Dead Cucumber

Gimpy McGimperson

2008-02-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

I am now a gimp. And on top of that it was from doing one of my favourite things...running. Damn.

Free To A Good Home

2008-02-10T11:36:00.000-08:00

Free Free Free!

So as we are moving, I'm trying to get rid of things that I either don't want or don't feel like packing and then unpacking.

If you live in Cranbrook, I'm offering to you..for free any of the items mentioned below! If you're outside of Cranbrook but would still like something, I'm sure we can work it out.

CDs
Bedouin Soundclash - Sounding A Mosaic
Hot Hot Heat - Elevator
Emily Haines - Knives Don't Have Your Back
The Killers - Hot Fuss
MSTRKRFT -The Looks
Destiny's Child - Destiny Fulfilled
Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack - Volume Two
Melissa McClelland - Stranded in Suburbia
Matt Dusk - Back in Town (autographed even!)
Tara MacLean - Passenger
Veda Hille - Field Study
Holly McNarland - Stuff
Jann Arden - Blood Red Cherry

DVDs
Project Alf
Alf- The Alf Files
The Matrix Reloaded
The Simple Life 1 & 2

have at 'er!

New House

2008-02-06T18:05:00.000-08:00

So we are moving in about 20 days. A few weeks ago on way home from Kimberley, we received a nice phone call from a realtor informing us that the apartment we've been renting for the past 1 1/2 years was now up for sale.

WHAM.

In one evening we went from normal January to rushed, stressed, panic stricken. We looked at listings online and we were intimidated at what there was...not a lot for under $200,000. We contemplated buying the apartment we're in...but did we like it enough to spend $175,000 on it? We spent some time wandering in and out of open houses, private showings, and came up empty handed and disheartened. It looked as if we were facing a cold truth...either buy this place, or spend a quarter of a million dollars on a house that would leave us broke and trying to catch up. Well, one day our realtor out of the blue suggested a condo that she had just listed. We went and looked and before we had even got back to our place, we had decided. We were buying our first house.

Mountains of paperwork, signing and intialing, offering and counter offering complete, we are now in the final stages of owning a condo.

So with this huge step ahead, we've started planning what we want it to look like inside. There isn't much to do, as it's been mostly redone, but one of the first things is painting. Neither of us are too keen on the "margarine yellow" walls.

I spent about 20 minutes today looking at paint swatches and aside from being overwhelmed I was also amused by the completely bizzare names that some colours have. I've included a list of the best below.

-Barge
-Ointment
-Smeared
-Not Boring
-Possessed
-Buzzard
-Medicinal
-Tofu
-Happy Stress
-Boohoo
-Frog Spawn
- Spinach Dip
- Kermit
- Sneeze
- Blue Mayonnaise
-Miss Hussy
-Yak Skin
-Packing Nut
-Frog's Breath

We're Moving

2008-01-31T18:56:00.000-08:00

we're moving!

2007-10-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

I hate waiting.

I had a job interview yesterday at Laurie Middle School which was...weird. Weird because when I went to school there I NEVER would have imagined that one day I would be working there. It was weird because it looked like nothing had changed in the 7ish years since I'd been there last. The hallways seemed a bit smaller but it looked untouched, I even noticed the same pictures hanging on the office walls. It was weird because I was being interviewed by a former principal (who was my principal at St.Mary's and Laure for a total of 9 years). The nice thing is I think the interview well really well....now Iwait for the call.

Everything in life just seems like a carton of eggs. Every day something new just seems to be cracked open and it needs to be figured out. I am nervous about getting this job and how to leave my current one. I am nervous about not getting this job and having to go back to my current job. I haven't been happy with my job since returning from my bike trip, with good reason I believe.

A few weeks ago I attended a meeting where all my coworkers and bosses sat around a big table and spilled out everything that needed to be said. I had to sit there and have people tell me to my face that I wasn't a nice person and that I was rude. After everything that I went through, all the name calling and rude comments that I heard said about me, they had the guts to call me rude. Their reasons? Apparently I didn't seem to talk too much around them, and that made them feel ignored. The meeting was a total disaster. I lost all desire to try and sort things out and keep working there. But the clincher was what happened after...all of these people called me or talked to me later and told me that they didn't actually mean any of it, they were just so hurt that I had been "sucked in to something I didn't understand". So first they call me rude and mean, and then they tell me that they didn't actually mean it. Well, I don't trust them as far as I can throw them, and that's not too far. I can't wait to start new somewhere else, to crack open a new egg.
. . . . .

2007-10-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

blogger, i haven't forgotten about you....massive summary post coming soon....

2007-08-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

Birthdays get weirder as you get older. Weird in the sense that you never really feel as old as you are turning. It feels like I just got used to being 22, thinking 22 is a good age and the *Bam* welcome to 23. I think I will just refer to myself as being in my twenties.

So the work situation is, well, it seems stagnant. I talked with union representatives, with my boss and with her boss. I've told all I've had to tell, I said how I feel, how I think it's all wrong and what I think should be done. I wiped my hands clean of it all, there isn't anything else I can do to make them come to a resolution faster. Apparently I am supposed to be receiving an apology from one of my coworkers but I think a Coldplay concert happening in the living room is more likely.

I'm having Otesha flashbacks...it still doesn't really feel like I did it. Was I actually gone for 2 months, biking across this province, standing in front of hundreds of people acting as mother earth? I look at pictures to remind myself that yes, I was there. I want to bike more. I wish that I didn't have to work so that I could bike from one end of this country to the other. I already have balloons of ideas floating in my head for next year's adventure.

2007-07-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

wow. what exactly do I say about the last two months? It's incredibly difficult to sum up everything into cohesive words. I will try my best to give a short (but how?) write-up on my otesha experience.

On May 1st I left Cranbrook in the evening and watched the sun play on the mountains as I rode the bus to Golden. It was in a gas station that I met Erika and Jon, two of my Otesha teammates. We drifted in and out of sleep and conversations on our 14 hour ride to Vancouver. When we arrived, the rain sprinkled the park where we waiting anxiously for all our team to arrive, unfortunately my bike was nowhere to be found (which apparently was a common situation.) By the end of the day my bike was assembled and we had formed our Otesha Rocky Mountain Tour. Over the next 8 weeks we travelled as a tight group of friends, stopping in communities along our route and performed an entertaining and informative play about sustainability and social justice. We biked up 4 mountain passes (coquihalla, pennask, rogers pass, and kicking horse pass). We travelled approx 1500km all by bike, through rain, heat, snow, and hail. I had the trip of a life time that cannot be justified through simple words in a journal. I have returned from this trip, a different person in so many positive ways. I am filled with such a strong positive energy that I'm sure will motivate me for years to come.

for a more detailed summary of our adventures please visit http//otesha.ca/bike+tours/tours+2007/rocky+mountain/journal.en.html

2007-04-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

well, here I go...in just 5 hours I will be getting ready to board the bus to Vancouver to start a journey that is bound to test me.

I truly support all of the encouragement and support that all of you have given to me. Your words will bounce around in my head during the tough times and push me to the tops of mountains. Without the motivation and support that I've received, I wouldn't have even signed up, thank you.

I'm not sure how often I will be able to post during the next couple months, I will certainly try my best to keep in touch with all of you through e-mails, blogs, postcards and any other method to let you know how things are going. I'm sifting through my nerves and trying to stay borderline optimistic, I hope that the anxiousness turns into excitement.

In other news...

I won a silver medal yesterday at the KNA 10km Race! I beat my previous personal best of 51:50 and finished yesterday in 46:38, placing 2nd in my age catagory. I'm quite happy!

So yes, once again, thank you to everyone and I will keep in touch the best I can!

oh and visit my little website for more info/dates etc....

http://ridekootenays.atspace.com/otesha/oteshamenu.html

2007-04-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

dear KNA 10k Race:

Bring it on.

love, joel.

2007-04-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

everytime I go to a different city like Calgary or Toronto, I always come home relieved that I don't live there. Calgary, which always used to seem like a decent place has turned very cold. It's corridors filled with people who are working every hour of the day to squeeze by. Families sit homeless on the corners of downtown streets even though both parents have full time jobs. Everyone seems so angry and demanding. I think the city is about to crack.

Easter weekend was alright. I found out a day before our trip that one of my favourite clients from the day program had died which put me in a weird mood. I had planned to go see him in the hospital the next day. It's hard working with people so closely. You get attached, you bond and you become almost a family with them, especially at the group home. For a lot of the clients, we're all they have. Families have distanced themselves, let the responsibility fall on others. When they pass away it's like losing a part of a family.

2007-03-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

I've been in a weird mood lately. March always seems to be a sort of flux time for me. Waiting for the rebirth that happens every spring.

Last week while walking home I saw a heron sitting beside a long near the creek. On further inspection, I realized that the heron was dead. Head perfectly laid on the log, it looked like a peaceful way to go. I would look everyday to see if the heron was still there, perhaps it wasn't actually dead. Yesterday it was gone. I'd like to think that the water rose and carried it away.

In a little over a month I will be on my way to Vancouver to begin my 2 month journey across the province. I've been having mixed emotions about my trip. I've been wrestling with feelings of guilt and selfishness. I feel guilty for taking so much time off work, for missing birthdays and celebrations. In the end I'm sure that it will all be ok, it's just getting beyond the barriers that I've set up.

I keep thinking about how long 2 months is. It's a long time. On a calendar page it looks so tiny, but when I think about what happened 2 months ago, it seems like ages. Valentines Day feels like it happened eons ago and it's barely been a month. 60 days is a long time to be away. To be surrounded by strangers, in towns you barely know. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. I'm excited to get on the bike and ride. On long bike trips there are two things that can happen to your brain, you either get stuck thinking about time and kilometers and distance or you go completely nuts and find the most random things interesting and funny. Rocks will look like animals and songs that you haven't heard since grade eight will suddenly play on repeat in your mind.

I find it entertaining that one of my main concerns regarding the trip isn't if I can physically do it, isn't if I'll be able to do the public speaking or if I'll be able to be around 20 people, 24-7 for two months...it's how i'm going to be able to fit all my things into my bags and wear the same clothes for 2 months.

2007-02-28T12:20:00.000-08:00

sometimes I look at the perpetual tornado outside the theatre entrance at the mall and see my own thoughts amid the leaves

2007-02-23T11:27:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I am paying money to feel this much pain

2007-02-20T20:18:00.000-08:00

it's amazing to me that people have nothing better to do than tear apart others. Every day when I go to work all I hear about is how someone else at work is not good enough, or how they do something that's annoying. All day. Every day. And then I have to work with the people that they're trash talking and it's hard to not say "so and so said this about you". I try to stay neutral. I try not to pick sides. I try not to get into it because I already went to high school and dealt with that drama, I don't need it when I'm 22 and trying to work.

And I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that when I shut that door and leave for the day that my name is getting tossed around in the pit of gossip. I know that I do a good job, I certainly don't need approval from them. I've worked hard to gain confidence, I've worked hard to prove that a young guy CAN take care of other people, that I CAN be trusted with the same responsibilities as everyone else.

I've found out very quickly who I can talk to and who I can "talk" to. There are people at work that I will now only talk to about small things, without any insight into my own life because I don't want to give them ammo to use against me.

It's sad...

2007-02-16T14:41:00.000-08:00

the rain last night had turned the whole city into a sheet of ice. Ironically I almost slipped and died this morning on my way to my First Aid class.

2007-02-14T09:14:00.000-08:00

The newest episode of Corner Gas is one of the best this season! I definately suggest watching it on the CTV.CA broadband channel.

just click "watch it now" on this page.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/20040105/CornerGas-default/20070213/

Best quote from this episode

"we're watching a movie" -Emma

"It's about some stupid evil cat but it won't die so Team Canada tries to kill it" - Oscar

"Your sentences are like quilts" - Brent

On a secondary note, Happy Valentines Day or if you are anti valentines, Happy Ferris Wheel Day.

2007-02-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

scott just ate a mixture of oatmeal, scrambled eggs and coffee blended together into some kind of nasty thick drink.....and he did this voluntarily....and now he'll be mad that I shared this with the world...

2007-02-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

So, in a little less than a week things have ironed themselves out.

Work

So about two weeks ago I found myself suddenly laid off of one of my jobs, essentially decreasing my paycheques in half which was not good at all. Suddenly I was faced with a desicion, either try to make it on just a few hours a week, or find a new job all together. Thankfully the next day my boss at the group home (it's called 7th Street for anyone who wants to know) called me and told me about two postings that had just come up. I looked it all up and based on seniority I was up for one of the positions. I applied and on monday I had a full time job! Finally, a job with benifits and holidays and all the things that I should have had a long time ago. I was a little worried about applying since I have to take 2 months off in May-June for my bike trip but my boss was actually very accomodating and said that it would all work out and that I shouldn't feel afraid to do things that I want to do.

Car

Part of the reason that I was so stressed about getting my hours cut was because on top of my current bills and budgeting Scott and I decided that it was time to upgrade the truck and get something a little more reliable. We decided on a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe and we've had it for exactly one week today! It's nice to have a car that doesn't sound like it's going to blow up and it can fit more than 2 people and it's clean and everything. And now that I have a job, I'll be able to pay for it!

So yes, things are on an upswing.....

2007-02-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

1. What is your favorite main course to prepare? I like making soups and chili and stuff because it's fun to just throw things into pot and walk away.
2. What is your favorite side dish to prepare? I like making risotto because it's worth the effort that you put into it.
3. Do you like to bake? If so, what is your favorite? I love baking! I really like making healthier things like muffins and whole wheat breads and stuff. I also like making cookies once in a while.
4. What one dish would you like to learn to cook? There are so many recipes that I have collected that I want to make, but just haven't yet...I'd love to try something with portabello mushrooms.
5. What is your worst cooking disaster? Thankfully I haven't had a huge distaster but I have had a few run-ins with turkey dinners that I had to make at work during midnight shifts that were to say the least, terrifying.

2007-01-26T13:17:00.000-08:00

argh, so it looks like I am sympathize with Annalise's current work situation as I've been "demoted" or downsized or whatever term is appropriate. For the last year I have been working fairly steady at one of my jobs, coming in every tuesday and thursday as a "relief position". I'm often left behind at work to do the stuff that nobody else wants to do or has time to do, and I don't mind that as I'm a "relief" worker and that's part of my job. I think what I do is important, my co-workers think what I do is important, however my boss does not.

Yesterday, completely out of the blue I heard third-hand that my hours had been cut and I wasn't scheduled to come in anymore. Then I found out that in order to give it a positive spin, my boss had a staff meeting before I got to work and told everyone that I wasn't going to be coming in as much as I had just started a full-time position at my other job. So not only was I the last to know that my hours were gone, my boss also lied to everyone about me getting a full time job (which I don't have).

All of this had happened without a word to me from my boss. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and I talked to her about it and she pretty much confirmed everything. Told me that there didn't seem to be a reason for me to be there every tuesday and thursday. I was pretty much dumbfounded. I can understand from a management perspective of having to downsize or cut costs, what I don't appreciate is how it all went down. With no notice, no information, and a big lie behind my back.

So now, just a few days after I had drawn up a budget and figured out how much I need to be making each month to pay bills and barely being able to fit it all in, I find myself with my income cut in half and right back where I was two years ago when I started working, waiting for the phone to ring.

2007-01-24T13:20:00.000-08:00

Happy National Compliment Day!

you smell like fresh rainfall

you're welcome

2007-01-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

I figure it's been almost a month since I've posted and I have the day off so why not....

I finally have a day off. So far this January I've been working a messed up schedule of regular shifts mixed with night shifts and random days in between. Needless to say I get a bit crabby by the end of it...thankfully I have some days where I can just build up my energy for the next load.

Scott and I are buying something, but I've been sworn to secrecy. It's large...and it's....ok I can't say anymore or else I'll give it away. But it will be nice when it is purchased.

In other news, for those who might not know, I'm biking across British Columbia this year. I swear once you go on your first bike trip, you're hooked. I'm joining a group called the Otesha Project which is a enviromnental organization. We're starting in Vancouver (other tours are happening at the same time in various locations across Canada) and travelling to just about Calgary. Along the way we're spending a few days in each town, visiting schools and organizations and putting on a performance/presentation about how to make better choices regarding the environment. It should be a really fun trip, but it's going to be 2 months long. It's hard to believe that in just 3 months I'll be getting ready to go. So yes, you'll probably hear a lot about it, so be prepared.

I should go make some coffee.

2006-12-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

so, it's that time of year again (already!) This year I've had a difficult time getting into the Christmas spirit. I dunno what it was but it seems to have passed and now I'm ready for the holidays to start! As I'm sure I won't be on here before the new years here's a year end wrapup

1. What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before? Let's see, I went to Toronto. I met a celebrity (or a few), I biked from Cranbrook to Penticton, I raised $2000 for a charity, I moved to a condo.....

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Not so much. I continued the vegetarian resolution and I think I followed the "be more healthy" one, but I made up one to take a photo of Scott and I every day...that lasted about a month. I may try to do that one again though.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Of course! My brother and sister in law had another beautiful baby girl (Nataya) in June. Get ready for the trilogy as they're expecting again!

4. Did anyone close to you die? a client of mine from work

5. What countries did you visit? just the U.S.A. on our trip to Silverwood.

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? I think I'd like to do more hiking, not just biking. Also I'm determined to see Feist in 2007.

