Top ten...

Reasons why I CANNOT wait to move...

~Fishy smelling kitchen because the oven fan isn't put on.

~Roomate being in the salle de bains at the EXACT moment every morning that I need to be in there...I know he knows...grr.

~Cleaning&organization all according to me...mwahaha!

~Decorating!!

~Exciting plans!!!

~Kitty can have free reign of the apt and not be enfermee in my chambre when the others are here.

~Having a place for my parents to stay when they visit me in the spring!!

~No more dishes piled up...and if they are, it'll be all MY fault!

~Singing out loud to my heart's content!!

~Wearing pyjamas on the weekend for hours on end and not having to feel like a lazy bum!!!

Things I'm thankful for this holiday season...

~Moving(sorry, couldn't resist!)

~Rennes' current development(the big new movie theater, all of the construction of apt buildings, the renovation of facades as well as many other changes.) Rennes is a happening spot!

~Celebrating Thanksgiving not once, not twice, not thrice, but FOUR TIMES!!

~The fact that it's almost Thanksgiving and we all know after T-giving, Xmas celebrations begin!

~Xmas decorations in my room and classroom(ok, so I started a bit early!)

~Sending out my homemade Xmas cards!

~Xmas lights up and soon to be lit around the city!!

~The American goodies waiting to be brought back in my bedoroom at home that I couldn't fit into my suitcase(s)!

~My job(s)!!

~My family, friends(espec my new enlargened group of anglo buddies in Rennes) and kitty!!!!!!

Could she be cuter...

...I don't think so!

Random comme d'hab

I think I'm supposed to be eating dinner with my colocs ce soir which is about as tempting as punching myself in the face, so instead I choose to blog. I know I'm still almost as absent as ever, but for good reasons. What with teaching, preparing for teaching and lotsa socializing(note vid above of the third of three Soiree Raclettes in the past 2 weeks), I really just haven't had the motivation/inspiration to sit down and blog. My brain is constantly thinking of about a bajillion things at once and blogging is usually not one of them. High on the list is moving plans and thinking about allllll of the things I will have to purchase when I move. I mean, I have the bare minimum furniture-wise(a couch, 4 chairs and a bed!), but if I were to make the list of everything else I'm missing, it'd be pretty dern long! Though I did more than double my salary from last year(which was pretty meager to begin with, so I'm definitely not rolling in the dough by any means), I've had a lot of stuff to pay off. 140 for a mattress+sommier, 110 for surcharges of our EDF/GDF, 130 in Taxe d'habitation, 500 for a plane ticket home...that's 900 easy euros gone right there. Thank goodness for the bank loan I got because there's no way I would have been able to get by otherwise. And by no way I mean no way besides asking the rents, but I want to avoid that if I can because I am a quasi-grownup afterall.

So, I won't be buying out any expensive furniture store anytime soon, but I will be hitting the Trocante, Ebay and a couple places I've heard of in Rennes where you can get new products with not-so-grave defauts(like dents, scratches, wrong colors) for way cheaper. Although I don't want to get too much before I move because that's just more stuff to have to move! I think I'll wait for a)the soldes which tombes bien because I'm moving end of Jan/debut fev, so I can hopefully grab some of the bigger, more expensive things then. But, I'm thinking even the little things I don't have are going to add up fast...vaccuum, broom, mop, toaster, microwave along with all the cleaning supplies I will have to buy as well. My detail-oriented personality(read:a touch of OCD) makes me want to do things like guesstimate prices of aluminum foil+mop rags+windex=?? I guess I shouldn't think about it too much in detail because it might, maybe just maybe, stress me out a bit. I think focusing on the caution, first month's rent and agency fees are quite enough, thank you very much. Plus, not all of what's on my lists(yes, you read that right, that's lists with an 's') is really priority. Take cheese grater for instance, I can live without it. Yes, my lists are specific. I should do that for a job except that I don't wish to organize other people's lives, just my own.

