Christmas in the Village

Now I know you all were dying to see where I work, so here are a couple of pictures.

First, the candy cane lamp-posts and lit up trees:

A close up of the fantastic lamp posts:

The inside of my store:

The beautiful window clings. Notice the excellent placement.

Don't you just want to visit?

Good or Great

I have my 6 month review on Tuesday and I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.
The question that will determine how I feel is whether I want to be good or great.
If I want to be just good at my job, then I want a nice review. I want my boss to tell me how wonderful I am and interesting things I could do in the future. Sure, there may be a few minor areas of improvement, but overall it is good.
But I don't want to just be good.
I want to be great.
That review looks a little different.
In that review, the nice comments are just the preliminaries, the cushion for what is to come. The rest would be worthy of Simon Cowell in the face of someone massacring Aretha Franklin, only more constructive. Let's face it, it's going to hurt. No one likes to hear about all the many ways they could improve, which is really just a nice way of saying things that you suck at. The difference between me and those Idol hopefuls is that this is going to help me. This is going to make me better. This is going to make me great. That or encourage me to seek a different area of employment. ha ha ha.
I doubt I will tell you about it, but I will learn from it and one day, one day I will be great at what I do.

Popcorn

They are turning the lampposts in the Village into candy canes. Fairy light candy canes. Add a little snow and it's enough to make a girl giddy.

The other week I went to the movies with a friend. I'd forgotten how much I like going to the movies. Not just watching a DVD, but the entire event of going to a movie. We went to see New Moon, which being recently released and extremely popular, even had that buzz going for it. We turned up early, too early in fact to buy tickets so went to Starbucks instead. They gave us free plastic fangs, which was hilarious. Then we got snacks from the supermarket - because who buys them at the theater? - and rejoined the line for tickets discussing movies and tv shows while we waited. Then, the coffee finished, we discovered that going to the 6.30pm Tuesday screening had its perks in the form of free popcorn and soda. I am going to have to join the masses at this point and agree that diet coke is better than normal. Once in the theater - the old style with seats close enough together that you actually feel like you are going to the movies with someone, but in this case thankfully with free seats on either side of us - we got to watch trailers! I love movie trailers. Half the time they are the best parts of the movie. Some were unmemorable, but others like Sherlock Holmes and The Lovely Bones looked worth seeing. The movie itself wasn't anything special, but it made me laugh and it was better than the first one, so along with everything else, totally worth it. I wonder what I can see next Tuesday...

That reminds me, The Princess and the Frog is coming out soon. Old School Disney. I'm excited.

A year in the planning

One month until Christmas! Who's excited?!

A friend recently pointed out that this time last year I was planning to come to Vancouver.
It's hard to believe.
I had less than two weeks left in my Internship and I was counting down. Of course, I didn't actually get to leave until March, but this was when it was all starting.

It didn't quite turn out how I expected.

What you can do with 18 hours

It turns out that you can pack a lot into a day when you get up at 3.50am.

We opened on time and even entertained one of the regulars with out attempts to unlock the espresso machine and my attempts to move the umbrellas. Turns out that it was not only my first time opening at that store, but my barista's first time as well. I don't recommend it. ha ha ha But we managed. People got their coffee. Then someone called in sick for the closing shift and being unable to find someone to cover them, someone had to go home so she could come back later - poor girl - leaving us with two people and two brand new trainees. I don't recommend that in the morning either. Afternoon/evening fine. Morning...not so much. People get cranky when they see people not doing stuff while they wait.

Then, when I finally got home later than planned, I discovered two - yes TWO - parcels waiting for me. One was the Christmas/Birthday parcel from my family sent early to make sure it got here in time. It definitely did. The other was a CD of The Outsiders from Abigail, which I could NOT find here in Vancouver. If there anything that could be considered the soundtrack for my visits to WA, this would be it. It's fantastic, so it is mystery to me that the CD stores I checked didn't even have this latest release on their computer system. Oh well, I have it now! :)

As for the parcel for my family, I have to admit that I opened all the presents, which was a very mixed experience. Don't get me wrong, the presents were great, so thank you. It's just that as I sat staring at the wrapped presents I realised that this was what Christmas (and my Birthday) with my family was going to look like from now on. A parcel of presents and not a person in sight to thank. It sucks more than I thought it would. So I re-wrapped two of them. It's silly I know, but it makes me feel better than just putting them in my drawers like anything else just yet. I think I will feel better when I get to talk them them and thank them in person. I do have my first Christmas card though now, which is exciting.

Then after all that and watching a couple of episodes of Firefly in lieu of a nap, I led life group. We finished on time and there was no drama, so I guess you could consider it a success. I'm sure everyone, however, will be glad to be resuming normal scheduling.

And now I must go to work. Partner shopping days start today and I have plans.

Unreal Time

It turns out there is a time you can get up before 4am. It's called 3.50am and I am about to make its acquaintance. I would like to say that I hope it is only a passing acquaintance, except I actually like opening at work. I like setting up and waking up, music playing in the background. I like talking to the people up early. The gym junkies, the travellers, those going to work and the people coming off night shift. Those driven by necessity and those by choice to get coffee before 7am. The day is just beginning, the potential undimmed by time and grind. Before 7am you can still save the world, get that promotion, meet that person, impress your boss, complete your to do list or just have a wonderful day. It is bright with possibility. The coffee doesn't hurt either. And you feel so good. Alive. Awake in a way waking up later cannot compare. As crazy as it sounds I find it easier to get up at 4.20am in the morning than 6am. I think it is the shock. Your body is too numb to react and two hours later, when the rest of the world is waking up, well you're awake. Now if I can just remember this on the days I don't open. So much un-utilized time - why watch a DVD when you went to all that trouble to wake up. You have to use it for something useful like a QT or the gym or writing.

Waterproof

Tomorrow morning I am going to buy a pair of purple patterned gumboots. Summer canvas slip-ons are not appropriate shoes for rain. It was just that they were the only wearable ones that went with my skirt. Although, none of my shoes really are rain-appropriate. Not for the sort of rain that comes at you from all directions and forms puddles that may as well be lakes for your chances of avoiding them. Wet feet aside, I did look cute and that is half the job of an usher right there. I'm sure it says it in the manual somewhere.

I was going to get some immediately after church today, but instead I ended up watching a DVD with a new friend from church. It was an 80s version of Les Miserables. Fancy font, dark backgrounds and heavy on the dramatic music. That aside, it wasn't too bad. Better I am sure than the black and white silent option, or the 90s tv show of it that we found in an independent video store. The proprietor (suitably knowledgeable) agreed that a TV show based on a classic novel made in 1996 did not bode well. That no one had ever hired it, didn't help either. We were not going to be the first. ha ha ha On the way to DVD watching, I also managed to do half my Christmas shopping in one fell swoop. An excellent day.

Apparently, my life group, well 10 of us, are going to the church Christmas banquet. I wasn't going to go, since it is formal dress and therefore on my list of least favourite things to do, ever (right up there with making 190 C no foam lattes), but I don't think that excuse is going to hold water. Unlike my shoes. Turns out that porous as they are, you still get a couple of minutes of sloshing time if you step in a puddle. Anyway, it appears I am off to eat and watch people sing and dance some time in December. In a dress. People will probably insist of taking photos. On me being in photos. Did I mention the least favourite thing part? Can you be allergic to choreographed dance?