Kim's Musings

New York

2009-04-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

So there's good news and bad news . . . the good news is that I'm blogging about my New York trip (finally). The bad news (well, some may view it as bad, some may not) is that I still haven't really figured out the direction I want to take this blog, so after I tell you all about New York, I probably won't be blogging too often for a while.

I absolutely adored the whole trip. I can't even begin to describe how excited I was to board an airplane and go someone that I've been dreaming about visiting for what feels like a million years! Finally being able to visit such an amazing city, full of amazing landmarks, cultural centres, cool architecture, and incredible shopping experiences, coupled with the fact that it was my first vacation in YEARS, made it a trip I'm not likely to ever forget. Even now, weeks after returning home, I yearn to go back.

We arrived in New York very, very early on Monday (March 16th) morning. We caught a cab from JFK to our hotel, the Affinia 50. Knowing that there was a flat $45 rate from the airport into Manhattan was very helpful. I felt confident that Jennifer and I didn't have to worry about getting ripped off or anything. I've taken cabs in and around the Vancouver area before, but a New York cab is a totally new experience. There is a clear barrier between the front and back seat (which I knew). There is a mini interactive tv, complete with news stories, an introduction from Regis and Kelly of tv fame, and a map that shows you your progress through the city (which I didn't know about). The driver was very nice. He was obviously an immigrant (Eastern European, perhaps?), but spoke English well. He sped us to our hotel (there wasn't much traffic at that time of night) at a speed that made me glad I was too tired to really get a good look at the speedometer! The hotel staff was friendly and helpful, and we were soon in our room getting ready for some much-needed sleep.

After sleeping in to 10:30am, Jennifer and I set off for our first New York adventure. We had breakfast at a real New York bagel place (huge, delicious bagels with any sort of topping imagineable available!). Then we headed off to a subway station in order to get to a large electronics store that Jennifer had read about. She wanted to buy a camcorder to help capture all the amazing experiences we were about to have. The store, for being so large, was really efficiently run. There were a lot of Jewish employees and customers, and I later surmised that the area we were in was a Jewish neighbourhood. The store had conveyor belts running all around it to deliver packages from the counters to the cashiers. It was really interesting to watch. Anyway, after making the purchase, we headed out and went to the Empire State Building.

Waiting in line to enjoy our first New York tourist stop was surreal. The line that we had to stand and wait in (for at least 30 minutes) was the security line! Just like being at the airport, we had to put our bags in a bin to pass through an x-ray machine while we walked through metal detectors. New Yorkers are very concerned (justifiably so, I suppose) with the security of their tourist attractions and monuments! Anyway, after going up through a series of elevators, we arrived at the 86th floor observation deck and were treated to amazing views and picture opportunities!

This is the Flatiron Building, one of the many really cool buildings around the city. This is definitely one of my all-time favourite pictures from the trip.

After we exhausted our picture-taking desires, we passed through the gift shop, where I bought a souvenir shot glass for my friend Frank, and then headed back down the elevator to leave. That's when I experienced the only bad part of the trip. I had been keeping my camera in my jacket pocket so I could easily pull it out for pictures. When we got off the elevator, I automatically put my hand in pocket to feel for my camera and realized that my pocket was unzipped and my camera was gone. I was shaken up to think that after only a half a day in New York, I had lost my camera and all my pictures! I immediately went to talk to an employee to see if there was any way it had been turned in already (after only 2 minutes, yeah, sure!). We were promptly whisked back upstairs in the elevator to check at the gift shop (nope, wasn't there!) and then we were taken downstairs through the bowels of the building to the security office. The man we talked to there was sympathetic, but hadn't seen it. He gave me the security office number to call later in the week in case it turned up. He urged me to call as he believed in the "honesty of New Yorkers." At no time did I think my camera had been stolen out of my pocket, so I guess I believed in the honesty of New Yorkers as well. Anyway, as we were leaving the building, I checked my purse for the umpteenth time and discovered my camera in a pocket I wouldn't normally have put it in. Thank goodness!

Later that evening, we met up with Jane, a friend of our stepmom's who lives in New York. She had graciously agreed to take us around Greenwich Village and take us out for dinner. We had a lot of fun walking around and seeing the sights! Dinner was at a lovely Italian restaurant with delicious food and a warm atmosphere.

Jennifer and Jane. Notice their complementary outfits!

The evening was pleasant for walking, and I was able to snap a picture of this famous New York sight, The Arch at Washington Square Park!

Day two dawned bright and early. We headed out fairly early, dressed in our St. Patrick's Day finest, to be in place for the famous St. Patrick's Day parade. We managed to snag a great spot near St. Patrick's Cathedral and had "front row" views for all the great paraders. Sorry, no parade pictures here as it would have been way to hard to choose just one picture! One cool thing was that the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, walked right past us as part of the parade! I know what he looks like from different articles and things I've read. He was surrounded by bodyguards so I didn't get a good picture. Jennifer doesn't know what he looks like, so we're not sure it she lucked into getting a picture of him or not.

After we watched our fill of the parade, we headed to the American Museum of Natural History. It was huge! It would have been impossible to fully appreciate all the exhibits and collections they had to offer, so we passed through a lot of rooms quite quickly and skipped a few of the rooms altogether. The animal and early man dioramas were just as I had imagined them to be.

After leaving the museum, we walked through Central Park for a few hours. The park is truly a wonder. It's such a beautiful greenspace in the middle of a concrete jungle. For anyone reading this who is familiar with Vancouver's Stanley Park, believe me when I say that I think Central Park is even more amazing! It just feels more natural and more of an oasis in the city.

One of the lakes in the park. I was awed by the late winter/early Spring park views. I can barely even imagine how gorgeous this park must be in the full bloom of Spring and Summer!

Wednesday took us to the Statue of Liberty. We had to line up again in a long security line-up before we could board the boat to Liberty Island. But, compared to the lines we saw when we got back from the trip, we were smart to arrive early! Seeing the statue in person was a mind-blowing experience. This is arguably one of the most recognized and well known statues in the world, and Jennifer and I were standing right in front of it. As you can imagine, a lot of pictures were snapped! I will say this: it really does look smaller in person than they make it appear in tvs and movies!

