Finished!

Okay, so maybe I only made 28 posts in 30 days, but I think that was quite a task for me, who only blogs once a week or so normally. It was a lesson on what it takes to set aside time for myself to write, and I learned that I can do it. I missed the second post the other night because I was so tired I just decided to go to bed, and since I technically disqualified myself the first week into posting, I wasn't too worried. But, now it's over and I can say that at least I tried. Hopefully next year I'll be better at it.

And, tomorrow is the first day of December! My Christmas lights were put up over the weekend and my tree and decorations are all out as well. I've still got to finish my shopping and cards but it definitely feels like the season up here. I'm really excited to go home and see my mom and sisters. Still praying that Mike can come with me, but we aren't sure yet.

It's also incredibly warm here for December. It was RAINING today, in November! And the snow in my yard melted already. I can't believe this, but I'm actually hoping for snow and colder weather. It's really easier to drive in light snow than slush and I like it when the town is all covered by the snow. So, here's to snow, and no more Nablopomo! (until next year)

So this is Christmas?

I just read this article about a man being trampled to death at Wal-Mart when the store opened for Christmas sales. I can't believe that this is what we've turned Christmas into. This is why I never go boxing day shopping.

Trend?

I've just noticed that all my posts for Nablo seem to be late at night, as I am on my way to bed. Hmm...I guess that just shows how busy I've been lately. But, I do have some interesting good news. Today my contract was increased from .429 to .571! I'm excited because it's more money but I don't actually have to teach another class; I am just marking a course that students in Electric Ed (home schooled) take by correspondence on-line. This means I can do it at whatever time of day I choose.

In other news, Mike and I have formed a band. We have completed one tour and begun another. So far, we've played Aerosmith, Weezer, Garbage, Nirvana and several others. I play guitar and sometimes bass and he plays the drums. They're a little too complicated for me so far...

Of course, I'm talking about our new wii, which has turned out to be a lot of fun! It's much more interactive than most video games. We have raced with actual stearing wheels, boxed against each other (I knocked him out in round 2!) and formed a band. And now, I am off to bed as I have to get up early tomorrow for a French Foundation meeting all day.

Good night.

One month till Christmas!

I am just on my way to bed after my One month till Christmas! party. I had a great turn-out and a full living room. Unfortunately I have tons of baking left over and I will probably end up eating it all, so I've already stuck it in the freezer in hopes that I will save it until Christmas. The hit of the evening though was the very last dessert I made, which was delicious--cookie dough truffles. You make a semi-cookie dough recipe but with no eggs and condensed milk and then you dip them in chocolate. They were all gone by the end of the night and I was handing out the recipe. I wasn't surprised though, as who doesn't love to eat cookie dough?

In the end, I earned about 70$ worth of free stuff so I'm excited to buy some more candles. They have such yummy smells, like cobbler on the porch, and Mrs Clause's Kitchen and my favourite Cranberry orange. They make me a little hungry, to tell you the truth. I also got some of their enviromentally friendly cleaners. They smell like eucalyptus and mint and rosemary.

Tis the month of parties in Dawson Creek!

Happy one month till Christmas!

Happy Birthday!

Today was my sister Megan's 23rd birthday. Happy Birthday sister!!

In other news, Mike came home on Saturday night from Chilliwack with a Nintendo wii. I looked everywhere for one while he was gone with no luck, and he found one easily! So, today we bought Mario Kart for me and Rock band for Mike. It's pretty sweet. Mike plays the drums while I rock out on the guitar. Neither of us does the singing, cause that's just not what we do.

Good night.

Baking

I spent my Sunday night baking for the Christmas candle party I'm having on tuesday night. So far I've made cranberry shortbread hearts and butterscotch blondies. I'm also planning some fudge, sugar cookies with my new Christmas cutters and lemon squares. I love lemon squares at Christmas time. Sigh. Only one more month!

Christmas Tree light-up

Last night was Dawson Creek's annual Christmas Tree light-up. After witnessing last year's, I knew that I had to take a camera along this time to proove that Santa Clause does indeed arrive on a crane to light the tree.

I met my friend Jessica after dinner and we walked downtown to get our free Starbuck's steamed eggnog (very yummy) and candy canes. We listened to the 5 poor children who were singing carols out in the cold (it was about -18 I would guess), and waited for Santa to arrive.






My friends and I dressed in our dorky hats. When it's that cold out, you just can't find a really cool hat, you know?