7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Hmm...there's a few to choose from...probably the day that we found out we were moving!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I would say...raising the money and completing the Ride For Community Living

9. What was your biggest failure? Hmm...I guess I didn't save as much money as I should have...

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Aside from tendonitis in my elbow, I was pretty healthy...

11. What was the best thing you bought? Our new bowling ball bed...

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I would say....my brother and nova

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Paris Hilton

14. Where did most of your money go? FURNITURE! and tickets to toronto, and boring stuff like food.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? going to Sarah Slean's art show, moving to a new apartment, biking to penticton

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2006? Um...Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol, Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson, How Deep In the Valley - Sarah Harmer

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder? I would say happier, we live in a much better place and I actually have a job

ii. Thinner or fatter? I think I'm exactly the same weight...

iii. richer or poorer? considering last year was a Visa christmas, i'll say richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Gone hiking a bit more...saved more money

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? ......um...fighting?

20. How will you be spending Christmas? At home with the ever expanding family

21. Did you fall in love in 2006? I'm still fallen :)

22. How many one-night stands? 0

23. Favourite Concert(s)?: Well, It's hard to pick a favourite...the sarah slean art show wasn't exactly a concert so...I'll say Sarah Harmer was my top fave...followed by The Bicycles, then Matt Barber, then Black Eyed Peas, then Matt Dusk (too many to choose from!!)

24. What was your favorite TV program? Grey's Anatomy, Corner Gas, Brothers and Sisters, and The Class.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? hate....i don't think so..

26. What was the best book you read? It's not about the bike - Lance Armstrong

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Either The Bicycles or Regina Spektor

28. What did you want and get? a new apartment

29. What did you want and not get? a full time job....

30. What was your favorite film of this year? You know, I can't even remember half the movies I've seen...I'd say near the top are The Break Up, X-Men 3, Over the Hedge, Hard Candy

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 22. First I went for a bike ride with Megan, then visited work as they had baked me a cake. Then Dinner with scott and then we went and played mini golf!

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Perhaps have a steady job instead of one where I have no stability....

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006? Year of brown or year of nature inspired clothing. (also hello Lululemon and MEC!)
34. What kept you sane? Scott, music.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? The sarah's (slean and harmer), Lance Armstrong, Betty White
36. What political issue stirred you the most? how our environment minister doesn't seem to know what she's doing
37. Who did you miss? everyone that moved away! Annalise, Trina, Ginn
38. Who was the best new person you met? The Passioneers in Toronto!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006: Don't worry what people think about you.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: "I gotta get out, gotta get out. I gotta get out, gotta get out. I gotta get out. Yeah!" - Gotta Get Out by the Bicycles

2006-11-17T10:03:00.000-08:00

wow, I can't believe how little I've been posting as of late. I know that I say that almost every time but life just feels like a boiling pot of water with a thousand bubbles each containing something that needs my attention.

I finally finished my 6 weeks of night shifts. To be completely honest, I was getting used to it. Sure it wasn't ideal, but it wasn't all that bad. How often in life do you get a chance to have 8 hours completely alone. I got a lot of stuff done. I made christmas presents, I worked on some paintings, I thought about things that I had pushed aside for a later time. I watched shows on tv that reminded me of a different time. I remember watching Sabrina on TGIF. Patrick and I would walk to Woodlands Grocery because we were convinced that they had the best slushes (they still do). I loved those walks with him. We were friends then. Not just spending time together because we had to, we weren't just brothers, we were friends. We'd come home and watch tv and just hang out. Things between us soured during the teenage years. We screamed at other, we fought. Words were thrown around like they meant nothing even though they were packed full of feelings. It hurt me that he thought I hated him. I hated the things he did, but I never hated him. We eventually just stopped talking to each other all together. In a few short years we went from friends to silent figures avoiding each other. But things are getting better. I have both feet planted in the adult side of life and he's moving closer to it too.

It's a strange feeling sometimes when you realize "hey, I'm a part of this world". That people know you and have a connection with you. That people depend on you. A few weeks ago someone at work told me that they were proud of me. Someone that I didn't know outside of work told me that. She said that without knowing my history, the stupid things I've done, the hurt that I've felt. She said she was proud because of the work that I do and that she couldn't have done it when she was 22. Work is so funny because just when I'm doubting my signifigance or role in the jobs that I have, just when I'm considering going back to school, someone injects me with a sense of security. The same feeling happened yesterday while doing some physiotherapy with a client. We were laughing and joking, yet at the same time helping him live a better life and I thought "would I ever get the same feeling of satisfaction doing something else? Sure, I could go and open a buisness or go back to school but would I ever feel like I do right now?"

Christmas is fast approaching and I'm already exhausted. I have so many ideas buzzing around in my head but I can't hold one long enough to actually complete it. I have these days off where I seem to have infinite time yet I can barely accomplish a few simple tasks. I want to make things for people, I want to put thought into gifts but I always feel that people are disapointed. I hate that in today's world people are happier with a gift that took about 15 minutes to buy than a gift that took 4 hours to make. I feel like throwing in the towel and just joining the flock. Standing in line to buy a shiny gift while homemade gifts sit shrouded in self-doubt. I like what I make, but I don't think other people do. Scott is always grabbing things out of my "give away" box, and I appreciate his enthusiasm but he's not the only one on my list. Even with the results of the poll in the last post showing 100% support for homemade gifts, I'm still hesitant. I guess I just need to shake off the insecurity and put my energy into finishing the gifts.

I miss my bike. It sits on the balcony like a cat, waiting to come in. I feel like I didn't ride it enough this year (I know, it doesn't make sense considering I rode over 1000km this summer.)I love that there is a bike path that runs directly beside the apartment, but I feel bad that i haven't used it since we've moved. There isn't really an excuse. It's nice enough to ride. I know that I need a new bike, but I can't bear to get rid of the scrambler. I tried to name it once. But it just didn't fit anything. It's just my bike. I think this year I might try snowshoes.

try and tell me that these aren't the two cutest kids in the world.....

2006-10-30T07:16:00.000-08:00

So not a whole bunch to report, just working a crap load of night shifts that will end on thursday! I must say, I do enjoy some of late night programming. I've really loved watching reruns of Seinfeld, Grace Under Fire, Ellen, and even Sabrina!

So, I'm starting to think about christmas and gift giving and I have a bit of a dilemma. I really enjoy making gifts for people but very seldom do I get the impression that people enjoy receiving home-made presents. Should I take the time to make presents this year or should I just suck it up and buy stuff? What do you all think (since those who frequently read this will most likely be receiving something).

Should I make or buy Christmas presents?

Make your own poll

2006-10-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

ok, finally have a little time to write something down. Let's see...what to write...

So, last week they found a dead body in the yard of our old house. Yeah, just one more reason why I'm glad we don't live there anymore.

Last week Erin and I went to Calgary to see the Black Eyed Peas concert. It was pretty good, about 12000 people there which was the biggest concert I've ever been to. We had really good seats too which was nice because I don't think it would have been as much fun if we were up in the nosebleeds. The whole time we were in Calgary we didn't get lost at all and thanks to my training in Toronto, using public transit was a snap! On the way home from Calgary we were going to stop at Calaway Park. So we drove into the parking lot and there were a few cars so we assumed it was open, we walked all the way inside before seeing a tiny sign saying they were closed. We were quite disapointed. Then we decided to go to Banff and go up the gondola which was a lot of fun. We tried waving to people as we passed them going up but nobody saw us. The views from the top were amazing and we spent an hour and a half just walking around.

Speaking of mountains, Scott and I hiked up Mount Baker on Saturday. It was a long one (6 hours) but the view from the top was incredible. We tried to see our house but all we could point out was the general area. There was a paragliding ramp up there and we took some pictures of us playing around on it. I highly reccomend going up there.

Now I get to do a month of night shifts which is going to be dreary. They're so boring and lonely
and I always feel so crappy after I'm done.

2006-09-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

I love this show!

2006-09-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, this past month has been insanely busy so I'm going to write in big chunks starting with my trip to Toronto

TORONTO
So, the toronto trip wasn't as much fun as I had planned. Mostly because the reason I was going was to see a Sarah Slean show (since she moved to Paris, they've been few and far between!). I was really excited up until the day before when I found out that the concert was cancelled. Pooey. I actually tried to cancel my flight but it was too late. In the end I was glad that I went because I did have fun, it was just a bummer to not get to go to the show.

The flight to Toronto was good, although it was right after the terrorist bust so the security was a bit in depth. People pulling peanut butter and salsa out of their bags...it was funny! I managed to navigate the subway without getting (too) lost. The day after I got there I spent at the mall just shopping. I bought a lot of new clothes and some gifts for family. Then I went to Queen St. and walked around which was a lot of fun, even if I was by myself. I like exploring that city, there are so many little shops and places to go. I went to Mountain Equipment Co-op which is like Ikea for outside people (www.mec.ca) I bought...well...a lot. I couldn't help it. That night Nicole, Miguel, and I just sort of hung out until it was time for bed. On Thursday we were supposed to be going to London to see the sarah show but we decided to go to the Toronto Zoo instead. It was really really fun! Lot's of funny animals (and cute ones!). We made lots of fun of the camels and llamas. It was a long day since it took like an hour and a half just to get there. That night Miguel made really really good thai food. On friday Andrea and I went to Kensington Market which was really cool. It's like Nelson in the art/hippy/funky way. Lots of fun stores (Annalise, you'd be in heaven there!) That night a bunch of us went for dinner at a really good (REALLY GOOD!) vegetarian restaraunt. Then we went to an Aids releif benefit concert. Really good Toronto talent (http://www.myspace.com/lindimusic , http://www.myspace.com/emmalee , http://www.myspace.com/alexandraslate were my favourites). By the time the concert was over it was nearly 2am so we just went home. Saturday Nicole, Miguel, and I went for a picnic on Toronto Islands. It was kinda blah weather but it was still fun. That night we went to see a concert (cd release party) by an awesome band called The Bicycles (www.thebicycles.ca). It was so much fun! Every song they had a new guest singer/player come up and play with them. It was a nice way to end the week. The next morning I had to make my way back to the airport and then Calgary (I almost missed my flight). Scott met me in Calgary so we could go to Ikea to shop for our new place (more on that later). All in all it was a good trip.

Bike Trip 2006
So the bike trip came and went really quickly! The first day was simple just a 2 hour ride from Cranbrook to Kimberley. It was a nice way to start out the trip. The campsite was really nice. Scott and Erin met us for dinner at Kelsey' s before went to bed early. The next day was...an adventure. We started off really well which was really deceiving. We made about 40km in 2 hours which is really good. Then the hills started. And they didn't stop. Around 4:00pm we had already bike about 75km and we had hit the wall. We didn't know what to do. We were tired, hungry, and it was getting to be stressful always thinking you're near the top and never reaching it. A guy named Mike pulled up (we were on a deserted logging road so this was truly a once in a lifetime chance!) and asked if we were alright. Megan looked very distressed and he ended up giving us a a lift down to Nelson. We'd still be up there to this day if he hadn't come along. We were still like 60km from Nelson. oops, I overshot that day. Along the way Mike told us that his friend in Nelson (he's from Canmore) sold his buisness for literally millions of dollars (around 20) and they were going to fly his plane to the coast to go surfing. We offered to pay for gas but he wouldn't let us so we agreed to go for a drink later that night. Megan and I checked into the hostel which was really really nice (i'm constantly impressed by Canadian Hostels, I really recommend them to anyone). We showered and then ate at the Outer Clove which was awesome. We ended up going for margaritas with Mike and his friend, Mike. They were really really nice guys and they even told us to call them next time we're in Canmore.

Friday was a short ride but a long day. We started out a bit late since we only had to go 47km. We met the Neslon Society for Community Living who invited us for breakfast. When we got there we had to pose for 2 different newspapers. I was just starting to get a cold so I tried to answer their questions with what voice I had left. After staying for a bit we walked around Nelson and window shopped (we both want to go back and SHOP). When it was time to leave we discovered that Megan's lock was stuck and she couldn't get it undone. We ended up getting a bolt cutter and cutting it off. We left it as a memento. The ride was pretty short that day but really really hot. Highway riding is fast but it's a lot hillier and a lot hotter. We were an hour later than we pegged but we made it by 4:00. We stopped into a group home in Castlegar who had invited us for coffee. They made amazing cinnamon buns for us. Then it was off to the campground. Early bedtime again.

Saturday was the most fun day for me. It was also the most physically draining day. It started off good, we were on the trail by 9. After about 2 minutes we saw our first animal. A baby black bear. Megan was scared (so was I, but I pretended I wasn't). We didn't see the mom but we pedaled away pretty fast. Along this trail (an old railbed called the Columbia and Western Railway) there are really neat things to see. There were about 9 trestle bridges that were like 60 ft high. There were also about 8 tunnels to go through which were really really cool. One was about 1km long and it took us probably 10 minutes to walk through. You couldn't see the other end. All you could see were tiny little headlamps bobbing along. We suffered that day because we didn't stop for a break to eat. I ended up hitting the wall and made us stop. The last 40km were all downhill and we kicked it up and just raced our way to Christina Lake. Christina Lake itself was an adventure. We ended up staying at a motel because I was too tired to pedal around to find a campground. The motel owner was drunk when we got there (it was 4:30). She was really really bossy, she made us drink gatorade that she made, pretty much forced us to shower, and we couldn't pay until we had eaten. She was just nuts. She yelled at Megan for wearing her sunglasses when she talked and then interrogated us about what we ate at the restaraunt. Then she screamed at me for using the air conditioner. Yikes.

The next day was pretty average. We decided that our outlook needed to change since we were halfway. The first half had been really stressful and really exhausting. We agreed to take on a more relaxed outlook and it really helped. The last half we spent joking and taking silly photos and just being cousins. We passed through grand forks and I almost made us go the wrong way before I caught myself and we went the right way. The trail was fairly easy with a few more tunnels. Before we knew it we were in Midway. Midway is like Corner Gas B.C. The restaraunt was full when we got there and everyone knew each other. People were just walking from table to table talking to their neighbor/friend/brother/boss. It was strange, people just stared at us. Even the police officer was on a date! We giggled about how Midway is a swingers town and the husbands move to the next house every other week. It was another early night.

We took the advice of the campground owner for the next day and stuck to the highway. Making to Rock Creek in an hour. We stopped at their "everything store" as we called them. Post Office/liquor store/gas station/movie store/grocery store etc... We bought cheese bread and joked around about how the towns were getting smaller...if we only knew what lay ahead. We cycled onward to Beaverdell. The highway was pretty uneventful as we had to ride single file most of the way. Beaverdell is dumpy. I honestly don't know how it's even a place. As we biked in we saw a mannequin head nailed to a tree above a sign saying "Beaverdell, Just A Head." Sick. Beaverdell is really just a few buildings on the side of the highway. Dumpy buildings on the side of a dumpy secondary highway. We sat in front of the general store for a while before finding our campsite which was actually just someone's backyard. News travelled fast because the waitress at the "restaraunt" knew who we were before we even told her. I guess the general store lady must have called. Now, when we pulled into our "campsite" the owner was sitting there with a friend listening to Classic Rock. It was loud. It was so loud it echoed off the mountains. We figured they were just relaxing. By midnight that night we figured they weren't just relaxing they were partying. How annoying!! We finally managed to sleep sometime in the a.m.

The next day we were insanely tired and we just wanted to get the hell out of that place. It didn't even have cell service. We took the highway out and rode until we could find a place to join the Trans Canada Trail. It was there that we saw a mom and baby moose (just like last year!) they just ran away after staring us down for a while. We pedaled and pedaled and agreed to push on to Penticton that day, shortening our trip by a day. The rest of the day was just pedaling and pedaling stopped to avoid snakes and to eat energy bars. We were in Penticton around 9. We made it!!!

My grandma in Oliver had catered a nice little meal for us on our arrival. She made lemon meringue pie and had so many little treats to eat. It was like heaven. It felt really weird to sit there and realize that we didn't have to bike the next day. We couldn't really believe that we were done.

The next day we went back to Penticton for pictures and breakfast before driving home. The drive home was long but it was amazing to realize that we made it home in as many hours in a car as it took in days by bike.

I'll write about our new house later...i'm too tired to type now....

2006-08-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

so it has remained an interesting few weeks.

After my "fun" weekend at work (aka, "attempted break-in 2006"), I went to work monday evening. At around 9:30 I started to complain that my elbow was sore. By the time I went home at 11:00 it was throbbing, like a big giant pin was stuck in my elbow. The next day I went to my boss to talk about me being uncomfortable with night shifts and to talk to her about my elbow. After some not-so-helpful advice, I decided to go to the doctor. I left with a note saying I didn't have to work for a whole week! I had to fill out some WCB forms and get a perscription filled but it was nice to have some down-time. I really felt like I was going to go nuts if I didn't have some kind of a break, I guess my body took the hint.

My birthday was last thursday and it was fun. I went for a bike ride with Megan, oddly enough biking doesn't seem to aggrivate my elbow. After the bike ride Scott surprised me with my present...a gigantic television for our new apartment. It's ridiculously big in our place at the moment. We went for dinner and then played mini-golf. I love mini-golf...it makes Scott angry...then we rented V for Vendetta but I was in some kind of daze and it didn't make a lot of sense to me.

