. 

This is what caffeine does to me. 

I always knew Nathan was a cupcake-head... 

last chance to lose your keys

The sky is gray today.
But it's just not the same in Calgary. I want the dark clouds to settle just above the house tops. And I want rain.
I miss BC.

I must really be looking for comfort today. I came home from service and made myself some soup and I'm not talking about the instant miso that I eat pretty much every day since Erin got me addicted - I'm having borscht. Like my grandma used to make.

It might just be that I'm feeling a little ill after working in service with Lina this morning. For the first time in my life, I think I got carsick. She's really sweet but she has an, um, unique driving style.

Well, I am going to have a quick shower. That sounds warm and... comforting.

A celebratory blue house... because I made it though another week of work (And by week, I mean three days). 

We all have a map of the piano

The best part of work is the end.

Fiend in a Cloud

Little Micra survived our trip to BC. Kristian, Serena and I drove through Banff to Kimberley, where we stayed one night. Then Saturday night we stayed over in Fernie. There are no particularly spectacular (say that ten times fast) events to speak of but we had a grand ol' time. My stomach still hurts from all the laughter.

Today Jordan and I went on another adventure - a search for M.Ward's new album that came out a few weeks ago. We finally found it at Sloth Records and I ended up buying John Vanderslice's "The Life and Death of an American Fourtracker".

Mmm... new music...

3100 Miles
Look at all the people
on the train
rubbing their eyes
not saying anything
Got your headphones on
and you missed your stop again
Get there half an hour late
wear a comatose face
leave an inkblot on the space
below the words time in
slip in round the back,
crawl under your desk,
and then, wait to turn
the punch card clock back to seven
 

Set yourself on fire

It all began with the removal of my tofu from the toaster oven - a tragic case of Burner vs. Flammable Material.
A small flash of light, a puff of smoke and a tear on the sleeve of my sweater.

Regarding my title: the Stars song of the same name has quite possibly the saddest lyrics ever.

Indeed... 

Cookie Wisdom. 

When the teapot is smaller than the cup 

You're my hero, Jord. 

You laugh, but not too hard. You look, but not too far. 

You came Here to leave There 

Watership Down

I think I've taken hypochondria to a whole new level:
I think I'm a hypchondriac.

You see, I don't think a hypochondriac is really supposed to worry about hypochondria. Do you get where I'm going with this? No?
Well, anyway, I figure it's the only explanation for this barrage of obscure symptoms I've been having - it must be all in my head.
The latest on the List O' Symptoms? A stabbing pain in my head when I move!

It's getting ridiculous. Really.
I wasn't sick at all in Mexico. Everyone gets sick in Mexico. But not me, thanks to my "strong immune system". Yet, I have been sick ever since the day I got back to Canada.


Well, I have been watching more television (yeah, that's right, television. I don't like the abbrev.) which is probably why I feel so rant-y.

Did you know that a new, completely digitally re-mastered edition of Bambi is coming out? The things you learn while watching the television.
My mom said Bambi was the first movie she remembers watching and that she sobbed and sobbed for days after.

I had a similar experience with Watership Down when I was little. Did anyone else see that movie?
My parents picked it up for me. They meant well. The cheery bunny-plastered cover looked innocent enough, I'm sure. Perhaps if they had read the tagline:

"All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you... but first they must catch you."

Now, I was pretty young. All I can remember is that there was no pink or purple, no sparkles in this movie. The rabbits were brown and gray and needed to be cleaned. One rabbit got its ear bit off I think. And there was a map of a forest or something with blood seeping down it, I guess to show the extent of the bloodshed.
This movie (actually based on a book, I found out later) probably has vast social implications and yadda, yadda, yadda but it was definitely not 'suitable for all audiences'.
I cried and cried and cried.
And I never finished it so I still don't know if those bunnies made it out alive.

Just thought I'd share that with you.
I need to get well. As you can tell, this is making me crazy.

Thanks for cheering me up, Jeremiah 

"Only the children know what they are looking for"

I don't really know where to begin so I will follow Mike's example and start from now and go backward.
My friends - the ol' gang - just left. It was the first time we hung out since I got back.
I slept all afternoon.
We went for Vietnamese food for lunch.
I went to my meeting this morning; it was the C.O.'s visit.

I got home from a party in Delburne (just outside of Red Deer. Why is it that the best parties are in the smallest towns? Toefield, Lacombe, Morningside, Delburne...) at 2:30 a.m.-ish.
Uh, I went to the party in Delburne.

