NEW BEN AND JERRY'S FLAVOUR!

i love cheesecake ice cream.

in risk of sounding like bill bryson - 'alissa's notes on the great white north' - more snow observations. most people in wintry climates probably don't see the novelty in the snow stuff, but i love it.

the whole breaking and not stopping thing. i'm amazed at how many cars i see moving (sometimes frighteningly fast!) without their wheels actually TURNING...wheels still + car moving = not good.

everything seems to take one an other-worldly look covered in snow. bushes, planters, houses. i love the fact that everything looks, well, different than the other times of the year. maybe because i grew up in southern california where my house and yard looked EXACTLY the same pretty much every single day of the year? cars covered in snow may look cool, but uncovering them is a pain in the ass.

funny how the location of things like curbs, sidewalks, driving lanes, crosswalks changes in the snow. for instance, it doesn't really matter WHERE the curb on the corner actually is, the car just go around it where the snow ends, and if you are out walking, the corner you stop at is at the edge of the snow. curbs become invisible under lots of snow - trust me, i've tripped on my fair share. when you drive, you put your tires on the blank lines (hopefully snowless) on the road, regardless of where the lane actually is.

finally, i still can't get over the fact that this white stuff (currently about oh, 60cm deep?) will NOT MELT UNTIL MARCH. the ice on my roof is still there. after an hour or so of brushing and scraping i was able to get my ski racks on last night. i took it thru the car wash and there was still ice all over my car. don't they use HOT water in car washes here?

i think they need giant hairdryers to melt it all. if i ever do move here, and have a sidewalk, i will definitely buy a snowblower. there was an article and 2 letters to the editor in the local paper yesterday complaining about unshoveled sidewalks. it didn't stop snowing much for the past 3 days - and you don't *have* to shovel it until 24 hours after the snow stops...leaving many snowy sidewalks. i think it's kinda fun to walk thru, but my jeans get all snowy. :)

SAY ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU.
Alissa has the most amazing adventurous spirit
Alissa - I love your free spirit
Alissa is so strong and courageous :-)

there's one of those 'survey' emails going around amongst my friends now, and the above question was one in the survey. wow. me? funny how sometimes i feel so scared and directionless that i want to curl up in a little ball and wish it all away...what if i don't get into a school? where will i live? what about my dog? blah blah blah. i think i've gained the ability (somewhat) to move on, jump in no matter what those voices say. sure, i've been impractical, irresponsible, a nomad. but, i realize that the words above can also be used to describe the life i've been living. i hate the days when i am blindsided by an incredible, overbearing sense of fear - but on most days, i think i have a pretty amazing life and that i'm a very lucky person. :)

i wonder how long the snow will continue to be an adventure and will just become a pain. going to the grocery store became an event. my car had been sitting for awhile, and was covered in snow and ice. it was about -11C (that's about 12 in 'stupid degrees' as my boyfriend would say...), windy with snow flurries.

one: dress warmly. put on jacket, scarf, gloves, socks, shoes. like an idiot, forget hat. figured i'd be ok - after all, i only had to walk from the car to the store. how bad could it be?

two: run out to car, forgetting i will be spending the next 15 minutes outside trying to de-snow and de-ice car.

three: open door, sending the 5 cm of snow covering the window flying into the air and all over me. sit down in car, insert key and turn. windshield wipers were left on, they shoot across the windshield, sending the 5 cm of snow covering it across the windshield and dumping it in the crack between my open door and the car frame, covering the driver's side floormat with said snow. (note to self: do not turn car on without door closed. remember to turn off wipers)

four: get out of car and get to work with the ice scraper. brush accumulated snow off the roof, sending it flying into the wind, into the collar of my jacket, into my hair. try to continue brushing carefully, but realize i'm going to get covered with snow regardless. finish brushing.

five: attempt to scrape ice off windows. besides making a lot of noise, don't make much progress. go back in the house and fill up waterbottle with warm water (as suggested by canadian boyfriend). pour water over the passenger's side window. pour over rear passenger's side window. go to scrape front window, and realize all i have done is create a very thick layer of ice on my window. try again, this time scraping as i pour. ahh! success. (well, mostly). thank god the driver's side wasn't icy.