The weekend was pretty low-key. In fact I don't really remember much of what we did. I know we went to visit Erin on Saturday night, and on Sunday night my parents had a birthday party for me. I felt really bad when I was watching Ciara on the swing and she fell off, cutting her lip. She only cried long enough for me to rush her inside, within minutes she was sitting in front of the tv with an ice cube in her mouth saying "BABAR!". I ended up having to go to work that night, under some circumstances that didn't seem right to me, but oh well.

!!! I know what I forgot!!! On monday (before I hurt my elbow) Scott and I went to check out an apartment that we've been wanting for months now and we got it! We move in 2 weeks! It's a bit stressfull for me as I am leaving for Toronto in 5 days and then going on my bike trip 2 days after I get back. I'm trying to pack as much as I can right now. I can't wait to move, it'll be nice to have walls! and 2 bathrooms! and a dishwasher! oh it's gonna be great!

so yes....now back to packing and crafting for the wonderful Amy!

2006-07-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

worst. weekend. ever.

So, this weekend between 11pm on Friday night and 11pm on Sunday night, I was scheduled to work three 8 hours shifts. 24 hours in two days, rough....by the end of the weekend I had worked 30. UGH! That's not even the worst part.

Most weekends I work the night shift at the group home. I don't mind them, they're quiet and usually not much happens. Well, on Saturday night (Sunday morning) at 3:30 am, I was sitting on the couch watching tv. All of a sudden I start hearing this really shallow breathing. It seemed too loud to be coming from any of the bedrooms but I checked anyways. After I checked all the rooms and found everyone sleeping soundly, I walked back down the hallway. I stopped at the end when I noticed that one of the doors to the patio was open just slightly. To my horror, I watched as the door slowly opened all the way, and a person appeared in the doorway. He didn't see me as there was a considerable distance between the door and the hallway (the door led to the sunroom, which is just off the dining room, I was standing on the edge of the dining room.) I was frozen in fear for what seemed like hours. I bolted for the counter, grabbed the phone and ran to the sunroom yelling "GET THE HELL OUT!". The guy was frozen too and then took off out the door. I had dialed 9-1-1 as soon as I had the phone in my hands and they were on the phone when I yelled. I shut the door and locked it and ran to the other side of the room where there was another door. It was locked and I ripped open the blinds to see the guy STEALING MY BIKE! Just as the operator transfered me to the local police, a police car appeared in the street. The guy jumped off my bike, ditched it on a lawn across the street and took off down the street. I locked all the doors, ran across the street and grabbed my bike. A police car drove up to me as I crossed the street and asked if I was alright. I told her what happened and she told me that this guy had already broken windows in the neighborhood that night. I went back in and locked the doors. Shaking in fear and loaded with adrenaline, I called Scott and then my boss.

The rest of the night I was just completley disoriented and on edge. I didn't sleep well last night, it took me a long time to fall asleep because all I kept thinking about was what happened and how I have to do nights again this weekend.

I really don't know how I'm going to do them anymore.....

on a lighter note, my cousin and I appeared in the Advertiser for our trip!

also, thursday is my birthday...hoo-rah.

2006-07-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that July is almost over!

This month has gone by so fast and I know that August will go by just as fast. August is already so full of things that I really hope nothing big comes up. Next thursday is my birthday and it falls right in the middle of an 18 day work stretch. Joy!

So a couple weeks ago Scott and I went to Silverwood. It was a lot of fun, and not as busy I thought it would be. I had to convince Scott to go on just about every ride but once he went on them once it wasn't too hard to get him on them again. The only one he didn't go on was the Panic Plunge which I hope he'll eventually go on. It's really not that bad!

After Silverwood we stopped at the Wal-Mart in Sandpoint and enjoyed all their food goodness. So many things for cheap that you can't buy in Canada. Scott was particularly impressed with their pop-tart selection.
Work is kind of stressing me out. For the first time since I started working at my job(s), I've seriously considered finding a more permanent position. Who would have thought I'd be complaining of working too much? It's really frustrating to be the only fall-back person. I know that I have every right to say no to shifts but I always feel so guilty and then I end up working like 18 in row. It's not merely about working so much though, it's the whole system. There are so many rules being broken and it's not right. I don't mind helping out once in a while when someone is sick but I hate being the only person who seems to be willing to work a shift when they need someone. So many things to say about that but I'll save you....

So the bike trip starts in less than a month! Megan and I went for a short ride last night and we're going again tomorrow. I'm not used to riding with anyone so it's going to take some getting used to for me. We had an interview/photo with the Kootenay Advertiser that hopefully will come out within the next week or so. I still have to contact the newspapers in other towns along the way. If you didn't know already, we've set up a small website at http://ridekootenays.atspace.com .

And now, I'm off to go camping with work...even though I don't really feel like going....

2006-07-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Ugh, I'm tired.

The last two weeks have been so draining.

Last monday I headed off to Rock Lake Camp with work for the week. Rock Lake has to be my most favourite place in the whole world. I counted the times that I had been there and figured that it had to be at least 12. The week as a whole was pretty enjoyable. I find that going to camp with work helps to bond the coworkers, I feel a lot more connected to them now.

I went kayaking on one of my coworkers kayak, it was so much fun. Next to biking, kayaking is already on the top of my "fun outdoorsy things to do" list. When I was out on the kayak, I caught a turtle....I broke a rule of the camp! Actually when the week was over I found out that I had broken three rules of camp...oops! For the most part camp was fun, I got to go swimming everyday and save for the few stressful times, I had a lot of fun. I think the only really crappy part was having to play the "guy" card since all the other staff were female. I had to rid the kitchen of a few mice and kill a few bugs....oh well!

The day I got back...more like the minute I got back to Cranbrook from camp, my boss at the group home asked me to work that night. I was like "um....no."

My mom's 50th birthday was on Saturday which was a huge big party. Everyone had fun, I lovefamily get togethers.

This whole week I've been doing nightshifts. I usually don't mind them, but then again I'm usually only doing two nights in a row. This was five. By the 3rd night I'm spent. I feel like a vegetable. I can't really keep track of my thoughts and everything seems really jumbled. Scott, I'm sorry for being a grouch these past few days.

I found out yesterday that one of my cousins had just passed away from cancer. With all the statistics saying that one in three (i don't know if that's accurate) will have cancer and almost every person knows someone who has/had it, I can honestly say that she's the first person that I've actually known that has had cancer. She put up a good long fight, we'll miss you Betty.

Tomorrow Scott and I are going to Silverwood. This will be his first time and my 5th. They have a new ride which I am so excited to go on. The Panic Plunge (140 foot drop at 47 mph!) Scott won't go on. I think that's because of the whole Stampede debacle. You see, when we went to Stampede, it was my first time whereas Scott and Emma had been there before. They graciously allowed me to pick the first ride that we'd all go on (no veto power!), immediatley I said "DROP OF DOOM!". I enjoyed it. I was scared out of my mind don't get me wrong, but I loved it. Scott on the other hand...well, he doesn't trust my ride choices anymore.

So the bike trip planning is coming along well. We're leaving on August 23rd and should arrive in Penticton on August 30th. I met the fundraising goal of $600 and there are still donations coming in! Look for a full detailed trip update soon!

2006-06-30T15:23:00.000-07:00

it's always a humbling experience to go back through your blog archives and realize that you can't spell worth a crap. yeesh!

So my summer is going to be a crazy one. On Monday I'm going to Rock Lake Camp with work for the week. Then it's my mom's 50th birthday bash (she's having a HUGE party), and then on Sunday I do a week of night shifts. Then the weekend after that, Scott and I are hoping to go to Silverwood (anyone else wanna come? Ginn?). Then it's work, work, work until August. In August it's my birthday and then on the 15th I'm going to Toronto again for a few days and then a few days after I get back from that, it's the big bike trip!

Speaking of the bike trip, I met my goal of raising $600 for recreational oppurtunities for youth with disabilities. I still have a good 2 months to raise even more money! Hoorah!

and now, since it wouldn't work for some reason in my last post, a picture of my new neice, Nataya!

and why not one more of Ciara too!

2006-06-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

I kept meaning to post because for the first time in a few months, I actually had stuff to write about! Let's see...we could start with....Sam Steele Days...

Sam Steele Days were fun for many reasons. The main reason was because it was my first weekend..no..my first two consecutive days off in literally 2 1/2 months. Ugh! I got to paint on the windows at work which was fun, I just hope I'm not the one who has to clean them off.

On friday we went to the Parade and aside from the fact that it was freezing cold outside and we decided to wear shorts it was pretty enjoyable. It was a standard Cranbrook parade. The usual entries: McDonalds mascots on a fire engine, smokey the bear, the A&W bear, bagpipes etc....at one point my mom walked by holding a large norweigan flag for the Noweigan Society and she stopped in the middle of the parade and started yelling to me "We're going to Anna's house after the Parade. MEET US AT ANNA'S! CIARA IS THERE! ANNA'S HOUSE!" I was politely nodding outside, but inside I was incredibly embarassed because all these people were staring at us like we were nuts.

After the parade we just wandered around downtown and went to the Rec Plex before it started raining and we just went home. That night Erin came over and we all got drunk. Just the three of us laughing and telling stories. It was so much fun. We, and by we I mean Scott, made smores, which went over quite well. Erin is jealous of my personalized signed Betty White photo. You know, Betty White, Rose from the Golden Girls...yup, I have a signed photo addressed to me :) After a while we started to get bored and Scott was tired so Erin and I went for a walk downtown which was interesting. After a long walk which involved a stop at the clock-tower and the park where we both attempted to drink out of the Rotary Park fountain, we decided we were hungry and we walked to Denny's. Denny's was a gong show and we ended up waiting about an hour for our food. By the time we got home we were both tired and went to bed.

Sunday was fun too. After Erin left, Scott and I did our usual Sunday grocery shopping ritual and then we went to my parent's house for Father's Day dinner. After dinner my mom and I went to the Matt Dusk concert which I really enjoyed and my mom mildly enjoyed. It's not my favourite type of music but I'm glad I went. I got my CD signed and talked with him for a bit afterwards. When my mom went to drop me off at home, Scott's truck wasn't there and we were confused so she took me back to their place where we found out that Scott had broke the ignition key and had to walk home....that's the second time he's done that!

On Monday, I became an uncle again! My brother and his girlfriend had another baby girl, her name is Nataya. She is adorable and unlike Ciara did for the first year, doesn't scream when I come in the room. I went to visit Nova and the baby a few days last week which was neat because Nova and I have never really talked and it was nice. At one point she left to go meet her mom and grandma at the entrance and left me alone with the baby. She asked me to change her into a different set of pajamas which was interesting. I've never changed such a tiny little person before. I was a bit nervous too because she woke up and started crying and I couldn't make her stop. Apparently all she needed was to suck on her own hand.

The rest of the week I mostly just worked. Teusday night at like 3 a.m. I woke up because I could hear a big truck idling outside and when I looked I saw a firetruck and after a while noticed that someone had lit a bunch of furniture on fire across the stree and it had spread to the storage shed. Scary!

On Thursday evening Chris, Ginn, and I went swimming at Jimsmith and even if it was a tad cold it was still fun. Then we went to Denny's where chris drank a shot of maple syrup. After all that we played frisbee in the park where I attempted to catch the frisbee with my mouth. Needless to say, that didn't work out.

On Saturday my parents had a BBQ with a bunch of family which was a lot of fun. I held Nataya for like an hour and a half and she didn't even wake up, even though I was poking her and playing with her fingers. Ciara was so cute too. We bought her a play McDonalds set and she knew what to do with all the different parts. Except for the pancakes, she thought those were cookies. She is so cute. She knows how to do animal sounds to like 20 different animals and it's so funny to listen to her make the sounds. The BBQ was fun, Morgan and I played Soccer and then Megan and I talked about our bike trip. I could tell she's a little nervous, but so am I.

Erin, Scott, and I went to Wasa yesterday which was so great. I love swimming. We swam out to the floating buoy (Erin wants to write a book called "Fun With Buoys"). It was so funny, all 3 of us trying to hold on and knock each other off. When we got back to the beach we decided to bury each other in sand which Erin had never done. It's a weird feeling...almost like you're head is just floating in space.

And now....monday...I have my 3rd day off in a row....

2006-06-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how busy life has been lately. I keep saying "Oh next week it'll slow down"
,but it never does. I think I've been saying that since February.

I'm on the last day of a 12 day work stretch. I feel like I could pass out at the drop of a pin. Thank god I booked this weekend off (my first weekend...wait...my first 2 days off in a row since April 7!) I want to do something fun this weekend, it is Sam Steele Days after all. I got my work schedule last week and aside from a few crappy weeks, it looks pretty good. Scott and I want to go to Silverwood in July, hopefully with other people which would be fun.

Last week I received my signing bonuses from work and I was pleasantly surprised. I decided to spend half on something fun, so I'm gonna be going to Toronto again in August. It should be fun! Sarah Slean has been in Paris all year (excpet for the art gallery thing in Feb) and this is her first concert in Canada all year so there'll be a whole whack of fans there which'll a blast. And then a few days after I get back from that, is my bike trip. So far about $410 has been raised which is great, there's about 2 months left and I know that I can hit my goal of $600.

So, next monday I'll be an Uncle again! My brother and his girlfriend set the date for the c-section, which is a little weird to know the exact time that a baby will be born, but it'll be cool. Ciara is so cute, she's talking so much now and she's so energetic. My parents have this guy living with them from Mexico, his name is Roberto, and he's teaching her how to speak in Spanish. The other night she kept saying "Ola!". Too cute.

Well, now I'm off to work.....hoorah....

2006-05-31T09:10:00.000-07:00

I hate being sick. The part that I hate most is the evolution of the cold. First you've got the sore throat so you rush out and stock up on cough drops and throat lozenges. Then that night it turns into a stuffed up nose and itchy eyes. So you go back to Wal-Mart and get nasal spray and visine. Then it seems to stay on the runny nose bit. AHA! I've got you now cold. Me and my box of Scottie tissues will end your reign of terror!

anyways....I'm sick.....

2006-05-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

Wanted:

Someone interested in going to the Calgary Folk Festival with me this July.

Requirements

-money to cover transportation,hotel,tickets

-interest in seeing artists such as Feist, Bedouin Soundclash, Macy Gray, Broken Social Scene, Neko Case, Ani DeFranco, Melissa McClelland, Matthew Good

if interested or if you want to hear samples of the artist's music, please leave a message!

2006-05-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

this last week has been pretty busy.

The following is a post which I intended to make last monday but didn't have time.

I went for a bike ride tonight. A long 2 1/2 hour bike ride. It felt good to get out again. I've gone a couple times a week and I just can't get enough. The community forest is like a haven. Trails upon trails of endless riding. There seems to be a trail to fit every mood of me. If I'm lazy, I'll just take the fenceline trail. Up for a challenge, I'll take the Windy Bluff Lookout (which is what I did tonight), adventerous, well there's always Rollercoaster Trail.

Tonight I started on one side of the forest and took my time riding through. Over hills, down into the open fields, along a few lakes. There were hardly any people out tonight. I like it that way. I pushed myself up to the Windy Bluff lookout and perched a top a rocky ledge. The sun causing a haze above the city. I point out "landmarks". Wal-Mart, the mall, the arena, my house! A helicopter appears and it almost seems like if it got close enough I could jump right in. It hovers near the hospital and then flies away. It strikes me that I'm up here, alone, watching a city of people who have no idea that someone is watching. The sun is hot and I'm getting tired so I take an unfamiliar path home. It's steep and rocky and my back brakes are offically gone. Fun. I am whizzing past trees, a large boulder, praying that nothing gets in my way. Once I am on familiar ground I hear the sound of ignorance. A large ATV is crushing and crashing it's way down the path. I stop to tell them that they can't ride that in this forest but they wave and keep going. (end of bike story)

On Tuesday I went to the annual general meeting for the Cranbrook Community Forest Society. I just went to sign up as a member and see what they were going to talk about. I went into the meeting as a fan and user of the forest, when I left I was on the board of directors. Interesting...

The bike trip planning is going along. Most of the actual planning is almost done we just need to figure out the minors. Donations are nearing $300 which is halfway!

I can't wait to have a weekend off.....

2006-05-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

So the crazy month of working is winding down. I think. I hope. I worked at the most, 16 days straight and in total about 26 out of 30 days. Craziness. Hopefully things will settle down now.

I don't even really remember what happened since the last time I posted.....

Erin and I went to Fernie last week on my one day off which was fun and random. We were originally going to go for a walk or hike which turned into a drive to fisherville, which turned into a drive to Fernie. We shared this chocolate dipped cheesecake thing which, if I had one more bite, would have killed me.

Fundraising for the charity aspect of the bike trip is well under way. I've raised more than $200 so far which is 1/3 of the goal. I'm confident that we can meet our goal.

Perhaps I will think of more things to write.....

2006-05-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

yay. 6 more days until my day off. I've been working every day for like 10 days now.

On Sunday I ran the KNA 10k after doing a night shift. It wasn't bad all things considered. I finished in 56 minutes which is one of my slower times, but I was still happy to be under an hour.

I wish I had more to write.....

watch this! It made me laugh so much this morning!

2006-04-24T07:14:00.001-07:00

this week I get to look forward to to working a 12 hour shift, a 14 hour shift, and 3 more shifts including 2 overnights. Capping it all off with running 10km on sunday morning after my last night shift. Yay.

