The Summary

Long time no post. Which is a bit odd since lots has been happening. So in point form, the following has occurred:

* Fancy and I briefly checked out Best Man dresses and I tried on one that made me look smokin'. You may or may not see it next year, we haven't decided yet.
* I had a housewarming tea at my not so new apartment for my family followed by a housewarming dinner for a few friends. Things went well - except where my cousin's gorgeous red corduroy jacket leaked dye onto my tan couch (got it out with much Folex and scrubbing) and where S and I spilt 3 times between us on my white tablecloth (also came out with bleach).
* Rod came back from Australia and brought me a super cool hat!
* I went to a conference in Merritt for work (and where I wore my super cool hat to a barn dance). It was pretty good. Attended various seminars, mostly on transplants and forensics, and made some contacts. I also drove the Coquihalla Hwy for the first time.
* Cooking lessons with my grandma continue and we held Thanksgiving dinner at her house. I made cranberry sauce from scratch and actually liked it. So much better than the stuff from a can.
* Lori and her family came to visit! Had lots of fun playing with the babies and visiting with her. We even had a board game night at my house - first time since January. Roddie got his fix. Pics.
* Birthday Festivus commenced on Oct 27 (I took the week off work) and Angie and I went to Rocky Horror at the Ridge theatre. Both of us dressed as Magenta, from different scenes in the movie. Had a blast.
* Angie and I went to Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sing A Long. Two episodes of Buffy, with the second one being a subtitled version of Once More With Feeling. And yes, the whole theatre sings a long. I love geeks like me. Angie only went because she knew I wanted to go as part of Birthday Festivus and she was quite surprised by how fun she found it.
* Hallowe'en! Woohoo! My favourite holiday. Dad decorated the house and this year we dressed up as Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. I handed out candy and Dad scared medium sized children. My fav moment all night was when a neighbourhood kid, about 3 yrs old, took a half hour to come up the driveway because he had to look at absolutely everything (including the 11 jack o'lanterns from the pumpkin carving party). Pics.
* 30th birthday. arghblah. It was less painful than I thought. Actual birthday was spent at a family dinner, followed by drinks with Rod and Fancy. The next night, S threw me a party at her house. I discovered I lurv raspberry vodka and seven.
* Somewhere in here, I applied for a maternity leave position at my company in the business dept. I land an interview and then a short list interview and then the job! Starts December 10 and is all days. First time in nearly 8 years that I'll be working days. I wonder how I'll cope..... It will be pretty weird though - totally different than my last few positions that's for sure.
* Roddie and Fancy gave me a Buffy calendar (ymmmm, Spike....) and a ticket to the Oilers/Canucks game. The other ticket became Rod's Christmas present. The game itself was a bit slow (unlike the one in Edmonton tonight!) with a 0-0 score. Ends in a shootout, and ends badly for this Canuck fan. Yes, that's right. I converted!!
* I went to speed dating again - and had a blast. This story continues, but trust me, I'm having fun.

Best Weekend Ever

Spent the weekend camping in Elaho Valley, which is past Squamish. Something like 20 miles on bad road, plus 27 miles on gravel/pothole road. My car never would have made it, so I'm very glad S and C were willing to give me a ride. Got there quite late on Friday night, about 1030pm. Put my tent up by headlamp which was a first for me. Right on the sand, by the river. Spent the nights hanging out by the bonfire and the days just lounging around. Skipped some rocks, froze my hands washing dishes in the river which killed any possible ideas I had of swimming, took some naps, read a bit. I took some of those peanut butter blossom cookies with me, and they were quite popular. A dozen was not enough. Really, it was the perfect weekend. Got back around 7pm Monday and was just hated the whole work return thing. Pics if you are interested

Recipe post

1) Had a really good time during my weekend in Shuswap. Spent most of Saturday on White Lake, sitting on a barge. I'd swim in the lake, dry off on the barge while reading my book, and swim in the lake. The drive back was loooonnnggggg. Construction, plus rain = argh. And I was a sleeping passenger so I had it easy!

2) Dating. I've gone out with several guys as of late, but the only thing I have to say about any of my recent dates has been - "It's fine." Fine. And I don't mean, woohoo, he's fine, I mean, it didn't suck. They were all nice, easy to talk to, seem okay. But...... Something lacks!

3) I baked like crazy last weekend and froze most of it for the housewarming/tea party I plan to have in late September. And before you mock my tea party, most of the invitees will be family members and it's an afternoon thing. There will be the odd beer, but mostly Coke and cookies. And the whole point of this point is the following recipe, so amazing! It's on the back of the hershey mini kisses bag. And apparently it's warmer in my apt than I thought because I just got out the bag of chocolate and it's slightly mushy.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

* HERSHEY'S Mini Kisses
* 1/2 cup shortening or butter
* 3/4 cup creamy Peanut Butter
* 1/3 cup granulated sugar
* 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 3 tablespoons milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* Granulated sugar (for rolling at end)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. 2. Cream together shortening, peanut butter in large bowl, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. 3. Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet. 4. Bake 5-6 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 9 dozen cookies.

4) Going camping again this weekend. Probably the last trip of the year. Should probably get organized tonight, but I sense I won't.

Two in a row

1) I saw my first real skunk today. I tried to get a picture, but it ran away, and I do know enough to know not to chase anything that has the potential to stink that bad.

2) I mentioned I joined a new gym. Got in a couple of good workouts and did weights yesterday. Apparently overdid it as the muscles connecting my arms to my body HURT and so do my quads. Turns out I lift my arms a lot at work. A lot.

3) My grandma is so cool. I really mean that. I love hanging out with her. Tonight, my family had dinner with her and she told the following story (it's about 1942, England, and my great-grandfather was a policeman): On Saturdays, my little sister Gwen and I would go into town to attend the village dance. After the dance, our two soldier friends would walk us home and it was just walking. No funny business! In fact, I think they were married, but they liked to dance. One night as we were walking home, Gwen whispered to me, "Father is behind that tree!" I looked over and there he was! My Father, the bobby, was on duty and following us home! That night when I got home, I wrote in my diary that Spy Number 1 had followed us. The next day, my diary disappeared and it was never returned.

She laughed so much as she recalled that story. I love hearing stories about her growing up, working during the war, living in London during the Blitz, meeting my grandfather, moving to Canada....

4) Weekend!

Happy Move-iversary!

Wow, it's been one year to the day that I moved to Vancouver. It doesn't feel like a year, it feels like forever. My ten year hiatus in Edmonton is kind of dream sequence really.

So was this a good decision? Yes, clearly. I like my job (most days anyway!), I love love love my apartment, I like being near my family (dinner with Grandma tomorrow), and it's been great picking up where I left off with my high school girls. Am I 100% happy? Of course not. A certain something (someone) is lacking from my life, but this was the same situation in Edmonton (I'm working on it though, perhaps there will be good posts in the near future. Lots of "learning experiences" though. Although this will most likely only be a revelation to me, turns out I'm not at all attracted to guys like me, by which I mean techno/science geeks. If at any time on a date, I think "wow, we have a lot in common", it pretty much seems to mean he's doomed.). Am I happier than I was in Edmonton? Yes. I have trees and mountains and frequent hugs.

