Last night I went out to dinner with the bunch of Montreal Metroblogging! It was nice! We went at the Sala Rosa. The food was nice… We all ordered a few tapas dishes and shared. That way I tasted so many different food! (Thanks Sean!)

At around 21h a guitar player, a singer and a flamenco dancer came on a mini stage to play. It was neat.

But not really conducive to chatting! So we left. The gang went on to enjoy a bit more of the Montreal nightlife. But I went home. I was exhausted from the day at work and was craving my yummy soft bed. I slept so well!

Today’s Photoblog pic is “Happy’s nose, extra close!“

Yesterday at work something happened.. A guy did something that was totally unacceptable towards me. My colleagues last night convinced me to just wait until today, to cool down, and talk with the guy. But inside, it didn’t feel good. I knew there needed to be a consequence to his actions. And well today in the team meeting we discussed it and there will be a consequence. I feel better now. I know it’ll also set an example for the other guys, to know that this behavior is simply not accepted. It sucks for the guy, but we need to stay firm on certain things.

I went to buy craft items to make my Christmas cards! I know I’m early! But since I’m moving to Blanc-Sablon, I won’t be able to just drop by at Omer Deserres anytime! And there’s not much back home at the general store. So yea! I’ll create my cards this fall when I’m bored… They’ll be pretty this year! I found some neat glittery cardboard in different colours! I love doing little craft stuff! It’s a simple and relaxing activity.

A few weeks ago I offered to help a colleague move on Saturday 1 September. And today she confirmed she wanted my help! So although I’m myself packing boxes and preparing my move, I’m going to go help her! She needed someone with a car so I reserved at Communauto for a few hours.

Happy is so scared of thunderstorms. Tonight as soon as the first thunder roared, she went to hide in the bathroom. I wish there was something I could do to make her feel better… She’s in there shivering. She won’t come out. So I installed her with her blankie and put a treat on it.

I love watching the reruns of The O.C. on Much every night at 19h!

The boat that delivers stuff to Blanc-Sablon had an accident last week. So I read online a new boat has been put in place, leaving from a different port. Ok, so I wondered… What will happen with my stuff? So I called the transport dude at my new job. He told me the boat was working. And it made me feel stupid for even asking. Maybe it’s because I don’t know him, how he is, but yea. It’s a legitimate question I thought! I don’t want my stuff sitting on the dock for months! Oh well.

I got home from the night shift this morning, took a quick bath, ate a bowl of Fruit Loops and went to bed from 9h to 14h. Then I got ready and headed out, feeling the lack of sleep!

My first stop was the financial aid office at Uni. I had to go cancel my loans and bursaries for the year… Since I’m taking a break from studies! So I filled out a form. And now a few hours later it’s already been cancelled… They aren’t so quick shedding out the cash, but they are when it comes to not giving you anything!

Then I went on St-Denis to meet a friend. We’d settled on 16h30 at 4338 St-Denis. And I waited… And I waited… I checked my cell… No news… At 17h10 I decided I’d had enough of waiting and went on. I wondered why she hadn’t showed up!

I arrived home to see 8 messages on my telephone. 5 blank ones, probably the friend trying to reach me… 1 message from the new tenant (Yay! It’s settled, I’ve got someone to take over my lease!) and 1 from the building’s management company. And finally 1 message from my friend saying she’s been waiting 45 minutes for me and is now leaving, wondering why I wasn’t there. Somehow something went wrong! We seemed to both have been waiting… But not at the same spot! Grr!

That escapade on St-Denis wasn’t useless though. I went shopping a bit. Since there is only one shop in Blanc-Sablon and it’s a general store, I decided it was alright to treat myself a bit before my departure!

I went to Lululemon. The shop lady was very nice, giving Happy a doggy biscuit. And they had a bowl of water for dogs too! So Happy loved the store. So did I! I bought a sweater, neat brownish colour with a small squared design (almost not apparent). The inside is greenish. It’s sooooooooo comfortable!