2006-04-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

day one of fundraising for the bike trip has resulted in a grand total of $13.00. Yup. That's about an hours worth of riding. We had an open house at one of my jobs today and my boss said that it would be a prime opportunity to raise funds. I was aiming for $50. It's not due to a lack of effort either. I spent all of last night fashioning up a cool 3-d display with maps and a fund-o-metre, and pictures. I printed up the pledge forms and even colour coordinated my donation box to the colours of the display.

I answered a lot of questions. "Why are you doing this?" "When?" "Are you crazy?" All the while trying to draw attention to the pledge forms. Not even my co-workers donated. They're the ones I've been counting on the most. The people in my "planning comitee" didn't even express intrest in donating. Urg.

Tomorrow is Earth Day. I encourage all of you to partake in at least one earth-friendly activity. Walk to work, recycle your paper (or set up a recycling bin in your house if you don't have one), plant or hug a tree, etc. I just did an ecological footprint quiz and my results say that my ecological footprint is half that of the average person (4.1 global hectares vs. 8.8). The sad part is that if everyone had my score, we'd need two and a half planets...yikes! Take the quiz herehttp://www.earthday.net/Footprint/index.asp

Tuesday while walking to work I saw a small animal sitting in the water near the shore of the tiny creek that runs through cranbrook. I stopped to figure out what it was but I left before I really knew what it was. Makes me wish I brought my camera. I first thought it was a gopher. But it didn't look like one, and I don't think gophers sit in water. Beaver? Nope, way too small. Cat? No, too...not cat like. Otter? I've never heard of a fresh water otter. (although I love that name.) Thanks to Ginn, we figured out it was a muskrat. This marks the 4th animal sighting in this exact spot in one month. I've seen ducks (who seem to have returned from last year), a deer, a skunk (speed it up joel!) and now the muskrat. Interesting. Cranbrook is a funny place to have animal encounters in. I've had run-ins with wild turkeys, elk, deer, a cougar, skunks, a bat, and now the muskrat. Usually every morning that I walk home from doing a nightshift I encounter some sort of animal. Once I actually had to walk around a deer that was just standing on the sidewalk. Ah, mother nature...evolving in so many ways.

2006-04-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Calgary part 2 was much fun.

We left at 7 which was....not the best time, but it was alright. There was a huge accident near banff due to the blizzard but thankfully we made to Calgary in one piece. We took the clients to Ikea because they'd never been there before. It was fun to show them around, although they didn't really seem to like it as much as the staff did...lol. After that we went to our hotel which was right downtown. It was called 5. It's this huge skyrise that used to be apartments but was converted into a hotel. So it's pretty much just renting an apartment for a night. It was actually pretty nice. We were on the 25th floor and for a short while we all had fun pouring glasses of water off the balcony, trying to get the pedestrians below. We didn't get anyone. We headed down to the saddledome to pick up our tickets to the Flames game and after a long and boring wait, involving several fits of rage and/or panic, we started our ascent to our seats. I was a bit nervous being in a crowd of 20,000 people and trying to make sure our clients stayed together. For a while I felt like a sherpa as 3 people grabbed onto various articles of clothing to keep from being left behind.

The game itself was pretty fun, the Flames won and it was a madhouse every time they scored. Even though we had less than ideal seats, it wasn't as bad as I envisioned. After the game we had passes to meet the players from the Mighty Ducks which was pretty neat. They were super nice to the clients and signed a bunch of stuff. We went back to our hotel to order pizza and then go to bed.

The next day we went to the Zoo which is always fun. I love the african exhibit and the Giraffes are my absolute favourite. I can't wait to go back next year when the baby giraffe is born! The rest of the zoo was fun and I caved in and bought popcorn which is a musthave at the zoo. I'm sure everyone knows this already but my number one all-time fear, is large birds. I had a close call with a peacock this time and I nearly lost a shoelace to a duck.

After the zoo we headed home and saw most of the animals from the Canadian Wilds exhibit on the ride home.

I love home.

2006-04-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

Calgary was much fun, should be fun again when I go tomorrow too.

It was nice to make a trip to Calgary that we could afford and let loose on the purse-strings a little.

On friday night I went to the Sarah Harmer concert. It was amazing. It doesn't take much for me to enjoy a concert, but this one fits into one of my all-time favourites. The concert was at a downtown church. The setting, a bit strange at first, fit perfectly. The church was huge and the music managed to find it's way into every single little space in the building. You could hear her voice ringing off the stained glass windows, pews creaking in time with the music. The lighting created this simple glow on the stage which just made the atmosphere that much better. You could almost see the angels sitting on the balcony swaying along. By the time she had finished it really felt like the church was about to burst with good energy. I envisioned this release of light and magic when the doors opened, winding it's way through the city and touching everything and everyone in it's path. Her music makes me want to hug people.

After the concert I was sitting on the church steps waiting for Scott, Emma, and Josh to come pick me up. That's when this east indian man approached me, not for money, but for conversation. He proceeded to give me a very passionate lecture about religion, most of which I couldn't understand, save for some hand gestures and vaguely recognizable words. He spoke for about 15 minutes while I tried my best to not looked scared and to plead with my eyes to people walking down the street. HELP! Thankfully he left and not very long after, my ride came. Whew.

We stayed at the Quality Inn. Usually, we have very little luck with hotels, and most of them garner the rating "...meh..." from us. The Quality Inn was, well, Quality. The minute we walked in, the room smelled clean and new, but not like a hospital. The bed was the most comfortable bed I've ever laid on and the whole time we were there, it was pretty quiet.

On Saturday we spent most of the day shopping. We bought clothes and music and it was nice to shop in stores without automatically restorting to the sale racks.

Saturday evening we planned on going to the Matthew Barber concert in Canmore. Now, online the concert was supposed to start at 9. The waitress at the restaraunt/bar said that it started at 10, it didn't actually start until 11. The concert was great. I saw him play in Toronto when it was just him and his guitar and it was great, it was even better with a band. I felt a bit bad for him though because most of the people there weren't really paying much attention to the fact that he was playing. I made a point to go up and tell him after the concert that he did an awesome job and that there were people there just for the music. He told me that it's hard to play these kinds of places because you never know if people are there for the beer or the music. He seemed genuinely pleased that there were people there just for him. The concert ended at 1:00am and we made the trip home in record time.

Now I get to go back to Calgary tomorrow with work to see a Flames game....better reshuffle my suitcase...

2006-04-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

do you know what I hate? Ignorance. Especially when someone is being ignorant as a way to be funny. Yesterday on some tv show, they were talking about vegetarianism and this poor girl was being blasted the whole way through. They poked fun at her, laughed at her, and even played a game "would rather ____ or eat meat". They asked her stupid questions and made her choose on what she would rather do. Every single time she chose the stupid answer instead of eat meat. "Would you rather sleep with Kevin Federline or eat a burger." That's a pretty insulting thing to be asked on television. To make it worse, after they ended their interview with this girl, the next segment was "how to make sausages."

I've learned in the year and a half that I've been a vegetarian to not take people's comments to heart. I don't mind answering questions, I don't mind talking to people about why I chose to be a vegetarian. I do mind being mocked and made fun of. When people don't understand something or don't agree with something, their first reaction is to treat the subject with little respect. I have a problem with that, like anybody would.

There's always a few standard responses that I get when I tell people I'm a vegetarian. Occasionally I'll get something positive like "Good for you" or "That's cool". Most often I get some sort of response that ends up making my desicion sound ridiculous. I get "Humans are supposed to eat meat" or "Animals are ours to eat" or "It's not healthy not to eat meat".

I understand that through history, humans have eaten meat. But through time, society allowed humans to make choices for themselves and what they felt was best. Yes, humans did eat meat. But there are some cultures that don't. Yes animals are there and people do eat them, but if you really look at it, the animals that most people eat aren't exactly the picture of perfection. I don't think that the animals that people eat today are of the same quality or standards as they were 100 years ago. I'm not going to get all preachy, I promise. As for the statement that it isn't healthy, I disagree. Studies have shown that vegetarians are 50% less likely to develop heart disease and meat eaters are 9 times more likely to be obese. I feel quite healthy. After becomming a vegetarian I dropped about 10 pounds, all fat. I sleep better at night, I have more energy, I don't feel sick after eating and I feel clean inside. One of the things that I can look at it in my own life is the whole fast food thing. Being a vegetarian limits your options at restaraunts. Some people might complain, but I see that as a benefit. I don't go to fast food restaraunts because there's no reason to. I see that as a healthy choice.

I try not to get preachy because I don't like when people are like that to me. I made a choice not to eat animals, and most people see that as a weakness or a fault in my personality. I see it as a sign of respect and a step into a healthier lifestyle.

It's interesting to me, how choices to make ourselves healthier or the earth a better place, always seem to create the most fodder for ridicule. I've been made fun of for everything from recycling to riding my bike. I may be an environmentalist, I may be a tree hugger, but I'm happy with that.

2006-03-31T15:08:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I like living in a small town. It gives me such a great oppurtunity to study society.

Take for instance the weather. My favourite is when it's sunny in town yet you can see it snowing on the mountains. I love the sense of chaos that it creates with the general public. People walking around saying "when do you think it'll hit?" or "I heard on the news that it'll break up before tonight." You can see people staring at the mountain tops, with that look of impending doom, like a spaceship is slowly making it's decent. People rush around to get their errands done in time before "it" hits. It reminds me of a lame disaster movie. If the snow (or rain) does start to fall, the panic worsens. "Here it comes" you'll hear people saying in coffee shops and parking lots. Rain reminds me of working at Tim Hortons. The spring of 2002 I remember it rained for 6 days straight, non-stop. I remember because I worked 5 of those days. It felt like being inside an aquarium. Inside the glass, water streaking down the window. I remember standing at the counter, blankly looking out to the street. Waterlogged people, bravely making out of their houses long enough to make it to Tim Hortons. Gotta have that double double.

I think one of the ugliest things in the world is garbage that has been wind-pushed against a fence. It reminds me of some sort of gross billboard, advertising what slobs most people are. Faded from the sunlight and soaked from the rain, it's clinging to the web of metal. In all my years of walking to and from places I've never seen anybody litter anything larger than a pop can, yet there lay 2L pop bottles and broken kitchen chairs. I hate..HATE..people who litter. To look down into the creek on my way to work and see ducks swimming in the water, trying to avoid the dam that's been created by pop cans and plastic bags. One of these days I'm going to show up at work, my pants soaked up to the knee. "I was saving the ducks" I'll say. And my reputation as a tree hugging, granola eating, hippy child will dig it's roots in deeper.

One of my favourite things to do is analyze people's purchases at the grocery store. I love looking (discreetly of course) at what people have decided to take home. Sometimes it makes sense. Like today, the older couple in front of me buying four boxes of All Bran cereal. Pretty self-explanatory. The woman behind me however, she was buying a mop and some greeting cards. I wonder which one she came for. Was she wandering the aisles with a mop and suddendly thought "I need cards!" or was she thumbing through birthday cards and all of a sudden the image of a mop popped into her head. Perhaps she didn't even come for either of those and once she gets home she'll realize that the whole reason she went to the store was for mustard. Once at 7-11 on a friday night, Scott and I stood in line behind a college aged guy buying a slush and a box of condoms. Now, it's pretty obvious that he wasn't pouring his slush when out of the blue he thought "I need condoms". The slush is a buffer. It helps alleviate the embarrasement of handing over a box of condoms to the older woman in the red uniform. I think I read too much into things sometimes....

It's funny how change can create so many different emotions in people. The safeway is under major renovations and there are so many reactions. Some people are mad. LIVID. "WHERE IS THE DAMN SOUP? I CAN'T FIND SOUP!". Some people are fearful. "oh no, I don't where the crackers are anymore" Some people don't care about the location of food, they're impressed with the ambiance. "look at the floors! I love the paint!" I'm probably a mixture of a few different reactions. Panic if I can't find what I'm looking for, followed by relief that I found it, and then panic again because I'm scared I won't be able to find it next time. A sense of wonder, who knows what's down the next aisle...it's....CEREAL! THEY MOVED THE CEREAL! WOW....it's like a poor man's version of disneyland.

Society can be fun sometimes.

2006-03-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

I get my own planning comittee! I talked to my boss (also my aunt) at work and she LOVES the idea of fundraising for the bike ride. I'm going to be fundraising for the Cranbrook Society for Community Living (where I work). Planning hasn't officially started yet but she said that she'll get behind it and help me with whatever I need. That's great news! And on top of that, my cousin Megan is joining me on the trip!

The fundraising part hasn't been entirely thought out yet but there are plans in mind to have some of the younger clients and a staff come along and meet us at every stop. We're hoping to raise $1/km. That equals $600! You know what that means....open your wallets people!

2006-03-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

Finally I get a weekend off work! It's nice to know that I have a few days where I don't actually have to do anything. This week I worked two 14 hour shifts back to back. I bet my clients were starting to get tired of seeing me. I realized yesterday while setting things up for a St.Patricks Day party, that my job is comprised of a lot of titles. The following apply: Chef, Waiter, Dishwasher, Maid, Party Planner, Accountant, Lifeguard, Secratary, Counsellor, Motivator, Entertainer, Handyman, along with several more. Oh well, at least it creates an interesting work environment. I'm enjoying work which is nice. Today we went to see the movie Eight Below.

In April, Scott and I are going on a trip to Calgary for the Sarah Harmer concert. It's nice to go to Calgary when we can actually afford to go. We'll be able to do fun stuff and not be so worried about money. On the way home we're stopping in Canmore to see a Matthew Barber concert which should be fun. Then two days later I'm going back to Calgary with work. Did I mention I have a fun job?

2006-03-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

This week will mark my fourth week of working 40+ hours/week. This wouldn't be so bad if it were the same hours every day but it's wearing me out to go from morning shifts to evening shifts and then to overnight shifts all within a few days.

Last week Scott and I went to a film festival type thing supporting the "Keep Jumbo Wild" movement. Here's a little blurb if you don't know what the Jumbo debate is.

The Jumbo debate is centered around a proposed ski resort/village being built in an environmentally sensitive area in the Purcell Mountain range located near Invermere. There are several reasons that local residents and goverment officials are objecting this proposal.
-The main reason to build this resort in this area is to provide year-round skiing on the Jumbo Glacier. Environmental predictions state that this glacier will be entirely melted in about 40 years.
-Within a three hour radius from Invermere there are 13 existing ski resorts, none of which operate at full capacity.
-The resort would be in the style of a European village, including shopping malls, night clubs, restaraunts, and over 6,000 beds. This village would be larger than Invermere in area size and population. The village would not have it's own services though, so waste management, police, hospital etc..would come from Invermere with no added spending for this increase.

So, from this viewpoint it doesn't really make sense to build a ski resort on a melting glacier when there 13 half empty resorts operating within three hours. On friday the Regional District had a vote whether to keep the decision regarding this proposal moved to the provincial government or to keep the decision a local one. They voted in favour of keeping it local. Please visit http://www.jumbowild.com for more info.

So, I've been planning a new bike trip for this summer, and it looks like it will be a trip from Cranbrook to Oliver (where my grandma lives). After I completed my last trip, several people asked if I had considered fundraising for charity while on the trip. I thought about it and I came up with what I thought would be a fairly simple yet effective fundraising oppurtunity. I would try and get a $1 pledge for each kilometer. If the trip was 650km, I would hope to raise $650. I e-mailed the local Cancer Society representative and received a response that actually puzzled me.

They do not endorse cross-country runs or bike rides.

Now, in a way I can see that there might be hesitation because it's a large organization and if something went wrong, their name would be associated, but really. Terry Fox, one of Canada's true heroes raised and continues to raise (through the Terry Fox Foundation) millions of dollars for the Cancer Society. They even sponsored him, supplying him with food, hotels, and water. I wonder if they don't support runs and bike rides now because they want to keep the Terry Fox legacy alive. Either way it's a little frustrating. Should I attempt to find another charity or should I just ignore the oppurtunity to raise money?

2006-03-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

I just made the best lunch ever. It was cheesy spaghetti with asparagus. It was so good that I want to make it for dinner too!

Life is weird sometimes. Before christmas I was scrambling trying to find enough work to pay my bills and now, for the 4th week in a row, I'm working overtime. Not only that but I've been offered/called for 2 jobs in the last week. Where were these options a few months ago?

I bought some watercolour paints when Scott and I were in Lethbridge and I think I've found my new favourite medium. They're so fun to paint with!

2006-02-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

for those who wear glasses:

Have you ever been walking or reading or watching tv and then all of a sudden became aware of the fact that you're wearing glasses? It's the weirdest thing, like usually they just fade into what ever you're doing and you don't notice them, but once in a while you actually become concious that they're there and you just can't stop noticing the box that they put on your vision.
It happened to me yesterday as I was walking.....

2006-02-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

I don't know if anyone else is, but I'm extremely dissapointed in this years Juno Award nominations. I mean, save for a handful of nominations, it's all crappy radio music which it really wasn't last year. I'm sorry, I don't think that Canadian Idol runner ups have the foundation of a music career to be nominated for Best Artist. It's hard to fathom someone who this time last year wasn't even a blip on the radio, nominated in a field which has had previous winners like Jann Arden, Celine Dion, Bryan Adams and more. I could maybe understand if they placed him in Best New Artist or something but I think there are far more talented artists that didn't get nominated. A part of me thinks that it's rigged. Canadian Idol is a CTV show and guess who broadcasts the Juno's? Yup, CTV. Who better to plunk into a whole bunch of catagories than previous Idol contenstants who helped to boost CTV's ratings. How sad.

