I must be the WORST blogger ever.....

I can't believe it has been two years since my last post. I'm poo. I've had this blog since 2002 and if I am counting correctly, i've only ever made about 8 posts. Looking back though, I have to admit.... I'm a total nutcase. :-)

In the last two years I have grown significantly. I've loved, lost, laughed, and cried. Here is the "Coles Notes Version" to bring everyone up to speed:

My dreams of going back to school came crashing down on me. My back finally failed me in the back yard of my house in 2008. I was lifting a paving stone and slipped on the grass and damaged a disc in my back. I went through intensive rehabilitation and was informed by my doctor that I would never be healthy enough to do a job where I had to lift heavy objects or do a lot of twisting and turning. So, no lifting any patients for me.

I was pretty bummed out and after many late night dates with vodka and Cheeto's, I decided to dump all my anger and depression into my real estate career. I was after all good at it and its not an awful job. It has regular hours and pays well.

My relationship with J deteriorated shortly after that. As time went by, he became someone that I didn't recognize anymore and we drifted apart. After 6 1/2 years together, I discovered that he had been "enjoying the company of others" behind my back. Fuck him. He bought my share in our house and I moved out, cats in tow, to my own two bedroom apartment.

After that, I experienced a few brief months of sexual liberation and discovered my passion for intimacy again (a polite way of saying "i got some!!!"). I met some interesting people and found out that dating is definately NOT like what it used to be.

Now, that should bring us to late 2009. I met a bear. Of course he lives in Vancouver because my life can't ever be easy. He's smart, sexy, funny, and good to his family. We're still in the initial stages of "getting to know each other" but I feel like i've known him forever. I had the pleasure of ringing in the new year with him and I know 2010 is gonna be a GREAT year!!

So, it's a new year, and I'm going to get my ass back on track. I will try to do a better job of chronicling my adventures for the amusement of those in cyberspace.

Happy 2010!!

Mike

P.S.

After reading a delightful post by ImpactED Nurse at http://impactEDnurse.com , I've decided that I never want to be catheterized. So, if any of you fellow nurses are ever standing over me with a garden hose size catheter tube, prepare for a struggle. Just warning you in advance.

Kickboxing, Aerobics and Carrots - Oh My!!

I'm officially on Day 4 of diet and excercise. Shamefully enough, I have to admit that I feel on top of the world. After fighting with everyone over the benefits of eating carrots and running on treadmills, I admit, I was wrong.

I hadn't been doing too bad since January 1 but couldn't seem to fully commit to getting "healthier". All of that changed when I got my schedule for school and found out that one of my three courses for this semester is delightfully entitled "Personal Health and Wellness". After scrolling through the syllabus, it is literally a full course designed on the discussion of all areas of our own personal lifestyle health choices. Shit.

I'm deathly afraid that I will be the only chubby in the class, let alone the only male (i've heard the ratio of male to female is even lower in the LPN programs then the RN programs). I have this re-occuring nightmare where my classmates use my life as a basis for all of their research papers. I suppose I can thank these horrific dreams for being a good jump start for my motivation. The course also discusses relationships and sex and SPECIFICALLY has a section on the "gay" perspective. I can't wait (add sarcasm here). I didn't realize I had a different perspective then everyone else.

I'm still waiting on my status update from my application to the RN degree program for Fall 2008. I was REALLY hoping to qualify for early acceptance so that I would be able to drop out of the LPN program and get a refund of my tuition before the program started. Looks like that will not happen. I just went online (after checking at least 3 times a day) and received a message that says "application processed - missing documentation". My head is about to snap off as I sent all my transcripts back in mid-December. Now I have to wait for the letter that tells me what is missing so that I can re-submit. And so the adventure begins......

Tell me why I don't like Mondays.

I'm finally starting to win the war with the influenza fairy. After almost overdosing on Neo Citran and multi-vitamins I am beginning to feel human once again. It comes with good timing as well because I am going to start to get crazy busy as everyone from work is returning from their Christmas and New Years vacations. Anyone with the word "Assistant" in their job title knows that means that I return to being everyone's "bitch".

It appears that now that I finally have my mind fully dedicated to school, a thousand opportunities have now knocked on my door. An old boss of mine is furiously trying to get me to go work for her (for another property management firm) and I recently turned down two other offers for senior positions. Of course these types of offers didn't happen when I was on the verge of walking off my job 6 months ago.

On a side note... I hate the news. I usually avoid reading the newspaper at work because it makes me either sad, angry, or disappointed when I am otherwise in a perfectly happy mood. I can generally tolerate reading about world events, etc. but I always manage to catch the article about animal cruelty and get into a raging ball of fury and anger. For some background, I am a self proclaimed animal lover. I have two kitties who are like my children and would have to say I have a kinship to animals of all types. When I read any article about cruelty to my "best friends" I get so worked up about it that it literally takes me a whole day to get over it. Case and point: I'm standing by the lineup to get water from the water cooler and right beside me the paper is opened up to a headline titled "Cat Cruelty". At this point, I can no longer close the newspaper and can feel the pit of my stomach start to sink. As the paper relays to me, three young teens decided to stick a cat inside a microwave and turn it on. The cat died from severe burns and basically being cooked alive. It was all I could do from trying to restrain myself from driving up to this town and beating these kids with the nearest 2x4 I could find. I can't even fathom this type of animal cruelty. The sad part is that the punishment for animal cruelty is not severe enough in Alberta and as young offenders with no prior records, they will probably only get a slap on the wrist.

Alright, i've vented and feel a little bit better. I'd feel a LOT better though if I knew that more people out there were looking out for our little four legged friends. I'm already an advocate of the local SPCA but sometimes feel like even that is not enough. Perhaps I will add on to my list of New Years resolutions and try to become a "better animal activist".