Going home...thank you Port Alberni

Last night Mike and I had our Christmas date. We went ice skating at the Butchart Gardens, and then walked through the garden to see the lights and the 12 days of Christmas display. We drank peppermint hot chocolate, and then had hot soup and listened to the Christmas carollers and the festive brass band playing bluesy Christmas carols. It was perfect. I love the Butchart gardens, and so when you add the lights it was just magical. My favourite was the 9 ladies dancing. They included little bo peep, little red riding hood, snow white, the witch with her apple, cinderella, little miss muffet, and a few others. Hey, why is it that all the nursery rhyme ladies are named "little..."?

The funny thing about this Christmas is that there was a long list of Christmas things I wanted to do in Victoria, but I wasn't sure if Mike would be able to do them all with me. The Butchart gardens was my main one, so since we got to do that I wasn't going to worry about the other things. One of which was going to see "The Nativity Story" before Christmas. Well, mike called me from work just now and said "I think we should go see the Nativity story tonight" since it's our last night in Vic before Christmas. I was so excited because he just asked out of the blue without me even hinting. So, I went to check the theaters, and a few minutes and many websites later, discovered that THE NATIVITY STORY, the true Christmas story, is not playing at a single theatre the weekend before Christmas! I was very upset, but immediately started to brain storm other ideas. I wondered if it might be playing while we are in Port Alberni, since the thing we always complained about in town as teenagers was how the movies always arrived three weeks after they came out everywhere else. But I thought, with all the movies out, what are the chances of that?

But I checked anyways, and whaddayaknow, good old small town movie theater came through. It is playing all week at the matinee and the 7. So, that's my Port Alberni story. We may get the movies late, but sometimes they are just on time.

So, now I'm happy again. This Christmas has been amazing so far compared to the rush of last year and the short time at home. This year, I got to see all my friends in Victoria, have a Christmas party, I actually have a tree and my house is very festive (all the ornaments I've been purchasing the past few years have finally added up into an entire apartment's worth). All we need now is some snow to keep us in Port a little longer! I wouldn't mind getting snowed in this year. Might be fun to be stuck somewhere. As long as we don't lose power. I was thinking about that earlier, how all the people without power on the island might not be able to cook their turkeys. What will they do? I guess you could always barbeque them outside? Hmm...let's all hope the power comes back soon enough.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

TQS...BCCT...BCTF

Ack! Too many acronyms.

Today is the day I finally stop procrastinating and get on my applications to the TQS (Teacher Qualifications Service ) and the BCCT (British Columbia college of teachers). I just hate filling out forms, but I want to get it over and done with before I go home for Christmas. So, now I just need to go to Uvic, drop off my transcript forms, then get someone to notarize my marriage certificate, find two references, and send it all away to the people who will be paying me for the duration of my teaching career.

I really should have done this sooner, but school was so busy and then once school was over I got all giddy with Christmas and with doing whatever I want that I forgot all about this!

So, now today and tomorrow have become errand days.
1) clean up from Christmas party
2) TQS BCCT
3) get pants hemmed
4) get eyebrows threaded (they are beginning to look like caterpillars!)
5) wrap presents

But, they are all on their way to being done. Might be closer though if I wasn't completely involved with my next book "The lovely bones". Very good and addicting so far.

Off to change the dish load over!

Christmas Party, and lots of food....

Mike and I had a Christmas party last night at our apartment. It was a lot of fun, although out of the many people we invited, we ended up with a small group, just 2 other couples and us. It was perfect though. I had the whole place decorated with Christmas lights and a tree and candles. It was very cozy and we had sooo much yummy food. Mike made his famous mushroom caps and I made crostini, cookies, shortbread and chocolate fudge. We also had veggies and fruit and cheese and bread and everything I love to eat. Plus cranberry punch. Needless to say, we ate a lot.

I tried to make everything "Christmasized" as our friend Sarah (Matt's sarah, not Fraser's) put it. I thought that was the perfect way to describe it. I even had the movie A Christmas Story playing in the background while we ate. Such a Christmas classic.

Then, we introduced Matt and Sarah to the game Shadows over Camelot. And, of course, after I said that it sucks to be the traitor the first time you play the game, Sarah ended up as the traitor. It was still fun though, and afterwards, we played a new card game they bought for us called "Wizard".

Then, today I finished the last few items I needed for Christmas. Mike and I went shopping yesterday before the party and got all of his family's presents. I'm very happy to be finished and I think we got some great presents in the end. I spent more than I was supposed to, but oh well.

Myana and I went out for lunch at the Tapa Bar this afternoon as well. I don't think I've ever gone out for food so much as in the past week, with all the Christmas parties, shopping, and friends who, like me, love going out to restaurants. Just since Friday, I've been to a dinner party, a birthday dinner at The Reef, breakfast at the Blue Fox, lunch twice at Paggliaci's and lunch at the Tapa Bar, plus my Christmas party dinner. I guess that's why people make their New Year's resolutions dieting.

It's all been great though, I love Victoria restaurants. It's also nice to have time to see friends before Christmas. In two more days Mike and I get to go home for Christmas as well, so I'm getting very excited to see everyone. I also finally finished the book I've been reading since September, and can move on to others! I have a huge list waiting.

Well, that's all the Christmas fun so far. Plans for Butchart Gardens tomorrow night, just so long as it doesn't get blown away by the next wind storm tonight.

Also, Happy Birthday Mom!

All it takes

All it takes to make me cry is page 406 of the Time Traveller's Wife. If you haven't read it, you must. It is the best book I've ever read. There are a few things I wish were different, or that we had more of, but I think it is only a sign of how good the book is.

In other news, I did some Christmas shopping today. I thought my arms would break off near the end. Too much walking with heavy bags. Plus my purse is huge. I should have brought a back pack.

Tonight is the start of my busy nights out. I'm going to a dinner party tonight, then a birthday dinner tomorrow, then breakfast with a friend sunday morning, then a matinee show! It's going to be a busy weekend, but it's all good as I have no homework!

10 Days until Christmas!

My Library Thing

If anyone is interested, I've been using my library thing for a while now to catalogue all my books. So, if you are looking for a good book to read, then check out TEXT'>my catalogue. Or make your own. It will even give you recommendations on what other books you might like. I hope that link works. I only know how to post and put up photos, so I've never tried making a link before. Does anyone know how to put permanent links on the blog home page to other blog and homepages? I've always wanted to know how to do this, and since everyone else has them on their blogs, I figured it shouldn't be that hard, right?

It's Christmas...in 11 days!

Okay, so not having school is actually kind of boring. I got waaay too many things done by lunch time. I got all my laundry done, tidied up the house, put up all the Christmas decorations, set up the tree, sent out all of my emails, read, and it was still only lunch time. So, then I went to my practicum school to talk with my sponsor teacher. I had some questions I needed to ask her about the units I will be teaching. It was raining so hard that by the time I walked the three blocks from my bus to the school I was drenched from my coat down. Thank goodness I found my umbrella as it would have ruined my hair, which is still nice from the hair cut yesterday. I'm hoping it will be nice again tomorrow, although it might do that weird greasy thing that happens after a day of not washing it. But, since I got it cut yesterday afternoon, it might be good tomorrow. And, I actually have plans for tomorrow, so that's good. I won't be so bored.