Do I miss Edmonton? No. Except sometimes I dream of the mall. And I do miss certain people and certain things. Post workout Booster Juice with Erin and Kim (Oh hey, I joined a new gym, more like WHC. Open late and only 2 blocks from work, so no more excuses.) Chats over tea at Cargo and James. Game nights at Lori and Rob's. Pool at BPs. Julio's nachos and margaritas. Anytime Jay tells me I missed pie night, I get wildly jealous - which is odd since I never went when I lived there. I think Edmonton people should roadtrip to Vancouver. I have a sofa bed!

This weekend is a big birthday party fest for 2 friends. I think I'll pretend it's an anniversary party for me!

The Camping Post

My only excuse is that I was on vacation. Well for part of the last month anyway. To make up for it, a Friday post!

Edited entries from my camping journal

July 28 - Got to the campground early, but our site was ready anyway. Tents went up fast, but the tarp was difficult as the trees refuse to cooperate. After lunch, we explored the trails around the campsite for about an hour. Dad and I went for another walk in the afternoon through the interpretative area (with no signage) and the Trail of the Fallen Giants.

July 29 - Officially a family camping trip now as it rained. Walked from the campsite at Gold Creek to Lower Falls, wearing our rain ponchos. Basic trail, fairly popular, the falls were nice. Probably about 6.5K return. Back by lunch. Went for another afternoon walk with dad to the Tiarella Nature Trail, about 1.5 hours.

July 30 - Hike planned to Lake Beautiful today, starting at Mike Lake. First part of the trail called Incline Trail - 1.2K UP. And up and up... We then walked along fire access roads and short cuts through forest, including old growth. We got to the final turnoff to Lake Beautiful, after about 2.5 hours of hiking, to discover it was completely overgrown. We had lunch in a mosquito filled clearing (quickly!) and headed back. About 12K since we didn't go all the way up.

July 31 - Dad and I went kayaking in Alouette Lake in the morning. I had serious steering issues on the paddle out, and zigzagged my way along. It was way easier on the way back, even though it was into the wind and waves. Ended up with blisters on both hands! We walked back to camp via the Alouette Valley Trail and Menzies Trail. About 6K.

Aug 1 - Last full day. Did the East Canyon Trail from the Lower Falls parking lot to where it connected with Gold Creek. Very pretty. Had lunch on a rock/sand beach. Decided to go wading and discovered it's glacier fed! Managed to slowly work my way up to my knees over a 30 min period and it didn't seem so cold anymore. So I went swimming - for about 3 seconds. It was so cold, I practically forgot how to make my limbs work. Dried off in the sun and hiked back to a connecting trail (ie goat trail) that linked up with Lower Falls. Until today, had only seen a couple of people on the trails, but when we got to the Lower Falls trail, there were lots. We had only been spared them on the first day by the rain.

Had a really good trip. Couldn't believe how close to the city we were (about an hour from my parents' in light traffic), and yet it's all 80 year old forest. Beautiful.

So if this works, you should be able to click this link and see all my photos (44).
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=11483&l=efe6b&id=551746582

Want to go kayaking?

Just in case you care, my latest version of my bedroom curtains turned out fine. I don't love them, but they work.

I had a nearly perfect weekend - the only thing that would have made it better would have been having Friday off. Saturday, I met up with an old college friend (Jen) for coffee. We probably hadn't seen each other in 3 years, but it's been 7 since we spent any quality time together. We spent a couple of hours together catching up and before I left, I met her new girlfriend who seems very sweet. We completely intend to get together again. That night, I went kayaking for the first time. I now have a new love and can't wait to try it again. Since I had zero experience, I went in the front of a double kayak, so I didn't learn to steer with the rudder pedals and really want to try that. I've got to figure out when I can go again. We finished around sundown, about 9pm, so I spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Rod and Fancy. My kind of day - social and active!

This morning, I climbed the Grouse Grind again and am amazingly impressed with my new time. I felt slow, although I only stopped to let people pass and to take a water break at the 1/4 marks, so I was shocked to discover my new record was 1 hour 21 minutes. Shaved 9 minutes off! My goal of breaking 1 hr 15 seems actually possible. Afterwards I drove to my parents to borrow their driveway and hose to wash my car. I wanted to save a whole $10 by not taking it to the drive thru carwash, but I think the amount of effort I expended and the quality of the wash I did has proven to me that the $10 I spend is well worth it.

ohhhh - I know what I wanted to blog about! I parallel parked for the first time since buying my car last August! And it worked on the first try! Woohoo!! (Of course, when I had to parallel park again later the same day, it didn't go as well, but I'm still basking in the joy of my first one.)

Darn it, only 15 minutes until Monday.

Point by point

Point 1. I made curtains for my bedroom on Saturday. It looked terrible. 288 inches of hemming times 2 and it sucked. Remade them over the last two days and I am going to go hang them up after I finish writing this. If they suck as well, I'm giving up.

Point 2. I made cushions for the chair to match the ones that came with the couch. They look great. And they should. $59 of fabric = 2 cushions!

Point 3. I swallowed a bug while running tonight. I hate that.

Point 4. I saw Transformers on Sunday with my sister. Highly recommend it. 4 stars, easy! But I would like to know why in the hell the only washroom at the Strawberry Hill cinema is at the far end and up the stairs! Practically a marathon when you are missing a movie you like.

I feel like I should have a Point 5, but it's too frickin' hot to think anymore.

Happy Belated Canada Day

Busy long weekend - especially since it started Thursday with my dad's birthday. Had supper at my parents and treated my dad to Pirates 3. Pretty good, definitely a fun movie, but it could have used tighter editing in the beginning. It did not need to be 168 mins long.

Friday, Rod, Fancy, Holly and I went to the Richmond Night Market. It's kind of a giant flea market, but with new goods instead of used, and fairway food. Fancy bought a Winnie the Pooh wallet and a scarf. Rodney bought lamb on a stick. :)

Saturday was a great day - Pitch n Putt in Stanley Park (I suck! Par 3 and I averaged 5 strokes per hole. My best was a 4) followed by a walk on the seawall. Dinner and drinks on the Milestones' patio, watching the sun set over English Bay. I don't associate Vancouver with the water for some insane reason (mountains, trees, yes, but I forget about the ocean *L*), so it was a big reminder to why this place is so beautiful.

Sunday was a productive day. Caulked the bathtub (way messier than I ever thought possible! I knew the caulking tube was old - from the Edmonton apt - but it had been properly sealed. The caulk itself was perfectly fine. Too bad the plastic making up the tube was not. As soon I started squeezing, the back seam burst open! I managed to get enough caulk to finish the tub, but I was covered in Gloss White). Painted behind the toilet (somehow got missed when the room was done originally and every time I had a bath, I could see it). Patched the kitchen ceiling from when we changed the light fixture (still need to paint it, maybe Thursday). Patched and painted the bedroom window from the damage caused by jamming a too big blind in a too small space. Fixed my desk drawer so now it doesn't open by itself. Finally hung all my paintings. I'm actually getting moved in around here. Most of the stuff left on the to-do list requires help. Finished off the night hanging out with Rod, Fancy and Holly at BPs.

Today I went for a walk on Bowen Island with my family. To my shock, the non-rain continued (I think it's called sunshine) and we went for a 3 hour stroll along Killarney Lake. I took my pack with about 20 lbs in it, just to make things slightly more challenging. Should have added more weight, since I really want to get used to my centre of gravity being off when I have a full pack.

