'sA-dE . com

Back to the blogosphere

Phew. That was a close one. I had decided earlier this morning that I needed to make a more conscious effort to update my blog regularly, but when I tried to do just that mere moments ago, I was told my domain was suspended. Somehow, miraculously, the suspension appears to have been lifted... for the time being. Let's hope it holds.

So, Saedighites, it has been an eventful few months. I am no longer a civil servant, nor am I on any of the local occasional teaching lists. I am Mistress of My Own Domain. I am now a self-employed Freelance Editor. It's an exciting (and somewhat nerve-wracking) prospect. Gone is the security provided by union-negotiated cost of living increases, vacation pay, and Continuing Employee Status. We are now entering a new era of self-promotion, marketing, and networking.

As my first act of self-promotion, I invite you to take a look at my new business site. It's a work in progress, so thoughtful feedback is welcome.

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A fun little widget

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Gettin' schooled

It's official. I am going to Queen's in September to get my B.Ed. in Intermediate/Senior education with (fingers crossed) a program focus on teaching at-risk youth and young adults, and an elective in Aboriginal education. I am going to be a high school science teacher. Well, I am going to be qualified to become a high school science teacher. :-) Considering my high school physics teacher actually had a degree in nutrition, it's entirely possible that I might not end up teaching my teachable... but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, right?
Queen's extended an offer of admission on April 1st... I checked again on April 2nd to make sure it wasn't a cruel joke... and I accepted their offer on April 3rd, the earliest date I possible could. I have since confirmed and reconfirmed that my acceptance was confirmed. :-) I am not going to retract my acceptance to the cooking program at St. Lawrence until I get a formal letter from Queen's, because I am a slight paranoiac, but for all intents and purposes, it is official.
It took me a very long time to finally decide what I wanted to be when I (eventually) grow up. I don't know why I didn't go into teaching right off the bat. I love science, and I love helping people understand it so they can love it as much as I do. You'd think teaching would be the obvious choice. Yet, somehow, I ended up a copy-editor. Similar, but not the same. I find the papers I edit interesting, but I can't say I've ever been passionate about sentence fragments, comma splices, or split infinitives (which are perfectly acceptable in English, by the way... get over yourselves, grammar nazis). And though I know their intended purpose, I continue to use ellipses incorrectly. So, obviously, copy-editing just wasn't meant to be.

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Birthday 2006

Another year has gone by in the Saedighverse, along with the following milestones:
Getting and training a dog
Moving to Pembroke
Learning to live together (a work in progress)
Meeting my niece for the first time
Finally seeing my car insurance payments decrease (although only by $10/month)

