new year, new me.

Holy Bananas! I am really slacking here aren’t I? Not purposely mind you, I have legitimately been busy / I spilled soup on my laptop’s keyboard so my typing has been limited!

Happy 2015 to all and a belated Merry Christmas! I hope everyone in blog world had a wonderful holiday – I know I did! Christmas was bustling with food and gifts and loved ones. So much so that when it ends I find myself feeling a little down. My sister & I took down our tree last Friday & I found myself in tears in the process. I think part of it had to do with the probability that next year we will each be putting up separate trees. This year finds me moving to Stratford & my sister to Toronto. Good changes, but changes none the less which is what I think I have trouble with.

I spent New Years Eve on my couch with the sniffles. I was asleep by 9pm only to wake up at 5:30am for work the following day. I haven’t had a “proper” New Year’s Eve in 4 years. Sometimes I miss it and other times it doesn’t bother me. I guess it helps that my boyfriend isn’t big on NYE either so he didn’t feel he was missing much. We can kiss at midnight any other time, right?

Some things on my radar at the moment are as follows. Google it up if you’re interested.

Tess Munster – Plus Model.
I love her. She’s enthusiastic, positive and gorgeous in every way. As a “plus size” woman myself I really admire her. She’s bigger than me and has more confidence than I do. Something to work on this year.

Twitter! Seriously, I’m a fiend. @apswlife

OPSWA
The Ontario Personal Support Worker Association is something that has become near and dear to me as a working PSW. I’ve been involved in a lot of projects with them & I can’t wait for their up coming conference in April! For more info, check out opswa.com

life, lately.

It’s a Friday night and I am on my couch watching Saved By The Bell re-runs.
Yep, that about covers it.
My life in itself hasn’t changed dramatically by any means, just a lot of the same thing in different orders. There’s work. Eating. Sleeping. Showering. Friendsing. Boyfriending. Yeah, I make up my own words. It works for me.

Last weekend I was in Waterford Ontario attending their First ever Zombie Walk with one of my best friends who lives there. Her, her lovely boyfriend and their Bernese Mountain dog live happily and peacefully in their quiet little town. The more I leave the city the more I don’t want to return. I don’t miss the noise and the busyness. I like the quiet. The endless amount of foliage. The fact that in almost every town, on account of its small population almost everyone knows everything about everyone. But since I willingly write about my life online, I don’t think that’s something to be concerned about.

Tomorrow is the Everything To Do With Sex Show which I have been attending annually for the last 4 or 5 years. This year is exciting because one of my favourite burlesque performers Roxi D’Lite will be there. I may have to get another autographed poster.

November is actually a pretty decent month. We have The Royal Winter Fair, One Of a Kind Christmas Show and The Ashley Warehouse Sale.

I’m down with this.

For The Love Of Culture

This past weekend I had the privilege to attend a Powwow. I visit Curve Lake First Nation all the time as it is minutes away from my cottage and have been fortunate to attend these celebrations in the past. Yet every time I go I am amazed. I am happy. I am in absolute aw of these stunning costumes, the love and respect for nature and one another, the beat of the drum and their beautiful way of presenting all of this to the rest of us: through dance. I could hear the echoes of the beat as we walked towards the ceremonial grounds and it was hard for me to walk at a regular pace as I wanted to dance my way there. I suppose I could have, but I didn’t feel confident enough to join in on the dance even though we were all invited to do so. I loved just watching and being a part of the beauty.
Another favourite is the food. Corn soup is delicious and I look forward to it every time I go. And I’ll be honest. Native men are the most attractive men in the world.

Some highlights:

Look at the colours. Look at his face. Such expression and devotion to his story telling.

The Bucket Challenge.

Sorry guys, if you clicked this link hoping for a video you’re about to be disappointed. Dumping a bucket of ice water over your head in the dead of summer proves nothing. It’s stupid and you’re not special for doing it. 

ALS – Otherwise called Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is an absolutely horrendous disease that basically eats you alive. Towards the end people suffering from this illness may become completely paralized but eventhough their body no longer works, their brain does. Can you imagine being trapped inside your own body? This is ALS, and as PSW I’ve unfortunately seen it’s devastating affects. 

I’m all for raising awareness. I’m all for fundraising. What annoys me is how this challenge has become more of a trend for the cool kids to do than anything else. From what I’ve seen, most of these people dumping ice over their heads know absolutely nothing about what ALS actually is. It’s a Facebook video to show off and garner likes because after all, that’s how “cool” is measured these days. Instead of wasting perfectly good water – because you know, in a few weeks these same people will all of a sudden turn into hippie save the world do-gooders – why not do research. Go visit someone with ALS and SEE what it does. TALK about it. 

In the end, I suppose bringing awareness to something, no matter how it’s done, is a good thing. 

Let’s see how long this lasts, until the next trendy disease to talk about comes around. 

Maybe people can light themselves on fire. 

why cottage life beats all others:

– mosquito bites that itch and annoy the crap out of you
– the scent of bug repellent
– bon fires!
– sun sets over calm waters
– tanning
– swimming
– drinks
– bbq dinners on the regular
– drinks
– snuggles under the stars
– skinny dipping
– random wild life sightings that never get boring
– hooking that ft, juicy worm and casting it as if your life depends on it
– pajama bottoms are really all you need as far as pants goes
– trees. EVERYWHERE trees
– the smell of pine and birch
– the winding roads and nauseating hills that must be taken to get there
– scenery
– country shops
– fresh strawberries!
– the scent of boat gas
– boating
– watching water skiers fall

etc. etc. etc. 
I hate coming home after one of these weekends. 

gay pride, and crap.