Here's Santa waving goodbye from his crane. Note that the light is red. We were in the middle of an intersection--they actually remove the mile O post and replace it with a tree.



Ah, the lovely, lopsided tree, with no star. Beautiful.

Disappointment

I'm so angry and disappointed right now that I just had to vent in another post. I was just talking to my mom on the phone and she was telling me about some of my sister's teachers this year. She has the same french teacher I had, our same physics teacher and my same P.E. teacher, all of whom I enjoyed and got A's with. My sister is very smart--she's always been a straight A student and enjoys school. And, as I am now a teacher, I'm always curious to compare my old teachers with what I now know to be proper teaching practices. So, when I found out that my sister has my group of high school friend's favourite, beloved teacher, Mr. Dupperon, I was really excited to hear what she thought about him. His wife was my favourite teacher, and Mike's favourite class was Mr. Duperron's. They taught Chemistry and Physics and we always loved having them as teachers.

This is all to explain how appalled I was to hear that when she went in early for extra help one day and asked him to explain a question to him, his reply to her (not jokingly, although it doesn't make for a good joke anyway) was

"What, are you stupid?"

If I could scream via my blog I would. As a teacher, the idea that another teacher would say something like that to their student who is a good kid, and was asking for help, just disgusts me. In fact, it makes me lose faith completely with teachers in general. So many teachers are completely cynical and outdated in their teaching practice and knowledge. Why are they still teaching? To call a student stupid is just plain wrong. I think it also especially bothers me because I had a little visit with this particular teacher in the summertime when I was home, and Mike and I went and visited him and his wife over spring break. We loved them as teachers and he knows that he is teaching my sister, and yet he treated her like crap.

If I was in Port Alberni, I would march over there and talk to him, but alas I am not, and so my blog comes in very handy. Maybe he will read it one day and feel bad. I hope so. Many of you who read my blog are fellow teachers....what do you think?

Book Club

Last night we had our book club meeting. We rated the 13th Tale a 7.5/10 and enjoyed our chat about it while drinking cocoa. More about it tomorrow!

How many Sabrina's?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 2 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Apparently, there are two people with my exact name in the U.S, but 87, 126 people with the name Sabrina and 6359 people with my last name in the U.S. My name is the 574th most popular name. However, before I got married, there wasn't anyone in the U.S. with my name!

Major geek

I decided I'd make this the week of meme's cause they're fun and I still don't know how to pronounce the word.

So, I took this quiz "How big of a geek are you?" but I'm not as geeky as I thought because most of it was computer related. I think I used to be geekier, and was reminded of that when I taught Chem 12 today and was sad that I couldn't remember how to do Moles. I scored just below a major geek, at 22% geek.



Here is the site if you want to try it. http://www.innergeek.us/index.html
(Jenn, you should take it with Matthew, I'm curious to know how high he scores! :)

Top 100 movies meme

Take this list of the top 100 movies from the IMDB and bold the movies you have seen. (I'm not sure where this is originally from). This list is from May 2004.

Apparently, I've only seen 27 of the top 100 movies...I guess I should go and rent some of them!


Godfather, The (1972)

Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)

Godfather: Part II, The (1974)

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)

Schindler's List (1993)

Shichinin no samurai (1954)

Casablanca (1942)

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)

Star Wars (1977)

Citizen Kane (1941)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Rear Window (1954)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Usual Suspects, The (1995)

Memento (2000)

North by Northwest (1959)

12 Angry Men (1957)

Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Psycho (1960)

Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001) (I just watched this with my french class...)

Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Goodfellas (1990)

American Beauty (1999)

Sunset Blvd. (1950)

Vertigo (1958)

Matrix, The (1999)

Cidade de Deus (2002)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

C'era una volta il West (1968)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Pianist, The (2002)

Third Man, The (1949)

Paths of Glory (1957)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Fight Club (1999)

Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Double Indemnity (1944)

Boot, Das (1981)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Chinatown (1974)

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Maltese Falcon, The (1941)

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

All About Eve (1950)

M (1931)

Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)

Se7en (1995)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Rashômon (1950)

Raging Bull (1980)

Wizard of Oz, The (1939)

Alien (1979)

American History X (1998)

Sting, The (1973)

Léon (1994)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)

Vita è bella, La (1997)

Touch of Evil (1958)

Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)

Finding Nemo (2003)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Great Escape, The (1963)

Modern Times (1936)

Clockwork Orange, A (1971)

Amadeus (1984)