There are a few artists who I will root for, Jann of course, along with Tegan and Sarah, Metric, and Hot Hot Heat (who should have had more than the one nomination a peice). I'm sad to see that great artists like Sarah Slean,Sarah Harmer and Matthew Barber were completley shut out of nominations. I'm starting to see why people are turning away from award shows. Unfortunately yes, Nickleback and the Canadian Idol troup sell more albums than Metric, Tegan and Sara, and those artists combined but if the nominations were based on artistic merit, I feel that the nominations list would have looked a lot different. Is this the image that we want to give off to the rest of the world, who are looking very closely towards Canada's new music scene? Do we want to show them how highly we put our "television karaoke stars" or do we want to show that we're a hotbed of new sounds and new artists. C'mon Canada, don't turn the Junos in to the Grammy's.

2006-02-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

So, for those of you who didn't know. I recently just took a trip to Toronto. Here is the backstory. A few weeks ago, the message board on SarahSlean.com was hosting a contest in which you submitted your best live photo from one of Sarah's concerts. The winner received two tickets to the Gala Opening of her exhibit of her paintings at Spin Gallery in Toronto. I entered, not expecting to win because A:) There were beautiful photos submitted by other people B:) I live here, and why would they pick someone in B.C. Well, I ended up winning and didn't find out until Tuesday that I was actually going. The prize didn't include airfare or anything else, but thankfully a friend in Toronto helped me out and I was able to make it. After about a day's worth of planning I was off to Toronto for the first time.

I left on Wednesday (Thursday at 1:30am). The bus trip was a bit miserable as it was too cold and bumpy for me to sleep. I got to Calgary and headed to the airport. The flight was good. Some turbulence which I don't tend to handle very well despite my best efforts to keep a calm look on my face. I arrived in Toronto in the dark, which I think helped keep me from being overwhelmed. Since I couldn't see much of the city, it didn't scare me as much. I was staying at a hostel downtown called the Canadiana Backpackers Inn (Scott said "right, like people just happen to backpack their way into Toronto...) I reccomend this place to anyone staying in Toronto. They were very nice, and it was a very comfortable (and cheap!) place to stay. When I signed in they asked if I would like to join them on a trip (5 minute walk) to the CBC building for a live taping of Royal Canadian Air Farce (that's the episode) That was a neat thing to experience. It aired on Friday night. I got to meet Luba, which was pretty cool. After the taping I was prett tired after being awake for like 30 hours, so I went back to my room and slept.

On Friday I started off my day going to the CBC Museum which had an exhibit called Growing Up With CBC. It was cool to see all of the old Mr.Dress-Up and Friendly Giant stuff. I went to the gift shop and loaded up on some cool CBC stuff. After that I wandered around downtown trying to find Canada's Walk Of Fame. After circling the general area for a while, I finally found it and took a photo of Celine Dion's star for Scott. Then I went to the Eaton Center, which is Toronto's big mall. Wow. It's definately an impressive building. I went to Chapters to look for a book that I've been trying to find everywhere, and stumbled across a large group of people. I noticed a sign saying "In Store Signing by Pamela Anderson". I stayed and got a book signed. She's very...much like you would expect. Lot's of hair, boobs, and make-up. I've never seen someone with so much make-up on. Kind of scary actually. After that I shopped for a bit before getting lost on my way back to the hostel.

Friday night was the big event and I met up with Jim, who was my guest for the gala. We showed up and it was fairly quiet when we got there. Soon the gallery started to fill up and we started to mingle with people. It was also a media event and we tried our best to stay out of the many camera's views. Much Music, E-Talk Daily, Bravo, CTV, and many more media people were there. We talked to Sarah for a bit after her interviews were done. She was suprised to see me, even though she picked the winners of the contest. She didn't think that I would travel that far just to see her exhibit. She seemed nervous, which was understandable as she was about to play a few songs. Her set was short, but she played beautifully with a string quartet. After she was done, there was more mingling and we pointed out some quasi canadian celebrities
- Ben, the lead singer from Billy Talent
- Rex Harington, dancer and recent Star on the Walk of Fame recipient
- Damhnait Doyle, singer from the band Shaye
-Kevin Drew from Broken Social Scene
-Mary Margaret O'Hara, singer and sarah's costar from the movie Black Widow
- Much Music Hosts Devon and Sarah
I think there was more, but I honestly can't remember. The gala was fun, Sarah played another set which ended with a sing along of Edelweiss from Sound Of Music. We chatted with her again after and she was much more relaxed. The gala turned into like...a nightclub so we left around 12:00 and I went back to my room and slept.

Saturday, I slept in and when I looked outside it was miserable out. Rain was blowing sideways and I really had no desire to be a part of that. I was supposed to meet a bunch of Sarah fans at the gallery that afternoon, so I braved the wind/snow/rain/hail/sleet and walked down. I passed a little store (apparently it was a boutique *rolls eyes*) and I saw some Barbapapa stuff so I had to go in! I bought Scott a gift because Barbapapa is like an inside joke with us. The gallery was almost empty which was nice because it gave us a chance to really look at the paintings. Her art is very...dark and deep. It's kind of like carnival stuff at times. I like it though. I asked the owner of the gallery, who was incredibly friendly, how purchasing the art would work and he said that they do payment plans which means that I could soon be the proud owner of a Sarah Slean painting. I have to decide still. After the gallery, I went with some of the fans (we call ourselves the Passioneers) to another concert, the Bluebird North Tour. It was pretty good. The artists were Valery Gore, Matthew Barber, Peter Elkas, D'ahri, Blair Packham and Shari Ulrich. The songs were really amazing since each person would start their song solo and the other artists would slowly kind of blend in and by the end it was a whole group song. After the concert I navigated my way home.

On Sunday, I went to church. For a long time I've wanted to go to church in a big huge cathedral. I finally got my chance. The church was insanely huge. Inside, I couldn't stop looking around at all the stuff. The service was very good and it was definately worth it. After church, I wandered around downtown, taking photos of stuff. I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame which was actually pretty interesting. I touched the lucky loonie from the Olympics and felt the the Stanely Cup. I went back to the hostel and decided to go see an outdoor concert a few blocks away. On my way over, I saw a Much Music segment being taped in the much building. The concert was short, it was a Gordon Lightfoot Tribute with Luke Doucet and Liam Titcomb. After that, I decided to go to the CN Tower. It was alright. One of those over-rated tourist things that you just have to go and do. The city is so big that you can't even really comprehend it. It freaks me out that there are bigger cities than that. After the CN Tower, I went back to my room and got ready to go for dinner with Nicole, Neal, and Nicole's boyfriend. Dinner was good. It was the first time I had ever had Thai food, and I like it. After dinner we walked around for a bit before everyone headed off to home. I got back to the hostel and caught up on e-mails and talked to Scott on MSN before packing and getting some sleep.

Monday I had to leave by 7:30 am to catch the bus to the airport. I was early and had to wait with my suitcase in the cold. The toronto airport is much easier to navigate than I anticipated and I made it onto my flight quickly and easily. The flight itself was alright. I watched Elizabethtown which was....kind of dumb to tell you the truth. But at least it kept me occupied. Landed in Edmonton and then connected Calgary. In Calgary I had to wait for a few hours for my greyhound bus so I put my stuff in a locker and took off downtown for food. It was strange. When I was in Calgary, I had that sense of comfort you get when you're in your own space. I think I felt that because for the first time in days I was in a place where I knew and a place where I wasn't worried about getting lost, and I had memories and feelings attached to it since Scott and I used to spend time downtown when he lived there. After eating and walking around I went back to the Greyhound station and boarded my bus. The trip wasn't as bad but it was still boring and bumpy. I was happy to be going home.

2006-01-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

one of my biggest fears is an emergency vehicle leaving it's station as I'm walking/driving in front of it.

2006-01-29T10:32:00.000-08:00

So last week was kind of a kicker. One bad thing leading to another. Thankfully the trend seemed to stop by Friday. My grandmother seems to be on the rocky road to recovery. It's hard to say where the recovery will stop. Every time something like this happens, she doesn't quite make it back the same.

Unfortunately my parents had to put Cole down. The vet said that she's never seen a dog fully recover from Antifreeze poisoning and that it would be best to end his suffering. Poor guy.

I feel that right now in life, I've stalled. Like I'm stuck in waist deep muck trying to move an inch in any direction. I don't know if it's the season, the weather, the situations around me, but it's really starting to eat away at me.

I need a jolt.

2006-01-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

Where to begin.

Just a few days ago I sat down to update the blog and I couldn't really think of anything substantial to write about and now it seems like I can't even get my thoughts streamlined into a cohesive sentance.

On Saturday my Grandma had a massive stroke followed by a series of seizures. I don't really know how to handle it. I don't know whether to believe this could be her time to go or that she can pull through this. A couple years ago she had an aneurism and almost died but she made it through that. This has put my whole heart and head into a state of suspension. My heart is sending ripples of anxiety due to my fear of having the phone ring and the caller I.D. say that it's from my parents house. On saturday my mom called to say that my Grandma wasn't doing too well and that I should come and visit. By the time I got there 911 had been called and everything was a little chaotic. I've seen clients have seizures and I thought that I could handle it if I saw my Grandma have one but when it happened I couldn't do it. Supposedly she'll be ok. That's what the doctors told us, that's what the nurses told us. But I just don't know.

It's hard to go to her room at the seniors home where she lives. In fact, the very seniors home that she worked at as a nurse 30 years ago. It's hard to go there and see that her belongings and keepsakes have been whittled down to photographs and some flowers. It's hard to see the accomplished woman she is just by peeking your head in her room. She is a strong woman, seperated and then reunited with her family. Being there for 3 children, 5 grandchildren, and 1 (soon to be 2) great grandchild. She was a hard worker but always showed me that life was worth living. She was a globe-trotter in her finer days, travelling to Egypt, Jersulem, Germany, London, Norway, Hawaii, and countless other places. She taught me how to bowl, how to play cards, how to wash dishes.

There is a distance there now, that was created when she first started experiencing Dementia (an alzheimers type disease). I had to seperate the memories and feelings that I shared with her from before that time and start a new relationship with the grandmother who now couldn't remember my name. I knew that she knew me. Everytime that I would go to visit she looked at me with love and understanding. I know that she knew who I was even if she couldn't say it. I hope that this will work out.

On top of that distressing news, I found last night that my parents dog, Cole, had been poisoned and there's a good chance that he won't survive. It's strange how attached you can get to animals, and my parents have only had Cole for maybe a couple years, but I love that dog. He has such a personality, with his tooth that sticks out of his lip. I hope he too will be alright.

2006-01-13T16:38:00.000-08:00

Well....

So far 2006 seems to be a pretty good year, all 13 days of it.

Scott applied for this management job for Enterprise and he's had two interviews so far. They flew him down to Vancouver today to meet the GM and have a final interview. I hope he gets it. It would make things so much better I think. It's hard with both of us not really having permanent jobs. So far everything has worked out fairly well, but it'd be nice to alleviate some of the stress that bogs us down.

I went swimming today. Only for about 45 minutes. It was nice, although my eyes are burning a tad now. I can't wait for the spring to come so I can ride my bike and be outside for more than 15 minutes before freezing. I've already got a bike trip planned for this year. My cousin Megan told me that she'd want to come along this time so hopefully she can. This year I'm hoping to go from Cranbrook to Penticton. It should take about 8 days. I have to see what working conditions will look like around the time I'd like to go before I can decide if I'll do it or not.....

2006-01-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

I know it's not perfect, but I like it.

2005-12-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

So Christmas came and went. As quickly as it usually does. I hope everyone had an enjoyable time, I know I did. Thankfully I got a bunch of shifts right before Christmas so I knew I was going to able to afford gifts. Work was actually better than anticipated, some days weren't as good as others but it was only minor things. I painted a Santa on the window one day because I was so darn bored.

Christmas Eve was fun. I worked and then we went to my aunt and uncles house. After kind of just sitting around for a bit everyone teamed up and we played charades. I, unfortunately, picked the hardest damn things to act out like "how to lose a guy in 10 days". Christmas Eve also produced one of the best party quotes -> "Does anyone know how I got here?" - my uncles brother. It became a running gag all christmas.

After charades, we went to midnight mass and met up with Erin. It was fun because there are always things that happen that are funny in a "should laugh while in church" way (ie: The Scroll Guy). Thankfully I managed to stifle my giggles. There was another quote that came out of church "they're not going to win Church Idol with that choir..." - me.

After church Scott, Erin, and I met up with Trina at Denny's and we had our annual Christmas Eve Denny's. It was a lot of fun, even though Trina's card contained a cut up tampon. Then it was home to bed to get 5 hours of sleep.

Christmas itself was a lot of fun. Quiet this year but it was nice to have a low-key christmas. I ended up getting a guitar! I was so happy. I also got the last season of friends, a friends trivia game, SHOES!, and a ton of other great things. I was quite happy with the gifts that I gave people, it was hard to get things on such a small budget. I painted a large (as in 4 poster boards) picture of Jim Morrison of the The Doors for my brother. I was quite happy with the results even though it took a lot of time to fix the little things that bugged me. It so funny the little traditions that christmas has. My dad has worn the same house-coat for like 20 years. We always open our stockings first. We have baileys in our coffee. I love our christmas traditions.

About a month ago, I decided to do a secret santa type thing for my 8 year old cousin. Basically I snuck presents into her mailbox with a note saying that she'd have to wait to Christmas to find out who the Secret Santa was . I had her completely fooled right up until Christmas when she had to put a puzzle together to figure it out. It was so funny.

Now...I suppose I should have a shower....

2005-12-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

so even though I know Christmas is only two weeks away, I still haven't made any considerable effort to buy/finish the gifts that I have picked out for people. I'm really trying to make a hefty portion of the gifts I give out this year and I think I have really really cool ideas, I just haven't made anything yet. So what do I do? Post on blogger of course....

It's so weird to look back to last year at this time and see how things have changed so much. Last year I was working at Wal-Mart, I hadn't really moved in with Scott, and I didn't really know what I wanted in life. Well, now I work in the field that I wanted, I live with my love, and...well...in a lot of ways I still don't know what I want. I know that I want to work doing what I'm doing, but in terms of location and all of that stuff, I don't really think about too much anymore.

Last night was our big christmas party for work. There was something like 300 people there, it was a lot of fun. I went over to the 7th Street (group home where i work) table and then the DJ started playing music so we all kind of went out on the dancefloor and I was pushing one of the clients in a wheelchair and it was just a nice feeling to see everyone having so much fun. Somehow our group of people dancing knocked over the christmas tree (it was staff, not clients that did it). Too funny. I sat on Santa's knee.

well, I suppose I should get my act together and start on some christmas presents.

Oh! everyone should go here and vote!

2005-12-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

wow it's cold out....like...COLD!

I can't believe there are only like 20 days until christmas. I have so many presents either half made or not made and I'm starting to get anxious.

I did however get a bunch of shifts at work so that should help with the finances. The crappy thing is I work christmas eve, boxing day, and new years eve. New Years Eve over night....pooey.

So, remember the Passioneer Ninja I made for Sarah Slean? Well, she has a tour diary at macleans.ca and she wrote about it! Woot!

"I greet some Passioneers in the hall, one of whom gives me a little "Passioneer Ninja" toy as my Christmas present. It is hand sewn, complete with a red "P" badge, two little beady eyes and a svelte black felt outfit with a tag (yes, tag) that explains a Passioneer's mandate. I need to make a shelf for the bizarre brilliant things people have given me over the years. The Passioneer Ninja takes the prize for originality, hands down."
http://forums.macleans.ca/advansis/?mod=for&act=dis&eid=2

So yes...other than that not much is new....except I have this weird obsession with mandarin oranges and grilled cheese sandwhiches...*note* not together

2005-11-29T10:04:00.000-08:00

Scott and I went to Calgary last wednesday for the Sarah Slean concert and we had fun. On the drive there we went the banff way, listening to Christmas songs and butchering them. When we got to Calgary I couldn't remember the name of the hotel that I booked and we drove around Motel Village looking for the one that I remembered from the picture. We had like half an hour to get to the University and we finally got there after the longest traffic light in existance. Scott waited with me until the doors opened and then he went for coffee with his friend.

The concert was amazing. Just Sarah and a grand piano. I can't even pinpoint a highlight because there are so many....the venue was incredible, it was a recitle stage and had amazing acoustics and just an overall beautifu design to it. The setlist was a treat since it mixed older songs that I hadn't heard live, to newer songs which were great to hear solo. I actually ended up sitting next to a girl from the Sarah Slean message boards who I (kind of) know, so that was neat.

After the concert, Scott waited with me so that I could talk to Sarah and get some things signed (she had prints of some of her paintings for sale and I bought one of each one!). I told Sarah a story about my bike trip and how when I was scared of being eaten by a bear, I started singing her song "Sweet Ones" insanely loud. She seemed amazed at the fact that we travelled for 5 hours just to see her. I gave her a little present that I made (a passioneer ninja!) and she signed a cd and a print. She's probably one of the nicest people you could ever meet.

The next day we just hung around, we went to a craft store and then to Chinook to walk around since we didn't have any money to spend. After Chinook we went to South Center to complete part of our mystery christmas card (mwahaha) and we went to the Disney store. So many cool things there this time. We also got harrased by the cologne lady at the Bay on our way out and both ended up with samples.

