negatory on the raise

So my company with many others has decided to push off giving raises to their employees due to the 'economic situation'. Off course this comes with lots of anger from the employees. Lots of people have talked about applying elsewhere. I've certainly thought about it. While I am relatively happy where I am, thoughts of higher pay & seeing what else is out there have definitely entered my mind. What's holding me back? My lazy ass basically. Though I finally started updating my resume about a month ago, I stopped half way through because it got frustrating. It's hard pumping yourself up and talking about your job while highlighting what you did there. It's easy to have a conversation and tell people what I do but putting it down in a few lines is another story. I wonder how many people don't apply elsewhere because they can't get around to updating their resume.

I came across this wonderful post from squawkfox which talks about the dos & don't of resumes which reminded me again that mines been sitting on my computer half finished. I think I'll try taking a stab at it again over the break. Hey I don't celebrate christmas so I have no excuses for not working on it (i.e. family obligations).

snow storm

So it's snowing & I was one of those people that went to work. Left @ 12 & a 30min drive took me an hour. Saw lots of crazy driving & am glad I am home. It was definitely not a fun drive home. I can't even imagine rush hour driving. I know we live in Canada & all but if I can stay home during a snow storm, I will.

was supposed to go out w/ the bf tonight but the snow storm is keeping me indoors. @least I am saving some money I guess :S

Aveda Academy Haircut

Tomorrow I am going to the Aveda Academy downtown Toronto to get my haircut. I've been there twice before. Once w/ the more advanced level students downstairs ($35) and was very happy and a second time w/ the beginner students ($11) and was kinda meh about it. So trying it again downstairs @ the $35 place. I figure if it's as good as last time I was there, it'll be a good deal.

Smart Set Sale

Smart Set is having a 25% off everything in their store sale. Normally I wait for items to go on sale but one thing that hardly ever goes on sales are their satiny tank tops. Sometimes, colours get discontinued & that colour will go on sale but hardly ever does the black & white ones go on sale so I took this opportunity to buy them.

Bah Humbug

So I realized as I drove to the mall this weekend and struggled to find parking @ 11am in the morning that it's that wonderful time of year again. Christmas! Coming from a non christian family who didn't only came to Canada in the 1990s, Christmas is something we had never celebrated. As a kid, I was always envious of people that came back from Christmas break with pretty new things to show off.

Now however, as I've gotten older, it is one thing I am glad I don't participate in. I love the idea of friends & family coming together. Buying gifts however is something I do not enjoy especially when I feel obligated to get them. I mean if I feel I should get somebody a gift, I'll do it. I don't want to be told that I should getting somebody a gift in the spirit of the season. Lord knows how much money I'd be throwing away on gifts people didn't need. Those baskets of bath & body things & such.

What amazes me even more is people going broke buying gifts for people. I guess as somebody that doesn't celebrate the season I just don't get it. It would probably be different had I grown up with a Christmas every season. But I think it should be about the effort made & gestures as opposed to the dollar value of the item. I was in EB games this weekend & they were saying how the Wii & Wii Fit were sold out! These items together cost a few hundred dollars! & chances people receiving these gifts are also getting other items on top of them. I guess you can label me a scrooge but I just don't get it.

Gmail stickers for postage

Well as I was logging into Gmail today, I saw this link for GMail stickers. I have some very dorky friends who would be quite happy to display these. I remember when I was in uni & having firefox stickers on your laptop was the cool thing then. Cool? maybe that isn't the right word but in my program it was. Well it looks like Gmail is offering to send you some stickers if you send them a self addressed stamped envelope.

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/get-your-gmail-stickers.html

Going out can be expensive

It's been an expensive weekend. ugh, ugh, ugh.

Movie: $10
Dinner on Friday night: $15
Groceries: $29
Gas: $30
Car oil change: $50
Makeup: $3. Cheap but it was still unnecessary & I am having buyers remorse.
Snack: $3
Dinner & drinks w/ the girls: $40

So in the matter of two days, I've spent ~$200! Granted about ~$100 were necessities: The oil change & groceries & gas. But half of that was avoidable or could have been minimized. I think the worst was dinner & drinks w/ the girls. The thing was I felt pressured to giving in to purchase a drink & dessert just because everybody else was. I don't know why I felt that way but I didn't want to be the one debbie downer that didn't order any alcohol. I really should have stood my ground or ordered a beer or something instead of a $7 glass of wine & an $8 plate of dessert that I couldn't even finish.