On the Waterfront (1954)

Ran (1985)

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Annie Hall (1977)

Wo hu cang long (2000)

Jaws (1975)

Apartment, The (1960)

Braveheart (1995)

High Noon (1952)

Aliens (1986)

Fargo (1996)

Strangers on a Train (1951)

Shining, The (1980)

Metropolis (1927)

Blade Runner (1982)

Sixth Sense, The (1999)

City Lights (1931)

Donnie Darko (2001)

Duck Soup (1933)

Great Dictator, The (1940)

General, The (1927)

Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)

Princess Bride, The (1987)

Dogville (2003)

Meme from Ciboulette

Choose the 6th picture from the 6th folder in your pictures files. Here's mine:

My friends Kim and Nathan. Kim is an amazing singer. She gave me her Christmas CD last year and it is my absolute favourite. Her husband Nathan makes me think of one of Ponyboy's greaser friends. They also have the most adorable baby girl.

Sabrina wants

I am quickly running out of time and ideas for my daily blogging, so I was trying to think of something interesting that I could do. I remember doing this a while back, and thought it would be fun to do again. You google "your name, wants" and write the first 5 interesting things that come up. Here's what I got.

Sabrina wants...

1)to restore the city to its rightful place on the planet
2)it this way
3)to break up the wedding in order to finally catch the man of her dreams
4)to change her mind
5)all of her students to perform

I think the last two are the only ones with a bit of truth to them. The others are from the movie or tv show Sabrina. But then I did it for Mike and the first one was scarily accurate.

Mike wants...

1)A Game Job. The chronicle of one young man's quest to get a job in the videogame industry. (ah!..does my husband have a secret?)
2)You (this post was related to Ireland, which is where I want to go this summer...strange)
3)to bite your face with pictures (how does one do this?)
4)to bag another fight
5)to play

Isn't it strange tbe difference in what comes up when you compare a guys name to a girls? Mine was all movies and tv shows, and his was all nintendo and fights and games. What does your name say?

Shop till you drop

Today I shopped.

And shopped.

And finished off in Costco shopping some more.

It was fun! My friend Sandy and I went to Grand Prairie, where real civilization and store await.

Here's what I bought:

Frames for the art work sitting on my floor

Fake lululemons to replace mine for 17$ at Costco...they're awesome!

A really big box of spanakopita

A snowman Christmas cookie tin/jar...it's hat opens into a cookie tin!

a set of 7 Christmas movies

underwear

One of my next book club selections: The story of Edgar Sawtelle

Christmas stamps

Christmas wrapping paper

Blank cards to make Christmas cards with

The book: Olive the other reindeer

Curtains and pillows

Toys to fill two Christmas shoe boxes for Operation Christmas child

3 baby shower gifts

What I didn't buy:

A nintendo wii (sigh--it wasn't without trying, they're hard to get up here)

stuck to you

Today I toc'd at the elementary school from my last job. As I was leaving at the start of lunch, one of my grade one girls from last year was following me down the hall and outside. I felt bad for having to rush off and as I said "Au Revoir" she looked up at me and said: "Madame, I don't know why, but I'm just stuck to you like glue today". How sweet is that?

The flood

Today something exciting actually happened in my house!

I came home from work and heard the sound of water rushing loudly from the sink. I thought: "yeah! Mike's doing the dishes I've been procrastinating on" and stepped into the kitchen. The counters were so shiny and clean and dish free that I took a minute to notice the fact that the sink was running water but no one was there and that my socks were very wet and cold...

That was when I noticed the large pool of water leaking out of the kitchen into the dining room. I rushed through nearly ankle deep water to turn off the tap. I guess the noise I was making got Mike's attention away from his computer game and he came rushing in. It turns out that while defrosting our dinner he was also doing laundry, which caused the tap to run very slowly to fill up the sink. So, he thought he'd come back in a minute and turn it off once it was full, which turned into 20 minutes.

But, the sound of the washing machine running drowned out the sound of our kitchen flooding!

Needless to say, we had a lot of fun mopping it up. We dumped our entire basket of towels onto the floor and began to wring them out one by one...

I used a measuring cup to scoop water off the lino one litre at a time. By the end of it, though, we were laughing. I lost count after about 15 litres. At least we still hadn't replaced the flooring; this gives us an excuse to do it sooner than later. Plus, the floor is really clean now!