There is a meme going around that I think sounds fun. If you are interested, I will make a picture post. Ask me to take a picture of something/anything (ok, within reason, it's got to be something I'm willing to post on the net) in my world and I will post it here.

So in the spirit of Canada's 140th birthday, I will end with some useless facts. Canada Day was originally called Dominion Day and the name wasn't officially changed until 1982. Red and White became our official colours in 1921, but we didn't get the maple leaf flag until 1965. Aren't you glad you know that now?

Update

Oops. Two weeks since my last post. I swear it's not my new addiction to facebook, but the incredibly lousy internet connection I've been suffering from. It's been so bad that I've been doing other things. I spent a large amount of time on the phone with my service provider last night though, and it appears (fingers crossed) to be fixed.

So - weekend one. Cooking lessons! My grandmother taught me to make bread. Sooooo yummy. I'd made bread on my own before, but it was always heavy and non-fluffy. I learned some tricks (scald the milk and let cool) and how to knead properly, which is what makes the real difference. Darn it, I shouldn't be typing about this. I know I still have two loaves in the freezer. On Sunday, Rod and I did the Grouse Grind, his first, my second. It was much easier the second time, as the mental energy was there. I knew what was ahead and I knew I could it. Rod had a difficult time though. I waited for him at both the 1/4 and 1/2 marks, but once he made the 1/2 , I knew he'd be able to finish and arranged to met him at the top. My total time was 1h 33min, slightly slower than before, but that includes my wait times. I don't want to just minus the time I waited because I was more rested for the next sections when I started again. Later that day, my sister and I made dinner for my parents for Father's Day. Peanut chicken skewers and roasted veggies. Poor dad - had to watch us kids use his bbq :)

Weekend two - went camping with various people. So much fun. I love being outside. I used my new backpack and carried most of what I needed - 43lbs on my back. Didn't have a cook stove though or a water filter, as I borrowed those. Got to use my new sleeping bag - so warm, thank god, as it hailed our last morning. Went for a nice hike on Saturday and we really lucked out with the weather. Most of the weekend was dry.

Long weekend approaching! Holly is coming to Vancouver for the weekend. I also want to work on my To-Do list that I've been ignoring for months. We'll see what happens.

June, part deux

Spent the last three days sleeping, so no time to blog. Can't believe how unconscious I wanted to be all the time. Hard to type when your eyes are closed. Started Sunday night, after my family went out to celebrate my sister's college graduation. Clearly, they slipped some serious knock out drugs into my food because I went to slept at 930pm and over the next 36 hours, I slept 30.
Up until that point, my weekend had been okay. Spent most of it with S, my friend of 25 years or so (and last weekend's bday girl).
Saturday morning, S and I climbed the Grouse Grind. My very first time. It's hell I tell you, sheer hell, and yet I'm already planning to do it again. It's a 2.9 km (1.8 mile) hike, straight up. 853 meters (2800 ft) gain in elevation. The closest thing to flat you experience is maybe 2 or 3 steps in a row, and I think that only happened once. The trail is marked into quarter sections. The first quarter is evil incarnate. I kept thinking I was going to die. I started wheezing 30 seconds into it and never stopped. How and WHY do people do this? S was waiting for me at the quarter mark and told me it was the worst of the four, that if I could do that section, I could finish it. Thankfully she was right, because if any of the following sections had been like the first, I might have considered trying to roll back down the mountain. The second section was probably the easiest, the third the prettiest (although hard to tell as it was pouring rain), and the fourth required me to activate Monkey Mode and use all four limbs to get up stairs/rocks. Some sections are log steps, some sections are rock fall, some are (muddy) dirt path, but they all involve serious incline. More than a few times I wasn't sure my stumpy legs would stretch far enough. My time - 1 hr 30 min. Apparently the average time. I'd love to get that down to 1 hr 15. The gondola ride back down the mountain was great, I see why it's a tourist thing (even in the rain).
That night we went to a friend's 30th birthday party in Burnaby. After the party ended, we went to a bar in North Van, one that I had never been to before. As S put it - always make sure you are drunk before going there. Eep. To those you know me well, I can best describe the situation by telling you I started drinking beer. Vile stuff, but required.
The following pic was taken at my sister's grad dinner on Sunday. So either I was definitely getting sick or I've recently died and no one has notified me. I like the pic itself, but I had no idea how pale I am. Ok, yes, I knew I was pale, but Anne Rice material? Admittedly, my dad has a tan from working outside, but still.....

Really, June?

The weekend summary: Friday, I worked but got off early enough to do some baking. Rod and Fancy came over and kept me company while I cooked and I got to admire her bling. Her engagement ring is very pretty and almost made me like diamonds.

Saturday was possibly one of my weirdest days ever. I got to be both a hard core geek and a party girl in the same day! I drove to Vancouver (for only the third time since I moved here, it's scary!) to pick up JDG for our second date. He picked something that I was totally, completely, utterly into (and all my Vancouver friends have mocked me hard for). A friend of his runs an independent video store and was hosting an event at a local theatre - a showing of 2 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer including a sing-a-long to the Once More With Feeling musical episode! Ok, stop laughing now. I own the soundtrack and love it! To his surprise, the 200 tickets had sold out, but we managed to buy a pair off someone whose friends did not show up (first really perfect summer Saturday, why be inside unless you are geek). We watched Doppelgangland (hmmm, telling a guy you own the Evil Willow costume on a second date... good idea or bad idea? *L*), had a trivia intermission, followed by Once More with Feeling. JDG hadn't seen it before, but I had, numerous times. Singing along and laughing with 200 people is such an amazingly weird good time. Almost Rocky Horror like, but less objects thrown. I hadn't realized there were going to be 2 shows, so when it ended, I had to hurry to get to my evening plans and drove him home.

The reason I was in a hurry was Saturday night was a surprise party for my best childhood friend and I had details to take care of! It was being held at her house, so we had to decorate while she was out for dinner with her boyfriend. He gave us the heads up call just before they left the restaurant, blind folded her, drove her home an indirect route with lots of turns, and piggy backed her down the driveway so she wouldn't realize where they were. She really had no idea because we could hear her talking as they came around to the back of the house where we hiding - "I can't believe you are making me wear a blindfold in public, what if someone sees me!". We were really dying from the effort not to laugh, but as he took off the blindfold, we all yelled surprise while she did the classic double take and started hitting him. The rest of the evening was nice, presents, pie instead of cake, a few drinks (just a few, really, I swear!). My weird looking appetizers that I baked Friday were apparently tasty as there were just a few left - Savory Cheddar Cookies with Jalapeno Jelly. Sound weird, look weird, but they are basically baked cheese balls rolled in crushed pecans with hot pickle centers. Okay, they really sound weird. I'd make them again though, I liked them. Had an odd moment somewhere after midnight. If you had told me on June 2, 2006, that one year from then I'd be in Vancouver, I would have told you that you were crazy. If you had told me that I'd be in Vancouver listening to ALAN JACKSON, I would have told you to stop taking drugs. It was bizarre. Bizarre, yet fun.

Had my first Starbucks frappucino in years yesterday when us girls met for coffee. Soooo good. I want another one. Now.