So yeah, I've got moving on the brain a bit. Plus, exciting plans for when I do actually move(Yur, you know what I'm talkin bout!), so I'm looking forward to actually getting stuff sorted. The sooner, the better. It's a maladie, I tell ya! Sur ce, here's a little meme that I've wanted to do for a while but for aforementioned reasons, I never got to. Taggees, find your names at the bottom.

Six things you probably don't know about me:

1) I only give myself 30 mins in the morning to get ready. I value sleep too much, so I take showers at evening or nighttime and I oftentimes wake up with yesterday's makeup(yes, I know this is bad.)

2) I am very sensitive to certain noises(what's interesting is that my sis is like that with smells and can't go near a perfume shop.) I was that girl that stood inside watching the fireworks from afar because the sudden BOOM! just didn't bode too well with me. I've gotten more used to it as I've gotten older, but it still bothers me a bit. It's now translated into standing far away from people opening bubbly wines or champagnes, although that might also have to do with my fear of things going into eyes.

3) I can tell when meeting someone for the first time if they are someone who I could be good friends with. I haven't been wrong yet. Bizarrely enough though, unless it's blatantly obvious like they are a jackface or a creepster, I have a hard time placing exactly what it is about people that just doesn't rub me the right way.

4) I have a strange fear of falling into open spaces. My mall back home has its' second floor overlooking the first and I avoid being near the railing like the plague. I constantly think about what if someone accidentally bumped into me or what if I was leaning on it and the glass broke. This goes for sewer grates, metro stations and any cavernous space of any sort pretty much.

5) I can never remember who I tell what to. For instance, now that I'm thinking about it, I might have mentioned my fear of falling into open spaces on here before, but I'm not sure. In some ways I have a really good memory(like useless random facts or memorizing things), but other times, I have a hard time remembering very specific details of a general thing if that makes sense. I did well in high school for instance because it was a lot of memorization(which is a big part of why languages came so easy to me), but college was more difficult because I am not so analytical and it takes time for me to organize my thoughts.

6)I am random. I start talking about one thing and then end up in a completely different place. Hence the blog. Oh and speaking about organization, I am so organized sometimes I forget how organized I am and try to do things like a normal person. Say I'm going to use the same photocopy for 2 different classes. Well, I will do something like make a photocopy and put it in the folder for each class, so that I can have the copy in the 2 places I need it instead of having to remember that I need to transfer it from one folder to the other after I'm done with the first class. Then I file the orignal away because I like to get $h!t done. Then, I proceed to forget that I have done so and spend time looking for the original(that I have already filed away) so I can make copies for the second class and then remember that I am so ridiculously organized that I already not only have filed away the original, but also have the copy that I need in the folder for that class. Yeah, so that probably only made sense to me. What was I saying about being random again, I forget if I mentioned that here or not. Cycle vicieux.

Je tagge: Fellow Canuck, Going to Episode 200!, hopefully also going to Ep. 200!!

Two outta three ain't bad!

So, the apartment hunt has officially begun. While I've been checking out ads on the internet for a couple months now, I was waiting until I actually sent out my lettre recommandee with accuse de reception and got the confirmation that my proprio got it and then hurdled the task of telling my current roomies. Well, now that that's all said and done, it was time to tackle the beast of going to the agences to see what's available since not much is online for when I want to move. I headed out today not knowing how it was going to go since I've never been to the agencies before as I found my colocation on the internet. I decided to go to the three places near me figuring that a)since I want to stay in this hood, they might be the best bet for that and b)since they're close by, if I ever need to stop in for whatever reason, it would be very convenient.

First agence-I walk in and two younger girls are at the accueil. They both are very friendly and when I say that I know it might be a bit early(seeing as all the annonces they had outside were for at least a month before I want to move), one tells me it's never too early to search for an apartment. She takes down my info as well as my general preferences and says that the woman who takes care of this is busy today, but she'll give me a call once something comes up. I then proceed to the second agence.