It also got me thinking to all the times in our lives where we forget about things or make dumb mistakes. What silly things have you done that have made you feel stupid later? I've got a good one that I will save for tomorrow!

laundry

The warmth of lint
peeled from the trap;
life's fibers
held in the palm
of the hand.

Le jour du Souvenir

Today is Remembrance day, which unfortunately for us in BC is sometimes just a day off work. But, Today Mike and I attended the Dawson Creek remembrance service. He wore his Red Serge along with a few other members. It was neat to see him all dressed up again. I'm always surprised to remember that my husband is a mountie. The service was very well done and well attended, and afterwards we went out for lunch with some friends who we met at the service. It was too cold out to go to the cenotaph for long, and we didn't want my pregnant friend standing out in the snow.

So, now I'm procrastinating on cleaning up the house and getting ready for work again tomorrow. I'm also trying to plan out some home renovations. I'm dying to tear out the carpet in my living room and the kitchen lino. It's old and stained and I can't wait to get rid of it. Mike's agreed to give me a few hundred dollars for some paint and other decorations too, so I'm excited. Hopefully it will actually feel like home soon!

The Perfect Afternoon

This afternoon, after finishing my Pro-D day at work, I headed over to my friend Jessica's house. She lives above the garage in the prettiest house. It looks like you could just pick it up and plunk it down in the middle of a snowy wood and it would fit in perfectly. Dormer windows and a wrap around porch, and old fashioned lamp posts in the drive. We met in the early afternoon as we had planned a walk down town to go look in all the shops. We browsed through Christmas ornaments and decorations, and I bought myself an old-fahioned star for the top of my tree and a wooden Christmas tree painted green with a red star for the top of my fireplace. We then walked over to Hug a Mug. I drank a London fog and we shared a sugar cookie. The only thing that we were hoping for to make it a perfect winter afternoon was that the snow would start again. But, sure enough, as we finished our drinks and began the walk home, tiny snowflakes began to fall. It was so perfect that we continued our walk through a trail, ending near the library.

Jessica and I have been friends for a year now, but we only recently started hanging out more often. We've discovered that we have TONS in common, including our obsessions with Ireland, books, Christmas and writing. She and her sister went to Ireland two summers ago, and she's also going to school to be a teacher in January. She's three years younger than and I but it doesn't seem to matter. I swear sometimes I should be one of the siblings in her family. Her older brother is a writer and teacher too, and her younger sister loves Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings movies. Last year I spent Christmas Eve with their family at her mom's house. I seem to fit right in with them.

This has been a great four day weekend so far, and I've still got one more day of relaxing. Mike will be in his Serge at the Remembrance ceremony tomorrow, so I will be attending that as well. Then, it's back to work on wednesday to finish report cards.

Sunday passage (James 1:17-18)

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created."

This was the passage that struck me this morning at church. Nothing evil comes from God. When people say something terrible was an "act of God" it's not true. God does not tempt us ever. He allows us to go through trials, but it is only when we give in to temptation that we sin. Nothing bad can come from God, as James points out--everything good and perfect comes from Him. If we chose to set our sight on Jesus, we will not give in to our temptations. Unlike us, God does not change. He is always perfect and good, and He wants to give us those good gifts. He began a work in us when we were created, and he will continue to work on us. It is up to us to accept His gifts, and sometimes I wonder why more people don't. Who wouldn't want a Father who only gives good and perfect gifts?

Snow town

Do you ever notice how the whole world changes when it snows? Even when you are inside the light from the window is grayer, whiter, and it changes your mood completely. Even in my classroom, the light is different, and I feel like Christmas. That's when I start to drink my favourite Candy Cane Lane tea, and listen to carols, and go for walks in the snow. The sky is amazing when it snows here. It gets cold enough that the snow actually falls in lacey flakes. One day last winter, I went out to my car and found perfectly shaped flakes lying on my windshield. You know the ones you used to cut out of paper? They actually look like that when it snows up north. On the island, the snowflakes were always fat wet blobs that melted in your hand. When it snows, the sky feels closer somehow, as though you are trapped in your town. Kind of claustrophobic in a way, but also cosy. I love putting on my white boots, down jacket and my ear-flap tuque. And then, the coloured lights go on and it gets dark and I sit by my fireplace and read a good book.

99 Red Balloons

Well, I thought I'd last longer than a week on NaBloPoMo, but alas, I was done in by quite a few drunken po's and their wives. Tonight was my friend's surprise birthday party, and also the day I needed to do report cards. So, I worked until just after four, than quickly ran home for her card, picked up the present and headed to the surprise. It was a lot of fun, but unfortunately I was the only sober one, and didn't make it home before midnight to post on November the 7th. In my defence, I did drive 5 intoxicated individuals to their beds, so I think I deserve some credit. Oh well, at least I had fun...

