Dear Saturday,

Can you please come a little faster? I miss you and how obligation free you can be.

~Arual

Dear Library,

Last night I borrowed and watched Modern Times staring Charlie Chaplin. For a movie created in the 1930s, some of the scenes were pretty risque (for example, Charlie mistakenly snorts smuggled "nose-powder" while in jail!) and I found myself laughing out loud through most of the movie. Thank you Library for opening my viewing horizons with out asking me for an arm or a leg.

~Arual

Dear Toy store,

Where is my T4 you said you were going to mail me 2 weeks ago? Mail does not take this long when it is in the same city!

~Arual

Dear millionaire for Life Lottery,

Please, please, please, please, please let A and my ticket be the winning one

~Arual

Adding to the Down Payment Fund

A is on my health plan. Blue Cross covers 80% of our dental and the rest is covered by my health spending account. We need to pay the dentist that remaining 20% and then blue cross sends me a cheque for the amount. I received a cheque for $138.42 that A paid out to the dentist. We both decided that because he doesn't miss the money, we will put it in our down payment account fund. It feels nice to know that A has contributed to it and even nicer to see the total amount at $688.65.

I received my plane ticket for Boston/NYC today. My friend Sugar is flying me down to see her in Boston for my birthday. I will be gone from March 12 to March 17. I am so excited to visit and explore two cities with my BFF! What a great way to start a Wednesday :)

Paid down my VISA

This morning I paid $248.65 down on my VISA misc. charges. This paid off tickets to the symphony and a dance class I enrolled in last September. :)

I'm going to wait...

...on the house thing. I am going to spend the next six months aggressively saving and paying off my debt. When A's lease is up, we will look for a place together. And it looks like the house market is starting to come down here so waiting will be a good thing.

Taking a break from Essay writing

I wrote a paragraph and then wordle-d it! Fun, Fun on Family Day Monday :)
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I vow...

To use my income tax money to get rid of my loan. Please remind me of this in case I forget. This is of course on the hope that I get a return (which based on school, I should?).
~Arual, 2/15/09

Stealing on Sunday...WWJD?

I stole this from a blog devoted to memes called Sunday Stealing. I really enjoy memes so I am happy to find a site that will search for them for me


1. where is your significant other? He is in the bedroom talking to his parents

2. your favorite thing? I have lots of favorite things. And it changes depending on what I am doing. At this moment, my favorite thing is filling out surveys to let the Internet world know more about me (perfect for advertisers!). I also love baths which I am planning on having in awhile.

3. your dream last night? I don't believe I had any dreams last night...

4. your goal? I have two big ones: Finish my degree and buy a house. I am slowly working towards both of these goals.

5. your hobby? reading, cross-stitching, drinking wine (no connoisseur by any means though...just like drinking it)

6. where do you want to be in 6 years? I want to be in my own home, working at a job I love that has something to do with writing, possibly starting a little family.

7. where were you last night? I was at this really amazing jazz club that is a hidden gem tucked away in the basement of a building you enter through a back alley

8. what you're not? Strange question...I am not a man for sure, but I am still trying to figure what I am before I can decide what I am not.

9. one of your wish list items? A brand new wardrobe! And a smart phone.

10. your pet? Molly Mogwai (my shih tzu) and King Oryx II of Edinburgh (my cat)

11. missing someone? Chuckles. We have both been so busy lately that we haven't been able to hang out in a long time.

12. your car? Non-existent.

13. something you're not wearing? socks

14. love someone? Yes

15. when is the last time you laughed? This morning at my cat

16. last time you cried? A couple of days ago due to frustration

17. favorite past time? facebooking

18. are you a hater or a lover? depends on the situation

19. any vices? facebook

Happy Valentine's Day!

As commercial as this holiday is, I ♥ it! My most favorite memory of Valentine's day is waking up one morning as a little girl and my dad had left me a bag of candy hearts and chocolate on my night stand. My favorite Valentine's date ever was A and my first one. I gave him clues to figure out where we were going that day and we spent the day at the science centre (where gods fight to rule the heavens), a restaurant named Piq Niq (ants are unwelcome guests here) and then to this puppet show (I can't remember the clue....sorry~). The puppet show was really bizarre. It was about murders and these sweet little puppets committing them (kind of like the show Puppets who kill, but less funny, more serious). I then presented A with a Hershey kiss for every day we had been together (it was around 200) and a bottle of wine.
Tonight A is taking me back to Piq Niq, but this time we are going to the jazz club in the basement called Beat Niq. I am super excited as it is one of the places I have wanted to go to for a long time.

Tomorrow A and I are having a planning session about what each of us really wants in life and how we can fund all of these goals. We are going to apply for the pre approval mortgage to see what we could be approved for, but I think we are going to wait a little bit to purchase. Housing prices are slowly dropping here anyway so it is probably best to wait and see the kind of deal we may get.