six: drive to grocery store. realize it takes a long long time to stop on snow, and your car now has a mind of its own. park as soon as you see an empty spot, as the parking lot isn't plowed and is very confusing. it's snowing harder now. run into store.

seven: shop, thankful i only needed a few things, because pushing a grocery cart on snowy ice does not sound like a fun thing to do. the carts have the same wimpy wheels as everywhere else. don't they get upgraded to snow tires or 4 wheel drive carts here?

eight: run to car, which is easy to find due to snow piled on roof that i couldn't brush off. i keep thinking 'oh, whatever, it'll just melt off' - um, no, because it's highly unlikely the temperature will rise above freezing anytime soon. i don't think that snow piled on the floor of the car will melt much, either.

nine: drive home peeking through sliver of clear vision on the windshield. skid, almost miss driveway. park car and debate walking to the grocery store next time.

i do really really like it here, but this snow stuff is going to take some adjustment!

whew....after a whirlwind trip o' three weeks (it seemed like such a short time...i thought, being on vacation, that i'd have a ton of time to post here, but didn't seem to find much), i'm back in canada. i miss wearing my birkenstocks and tank tops, but other than that i'm very happy to be back in the great white (and it's very white and snowy!) north. funny how much more like home it seems here. at the end of my so cal trip, i was very very ready to leave. sure the weather's great, but it's really not my 'home', much to my family's dismay. my father still can't figure out why i don't want to move there...hello? try a half a million dollars for a tract home! d'oh.

i found the perfect quote...especially for the somewhat irresponsible life i've been living lately:

my life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning and yet i'm happy. i can't figure it out. what am i doing right? - charles m. schulz

he was living...which is very very 'right'.

"i want to, as desperately and joyfully as possible, fill my life with unusual experiences -- make my life full of challenges and accept them.... change is a vacation." - dave matthews

my comments are working again! yay! comment away...(if you feel so moved, of course)

it always suprises me that they need a study to figure obvious things out....

fast food tied to higher calorie intake in kids

on a junk food note...natural cheetos? this just doesn't sound right. those two words to not belong in the same sentence. it's kinda like 'healthy artificially flavoured funny coloured food'. nope, doesn't work.

"For the truth is that I already know as much about my fate as I need to know. The day will come when I will die. So the only matter of consequence before me is what I will do with my allotted Time. I can remain on shore, paralyzed with fear, or I can raise my sails and dip and soar in the breeze."

i'm planning on traveling to argentina in march with my SO (who lived there for the first 11 years of his life). since airfare is so pricey, and i have time i'd like to travel to patagonia and the 'end of the earth' - the very tip of south america. i am excited. my family is not. for the first time in my life i was lectured and told i was not to do something. my stepmother worries too much. my dad worries too much. i miss my mom. i'm fairly certain i will go anyway, but i'm not sure what to tell them.

been busy 'touring' southern california...the getty, beaches, disneyland, malibu...it was fun to see southern california as a tourist. it was a much more pleasant place that way. i'm stuck here a few more days, then off to northern california and to attempt to finalize my life in sacramento completely. mentally i've been gone from there for a long long time, but there are some things i need to get. i'm not looking forward to that.

funny how canada feels much more like 'home' than sacramento ever did in the 4 years i lived there.

my family doesn't understand my wanderlust and why i don't love southern california - i know my dad really wishes i would move back. not a chance. there's too much more world out there too see...and most of it is much more interesting than so cal. i was reading the newspaper tonight and came across this in the real estate section:

costa mesa: 2 bedroom one bath house. approx. 745 (how is 745 approximate? is it 745.4594?) sq. ft. of living space.

469,900

reason 349 why i don't want to live here. i grew up in costa mesa, my dad lives there. over $450k for a glorified apartment? a TINY apartment? real estate here is outrageous.

oh...i know my comments aren't working...i hope to have them fixed in the next few days....haven't been on the computer much in the past week.

happy new year! :)