Yadda, yadda, yadda... this could go on for quite some time.
Instead, I will leave you with an excerpt from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery:


"Good morning," said the little prince.
"Good morning," said the merchant.
This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink.
"Why are you selling those?" asked the little prince.
"Because they save a tremendous amount of time," said the merchant. "Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week."
"And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?"
"Anything you like . . ."
"As for me," said the little prince to himself, "if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water."

Here are some pictures from Mexico (no logical order). We took over 400 all together of the Mexico City trip alone so expect to see more in the future. In this one (taken by Erin) we are heading out to the Bruja for a beach day. 

At the bus depot in Mexico City. We are pretending to be happy to be leaving. 

From the top of the moon pyramid. 

The sun pyramid - My legs really hurt the next day. 

This is where I was a couple of hours before my flight - the Bruja. 

Where this picture is taken from - the roof of Laura and Ashley's, looking down at Russ' house, is where we slept on my last night in Mexico. 

comings and goings

So.
I didn't get murdered in Mexico City, if that is what you were thinking.
No, I am alive, well (except for this cold) and back in Canada.

Mexico City was fantastic. We didn't even scratch the surface in the short time we were there. Two nights were spent at Bethel and two nights with a family we had never met. We toured the pyramids and got stared at for being the only white people at Six Flags. And then we came home.

I was quite sad to leave Mexico City and all the amazing people we met there.
And I was sad to leave Mazatlan on Wednesday. I was fine until everyone was making plans to go out the beach just before I left and Britanny said, "see you later" and I said it too and then realized that it wasn't true.
So I cried.

I am not sad to be home, though.
I really missed my family.
It's good to have a place that is this soft and comfortable to come back to.

the day of forty-four sunsets

So I should be coming home tomorrow.

But I'm not.
I was thinking of staying for another month the latest date I could switch my ticket to was February 16th, which actually works out really well.

Six of us - Laura, Ashley, Britanny, Angie, Erin and I - are taking a bus to Mexico City on Wednesday. It's going to be a long ride (15 hours I believe) but Laura and Ashley came down here on the bus from Calgary so they are seasoned bus-riders.

We are going to stay at Bethel there. I'm really excited.

As for what I have been doing...
The past week has been really awesome. We had several rad days at the beach. We took this little raft out (apparently a 2 person raft) and piled 11 people on it and tried to catch some waves. We caught a few but mostly we just fell off. I will have some impressive bruises before we tire of this raft.
On Thursday, we stayed all day at the beach (the Bruja) and then had a bonfire.
We also went to an orchestra which was mostly awesome. It was really good until halfway through when a giant electric guitar dropped down above the stage and really long speeches in Spanish were made. It kind of wrecked the mood. But it was still fun.
And of course service has been great, 'service rocks' and all. It wasn't really what I was expecting. We search for Mexicans who know English more than we look for tourists.
The congregation is amazing too. There are lots and lots of people visiting from all over right now - people like me who are serving where the need is great and conveniently escaping the winter. The attendance at the meetings is about double the actual number of publishers. The first thing that I noticed is that everyone sings really loud. I mean really loud.
It's been so cool getting to know people from all over.

This whole Mexican experience hasn't been what I was expecting. For example, I read all sorts of warnings before I got down here about eating from taco stands but we eat at them all the time. They're really good and super cheap.
Yesterday I discovered a smoothie place really close to our house. It's my Mexican Booster Juice. I'll have to take a picture of it.
Anyway, my point is that this experience has been better than I expected.

I am looking forward to my bonus two weeks here.

Teacapan (yesterday) 

Completely self-explanatory. 

Market in Centro: shell-covered greatness 

We're Concentrating On Falling Apart

Today was... a day.
A really good/really bad day.

First, it was beach day. Only my second one since I've been here. It was so great. The water was a little calmer so I had a chance to get comfortable on the surfboard. I caught my first real wave and rode it all the way to the shore. But I forgot to stand up. After that I was super psyched but, alas, there were no more good waves.
We ate some food up at the restaurant. Our plan was to watch the sunset but there really wasn't one. It was fun just the same.
Everyone left and Erin, Jeremiah, Alex and I walked up the road to take the bus.
But no buses came.
Apparently they don't come out that far after 6. We sat on the side of the road waiting for a long time talking until we finally clued in that a bus wasn't coming.
Jeremiah kept saying stuff like, "This is so great! We're stranded. In Mexico. And we just went surfing. In Mexico!" I took pictures of everyone's excited-to-be-stranded-in-Mexico faces.
Finally a taxi came and after negotiating a fare to Rico's, a little cafe in the Golden Zone, we hopped in and slid the surfboard across us through the side windows.