This year's birthday started off fairly low-key. Dexter woke me up at our usual weekend time of 8:00 am (he is somehow able to distinguish between weekends and work days, and affords me an extra 60 minutes of shut eye on Saturdays and Sundays... he's not able to recognise stat holidays yet though). We went for a walk, and then I took myself across the street to the bakery for breakfast and to read the paper. Reading the Saturday paper in Pembroke takes all of 15 minutes, with half of the printed text devoted to syndicated advice columnists, and much of the rest to the Community Editorial Board. They write about such hot-button issues as whether or not the mother or father should get to name a baby, and is the local library worth declaring a heritage site because it was designed by an architect who worked at the same firm as a young Frank Lloyd Wright?
But I digress...
After breakfast, Dexter and I made a list and set out for a birthday trip to Walmart. Not exactly the happiest place on Earth, especially on a Saturday, but we needed drain cleaner, both of us being shedders, and I wanted to get some bulk treats to send off to Capt Mike. The universe must have remembered what an important day in its history September 23rd is, because for the first time in my life I did not have to wait in the checkout line. Normally, I try to pick out the line that appears to be moving the fastest, and then end up getting stuck behind some old woman trying to buy three tonnes of cat food using small change and Canadian Tire money. But this time, as I paced between lines trying to figure out which one would have the shortest wait time, I heard a little voice pipe up from behind the As Seen on TV merchandise "Can I help you over here". She had just been about to go on break, and had seen me. I guess I just looked special.
To celebrate my small victory over the cosmos, I decided to delay grocery shopping in favour of a $10 manicure at the nail salon in the mall next door. My cuticles now properly tended, I was able to brave my second least-favourite Saturday morning venue: the grocery store. It, too, was less distressing than normal, and Dexter and I were home by 1 pm, playing soccer in the backyard before tackling my birthday drain-cleaning. (Seriously, it could not be put off any longer.)
The rest of my birthday was not nearly as pedestrian. Capt Mike was able to call and leave a birthday message on our answering machine (he also called much later, after the festivities, and I was able to talk to him properly after getting over the initial anxiety of hearing the phone ring so late at night). I also got messages from his mom and dad and my parents. I got to talk to my sister in real-time. My friend Katie made up a birthday feast of falafel, chicken kebabs, salad, and hummus, with brownies and ice cream for dessert, and invited her neighbours and my neighbours over for dinner. After eating our fill, we all went to The Lasso Saloon (a private tribute to Capt Mike... if I can't spend my birthday with him, I can at least spend it in a place I know he'd approve) and people watched, my new favourite pastime in Pembroke.
And so begins another year.

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Happy Belated Birthday, saedigh.com

Wow. You'd think that with all the boredom I was suffering through on the weekend, I could have come to the realization that it's been a year since I started this little egofest of mine. That's right. A little over 365 days ago, I received this little corner of the web for my birthday, and have been populating it with the confused ramblings of my addled little millenial mind.
I will try to make a point of marking the date for next year.

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Odds and ends

I filed my taxes last Thursday. This year, I finally get some money back. A whole $150.00. It is going straight into the "Fun Fund", also known as the "Climbing one of the 7 summits with the World's Best Boyfriend" fund, or the "What will Saedigh look like after she hasn't showered for 7 days?" fund. This year, I used netfile and did it all by myself with QuickTax web-based software. It was awesome! And so much cheaper than those green guys who consistently come out with the wrong amount for my return (or, more accurately, my balance owing). It was $21.95 for the first return, and would've been only $5.00 for each other return I filed, had there been any other returns to file, which there weren't, but maybe someday there will be, so it's a good thing to keep in the back of my mind. Or something...

Today I have a job interview. It's within the same directorate where I work now, but in a different team. I have another one on Tuesday. My biggest problem in an interview is that I'm not cocky enough. Self-deprecation gets laughs in the lunchroom, but not a lot of respect in the boardroom. My second-biggest problem is that I don't state the obvious. I am a big-picture kind of girl, so I tend to leave out what I think are trivial details. But it's the trivial details, it turns out, that score you the points. And in a government board-style interview, it's all about scoring those points. It's doubley hard considering that all of the people on the board know me and have worked with me for 4 years. See, they are only allowed to go on what I tell them in the interview. They can't rely on any other information. So I need to make sure I hit certain talking points...

My mom and dad are bringing Diva up for Easter this weekend. I am looking forward to taking her to the park. She is the most well-behaved dog in Canada, but not out of obedience. She is pretty much driven by snobbery, hence her name. See, she doesn't really interact with or show interest in many other dogs, mostly because she feels above them. But strangers don't know that, they just see 100+ lbs of well-trained German Shepherd and are astonished that she comes when I call, while their dogs fall all over themselves to distract one another...

Yesterday I was feeling pretty miserable, achey, and exhausted, so I watched a movie instead of going to the gym to train. I have "video on demand", so I don't have to go to the video store. It's the height of consumerism, but sometimes indulgence is alright. Like when you're miserable, achey, and exhausted and don't want to go to the gym to train. I ordered Ray, and I have to say, I was really quite blown away. And I did not intend for that to rhyme. Seriously, Jamie Foxx was most excellent. An understatement, but still true...

