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.