Second agence-I walk in and the lady at the desk walks away, umm not really a good sign. Luckily, she redeems herself by calling out her colleague's name saying there is someone waiting to be helped. Phew. New lady gets down to business and takes down the details of what I'm looking for. She then tells me the person is out today who would be able to help me, but asks for my name and number so that she can contact me once she has done some recherches. She writes down Mlle Leah until I correct her and say Leah is my first name, umm duh. On to the third!

Third agence-I walk in and lady is on phone. I patiently wait for her to finish and remark on how freakin hot it is in the place. Me hates the heat. Strike one. The lady finally gets off the phone and I explain that I'm looking to rent an appart etc and she directs me to her collegue in the next room. Collegue says hi and then just sort of waits for me to talk. Awkward. Aren't real estate agents supposed to act like your new bff so they can get your money? She should learn a lesson from the bankers. Strike two. So, I am awkward and say c'est vous, Christine? The lady at the reception didn't tell me her last name, though! Oh well. I go on to say I'm looking for an apartment a louer in a little under 3 month's time. She looks at me like I have two heads and says and I quote " c'est beaucoup trop tot pour chercher" and then tells me she only has 1 appart that she knows of that is even dispo then and that I should come back at the earliest at the end of December. I say umm ok, I'll repasse a ce moment-la. Thanks for the help(or not.) Strike three.

I'm an organized person, I can't help it, I like to get $h!+ done. Coming from the two places where they didn't hesitate to take down my info and where one girl even said it was never to early to look for a place, I thought it was pretty lame for the lady(from a reputable company, btw, that exists in the US) to look at me like I was crazy for already getting started with my search, then tell me she did have a place(ok, just one, but still, it's not like there were none!) and then not even take my info. It doesn't really make me want to go back there and actually I was hoping to get this sorted before I go home for Xmas anyways. Is that like super crazy of me? Now, I'm just hoping to hear soon from the other ladies and if I don't hear from them within a week, I'm thinking I'll go elsewhere just to leave my options open. Wish me luck!

Nouvelles

Well, after my bit of drama a la Gossip Girl, I'm ready to share some major news with you people that I'm very excited about. I'm mooooooving! That's right, after over 2 years in the same ol' apartment and 5 different roomies later, I'm ready to casse-myself. I've always told myself this would be my last coloc and that the next place I lived would be my own appart. I wasn't in a rush to get out before, though, I mean it is gonna take a decent amount of sous to do this afterall. However, I think that the fact that my newest roomies are not people I ever see myself being friends with has really given me the extra push I needed to see this thing through. I told them last night which was a huge relief because for whatever reason it was making me nervous. But, I'm giving them plenty of time plus I already know of someone who might be interested in taking my place which means they could be set pretty soon and without paying 1 centime on appartager or any other roommate sites.

I, on the otherhand, have to actually find this magical, new apartment. I've been looking for about a month online and have seen very few things open for when I want to move. So, I'm thinking I'll have to go to the agencies and see if they do actually have stuff dispo and they just haven't put it online(thinking it's too early) or what. I really would love to stay in the same quartier I live in now-close enough to walk to downtown, lots of buses if I need to take them, but at the same time pretty calm seeing as I can hear ducks coin-coining as I write this. The only other place I would live would be centreville, but that usually means an apt that's either super cher or the size of my pinky, so on verra. In any case, I'm very excited and can't wait to find my new place and get all the perks that go along with it. Plus, decorating, hello? What could be fun-ner? So yeah, that's my big news and I honestly CANNOT wait!

PS-Go Obama!

Secrets, secrets are no fun

So, I've always been one to believe in being honest with people. Honesty is the best policy, they say. It might sound a little Gertrude Goodie Two Shoes, but it's me. Yes, I've told some white lies in my time, but bold-faced lying just isn't my thing. I guess I can't say I've never done it before either, but it was when I was much younger and now I'm older and wiser. Or so I thought. Is it lying if you just purposely choose not to tell someone something? You know, just leaving something out. And is it good to tell the truth knowing it will make you feel much better(to have whatever it is off your chest), but make someone else feel much, much worse? How do you decide when someone needs to know something? Should you let time pass by and wait to say something? These are questions I find myself facing. I won't go into details, but help!