Then we headed to Okotoks to go for dinner with Scott's grandma. When we got there, his grandpa was there too which was a suprise. We kind of sat around waiting for his uncle when all of a sudden Scott's mom came in. That was like...suprise of a lifetime. I wasn't expecting that at all, and to be honest I probably would have expected to see Oprah walk in before Scott's mom. Everything seemed to be good though, we had a nice conversation (I got some more dirt on Scott). After dinner, Scott got his christmas stuff from his grandparents and mom and after some hugs we were off. I find it weird that the starbucks in Okotoks is drive-thru....

So that takes care of the trip stuff....Last week I applied for a job at the center and found out that they aren't filling that position anymore. Crap damn. I also just applied at the school district so hopefully something comes out of that....

On Friday Scott and I went to the Santa parade and ran into my aunt and uncle and cousin Morgan. It was a pretty lame parade but we got free hot chocolate so that makes up for it. Then we all went to my parent's house for dinner because my grandma was in town. My cousin is such a nut. She's probably the funniest 8 year old I've ever met...

On Saturday we visited with Ciara for a few hours...she gets cuter and cuter every time I see her. Later that night we decorated our christmas tree....it took about 5 minutes as our tree is about 2 feet tall 3 feet tall...oh well....it's cute and it has cool ornaments and there are already presents underneath.

I wonder what kind of christmas it will be this year.....

2005-11-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

Let's see, I'm trying to remember if anything really exciting happened between monday and wednesday of last week...nothing is coming to mind so I'm guessing not...

Thankfully, I got called into work on Wednesday night which was actually pretty good considering I haven't done a shift at the group home in a few months. While at work my mom called to tell me that someone quit at the center and that I should apply. She tells me things in the weirdest way. Here's the conversation

Me: Hi, I'm just returning your message
Mom: Oh, yeah....get your liscence
Me: What? Why?
Mom: Just get your liscence, you need it
Me: Why?
Mom: You just do
Me: um...okay
Mom: Someone quit at the center and there's a job opening

She could have at least told me at the beginning. She freaked me out because she made it sound like Scott was in a car accident or something. *sighs*

So then on Thursday I got called in at the center (they phoned at 9:15 to work at 9:30). It was ok...a bit frustrating becaus nobody really told me what I was doing there...like, usually they tell you who you're covering for so you know what to do but I had no idea. I also saw the job posting and it's only for 3 months but I still applied.

On friday we went to the mall just to walk around and we ran into Chris at the bookstore. He and Brandi were going to the late showing of Harry Potter and invited us to go along. So then we kinda just hung around. Chris came over and taught us how to play poker. I would have won if Chris hadn't forced me to put all my chips in. Oh well.

Harry Potter was really good. The fourth book was my favourite one out of all them so I was excited to see what they did with it. They kind of skipped over a few parts and didn't go into some of the parts I thought they would but all in all it was really good. The first two movies were kinda geared to kids a bit too much whereas this one was more like a regular movie. Parts of it actually scared me! I also got to wear my new Harry Potter scarf that I got in a swap on Craftster.

I did respite (kind of like babysitting) for a client on saturday and sunday which was fun. We pretty much watched some movies. Walked downtown and had lunch. Brett (the client) was so funny, he was trying to get me to ask one of the girls working at A&W to the christmas dance. We walked back and then made supper. Scott came over and we watched some movies. One was...funny even though it wasn't a comedy....

Sunday we just hung out and then went to my parents for dinner before going to the hockey game. I hadn't been to a hockey game in like 2 years, it was weird.

So, now I have a cold from walking outside on the weekend. I hope I get that job, it would help out so much.

Tomorrow night is the Sarah Slean concert! Woot!

2005-11-15T13:52:00.000-08:00

well, things haven't really changed on the job front. I just found out that I missed a shift for tonight because my phone was on vibrate and I couldn't hear it. Damn.

It was kind of a mishmashed week. One of the clients from the group home passed away so that took a toll on me. Moreso than I thought it would. It's hard working in this field because you do get attached and do you bond with the clients and it's hard to deal with stuff like that. Thankfully the weekend picked up and didn't really allow me to be too sad.

Saturday was Ciara's first birthday (already!!) We went over and celebrated at the kid's party which was....interesting. A lot of small children, thankfully only a few were hopped up on sugar so it wasn't as bad as I thought. She finally got to have cake which we missed but was apparently hilarious. I was supposed to do some respite on Saturday night but that got cancelled.

On Sunday was Ciara's family birthday which was fun. Everyone came and we all had a big family dinner. We got Ciara a bumble ball thing which she liked and a little wagon filled with big lego blocks. She fits perfectly inside the wagon and seemed to love it. She had cake smeared all over her face and it was soooo funny.

2005-11-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

well now what?

My 6 week contract with the center ended on Halloween and now I'm back to playing the waiting game. Waiting everyday to see if I get called in to work. What a crappy thing to have to go through. It's hard because I could go find a job somewhere else but the center is where I want to work and I can't work there if I work somewhere else. So argh....ARGH!

Halloween was alright. On Saturday I went with Trina to Finnigans for karaoke. She dressed up as Aretha Franklin for a contest where you dress up like the person whose songs you're singing. She was quite good, I'd post pictures but she might get mad. I went as a sailor, because I'm lame and didn't have any ideas at the time. On Sunday my mom entered this chili cookoff thing so we went there to support her. It was like official with judges and you had to place ballots on your favourite. My mom won third place. On actual halloween after work Scott and when grocery shopping and then carved some pumpkins...well, I carved them very rushed because I wanted them to go outside and it was already like 6. They didn't turn out well. Then we went to my parents to raid their candy bowl as they only had about 4 kids come to their house.

So other than sitting around waiting to be called for work, I haven't been doing much else. I'm trying to get ideas ready for Christmas as I don't want to be stuck at the last minute. I've got at least one gift idea for each person in my family and for friends but I like to have fallback ideas too.

20 more days until Slean time!

2005-10-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

so the Calgary trip was much fun!

Ginn and Ken graciously let us stay with them which helped Scott and I out a lot. We left on Saturday around 1 because we were taking our time and being lazy. We did a few geocaches along the way. The trip up was really nice. Nice weather, nice scenery, nice conversations. When we got to Calgary we were going to go for dinner first but everywhere we went had a 34 hour line up so we went to Ginn's house. For about an hour we attempted to help Ginn find a career path, but I don't think she's going to take of the suggestions we made. I don't blame her, we gave her stuff like "Imaginary Friend", "Travelling Polygraph Test", and "Customized Sock Maker". Then all of us decided to go to Ricki's for dinner. After dinner we watched Phantom of the Opera which Scott insisted was entirely about the chandelier.....*sigh*

Saturday we got up early because we were supposed to meet Scott's friend for breakfast but she couldn't go so we had to find something else to do. We went downtown to be all touristy and walked around our favourite places there. Nothing was open food-wise which was quite disheartening. It was such a nice day out though, the sun was shining and there weren't any clouds. A nice day for walking downtown. After we visited Olympic Plaza we went up to the top of the Calgary Tower to see their new glass floor. It was SO cool! Scott was so cute, he wouldn't step on the glass for the first while, he'd only step on the support beams. It was so weird standing like 500 feet above a major intersection in downtown Calgary. After a while we decided to go to Chinook Center. We had lunch and then went shopping. We didn't buy too much, I bought a couple shirts and....some books. I think that was all. We kind of just drove around for a bit, stopped at Wendy's for some food and then sped back (with a bit of a circle detour) to Ginn's to get ready for the concert.

Luckily Ginn lives like a few blocks away from SAIT so we just walked over. We were about 15 minutes early. The theatre was massive! It was so cool, with all the balconies and stuff. We were sitting about six rows from the stage so we had pretty good seats. I was quite pleased with the seats we managed to get. The opening guy.....sucked...pretty bad....But after a brief intermission Jann came on and all was well. The show was amazing. It's hard to say if it was better than the Nelson show because they were so different. She played a lot of new songs, a bunch of older ones and some that I hadn't really heard. Her between song humour was so funny. She stopped the show at one point to go to the bathroom and at another point she pulled up her friends son to sing happy birthday to him. The concert went until about 11 and then we walked back to Ginn's. We decided to get pizza so Scott and I set out but we couldn't find a single place that was open. Finally we got to Pizza 73 literally 2 minutes before they closed. We went back to ginn's, ate pizza and then kinda just hung out until bedtime.

On Sunday we slept in a bit as we didn't really have much to do. We did a geocache that was near SAIT and then headed to the University because that's where the only ticketmaster place is that I can find. We picked up the Metric tickets that I was giving Annalise and my Sarah Slean ticket for November (hooray for Sarah twice in one year!). Then we went to Market Mall to suprise Annalise but that didn't really happen. We talked to her for a bit and she got me a deal on cookie cutters (a new camel one, a moose, and an x-mas tree). After saying good-bye to Annalise we headed home. The mountains were so pretty on the drive home. Scott's hates Canmore now, because we couldn't find anywhere to stop and everytime we thought we did we couldn't get to it. We got into Cranbrook around 8:30 and then just watched Family Guy. The fog was so creepy (perhaps it's an advertising ploy for the new "The Fog" movie at the theatre?) This morning on my way to work I couldn't even see across the street!

So...in a few weeks it's Ciara's first birthday and we bought her some fun presents and it looks like we'll be buying some more baby gifts in nine months. That's right, my brother and nova are pregnant again apparently. My mom told me last night that they're due in June! Hard to believe that Ciara is not quite a year old and she already has a brother/sister on it's way....craziness. Yay for being an uncle again!!

2005-10-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

Scott and I will be in Calgary on Saturday/Sunday/Monday. The only problem is....we need a place to stay...can anyone help out? Name your price!

2005-10-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

I stole this from Ginn.

You answer the questions and then use google to find pictures to correspond with your answers.

The name of the town where you grew up
Cranbrook

the name of the town where you live now
Cranbrook

your name
Joel

your Grandmothers name (pick one)
Martha

your favourite food
Fruits and Vegetables
your favourite drink

Coca Cola

your favourite song
Sarah Slean - When Another Midnight

your favourite smell
Peppermint

2005-10-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving was fun fun. The weekend itself went by so fast!

Scott and I rented the new Family Guy movie. It wasn't as funny as I thought it would be and the plot really didn't show itself until half way through, but it was still quite funny and worth a rental.

On Saturday we went for a hike to the top of mountain near town that has a really nice viewpoint over the city, but there were people at the top fixing the radio tower so we left rather quickly.

Sunday I went to church and then home to help my mom get ready for Thanksgiving dinner. There were 20 people over for supper. Ciara is growing up so fast! She's already a month away from her first birthday. She isn't walking yet but she is saying either "taco" or "tickle" a lot. It was a great thanksgiving all in all. I ate a lot.....

On monday, we went for lunch with Annalise! I vistited my grandma with my mom and ciara. Then we went birthday shopping for Scott. He didn't want us to buy anything more than $5. After shopping we went to my parents for b-day dinner.

Not too much is happening the world of Joel. Pretty much just working everyday and filling in the gaps with (fun) stuff. Last night I went with my mom to the College's 30th Anniversary thing. There was cake and a concert with As The Crow Flies and then some comedian who told political jokes the whole time. I ended up winning a door prize (a book and a jacket) I gave my mom the book and kept the jacket even though it's a bit big.

Scott and I will be going to Calgary on the 22nd to see Jann Arden. Unfortunately I don't know if I can make it to the Metric concert on the 26th as I'd have to miss 3 days of work. I wish that I could go but I don't know if I can. I found out the other day that there will be a Sarah Slean concert in Calgary at the end of November which I (really really) hope we can make it to.

Well....food time!

2005-10-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Not too much new to report. Working a bunch and trying to make the most of spare time. It's Scott's birthday on Monday...so...wish him a happy b-day....

Have a great thanksgiving!

2005-09-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

well, it seems as if things are working out. Thankfully. Last week I was so stressed about not having a job. I hadn't heard back from the places I had applied to when I got a temporary contract at the Community Living Center. I was so so happy. It's just for six weeks but it will help out so much. I'm not sure what will happen at the end of October but I'm trying not to worry about it until the time comes. It seems like all I've done is swimming and bowling at work in the last week. I think I've gone bowling three times and swimming four times. Exciting stuff. I'm also doing some respite work on the weekends for a few clients, so far it's been pretty cool. I think we might be going to the Ice game this sunday.woo.hoo.

I'm so sad that Rock Star INXS is over. I was kind of ticked that J.D. won. I'm glad that a Canadian won, but I didn't like his singing. One of the singers that I did really like was Suzie. I'm glad she didn't win, only because that means she'll be releasing her own music which I think will be better than INXS. It's strange, this year I've bought more CDs than I've ever bought in a year. Let's see if I can remember all of them....
Feist
Tegan and Sara
Melissa McClelland
The Killers
Scissor Sisters
James Blunt
Hot Hot Heat
Metric
C oldplay. That's a lot for me, as I used to only buy like...one or two CDs a year. Metric just released their new one today and Sarah Harmer's new CD comes out in a few weeks I just found out. Yay for music!

Scott and I celebrated our two year anniversary yesterday. Two years. I can't really believe it. I'm so lucky to have him. Words will never ever describe how much he means to me. It's such an amazing feeling to know that I'm not just me, I'm him too. We're one. I'm so happy :)

2005-09-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

The Jann concert was amazing!

We left around three and got to Nelson in time to walk around before dinner. We also needed to find the new Recreation Center which we parked across the street from but didn't know it. We had dinner at the Outer Clove, a garlic restaraunt. Apparently they put garlic in everything...chocolate cake included. The food was really good and it was a good little restaraunt, I highly recommend it to anyone going to Nelson. After dinner we had some time to spare so we went to the Kootenay Co-op, which is a locally run organic grocery store. They have a great selection of bulk organic tea so I bought a mint blend which is really really good (I should have bought more), and some bulk spearmint because it smelled soooo good.

The concert itself was really really good. Only about a thousand people there but still a nice crowd. A girl from Nelson opened, she was ok...all of her songs sounded the same and Scott described her as "like nails down a chalkboard". After a brief intermission Jann came on. Her set seemed short but it was still excellent. Her between song banter is so funny. She talked about the plane ride to Nelson, her hotel room, and the lifeguards sitting in the front row. I found it odd that she didn't play any songs off her new album but Scott and I figured it's because this show wasn't part of her actual tour and that's when the new songs will be added. She did an encore which was so funny. She just started singing "I will survive" which turned into the "Medley of Songs We Don't Know" featuring "Stayin' Alive" and "Hit Me Baby One More Time". The trip and the concert was just a really really great time, even if we didn't get back until 3:00. Poor Scott had bad luck with 7-11 too. Both of the ones we stopped at had broken coffee machines...

Now....it's the weekend..hoorah

Oh, it's the Terry Fox run on Saturday....everybody should go and do it. You don't have to run. You can walk, bike...you could even roll the whole thing. Just go and raise money for cancer. CTV aired a movie about Terry Fox last sunday and it's on again this Saturday on CTV. It's really good and if you have the chance, you should watch it.

2005-09-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hoorah!

Tomorrow is Jann Arden day! Scott and I have been dying to see her in concert for a few years now and we finally get the chance (in Nelson of all places). It should be exciting. We'll be going to see her again in Calgary at the end of October, and I'll (along with Annalise, provided she still wants to go) be going to the Metric concert a few days after.

Yay!

2005-09-12T15:45:00.000-07:00

so, I'm back!

I apologize for the lack of updates but I've been fairly busy since we got back from Calgary. First and foremost I will highlight my trip!