Oh - and happy birthday wishes go out to Kirsten who also had a birthday on June 2. Hope you had a good time!

First Hike of the Season

Finally went hiking this year! Three of us have new packs and decided it was time to break them in and do some training for more serious hikes later in the year. We went up to Lynn Headwaters (near my parents' place) and hiked up to Norvan Falls. About 15km round trip. It was absolutely perfect. The sun couldn't quite break through the clouds, so it wasn't hot at all. Tshirt and pants weather. Only put on my fleece jacket while we had lunch in the shade, sitting next to Norvan creek. Took us about 5 hours, including 3 generous snack breaks. My legs were a bit sore coming back on the gravel road, but not too bad. My pack was about 18 lbs so next time out I'll add maybe 5 more lbs. My sleeping bag for starters, got to figure out how to stuff that thing properly so it fits in the designated spot for it. I also want to buy a camera case that I can attach to the front of my pack. The only suitable pocket for my camera isn't accessible when the pack is on, so I hardly took any pics since I had to take my pack off first.

Spent Saturday night in NV as my complex had a sewer back up in the building across the lot. I wasn't affected at all, but no flushing allowed! It was pretty lucky actually - my parents had picked up my refinished coffee table (it is absolutely amazing! Looks brand new with a gorgeous dark red finish) and drove it out to my place. They were the ones who discovered the note explaining the situation and called me on my cell to tell me not to bother coming home! When I got back Sunday afternoon, all was well. Spent the rest of the day playing with my music on the computer, ripping CDs and trying to sort it all out. I need new music for the car, for those evil rush hour days.

Random!

Facebook, baby. It's where all the cool internet addicts are these days. Join, so I can tag you in photos more easily!

Why do all my fav shows end on a cliffhanger?! I promise, I'd come back anyway. I love you, TV. And *cries* - Crossing Jordan and Veronica Mars have been canceled. At least I still have a bunch of VM eps sitting on my computer still to be watched.

I tried putting this product called Soft Claws on Fuzzy tonight. They are like nail covers that grow out with his nails and last about 4-8 weeks. They keep his nails from doing any damage and are supposedly very very safe. It's been about 15 minutes and he's managed to remove at least 3. We'll see how it goes. I like my new couch and would prefer to not keep putting double sided sticky tape on it to keep him from scratching. Totally my fault though, I let him claw the 1970s couch to his heart's content, so teaching him that the new one is off limits is quite difficult. He's doing pretty good so far, just despises the sticky tape and avoids it.

And...... I have a date tomorrow. I leave you with that tidbit.

Weekend

Weirdly nice long weekend, considering that I had to work. Friday, after work, I went to my friend's house, where we amused ourselves by watching the guys drink and by baking cookies. Even though her oven sucketh (who has ever heard of an oven that is 350F on the dial, but 400F on the thermometer and the temp goes up when you turn the dial down??), the cookies turned out mostly okay. They looked good, but watching 3 drunk guys devour cookies is no indication of the tastiness. I had to try one for proof. For future reference, always make your cookies with chocolate chips and skor bits.

Working Saturdays would actually be great, if it wasn't Saturday. Super busy, followed by gentle lulls where you can take a relaxed break, followed by super busy. After, Rod and I went out for Thai food.

Sunday was spent at the Vancouver Aquarium with my old roommate, Heather, and her friend Sarah. The aquarium is seriously cool - although my favourite had to be the jellyfish. And the belugas. I could watch both for ages. The jellyfish make better pics though. I loaded them on my facebook account since there were just too many for my geocities account to bother.

I think there should be places where you can order chocolate for delivery.

Oh - and valuable lesson learned. My smoke detector is RIGHT outside the kitchen and it's super sensitive. I was making fajitas and heating the tortillas. I saw no smoke, smelt no smoke and suddenly the alarm was wailing. Open windows, open doors, stick the frying pan on the balcony, stand on chair and wave fresh air. Goodgod, it's loud. It eventually turned off thankfully, but why in the world would it be right out the kitchen door?

Month long summary

Wow, I've been a lousy poster this past month. I blame facebook. Stupid addiction.

Where to begin? It's only been a whole month....

Ah yes, did you know hell froze over? Yes, that's right. Rod and Fancy have set a wedding date! September 2008! Congrats you two and many hugs! (You know I'm mostly kidding about hell freezing over *g*)

My couch and entertainment cabinet have arrived and are in place! I just need my coffee table back and maybe an area rug to complete my living room. I need to put up my blinds (I intended to do it tonight, but my drill wasn't charged!) and my last few paintings as well.

What else - my parents returned from their month long cruise/trip to Italy with a fantastic souvenir for me. White wine glasses from Murano, Italy. They are hand blown glass, all in one piece, with a smooth goblet and a twisted stem. To me, the top of the stem sort of looks like a dragon claw holding up the goblet.

May 4 was my sister's birthday and we decided to have a birthday weekend. Friday, I had to work, so she went out with my parents to a greek restaurant. Saturday, we had dinner at my parents with cake and presents, followed by a SINGLES pub crawl in Gastown. About 40 people, mostly in their late 20s/30s. Blarneystone, Lion's Pub, Steamworks, and Shine. The first three were more or less pubs, but Shine was a dance bar. I had a blast. I think she did too. She was drinking and dancing anyway :) By the end of the night, there were about 6 of us hanging out together and I actually asked one of the guys for his number. I eventually got up the courage to call him and asked him to do something. He said yes, but we are having some scheduling difficulties. I get the feeling he's "just not that into me", which is fine. Much easier to ask out a guy you've only known for about 4 hours than someone you actually know and like! No feelings to get hurt yet.

*L* I'm going through my pictures trying to figure out what I did this last month.

Last weekend was crazy busy. Friday was my mum's birthday. She went to her mum's for dinner first, which worked for me, as I got to go watch my friend's softball team. I'm kind of a sub, but that was the first game I've been able to go to due to my work schedule and they didn't need me. I got to score keep though. Went to my parents for cake and presents and as soon as my mum mentioned her need for sleep, I went back to my friend's house for the post-softball beers. Saturday was May cooking lesson day and we put together dinner for my mum's bday/mother's day. Seared scallops, salmon or beef wellington, veggies, with apple crisp and strawberry mousse for dessert. Sunday was actual mother's day which meant dinner at my parents' with my grandmothers. Basically, I used a lot of gas money!

Heather's coming out to Vancouver this weekend, so perhaps there will be a story or two coming soon....*L*

I promised trip details didn't I?

First off - to any Vancouverites who read this: We do not have any potholes in this town. I've heard some whining, even did some myself, but then I drove in Edmonton again and remembered what real potholes are like. Compared to those, we only have the occasional dent in the road. At one point, I thought I was driving on an unpaved road but it was a university side street that I clearly recall having pavement before.

Driving in general in Edmonton was odd. I so rarely drove when I lived there that I was quite proud I knew where I was going at all. I found Southgate, Toys R US, Erin's and Lori's without getting lost once! A major achievement as you know. When I first left the airport in my rental, I thought something was wrong with the alignment of the car as I was fighting it constantly to stay in my lane. Nope, nothing wrong with the car - it was the wind pushing me around! The bitter COLD wind. I left +20 C Vancouver to spend the weekend in -8C with wind chill Edmonton. Seriously people, if you needed proof I missed you, it's that I picked April to come visit.