Definitely smaller in person! That could have been a disappointing revelation, but it honestly wasn't. We took a lot of fun pictures that make it look like we're holding the statue up on our thumbs and pinching her head between our fingers.

On Wednesday night we had tickets to go see the Broadway musical "Wicked." I was really looking forward to the show as I had heard some great reviews from lots of sources. The reviews you may have read do not do this show justice. We had great seats four rows from the stage, and the show was truly mind-blowing! The characters, the humour, the songs . . . I hope the show comes to Vancouver one day so I can enjoy it all over again!

On Thursday we spent the morning shopping while it rained. We didn't really buy much of anything because we didn't really find anything we fell in love with. The rain cleared up and we headed out to see Times Square and go to M&M World. Times Square was like being in the middle of a living, breathing neon billboard. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, at least for me. It was a riot of bright, flashing colours and what felt like millions of people.

Friday morning we headed out bright and early once again to take a Circle Line cruise around Manhattan. The cruise was 3 hours long and took us all the way around the whole island of Manhattan. There was a guide on board who pointed out all the major sites and gave us some interesting historical information. The cruise was definitely one of my all-time favourite parts of the trip! It was a really informative and relaxing way to see the city and I got a ton of great pictures! We passed under nineteen - yes nineteen! - bridges! The famous Brooklyn Bridge. I was really glad I got some good shots of it since it's such an iconic New York image.

After the boat ride, we decided to walk across the island of Manhattan from end to end, west to east. It was a nice walk and we got to see the U.N. Buildings. Halfway through the walk we stopped at the Times Square Visitor's Center. Jennifer lined up to check her e-mail at one of the free internet stations. I lined up at a Broadway ticket booth to see if we could get tickets for a show that evening since we didn't have any other plans. Both of us succeeded in our missions, and that evening Jennifer and I saw Mary Poppins! It was really neat to see how different it was from the movie. Watching the characters sing and dance was really impressive. I particularly liked the "Step in Time" number. The only thing I kinda didn't like was that our seats were way up high in the "nose bleed" section. Given the last-minute nature of our ticket purchase, that wasn't surprising. Normally being that far back wouldn't be a big deal, but the stairs up to our seats were really steep and totally freaked me, with my fear of heights, right out. Needless to say, I didn't budge from our seats until it was time to leave!

Saturday was our last full day in New York. We went to Bloomingdales in the morning. It was HUGE! They had some really beautiful stuff, but it was all way out of our budget! I really did like the first perfume sample I tried though. Too bad it isn't available in Canada! After Bloomies, we checked out F.A.O Schwartz, the famous toy store. It was really neat! They had some huge lego statues (the one of batman only costs $27,000!) and a really good puzzle section. We didn't buy any toys, but did get some candy!

I found New York to be an amazing city! I loved the culture and the pace of the city. Walking around the city was really easy. New Yorkers do not wait for the walk signal to cross the street! It didn't take us long at all to adapt to the pace of the city. Taking the subway was quite convenient, though it was a little confusing at times.

A 'V' train pulling into the subway station. You could catch multiple trains from a single station, but the station signage was often confusing. As long as you know whether you are traveling uptown (north) or downtown (south), you can usually figure it out. I will say this - many of the stations stink of urine!

I found the New Yorkers to be very friendly and helpful. They totally defied all the preconceived notions I had of rude New Yorkers! I absolutely want to back to the city again one day soon as a single week definitely was not enough to see it all!

Change is in the air

2009-02-27T17:28:00.001-08:00

I am thinking about shutting this blog down. Just so you know. I'm tired of writing about the mundane stuff, and it's all pretty mundane! Right now I'm just planning on taking a blogging break (at least a month if not more) to see if I can think about a more creative direction to take this blog. Who knows? Maybe I'll shut this blog down permanently! Ciao for now, readers!

Congratulations Dianne and Family!

2009-02-12T21:52:00.000-08:00

I want to send out a huge congratulations today to my good friend Dianne and her family. Dianne has been on a journey to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia. Today Dianne and her husband found out that their court date in Ethiopia was a success! They are now the parents of a beautiful baby girl :-) Congratulations Dianne and Chris! I am so happy for you! I know you are going to be amazing parents and your baby girl is lucky to have you!

Movie Review

2008-12-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

I just watched a great movie called "Slumdog Millionaire." It was sublime. I'd heard of it when it first came out, but I didn't think I'd ever watch it just because I knew it wasn't going to be in wide release and I couldn't really be bothered to hunt down a theatre that was playing it. I ended up watching it online (yeah, I feel a little guilty about that actually), so I missed about five minutes of it due to really bad streaming last night. Oh well. Anyway, the movie was very moving and beautifully shot. The story was sweet and very engaging. I'm glad I got to see it!

In other news . . . tomorrow is my last teaching day this year! I booked Friday off (I wanted the whole week off because after five and a half years of only get a one week break at Christmas, I felt like I deserved two weeks off, but I was told I needed to work this week to provide "leadership" as the director had already booked his two week vacation to Mexico. In case you can't read between the lines, I'm a little bitter about this. Oh, and "leadership" pretty much translates to "someone with keys who can open the door in the morning.") and I am so looking forward to my four-day weekend! I don't have plans for this time off yet, but that's okay. It will depend on what the weather's doing, and since I just looked outside and saw that it is snowing lightly, I guess the weather will play a fairly large factor!

St. Patrick's Day

2008-12-29T18:48:00.000-08:00

So I just wanted to make sure I wished y'all an early happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm sorry if you wanted to make plans with me to celebrate St. Patrick's Day 2009, but unfortunately, I won't be in town. I'M GOING TO BE IN NEW YORK CITY!!!!!! That's right, New York is now booked! Jennifer and I are leaving on Sunday, March 15th and coming home Sunday, March 22nd.

I am so insanely excited about this trip! First of all, it'll be my first time on a plane in almost 13 years! It'll be my first official, "this isn't a long weekend or short drive across the border" vacation without my parents. Plus, I have been wanting to go to New York forever. Possibly even longer than forever.