I need to do most of my Christmas shopping still, but it's just too hard. It stresses me out trying to decide what to get people. Especially since I have a very strict limit, so I can't just pick out anything that looks nice. You have to be very creative.

It was dark out today at 3:30. It's very strange, but I don't think the sun came out today at all. I woke up at 9am and it was still pitch black in my house. When I went out at 2:30 it was very gloomy, and then by the time I left Oak bay around 4 it was dark. Very depressing. I'm hoping it's nicer next week so I can go ice skating.

Man, I'm starving. But I don't want to go anywhere since I just got off the bus. The bus in the rain with wet stinky people is no fun at all. And, Mike has the car at soccer so I can't even go out for food.

Lately all the TV episodes are the Christmas ones. It's fun because there is always something Christmacy to watch. Right now there is a Seinfeld episode. It's the one where Elaine sends out Christmas cards that have her nipple showing. I guess that's a little worse than not knowing what to buy for Christmas! I think I should watch a Christmas movie. Have to get them all in during the next 11 days. Hey, it's the second day of the 12 days of Christmas. Hmmm. Should I watch the Nightmare before Christmas in honour of Jenn? Or Love Actually? Or A Christmas story?

Isn't it weird how we can watch the same Christmas movies every year and not get sick of them?

I'm back

I've been putting off writing on my blog for the past two weeks. When I finally started to feel better (I didn't have mono after all) it was then the final week of school. I've never done so much reading, studying and writing as I did from December 1st to the 11th. But, it's over now.

Today was my last day of school at Uvic. In January I start my practicum until May 4th, then I'm leaving Victoria and off to who know's where! I'm nervous about my practicum but excited about not having to write any more essays or exams. It felt very weird last night with nothing to do since I'd handed in my last essay on monday. I didn't know what to do with myself. It feels different from last year when I graduated because back then I knew that I was going to be starting a new degree, so it wasn't really over. But soon I think I'll find myself missing school. I already don't know where to start when I get home. So, basically I've been Christmas shopping ang planning and spending way too much money.

I just got my hair cut this afternoon and I love it. But, I have nowhere to go and show it off! Here I am all dressed up in Christmas colours with a new hair style and my only plans are to sit and watch TV, since Mike has a dinner with his boss tonight :(

So, what's new lately? Well, Mike is nearly through all the RCMP hoops. He just redid his PARE test on Sunday and was still the fastest one there, and then did his first aid course yesterday. I'm hoping they'll get through his file quickly and hopefully he'll be going to Regina in January sometime.

We also went to see the Winter Harp concert this past Friday. It's my favourite Christmas thing to do. I love the Celtic harp. It's such a good way to start off the holiday season. I dragged Mike along with me this time too since he ditched me last year. We also have plans for a Christmas party next week and a trip to see the lights and go ice skating at the Butchart gardens. We're hoping that Sarah and Fraser will be able to come with us.

My apartment is almost decorated, but I still have to do the tree. I'm still using the old fake tree Jenn and I carried home on the bus when we lived together in 2nd year. It's done good over the past years, but I think next year I will be retiring it for a real tree.

I was watching Jeopardy last night (that's how bored I've been) and realized just how ignorant some Americans can be. Jenn was telling me that people in the US don't do the whole poppy thing for remembrance day, but I didn't realized they don't even know why we wear them. THe Jeopardy category was poetry, and the question, or answer rather was something along the lines of: In flanders fields, the (this flower) grow, between the crosses row on row. I thought at first glance that they were asking for the author and was getting mad at myself for not being able to remember the poets name. Then, I realized they wanted the flower. I thought, boy is that easy, it's poppies. The first man rings in and says....What are pansies? I laughed and then the second man rang in and said Ah, what are cornflowers? Ahh! At least pansies sounds like poppies. I couldn't believe they didn't know the poem. I'd been made to memorize it in grade 11 socials studies and I see it every year in November. But, thankfully, the third player, a woman, got the right answer. Even Alex Trebek looked surprised.

Well, that's my rant about poppies. On to other things. I sent my first short story out on Monday to the Fiddlehead contest. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get something published in the next year, and I realized that I have a lot more good writing than I realized. I can't really complain about not being published unless I'm getting rejection notices now can I?

So, all you writers out there, send your work out! It's the only way people will read it.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Buried in snow

I know I've been complaining a lot about the weather, but sometimes there just isn't anything else to write about. And, like Pamela, I too like to write about the weather on my blog. Mike and i went home on Saturday for a wedding reception, and like usual, the weather went crazy. As we made the drive around Cameron Lake the first snowflakes brushed the windshield, and I thought, it's a good thing we left early to miss the snowfall. As we got closer to Port Alberni, we could see it had been snowing for a while, but not so much that it was hard to drive. We got into town and it continued to snow and snow the whole reception and all night while we slept at my mom's. In the morning the snow still hadn't let up and the car was buried. We were determined to make it home to Victoria though and Mike thought his soccer game might still be on as someone on his team told us it wasn't snowing in Victoria. (He must not have looked out the window as it did indeed snow here).

So, we made the drive in just under 4 hours through the snow and about 4 or 5 accidents. Even saw a guy trying to drive a motorbike. What kind of person drives a motorcycle on the highway in a snow storm? I don't know, but good old tercel made it all the way home with no problems. Except that we almost ran out of gas as it took us so long to make it to the first gas station we could actually drive into without getting stuck. Scary drive, but the irony is that when we finally pulled onto Richmond and were about 30 seconds from home, we saw home bad Victoria is at dealing with snow. I know we never get snow, but do you think we could hold onto at least 1 snow plow? PA has no problem when it snows. They plow the road, ppl shovel their driveways and sidewalks, and life continues. Even despite the fact that they still can't drink the water. But, oh no, not Victoria. Here, we don't plow or shovel, so that as we approached our street, which is a hill, I could see we weren't going to make it. The street was completely snowed in and ppl were parked all along Richmond. We sat in the car and watched 3 people get stuck on their way up the hill. The thing is, even if you make it up Mayfair, you then have to turn up the driveway, which is also a hill, and by then you've lost momentum. So, we decided to join the cars on the side of the street and walk our bags up to the house. After falling on my face in the snow a few times, we made it into our apartment only to discover that we had no power.

So, it was a lovely time. We lit a lot of candles and then discovered that for some reason two of our power outlets worked. Mike managed to stretch the computer and phone to those outlets so we would have something to do. After calling Sarah and Fraser we decided to brave the weather to all go see Casino Royale together. It was actually kind of fun going out at night in the snow to see a movie. And the theater was absolutely PACKED. I couldn't believe it. But it was fun. And shortly after we got home the power came back on. This, however, was after the fire alarm in our building went off. I'm pretty sure it was the people I could smell down the hall who were most likely hotboxing their apartment. What else is there to do in the snow? I guess that's what they were thinking.