I also went to Godasse and bought a new pair of city sneakers. The ones I have now date from the Summer of 2005, I had bought the Puma shoes in Amsterdam! My new ones are from Onitsuka Tiger! They are neat because of the print it’s ok for work, but still hip/casual looking. As I was paying, the sales dude continued selling the shoes to me… “They are a limited edition!” “Only 3 shops in Montreal sell them!” “You’ll make a lot of girls jealous!” Geez… That doesn’t matter to me! I like the shoe, I like how it’s comfy, I take it!

Happy was having breakfast. She took a break from eating to come see what I was doing. I noticed her bowl! Her croquettes formed a heart in the bowl!

I’ve got less than 2 weeks left in Montreal! The countdown to the big move as begun! Here’s an idea of my schedule…
25: work,
26: work night,
27: sleep-uni-friend café,
28: lunch friend-work,
29: work,
30: work-dinner friends,
31: work,
1: FREE,
2: FREE,
3: FREE,
4: Happy Mira-OSM concert,
5: YULBlog,
6: move out-BBQ work-sleep at my cousin’s,
7: move to Blanc-Sablon!
And through all of that I’ve got to make sure my apart is rented out and my boxes packed!

I got up at around 8h30 this morning. I did a bit of stuff around the house. But then at 10h when I saw Happy was going back to sleep, I decided to do the same until 11h30! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I love lazy Saturdays.

This morning the repairman came by to fix the lights in the kitchen which were both broken!

Then I headed out downtown. I went to the malls! Soon it’s something I won’t be able to do anymore! I bought a neat blue sweater with a hood, a tank top, a Winter skirt and a blazer, to wear over a tee and instantly look more professional.

After I went to the movies! I saw “The Bourne Ultimatum” and I’m glad to find out it’s all good in the end! It was filled with action! Well worth seeing! At the movies there was a guy who bought nachos with a large soda. He sat in the theater. He started eating his nachos. Then he wanted a drink… And the whole thing spilled all over him! He left… Bringing along the empty cup and the nachos. He never came back. I’m guessing he asked to get his money back and left the cinema! Poor dude!

Then I wanted to come back home… I went to the green metro line. And it wasn’t working! Geez! The dude wasn’t so helpful “it’s not working, the orange one is, don’t know when it’ll work again.” Ok. I’m resourceful, I know what to do/where to go. But what about older grannies? Tourists? I took the temporary bus on Ste-Catherine to Berri and from there I went home using the metro. That’s one thing I won’t miss about Montreal! Public transport breakdowns!

Tonight I’m off to Ikea to buy a few things I want in my new home in Blanc-Sablon, like new curtains (the ones I have now in my living room were eaten by a mini-Happy) and new pots/pans (the ones I have now the anti-stick stuff is all scratched, and that’s dangerous I think)…

2 out of 3 visitors tonight were interested in my apartment! Yay! Let’s hope their credit check with the building’s management goes well and that one of them takes my apartment!

Edit: Make that 3 out of 4. Yay!

I don’t want to jinx anything, but until now the hunt for a new tenant for my apartment is going well! I’ve got 3 people coming to visit tonight, and 2 tomorrow!

I’ve started to pack boxes too.

Also I just called to book my plane trip on September 7th, and my move on September 6th.

I’m happy! Today and tomorrow are my two days off from work! It’s nice to just chill at home! I also want to go see Bourne at the movies.

Tonight at work there was an activity!

We went to the nearby “Écomusée du fier monde,” a museum about Montreal’s Centre-Sud neighbourhood. The permanent exhibition explaining the industrial and working-class history of the area was interesting. But what I really liked was the temporary exhibition (until August 26th) with artwork from young artists of the ‘hood. There was some really neat stuff! Photography, painting, mix-media… And I liked going there with two guys who don’t really usually go to museums, giving them a new experience.