Day One:
I was so not prepared...lol...I didn't get out of Cranbrook until about noon, a few hours later than I had hoped. The weather was alright, not too hot but a little windy. I was making good time and took my time getting to Fort Steele. Shortly after Ft.Steele, the weather changed and it was cold and sprinkling rain. It was about this time that my handlebar went loose. Way loose. I thought I had brought my little multi-tool with me but sadly I didn't. Luckily my bike lock key fit into the screw and every few minutes I had tighten the handlebar back into place. For the most part Day One was boring as I had just biked this section a few weeks prior. The only other "fun" part was when I sustained a minor scrape on my ankle. Great, first day and already an injury. Scott and Trina met me at Wapiti Lake to camp. We built a fire, and built what my dad apparently thought was a tent. Trina rigged it around the back of the truck and she slept inside while Scott and I froze. Didn't get much sleep.
Day Two:
Day Two sucked hard. I again, didn't get out until later in the morning. Everything seemed to be going ok trail wise until I made my way to North Star Lake. The markers disappeared and I had no idea which way to go. After several attempts at finding the right way I went back to the main road and through a short cut I remembered from Geocaching, found the trail again. By the time I made it out of this section and onto Baynes Lake road it was already around 3. I was in a bad mood and didn't feel like going the round-about way to Elko. I made the desicion to bike the 4 kilometeres to Elko on the side of the highway instead. It was raining, I was mad and there were big trucks. That's all I have to say about that. Once I was on River Road on the other side of the river from the highway, I thought it would get better. Nope. It poured. I swore and pushed on. My parents, expecting to see me at the campground by now called to say they looked for me but left. Along the last 10 km to Fernie I lost a bungee cord holding my sleeping bag on and my "virtually indestructable" Nalgene bottle, broke. I made the choice to spend the night at the Raging Elk Hostel rather than camp and boy was that right thing to do. It was cheap, but very cozy. I had a tv and a shower and a bed all to myself. I bought some goodies and fell asleep warm.
Day Three:
Much better overall. Nothing terribly exciting happened today. The whole route was on the side of the highway which wasn't too bad. Not a whole lot of traffic and there weren't even any big hills. I stopped in Sparwood for lunch and then made my way to Elkford. After having a shower at the campground I met a guy who just biked from Banff on his way to Montana. He gave me a few hints and warnings about the next day. I tried to make frozen pizzas for dinner but they didn't quite turn out. A girl came up to me and invited me to her campfire party but I declined as I was tired. Elkford is small.
Day Four:
After a decent sleep, I set out around 10 after mailing postcards and eating breakfast. The first part of the trail wasn't so bad. This was the beginning of my isolation part of the trip. I made it about 20k before taking a break. Not many people, just some hunters and an old couple. The scenery was amazing but the hills were backbreaking. Endless hills. There wasn't much shade and the sun was blazing. I had decided to stay in a hunters cabin that was only 5km south of the campground. The guy from the day before had told me about it. It sounded a lot better than tenting way up there. I was tired by 4 but still hadn't found the cabin. Just when I started to doubt the trip and debated just calling the rest of it off, I saw it around a corner. It was pretty much what I expected. Small. It had a stove, a couple beds and a table. People had left supplies and all you have to do is clean up after you're done and sign your name on the wall. I built a big fire and made dinner before falling alseep around 9. Throughout the whole trip I missed Scott and my family, but this day was the worst as I didn't have cell service and couldn't talk to anyone. I was truly alone. Way out in the middle of the mountains.
Day Five:
Freezing. Bloody. Cold. I was so glad that I stayed in the cabin. I built a fire to try and warm up before leaving. I locked the cabin door and was on the trail at 8:30. I had a feeling I would see some animals this early in the morning and I was right. A few minutes after heading out something large and black crashed into the trees beside me. I didn't stick around to see what it was. A few minutes later I saw a black figure on the road about 100 meters ahead. I blew my whistle and it lifted it's head. A baby moose. Still bigger than a horse though. It ran off and I kept going only to see yet another black thing on the trail. The mom. Way bigger than a horse. Thankfully it too ran off and I didn't see anymore large black figures. I found the right road and by 10:30 I was standing on the continental divide. Alberta on one side, BC on the other. The ride down to Kananaskis was nice. Mostly downhill and extremely picturesque. I made to the parking lot and I had never been so happy to see pavement in my life. A short ride later and I found civilization. The Boulton Restaraunt and Trading Post. I was dialing Scott's number on the pay phone before I even took my helmet off. It was so good to hear his voice. After a little chat I sat down and had the best grilled cheese sandwhich ever. I called my parents and it was off to the last camping spot of the trip. Kananaskis is beautiful. Even to just drive the highway down to the end and back would be an amazing trip. After a couple more stops I was at Eau Claire Campground by 2:30. I thought that this campground had showers, but I was out of luck. It did have a pay from from about 1976. I set up camp, ate some gross rice and stayed awake as long as I could (9:30).
Day Six:
The last day was easy. Scott was meeting me in Kananaskis Village which was only about an hour and a half away (biking time of course). It was freezing when I woke up. Frost covered my tent. I packed everything up and was out by 9. The road was quiet with a few bikers heading the opposite way. My fingers were numb but I was sweating. I made it to Kananaskis around 11. What a nice little place. It was built for the olympics and was the site of the 2002 G8 Summit (the meeting with Jean Chretien, George Bush, Tony Blair..etc..). I pretty much just relaxed which I waited for Scott. I bought a paper and read up on the Hurricane (how terrible), and bought some keepsakes at the gift shop. Mailed my postcards and just relaxed outside near the pond. When I saw the truck pulling into the parking lot I was so happy! It was nice to be moving on the highway without even doing anything! We made it to Calgary and found Emma's house. Emma and Josh were gracious guests who were a blast to hang out with.
Remainder: The rest of the trip was fun. We went shopping and went out for dinner. We played Cranium ( Scott lost his clay privileges), and went to the Zoo! We even surprised an old friend with a visit. Befpre heading home we went to Ikea and bought a cool picture frame and had Wendy's one last time. It was such an amazing trip and I'm already planning something for next year!

After we got home I got called into work twice which was nice. I need the money. I also got to babysit!!

I found out that Erin is moving (has moved) to Red Deer so we helped her move. This weekend was pretty lazy as it's kinda crappy outside.

I watched Martha Stewarts new tv show today and I was hooked. I've always had a soft spot for Martha. She taught me how to fold a t-shirt today. http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=stv100015&layout=martha

I'm a little stressed as the financial situation is getting worse. I need a steady full-time job now that Summer Rec is over. I have two casual positions that just aren't paying the bills. *sigh*

2005-08-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

well, tomorrow is the big day! I'm heading off to Calgary. The first night will be in Jaffray.

In other news, I bought a new digital camera (thanks Visa!) as my old one finally bit the dust. The new one is really nice and it hasn't really even sunk in that it's mine! Hopefully I get some nice pictures on my trip.

Well, off to watch a movie...

wish me luck and I'll post when I get back!

2005-08-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

To me, one of the saddest things is a tipped over shopping cart....I don't know why. It looks so sad and decrepid. And theres usually a few more upright ones near it...maybe they're protecting it. Am I the only one who thinks it's a sad sight?

2005-08-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

<--see-saw jump in the community forest--

Can't believe that there is only two weeks left of Summer Rec. And two weeks until my bike trip...yikes...

Last friday we went to Silverwood which was fun. It was really busy though so we didn't get to go on all the rides we wanted to....oh well...and it rained for the last hour but that actually made the roller coasters more fun.

On Saturday I did a trial run for my bike trip, my goal was Jaffray. I made it just a few kilometers short but that's my fault because I didn't start when I wanted to and it was really dark and cold and I didn't really feel like biking on abandoned roads in the dark. I made it about 55 kilometers in about 4 hours, which is about 13km/hour. The thing with the trans canada trail is that it winds through backroads and stuff which makes it longer than if you were to take the highway.

The trip is going to be harder than I imagined. When I went for the ride on Saturday, I loaded my bike up with everything that I'll need and it was freakin' heavy. Not for the first couple hours, but eventually it was like insane. Every little hill is just a monster to try and bike up. It's hard having like 40 pounds pushing down on you while trying to gain momentum. I made the executive desicion to add another day onto my trip. I originally thought I would make it to Fernie in one day, but I decided to stop near Jaffray. It should be a challenge, but it's a challenge that I'm ready to take.

I found out last night that I was bumped down a spot on the casual list at the group home. I kind of expected it to happen because I haven't been able to take any shifts because of Summer Rec. It kinda sucks though, because I don't know what will happen in the fall. I hope I get a lot of shifts....

My mom left for Toronto on Friday to visit my cousin Betty who has cancer. I've only met this cousin a few times but to my mom she's like a sister and I hope that everything goes well and that they get rid of the cancer.

2005-08-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

So the freakiest thing just happened. I was coming home from a bike ride and as I was going around to the back door I was greeted by two rather large male deer. Definately wasn't expecting to see them there. They were huge! I slowly made it to the door and managed to snap a few pictures before they left and wandered across the street. Quite a random event. Although far less scary than the time I unknowingly walked underneath a tree that cougar had climbed up and was up there until conservation officers caught it.

So that's my interesting story of the day.

My birthday went quite well this year, and I apologize to anyone if I was grumpy or pessimistic. I just have had a fair amount of stress lately so it kinda made it's way out and I'm sorry if I seemed whiney or rude.

I had a pretty good birthday this year. Scott spoiled me (stop it! now i have to one up you for your birthday!) He got me an MP3 player as well as some homemade presents that were very very cool. My parents got me a gift certificate at Gerricks Sports so that I could buy my bike bags for my trip. They also got me a swiss army knife and a really nice St.Christopher necklace. My brother and Nova (and Ciara!) got me a really nice pair of headphones. The rest was money and scratch tickets! My mom made the best cake, it was frozen raspberry cheesecake....holy crap was it good...

Work is going pretty good. Although it's hard to believe it's almost over again. We went to the beach on my birthday and then on Thursday we went camping. There was a bear warning while we were camping at JimSmith (it had been seen walking around the campsite for a few days) so that added some excitement. This week coming up should be fun as we're going to Silverwood on Friday! THen only a couple more weeks until my big bike ride!

I'm starting to get organized for this trip. I've got the bags and some of my camping stuff. I bought a new tent, I've got a sleeping bag, I bought a small stove (like...the size of a cd case), I bought a little pot and pan...I still need to get some things and to plan the actual route out..but it should work out in time.

2005-07-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

So while riding the bumper boats yesterday at Playland, it occured to me that I have the best job ever. I'm not bragging, nor am I saying that my job is better than others, but for me, it's like...the best job. I get to work with a client population that I enjoy working with, U get to pretty much be in charge, and I get to do fun stuff! I can't believe the summer is almost over though...August should be fun as we've got trips to Silverwood and camping and stuff to do.

The whole friends situation this year has really been interesting. It seems that some people only call when they need something, and others only say they'll call and then don't. Makes it frustrating to want to hang out with people. Ryan came down for a brief visit and sampled all of what Cranbrook has to offer on a thursday night...which is absolutely nothing. This whole friends thing is strange because..I'm not really mad about it because it's not fair that I get so worked up about it when they don't seem to care at all.

My birthday is next Wednesday and due to the current friends situations I'm not sure what Scott and I will be doing. Maybe we'll just go to a movie or something. I'm really starting to pick up Annalise's additude towards birthdays. It's a big hoopla for being another year older. And it seems like my birthday is the one that always gets passed over by people, whereas there are some people I know who cry and complain if they don't get a huge present. cake, party...etc...Oh well, it's not worth worrying about...right?

The midpoint of summer is approaching and July seems to have gone by so fast. It feels like all I've done is work. I'm mainly just doing summer rec, although I am doing a midnight shift this weekend at the group home. I'm not sure what's going to happen in the fall..hopefully something will materialize.

I've made up my mind about the bike trip to Calgary. I'm gonna do it. I think it would make for a nice vacation (for me at least) from summer rec. I wish that someone would go with me, but it really looks like it'll be a solo trip. Going with Scott would be so fun, but I don't think he wants to go (do you Scott :P). I've got most of it planned out except for where to stay once I get to Calgary, and how to get home. Maybe I'll have to bike back....

Well, off to work now

I went camping with work at Rock Lake!

2005-07-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca

I've ordered some of the white wristbands which help support ending poverty in africa. I have extras that I'm willing to send those who want one...let me know if you do...

2005-06-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

Scott is out on a job call so I figured I'd do some blogging. Ah, what a weird word..blog.

Anyways...Not much has really happened. I just kinda keep living the same formula...work, sleep, hang out with Scott. Not that I'm complaining. It could be much much worse.

I started the Summer Rec program on Thursday. My boss brought out the the box that we kinda just shoved everything in from last year and I had to sort through it. Man were we unorganized..lol....Then I found this fax that made me laugh for like 10 minutes. Here's the story:

Last summer, we planned a trip to Silverwood Theme Park for our summer program. I was kind of designated as being in charge of contacting them for rates and stuff. We figured it'd be easier to fax them back and forth rather than phone. One day when Corrine and I were either way too tired or had way too much sugar, were writing a fax to the bookings guy at Silverwood and started to write the world's most enthusiastic letter ever. Every sentence ended with an exclamation point. It went something along the lines this:

"Hi (name)!!

Thanks for all the help you giving us regarding our trip to Silverwood! We really appreciate it! We're all super excited to make our trip to Silverwood! We'll let you know how the trip goes!
Thanks!

Corrine! and Joel!"

And then we actually faxed it which made me laugh even more...this poor guy probably thought we were absolutely nuts...

So yes, this summer should be fun...we're doing another trip to Silverwood, a few camping trips, trips to Lethbridge, Fernie, Creston, Radium...and a bunch of other stuff...Combined with working at the group home I should be working like non-stop this summer...

I'm obsessed with the following:
"Fix You" by Coldplay
"Goodnight Goodnight" and "Middle of Nowhere" by Hot Hot Heat
space pop popsicles

2005-06-22T00:54:00.000-07:00

Holy crap is it ever hot out! It went from miserable and raining to unbearable heat in like...a day.

Yesterday I got called in to work like...two hours in advance for a midnight shift. HELLO RED BULL! It actually wasn't bad, all of the plate sized peanut butter cookies I made on my last shift were gone...apparently they were good. Work was good though, I did like mega-cleaning...if only I did the same thing at home..heh...Around 6 when the sun started to come up over the mountains I opened the curtains in the front room and read some of my book..it was a very nice moment...

In other news....the couple that won the $6.7 million from Cranbrook, I went to College with the lady! Can you believe that? We both did our practicum at Amy Woodlands....I couldn't believe that she won the lottery...go Tina! Wish I had like .01 percent of that....

So my latest brain obession is this proposed bike trip to Calgary. I have most of it planned out except for one thing. Someone to go with. The trip could be possible as a solo trip as I plan to spend my nights camping in campgrounds, it's just it'd be nice to go with someone. The proposed trip stands as such:

Day One: Cranbrook to Jaffray area
Day Two: Jaffray to Fernie
Day Three: Fernie to Elkford
Day Four: Elkford to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, AB via Elk Pass
Day Five: Peter Lougheed to Canmore
Day Six: Canmore to Calgary

so yes...a six day bike trip along the Trans Canada Trail. Any takers? All you need is a bike and a backpack...and the other stuff on the list that I made up...but think about it...it would be an adventure! C'mon....

2005-06-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

Ugh,

What I wouldn't give to have a nice weekend off. I don't mind working but lately I've been doing midnight shifts every weekend which is kind of crappy. Really the only reason it sucks is because it takes a couple days to get back into regular sleeping patterns and to kind of get my head back to normal.

Apparently I'll be starting the summer rec program on the 27th so at least that means steady work for the summer. Combined with some shifts at the group home I should be fairly busy this summer.

Yesterday there was a thunderstorm and stuff and afterwards Scott and I went to get groceries and it was so weird. There was like this huge black cloud over Cranbrook and then this ring of clear blue sky around it...it looked like a hurricane..

and now I forget what I was going to talk about....I think it was something about vegetaraianism...

2005-06-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

hmmm...let's see....

It's been a while since I've posted but not too much has happened news wise.

So last week, my back really really hurt and I went to the doctor to get it checked out (so I wouldn't have to go to work). Turns out I had a mechanical back injury.

Also, the doctor asked in a freakishy calm way if he could "stick some needles in it". And after giving him a look that probably resembled a look someone would have after watching a goat give birth, he said "I do accupuncture". That was all and well, I've never had accupuncture and it wasn't as horrible as I thought. Needless to say I got out having to work!

Hum hum...what else is new.....

2005-05-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

Had a pretty good weekend, busy, but good.

I got called into work on Thursday so that was good. On Friday I went to help set up for my "cousin's" (not really family) wedding. That was...mayhem because nobody quite knew what was going on. They had the wedding at St.Mary's School, in the gym. It was an odd location but it was neat to walk around my old elementary. The walls are yellow now, but not that faded beige yellow that's from 1965 that is in most schools, it's like new lemon yellow. It's different. So after helping out there, I had to go to work from 11pm-7am which was ok. Kinda boring, kinda tiring at the same time.

Saturday I slept in for a bit before Scott and I headed out to grab a present and some clothes for the wedding. We thought we'd be late but we were like, the first people there. The wedding went good, I couldn't hear anything, but it was nice. It wasn't until like 6:30 so it was a late wedding, but whatever. The reception didn't start till like 9:30 and I couldn't stay for long because I had to go back to work at 11. Work was, again, boring but tiring.

Sunday we didn't do much, just kinda lazed around and watched TV and went for dinner at my parents.

Monday Scott and I took a spontaneous trip to Creston for the day. It wasn't too bad except for the rain. And the fact that most of the stores in Creston were closed so there really wasn't much to do. We kinda just drove around and explored the town. Then we went to this abonded campground that we went to last year to do a geocache, and it was so friggin scary. You park at this pullout on the highway and walk through the gate and then you're just in this old creepy run down campground. The tree's are huge and that just adds to the horror film factor. The bathrooms and site numbers and everything are still there and it's just wierd.

Then today I got called in to work at the Center which was nice. I got to go swimming, then have lunch, and then go to subway for coffee....kind of an easy shift. I talked to my boss at the group home about this summer and we kind of got it all figured out. As of now, I work at 3 jobs: Community Living Center, 7th Street Group Home, and Wal-Mart. Although this weekend are my last shifts at Wally World. But then I'll be doing the Summer Rec program and still doing work at the group home. Crazy summer.....Crazy....

I hurt my back today at work. I don't really now what I did but it really really hurts to do anything...even sitting it hurts....hmm

2005-05-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

kind of a boring few days with not a whole lot happening.

Today is election day and I'm not sure if I'm going to vote. I don't know who to vote for....I know that I'm not going to vote liberal though. Gordon Campbell is just not a decent politician at all. He should have stepped down after his drinking and driving stunt in Hawaii. I don't know enough about NDP to vote for them. Perhaps I should research a bit.....

In other news.....there is no other news....I work overnight shifts this weekend which I'm not totally looking forward to....but hopefully work-wise stuff will all be good soon.