Mike and I camped out in the living room though since we were worried the power might go off again and we needed to use the working outlet to set his alarm. Poor guy, had to wake up at 6 am on a snow day and then found that although last night after the movie we managed to get Tercel up the hill and the driveway (such a good little car :) the doors were frozen shut and he had no way to get the car out of where we'd parked in the guest spaces, worried we'd never get out of our undergroud parkade. So, he had to walk to work. Plus he was working at the Shelbourne store, so it wasn't exactly a short walk in the snow. Meanwhile, I managed to get my internet and keyboard working again, and have plans to do homework since classes at Uvic are cancelled. I have a reserve book out that I was supposed to bring back today but since the number 14 bus is currently stuck at the bottom of the hill, I don't think there's any way of getting to the school.

So I guess it's a snow day. Haven't had a real snow storm in ten years. Funny, too, because I was just saying this last weekend, and thinking maybe we were due for another. Ha. BC finally knows a little of what it's like to live in Canada. It's actually -40 in some areas of the province and is even going to get close to -15 on the island and in Vancouver with the wind. I know it's nothing compared to the rest of the country, but we're catching up. Too bad I don't own a tuque, boots, or winter gloves.

Well, it's back to work. I mean, to start doing work. Maybe school will be cancelled tomorrow too. That would be nice since Mike has the day off. We could have a real snow day together. Going to call my mom now, since she was stranded in nanaimo yesterday. Hope she's made it back to PA alright.

Maybe we will finally have a white Christmas?

Is it Christmas yet?

Some of you have heard me talking about the storm and the rain, and I know I keep writing about how crazy the weather is here. But, here is some proof as to what it looked like last week in my home town of Port Alberni. It makes me think of what it must have looked like after the Tsunami.

It might have been kind of cool to canoe down the street though.

The weather suits the mood of the week however. I've got only 3 weeks left of school and then I'm done for good. But, I have about 10 projects left to complete, and I'm going to be in PA again this weekend for a wedding. Not to mention the fact that I might have mono. I've been finding lumps in my neck and the doctos sent me for a mono spot test the other day. All I know is I feel like crap and my throat hurts a lot, although I don't have any of the other common cold symptoms. I just hope I don't give whatever I have to Mike.

I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow though because Mike and I are going to see The Nutcracker ballet thanks to Jenn's birthday present for me. I'm really excited to see it. It will be my first Christmasy thing this year. And, in December I have plans to drag mike to see Winter Harp with me. I went to their concert last year and the year before and they are amazing. I have 3 of their cd's now. Their music is beautiful, very Celtic. I love it. And they have a writer there who reads Christmas stories. Not to mention that it's at the Alix Goolden (sp?) Hall, which in itself is gorgeous. So, some things to look forward to despite how extremely tired I am. I just slept for 11 hours. Although I will admit it wasn't the best sleep since I had an earache all night. But still 11 hours and I feel like I could sleep for another 5 or 6. Sounds like mono, huh? Seeing as my sister just had it a couple of months ago.

Oh well, soon it will be over and I can just enjoy Christmas. Man, I can sure tell I'm tired. It just took me 3 tries to type the word "enjoy" without adding in an extra letter. Oh, and I forgot, I also finished reading Truth and Beauty, which is sooo amazing. I really think it's a book everyone should read. The title doesn't sound that great, but the book is awesome. I really feel it would help out a lot of people. Especially if you are a writer or a woman with a best friend. And, I saw it at Munro's on their sale table for 6.99. So, don't be surprised if I send it to you for Christmas. :)

Wind, Will Ferrel, and writers.

Boy is it ever windy and stormy on Vancouver Island right now. I can't even believe how stormy it is. For those of you who remember the mild climate of the island, especially Victoria, the weather right now is definitely contradicting that. In Port Alberni there was 119 mm of rain today, and in Cathedral Grove trees are falling over so that no one can drive to or from Port Alberni. This is unfortunate because Mike and I are planning on heading there for the weekend. Hopefully the storm will have passed by then. On the news they showed a tree crashing right into a house in Vancouver and then apparently a condo building under construction collapsed from the heavy wind and rain. It's really remarkable. I tried going to the mall and I could barely get the door to my car open when I left it's so windy. The north of the island apparently has winds of up to 100km an hour. Pretty crazy.

That said, the weather is obviously keeping me indoors. I'm trying to get a lot of homework done, but being inside all day while Mike is at work and I'm on reading break is hard. I keep getting really sleepy for no reason other than that there's nothing to do but homework. I wish reading break wasn't already more than half way over. I feel like I need a month off to accomplish everything I need to do.

On Friday I'm going to stop at my sister's though for her birthday. So, that should be fun. Plus, I have done other fun things so far on reading break:

1) I went to Matt and Sarah's for a games night (Scattegories--hence the title of this post, The Bean game, and Cranium) and got to play with Matt's daughter Ainslie who drooled on me a lot as she is teething.

2) I went out for lunch and shopping with my friend Myana and we went in three of my favourite stores--Out of Ireland, Munro's, and The Christmas Store.

3) Mike and I went to see Stranger than Fiction, which I really enjoyed because it's about writing and it was funny but also sad. Good movie all around.

So, it has been a good reading break. I'm also reading a great non-fiction book my teacher lent me called Truth and Beauty, by Ann Patchett. So far it is excellent. I didn't want to read it at first because I have so many other books on my list that are half read or waiting to be begun, but I figured if I wanted to read this one, it has to be during reading break so I can give it back to my teacher. It's all about friendship between these two women who are writers and grad students together. I definitely recommend it so far.

Well, more news to come, if anything exciting happens...

Trying to study, but....

I'm trying to study right now before my class at 1:30. I have an exam tomorrow morning and I've been studying all week for it, and working hard to finish all the projects I had due so that I could study. But, I think I know most of the stuff now and it's just so boring now reading the same thing over and over. Especially when I know that tomorrow is Friday and then I have 9 days in which I don't have to go to school or practicum or work. I have a lot of stuff to do and catch up on, but the fact that I don't have to be at the school is very exciting. So, basically, this morning has been going by sooo slowly as I wait for it to be time to go to class. I know I should be using the time to study, but I've gotten to the point where I don't care, I just want it to be over. This semester is all about just handing things in and crossing them off my list.

Mike got another call from the RCMP and it looks like he probably won't go until late in January or possible February, because it's going to take another 10-12 weeks to process the information they're going through now, which is where they call all of his character references and people he knows. I have to say that I'm happy he's going a little later, because I don't have to worry so much about having enough money, since he'll have a few extra pay checks before he goes to save. Although, I hope it doesn't mean that we won't get our week at home for Christmas. But, I'm pretty sure we'll get at least 4 or 5 days. It could be the last Christmas on the island for a few years, depending on where Mike gets posted.

The rain has finally stopped and in Victoria fashion the sun is shining again. I don't know why people complain about so much rain in Victoria when we get so much sun too. Although I will admit I've never seen such a rain storm as what we had this past week.

Well, nothing much else is exciting. Mike and I are going home for an entire weekend on the 17th, so I'm excited about that. It's been a long time since I was there for more than one night. It's mike's mom's 50th birthday so we're having her a party in town.

Back to work I guess....