The funny thing is that we were having a party tonight. And we were very late for our own party.

From Rico's we got picked up by some people who were planning on coming to the party. They have the cutest little Westfalia that we all crammed into.

The party was actually at Russel's house. It was a Napoleon Dynamite party (Last night Erin and I tried to pick up some food for this party. Apparently you can't buy tater tots in Mexico. Figures.). There were 21 of us in that little, tiny apartment. I wasn't really looking forward to seeing it for the sixth time, but it was hilarious somehow.

So we were having a grand ol' time.
But then...

First I have to explain that Russel lives in a huge house that is split up into little apartments. Laura and Ashley, also from Calgary, are renting one of the downstairs apartments.
They went downstairs for something and realized that they had been robbed. They think it was when they went to use a payphone and left the door unlocked for a minute. Ashley's wallet and camera are gone. The camera had all the pictures from their trip so far on it. At first they thought that a set of keys had been stolen, which freaked them out, but they found the keys.
I feel really bad for them. We all helped search the apartment and then we looked around the neighborhood for a bit to see if they threw out Ashley's wallet. They have been really sick for the past couple of weeks - they were just starting to feel better - and now this.

And then I just got an email from my parents saying that an old family friend from Fernie passed away last night.

So, yes, it was a day.

Somewhere Only We Know

Sorry for my lack of posts (letters to body parts put aside).
I should have a fountain of Mexican adventure stories. And I do.
But, you see, it takes me such a long time to decide which of these tales is worthy of space on my blog (yes, because all my other posts are so full of wisdom and insight).
Anyway, I didn't want to monopolize the computer.
I have, however, been writing regularly in a real journal - you know, pen and paper. It's good because I can freely write about what a big jerk Erin is without her knowing it.

No, no, Erin is great. I mean magnificent.
We have taken to beating each other up though. I have some unexplained bruises that I like to blame on her.

Now I am going to sit in my room and think of a really great story (worthy of my blog).
No promises.

Adios.

Dear index finger of my left hand,

Please accept my apology for my treatment of you in the past couple of days.
I promise that one day I will learn how to properly catch a football so as to not hurt you.
I also promise that in the future, I will always use a cutting board.

Tomorrow I will get a box of really cool band-aids to make it up to you.

Yours truly,
Britt Davis

You take your car to work, I'll take my board

I have decided that English needs to adopt the upside-down question mark at the beginning of questions. Because there is nothing worse than forcing your voice up a tone at the last minute when you don't realize that a sentence is really a question.
Yes, this is what I have learned in Mexico.

So I am alive after all. Sheer disappointment that Hello won't work has prevented me from posting since I arrived here on Tuesday.

I have too many stories to tell and no time to tell them right now.

Tomorrow we are taking the surfboard (by 'the' I mean Russel's) to the beach on the bus. This makes me very happy. Should be good times.

I will try to post something interesting soon. Adios.

"Packing My Bags"

Right now I am listening to a song called "Packing My Bags" by Idaho. How appropriate.
I just finished making a playlist for my mp3 player. Some Death Cab, a little Nick Drake, Radiohead, Namelessnumberheadman, Hayden, the Weakerthans, Brand New, Elliott Smith, Bob Marley, Jack Johnson, Weezer, Keane, Ryan Adams, Postal Service, East River Pipe, Idaho, Spoon and so on. It makes me happy.

So I'm just putting together all the little pieces. And I am set to go.
Am I too relaxed? Should I be a little more worried by now?
I have to be at the airport at 5 a.m. tomorrow.

For a moment today I thought that winter was... quaint. For a moment. And that was because I was warm and cozy inside.

But, not to worry, I will have plenty of time to freeze when I get back on February 1st.
Well, I should get my packing done.
I am going to keep up my blog while I'm away to tell you of my adventures.

Adios for now.

I miss Rachel. I found a frame that I was planning on giving to someone else, unwrapped it, and put this picture in it. 

