs?? I guess there are some I probably wouldn't miss. But I really want to start whittling down my stuff. The less I have, the less I will have to move, and the less clutter (thus stress!!) I will have!

I'm really close to having my dad's condo sold. Last night I signed something for the buyer. They wanted to move their possession date up (I could have had something to say about that, right?) and to show the change to their bank.

Today is subject removal day...let's hope everything works out.

Now...if the sale goes through, I have less than 3 weeks to clear out the stuff at my dad's place. Most of the stuff is not a problem.

It's the 1000 pound granite table that is the problem. It's a beautiful table and I would have loved to keep it, but it's meant for a real dining room. Okay, it might be around 800 pounds. It's a completely finished rectangular table with rounded corners, and it's about 2 inches thick. This table doesn't fit in the elevator. It's too tall/wide, however you want to look at it. It's also quite slippery.

We had someone interested in buying it, but they gave up since they couldn't move it themselves. They may still be interested in it if they can either pick it up from the ground floor or have it delivered to them.

***

And ugh, I've been on the phone twice with my mom, and she has been completely unsupportive today. I told her that January 8 was too early for me to get my dad's place together. #$@! You know, I just really need a break right now and I was hoping my time off would be the time for me to focus on ME and MY home. I'm busy up until right after Christmas. I'm busy right after the new year. I pretty much a window of a week to get my dad's place sorted out...sacrificing my own mental health for all this.

Sometimes I shake my fist at my dad for leaving me to deal with all this stuff. And then sometimes I fear once all this estate stuff is settled that my last tangible ties to my dad will be gone.

But anyway, all my mom sees dollar signs right now. She equates them with security. It's the Chinese way. First she complained that we may make very little money off the table for all the hassle. I'll be just glad to be rid of it. Then she complained that if I had suggested January 8 was too early to hand over the condo that the buyer may lose interest...and wouldn't it be better to have the money in my pocket now? The buyer had wanted it January 21. They moved the date up by 2 weeks. I don't think normal people would make a big stink out of it?!

I like money. Money is useful. But I'm just not the kind of person who will do just anything for it. 

People have been asking me. I have a lengthy wish list that I can supply people. But last night, I actually thought about it some more.

What I'd really like is time for myself. All this running around and adhering to some schedule has made me really stressed and bummed out. My home needs a good cleaning and a real declutter. There are piles of stuff everywhere: the kitchen, the dining area, the sitting area, and the second bedroom. Even my nightstand could use some disposal of stuff.

Mr. Nick has asked me where I'd like to go for a birthday dinner. I don't really feel like going out to eat because I feel so ill right now from eating junk. I thought about suggesting he make me dinner.

But what I would really like is a few hours of time for me to catch up on some TV shows and have a baking marathon. Since I can't do this just any day, and it's something I want -- then why not my birthday? That should be my day, right?

So I told Mr. Nick that for my birthday, I wanted to be alone. I don't think he took me seriously. I probably would be feeling a ltitle conflicted between feeling down about being alone on my birthday yet happy to have some time for myself.

I feel busy this weekend again. And I'm working up until Christmas. So when can I fit in my baking time? Also, my fridge and freezer are full. I need to do some reorganizing of that, too.

People have told me that I'll probably think about my dad and/or cry at seemingly random moments. I hadn't experienced anything (well, the thinking about part, yes) like that until yesterday.  Mr. Nick and a friend of mine have been organizing a birthday party for me and my friend's husband, and have been asking me for details, etc.

Anyway, yesterday it dawned on me that my dad wasn't going to be around for my birthday this year, and it made me really sad. I even cried about it. But the thing is, I don't think my dad was really present for some of my birthdays. My most memorable birthday must have been when I turned 6 or 7. We were in Hong Kong, and he took me shopping. I got a lot of Hello Kitty stuff. I loved my Hello Kitty dollhouse. I wonder whatever happened to it.

Last year he sent me an e-card. He called on my birthday, too. I thought he would have forgotten. But his birthday wish was secondary to his request for me to buy him two cakes. These cakes are only available around Christmas time from this particular bakery. I get one every year, but I can't this year. They remind me too much of my dad. When relatives from my mom's side used to visit for Christmas, my dad would make himself really scarce. My family would celebrate my birthday, but I don't really remember my dad being around??

But as I get older, I feel like my birthday becomes less significant. 