We still have to book our entertainment (we want to see "Wicked" and book tickets to visit the Statue of Liberty, etc.), but the hotel and flight has been booked. Stay tuned for further details as they become available!

Damages

2008-12-29T18:42:00.001-08:00

Okay, I've become hooked on a new TV show. It's called Damages. It airs on a US channel and Showtime in Canada (I've heard, I don't have Showtime, so I can't say for sure). I downloaded a couple of episodes and got hooked. I think Glenn Close is just totally fabulous in anything, and she does not disappoint in this role! Usually I don't get hooked on dramas like this where you have to watch each episode to follow the story properly, but I just couldn't resist the characters and layers of the story here. I bought the first season on DVD. The second season begins airing in January, and since I can't watch it on tv, I guess I'll just download each episode every week.

Book Review (and two movies too!)

2008-12-26T18:47:00.001-08:00

I just finished reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Housseini. It. Was. Fantastic! I read and loved "The Kite Runner" but this was, as the critics said, even better. Interestingly, a couple of days before I started reading the book, I watched the movie "Charlie Wilson's War" which talks about some of the same time periods covered in the book. I enjoyed being able to compare the American and Afghan perspective on the Soviets. And then the Afghan perspective on the Taliban, and 9/11. Totally worth the read, and I would recommend this book highly.

On a similar note, I recently watched two good movies that I would like to recommend (especially as I know my friend Amy values my movie opinions). I typed some reviews of these movies earlier, but there was a glitch and that post never made it online. Anyway . . . the first movie I want to recommend is "The Tale of Despereaux". I hadn't actually heard much about this movie until I saw some commercials for it on tv, so I didn't really know what to expect going into the theatre. It was really cute, and has a good message! I enjoyed hearing Emma Watson's voice in a role other than Hermione Granger (Harry Potter movies). The plot of the movie does meander a bit, but otherwise it was a nice, light, fun show.

The second movie I want to recommend, which I did enjoy more than "The Tale of Despereaux", is "Bolt." I saw this one in 3D (very fun! The 3D effects are much more sophisticated now compared to when I was younger) and the movie left me actually wanting a puppy, even though I'm a total cat person and don't really have a lifestyle that would be fair to a pet. When I got home, I downloaded a couple of songs from the movie. I really liked the humour and message of this movie. For as much as I don't like Miley Cyrus, I liked her character in the movie. And as an added bonus, I now fully recognize the power of styrofoam (you have to see the movie to get it).

I'm hoping to see another movie this weekend, if the weather clears up. There are a few really good shows that I want to check out like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" because I like Brad Pitt, love Cate Blanchett, and the story intrigues me; "The Spirit" (I don't know why, and it would probably be my last choice on the list); "Marley and Me" even though I can't stand Jennifer Aniston, I do find that one scene from the commercials where the dog is "escaping" from the car rather funny; and "Revolutionary Road" because hello! it reunites Jack and Rose (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) after 11 years. I DON'T want to see "Valkyrie" because it really irritates me that Tom Cruise doesn't speak with a German accent! The only reason I would see that movie is for this guy. He intrigues me.

Anyway, it's time to go eat some turkey leftovers!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T16:20:00.001-08:00

This is my obligatory Merry Christmas (yes, I know it's now Boxing Day) post. I can't really say I had the best Christmas on record. Truly, I find holidays to be quite depressing when you're alone. It was extremely hard and tiring to put on a cheerful face for everyone when they all got to celebrate the way they wanted and I didn't. The magic of Christmas was pretty much taken away this year . . . it's a long story and I don't want to get into it. I think from now on I'll just rely on myself and screw the rest of the world. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't completely terrible. I did get to see some family and I had a nice breakfast of french toast this morning, and a ride all the way home from Burnaby.

I did get some Boxing Day shopping done - I got a new iPod. It wasn't on sale, but hey, it's practically the only gift I got this year, and I had to buy it myself. Future Shop was a zoo, but people were pretty helpful and the check-out line wasn't the worst I've ever stood in. I'm pretty much totally ready for this freaking holiday season to be over. I'm also totally ready for the snow to be gone.

Stuff I've done

2008-12-21T12:48:00.000-08:00

I've seen this list on a couple of other blogs (Dianne's and Jennifer's) and thought I'd post it here too :-) If you want to give it a try, copy this list and highlight all the things you've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band - high school - clarinet
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris - Totally on my list of things to do in my lifetime
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning - Don't care to repeat this particular experience!
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France - One day, hopefully!
20. Slept on an overnight train - This was on a band trip to California
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill - Okay, in all honesty, I've never taken the whole day, but I've gone home early a couple of times when I probably couldn't have stuck out the entire day
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse - Pretty sure I saw one when I was younger
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise - This was a Caribbean cruise one Christmas
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person - I think when I go see Paris, I'll include a visit to Italy!
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David - See my comment on #38
41. Sung karaoke - This totally seems like something I should have done by now, but I actually haven't!
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa - This is also something I've always wanted to do!
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - With a patient, not AS a patient
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person - See my comment on #38
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris - Will definitely do this when I got to Paris!
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - Went snorkeling with my Dad while we were on that Caribbean cruise
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie. - Only if amateur Youtube movies count ;-)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business - I've always had the idea in the back of my mind to open a store that sells left-handed items. I would call this store "Left is Right"
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia - I would love to visit Russia one day!
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Guide Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma - Got the blood donor card to prove it!
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter - I think this would be a really cool thing to do!
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square - Will totally be doing this in March when Jennifer and I go to New York!!
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone - Thankfully, no. But I've busted up my knee and had stitches before!
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person - Can't say my memory of this is too clear, but it was during the same trip that I saw Old Faithful at Yellowstone
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible – Only the children's Bible that we had when I was younger
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day – Actually, it's been a while since I've done this one!

New laptop pictures

2008-11-25T21:28:00.000-08:00

As requested by my friend Dianne, here are the first pictures of my new baby . . . I mean laptop ;-) It's a Compaq. This is it sitting on my coffee table. It's got a 2GB harddrive (?) and 160MHz. Honestly, I have no idea what I just typed, so if it doesn't make sense, don't laugh too hard. My friend Heather went with me to Future Shop and helped me buy it.