Friday night, Erin and I met up with everyone at BPs for a standard night of drinking and bullshit. A lot of fun because pretty much everyone showed up! Kim even played me a game of pool. Saturday, a couple of us had brunch at the replacement for Keegan's - Route 99. I spent the afternoon with Lori and baby Jacq, who is super cute in that baby way. That night, Erin and I went to Julio's for supper and spent the evening on Whyte, browsing through Chapters and having tea at Cargo's. It was a bit cold to keep walking so we rented a chick flick and watched that as well. Sunday, we did a bit of shopping on Whyte and then I spent the afternoon with Lori again, playing with Mason and ahhh-ing over Jacq. Lori and I have decided to have a girls' weekend - possibly next year :)

For me, it was a great trip. I did everything I planned, except West Ed Mall and I didn't actually need anything from there. What I did find odd was how at home I still felt there, like I hadn't really left, like it hadn't been seven months since I had seen these people. But I feel so at home in Vancouver as well, like I've always been here. It just seems strange.

Home Sweet Home

I fully intended to write a long detailed post tonight, but you'll have to settle for the following:

I've been told my blog is boring. I know. But I really am this dull and I really am obsessed with the colour of my walls. I promise to try harder to find a life. :)

Edmonton was fantastic. I had a great time. There are many pics over at my main page.

Tomorrow - motivation starts. The plan - to run a 10K run this summer. It's now official as I'm telling the world.

Ok, bedtime.

Off to see the Wizard

I am beyond excited for this weekend. Pics and post on Monday I'm sure!

A belated birthday message to Roddie - hope 31 treats you well. For his birthday we went to Anton's in Burnaby - absolutely amazing food, should be shared between 5 people *g*. We had dessert in Vancouver at Tru Confections and I highly recommend a drink called Vancouver Fog - vanilla, Earl Grey Tea and steamed milk.

Only 2 more games until playoffs!! Yes, I'm cheering for the Canucks. I'm even hoping to get playoff tickets this year. We shall see.

Happy Easter to all.

My living room is naked.

By that, I mean I lack furniture. It looked sad before, with only a day bed and a tv sitting on top of a coffee table, but now it's down right pathetic. My parents came today and took the coffee table away with them. This is a good thing as it's off to be refinished, but now my tv is sitting on the floor. It will be another 4-7 weeks before my entertainment cabinet, my sofa and my chair show up to make my living room look like it's lived in!

My parents were extremely helpful this morning and we got lots done. The china cabinet is stable and full of china (although my mum stole a drawer so the furniture guy can try to match the stain for the coffee table). My towel rods are up, the kitchen shelf is up, I can watch tv in my office, and the majority of my pictures are hung up on the wall (only ones left are the living room ones which can't really go up until I have furniture).

I love days off.

Productive Day

I love highly productive days. I really need to remember how I love this feeling of accomplishment and keep having this kind of day. Woke up at a decent time (for someone who works late!), went to my appointment, came home, did two loads of laundry and washed my hair while waiting for my sis. We went out to Ikea and found the nightstand lamps I've been wanting. We also bought a shelf for the kitchen, but I can't find a wooden wall mount paper towel holder anywhere! We then checked out the various furniture stores and I confirmed my desire for the Michigan sofa at Couch Potato. I took home some fabric swatches and will be going back tomorrow to order the queen sofabed and chair in Jessie Linen (a light tan/khaki) with pillows in Jupiter Flagstone (stripes of 3 shades of green ranging from celery to dark sage and one stripe of dark tan/camel). Here is the sofa, in similar green to the floor model. I considered green, but figured neutral beige is a better choice. Easier to change the walls down the road than the couch!! It's weird - I'm looking at the pic and never in a million years would I have picked this style out of a catalogue, but I love the way it feels when I sit in it. Tall people will most likely feel awkward, but it's MY couch!

After the couch shopping, we installed my laundry room shelves (finally!). Took way longer than I thought, but there was more thinking involved than I planned on. We rented The Guardian (actually good, 3.5 stars. 4 if I push it) and as we watched it, Angie painted the kitchen shelf and I workedon a sewing project.

Tomorrow - productive days continue, starting with a gym trip!

This is my 100th post.

First off - Lori had Baby Two yesterday! Baby Two is officially called Jacqueline, weighing in at 8 lbs. I can't wait until Easter when I get to see her and her big brother!

In other news - I can't believe I didn't write about the weekend earlier, although it did seriously exhaust me. Saturday was cooking lessons with my grandmother with appetizers as the theme. My sister and I were assigned pastry as we have never made that before. I made the pastry for mushroom and bacon quiches, my sister for crab puffs. We also made spicy beef turnovers (kind of like curry beef perogies). My cousins made Imperial cheese onion/olive balls, sweet and sour meatballs, and chicken wings. Nearly 7 hours of cooking! We made an insane amount of food, and my sis and I took our share to a cocktail party for a friend's 30th birthday. Appetizers, cocktails, and chocolate cake although by the time the cake showed up, I was way too full.

Sunday, I went shopping for a bit with my family and then required a nap. I might have accomplished things around the house, but the nap is all I really remember! Things are mostly organized around here, but I still have a long To Do list. Tomorrow, I plan to go couch shopping. I found an entertainment cabinet last weekend, but I can't have it until May. I really need seating though. I don't want to hang up my pictures until I figure out where the couch goes!

Happy Birthday to Baby M!

I actually made progress tonight, first time all week. I was just exhausted this week and between work and sleeping, I had enough to do. I did make it to the gym - once. I'd get home from work, look at the boxes, and go have a bath. My alarm would go off in the morning, I'd get up, I'd turn it off, and I'd go back to bed. I had clothes, soap and forks. Who needs anything else? A pen would have been nice though. I even opened the box labeled 'Desk', but no luck. Turns out it was in 'Sewing Room/Supplies'. Makes sense as my sewing room and office are the same thing. Anyway, the sewing room/office/whatever is now unpacked, just a few odds and ends to put away. TV stand to install, but I don't have a clue as to how it goes up. Need to buy bendy curtain rods for the bay window and then I plan to cut down my old living room curtains.

Tomorrow is my day off - Home Depot time again! I've decided to spring for the cool cast iron towel rods for the guest bathroom. What else - sewing, eyebrow waxing, making shortbread at my mum's, shopping with my sister, maybe a movie. Busy day.

Moved in!

To say that I am tired does not even begin to describe my condition. I took a nap today because if I didn't, I truly thought I'd fall down.

The move yesterday went very well, although I have been informed that a truck would have been a good idea. The parking lot is apparently much longer than I thought, especially when you have to carry a large heavy object over and over again. It certainly didn't help that monsoon season hit yesterday. I'm completely finished at the old place, and semi-organized at the new place. Unpacking continues and will for awhile!

I'm just too tired to post. My eyes are closing while I type. More info to follow. Maybe.


Update: Just finished organizing my bathroom. It looks great! I replaced the old silver towel bars with white ones, and added a white mirrored medicine cabinet. My green towels go well with the original pink/grey swirly tiles and my honeydew walls. One room organized.... My bedroom is almost done. Most importantly, the white roller shade is up. I screwed up on the measurements and ordered a 70" wide blind when I really needed a 69.75" blind. Huge difference. HUGE. But dad and Rod managed to jam it in there and make it functional - although I now need to do some patching and painting to the window frame. I love having a blackout blind in my bedroom, a massive improvement over the crappy horizontals I've had for the last six months. Slept last night on my new bed frame that my aunt gave me - it's black walnut and really tones down my bright blue walls. Had to get rid of my box spring though as it wasn't designed for one. Poor guys carried it up and then back down. Ok, back to working on the bedroom and then bedtime.