I knew I wouldn't hear the last of the couple that bought my dad's car. They are annoying to no end! I guess good on them for making sure they get the most of their purchase. But most people who buy used cars do not contact the seller afterwards. The bill of sale was also signed stating they were buying the car as is.

Anyway, there was some sort of extended warranty package on the car, and the new owners found out that it was transferrable, but they needed some sort of signature. I think I would have just forged it, if possible. 

So they called me and left a message. I didn't feel like calling back right away, so I didn't. Then they called me again a few hours later. And then when I got home, I found out that they had called me there, too. Only -- I don't recall giving them my home phone number. How the hell did they get it??

I probably wouldn't have given them the time of day, but they're still a potential buyer for my dad's condo if the sale doesn't go through this week. I played nice, and I did call them back because I knew I wouldn't be able to help them either.

When the buyer called, he told me that my mom needed to sign something. How presumptuous. My mom never had anything to do with my car. The car was driven by my dad's mistress until she moved back to Hong Kong. So I gleefully told the buyer "oh, my parents are divorced. That's not my mom."  Then the buyer asked me if it would be convenient to pass along the person's phone number. And I gleefully replied, "she lives in Hong Kong now." He realised he was probably out of luck.

I guess the traffic at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics ticketing site either died down or their IT crew did something. (Or maybe my friend's praying paid off...)

I got through again, and I got tickts for 2 events and one victory ceremony. I tried getting a third, but tix were sold out.

So...I'll be seeing some luge and ice hockey. There are still lots of tickets for hockey (especially women's) and curling. I haven't paid attention to the schedule of ticketing plans at all, but unless they plan on releasing more tickets, I don't think there will be any legitimate ways to buy tickets later on. In 2009, the committee is unveiling a plan to release 10,000 (free?) tickets for various victory ceremonies.

I am really looking forward to the Olympics, provided everything goes fantastically ;-) The social climate will probably get interesting, too. 

I need to keep up the positivity. When you're in good spirits, everything falls into place in a good way. Things have not been 100% great so I must be harbouring some negativity.

So I finally sold my dad's car. No sense in turning back time, but the first potential buyer would have been a better choice. I would have saved a bit of money, too. In the books, the car was worth a little over $17K. I sold it for $16K. That was $2k less than what I really wanted to sell it for.

The buyer kept complaining about the interior but bought it anyway. When were getting the paperwork done and the insurance agent showed us the book value, the buyer said we all got a good deal. I don't see how I did, loser. And then even when he went to pick up the car, he was complaining about how dusty it was. Ah well, I guess he could consider getting a little extra for what he paid. But seriously -- just go get it washed and detailed. He'd probably be too cheap for that.

And I also followed up with the refund on my dad's condo insurance since it had been a couple of months. Turns out they need Cindy to sign something before the refund is processed. I guess I can pretty much kiss that $300+ good bye.

Lastly, I"m trying buy Olympics tickets right now. The system is so frickin overloaded. I got kicked out of the system and am in a virtual waiting room EVEN THOUGH I was in the middle of having my order processed.

I had to place my order many times, and during the checkout process, I experienced problems a few times which made me have to re-order. And then finally, I just got kicked out and got put back into the queue.

SO LAME.

Edit: The only positive thing I have to say for today is that I've been able to post two blog entries SUCCESSFULLY! YEAH!

I got ANOTHER bill from Bell Mobility.

I closed the account in August. For three months after that, I kept getting my "final bill" with an outstanding refund. On my last bill, I got an amount  of $0 oustanding and noticed that I had a "miscellaneous charge" instead of a cheque. So I called up Bell Mobility. (The last time I spoke with a CSR, she said I should get the cheque beginning of December, and if I didn't -- to call back.)

I chatted with a nice fellow who talked to his supervisor. The supervisor wasn't even sure and said that the charge must be because the cheque is in the mail. And if not...the cheque should come in 74 days because they must be processing it.

They are so full of excuses.

-It's taking long to refund your  money because we had to close the account due to death.

-The cheque will come.

-The cheque must be getting processed right now

They are lame. I called about the account in March. They wouldn't let me close it until I had the death certificate. I faxed them the death certificate in August and asking for confirmation, which I never got. But the next bill said the account was closed and a refund was outstanding. Then month after month, I'm told a refund is outstanding and that I will get the refund.

Then I get nothing but "it will come". UGH!

While I was training with my trainer, I followed the paleolithic diet - just lean meats and vegetables and fruits, no grains or anything processed, and limited dairy. It worked pretty well for me. I felt more energized and I lost weight. I wasn't big on junk food eating before either.