I don’t judge people based on their sexual orientation. In fact, I could really care less about who you decide to sleep with on your own time. It isn’t my business nor is it anyone else’s. Assuming you don’t sleep with animals or those who are underage, we’re good. Gay. Lesbian. Bisexual. Transgender. Straight. Am I missing any? 

I judge people based on their character. On whether or not they are good people. People who care about others. Who contribute to society. Who treat others with respect and dignity regardless of sexual preference, age or race. Who you sleep with is not my concern. 

That being said, I have a REAL issue with Pride weekends and the like, and here’s why: 

We live in a very very cruel world. People have been prosecuted for eons because of their sex, sexuality and race. It saddens me that this still goes on today, in a society we deem to be “civilized” which is the silliest thing I have ever heard. Although things have progressed, there are still individuals who will believe otherwise and always will. I’m not saying they’re right or condoning any malicious behaviour on their part, I’m just saying that they’re here. 

I think it is wonderful to live in a country that supports love in anyway it chooses to show: friendship. marriage – man & woman, man & man, woman & woman. 

My issue is the parade itself. I cannot see logic in having a parade in which men and women walk around nearly naked. Why? If someone can explain to me the reason behind this, I’ll listen. I don’t get it. Getting called a Dyke is apparently offensive, yet a Dyke March – so a parade full of lesbians – is ok. How… exactly is this ok? I fail to see how this furthers your cause of equality amongst everyone. If that were the case, we’d also have a straight parade full of naked hooligans. Can you imagine the uproar of having any sort of straight festivities, period? Equailty, really? 

If you want to be considered equal, then stop doing things that only segregate you. This feeds the fire of hate, believe it or not. I don’t hate you for being gay, nor will I ever, but I do think your parade is rediculous. 

Don’t even get me started on pride “culture”. 

the fault in our stars.

Mild spoiler alert. You’ve been warned.

Regarding the title in question I have read the book and most recently watched the movie. I was nervous. I am always very careful about watching movies that have been made after books I’ve read – and by careful I mean I avoid them like the plague – because I am most often disappointed. It saddens me that Hollywood and it’s inhabitants are so completely void of creativity that they have to steal from others. A long while back I read White Oleander by Janet Fitch and really enjoyed it. I thought to myself, hm, I’ll watch the movie too because after all if I enjoyed the book so much I’ll surely enjoy the movie! I have been scarred ever since. The only disappointments I would recommend no questions asked is The Shawshank Redemption & The Green Mile. Spot on. Which impresses me.

I am happy to say that this film stayed true to the book. The story line involves two main characters – Hazel & Augustus – who both have cancer. Yes, one of them dies but I won’t say who. The book took me less than a day to read – only because I happened to be reading it on a train trip. It’s a simple read, Young Adult fiction. It isn’t spectacular in any way but I was able to enjoy it for what it was – a sappy teen book which successfully allowed me to kill time on my travels. I enjoyed the movie for the same way – minus the travelling. The movie didn’t have any special effects or mind-blowing acting. And if you can watch a movie without dissecting it entirely than you may enjoy it. I was able to enjoy it because I knew the story already and I was very happy that they didn’t butcher it.

Still. Is there no creativity left in this world? I’ve had an idea for a wicked movie in my head for years, but I won’t say anything lest any of you steal it.

hiatus.

No, I’m not taking one. It seems like it’s been ages since I last updated here! I have been lacking and I apologize. Life has been somewhat hectic as of late and to be honest, I’m REALLY enjoying it. I like my time off, “me” time if you will, but I prefer to keep busy. I find that when I have too much time to do nothing my mind wanders and I hate that. Mostly because it wanders into very dark corners that I don’t like to visit. A lot of that stems from the depression. But I deal and as I said, everything is peachy.

Work has been going wonderfully. Aside from working in a long term care home, I have also started doing work for OPSWA – The Ontario Personal Support Worker Association (www.opswa.com). The only organization of it’s kind in the province of Ontario that is run by PSWs FOR PSWs. It’s a support system. It offers opportunities for continued learning. I love being a part of something that benefits the line of work I am. Seniors deserve so much more than what we give them, don’t you think?

Hmm, what else?

OH! This is pretty exciting. I have an iPhone now. What, this is old news? No no. For most of my life I have been extremely behind on the times when it comes to technology and I’ve always been ok with that. In fact, I still miss my little Samsung flip phone. …. just not as much as I thought it would. I had no interest in upgrading but found that I had to when I started doing work for OPSWA. Some of these App things are pretty neat! I can check my weekly flyers on my phone! Technology still creeps me out but I think I can like it.

Also, I am now on twitter should that interest you.
And instagram.

You can find on both @ @apswlife

a psws journey.

For those of you who don’t know, I also write another blog on here about my life as a personal support worker in a long term care facility. Through out this blog and my twitter account I have been fortunate to come in contact with others in the industry who love it as much as I do. So much so, that I have been commissioned to write articles for this wonderful site http://www.pswhq.com which is dedicated to everything PSW related in Ontario. Recently I was asked if I would be interested in taking part in a podcast interview to talk more in depth about the field. Well, needless to say I jumped at the opportunity and I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Please take a listen and share it around if so inclined.

PSWHQ 003 : The Journey of An Ideal Personal Support Worker with Stefanie Nucci

listen to the music.

I am not a huge fan when it comes to cover songs. I am generally of the opinion that if you can’t create your own music then quite mooching off of others. If you insist on doing a cover than atleast do it RIGHT. Does everyone recall Britney Spears’ cover of Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones? Or Lenny Kravitz doing a poor rendition of American Woman by The Guess Who? It loses it’s appeal when it isn’t being sung by a Canadian my dear. All that being said, I absolutely adore this cover. I’m a little slow when it comes to media hype so eventhough this might be old news to some of you, it’s new to me. And this is my blog so I can do what I want.