Here's my laptop up and running. I was downloading Picasa, my prefered tool for photo management, at the time.

New Computer!

2008-11-25T18:43:00.000-08:00

This is my first blog post from my new laptop! So far, so good. I've been having a few internet issues and am technically using someone else's wireless network right now, but that should be sorted out soon . . . hopefully. I'm having to restore my internet favourites, which is a pain in the butt, but otherwise I'm having fun playing with my machine. I've got to discipline myself right now to actually do some work and NOT play ;-) One thing I'm still trying to adjust to is the smaller keyboard. It took me longer than usual to complete my weekly progress reports because I kept hitting the wrong keys! What usually takes about half an hour actually took me almost an hour, mostly because I kept hitting the caps lock key instead of the shift key! I'm getting better now . . .

My computer is in the middle of a Shakespearean tragedy (or is a comedy?)

2008-11-21T15:45:00.000-08:00

My home computer is dying an agonizingly slow and painful death. It's tragic . . . or it would be if it also weren't a little funny at the same time! Okay, okay, in all seriousness, it isn't actually "dying", but just showing signs of its age. It's getting pretty slow, and has this problem where it sponstaneously shuts itself off, usually during the start-up process, or shortly after it starts up. Computer-savvy friends of mine suggest that it's the internal power source dying, or it's really dusty inside and needs to be cleaned. Knowing my computer, it could very well be either! But since fixing those issues won't boost the memory of my computer, I've decided it's time for an upgrade! Last weekend I bought a flash drive so that I could transfer my important files off my computer. I got a little lazy about actually transferring them though. On Wednesday it didn't look like my computer was going to turn on anymore at all, so I was a little frantic. I finally managed to get the computer going after 10 tries, and transferred all my important files. I also backed-up my music purchases from iTunes, so I should be all prepared for my new computer!

I'm going with a friend on Sunday afternoon to look at computers. I've decided that I want a laptop. It'll be an adjustment for sure, but that's okay. I want something more portable than my current desktop computer. I've gotten some advice from my students, and I think I'll probably end up with a Toshiba. We'll see. I'm hoping to get this taken care of on Sunday so that I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the week!

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm typing this at work. Normally I have a strict "no blogging" at work rule, but had to break it this time since I can't be sure my computer will work reliably over the weekend. So my friends, if I'm quiet over the next few days it's because I'm computer-free, not because I'm ignoring you!

M&Ms

2008-10-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

The Dollar Store across the street from my work is my new happy place. It's a Dollar Giant outlet, and it's HUGE! It has aisles upon aisles of just about anything you could ever want - canned goods, toys, office supplies, craft supplies, candy - all for just a dollar each! But by far the best discovery was the one I made last week - the M&Ms. Let me explain . . .

A while back, maybe 6 or so months ago, the movie theatres had a special kind of M&M available with their popcorn combo. They were mint crisp flavour and I LOVED them! Ever since I first tried them at the movies, I have been looking for them in the candy aisles of all the grocery and department stores I've shopped in, to no avail. I finally figured I'd have to get them at the M&M store in New York when Jennifer and I go in the spring. Then last week, I was in my happy place getting poster board. There, next to the cash register, was a display of mint crisp M&Ms. The big bags. A dollar each. I bought one package. They're still delicious. I'm going back next week to get another package. I may even get two. Like I said . . . the dollar store is my new happy place :-)

Halloween Tree

2008-10-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

Here is my new Halloween Tree! I bought it today at Michaels. I know it's a bit hard to see, but the tree itself is sparkly purple. I bought a couple of packages of mini ornaments to put on it.

Currently it's sitting on my mantle at home, but I'm thinking about taking it to work for my students to enjoy. They asked me a couple of weeks ago if we could put up a Christmas tree in December. I think having a Halloween tree in the room might be good practice for a future Christmas tree. If this tree lasts in the room without any damage . . .

I have to say, I haven't been shopping at Michaels for a long time and it was fun! There were so many things I wanted . . . a bunch of foam Halloween decorations, pumpkin carving sets, table decorations, and a bunch of Halloween light and sound village pieces. It was hard to say no . . . I did end up buying a couple of haunted house type wood pieces and some paint. I'm going to paint the wood pieces and display them at home.

Meme

2008-10-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Spell your name with some favorite songs.
Alrighty . . . but this is tough!

K - Kiss Me (Sixpence None the Richer) *This is not one of my favourite songs, but it starts with K*
I - I Will Remember You (Sarah McLachlan)
M - My Grown-Up Christmas List (Kelly Clarkson)

Name: Kim
Birth date: August 8
Nickname: Kim (My full name is Kimberly). Other people have called me "Gim", "Kimmy" (these people don't actually live once they've said the name), "Teacher", etc.
Eye Color: hazel
Hair Color: Depends who you ask. I call it light brown, others call it dark or dirty blonde. One of my students once called it golden.
Zodiac Sign: Leo the Lion
The shoes you wore today: To walk to and from work, my running shoes. While at work, black slides.
Your hobby: Reading. Watching TV or movies. Surfing the 'net.
Your fear(s): Snakes. Moths. Small birds.
Your perfect pizza: Hawaiian
Goal you’d like to achieve: Finish this meme in under an hour!
Your best physical feature: My eyes I guess
Your bedtime? Usually around 11pm
Most missed memory? My dad.

This Or That…
Pepsi or Coke: Coke
McDonald’s or Burger King: McDonald's
Adidas or Nike: Nike, if forced to choose.
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Neither. I'm not a big iced tea fan.
Chocolate or Vanilla: Vanilla for ice cream and cake. Chocolate for everything else.
Cappuccino or coffee: Coffee. Black, 3 sugars

Do You…
Smoke: No. I never have and I never will!
Curse: Yes. Sometimes a lot, sometimes I go for weeks without uttering a bad word.
Sing: For my own personal enjoyment, yes.
Dance: Not really, though a certain Youtube video might contradict that statement ;-)
Have a crush: Not currently. Well, unless my Hollywood crushes count ;-)
Think you’ve been in love? Yes. I don't want to talk about it.
Want to go to college: Well, I've been once before. I graduated and everything.