Today I had my follow up with the naturopath. He recommended I put whole grains back in my diet. He gave me a list of foods and marked items as beneficial, moderate or avoid. It's meant to be a lifestyle change, but he definitely wants me to follow it for a month and see how I am when we meet again. I have decided I will wait until after Christmas. Not that I'm going to pig out now, but it's baking season! I can do moderation but I cannot deny myself! So...I will completely cut out sugar, refined carbs, and dairy (once again).

I am excited I will be back to eating oatmeal again, but I don't know what I can have with it...no cream or brown sugar. BWAHAHA He also recommended I follow the Blood Type diet. I'm going to read up on that.

He's also given me supplements. Yay, more supplements (she says facetiously). This means that the 1-2 month supply of supplements I purchased from my acupuncturist last week are useless for now. GRR!

There isn't much wrong with me, and I'm apparently an easy case. My adrenals are out of whack, it seems. A reason could be stress, my long-term use of birth control pills, and a vitamin/mineral deficiency. There are other things we can explore later, but so far...I'm easy!

I've been wanting to go off the pill for a while now because I'm not crazy about what I am doing to my body with all these hormones. I haven't been able to give up the convenience factor. My naturopath gave me a pamphlet for a high-end thermometer! I'd be on the  rhythm method, I guess, but you take your temperature every morning with this device and you enter a few other details (like if you're menstruating). It gives you a red/yellow/green reading, and it tells you if you're safe to get it on without getting preggers.

This company has a device to help out with conception, too! Anyway, I am quite excited about "LadyComp"!!

I had put in a request for Vancouver 2010 Olympics tickets. I got absolutely zilch. I requested 2 packages and 1 single event. Each had an alternate.

I don't know what kind of tickets people got, but I would be choked to find out that some people got tickets for multiple events. I just think it probably would have been possible to for everyone in the lottery to get tickets to at least ONE event of their desire?!

Bake, bake, bake

Bake, bake, bake

Bake your booty! Bake your booo-tay!

YEAH!

That's all I have on my mind right now. I just want to get in the kitchen and bake and make Christmas treats!!! Alas, other commitments are preventing me from doing it!

I had no time on the weekend, and this week is appointments and stuff every day!! EVERY DAY!!!

Yesterday - optometrist appointment
Today - counselor appointment
Tomorrow - dinner at Mr. Nick's parents
Thursday - completing the sale of my dad's car
Friday - Mr. Nick's office Christmas party

I'm staying at Mr. Nick's every night this week. It's so stressful when I have long hauls at his place. It's the whole packing and meal planning thing that I have to deal with. What a pain. I'm pretty much packing for a week-long vacation, but it's not a vacation.

I accepted the latest offer on my dad's condo. I hope the sale goes through even though the price was less than what I had hoped for. Like they say, time is money!

Such a game...the real estate market.

What I've noticed in the offers out there on condos is people making big jumps from the listed price, but a lot are not prepared to play the numbers game. People make offers of tens of thousands of dollars lower than the asking price but are only counter offering by a couple of thousand or not countering back at all! 

There have been 3 offers for my dad's place...two have offered less than my desired lowest. One couple couldn't get financing. (What happened to getting pre-approved for a mortgage before going house hunting?!) People are playing with bigger numbers these days. But if people are going to lowball the seller by tens of thousands of dollars, then why don't they just look for lower-priced condos? I think housing prices are going to keep dropping for the next year here. Anyway, I should be getting a counteroffer today, and it will be lower than my desired lowest, once again. (That desired lowest has dropped a few times over the last month.) But if I don't sell now, I think the condo won't go until the spring and probably for a lower price. People aren't usually home hunting over the holidays and right after.

I sold my dad's car. I should have just sold it to the first guy. He actually really wanted it. He offered less than my lowest. The couple that looked at my dad's car yesterday gave the same offer. I decided to suck it up and just take it without even counter offering. Sometimes, you just have to lose a little, I guess.

And I have to say that I think the couple who are buying my dad's car are lame and probably still have their parents around. They found out about the car through my realtor. They asked about the details of my dad's death but didn't offer any condolences?! And then they kept complaining about the wear and tear on the inside of the car...and kept complaining...and kept complaining. "The interior doesn't match the mileage on the car!" "We treat our car really well." "A 60ish year old shouldn't have this much wear and tear on his vehicle!"