Book lovers and bibliophiles

Go to librarything.com
It's very cool if you love books like me...it lets you catalogue all the books you own and they will actually send you recommendations of what to read next. There are also book lists with book recommendations from people who use librarything, and they're by category so you can look up your favourite type of book. Okay, I'm procrastinating from studying, but this website is great. And free, best of all (up to 200 books, and then you have to pay if you want more)

Rain Rain go away

We went from record sunshine to record rain in BC the past four days. I can't even believe how much it's raining. I played field hockey on Saturday and it was definitely the wettest game I've ever played in my ten years of playing the sport. The turf, which is water based, had so much water on it the ball couldn't move more than a few few before stopping. As of today, the flooding from all the rain has caused evacuations in the lower mainland, and several major car accidents in Victoria, including one invloving a young woman that goes to my Church. She's in critical condition, but apparently is stable, which is good. Watching the news, it's hard to believe that the photos of flooded fields and houses that are covered in water is here, where I live. Usually these scenes are coming to us from other places in the world. We're so lucky in BC to have the mildest weather year round, especially on the island. It really makes you appreciate people who brave other areas of the world.

I've been neglecting my blog for a few days since this week is the busiest of the semester. I've been dreading it for a while, and now that it's here I don't know how I'm going to get all the work done. I have two presentations, two essays, another project, and a final exam. I'm doing well so far, but still have an essay and studying to do. But, then it's reading break and I can catch up on my reading. And then, it's exams, and then Christmas, which I'm very excited about because we actually get to spend a whole week at home. We aren't doing presents since we have no money, but I'm so excited about having a relaxing week with my family that I don't really care!

Hope the weather is sunnier in other parts of the world....although, I am making good use of my Mary Poppins umbrella...

C'est L'Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all! I wish that I was a little kid who could still get dressed up and go trick or treating. My little sister is going out tonight with her friends even though they're 14. I didn't get to dress up as I had wanted but I had fun admiring all the people who were brave enough to wear their costumes to school, and was wishing that I had too, although I thought it would be too cold. Mike dressed up as a wet floor sign. Yes, that's right. He made a giant cardboard painted replica that he could walk around in. Quite funny but now our balcony has yellow paint on it.

In other news, I'm having a bit of a dilemma now that I know Mike will be gone soon. The problem is that 1) I have no money to live off of (or very little) when he's not working and 2) most of my friends have left Victoria, and with Mike gone I'll be very lonely.
So, I'm considering requesting to have my practicum location changed to Port Alberni so that I could live for free and do my practicum there. That would save me my rent money in Victoria for sure. But, if I had a roommate or a way of making money to live off of, then I would stay in Victoria, because I feel that it isn't fair of me to leave my sponsor teachers stranded now that they were planning for me to be there.

On the other hand, it would be nice to be surrounded by my family while Mike is gone. I'm really not sure how I'm going to get through the 6 months that he's gone. I'm planning on visiting him over spring break, but that's not until the end of March, which is a long ways away.

So, Amanda, my lovely lovely friend. What can I do to convince you to come to Victoria for 6 months? We can have a grand old time in my cozy apartment eating too much junk and watching old movies. Neither of us will be in classes so we won't have homework and we can spend our free time doing fun things. You can play my piano. You can go in the hottub whenever you want. And, maybe you'll run into the mystery man we spotted your last day here who you never spoke to but kind of wished you had. Pretty please?

Okay, I'll stop trying to bribe you now. But seriously, if both of us are feeling blue and depressed and lonely, it just makes sense. We can force each other to spend time writing and sending stories away. It would be great. Plus, then we can plan for our trip to Greece....

Sending everyone wished for a happy halloween...don't eat to much candy. Or, if you're like me, your planning on going after halloween is over to buy the left over chocolate for 50% off. Ah, being a poor student again.

Yeah Mike!

Just wanted to let anyone whose been waiting to hear knews about Mike and the RCMP know that Mike found out today that he passed his polygraph test, which is a huge relief. The recruiting lady told him that he will probably leave in 1-2 months, and that he should be retaking his PARE test in November. So, it's getting very close to goodbye time. I just hope he's here for Christmas, and that I can afford to go and visit him a few times. If anyone hears about any good seat sales let me know!

So that's very good news for us, because it means that hopefully within the next year we will both have jobs. My Dad wants me to go on a trip with him sometime, and Amanda and I have plans to go to Greece in a couple of years, so it'll be nice to start saving.

Today was a cold day in Victoria. It was a beautiful sunny blue sky day, but felt like the first day of winter. You know the first day where you really feel like the wind is burning your nostrils and your hands feel like ice all day long. That was today. Which means that maybe soon I can justify the fact that I was listening to Christmas music the other day...

Pumpkins, Macbeth, and maybe Audrey Hepburn

Well, it's the weekend before Halloween and once again I have no costume or party plans. I always loved getting dressed up for Halloween and thought last year that I would be more organized this year. I haven't dressed up in years, so I wanted to go as Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and I still might if I can find the attire tomorrow. And, as long as it's cheap. It's a pretty simple costume, but believe it or not, I actually don't have the shoes I need! With my 30 pairs of shoes, you would think I'd have it. I do have them in brown, but I'm not sure if it would work.

Mike and I are planning on going tomorrow night to the pumpkin display at Government house. There are 4000 pumpkins lit up every night until Halloween, so it should be pretty cool. And, who knows, maybe if I can get a costume I will just dress up for school on Tuesday.

I'm also doing two other things that are sort of in the Halloween spirit. I was supposed to be going tomorrow on a ghost walk at Ross Bay cemetary with my class, but it was cancelled so we're not going until November 1st now. I am also going to see a performance of Macbeth at William Head prison, but that's on the 2nd. Both in the Halloween spirit, but unfortunately it didn't work out to see them before Halloween.

Mike and I are really missing playing board games as much as we used to. We just played Entdecker, which is the first board game we ever bought. I just beat him by a few points.

Tomorrow my field hockey game is cancelled, so I'm going to sleep in and do some studying for a midterm on Halloween. Then, on Sunday I'll go watch Mike's soccer game.

Not much else is new. Still waiting to here back about Mike's polygraph test, but the lady from Recruiting said he's next on her list. Fingers crossed.

Anyone wanna live with me while he's gone? I'm a really good roommate I promise. We could easily fit a second bed in my bedroom. Cheap rent. Available after Christmas. Although I should warn you that we did have a mouse. But his name's Gus Gus and he's really cute and nice. Just don't leave any granola bars lying around. He'll chew right through your suitcase to get them.

Goblin Market poem

By the way, this is the poem I wrote a story about. You definitely need to read it before reading my story.
http://users.crocker.com/~lwm/goblin.html

This is a link to the poem.
If you would like to read my story and give me feedback let me know.

I'll bring you plums tomorrow

While watching the news today I came across a story that I found quite silly. Apparently, the cariboo in BC are becoming endangered. And, the government's brilliant plan to increase their numbers again and avoid extinction is to go around killing the animals that prey on cariboo, like wolves and bears.

Now, is it just me, or is this kind of stupid? Let's save one animal by killing another? What happened to the whole circle of life, food chain thing. I thought we weren't supposed to interfere with wildlife in that way, however tempting it may be to help the baby sea turtles to the water without being eaten. Maybe they should consider the human factors that are effecting the cariboo's existence?

On another note, I emailed a woman in my class one of my stories today. The one about the Christina Rosetti poem called Goblin Market. She started reading it right away and sent me an email saying I definitely need to publish it. This has been the plan for several months now, but I have yet to settle on a journal to submit the story to. It's a bit of a strange one, sort of YA, sort of fantasy, and not your typical modern story at all. Lorna Jackson told me that she wasn't sure who would be brave enough to publish it, but she was sure someone would. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Hmmm...does anyone have suggestions on a good journal to send to?

