It's My Life

MY CHRISTMAS STAFF PARTY AND GIG WITH MINOR HOCKEY

Last night our staff at the Lacombe Globe held our Christmas party as part of the first annual Firemans Ball held at the Lacombe Memorial Centre.

The night was definetely an eventful one, filled with booze, food, socializing, prizes, auctions, and a live band. Although I never won I prize, I was handed a bunch of drinking tickets near the end of the night when most people left. Our staff at the Globe shared what we could, but there was just too much to do all that.

There were some cool items being auctioned off, including autographed NHL jerseys of Hall-of-Famers Bobby Orr and Paul Coffee. The Orr jersey went for $2,300, while Coffee's top bid was $1,500. As much as I would've like a jersey like either of those, they were out of my price range.

Then there were items that people paid a fortune for that weren't that appealing, like Christmas trees that went for $1,000 and an ugly brown rug that went for $800. I guess these trades workers in the gold mine province of Alberta have been running out of ways to empty their thick wallets.

I did receive some encouraging comments while I was there. Wayne Popow, the coach of the Bantam Raiders football team in town, told me I'm the best sports reporter this town has had in at least seven years. To get feedback like that after having only lived here five months is great.

My night wouldn't have been complete without a little chick hunting. I talked to a few local nurses for a while. Unfortunately, the one I started talking to ended up dancing with another when I was talking to her married friend. It turned out the one I talked to first was a little older at 32 years of age. She told me how she used to work at the hospital in Prince George in 1996, which would've put me in grade eight still.

Today I nursed a hangover, and took photos for the Lacombe Minor Hockey Association. It's a separate gig I'm doing for extra money, which is always nice. I still have at least two more nights of doing it, before I get them processed and framed. It's something I've always wanted to get into on the side, so to get to do it this week is a bonus.

It's off to work again tomorrow for what'll be the start of another busy week full of days like this - wake up, eat, shower, work, lunch, work, dinner, work, sleep. I have more Minor Hockey photos tomorrow, then Tuesday is Blackfalds Town Council, Wednesday is more Minor Hockey and who knows what Thursday will bring.

STRANGE INDEED - GOING TO PRINCE GEORGE FOR A WEEK NEXT MONTH!

When I look outside in the morning, and see the frost that covers my car, I still can't believe the summer is so long ago. Where was the fall? This past summer had to be one of the worst in a while. July had a few decent days, August had some real bad ones, and October was nicer than September. Ya, it was strange.

Speaking of strange, on Wednesday my damn alarm never went off, and I slept in until like 10:45 a.m. Luckily I was able to recover, put in extra time last night (stayed at the office until about 1 a.m.) and still managed one of my most productive weeks since I started at the Lacombe Globe. Let me add that I'm also taking ringette photos this week for National Ringette Week in the Globe, so to say this week has been busy is an understatement.

Work is keeping me busy, which is nice because if I wasn't working here I probably wouldn't be doing much of anything. Yet when I'm not working I wish I had more social activities to take part in. The problem is I don't always know what nights I'll have free. Sports events just pop up, and some nights I have to work late.

I miss the social aspect of school, the parties, the younger crowd, the excitement. That just doesn't happen as much in Lacombe and when the only excitement I'm around is as a reporter, the thrill isn't the same. Being the centre of attention can certainly have more appeal, plus you don't have to worry about accuracy, objectivity and all that. I just like the attention on myself and not on someone else sometimes. I can only observe for so long.

I guess reasons such as my job, lack of many non-work related friends (I have some, but they exist in areas outside Lacombe like Calgary and Edmonton), and the same old news in Lacombe is why I'm excited about going back to my hometown of Prince George for a full week over Christmas. It'll give me a chance to relive a little bit of my teenhood, go out for drinks with old friends, catch up with my family, and not think about journalism for a full week.

My flight is secured already. I'm flying out of Edmonton International on Dec. 24 and flying back on Jan. 1. A bonus is that my return flight doesn't leave the PG Airport until 6:40 p.m. so I'll have plenty of time to nurse a hangover. Hooray, its back to the mountains for a week (in only 36 days). I'll definetely have to do some snowboarding.