In response to Frugal Dreamer about me living here the rest of my life...I have lived here all of my life. I love this city a lot. I like to travel to different places, but I definitely love coming home. I have watched this city change a lot in the last couple of years and I still love it. I see parts getting better as well as getting worse. A is from Small Town, Newfoundland. I think sometimes he plans on going back and if that is the case, we need to know that too before we make a decision to buy something. And even if we did buy something, it doesn't mean we are here forever. One can always sell when ready to take on a new phase of life. It is a big decision though and I need to take Northern Living Allowance's advice and write every pro and con there is before I make it. I wish someone would just give me a house.... :)

I am in deep thought...

I went and looked at condos with my mom last weekend as well as some spec starter homes. All around the same price (300 000). My lease is up March 31, 2009. I could resign it, pay $1200 a month plus utilities while I continue to save for a down payment, I could look for a cheaper place (which is ideal), but having a dog and a cat does limit my options, or I can apply to see if I am approved for any kind of mortgage with a 0 down payment. I know in PF world this is very risky and I can see risks in it too. My thought process is that although the payments will be higher due to interest, I will still be putting the money into me as opposed to paying another person's mortgage. Both of my parents are down with this plan. A is a little worried about it, but can also see that it would be better for us to be ultimately paying ourselves every month as opposed to giving someone else money we work for all day.
I don't even know if we will get approved or qualify or what we would get approved for. I do know that this is the way I am leaning right now and I am collecting everything to put together to start the process.
The other thing is that A just signed a 6 month lease at his place, although I am sure if it came down to it he could leave (he is just living with friends and would just need to find someone to take his place). Sometimes I really wish someone would just give me a house.
I received my bonus on my pay cheque yesterday. It was for a little over $2800 and then minus tax ( a lot of tax...I like to help out the government with an interest free loan every year). I had a rocky start in January with vet bills and a splurging flu, so I had to pay off some charges on my credit card ($647!!!) and then put some into savings (upped my down payment account to $550). I left $1000 in my chequing account because if I do go through with this mortgage thing, I may need some money for unforeseen costs. I also paid all of my bills to date (I always pay them on time so no worries about that one) and loaded up on non-perishables yesterday.

I really, really, really want this house thing to work out. I would like to be able to breathe easier in my own home not worrying about when a lease will be up and looking for a new place for Molly.

I received a SPAM comment!

And sadly I am excited. Does this mean I am getting to be a bigger blogger? And does this mean hate comments come next? haha :)

Today I receive my bonus. It is supposed to be 7.5%, but I don't know what the percentage is of. I hope I can make a huge dent on my credit card. Will keep all of you posted on any magic that occurs.

Dear Work,

You are over rated. I can't believe I used to play office when I was a child and couldn't wait to be a working girl. I need to marry rich or win the lottery. In the dictionary success comes before work*...why can't this be the way it is in real life too?

Sincerely,
Arual

*this is a paraphrase of a Mark Twain quote.

*sigh*

I am really wish I was in some sort of position to purchase a place to live. My lease is up at the end of March and I wish I could just buy something affordable (laugh!) so that every month the money I put into this rental I could put into me. Feeling a case of green envy of I don't even know who. I am feeling a case of the rues and wish I hadn't partied my money away when I was in my early 20s.

Life as a Legend....

On Saturday I went and viewed the Marilyn Monroe exhibit. It was beautifully done, showcasing her life as Marilyn Monroe (and a little Norma Jeane Baker too). There were also dresses from her movies and premieres. A perfect way to spend a SAturday morning. I am not a huge fan, but I can see how she fascinated people. If any one reading this in Calgary has a chance, they should check it out at the Glenbow museum. It's on until February 22, 2009.

There is a meme...

...going around the blogosphere and it is about things you should accomplish before you die. I am not going to fill this out because I already had to do a 25 things about me one for facebook and that took a lot out of me (granted this new meme is just bolding what you have done...). You can check it out on some of my favorite blogs found on the left under my bloglist. I just wanted to comment that I think it is kind of strange that you haven't really lived until you have had food poisoning! I think my life would be just as complete if I had never had food poisoning...just saying.

I'm joining the bandwagon....

follow me on Twitter...although it may not be exciting till I figure it out. And only if you find my random status updates exciting... but https://twitter.com/lowqis is where I will be

Lose a thing a day...

..to keep the clutter at bay. Over the Cubicle Wall challenged himself for January to get rid of one thing a day that he no longer used nor needed. His final list was very inspiring so I decided to attempt his challenge for the month of February (baby steps...this only means 28 things instead of 31). Today I need to get rid of two things as soon as I get home because I didn't do it yesterday. I am excited to lose some extra weight in my life --without a crazy diet plan!

Thanks for the inspiration OTCW :)

EDIT: My apologies for not doing my homework and assuming he was a she. I had a 50/50 chance to get it right and I didn't! DAMN! So sorry.

Luck o' the Irish

Today I joined a social club that I am part of for an introduction to Irish Dance class. First observations was the hot male Irish instructor who performed in Riverdance. I like accents...a LOT!!!
Originally the class cost $16, but because of the number of people that signed up, it was reduced to $12 and I was given $4 back when I walked in! :)
And for one hour I worked on my legs in an attempt to prove that maybe one day I too could perform as Lord(ess) of the Dance...I still have a lot of practice ahead of me, but I had a really great morning.