Like(d)
high school: Certain parts of it.
Want to get married: Maybe, if the right guy comes along.
Get motion sickness: Not anymore
Think you’re a health freak: Um, no.
Get along with your parents: For the most part.

In the past month…
Gone to the mall: Oh yes!
Eaten Sushi: Nope.
Been on stage: Only if the front of a classroom counts
Gone skating: NO!
Made homemade cookies: No
Stolen anything: No

Ever…
Been beaten up: No
Shoplifted: Um, not that I can recall. But I may have helped myself to the bulk candy at Safeway once or twice when I was younger.
Age you hope to be married: I think I'll finally be ready when I hit 40 or so
Numbers of Children: 0 right now. In the future, who knows?
Describe your Dream Wedding: Family, friends, a guy who loves me, and me in a gorgeous white dress that makes me feel like a princess
What country would you most like to visit? France

In the opposite sex...
Best eye color? Blue
Best hair color? Dark
Short hair or long hair? Short
Height? Taller than me

Number of people I could trust with my life: Um, probably more than I suspect
Number of CDs that I own: Yeah, like I'm actually going to count them all now. I'd guess around 50. I'm not big on buying CDs anymore.
Number of tattoos: Zero
Number of piercings: None. I had my ears pierced, but the holes grew over.
Who were you with yesterday? My coworkers and students and my mom.
What woke you up this morning? Probably the need to pee. I woke up before my alarm rang.
Where are you? Here. Where are you?
Is tomorrow going to be a good day? Well, since tomorrow is Friday, HELL YAH!
Do you like anybody? I like a lot of people.
Ever thrown up in public? Uhhh, not in front of people in public, but in a washroom in a public place, yes.
Passed out because of alcohol? LOL. If you knew me, you'd know why this is funny!
What kind of home would you like? A happy one
What do you want to be when you grow up? Taller. Haha. I already am grown up and I'm doing what I want to do, for now.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? I can't see into the future, sorry
Do you like candy necklaces? What kind of random question is that?!
When was the last time you fell over or ran into something? Can't really remember
Do you listen to music every day? I guess so. There's usually music playing in the background of wherever I am
Do you still go trick or treating? No
What was the last thing you ate? A peanut butter cup
Are you a fast typer? In my way.
What's your favorite type of soda? Coke. Didn't I answer that already??
Have you ever moved? Yes, several times.
Have you ever won an award? I don't remember. Probably not.
Are you listening to music right now? No. I'm watching Ugly Betty
How long ’till your birthday? 10 months
When were you the saddest in your whole life? When my dad died back in March
What time is it? 8:50pm
Do you use ebay to buy or sell? Nope
Who makes you mad? Who doesn't? Seriously, there's a particular coworker who pisses me off . . . and sometimes my students make me mad.
Have you ever heard a song written about you? No
Something you want to happen in 2009? Visit New York

Honestly, do you miss 2008? Ask me again in a few months
Honestly, whats on your mind? My next blog post
Honestly, what are you doing right now? Scratching my butt. Haha.
Honestly, have you done something bad today? Truly bad, no. Had a few bad thoughts though.
Honestly, who is the last person you talked to on the phone? Probably my mom
Honestly, what makes you mad most of the time? A certain coworker who's an idiot!
Honestly, do you bite your nails? No
Honestly, do you want to see someone this very moment? No.
Honestly, are you keeping a big secret now? No. Or yes. What defines "big secret?"
Honestly, do you have a friend you don’t actually like? Yes. She's a nice person, but she's a bit irritating. She doesn't read this blog.
Honestly, are you in denial? No
Honestly, do you get up in the middle of the night and eat? No
Honestly, do you like anyone? As I think I typed before, I like a lot of people
Honestly, does anyone like you? Lots of people like me

What do you do when you’re mad? Yell. Be sarcastic. Try to not be mad anymore.
What’s the worst thing you’ve done when you were mad? I pushed my sister once when I was really mad at her
Ever made anyone cry when you were mad? I think so, yes
Do you swear when you’re mad? Yes. How did you guess?
When was the last time you actually cried? I don't remember
Ever cried yourself to sleep? Yes
Do certain songs make you cry? Not really. I have cried during songs before, but usually not because of the song but because of the memories the song triggers.
What usually makes you cry? Memories. Arguments. Really frustrating things.
Are you usually a happy person? Well . . . generally I'm fairly content and satisfied, but I probably don't usually come across that way.
What makes you the happiest? Depends on the day and the time of the month :-)
Do you believe in yourself? Yes.
When people say they think you are good looking/pretty, do you get happy? Um, I don't recall anyone ever calling me good looking or pretty. Sorry, but that's the truth!

I tag anyone who is still reading this!

Movie Recommendation

2008-09-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I saw "Burn After Reading", the new Coen Brothers comedy starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton. I wasn't sure what I was going to think of it since I haven't been too crazy about some of their previous movies ("The Ladykillers"), and haven't seen a lot of their hit movies ("Fargo" and "No Country for Old Men"). I was very pleasantly surprised!

The movie has a lot of funny lines. My favourites came at the beginning ("You're mormon! Compared to you, everyone has a drinking problem!") and at the end ("Uh, report back to me . . . whenever it makes sense.")

The performances were stellar, particularly from Brad Pitt! He completely steals the show. Seriously.

This movie probably isn't for everyone, but I left the theatre completely satisfied :-)

If you do not like reading about vomit, you may want to skip this post now!

2008-09-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so by the time I went to bed on Thursday night, I knew something was terribly wrong. At 10:30 I ran to the washroom to vomit. I threw up the small dinner of chicken wings and potatoes (leftovers from the night before that I got from Safeway) that I'd eaten a few hours earlier. By 12:30, when I'd been back and forth to the washroom at least 6 times already, I knew I was seriously sick and should probably think about typing up a quick lesson plan for a substitute since I didn't think I'd be making it into work on Friday. After typing up my lesson plan, vomiting yet again, and breaking my toilet flusher (more on that in a minute), I was pretty much praying for a quick death. Seriously.

After about 12:30, the vomiting started to slow down to hourly rather than every 10-15 minutes. I managed to catch about 20 minutes of sleep each time I lay back down (note to self: sleep on the bathroom floor next time, it would be much faster!). By 6:30am I had pretty much given up on the idea of sleep and I called my boss to let him know I wouldn't be in. Fridays are one of my opening days, so it was really important that I let someone know early that I wouldn't be in so that the school could still be opened on time. Then I proceeded to call my mom (she gets up early, so I knew 6:30 in the morning wouldn't be an overly shocking time to get a phone call) to ask her and my stepdad to come over and fix my toilet again and bring me some gingerale and juice. They came just before 9, by which time I had stopped throwing up, THANK GOD!

Yeah, so the continuing saga of my toilet. My mom and stepdad fixed the constant drip, drip, drip, drip, drip a few days ago. I guess after the rest of the toilet innards got fixed, the flusher decided it needed to call attention to itself and chose to do so by breaking, mid-flush. That was totally awesome. Flushing manually after each purge was the icing on the cake of a totally fantastic night. At least it was an easy fix in the morning!!

I've pretty much fully recovered now. The only logical explanation for my illness is food poisoning, but I'm still not sure what the culprit was. Was it the chicken from Safeway? The ham on the Safeway sandwich I ate for dinner? Something not related to food? Anyway, after spending the better part of the weekend resting in bed, I'm feeling better. Still tired, but better.

Things I am grateful for . . .

2008-09-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's time to post another list of things I'm grateful for. I've been feeling really, really down lately because of a situation at work. It's time to remember all the good things . . .

1. My friends. They rock.
2. My family. They also rock.
3. I survived a hectic summer!
4. I went grocery shopping today and bought strawberries.
5. New fall clothing!
6. New tv season starting . . . which means lots of new shows to watch, and new episodes of old favourites!
7. Laughter
8. Decent weather that's not too hot and not too cold
9. The gigantic birthday balloon that I got on Friday. Seriously, it's huge. It survived the journey home and stands proudly in my dining room. Check out the pictures on my facebook if you want to see it in person.
10. The fact that for the first time ever, I have enough money in my bank account that I don't have to worry about running out of money before my next paycheck.

And now, kind bloggers, it's time for me to eat dinner!

Tropic Thunder

2008-08-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

Last night I went with a group of friends to see the movie "Tropic Thunder" starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. It was vulgar, crude, rude . . . and totally hilarious!! After spending the last 2 days sweltering in my apartment, it was nice to get out of the house and into an air-conditioned movie theatre! I was quite surprised at just how many "laugh outloud" moments there were in the movie . . . I was totally expecting something much heavier on action. I particularly liked Robert Downey Jr.'s performance. I thought his accents were great and he set the right tone.

Now it's off to the waterslides to celebrate my brother-in-law's 30th birthday. I think today is going to be a little cooler than the past few days, which will be welcome relief. I'm not sure I'll survive this hot weather much longer . . .

Family Reunion

2008-08-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

It was really hard to boil down a whole weekend's worth of pictures into just 4 for this blog (if you are my friend on facebook, you can check out more pictures of the weekend on facebook)! The weekend was fun, though I did discover, or more accurately, confirm, that camping isn't my thing. I'm really not such a fan of having to leave the building to go to the bathroom, and it drives me nuts to sleep in a sleeping bag that shifts and move everything I do . . . Anyway, this first picture is of the two sisters walking together. Keeping in mind that this is my step-mom's family: on the left is my great-aunt Viola (who's 81 years old) and my grandma Evaline (who is 78). They are the only surviving siblings of the family.
Me and my step-mom Barbara. This is one of the few pictures I have of me since I was too busy fiddling with the settings of my camera to have anyone take a picture of me :-)
One of the many duck pictures I took over the weekend. At one point around the lake area there were about 20 ducks congregating. The colouring on some of the ducks was really pretty, so I was trying to get the best pictures I could. This particular picture I was really pleased with, so it's my new desktop background picture here on my computer. Yes, for the time being, a duck has displaced my usual picture of Hugh Laurie!
My five other campers! My grandpa, 85 year old Bob Bixby, was the only male in our group. Needless to say, he had to be very careful to knock on the door each morning before coming into our cabin so that he didn't catch anyone changing their clothes! From left to right: Grandpa, Barbara, Grandma, Viola, and Viola's youngest daughter, Kathy. Believe it or not, Grandma and Grandpa actually spent two nights outside in a tent while the rest of us stayed in a camper's cabin. The rest of us shared the relative comfort of a large room that held a queen-sized bed (which Viola and Kathy shared) and a pull-out couch (which Barbara and I shared) and electricity (which only worked part of the time). Although I didn't necessarily enjoy the whole camping aspect of the trip, I did enjoy seeing family and hearing all the old stories!

New Toy

2008-08-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

Out with the old . . . my first digital camera, that is. This was the first camera I purchased for myself (I think it was about 3 years ago). At the time, it was a good camera. It's a Sony Cybershot DSC-P73. I took a lot of good pictures with this camera.

And in with the new! After much consideration and research, I finally settled on the Nikon Coolpix S550. I looked at several different models online and decided that if I was going to upgrade my camera, I may as well go with a "big" upgrade. It has 10 MP and 5X optical zoom. The LCD screen is 2.5 inches, which, compared to my old camera, is HUGE! I was close to getting a Canon camera, but then I took a closer look at the Coolpix by Nikon and decided that it was for me. It was, even without my $100 in gift cards from Future Shop, cheaper that my first camera, which just goes to show you how much prices on cameras have dropped in the past few years. I even got a 4GB high-speed memory card and a camera case to go with it. So far I'm pleased with it (though I've taken fewer than 10 shots so far, so I probably don't have a complete idea of how good/bad it is quite yet).

Well, I'm off to read my manual and discover all the things there are to know about my new toy!