We danced to old music from when we were teens and lots of early 90s and 80s songs we'd all forgotten about. Chantal and I put our hair in sideways ponytails and danced, the only two sober but still having fun, to 99 Red Balloons. And now, it's
3am and I am heading to bed. At least I'll be the only one to wake up happy in the morning!

Mundane excitement

Today I bought gas for under $1 a litre! How exciting is that? My good ole Tercel was only 37$ to fill. She has gotten us around on many trips over the last 5 years or so since we bought her. She made it through a winter in Dawson Creek, driving back and forth from DC to Port Alberni, and all the way to Saskatoon. We often complain about the cost of gas and vehicles, but I sure can't. This little car was definitely one of our best investments. She was less than 5 grand. We drove to Vancouver this summer, when gas prices were high, for $95. And, we've never had to change anything major since we bought it. I think I will be forever hooked on Toyotas. I'll be sad when I have kids and Tercel can no longer fit the family, but hopefully I'll be able to pass her along again!

Goblin Market

Have you ever tried turning a poem into a story? I tried to do this a few years ago with Christina Rosseti's poem "Goblin Market". Here is an excerpt from the story:

The moon’s light glanced off the faces of the merchants in the open glen. One had long whiskers, and pointed grey ears that twitched away above a cat’s face. Matted fur covered its back, and below, a white tail swung beneath tattered shorts. Another whisked between carts like a rat, his hands spread thick with brown fur, nails pricking plums like a thorny bush. Still another wobbled, a wombat-man, round and with a pig’s snout. Laura held her breath as one goblin man stopped, sniffed the air. He turned towards her, a red apple like a jewel in his hand.

“Laura, come quick.” Lizzie pulled at her sleeve again, her head bowed away from the market.

“Come buy,” the goblin men called. “Come see our orchard fruits. Apples and quinces, lemons and oranges. Come buy, come buy.”


From the poem "Goblin Market"

"Down the glen tramp little men.
One hauls a basket,
One bears a plate,
One lugs a golden dish
Of many pounds' weight.
How fair the vine must grow
Whose grapes are so luscious;
How warm the wind must blow
Through those fruit bushes."




Laurence Housman, illustration from the 1893 London edition of "Goblin Market" published by Macmillan.

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/crossetti/gobmarket.html (for a full copy of the poem and illustrations)

Waiting for snow

Rootless

Rigid at the edge of this field,
the white trees wait,
curved arms open,
a line of wishbones
waiting for the wind to crack,
unfence.

Christmas cards

Lately I've been addicted to making Christmas cards and stamping paper, envelopes and anything I can get my hands on. I joined a stampin' up scrapbooking group over a year ago, and have since accumulated lots of lovely stamps and paper (and ideas!).

Since Christmas fever comes early up here, what with the extreme cold and early snows, I find myself starting to prepare early as well. Hence, the fact that I've already bought most of my gifts and made about half of my cards.

Here are a few that I made at my friend's all day Christmas card-making session, as well as the cover of "Through the Looking Glass". Sorry to ruin the surprise if you happen to get one of the ones pictured!

Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

I almost forgot today about Nablopomo!

It's 11:39 and I was about to fall asleep when I realized I never posted!!

So, here is something cool that I did this weekend.

On Saturday, I discovered "The Olde Creek Store" in Dawson Creek. It has the coolest old stuff, antiques, old books, and handmade items from around the world. You can buy old glass doorknobs and handles for cupboards and wrought iron key rings. My great find was a 1947 early reader copy of Alice's Adventures through the Looking Glass. It's colour illustrated and I stood it up in my guest room on the dresser. I will post a picture of it later.

My favourite Through the Looking Glass quote:
"Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast"--said by the Queen of Hearts.

Bonsoir!

Happy Halloween from Holly Golightly

Well, my Halloween costume turned out pretty good, I think. It was more costumey than Audrey's look, but I think the sunglasses, dress and makeup were pretty close. The tiara and fake pearls weren't exactly like hers, obvisouly, but they were needed to make the connection to the movie. I was quite pleased when people recognized who I was, or when I showed them the movie cover and they said I looked just like her. So, the mission was a success. Here are a few snapshots of the evening: