catch up...

on monday, i attended a forum on bill 130 at the toronto board of trade. i thought it would be more of an educational forum to learn what bill 130 meant to municipalities and other economic development practitioners. however, the format was far more political than i anticipated. i was sitting at a table with linda jeffrey, MPP, her parliamentary assistant, and three commissioners from municipal affairs and housing. the session was much more of a "this is what the mcguinty government is doing" rather than "this is what bill 130 means to you" like i was expecting. regardless, i appreciated what sandra pupatello, MPP spoke to and like i always do at these things, was re-invigorated about my job and its possibilities.

the best thing about this event was that dena was there. when i was still in OAC, apprehensive about leaving home, and contemplating what to do with the rest of my life (hmmmmm...sounds familiar), i went to the university of waterloo march break high school open house and dena was my tour guide. when i chose to do my undergrad at waterloo, dena was my frosh leader, and ever since has been a dear friend and mentor. always enthusiastic, always engergetic, and always focused - dena is very much a person i wish i was more like. every time we get together to "catch up", i always leave feeling like i am a smarter and better person for knowing her.

in financial news, my quest to purge my home of all things unneccessary has seen me list an absurd amount of items on ebay. as of today, i have officially made enough money to pay for my new camera in its entirety! yea me! marko has graciously offered to bring the camera with him when he visits his family this christmas so it should be in my grubby little hands by january. i need to keep devoiding my home of all things crap so that when i move into a tiny place, by myself, and with only 1 salary:
a) i can fit,
b) there will be room for chloe, and
c) i can spend my efforts on hobbies and activities that i really enjoy rather than being buried under a mountainous pile of crap that i can not or will not use during the rest of my life.

in the "holy crap it's already december 6" file, i must immediately send out christmas cards, notification that the wedding will not be held in two weeks in the bahamas cards, and start shopping before the malls get so insanely packed with everyone and everything annoying that i go in there throwing punches just to find that sweater or book or random thing that i should have picked up last month when i saw it in the first place.

my birthday is in 9 days. i'll be 29 holy fuck years old. 2007 will be the big 3-0. there will be a seperate announcement (and probably multiple posts) about that one. if you are feeling wealthy and want to get me a gift, i'd love a 50" samsung plasma tv, laser eye surgery, and a vacation to somewhere warm and indulgent. kidding. well 1/2 kidding. when i finally get my ass around to planning a proper birthday celebration, i'd just be impressed if people showed up to drink and dance with me. location to be determined but due to previous exploits, i hope it will be new territory not previously tainted with the likes of my boys.