Thoughts and prayers, please!

2008-08-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

Please keep my friend Dianne, and her husband Chris, in your thoughts and prayers! They are in the process of adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia and have found out that their referral is sitting on someone's desk in Edmonton! I can't imagine what it must feel like to wait for something so important! Dianne is handling it beautifully though (you really are Dianne)! So like it says in the title of this post, please keep my friend in your thoughts and prayers this weekend!

More stuff I'm grateful for . . .

2008-07-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

So I'm feeling a little "blah" these days and I'm trying to NOT get into a bitchy, dark mood and end up yelling at people for no good reason, so I've decided it's time for another "things I'm grateful for" list. In no particular order, here it goes:

1. My iPod. It may sound materialistic, but I'm glad that I have a reliable device that I can use to listen to music in the mornings when I walk to work. It just helps me stay in a happy mood to start the day :-)

2. Free newspapers. This morning someone was giving away free copies of "The Province" at the skytrain station this morning. I took one since I love doing their word puzzles. Once when I was in university, we got "The Province" free for almost a year. I don't know why, but every morning, no matter what we did, there was a copy of the paper waiting for me at the door when I left to commute to school.

3. My new, yes BRAND NEW, computer at work. It is so fast!! It is so . . . shiny!

4. Judge Judy. Strange, I know. But where else would I get phrases like "beauty fades, dumb is forever" and "don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining" from?

5. Big Brother. Hey . . . it's not a rerun! Besides, I think it's kinda cool that a 75 year old man is competing this summer.

6. My new camp chair. It's very comfy to sit on - it has an air pocket for lower back support and it only cost $13 at Superstore.

7. The new camera that I'm going to buy soon. I think I've decided on which one I'm going to get and I can't wait to start using it!

8. My friends at work. They know who they are!

9. Turning 30. Okay, so maybe I won't always feel grateful for this, but right now I feel happy about turning the big 3-0. I really and truly feel like I learned some valuable lessons in my twenties and I'm happy with where I am right now. Now I'm not saying this won't change . . . but for now I'm cool with this milestone.

10. "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. I've read this book before (it was wonderful and made me cry!) and now I'm listening to the audio book :-)

So my dear readers, what are you grateful for these days?

Explosions Galore!

2008-07-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

Went to the fireworks last night. Now that I think about it, I think it's the first time I've ever actually gone down to English Bay to watch them! I've seen them from a friend's balcony before, and I think one year we watched them from a boat, but never at English Bay. Anyway, the U.S. put on a lovely show. I would have taken pictures, but my camera batteries died early in the evening :-( I went with my friends Corinne and Rachel. We got there just before 8pm and even then it was CROWDED! It wasn't so bad until the bathroom line up started snaking past our spot, which caused a lot of people to step on our blanket and generally be annoying. And yes, I actually did see a student. I know, it seems amazing as there were literally thousands of people there, so what are the odds that you'd see someone you know? But that's my luck ;-)

After hearing some "coming back on the skytrain" horror stories from other people who have gone this year, I was a little nervous for the ride home. I was pleasantly surprised on this front. It took about half an hour to walk back to the skytrain, and if you follow the crowds, you can't possibly get lost! We only ended up standing in line for about half an hour before we got on the train - bonus! Even after we got on the train, I think we really lucked out with our timing because our car was never super-full and I only had to stand for about 5 or 6 stops. Anyway, I got home safe and sound around 12:30am. I slept in this morning until almost 10am, which is a little later than usual, but it was much needed! Now it's time to get mentally prepared to go back to work tomorrow.

The Dark Night

2008-07-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

I saw "The Dark Night" today. Wow. That's my one-word review: wow! It. was. FANTASTIC! Heath Ledger as The Joker totally blew my mind. If he doesn't get an Oscar nomination (scratch that, if he doesn't WIN the Oscar) for his performance, I'll be shocked. He was the perfect crazy, weird lunatic . . . from his voice to his facial tics . . . AMAZING!

Overall I thought everyone's performance was great. Christian Bale makes a dark, sexy Batman - hubba hubba! Oh, and Maggie Gyllenhaal made a far better Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes.

I hear this movie is breaking all kinds of box office records. If you haven't already, you should go see it too!!

Weird (and not so weird) things about me

2008-07-14T20:46:00.001-07:00

Did you know . . .

- I can't sleep with the door that separates my bathroom from my bedroom open?

- I dislike oranges, but I enjoy orange juice. I only like orange juice without the pulp, though.

- I walk the same way to work every morning. By the same way, I mean I cross the street (jaywalking) at the exact same spots, and cut across the Safeway parking lot in the same diagonal path each time.

- I can only get into tv shows after they've been on a for a little while. This is how I became addicted to many of my favourite tv shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, House, Gilmore Girls, Bones, Numb3rs, most reality tv shows (Survivor, The Amazing Race, and Big Brother).

- I can totally tell the difference between coke and pepsi.

- I way prefer being cold to being hot. I love to snuggle underneath a blanket if I'm chilly, but there are only so many layers of clothing I'm willing to remove if I'm too hot!

- It really, really, REALLY irritates me when I see people not using common sense or seeing a problem that needs fixing and not jumping in to fix it. If I'm standing there trying desperately to manage getting the 40 people in front of me to their classes and you see them standing around looking lost, why do you have to wait for me to ask you to help them find their classroom?

- When I'm motivated to do so, I'm really good at finding things at work to keep me busy. Not so much at home.

- Selfish people bother me. Get over yourself already!

- I love buying socks and shoes :-)

- I have never consumed a single drop of alcohol

- I have never smoked a single cigarette

- I have never tried, nor wanted to try, drugs of any kind

Yeah, I know

2008-06-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

I know I promised to post more often, and I know I haven't posted for a few days, but I have a really, really good reason! I've been alternating between watching the first season of Gilmore Girls on DVD (must get more!) and playing Wii. Oh yeah, and I have that pesky "work" thing going on as well ;-)

Wheee with my new wii!