Look, I wasn't trying to sell them a brand new car. I was selling them a USED car. Nobody was forcing them to buy it. If they were really that bothered by the interior, they should have just said no thanks. Like really...what could I do about it?

Here's the situation:

There is a software release today (supposedly).

It's Friday.

I have a dentist appointment at 4:45 pm. 

I must leave at 3:50 pm in order to make it on time to my appointment.

The time now is 3:12 pm.

You come to ask me to update a PDF that I did not create? Ai-yi-yi

I also just told you that the person who had the original copy is no longer with the company.

The timing is horrible.

And this was never a deliverable on my list.

All these last-minute demands -- not even requests -- have gotten on my nerves. I am going to bring this up in the post-mortem!

Oh, and I was also going to eat my second meal at 3. So much for that. I just hope I can eat after seeing my dentist!

If I was a guy, I'd probably have zipped my penis into my zipper by now. I just have no luck with zippers!

They're always getting stuck!

And then yesterday, I had to rip the zipper off my jacket because...it was stuck in the wheel of my office chair!!! I had no idea how to get it out. So I ripped it off. And then the charm fell out of the chair. 

The wheels on the chair have a protective cover. Some how, my jacket fell on the floor, I rolled over it with my chair, and the zipper charm thingee got stuck between the wheel and the cover. How do these things happen to me??!

I just started reading Maureen McCormick's autobiography. So far, all she has talked about are her issues and her parents' issues. I can't wait to actually read about her days on The Brady Bunch! I loved that show as a kid. I didn't know it was only on for 5 years!

I don't know why years have been confusing me. I always have a hard time calculating them when it's time for the new year to roll in.

I kept thinking my driver's licence was up for renewal this year, and I was wondering why I didn't get my renewal letter! Then I looked on my licence and noticed it wasn't up for renewal until December 2009.

And then I just signed up for a GIC. Something exciting is going on! Starting January 2, 2009, Canadians can put their money into interest-bearing investments and not get taxed on the interest earned called tax-free savings accounts. As a special deal, my bank is offering GICs that mature January 2, 2009 with a high interest rate. When the GIC matures, the money is transffered into a TFSA. For some reason I thought my GIC was going to mature in a year...not in a month!!

2009 has gone ...see? I almost did it again. 2008 has gone by very quickly!!

Right now I feel ill. I ate a big piece of carrot cake. Who eats that crap at 10:30 in the morning?? I feel bloated. Gross. My heart was also racing from all the sugar. Now I am just crashing. I must continue with good eating habits! I have lost weight over the last several months, and I would like to keep that up. I saw my trainer for the last time yesterday. She is moving back to London. I can't believe we hugged. I thought she was all business all the time!

Now that I've moved cubes, I'm in a more exposed area! I am afraid to blog and read my celebrity gossip web sites!!

It's really cold here. I'm sitting right under a vent. I hope I don't get sick. I seriously plan on keeping a toque here. The wind is blowing my hair around.

And I am really craving bacon. I am going to buy some today. YEAH! 

This morning on the bus, two young men offered up their seats for these two ladies. And they weren't courtesy seats either.

One of the ladies declined at first..."no, no, no. It's okay!"

And then she added, "I don't like *that* old, do I?"

Geez, lady...someone is doing something NICE for you. Just say thanks and get over yourself!

My cravings for dessert have been intense! I think it's because I've been eating a lot of desserts lately. I bring that up now because it smells like bacon around here.

Something happened yesterday which worried me a bit. My mom had no recollection of a conversation we had had!  A couple of weeks ago, I asked her if it would be okay if I had Christmas dinner with Mr. Nick's family. She said it was okay as long as we got together, Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day, or Boxing Day. We had even tried picking a day. Then last night, she mentioned that (nosy) Aunt Betty had invited us over for Christmas dinner. Since my mom doesn't want to see nosy Aunt Better, she said she had already invited people over (including me).

Every year, my mom invites some of her friends over for a Christmas meal. She thought I was attending this year, and she seemed shocked and looked a little hurt that I wasn't. That's the reason why I asked her it would be okay with her if I didn't have Christmas dinner at her place. She had said it was okay!

Anyway, Mr. Nick and I have been designated to bring dessert. I am going to make lemon cheesecake tarts, snickerdoodles, and coconut cake. Well, I will definitely bake a cake, but aside from fruitcake, what cake would be more Christmas-y??