I just got these pictures from Rachel's wedding in Edmonton, which was way back in the spring.  

the life aquatic

Boxing Day is over. I am so glad.
Here's my theory about Boxing Day:
Most people spend all their money before Christmas, giving the economy a nice little boost. The most reasonable thing would be for people to stop spending money when they have none left. But "they" (the industry? the economy?) just can't have that. And so "they" came up with a new ridiculous excuse to drag people into the malls - Boxing Day, conveniently right after Christmas.
Keeping the malls full.

Anyway, I have one more shift left, tomorrow. We're taking something in for all the people in the Mobility dept. because they have been fabulous.

Today feels really odd. I just got home from the cinema (cinema?). My dog seems to be missing.

Nine days. Scratch that, it's Monday now...
Eight days until Mexico.

A guy at work the other day told me I should be going to University instead of travelling. I replied, as if this was a scientific fact, "I will learn more in a month in Mexico than a year of school here."
I think it is true, if not scientifically proven.
How can anyone really learn when they're doing the exact same thing they've been doing all their life? It's by new experiences and circumstances that we learn to adapt, which is what emotional growth is all about.

P.S. Do you ever wish you could breathe under water?

Stop. And Go.

Soma is what they would take when
Hard times opened their eyes
Saw pain in a new way
High stakes for a few names
Racing with sun beams
Losing against their dreams
-The Strokes

A Brave New World reference? Can it be?
I never noticed before.

"I have done all I can do in this town"

I had a fondue party tonight.
A little tribute to the eighties.
Only bad thing is I have quite the mess to clean up tomorrow morning. Bah.

So, yesterday I said I was almost in tears at work... today I was in tears. If it keeps going at this rate, I will have a mental breakdown by boxing day. (Yes, I have to work boxing day. Take pity on me.) I was by myself for one thing and it was crazy busy. Something went wrong with every activation, which was also a nice little treat.
I now hate Christmas on a whole new level. Does anyone actually enjoy Christmas shopping? I wouldn't want a gift that was bought in panic and desperation. It's nothing more than a big marketing gimmick now.
("and now Christmas is for shopping
and the shopping god is everything")
I am so glad I don't celebrate Christmas.

Ah well, only four more shifts and all this cell phone knowledge will thankfully be of no use.

And then I'm off to Mazatlan!
I think I am subconsciously anxious about it. The past couple of nights I have dreamt about Mexican mishaps (is it 'mis-haps'?).
But consciously I'm not really worried at all. Definitely looking forward to it.

Well, I've gots to get up early tomorrow so as to clean up the mess I've left before service.
Adios.

dressed up like it's world war 24

There is one song on the display ipod at work. I have heard "...my boyfriend is back, he's gonna save my reputation..." a kazillion times. It's our theme song. It used to claw at my brain but I've learned to accept it. Now we dance a little each time it comes on.
So, work has been good. It's getting a lot busier. There have been so many people buying their ten-year-olds cell phones. Yikes.
I had one guy that almost had me in tears today, actually. I had to take a little trip to the back to "get a drink". He was so condescending and ignorant. Forbid a young girl such as myself might know a little something about cell phones!
The day went uphill from there though.

I just got back from Serena's.
GT's at Serena's.

I have so little to say right now. Much is going on but I just don't feel bloggy.

16 days until Mexico.
Enough said.

I wore this button to the annual pioneer sessions today.  

Self-declarative. 

Twenty-two

Depart: Calgary, Canada (YYC) - Tue, Jan 04 at 7:00am
Arrive: Los Angeles, CA (LAX) - Tue, Jan 04 at 9:22am
Depart: Los Angeles, CA (LAX) - Tue, Jan 04 at 11:13am
Arrive: Mazatlan, Mexico (MZT) - Tue, Jan 04 at 2:44pm



And a little throwback to Erin's pre-Mexico countdown blog days.
My countdown starts....
NOW.

3 weeks.
7 shifts.
9 meetings.
22 days.

brown paper packages tied up with string

I sat in the chiropractor's office in one of those hot backless gowns for two hours today, reading and re-reading a poster:
"How to be a Chiropractic Artist
....adjust with your heart
...make a snow spine
...make a cake on Sept.18"
...and so on.
Then I read two issues of Alive magazine. Apparently lipstick isn't as innocent as previously thought.

It was worth it though. First, because it was free because my mom works there.
Second, because my neck feels sooo good.
And the next adjustments won't take as long. I can't wait for Wednesday.

I got a package in the mail the other day. It was a brown paper package but it wasn't tied up with string. My cousin sent me an mp3 player. I made the mistake of telling her that my discman was broken. Not that I'm complaining, it was a good mistake.

Saturday night was fantastic.
There's something to be said of low expectations.
I was invited to this party a while ago but didn't really decide to go until the day of. When Steph was telling us about it, she said that there would be no chairs or tables. Darrin asked, "What if someone just wants to talk for a while?" to which she answered, "If we wanted you to talk, we'd have a talking party."
And so we danced.
Hours of caffeine-induced maniacal dancing.
Fabulous.

Mmmhmm.

the truth is in the details

I came home from service three hours earlier than planned.
But it was two hours longer than I thought I could last three hours in.

Even my good mood couldn't defeat the bitter cold. We had fun while we lasted. It scares me that winter doesn't even officially start for another couple weeks.
Even if it wasn't so horribly cold and windy, I can't get in my huge days because it gets so dark so early.
All I can say is I will have a lot of catching up to do in the spring.

Oh, and this is also quite comforting.

the hazards of sitting beneath palm trees

Scratch that last post. It was a lie.

I promise.


I'm hating society a little right now. Maybe not society - that's a little too general... bureaucracy. I can't find anyone to be my guarantor for my passport so I'm just going to have to go pay a lawyer to listen to me say "I promise I am me". Ridiculous. I'll be spending Thursday, all day I'm guessing, downtown with this ridiculous passport nonsense.

On a much happier note, my meeting was great. Although we did get a flat tire on the way so I was a little bit late. We went out for coffee after. And Brandon paid for all of us. He gets extra gold stars.

Well, I'm beat. This weather makes me sleepy.

I'm in love with every boy.

Yeah, you heard me.

Snow, Low -14

Today was day one of my circuit assembly.
Starting in the very first part, I made a conscious effort to see how the information directly applied to me and my circumstances - what I need to work on. There are a lot of stars and underlines in my notes, let me just say that.

After the sessions, I had to stick around because I am on cleaning team #4. I tried to make up a theme song for us, but that didn't go over too well. I got the job of looking for stains. Pretty important, I know.

Then I went for dinner with Nikki, Bob (who knew there were actually people with that name still...), Jeremy, Megan, Astelle and Kristian. Astelle is an older woman from Lethbridge who had just met Jeremy and Megan today and was staying at their house tonight. She had some good jokes.

Q: Why did Mount St. Helens erupt?
A: Because she didn't take her earth control pills.

Oh I know you are all going to steal that one!
Kristian and I met up with Jord after and we went music shopping / coffee drinking / book buying / laughing at the horrible Calgary drivers who have their summer tires on in December and seem unable to cope with our first real snowfall.

Well, today is now tomorrow.
So I should go get some sleep. I don't want to be sleepy for tomorrow.

a book laid on its binding

Here's a little tip for you:
When buying a cell phone, make sure you are absolutely decided before they activate and program it.

I've been feeling so out-of-sorts lately. Did I just make that up - "out-of-sorts"? My brain feels really cloudy. I messed up at work today. Thank goodness the mobility supervisor is ridiculously nice. Then I left a bunch of stuff there when I left. And I didn't realize until after my shift that I had no way of getting home. So, as I called around looking for a ride and then waited, I did a little shopping in the nearby stores. I found a book I wanted but I ended up buying the wrong one. I'll have to exchange it tomorrow. Ugh.

Tomorrow is pay day! And my last day of work until next Friday. We're training a new guy to cover for us. Actually, he's covering for Jay because I have already made up my hours. Hopefully that will make the night go a little quicker.

Well, adieu. I need to sleep so I can go out in service tomorrow morning.

driving fast through a big city at night

I worked today. I'm making up for the weekend (my assembly!) working today, tomorrow and Thursday. I'll be working alone for all three days because Jay is doing perfume demos plus all the pre-assembly haircutting frenzy. There are lots of other people there - I just mean I'll be the only Bell rep.
Speaking of which, I have decided that I would really like to get another Rep job when I get back from Mexico. The marketing company that I am working for said that if we did a good job, they would try to find another placement for us after Christmas.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to my assembly. I feel like I need the boost. And my parents are being interviewed (even though they are in a different circuit) so that should be interesting.
I can't believe it is already December.
Happy new month.