Back to class

Well, today is my first day back at Uvic after my short practicum. I'm happy to be able to sleep in again, but not so happy about having to go back to all that reading and homework. I meant to get a lot done over the past couple of weeks but I've been so busy and tired from being at the school all day with teenagers that I didn't get anything done. So, now I have the task of catching up. In the next three weeks I have about 12 projects to complete, so I'm going to have to do at least one a day pretty much. My goal is just to get them done, and I don't really care what the grades are.

Nothing much new and exciting. Watched Mike's soccer game yesterday and played a great field hockey game on Saturday--my team won 5-0 which was great since the previous week we had only 9 players and no subs, so we had a loss of about 4-1.

Well, I'm off to begin my homework and then back to school this afternoon...

Bigger than Gus Gus

Blogs are strange in the sense that it's a journal, but I feel I'm always aware as I'm writing that other people are going to be reading it. It kind of makes it hard to say what you feel like writing about. Who knows what the people reading are thinking of what you are writing.

Yesterday was the strangest day. I woke up at 2am with the worst headache and could hear something chewing away at the walls or who knows what in my apartment. And I'm sure it's not Gus Gus. I got used to him. He wasn't that loud. The neighbours tell me they've complained to the landlord about rats. Apparently they are in the walls trying to get into the building. I saw someone on the roof yesterday. I think they are setting up traps or poison to kill the rats. Hopefully it works before they chew right through to my apartment.

Mike had his polygraph test yesterday. He's nervous about how it went. He didn't lie, but sometimes you can fail questions anyway if there's something else bothering you or if you are nervous. I hope he passed. But at the same time I'm not ready for him to leave yet. I hope he doesn't go until after Christmas, because neither of us are going to be working at Christmas so we won't have to leave on boxing day morning as usual.

Well, I'm off to my field hockey game. Hopefully we have a full team this time.

Back to high school

Sounds scary, doesn't it? All those nightmares about showing up without pants on, being one of the "cool kids", test anxiety, not being able to wait for lunch. It's all a distant memory. Until this week, when I re-entered the high school scene. As a teacher.

Freaky but cool. I ate in the staff room today at a big round table with other teachers eating their very teacher-like lunches: apples, bananas, home-made sandwiches in plastic containers. Ah! And me with my sandwich and snapple bought from Serious Coffee down the street. But, I think I fit in anyways. I was worried that teachers might mistake me for a student at the school (although technically I'm not a teacher until I finish my practicum May 4th) but I actually had the opposite experience. A grade eleven girl asked me if I was a prof at Uvic. I was so shocked. Do I look old enough to be a prof? I didn't think so. At least they didn't think I was 17. That would have been worse. Much worse.

So, I've been blessed with two lovely ladies as sponsor teachers. One is a bit more "out there" so people in the school keep telling me, but I just love her. She's so funny and quirky and the kids love her because of it. Then, there is my French sponsor teacher, who is super nice and helpful. They've both allowed me to participate in their classrooms, although this is supposed to be just an observation period. But, as I soon discovered, watching a classroom for two weeks would be very boring. So, I've already been marking tests for the French class, and helping students. They seem very eager to ask for help, which is great. And for the most part I've been able to answer their questions. I'm trying to plan an activity for next week for my French ten's. It has to do with nationalities and adjectives. I'm trying to think of well-known world figures that grade ten's would recognize to play a little game, where they have to name the person's nationality in French. Any ideas?

I've also realized how tiring high school is. The school had a talent night for writers to read their work, and I really wanted to go and check it out, but I didn't know about it until today, and I was so tired by the time I got home at 4:30 and made dinner and relaxed that I didn't think I could go back again. Plus, I wasn't sure if any teachers were going to it, so I didn't want to go by myself. I'm sure there will be something like it in the future though. When I finally am a teacher, I'm so signing up to be part of the travel club. My teacher is the global ed teacher, and she gets to take the students on a trip to France and Italy, and the travel club is going to Greece and Turkey. How great would that be?

Jedi Squirrels

I had to post this picture for Mike, who is a fan of squirrels.

funny website

Check out this website; it makes me think of an Irish John Stewart. Pretty funny.
www.blather.net

Turkey After all

So I got my turkey after all. Mike and I got invited to a thanksgiving dinner at the home of Wes and Christy Linde, the youth pastor and his wife at our church. It was very nice of them to invite us, and we were happy we got to have a turkey dinner with gravy and mashed potatoes and all the traditional yummy food.

I also started my first observation period at the school today. It went pretty well, although it is still very disorganized, and they don't yet have an English sponsor teacher for me, which I'm hoping they'll have organized by tomorrow. Although, it kind of scares me that they still haven't asked anyone yet. It makes me wonder why and whether there is a teacher who wants a student teacher in their class. My French sponsor is really nice, and I think I can adapt to her teaching style while I'm in her class, because she's pretty fun and new in her methods, which is nice. But, I have to say that I'm sort of looking the most forward to my English class, so I really hope that they find me an English placement!

Off to watch Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz fight match number three.

Weren't expecting me to say that, huh?

No turkey, no money

Well, another thanksgiving weekend is here and I sure wish I had some turkey. Mike has to work all weekend and the dinner we got invited to at Elissa's house is on Sunday night, but since we do our Church service and then have to teach sunday school, we won't be able to make it. I'm trying to plan something for Monday night for dinner, but I'm not sure what yet. I might just roast a chicken or something. I bought some stuffing and veggies today, so I have that, and I also have some ingredients to make a dessert, but it'll probably just be me and Mike, since I don't know who else we could invite over.

I'm really wanting to buy a plane ticket to go and visit Jenn and Matt and Bronson in California, but last night Mike and I realized that we have no money since I paid my tuition and we also have a huge VISA bill, so who knows if it'll work out or not. That and the fact that Mike is likely going to Regina soon, and while he's there he won't be working and since I'm have no time to work with my school we don't really have any money. It was much nicer back before I had to pay my tuition.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to get some people to host undercoverwear parties for me, and then I can make a little bit of money there. Also, I'm considering applying to be a tutor at the end of November when school is less busy, since I have a lot of time off over the Christmas holidays as well. Ahh....money.

Hopefully I'll get another bursary and then that will help me out in January. I'm sorry Jenn, if I can't come and visit you.

Maybe I should start working harder on stories to send out.

Anyone want to host an undercoverwear party?

Tanzania

Here are some pictures of where I might go next summer. That is Mount Kilimanjaro. Isn't it beautiful? I wonder if the safari we go on will be like this one?

Yoga

Got up early this morning and went to a "Wake up with yoga" class. Got to the school just after 7 am for an hour of yoga, but even though the point is to wake you up, it just doesn't work on me. I'm just not a morning person. For the third week in a row, I went home after yoga and took a 2 hour nap. I think it's the deep relaxation at the end. I fell asleep during it this time. But, I did learn how to do the Sun Salutation sequence forwards and backwards, as well as a few others. She tried to teach us one called the bull or something like that. Basically, it makes you look like a frog and it's a more advanced pose she said, but she thought we could do it. Ya right. I tried a few times and fell over like an idiot. It involves planting your hands on the mat, leaning your knees and all your weight onto your triceps and then pushing your feet off the floor so your bum is sort of in the air. The instructor made it look easy but I couldn't help laughing as I tried to do the move. Not very yoga of me.