I’m glad the lady from the museum offered us that free visit, as usually it costs 6$ per person to go!

I’ve started preparing my apart for visits. I took the recycling downstairs, put things in the locker, picked up things that weren’t put in their proper place, etc. Also I had tons of glass bottles I wanted to bring back to get the deposit… And I never thought about doing it. So I decided this morning to just put the bottles on the sidewalk. 5 minutes later they were gone! That quick! About 2.50$ worth of bottles. Less hassle for me and someone is happy!

Today I felt like the American flag. Red tee, white shirt and blue jeans…

And HUGE news. I’m leaving Montreal… From September 2007 to June 2008! I’ve landed a dream job in my field in my hometown of Blanc-Sablon! Something that doesn’t come often at all and that I can’t pass on. I’ll be working at the hospital as a “Human Relations Agent.” My mandate will be to work in the schools of the area, as well as with young families. It’s going to be a neat new challenge! The details of when I leave exactly still have to be worked out, I’ll call them in the morning. But I asked September 10th at the earliest. I’m excited!

But also… On the flip-side… I’ve gotten used to life in Montreal with all its perks… Like neat restos and shops for example! I’ll also miss the friends I’ve been making in the past few months. After 5 years in Montreal I’ve finally started to have a nice social network around me! I really hope I don’t loose it while I’m away.

I’ll come back to Montreal a few times during the year. The hospital pays trips for its employees that aren’t from the area when they hire them. So yea… For example, when Happy will have to go to Mira, I’ll come for mini-holidays to the city.

I’ve got so many things to do! Rent out my apartment, pack my stuff, ship some off to Blanc-Sablon, put some in storage, call Mira and tell them about the change, cancel my semester at Uni and tell them I’ll be back Summer 2008 or Fall 2008, cancel my AFE before they give me the money for September… Where to start?!

Today is mom’s birthday! Sadly the parcel I sent her hasn’t arrived yet! So she doesn’t have her birthday gift!! I am curious to see how she’ll like it too… Patience I guess!

My old laptop (Compaq) used to make an enormous amount of noise! The fan on it was REALLY bad. It was so loud I was embarrassed to bring it to Uni!

My new laptop (Toshiba) makes almost no noise! When the fan does kick in it’s barely audible. MUCH better! It reminds me of the sound of wind in a window, during a snowstorm. A drift of cold sound. It’s hard to describe!

Debbie tagged me to say 8 things that people don’t really know about me… A little while ago I participated in a similar tag, but here it goes… 8 more things!

1. When I am laying on the futon watching a movie, very often I snooze off, or even fall asleep. Even if the movie is excellent. I pause it, turn around, close my eyes, sleep a bit, wake up, and start the movie again!

2. Sometimes I’d like to do things, but I’m way too shy to do them.

3. As a kid growing up I had one best friend. We lived 1 minute away from each other on foot. We used to do sleepovers at each other’s house. We always tried to not sleep. At her house, she had tons of teddy bears of all sizes. We’d play games with the teddy bears in the bed. We’d build houses with the pillows for them. And the next morning we’d wake up surrounded by teddy bears, sad that we’d fell asleep!

4. I love shopping! Finding that special item is great… If I were rich I’d shop often!

5. I hate waking up to the sound of an alarm! It’s so brutal! I love waking up when my body feels I’ve slept enough… Or with Happy being cute… Or with a boyfriend cuddling me…

6. I live in Montreal, but my favourite hockey team is the Toronto Maple Leafs! GO LEAFS GO! Each year I go see a Habs – Leafs game at the Bell Centre!

7. My dream job would be press photographer. Or diplomat in an embassy abroad.

8. When I was a teen we had an old Mac at home. I wrote a diary. I saved it on a disk. I’d like to be able to open the files and ready my old diary. I have no idea what I wrote. It would be nice to remember exactly what preoccupied me when I was a teen.