2005-05-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

New layout...I didn't really like the last one....and I was in a grover-y mood.

So not too much to update. Haven't really been doing much other than working....

OH! For mothers day Scott and I made dinner for my parents and brothers and it was sooo yummy. We made Chicken Cordon Bleu and Risotto and for dessert we made this awesome Creme De Menthe cheesecake...man was that ever good. For some reason after that I was in a cooking mood and the next day I made some potato soup which was pretty darn good. Yay for good food.

Last night we went over to my older brother's house so Scott could set up their new computer and I got to hang out with Ciara for a bit, and she didn't cry this time! She is seriously the cutest baby ever, and getting so big so fast. She's got the biggest brown eyes and a huge smile too. I love that baby so much.

I am so glad that Uchenna and Joyce won Amazing Race last night. During the first half when it looked like they'd be out and it would just be the cheaters..I mean Rob and Amber, and those other two, I didn't even care to watch, but then it was all good...finally deserving people win that show...

2005-04-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

woah, it's been a while.

I've been fairly busy with work and other activities so I haven't had a lot of time to post.

Work is going pretty good, I get about 2 or more shifts in at the group home and a couple shifts at Wal-Mart so it evens out to just about 5 days (sometimes less). Apparently though I've been hired on as relief staff for the Community Living Center which was a suprise to me. I've picked up a couple shifts there too. All in all work stuff seems to be going good. I hope to be able to do the summer rec program again and juggle doing relief work as well....fun fun...

Last week I ran my 4th 10 kilometer race, the KNA 10K. I didn't beat my previous time but my endurance was a lot better as this was the first year that I did it without stopping to walk, so I'm proud of that!

Well, I guess I should go finish all the stuff that needs to be done....

Feeling:

2005-04-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

I watched Follow That Bird last night. I haven't watched it in like 10+ years. It was so funny! Grover is definately my favourite Muppet/Sesame Street character. Gotta love the flailing.

I also watched the Junos on Sunday night. I'm disapointed that Sarah Slean didn't win, but I'm glad that at least Sarah Harmer did. All in all it wasn't too bad. Avril Lavigne won most of the big awards, including best songwriter which I don't really agree with. I mean, she is somewhat talented but there are so many better Canadian songwriters than her, Sarah Slean and Harmer for example. Oh well...it was nice to see Jann Arden on TV too. Her new CD comes out next week. Hoorah!

I went for another run this morning. The KNA 10K is in 20 days and I haven't really trained at all....not very good considering I'd like to continue my record of beating my previous times...

Yesterday I got called into work at 5. Well, they phoned at 5 and asked me to come in for 7. I was so tired. So this morning they didn't phone in the morning and I was like "yay, a day off!" and then they phoned and asked me to come in for 3. Poo.

And YAY! Scott has his first clients for his buisness! He's been working both yesterday and today!

And I'm pretty sure that Disney bought the rights to The Muppets, so I'll be able to use them in my disney icons :P

Feeling:

2005-04-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

Today is a sad day. As a catholic, this day is one that is hard to face. In case you haven't heard, the pope is in the last stage of his life, many speculating that he has only hours left before he passes away. It's strange to watch the news and to hear what they have to say. I always thought that the pope was indestructable. I think what I failed to see was that he was chosen as a physical embodiment, a messenger to the people. He is still a human, he is still someone just like us. I find it very powerful to see that even in the last moments of his life, he refuses to give up, fighting with dignity and grace. He is a role model, showing strength in a frightening and painful time.

I must admit I have had a distance with religion in the past year or so, but the relationship that I have in my spirit and in my heart, is one that remains strong. I realize that I may not be the picture of an ideal catholic, but I feel that I have a relationship that is just as meaningful and just as powerful as the next person. I don't tend to talk a lot about religion, it's a very delicate topic to me, but I feel that because this is such an important event, that I let my feelings out. Some may not understand what all of this means, some might not see the signifigance. Having the leader of your religion pass away is an emotional and difficult time. I had always hoped to one day see the pope at World Youth Day. My mom and my older brother made the pilgrimage to Denver, Colorado when he visited there and I can tell that it was a life-changing event. I had planned to go to Rome a few years ago, but we couldn't afford it. To me, this pope is THE pope. His successor by name and responsibilty will as well be pope, but in my heart and in my mind, it's not the same.

This quote by a representative of the Vatican, said today on CNN struck me as very powerful:

"Tonight, Christ opens his door for John Paul II"

Feeling:

2005-03-29T14:03:00.000-08:00

Stupid blogger, ate my last post *shakes fist*

So the weekend wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. It was pretty boring at times, especially the first night when all there was to read were Woman's World magazines...At times it was pretty lonely too. It really gave me time to think about a lot of things. There were times when it was actually scary, just being so quiet. Sometimes the only break in the silence came when I had to phone the answering service every hour. I really started to think about things in my life. About Scott, about my family.

You know for so long, I dreaded getting older. I never ever wanted to be older. But now for some reason I'm embracing it more. I realize I'm only 20 but there's this part of me that knows that the knowledge that you gain as you age is worth it all. After Easter dinner at my aunt's house, I went to work and was thinking a lot about my family. How great it is. And how different it is. You know, you never really see how things change until you step back for a bit. I used to see my parents everyday and now that I see them about once a week, I notice things more. I notice how skinny my mom looks and how my dad's hair looks a little more gray. It's so interesting to see how families grow up and what happens. I mean, seeing my older brother, it's so hard to remember he's a dad. And I see my cousin and her boyfriend and I think to myself "you're 19!" It's so interesting to me to look at the dynamics. I am so blessed to have the people in my life that I do. They've embraced me and Scott and made sure that we both felt included.

Anyways.....my older brother is apparently getting a tattoo up his arm of The Muppets. All of them.

Today I was reading a post on the Geocaching forums about bigfoot and how some guy was taking a picture of his friend and there was something behind him and the guy turned around and there was this thing looking at him and then ran away. Scott and I started to talk about what we would do if Bigfoot/Axe Murderer suddenly showed up behind us. Scott's reaction: Run to the car and drive away. For me, I would do one of two things. A) My heart would explode or B) I would go limp and fall to the ground and twitch, losing the will to run away. I cannot handle stuff like that. I can't deal with freaky things in the dark. *shudder*

Yes...AND Scott's buisness is a go so call him for all your computer related questions *shameless plug*

Feeling:

2005-03-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

Feeling a lot better about the whole work situation. I'm not exactly jumping for joy but it's only a few days and there's no sense in getting all worked up about it. One thing that I've noticed is that 99.9% of all the people who I've talked about this with have focused on the money. I'm not saying that's bad, It's just interesting how money can be the first thing in some people's minds. Even my boss when we phoned me and told me that I would be working these shifts, a huge emphasis was placed on the money aspect. Sure money is handy but I don't try and place it on my top three list of priorities. It's kind of depressing to think about money. So many people just let it drive them. Let it make them do stupid things.

Things are going alright. The weather is improving (it's not snowing anymore!). That means I can start jogging again soon. The KNA 10K run is in less than a month and I haven't done ANY training for it...then again, I never really did in the last years and always finished under an hour. Have you ever wondered if your goals were silly? I have a few that seem a little far-fetched but they are goals nonetheless. I'd love to finish the Rocky Mountain Triathalon. I thought about doing it last year, but with school and everything I couldn't. This year I think it's too late as I would need to do more training than a couple months. I have a goal of climbing Fisher Peak which never seems to happen. Another goal that I've tacked on recently is to try and bike from here to Calgary on the Trans Canada Trail. I've already mapped it out and it would take about 4-5 days (of course stopping a lot on the way). It's just a goal....

Feeling:

2005-03-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

I'm in a pissy mood.

I have to work overnight shifts this weekend at my new job and I'm not looking forwards to them whatsoever. I wasn't scheduled, they just phoned me and told me that I was doing them, even after I said I wasn't really comfortable doing them. The thing is, I've only had 8 shifts there, and I'm not ready in the least to be doing overnights. Apparently my other boss will be there to help for a bit but that's not really reassuring. It wouldn't be so bad if I was prepared. But I'm not...PLUS I have a few wal-mart shifts thrown into the weekend, so it should be a weekend made up entirely of sleeping and working.

*rage*

Feeling:

2005-03-18T09:29:00.000-08:00

So today is my day off and I was intending to go for a nice long bike ride..BUT it decided to snow yesterday and it looks cold out...and I feel wimpy.

Funny how something can seem to go so right (the weather) and then one day it's like...nope, no more sunshine days, no more warmth, just snow and overcast skies. Blech...I wanna just hole up inside the house and watch TV and drink mint tea.

Last night Scott and I got to talking about how we want our house to look (our dream house that is). I got really excited about his ideas (except for the black walls in the bedroom :P) His idea for an entertainment room sounds really cool. One day we'll have our own house and be able to create it into what we want it to be.

I don't know if it's because I've been watching home-makeover shows lately or because I've been working in the paint department but I have this urge just to redo a room. Sadly our little basement suite doesn't provide much in terms of space, but that's ok...it's cozy..sometimes in the 70's basement sort of way...I just thank god that there is no orange shag carpet...My grandparents had red shag carpet in their living room and it was like 30 years old.

They also had this mural painted on the wall (i think it was a trend in like the 70's). It was of a beach and the ocean...it looked tacky but it was still cool. Their house was always filled with strange little nick-nacks that I can so clearly remember. My grandpa's pipe stand next to the recliner. I never saw him smoke a pipe once, yet he had this collection on the table. The backwards clock that went counter-clockwise (that REALLY made it hard to learn to tell time.) The weird 60's inflatable cat (not in a sexual way, just in a toy way.) And there was this parrot (not a real or stuffed one, just one of those fake birds) on a stand in my Grandma's room...so many strange things and I wonder what ever became of them.

Who got the clock? The pipes? The cat? I only got a few things when my grandma moved out of the house. A carved wooden camel from Egypt. A large trunk that my grandpa took to the war. A foreign coin collection and these little skunks that were made out of walnut shells. Funny how we keep the strangest things. Funny how those things that I grabbed to have something that reminded me of them and of that house, could one day be family heirlooms. I wonder if I have anything that people would want.

Feeling:

2005-03-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

I went for a jog today...it was cold.

So, the Calgary trip was much fun!

Thursday Scott and I left after work. We did some geocaching along the way and made it to Calgary around 10:00. Then we, along with Annalise decided to go bowling. That was an adventure. I think we thouroughly freaked out the people next to us. Annalise dropped the ball a few times and screamed rather loudly when she got a spare. After bowling we went to Denny's where we started up a quote napkin.

Friday morning we woke up early-ish and headed over to Market Mall so Annalise could pick up her paycheque. Then we drove back to Annalise's and then took the C-Train to Chinook. I didn't spend as much money as I thought I would, only bought some running shoes, some CD's, and a suit jacket thing from the Gap. When we left the mall it was pouring outside and we had to run back to the train station. Once we got home we rushed to get ready and then headed to the concert. We parked a hell of a long way away and had to navigate through UofC. We ended up getting seats at a table right in front of the stage which was great.

The concert itself was really good. The opening acts were both very very good. I liked Jeremy Fisher and Scott like Jorane. That girl can play a mean cello. During Jeremy's set his harmonica went out of tune and he asked if anyone wanted it so I put up my hand and he threw it to me. After a brief intermission and a long wait for the bathrooms, Sarah came on stage. She was a lot different than the last time I saw her. She was very animated, a lot grungier...not as delicate. Still amazing though. I really enjoyed hearing all the new songs. Afterwards we waitied with a small group so she could sign my CD and book. When I handed her my book she said "It's joel right?"...she knew my name before I told her...how...strange...lol. We chatted for a tiny bit before we left and let the others have their chance.

After the concert we went to Pizza Hut for food and then to Kilkenny's for a few drinks. We were tucked in the corner and it was nice to have the little spot to ourselves. The next day we had to get up early for scott's chiropractor appointment and Annalise was leaving with her friend to go back to Cranbrook. After Scott's appointment, we went to South Center and bought a present for Ciara and visited the Disney store. Then it was off to The Olive Garden to meet up with Scott's friend Corrine. It was a nice lunch, and she was very friendly. After lunch we went to the MASSIVE new IKEA. It was two floors and just bigger than all reason. We bought a few little things and then we were on our way home. We stopped to do some more geocaches on the way home. Once back in Cranbrook we headed over to my parent's house for my Dad's birthday dinner that we missed, but made it in time for cake. Talked with family for a bit before coming home and going to bed.

Sunday we decided to do another cache at a lookout over the city. It was a really nice walk up to the lookout point. We had lunch watching the rain clouds cover the city and headed back just as the rain was hitting. Then we came home and cleaned up a bit. Had some supper, cleaned some more and then read a bit before going to bed.

I'm reading this book right now and so far it's really good. I haven't gotten to the part where he has to cut off his arm, but so far it's already pretty tense.

2005-03-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

One more day tacked on to my working days in a row. I'm a little ticked because I could have had 4 more shifts at the home instead of at wal-mart which would have paid a ton more. Oh well, live and learn. Hopefully I can pick up more shifts at the home...I'm going to reduce my availability at wal-mart. It'd be nice to just have a totally full-time job, not two sort of part-time ones.

I rode my bike for the first time this year today. It was a nice feeling, a bit chillier than I thought it would be but it was nice out and I really wanted to get back onto my bike. I also did Yoga last night it felt really good. My mind and body was completley relaxed when I was done. Which is a nice feeling after all this work stress.

Only a week left until the calgary trip! Should be a fun time.

2005-02-28T10:21:00.000-08:00

It's interesting how life can play little games sometimes. Take, for instance, my job situation. Since about Christmas I had only been working a few hours a week, barely being able to pay rent and groceries and other stuff. Not to mention being bored out of my skull only working a few hours a week. Well, a week ago I was hired for this new job, and then wal-mart suddenly decides that they like me so they're going to give me more shifts. Long story short, today is #10 of 15 working days in a row. Woot. I shouldn't complain, as it's going to help out immensely, especially as Scott's contract at CF is over soon. But it sucks being apart from him so much. Yesterday I worked 12 hours in a row..I only got to see him for just a couple hours. It would be so nice to have matching work schedules again. In the summer, it was almost ideal. We'd both get up, go to work, and come home roughly at the same time. Now, he gets up and goes to work, and I wait for him to come home for lunch and then I hang around until I go to work in the evening.

So about the new job. It's so...completely different than anything I've ever done before. I can't go into too much detail due to confidentiality but I can talk a bit about it. Sure, I've worked with people with disabilites before, but not in this context. It's such a different environment. I was thinking last night about how the home actually IS a home. The first couple days I worked there, it was like a job, just a job environment, but that's not what it is. It's their home. It's a very friendly, relaxed place to be. Everyone so far has been very welcoming and patient with me as I learn the ropes. The operation of this home is amazing to be a part of. To know that people are relying on you to do more than find them a blender or mix their paint is a great feeling. To help someone live a better, more comfortable life, in turn makes my life better. It's a good job that I hope I'll be able to do more of.

Not too much else has been happening lately other than working. The weather outside is so great. It's like late spring out there!

Also look at my lover's blog...it's kart-a-riffic!

2005-02-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

what's this? another post? and so quickly...wow...blogger has tightened it's leash.

Anyways....let us see what has happened since the last time I wrote.

Annalise came to visit, which was pleasant. Somehow in deciding about which movie to watch we got onto the topic of Annalise acting like a gay italian. I love how when she's passionate about telling you a story (regardless if it's a scary story or excited story) her pitch gets so high...*hugs annalise* So we ended up going to Hitch (which I will probably review in Catholic Burger). It was pretty good. Erin was like..the heat nazi on the way home though. "It almost usually sometimes stays warm"

Then today I had a job interview with the place that I was supposed to have a job interview with in....September...and it wasn't so much an interview as a few questions about stuff and then talking about me working. It was strange because there was never a "well, I think we'll hire you" kind of phrase it just transitioned from "Hi, here's some questions" to "so, you'll be doing this and blah blah blah". So that's good. It's just casual for now but it's going to be a lot better than just wal-mart. So that's a huge plus. I start next thursday doing orientation so that's great.

So I come out of the office and my mom is there (it's not as weird it may seem as she sort of works there, but not really). And I walk into this conversation about ugly children and a girl picking her nose and eating it. So after that little bit of weirdness, she tells me that my dad had surgery today for two hernias. It was like so random. She just said "What are you doing later?" and I said nothing and then she asked if I could help get my dad from the hospital later today. It's nice that I'm informed of stuff like that AFTER the fact. sheesh.

Scott, I love you :)

2005-02-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

it's blogger time.

So yes, a new layout...it's not perfect but it's alright. If you haven't figured it out yet, just click on the orangey squares to move to different sections (about me, links etc..).

Not too much new happening. Work is alright. I would prefer working a bit more than I have been, as it sucks so badly living paycheck to paycheck. Hopefully something good comes along soon. Scott and I are really going to have to buckle down and look in other cities soon. If I could have a job like the one I had last summer all year long, it would be so awesome. I don't see it happening though.

I'm glad that the weather is getting nicer so early in the year. And so far it hasn't been that ugly mushy brown kind of gross weather that usually happens during the transition between winter and spring. I can't wait until the temperature gets a bit higher. Then I'll be able to start biking and jogging more. Hooray!

Much thanks to Annalise for letting Scott and I stay over with her in March when we go to Calgary for the Sarah Slean show. I can't wait!