How weird is this? I have phone and internet service through the same company (the same company that sent me my cell bill 183 times, I might add!). My phone has been disconnected, but the internet still works.

Probably won't have my computer hooked up at the new place until late Saturday/Sunday so you will have to learn to live without my fascinating updates again :)

Carpets cleaned, windows steamed

I should not still be awake, but I really wanted to finish packing the kitchen before bed. It's not done. I clearly have accumulated more stuff in the six months I have been living here. And really, how important is packing when I can just carry individual items over? Except I don't want to make sixty seven trips a day for the next 5 days.

I cleaned the carpets at the new place tonight and want to do the old place in the morning. Like everything, it took longer than I thought it would. But it looks nice. Ok, no more functioning thought process. Bed.

I think I taco'd my spine

I just checked my email and Telus had sent me my e-bill for my cell phone 61 times. And counting. I just got 3 more. I tried calling them, but of course they are closed. And it's one of those no return email addys. Just checked their website and it seems fried. I keep getting "missing content".

Do you know they don't make entertainment cabinets any more? At least that's what it seems like. Why would you need a cabinet when you can either mount your plasma tv on the wall or put it on top of a small sofa table? But I have a CRT and it needs room!! I did find one at Canadian Tire, oddly enough, that I will probably get.

As for the apartment - door jams and getting ready to clean the carpets. My new bed is in pieces. Half in the bathroom, half in the kitchen. I just have to drag the big box of leftover bits (old light fixtures, shelves etc that my dad is planning to reuse/recycle) into the bathroom and I can start. Must remember to actually rent the rug doctor after work.

And yes, my back hurts. I think it may be permanently bent after all that baseboard work.

Day Something

First, I had a major episode of dorm deja vu tonight. I was cutting across the parking lot between my two apartments while wearing plaid flannel pj pants, a man's workshirt and a parka, and eating a piece of cheese. This caused a serious flashback - not sure if it was the pants or the cheese...

Next - My back HURTS. I finished the baseboards tonight but apparently 4 plus hours of crawling around the floor taping, painting, untaping is not my back's idea of a good way to spend an evening. Got to listen to the hockey game while I worked - good game. Go Cowan. The baseboards look good, although there are a few touchup areas to do. I'm glad I decided to do them as the contrast between the pure white boards and the unpainted almond door jams is amazing. I also bought a light fixture for the kitchen on my lunch break today. It's an oval fluorescent light with brushed nickel trim, about 3 feet long.

Ok, I need bed. Should have gone 30 minutes ago.

Day 4 - Slow Progress

I had to work today so I only had this evening to work at the new place. In my head, the plan was to spend Monday and Tuesday doing the baseboards and door jams so I could clean the carpets on Thursday. I hoped to have half of the baseboards done tonight. Not a chance. Maybe an eighth. Of course I did do other things on the list. I fixed the grout in the tub. I touched up the ceiling where, in my aunt's words, the passing trucks caused the ceiling to jump down on her brush. That wasn't the only spot of course. Then I finally started the trim. I started in the second bathroom as I need the floor in there to store my new bed while I clean the carpets. And that's all. Got lots taped for tomorrow though, so hopefully it goes much better!! Maybe I'll skip the door jams for now and just do them when I do the doors.

I need to shower! I have white trim paint in my hair.

Day 3 - The Work Continues

Note to self: Wear pants tomorrow. The last thing I did tonight was wash the baseboards so I can paint them tomorrow. Crawling around on the carpet has given me rug burn on both my knees.

Lots done today! Second coats on all the walls, ceilings done. All the light fixtures up except the kitchen one as I want to look for a new one. Once the old one was down, I really really didn't want it to go back up. The place looks good and the colours have really grown on me. The light green wasn't quite what I was aiming for but it works. It's very bright and sunny, but in a green way. Man, my feet hurt.

I have to go back to work tomorrow which means I can only work on the place at night. There's lots on the list to be done, but really the only things I really HAVE to do before the weekend is paint the baseboards and clean the carpets. The window trim can wait, shelving can wait, the cat door can wait. I want to stop at JYSK or something tomorrow on the way home to buy towel bars and other items, but again not a priority. Except a plastic scraper. I need one of those.

I hope I sleep all night tonight! Fuzzy keeps waking me up. He knows something is going on.

Day 2

Well, I think I'm only wearing 2 colours of paint and since I used 3 colours, we'll consider this a reno miracle. We started pretty early this morning, a little after 8 am. Both my dad and sister came out then, my aunt at 9 and my mum at 10. My dad spent the entire day removing lighting fixtures and painting the popcorn ceilings. We patched, sanded, and painted the first coat on almost all the wall. There are only 3 very basic walls left in the dining room, but that's where we stashed the kitchen appliances. When my aunt opened that first can of Yucca White, I was very very unsure. It's been growing on me all day and I really liked the contrast once the Woodland Mystery went up. Spent the day trying to figure out what colour Yucca White is though! Iced Mint? Lemon-Lime Sorbet? The Woodland is more of a sage/olive colour. If your monitor and my monitor are the same, on this site, check out Honeydew (close to the Yucca), Sea Green Dark (close to Woodland), and Cornflower (close to my bedroom colour). It's not quite, but in the ballpark. You get the idea. Too bad you can't just see my hands. The Yucca White went up in the bathrooms, kitchen, front hallway, and closets. The Woodland is in the second bedroom. It was the dining room and living room that confused me. Some are light, some are dark. Trying for that accent wall thing, I guess. Had to make one trip to Rona today for more paint. We were seriously short on the light colour. I need to go in the morning again as we are now out of blue and could use some tape. I really underestimated paint, but then we didn't choose to prime. tomorrow, second coat! And then all the hardware has to go back on....

Day 1 - The New Place

Day 1 - pretty good I think. My aunt is a workhorse! I got the keys around 1030am and did a walk through with my realtor. My aunt showed up just as I was wheeling my dolly over. We removed all the wallpaper (the master bedroom just pulled off, but the kitchen roosters were torture. If we peeled off more than a quarter inch at a time, we were thrilled. While I removed all the hardware and drapery stuff, my aunt washed most of the walls (wallpaper glue everywhere!) and removed closet doors. So far I've patched the master bedroom and I'll probably go back tonight and patch a bit more. Right now I'm taking a supper break and then heading to Home Depot to buy lights!

Today's the Day!

I woke up early, but forget going back to sleep. It feels like Christmas! There's even snow! I get my keys in only a few hours. Yay!!!

I know there are other things to blog about - the Ryan Smyth trade, the Oscars, the weather, my search for a couch (my taste is so not 2007 apparently), but that implies I can think about other things. I might blog later about the joys of wallpaper removal though. *g*

Snap. Crackle.