Tomorrow I am volunteering for the Junior Achievement Economics of Staying in School program. I get to hang out with a bunch of 8th graders and play games in an effort to convince them of the correlation between education (formal or not) and success...

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String theory

My sister turned me on to keeping track of how people reach my site and the keywords that take them to saedigh.com. For the most part, I figured very few people who didn't already know me would care about what I have to say. I have to say, I was therefore a little more than surprised when I looked at the Web stats for February, and one of the search strings that resulted in a hit to my site was "Farm Whores". I am not entirely sure if that visitor, and the person who arrived here by way of "buffalo mozarella cruelty" are one in the same. If not, it would be interesting to sit them down at the same table as all of the Tracy Byrd fans I have attracted by posting lyrics from his "Drinking Bone" song. Though I am not sure how either of the aforementioned groups would get along with the 8 individuals who were curious about me being a "schiksa", plain and simple.
Being only two days into March, it's a little early for trend watching, but there does seem to have been a Princess Bride fan visiting the site looking for information on "blave".
I also think I have discovered a new mental illness I'd like to call January Psychosis. How else would you explain more than one person looking for information on "how long pablo neruda" or "bacon nullius in verba"?

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Saedigh's Christmas Wishlist

Dear Santa,
How has your year been so far? I guess things are getting pretty busy for you now, right? I see that they've already set up your little grottos in most of the malls. That must make for a pretty hectic schedule. Do you find yourself double-booked very often? Do the elves have a hard time keeping up? I suppose you could always threaten them with outsourcing their jobs to garden gnomes, but I guess that wouldn't really be in the spirit of the season now, would it?
This year I have taken up some new hobbies, and suffered a great loss, so my Christmas list pretty much reflects that. Let's get to the bad news first: My stereo died. No, don't worry, it wasn't one of yours. I got it at Future Shop in grade 11. Anyway, the CD player is completely fried. The radio still works, but there's only so much CBC a girl can take, you know? Anyway, I can play music on my DVD player, but the problem is that my TV is mono, not stereo. So I guess I would like one of those cheap home entertainment speaker sets so I can hear Radiohead's Hail to The Theif in full stereo glory (if I ever find the CD again.)
Now for the good news. I have taken up running. Unfortunately, Canada is pretty darn cold in the winter months. I guess I don't have to tell you that though, right? (By the way, is the North Pole still Canadian, or are you a Dane now? Will the reindeer have to be quarantined before they can become EU citizens?) Anyway, I would like some gear for running in the cold weather that will ideally double-up as cross-country ski gear. I hear lightweight, synthetic layering is the key. A gift certificate to The Running Room or MEC would probably be the best bet, since it's been a while and you've probably forgotten my size.
I look forward to seeing you on the 24th. I'll make sure there are some carrots for the reindeer (and a parsnip for picky Vixen). Hopefully I can convince Mom to make some shortbread, too. I know you're watching your weight, but it is Christmas, right?
Take care, and season's greetings,
Saedigh

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Feeling special

I got my first comment today from a person who is (a) not related to me by blood, (b) not on one of my ultimate teams, (c) not a Spambot, and (d) not someone who knows me as Heather's little sister.
Cool.

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With age comes wisdom, right?

Today is my birthday. The big 2-6. A big part of me is very ready to see 25 be put behind me: this year I had a car accident, had my heart shattered, worked so hard it made me sick, and watched all my friends seem to move forward while I stood still. And my metabolism started slowing down. But none of those bad things could have happened without good things happening first: I can afford a car to have an accident in, I had to really care about someone to get my heart broken so thoroughly, my boss relies on me so heavily because she knows I do a damn good job, and I have friends. Things may not come together for me in any particular order, but I think they will come together. That is what I am going to try and keep in mind as I head towards milepost no. 27.
I just wish I had my metabolism back.

For an adoreable picture of a much younger Saedigh, check out My Sister's homepage.

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