Oh well. We also exercised our eyeballs, which I didn't even realize was possible. Kind of made my head hurt actually. My favorite pose is the child's pose, where you just get to lean forward on your folded legs with your chest on your knees and close your eyes. The best way to relax.

Well, I'm supposed to be writing my psych paper on Adolescent Volunteerism, but I'm procrastinating. Anyone got any bright ideas?

Travel Bug

I've been slacking the past few weeks when it comes to posting on my blog. I guess when life is just so busy it makes it harder to write because there's soo much to say. So here it is as short as I can make it:

On the 17th of September, I went to my friend Sarah and Fraser's wedding, and had a great time, although I was so tired driving all the way to Courtney and back, since Mike tore his calf muscle and couldn't drive.

The following weekend it was another long drive by myself to Port Alberni to say goodbye to baby Bronson and Jenn as they were heading down to California on Sunday the 24th. We had her a nice baby shower, and then it was very sad to say goodbye to them. I hope they have arrived safely in Passadena and are getting settled into their new home. But Mike and I are sure going to miss playing games with Jenn and Matthew, and seeing little Bronson grow. But, I might go and visit them during my reading break in November, if I can.

Then, this past weekend I had to go all the way to Tofino and back for ANOTHER wedding. And it's not even the last one this year. But, the wedding was beautiful, on the beach and the weather was gorgeous. I've posted a pic above of Tim and Andrea taken after the ceremony. But, Mike and I carpooled with our friends Matt and Sarah, which was nice because I didn't have to drive the whole way. The four of us had a sleepover on Mike's mom's floor, which was a lot of fun.

And, the biggest new of all is that Mike finally got his RCMP interview, and he passed it, which means he is closer to being on his way to Regina for 6 months. I don't think I'm ready for that, but we'll see when the time comes I guess.

I also found out I'm going to be doing my practicum at Oak Bay high school, which is my cousin Colby's high school, so that will be interesting as well. But, I'm looking forward to having a break from classes for two whole weeks! Yeah! It'll be very nice.

I've also been planning how my traveling might work out this year, because I might be going to california, then to Regina to visit Mike when he goes, then to Saskatchewan for our friend Kim's wedding next September, and on top of that, our church is planning a missions trip to Africa, and I've been seriously thinking about going. We would fly to Nairobie and then one group would stay in Kenya and the other would fly to Tanzania. I'm not sure which I'd want to do, but I would be able to teach English for three weeks to children if I went to Tanzania. We also would get to spend 2 days on the Indian Ocean, and one day on a Safari, which would be a really amazing experience. But, we'll see if it happens or not. I'm unsure if I would be able to handle a trip like that without Mike there with me, or if I'd want to. But, at the same time, it's probably one of the only chances I'd ever have of spending three weeks in an African village. And, we're getting the missionary rates for our flights, which saves us a lot of money.

I'll keep praying about it and hopefully it'll work out somehow.

Picture of Bronson (I hope)

Mike and I helped Jenn and Matthew pack up as they were leaving their apartment today in Victoria. Also got a lot of stuff that they couldn't take with them. It was really sad when we left to think that it was the last time I'd be at their apartment, and that it was the last time we'd be hanging out together in Victoria, since they are moving to California. I'm really going to miss them, and I will especially miss little Bronson. He's so cute, and I'm going to miss all the fun things he'll learn to do as he gets older. Just to show you how cute he is, here is a picture. Isn't he adorable. He has Jenn's nose and chin.

My computer hates me

This was supposed to be a picture of Bronson, but I can't seem to get them to appear. So, instead I thought I'd try a beautiful piece of artwork Mike left for me on the computer one day.

Soon it will all be over

I have been trying to post for over a week now, and actually don't know if this post will actually even make it alive. My computer seems to have the flu. But, it's been a crazy week. Baby shower to plan, garage sale, baby baptism, bridal shower, bachelorette and a wedding this Sunday. Whew. Not to mention that I just completed my first week of classes in my teaching certificate. The summer semester was super easy so I wasn't expecting anything major. Boy was I wrong. I'm taking seven classes. Yes, seven. And, several of them are year long courses crammed into one semester. It's just insane. And, they all have their own expensive textbooks and we're expected to read them all. I literally have about 1500 pages of reading (big textbook pages), plus about 30 assignments/papers/tests/presentations from now until December 11th. Most of them are stacked back to back as well. Plus, I'm not even going to be in town for the next three weekends, because of all the weddings, and then there will still be one more wedding in November. Life went from vacation mode to busy mode faster than I could think it.

And, the worst part about it is that all I want to do is WRITE. I am missing my writing workshops sooo much. I just want to write stories and poems and send them away and forget about reading textbooks. I might have to take some time off of teaching to write because I'm feeling like I might be a little burnt out by the time I make it to the schools. And it's not like I can write and do this program. My schedule is so full , some days I have class until 5:30, or 4:30 so I don't get home until late. The one good thing is that I do get to sleep in, thank goodness.

But, I'm trying to still get in 4 days of exercise a week. I'm going to try a yoga class for the first time, at 7:15 am! on tuesdays, and I'm also playing field hockey on an Oak Bay team. I'm excited about that. First game on Saturday. Bought turf shoes today. And, no, that doesn't break the contract I signed saying I wouldn't buy shoes for one whole year. These shoes have a specific purpose. Although I have to say I picked the prettiest ones.

All in all it's been a disorganized and chaotic first week back, but tonight was the first night I actually finished all the reading for my class tomorrow. Plus, I also managed to find time to purchase a wedding gift, field hockey gear, nutcracker ballet tickets, sign up for yoga, and buy toilet paper. Pretty good huh?

Wo Baby!

The baby has finally arrived. Actually, it happened yesterday morning at 9:47 am. I still haven't been able to visit but I'm hoping to today sometime, just as soon as Jenn calls to say that I'm able to come. All I know as of now is that he weighed 10 pounds 6 oz, so he was quite a big baby. I still can't wait to see both of them, but I'm so glad he's finally here!

In other news, Mike spoke yesterday to a RCMP officer at our church, and found out that he knows the recruiting officer that would be able to tell him about Mike's progress so far, and where he is on their list. So, Mike's going to meet him sometime this week for coffee to find out the scoop. He looked like a boy at Christmas time last night when we left Church, he was so happy just to talk to someone about the RCMP who actually knows what he's saying. So, hopefully he'll get some useful information and we will know when he's likely to go to Regina.

So, basically the last few days of my holidays have been spent waiting for things to happen. I was really excited about the nice weather, but I've been cooped up at home with nowhere to go. I'm definitely going to try and make one last trip out to the lake for a suntan and to read the book I got for my birthday. I'm really missing being out at the lake. I went swimming so many times this summer since we've had so many days of sunshine, but I've really wanted to take advantage of this beautiful September it seems we're going to have. I think sometimes people foget how nice and sunny it is right until fall starts!

Well, back to waiting for the phone to ring!