I was going crazy a few minutes ago, which is why I'm taking a net break. I'm using all the same boxes as when I moved out here so I'm trying to use the box that is already labelled correctly. A box that says DVDs gets DVDs etc. So I know darn well there's a big box labelled China/Linens for my big plates, but I CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE! I look, I look, I look. I even went down to my storage locker thinking maybe that's where I saw it. Not there, although I brought up some more boxes while I was at it. I went through all the boxes again. Nope. I finally saw it as I went into the kitchen for something. I'm using it to store all my painting supplies. Bah, it's been right next to the stinking china cabinet the whole time!

One week to go.

That's it! Just one week to go and it will be mine. One week. eep!!!

In other news.... nope, don't got any. It's all about the move. Haven't packed much, should really work on that. Trying to keep the place clean for prospective buyers and pack at the same time is a bit of a challenge, but really I'm just using that as an excuse. I just am too lazy to pack! I have organized the first load of stuff though - everything I need to remove wallpaper and paint. I've got some people organized to help that first weekend, so it should go okay.

Ok, need to go clean something. Or pack something. I'll try to blog if my brain ever comes up with something to say other than EEP!

Happy Move-iversary!

Today is the six month anniversary of The Great Move. I really have a hard time believing it. On one hand, I feel like I've been here always and the whole Edmonton thing was a dream. I had my performance review today, the one that marks the end of my probation. It went very well. This whole thing is still moving so fast though. Buying my own place. Possession of the new apartment is in only two weeks. I can't remember if I've already said this but I can't help thinking about the speed in which I make major life decisions. Have I always been like this? Just... jumping.. and hoping it all works out? That's what this past year feels like. How did go? My letters to the labs in Vancouver, asking for tours, are dated June 23. I had job offers by July 7. By July 12, I had given notice at my old job, sold my apartment (in about 6 hours), and started looking for a place to live in BC. I had always planned to buy a place out here - in the New Year, I said. When I spoke to my realtor, I very very clearly said I was in no hurry, that I wanted to want until I found the right place. My soon to be new place was the second apartment I viewed (although I did go on to view all the other ones she had set up for that day). Seriously. It's just crazy. And just in case you are wondering - my new paint colours will be from Rona A29 - Yucca White (90YY 83/107, light yellow/green creme?) and Woodland Mystery (90YY 52/138, sagey green?). My bedroom will be the same blue as when I repainted in May (E47 - Aristocratic). Can't find online paint chips.

It's Mine

It's mine. All mine. Well, the bank's really, but they let me call it mine. I'm not freaked out, but I'm definitely on the squirrel-ly side. I think I'm going with green this time, instead of yellow. Same blue for my bedroom. Possession is the beginning of March so I have a LOT to do. Packing. Again. And at the same time, I'll need to keep my current place clean and tidy as my landlord will be showing it. There's other stuff to say but it escapes me now. Bedtime maybe.

Things are moving so fast!

I think I mentioned before that my plan was to look for a new place to live, one that I'd own, in the New Year. Well, in mid-January, I started that particular ball rolling and spent today with my realtor looking at various apartments. I found one that I really really like and we are the process of putting an offer in. The current owner is an older lady and doesn't want any offers presented until the morning. So now I have to wait!! I'm excited about this place. It's in the right area, upper corner unit, great layout, and in great shape. This is just bizarre though. It's weird how fast things move.

My mind is a bit blank for the rest of the previous week. Let's see - hung out with Rod and Fancy Friday night for a little boardgaming and a little drive. Saturday, my sister and I had lunch with my grandma and then I watched the Canucks lose to the Flames at Shivauna's house.
In an effort to boot kick my own ass into exercising more, I've decided to get competitive! I've scheduled a 5K run with Rod for the end of the month, with the goal of not dying when running with a guy who 13 inches taller than me. I'm now writing down all my exercise sessions and showing my trainer when I see him every second week. I've made a schedule for myself! No hoping it's going to work - - It's going to work.

Ok, really, all I can think about it the apartment.

Happy Birthday Robbie Burns

I had my cousins over for a Robbie Burns' (Scottish poet, in case you don't know) dinner last night. I went full out, like I usually do! I even made a kilt this week :). I used the internet and my grandma for recipes and served Cock-a-leekie soup (kinda bland, but i liked it), Bannocks (dry!!), Collops of Beef (marinated steak basically, liked it), Clapshot (mashed turnip and potato, quite excellent), Haggis (seriously yucky to look at it and I didn't like it at all), Black Pudding (soooo digusting), peas and carrots, and Floating Island (red currant jelly meringue on sherry laced whipped cream - yummy). We read the Selkirk Grace and Address to the Haggis. I did an immortal memory (basically, a history of Burns and why we bother celebrating his birthday). And we also read random poems and songs - including Auld Lang Syne which in probably the most well known. My favourite poem is On My Own Friend And My Father's Friend, Wm. Muir in Tarbolton Mill. It's an epitaph/elegy and it reminds me of my scottish grandfather who died when I was 15.

As for the kilt, my grandma gave me some plaid fabric so I could make a scarf or something, but she bought quite a bit. I decided to attempt a kilt and googled "how to make a kilt". Using this website, I got this result:

The pin you can't see in this pic (near my left hand) is a silver scotty dog that I gave to my grandfather for Christmas one year and that my grandma gave back to me after he died.

And in the news - I've been reading about the Tory attack ads on Stephane Dion. I despise attack ads. I think they are the lowest form of politics. I don't care what you think of the other side, I only want to know what you will do for me. Or at the very least, what you would like to promise me for the now that you probably won't be able to fulfill later. Lie to me about yourself, don't diss your opponent! Ahhhh, the faith I have in politicans.

unrelated thought bubbles

Great news! Booked a flight to Edmonton for Easter weekend. Hopefully, people will be around.

I am seriously addicted to West Wing. I'm downloading the next season as I watch the one before. I can't stop. I'm near the end of season four and can't get over how so many of the issues are still current. And the now obvious foreshadowing (I don't know if that's the right word though. Sure, it would be foreshadowing in a book where the author knows the end, but in a tv series, do they have any idea how it will end?). But anyway - there are at least two references to making Leo vice-president during Barlett's reign, so now it makes complete sense that Leo's on the ticket later. Mostly I just want to skip to season 7 and watch Donna and Josh get together.

I'm having a Robbie Burns supper next weekend for my cousins and me. I drove out to Langley to pick up the haggis and black pudding I ordered on Saturday morning. I hate Langley! The drive out was very pretty as I took highway 10 and got to see the sun trying to break through all the morning fog. But once I got to Langley, I got very confused in the miles and miles of big box stores. Why can't we just have a really big mall with a directory?! I finally found the little shop I needed and picked up my order. It smells. And it's frozen! Dear god... I have to cook this.

So I'm reading Eat, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. Turns out I'm a fan of a thing called the Oxford comma. When I edit things, I tend to add commas. When my dad edits the same paper (this happened a lot, my sister always wanted two opinions and then went her own way), he takes them out. Turns out both methods are legit. An example: my way - 'The American flag is red, white, and blue.' My dad's way - 'The American flag is red, white and blue.' The extra comma is called an Oxford comma. Haven't you always wanted to know that?

My car is going in this week for its first scheduled tuneup since I bought it. Since I didn't want to go through the angst of finding a trustworthy mechanic near where I live, I'm using my dad's mechanic. This means I had to leave my car up there and borrowed my dad's old car. It's old. It's huge. I want my car back! And it's weird driving it. My dad bought it when I was in high school. I was never ever allowed to touch it. It was the "good" car. Now it's nearly 15 years old and in rough shape. Please don't let it snow until I get my car back.

I seem to have lost interest in Canadian politics. Even the liberal leadership conference didn't really spark anything. But wow, I'm interested in the Democratic presidential nomination. And it's like a year away! Very, very, very interesting, so many possibilities. Of course, I can't vote there, so it doesn't matter. And the only news story here starting tomorrow morning will be the Pickton trial. I may have to start listening to music again, instead of the all news station. Music... I wonder what they are playing this year.

Interview Questions

What a crazy week. The weather is just insane. I heard rumours that Vancouver was warm and rainy in the winter, but they lied. Wednesday was the day of the big snow storm. I worked an afternoon shift, so when I went to work the roads weren't too bad and the traffic was just slightly higher than normal. The snow got heavier and heavier throughout the afternoon and evening and the city went nuts. At supper, four hours after I started work, I went out to move my car from the outside parking lot to the underground parking lot. There was about a foot and half of snow covering my car. People stayed quite late at work, trying to avoid the incredible tangle of traffic. I know of one guy who took over 3 hours to drive what usually took 30 minutes. When I finally got off work, it only took me an extra 10 minutes, but it helped that there were almost no other cars at that time of night. More snow in the forecast for this week!

Onto a meme - In case you haven't seen the interview meme before, someone asks you 5 questions and you answer them. Very simple. If anyone wants to ask me more questions, I'd love it. And if you want me to ask you 5 questions, let me know.

Questions I've been asked:

1) What are some of your favorite healthy snacks?

Veggies, I love veggies. I try to cut everything up when I get home from the grocery store so that it's ready to snack on when I get the munchies. A couple of things I like if I want to make them slightly fancier than plain veggies - steamed broccoli with ginger spice and garlic salt, fake nachos (a plate full of red/green pepper strips and tomatoes with shredded cheese), using lowfat/low cal salad dressing as a dip, dill pickles (nice crunch, lots of taste). I also use veggies to increase the volume of all my meals - having salads with everything, using bean sprouts or coleslaw (the bag stuff, not the mayo stuff) as a base for stirfrys instead of rice or pasta, etc. Fruit is also a a great snack, especially melon or berries. Fruit is a great alternative for dessert, it's nice and sweet. And even if you want something sugary with it, you can add a bit of chocolate topping or sugar (fake chemical stuff if you like, I use a packet of splenda sometimes). Suddenly I have a craving for a pita pizza - pita pocket used as a pizza crust with either tomato sauce or hummus and veggies.


2) How has the hockey been this year?

It's been fun. The Northwest division is super tight and teams keep trading first spot. Last time I looked, only 5 points separated first from fifth. It's more tragic when you look at the Conference as a whole, because then you discover the whole Northwest division kind of sucks. But it's been fun cheering for two teams (the Canucks and the Oilers) who are in the same division and frequently play each other. I've been to more games this year (4 so far) then I have in the last 10 years. I have a friend who throws hockey parties, so it's even been part of my social life. Good season! As for predictions - playoffs usually surprise me, but it really really looks like Buffalo and Anaheim have a lock on the final round.


3) You have 48 hours with unlimited funds and total free time. What do you do? (You can't just withdraw the money and move it to your savings account, it has to be spent within the 48 hours)

Wow. How wrong is it that my first thought was I'd stay in my pjs and never leave my house. Reading, sewing, soaking in the bath tub. I'm currently on a weird schedule that doesn't involve more than 1 day off at a time (this weekend, two days!). But the unlimited funds things, hmmm.... I want a spa day! The full package deal, massage, facial, haircut, mani/pedicure etc etc. Shopping spree. And a fabric shopping spree. Followed by another massage I think. I want to be pampered, can you tell?


4) Would you ever consider becoming a foster parent?

Actually, yes I would. My grandmother was a foster parent to babies back in the 50s and 60s and three of my aunts and uncles are adopted. One of my cousins is technically a foster kid, but he's been part of our family for at least 6 years now. Hopefully one day I'll be stable enough with decent enough hours to be able to offer a good home to someone who needs it. I actually plan to look into becoming a Big Sister this year, but I have to figure out the time commitment. I'd love to get involved in something like Girl Guides, but I can't commit to evening week hours.


5) How are you liking your new job? Are you no longer on night shift?

I really really like my new job. It's got lots of variety - running instruments, looking at slides, miscellaneous testing. I no longer work traditional nights like I used to, but I now work mostly evenings. I don't really care during the week, but it sucks on Fridays!

owie

Oh, I am in so much pain. I was super motivated on Friday and went for a major workout. Several hours, doing both strength training and a run. Apparently I either did too much weight or too many reps. I swear I stretched. A lot! But egad the pain.... I knew Friday night it was going to be bad. Saturday morning was horrifying, especially since I had to go to work. Sitting for 8 hours didn't help. It still aches this morning. Saturday morning it was my qlutes, but by late last night it had migrated down to my calves. That's what still hurts the most. And tomorrow, I'm supposed to go back to the gym!

Friday night, Rod and I went to the Canucks vs Oilers game. Pretty good game, even though the Oil lost in OT. 3-2. Saturday, I worked my first weekend shift. It was a good day, even though it was a Saturday! Shouldn't have to work another one for 3-4 months so that's pretty good. After work, I went to a movie with my sister - The Pursuit of Happyness. Not bad, not great. Today was sheer laziness. A little sewing, a little cleaning, a lot of reading and sleeping. Only one day off in a row is weird, I don't feel like getting stuff done. Especially since it would have required moving my aching muscles. Bah, work tomorrow again.

Welcome 2007

Happy New Year all!!

As usual, I made some New Year's resolutions last night. 25 mins into my first morning of the New Year and I'm still holding strong! *L*

First the review of last year's resolutions -
1) Reach and maintain Target Weight. Unfortunately no. But I do weigh less than last year and I did pretty well at going to the gym. It's part of my lifestyle now, and that's the real accomplishment.

2) Blog weekly! Well, definitely not weekly, but not too bad until the last few weeks.

3) Become a better listener. This has been a resolution of mine since I was probably old enough to understand what it meant. I really really want to do this, but I have no idea how!

4) Be debt-free for at least 4 seconds. I actually succeeded in this and it is still currently true!!

And now for 2007 -

Most importantly - 1) Reach and maintain Target Weight. I'm doing it this year. I'm setting up a bribe system even! For every pound I lose, I get to buy a book :) And when I get to my goal - a tailored leather jacket, leather boots and a tattoo will be MINE!!!! I'll be setting up a gym schedule later today and I've joined a Saturday fitness class that starts on the 13th.

Really, that's my only one. There are things I want to do this year, but it's more of a to-do list, rather than a resolution. Blog weekly, finish my 2006 scrapbook, start a 2007 one, sew more, get caught up on my millions of project ideas, quilt more, go talk to the bank about getting a mortgage (and see if what I can afford and qualify for actually get me the kind of place I want), throw monthly dinner parties since I love to host things, maintain the socialness, be open to new people (finding a new relationship would be nice, but I'm not yet in a speed dating frame of mind), make a point of seeing my grandmothers.... You get the picture.

Best wishes to you and yours for 2007! *hugs*