Jenobi's World

The sun finally came out today, timely with Spring just arriving a few days ago. In addition to the warmer weather, the birds chirping and the flowers beginning to pop up through the topsoil, my continuing blooming personal life is also stretching upwards toward the sun. This upcoming weekend brings on a milestone in any relationship - the traditional "holiday meeting of the boyfriend". Easter is this weekend and he is coming to dinner at my parents home. As he said, "The pressure is on!". My family is far from religious so this dinner is more of a gathering of our busy siblings and their better halves, and children. With all of our responsibilities at our various careers, it's virtually impossible to lasso the herd, and the intermittent holidays seem to tweak our instincts to return home, like salmon returning to their creek to spawn. I decided, since my man has no family out west, that he might enjoy the warmth in his belly of a home cooked meal and the...

Well, it's the end of February and I'm officially in a relationship. It has been over 3 years since I've been tied down and I'm actually giddy. Somehow this man found me after 3 years. He disappeared when he moved to East Van, and he regrets not asking me out before he moved. I am blown away that he returned, like a cat that ran away, and now has returned to his home. After dating him, before deciding to make it official, I realized that we have more in common than I ever did before, when we were bar buddies. From little trivial things like owning a cookoo clock and liking WWII planes, to having similar lifestyles and ideals, we are such and easy match. Two pieces of a puzzle that fit like a glove. Even when there is silence, we are comfortable. I'm not even crossing my fingers....it just works. Maybe 2016 and the year of the monkey is finally my year!!!!!

I have to admit, I haven't been on a date in very long time. Now, whether or not this was an actual date at first, I believe turned into one during the evening. Movie, dinner and drinks was the plan. I was excited, not only to see an old friend from the 'ole watering hole', but we were going to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I have been a Star Wars fan since I was 9 years old, and I know seeing this movie could be either awesome or disappointing, but at least going with him would give us less awkward moments of silence. He is pretty shy but I remembered how he broke through his shell a bit when we hung out, so when we met up in the theatre, I was happy to see it wasn't awkward at all. He had reserved the perfect seats in the theatre via computer, giving us the ease of just walking in, picking up drinks and sitting without the seat search. Great small talk, some giggles over the 3D glasses and the lights went low. The reclining seats were comfortable but did make...

My eyes, blurry from the festivities of the previous evening, squinted at the blinding light shining through my bedroom window. A faint purring could be heard behind me as my fluffy cat slept peacefully. It's a new year, 2016, and my first thought was of coffee. Once I stirred, BeBe, my newest edition of my furry companion collection, was sitting up starting at me with her crooked marble blue eyes. She no doubt had been waiting all morning for her breakfast and was purring waiting for my two feet to hit the ground. The plan today was to watch the new year revellers jump into the chilly water for the annual polar bear swim. Then head into the bar and cheer in the new year with my friends. As I sipped my coffee I smiled at the memory of the past 2 weeks off. I focused not on trying to buy the perfect gifts, rushing all over town in a chaotic mess. This year I promised myself it's not about what you give but the giving itself. I have been blessed this year with many great things...

Silence....This blog site has been quiet for over a month. I didn't actually push PAUSE on my life, although it definitely felt like it. In the midst of a life hiatus, I managed to find a place to hang my jacket for 8 hours a day. Although it is not in that dream job, it is employment, and for now, I am happy to be earning a wage. I am still in the industry of cooking, albeit a bit off on a tangent. I am cooking on food trucks at my old university, which is less cooking and mostly customer service. I have always thought of myself as someone who should always be behind the doors which divide the kitchen from the customers, as I have managed to increase my kitchen vocabulary to heights which would embarrass even myself, but apparently I have a skill with clientele as my new job. I am actually good at serving people, at least through a mobile food truck window. So I am currently working there, earning a union wage and slowly feeling the creativity shrivel in my body. Henc...

It has been almost a month of unemployment and I'm going a bit stir crazy. It's not like I haven't been looking for work, as I have been sending out resumes almost daily. I just haven't had any desire to want to be a cook anymore, and with that massive obstacle in my way, my desire to job search is obsolete. It's been hard for me to even enjoy food itself, meals only being used for fuel, rather than enjoyment. I have spent over 25 years in this restaurant industry and it has run me dry. My last experience open wounds that won't heal and I am reluctant to find another similar job, in fear that those scars will reopen immediately. Everyone knows the infamous line: "Same shit, different pile" - I know that it is true and avoiding it is impossible in this industry.  Passion is one thing I have been looking at in myself lately, trying to search for something I would love to do that would always motivate me no matter what. I know that here is a large ch...

So, I had a discussion the other night with a friend about little things that comfort you; things people do that instantly brings you back to your childhood. We both discovered we sucked our thumbs when we were kids and that brought on the topic of instant gratification. It's interesting how anyone can smell, hear, taste, feel or see something that emotionally brings you through an internal time warp and places you in that specific situation from when it happened, and then your brain brings up all of the emotional responses from that time. For example, when I see a Gerber baby food commercial, my mind makes my mouth do what babies do when they eat. Of course I don't physically do the action, but I recognize that I am fighting - my mind vs body - to actually carry out the action. The internal feeling is an uncontrollable reaction in response to a stimulation of one or more of my senses. I personally love it when it happens. Last night, and this morning, I had one of those ...