Waiting for Baby

Dear Baby fairy,

So, this is my way of making time pass as I wait to find out that my best friend, Jenn, has had her baby boy. She went into labour last night, and I was able to see her at around midight for a short while, but soon went home to wait for the call that the baby had come. Then, Jenn got sent home for the night, and so once again I was waiting to find out if she had gone back to the hospital. I just got a message from her Dad saying that they were at the hospital and that they were thinking the baby would be born around midnight. So, now I'm trying to decide if I should go to the hospital now, or wait until the baby is born. The problem is that the only way for me to get there is by cab, which I already did once last night. It's just so hard not knowing what is happening! I can't wait to meet my little godson :)

But, I'm trying to rationalize here. If I go now, I'm not going to be able to see her, because she could be in delivery, or pushing, or who knows what. And, since she's likely been awake for about 32 hours, I'm sure she'll want to sleep once the baby is finally born. So, it's probably best to just wait until morning to go and see the baby, or at least until they call me. There. I think that's what I will do. It's just so hard to decide what to do when it's the middle of the night, because there aren't as many options left in the way of buses and everything. I guess I'll just have to be patient and hope she's not in labour for too much longer. I just hope she knows that I'm thinking of her and am there in spirit!

Signed,

anxiously waiting,

the fairy godmother. (insert soon to be taken picture of me and baby!)

p.s. I just want to be the first to wish Baby Stevenson a happy birthday! (will it be September 2nd or 3rd?)

Just because it's my birthday

Just because it's my birthday and I love faeries...bonus points if you know where this picture comes from...

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm happy to say that I'm no longer my dreaded number in age--22. Really don't like the number 2, so it's much nicer to be 23.

I woke up this morning to the phone ringing at 7:30 am and jumped up thinking someone was calling to say happy birthday. After three rings I made it to the phone and the person hung up!

It's very strange to wake up on your birthday with no one home. Actually, I think this is the first birthday where Mike has had to work all day and I'm in Victoria so no one is here. But, we had an awesome holiday in Vancouver. Went to a fabulous production of my favorite play, A winter's Tale, at Bard on the Beach, and was convinced into going on two roller coasters at the PNE, one of which went upside down twice. Pretty amazing for me, the girl who gets nauseous on a swing set. I also won a giant Stewie doll, and Mike won a teeny tiny gorrilla. Yes, I'm bragging that I won something bigger. Na na na na na.

Hey, it's my birthday, I can do whatever I want. Hee hee.

Then, we went golfing on Tuesday, and shopping on Wednesday. Also, saw Little Miss Sunshine with my Dad, which was a hilarious movie. All in all, a good visit and fun holiday. And the weather was amazingly nice. And, it's nice out today! I can't remember ever having a birthday where it wasn't cloudy or raining, so I guess all in all it's a good day.

Here's to one year older!

Ready set vacation!

So, it's Friday night. Probably one of the saddest Friday nights since I have nothing to do. It felt strangely nice at first to be able to do whatever I wanted, and I actually made a huge list of all the things I can do since I have no plans made and Mike's at work till 11pm. So, I went shopping, rented a movie, did two loads of dishes, bought food and made dinner, rented a movie, watched tv....and it was only 9 o'clock. Now what? Usually I have too many plans on Fridays. It's just too quiet in the house!

But, on a more exciting note, Mike's holidays start tomorrow. We're going to a wedding in Sooke in the afternoon, and then on Sunday morning are going to catch the ferry to Vancouver. I'm super excited for Sunday night, because we have tickets to see A winter's Tale at Bard on the Beach and on Monday we have tickets to the PNE, which I've never been to before. We're also planning on going shopping and for a hike with my Dad and Felicia sometime. It should be a lot of fun, and definitely a nice break for Mike from work.

On a side note, I got my hair cut today. Haven't had a real cut since I chopped it all off in early March, so it was a big shock when I saw how short it was, although I definitely love it. It's so much lighter and thinner, which will be nice for going back to school.

I'm almost finished Pride and Prejudice now, and I'm really enjoying it now that it's getting more exciting. I can't wait to rent the movie; I almost wanted to rent it today but I held off to finish the book first.

Back to more tv watching....

Faeries

So, I looked up the etymology of the word fairy, and discovered why I like to spell it 'faery'. It just looks better, don't you think? Well, it turns out the word comes from Old French, a language I studied at Uvic, which is quite fascinating. We sure stole a lot of words from the french language. Ahh, the things I have time to do when not in school.

fairy
c.1300, "enchantment, magic," from O.Fr. faerie "land of fairies, meeting of fairies, enchantment, magic," from fae "fay," from L. fata (pl.) "the Fates." In ref. to a class of supernatural beings, the word is used from 1393. The slang meaning "effeminate male homosexual" is first recorded 1895. Fairy tale "oral narrative centered on magical tests, quests, and transformations" (1749) translates Fr. Conte de feés of Madame d'Aulnois (1698, translated into Eng. 1699). Fairy ring is from 1599. Fossil sea urchins found on the Eng. downlands were called fairy loaves.

(from the website http://www.etymonline.com/index.php)

sandcastle competition Parksville

Here are a few pictures from the sandcastle competition. The top two are of a castle with dragons who were serving knights for dinner.













This one was really detailed and creative. It's full of pipes and plumbers fixing the "plumbing nightmare". I loved this house, it was so real looking. It won first place.

Had a lot of fun in Parksville with my mom, sister and sister's boyfriend. We were having an early birthday celebration for me, which was nice. After seeing the sandcastle's, we walked on the beach, then tried out the new mini golf course (I won) and went out for dinner at Montana's. We were all too stuffed for dessert, so went back to Megan and Billy's condo in nanaimo, and I spent the night on their couch. Now, I get to go shopping with my birthday money. Yeah for new books and clothes!

Baseball tans and sandy floors

Went out for breakfast yesterday morning with Sarah at Rebar because I was told the pancakes are delicious (thanks Ria!). We both had the pancakes with blackberry orange yoghurt and cinnamon butter, the special of the day. Can't wait to go back again, although they were a little pricey (10.75$) for three pancakes. It was nice though, because then we spent the day watching Fraser (her fiance) and Mike playing in a softball tournament. Mike sprained his wrist and got a nice farmer tan and Sarah and I amused ourselves sunbathing and eating too many nibs. Afterwards, we all went for a team bbq in which Sarah and I once again ate too much and then proceeded to fall asleep in the hot tub.

This morning, I went to Thetis again, had a couple of hours to myself to read and go for a nice long swim. The water is cool now but after a few minutes it's just perfect and I could swim all day. I'm still plodding through Pride and Prejudice, but I'm starting to get into it now and it's actually getting good. Must finish it before Jenn leaves so that we can watch the movie together. I hate watching the movie before I've read the book, although I have to admit that I'm already picturing Kiera Knightly while reading about Elizabeth Bennet. Why do they have to call the characters by so many names? Miss Bennet, Elizabeth, Eliza, Lizzy. I can't keep the sisters straight as it is.

Well, tomorrow is clean the house day. Ugg. My floors are so sandy from lake towels. Somehow I just can't seem to shake all the sand out before I get home.

Boring?

Holidays start today, thank goodness, and it's sunny out. I have plans for lots of book reading, swimming, sunbathing, and shopping for wedding/bridal shower/baby shower presents.

