Today was a move forward day in the life of 319 Jackson Place NW. It got PACKED like it’s never been packed before. Man that apartment didn’t know what hit it! My mum, Catherine and I had a VERY productive day pack-a-lacking! Catherine is top notch at packing anything and sticking to it and not feeling hopeless and she does not walk around in circles (like some people I know who are hugely inexperienced). I’ve never seen a kitchen be put in boxes so quickly. It was impressive. Another thing that wowed me (and made me feel relieved) is the fact we didn’t use up all of the boxes. I’m so glad that I’m not hauling a buttload all over. I used to be a real pack rat when I was a kid, but then I got sick of all this junk I kept around but never looked at again or touched. Perhaps I’ll regret this one day. But so far, I don’t. I feel bad when I’m getting rid of some things, but like come on! Who has use for all of their wedding cards? Sure it would be sweet if one day I could reuse them, but I have to ask myself, “is it worth it?” A resounding, “NO,” repeats in my mind. Rest assured I’ve kept every love note from my sweetheart. Don’t worry! I am really excited to move to Denver. Nervous, but thrilled to be number one, back with Conor and number two, on an adventure! Tomorrow is “Tie up loose ends day” and then I think I just might have Friday to myself! Saturday I’ll finish up cleaning and away we go!

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Conor and I have been thinking about all the things that I can do in my spare time over the next few years! Sometimes I wonder if I’ll even be able to do it all! Of course I will be working on mastering my homemaking skills – you know the cooking, cleaning, baking. Furthermore I really, REALLY want to start running again. Personally I would like to run a marathon (cliche), BUT I have always wanted to be able to run forever. And so I think it’s a big time possibility. I might get a gym pass. I’ll sew for sure, and go to the temple often! Here’s a new one… the other night Conor brought me home a magazine about Digital Scrapbooking. I have scrapbooked in my day, I have an album full. However it’s a little bit pricey. Digital can get horrendously expensive, but there’s lots of free stuff to be had! I have yet to begin, I have merely skimmed the surface of the idea. I think we’ll be able to keep me pretty busy between keeping house, feeding us, sewing, running, temple work, scarpbookin’ and whatever calling I have (I hope it’s in young womens personally). I WILL be able to survive the next few years!

As I drove to the temple yesterday morning at 9, and felt groggy at the wheel. In the morning time! Every morning I find it harder and harder to wake up and more and more sleep deprived. This life is the most brutal, draining thing in the world. I am a zombie. Do you hear? A ZOMBIE! Oddly enough, one of the things I am looking forward to the most about going to Calgary, is going to bed at relatively decent hours and getting enough sleep. How exciting is that? Yes. I am tired.

Here at work we earned “e-cash” for the past 6 weeks. Yesterday we had a big “Christmas in July” at the office (I was up at 6:30 to make crepes for it – brutal). We had a Santa Claus, an Elf and a decorated Pointe truck. We each received a stocking with our gift and a bunch of candy. Conor and I asked for a visa gift card so we could have the freedom of choice. That afternoon we went to an electronic store and bought a JVC harddrive camcorder. We took it home and played with it a bit. We had a couple recording errors but whatever. We put the taken clips on the computer and had a ton of trouble transfering it over to the program Conor wanted it to be in (I just had a brain freeze and can’t remember the program – final cut studio I think). We looked at the clips and quickly noticed that there were a lot more on there than what we took. The extra clips were of some guy returning that camera because it was faulty. Oh brother! So I took it back to return it. Not a problem. But then on the way home I realized that they only returned the camera and not the warranty. Back again! This time I was feeling a little ticked. I wasn’t about the exchange the camera for a different one (that stuff is Conor’s area of expertise), however I did feel like they should do something for me to prove that their costumer service is really top-notch as they have displayed all over the store. Conor and I went back in the evening and bought a Sony DV camera. We got a free camera bag out of it! I felt a bit like a haggler even though I was just ensuring I was getting what the manager told me I would.

In the end it was a good thing that the harddrive camcorder was faulty because those cameras aren’t yet made for editing really, while the files, MOD, aren’t. They are for the consumer who wants to film something and then burn it on a DVD without dealing with a middleman like tapes. Unfortunate really because we like those camcorders better for looks and ease. Final Cut Studio is made for DV cameras and since that’s the program Conor wants to use, we needed a DV camcorder!

We feel like we’re spoiled definitely. We have so many gadgets. We did work hard for this camera, however it’s impossible to not feel lucky or bountiful. We thought about waiting until the crazy American Thanksgiving sales, however we decided that if we waited to then we would probably feel like it’s way impracticle to spend half a grand on a camera when we should pay rent or buy grocceries. And this money was for now, for us! So there it is! A splurge without splurging our own money. Perfect.

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Isn’t it funny how no one wants to take the last one? The last cookie, the last goody bar, the last scoop of ice cream… it seems that the last things that matter most are the tastey things! My brother always taught me to never be the first to take something or the last. Safely in the middle is the best, because then you aren’t in trouble for opening something up or by eating up the last. Plus as the middleman you have the excuse of “I didn’t know. It was already open.”