+++

here's how i've been. i've been thinking a lot about cross-stitching and about big round wicker chairs and about how different i always am. but always the same because nothing ever changes. i probably wiped that finger on someone.

neerg

green is the colour of the sparklin' corn
in the morning when we rise
in the morning when we rise
that's the time, that's the time
i love the best

saturday night dance i like the way you move

phase one.
bowling.

i play arcade games while i wait for them to show up. 75 cents later they appear and everyone looks nice and happy. we go bowling. we drink beer and the woman doesn't believe that my id is actually me. she lets me drink the beer anyway and we all dance to thunderstruck. i come in second last.

phase two.
prep.

brie and i are ready. we wait on the deck listening to the boy least likely to. i drink vex out of a glass. we have to be sneaky and quiet because there is a baby sleeping. i can't stop laughing. we wait in the parking lot at 7-11 and i draw pictures of us weeding. people tell funny stories and i'm already fairly drunk.

phase three.
strippers.

the stripper is fully naked and incredibly strong. people are talking to me all over the place. i sing along to nitty gritty dirt band with a guy from alberta. we talk about the prairie. drinks keep appearing in front of me. we make fun of the guys sitting along the stage. we're not much better. i want to dance but there's no room.

phase four.
gotcha.

we lie to boys about where we're going. we go to gotcha and get in for free. now we can dance. more drinks. free shots. lots of high fives. they dance, i jump around. they think i'm crazy. i dance with a boy who says that i am out of control. the girls laugh at me and i wish that we were going to mexico. people are pulling on me and then tanji grabs my hand and its off to the other dance floor. people are smoking and i am being a wild person. i'm hot and sweaty and i want to go swimming. they say we can go at 1:45.

phase five.
beach.

at 2:30 we finally organize to the beach. no one wants to go but i dance down there anyway. brie and i think we are lost but tanji answers her cell phone. i want to swim. no one believes me. then i'm in my underwear in the water. i am scared of the ogopogo and run out. i put my clothes back on and my wet underwear makes me soaked. it looks like i peed my pants and have huge pit stains. a boy shows up and lets us smoke a joint with him.

phase six.
denny's.

it is starting to get light out. we are hungry. we pile into gabie's car and drive to denny's. no, first we pick up regina mike's car. i get grilled cheese and a coke. we laugh a lot. i feel very young and immature. there is a flower necklace on my head and my hair is wet. my calves hurt. my eyes hurt. regina mike drives us home. i leave without paying. my parents are impressed at how sober/in control i am. i am a good faker.

phase seven.
morning.

i wake up. the first thought i have is "shit. i didn't pay." who does that? i feel very bad. i will pay for climbing tomorrow to make up for it. i'm not hungover. my cell phone keeps falling apart but at least it still works. i look at the pictures brie took. i look very happy in them. we are all smiles like we have been best friends forever. i will miss everyone when they leave.

sunnysunsun

last night i was thinking a lot about the prairie. a girl i work with just moved to calgary from edmonton but grew up in kelowna. we talked about how people always tend to go back to where they came from. not everyone, but most people. she can't imagine settling down anywhere other than kelowna and i know that eventually, probably when i'm a lot older and have forgotten how passionately i fought to get away when i was 18, i'll go back to alberta. i have a prairie voice and i still find a huge stretch of farmland and an endless horizon more beautiful than any ocean or mountain range. i don't know why i think about this. maybe because i miss all of that, everything i had last summer. boohoo, i don't need to be a baby. but i just want to be. the good news is that my buddies here are cool and i have one of the best tans i've ever had in my life. all that weeding is good for something. so what if i look like wrinklyleatherskin when i'm 35? at least i'll look hot now.

really, come visit me. this house is too big for just the five of us and i will take you for drives to the beach in the focus - we can roll the windows down and turn the music up. i might even dance for you.

glove tan

(only) ten things i like about my new job

1 the work (think: weeding, planting, pruning)
2 the people (think: nicest boss ever)
3 the hours (think: i make my own!)
4 the location (think: small, new vineyard in the okanagan valley)
5 the chickens/roosters (think: they roam free and cock-a-doodle-doo all day long)
6 the money (think: great pay for the work and for kelowna)
7 the sunshine (think: constant)
8 the after work showers (think: best feeling ever)
9 the drive (think: close to where i live)
10 the fridays (think: friday's pizza day, the best day of the week)

three things i don't like about my new job

1 glove tan
2 sock tan
3 t-shirt tan


hey gang. i'd like to tell you all the lovely things about kelowna but it would just be a long ramble about the awesomeness of my job. i get up early and work until 3 and then come home, shower and pass out on the couch because everything in my body aches. then i eat everything in my kitchen, hang out with my sisters and go to bed. taryn, you party animal you. but it's quite fun out here. the weather is fab, my sisters are brilliant buddies and my parents are ever accomodating to my vegetarian lifestyle. i even made one friend and we are going climbing on the weekend and to the beach! man, i am the best.

yes, life is good right now. the bf is coming out here, i've learned how to lessen the impact of the glove tan and the best frozen yogurt ever is only minutes from my house. don't worry, there will be updates on the hilarious awkwardness of having pete stay at my parent's house when they are out of town. i'm looking quite forward to any lectures or rules they may feel it necessary to make.

i realize that a lot of my sentences are like listing off things kinda. i'm sure there's a name for it but i'm not an english major so eff that. haha! just joking. well, i actually don't know the name of it. anyway. one time rj asked me if i could have three wishes what they would be and i think that one of them would be to view myself completely objectively. not like how great i look, because let's face it, we all know i look great (ha!), but mostly just how i write. it'd be interesting, at least.

time to go pass out in front of the tv. survivor, yeehaw. let's all root for cirie. she's the champ.