I have to admit the lack of comments on my blog is sometimes depressing. Is anyone reading this? Am I boring? My worry is that my future students will somehow end up reading my blog and come to school with stories about me...

Hellooooo out there......

Argh!

So, why is it that none of my summer plans seem to be working out? I reeeaally wanted to go camping, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen now. And, I have this pretty shiny new campstove I got last year for my birthday that I haven't even tried out yet. Just one night in a tent. Doesn't anyone want to go camping?

And what's with everyone talking about how summer's over in the beginning of August? The shoe stores are already selling winter boots for goodness sake! There's still over one month left of summer, why is everyone so anxious? We only get a few months of sandal wearing weather, enjoy it already!

Okay, so maybe I'm pissed that according to everyone, summer's almost over, and I still haven't even had my holiday. Although if Tim Hortons decides to be its usual self, that might not happen either. Please, oh please let Mike take his holiday Mr. Donut man. Hah.

Well, that was a fun rant. Now, on to other things. Specifically, the social constraints and class divisions at Saint Ann's Academy.

My graduation

Here is a picture of me at my graduation from Uvic, right after they called me "Sabina L'Heureux" instead of Sabrina. Note how the shoes match my grad colours...

Sic Itur Ad Astra

Which means, "Such is the way to the stars". Isn't that nice? It's the motto of the Sisters at Saint Ann's Academy. Okay, okay, I'm just procrastinating from writing my essay...But, I do have one page written, only four left to go. Research Research!

Pictures of Me

The first picture is our wedding day three years ago, and the second picture is of my with my two nieces on my birthday last summer. Aren't they cute?

Hartmann House

Here is the B&B we stayed at:
The picture on the bottom shows the
garden, and pond. On the top is the Honeymoon Suite where we stayed. It's even more beautiful than the pictures show!


Check out their website too:
http://www.wcbbia.com/pages/hartmann.html

Saint Ann's Academy

This is the bell tower of the Academy...

Saint Ann's

I haven't posted in a while, but here's an update on what I've been doing lately. Mike and I stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast, which i will try to post a picture of later, but it's called the Hartmann House, and it's definitely the nicest place we've ever stayed at before. There's a huge king size bed with a wooden canopy, a two-person jacuzzi tub, a fire place with real wood in it, not the fake kind, and a pantry connected to the main house, where our lovely host left our breakfast in the morning. Heart-shaped waffles, berries, fruit, and ham. Yumm. We also went out for dinner and had a great meal at Markus' Wharfside. Mike had his new favourite, lamb, and I had the chicken breast. Dessert was chocolate mousse, with a raspberry sauce. On our way home the next morning ( I didn't want to leave), we stopped to play some mini-golf in Sooke.

This week is my last week of school! I'm very excited to have a couple of weeks off for some holiday time. On Sunday I had a nice relaxing day at Thetis Lake, went for a swim and did some research for my paper on Saint Ann's Academy in victoria. It's actually a very interesting topic. I did a tour of the Academy yesterday, had a lovely woman be my tour guide, and got some free research information. The chapel is beautiful and is the oldest in BC, with beautiful statues, stained glass windows, and three huge paintings done by one of the sisters. They were very gifted artists. They also have a lovely garden which I hope to have a chance to walk through soon. One of the paintings said in latin underneath it: "stupebout omnes qui eum audiebout". Anyone know what this means?

Happy Birthday Madison!

Poetry Goddess

I just realized one more thing...it's my niece's second birthday, so Happy Birthday Madison!
Love Auntie Bean.

BC Day

Poetry Goddess
Happy BC Day long weekend!
For those of you who aren't in BC, sorry, but we're enjoying a sunny three day weekend here! It's friday, and Mike and I have the weekend off together, so we're going to practice our very amateur golf skills at the pitch and putt, then out for dinner. Tomorrow we'll be participating in a Park Hunt (a youth event at our church where the leaders dress up in various disguises, and the youth have to search for us all in Beacon Hill Park). It should be fun, although I haven't yet completed my disguise. I was thinking of putting on my wedding dress and pretending that I was having wedding photography done in the park, or perhaps dressing up like a pregnant woman and borrowing a friend's maternity clothes. After the park hunt, we're off to stay at a beautiful B&B in Sooke, called the Hartmann House,( in the honeymoon suite and everything), which is exciting. Still have to make dinner reservations for while we're there though. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to no homework and lots of sunshine. Summer isn't over yet!

Balcony Garden

Poetry Goddess

So, I've wanted a garden my whole life, and the other day I finally made myself one. I had the day to myself and decided to stop procrastinating and decorate my balcony, which has been hiding behind old curtains for three years. After several hours at the garden centers in Home Depot, Sears and Dig This, I came home with a beautiful Victorian hanging basket, a plant stand, basil and parsley (since they can grow in the shade and I get 0 sunlight), two lovely lime green pots, and a lot of flowers. I'm now growing Coleus (wild lime), impatients in three colours, a large green plant that looks like rubarb to me, but I forget it's name (my green thumb is still new) and something wispy and purple. Since then, I've added some mats and candle lanterns, and it had turned out quite nicely. Gardening can definitely be addicting. Can't wait till I have my own back yard!

Poetry Goddess

Poetry Goddess

Return of the Blogger

Well, after a week of trying to get my blog to work again, here I am! New password, etc...and a dozen tries to get them to email me my password, and it finally worked. So, what's happened lately? I had a very relaxing weekend compared to the extremely busy one last week. The 23rd was my friend Amanda's last day in Victoria and also her birthday, so we did all of Victoria. Breakfast at the Blue Fox (our favorite), shopping downtown, the gov't street market, the inner harbour, thrift store shopping, Willows beach, The Moka House, and sunset at Clover Point. Did I miss anything? Oh, the nap I took in between. I should be a Victoria tour guide. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun, and took my mind off the fact that she is leaving. Although, the fact that she's going to Scotland means a fun trip to go visit her.

Then, on wednesday, the girls and I had our first girls night without Amanda. We had a lot of fun eating out at Rebar, a really yummy, funky, vegetarian restaurant. I had yam fries, an almond burger, and pumpkin square for dessert. Very good, not to mention the iced tea, yum-o. After that, I got to embarrass myself at the Latin Caribbean Festival, doing salsa dancing. Shortly after the lesson, they were giving away tickets, and asked for three volunteers. I was pointed at by the guy on the stage, so I had to go up and DANCE! by myself along with two other contestants. Needless to say, the crowd cheered louder for the other two, so I didn't win the tickets. I did get a good leg work out though, and I plan to make another attempt one day at salsa.

I watched a new show this morning when I woke up called "The Messengers". It's really interesting, it's about ten people competing as inspirational speakers. They go around on field trips every week and then have to do a speech on a topic. One thing one man said really stuck out to me. He was talking about Charity, and said: You should never look down on someone unless it's to pull them up. Something to think about.

First Post

So I'm still new at this, but since I am a writer, I thought this might be fun...and a good way to procrastinate from doing my actual work...Just came home from my good friend's going away party. She's leaving in two weeks for Scotland, which I'm very jealous of, being Scottish and all, and dying to get as close to Ireland as possible. Hopefully will make it over for a visit, and then finally see Ireland. Yeah!