2008-06-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

Yup, I got a Wii today!! I've been thinking about getting one for a while now. At first I hoped to get one for my birthday in August, and if not then, I figured I'd save up for it and get one at the end of the summer. This afternoon I was walking through the mall and thought, "why not just pop into Future Shop and check and see if they've got any in stock?" They didn't, and they said it would be at least a couple of weeks before they got another shipment. So I bought the first season of Gilmore Girls instead. Then I popped into Zellers and stopped at the electronics counter, where my favourite electronics guy was working. I asked if they had any in stock and he said "no, I wish we did. Oh wait! I do have one Wii Sports Edition left!" Lo and behold, he pulled it out from behind the counter, scanned the price, and since it was cheaper than what I was expecting, I bought it! I was very good though - I waited until after my marking and other chores were done before I set it up and started playing! So far all I've got is the Wii Sports game, but I have plans to get some Mario games in the future :-) If you hear some squealing from my apartment, it's probably just me playing on my "Wii!!"

The phone I want

2008-06-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

I want a new phone. A coworker recently pointed out that my current cell phone isn't exactly a nice, sleek, sexy top of the line phone. I was already well acquainted with that fact, but ever since then I've been seriously thinking about upgrading. Now that I have some disposable cash from my dad's insurance, I've been thinking about ways to spend it (Wii, here I come!). I'm definitely not planning on blowing it all on various toys . . . in fact a portion of that money is defnitely going towards paying off my student loans, etc. But I can't help wanting this new phone . . . the pink blackberry pearl:

Sexy, isn't it?

Sex and the City

2008-06-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

Saw the movie yesterday - LOVED IT!! We went to the theatre at Metrotown and were pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't that busy at all . . . nice! Anyway, we laughed, we groaned, we clapped . . . it was awesome!

Hot Hot Hot

2008-05-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned lately that I'm in love with this man?

This is the picture on my desktop at home. If you can't read the words, it says "Do you realize that you have the most beautiful face?"

Sigh . . . That's sexy, right there. Why doesn't he have an unmarried twin brother??

Gangster Rap

2008-05-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

While I was preparing my previous blog posts, I got interrupted by some extremely loud gangster rap emanating from the street. My initial thought was "damn teenagers! Why can't they turn down their music when they're driving in a residential area?!" I looked outside to discover that the music was not coming from a car full of teenage boys, but from a toy car being driven by a pre-schooler! I ran for my camera to take a picture. My first shot didn't capture much except daddy walking next to a vehicle that's being blocked by a tree.
My second picture turned out much better! I had to use the zoom on my camera to capture this image since that little car was moving quite quickly. I still can't get over how loud the music was (not to mention the choice of music) coming from this little car!

Crocs!

2008-05-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

One of the things I was hoping to find by going down to the outlet mall in the states was inexpensive Crocs. They had Croc-style shoes, but no real Crocs. Today, after seeing the new Indiana Jones movie (enjoyable, but not as good as the original 3) I walked past Sport Chek. On impulse I went in . . . to discover that the Crocs were on sale - buy one, get one 50% off! They had several different pairs, but I settled on these ones, the Cleo style, in two different colours. These will come in really handy for weekend use . . . and for my August visit to the states for the Bixby family reunion!

Outlet Shopping, Part Two

2008-05-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

The spoils of two day's worth of shopping. I know it doesn't look like much perhaps, but I was on a budget! I ended up with 3 pairs of shoes, 4 t-shirts, and a bra. The striped shirts are all from the Lane Bryant outlet, as is the bra. The blue shirt is from Target, as is the brown pair of shoes on the far right. The other two pairs of shoes are from the Easy Spirit outlet store.
The light-coloured pair of sandals from Easy Spirit. The straps are velcro, and I love the fact that I can adjust the band across the toes as well as around the ankles. I think the strap around the toes will need some adjustment as wearing them today did give me blisters on both my big toes! Oh, and did I mention that they are a size 8.5? I don't know if American sizes are different from Canadian or if my feet are shrinking, but that's fine with me!
The black pair of sandals, also from Easy Spirit. I haven't worn them yet, but I may wear them tomorrow if the weather is nice. They also have velcro closures, which is super nice. Again, the size that fit me the best was 8.5. I think these will be a really comfortable pair of sandals that I will end up wearing most of the summer!
The brown pair of Mary Jane-style shoes I got at Target. I think they'll be really cute for Fall :-) They're size 9.5.

I had to limit myself to 3 pairs of shoes during our shopping trip. There was another pair of blue shoes that I really, really liked and would have purchased, you know, had I been a millionaire! I ended up walking away from them, but it was hard!

It was also hard to walk away from the merchandise at the newest store at the outlet mall . . . Kate Spade!! We went there first thing in the morning, thinking that since it was new and so popular that it would be as crowded as the Coach store usually is. It was practically empty when we walked in, so we got a really good look at the bags they had in. They were absolutely gorgeous! Very pricey, but very stylish. There was a beautiful little black bag that was only $60 and it was very, very tempting (it also came in pink). What ended up stopping me was that it was really too small for me to be practical. I carry so much stuff in my purse every day that I just wouldn't be able to carry a small one too often. Anyway, if I ever become rich, I'll definitely be heading back to Kate Spade to buy a bigger, more useful bag :-)

Outlet Shopping, Part One

2008-05-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

Got back last night from our stateside shopping extravaganza :-) It was a long couple of days, but it was fun. Going down across the border only took 25 minutes - it was awesome! We took the Peace Arch border crossing and it was easy-peasy. We stopped at the Duty Free first in order to get some alcohol that my sister requested. Unfortunately we didn't know at the time that you had to stay 48 hours, not 24 hours, across the border before you could bring alcohol back! The duty on the alcohol turned out to be over $100, so we ended up abandoning it at the border. I feel really bad that it happened, but that's life, I guess. Anyway, this time around, my friend and I ended up staying at a different hotel. Last year we stayed at a Best Western right by Bellis Fair, but this year we stayed a little closer to the Outlet Mall, at the Best Western Navigator (exit 189 off the I-5 in case you want to go there yourself)! It was a really nice place, as you can see on the left.
I had to take a picture of the name of the hotel . . . anyone who works for the school I work at would understand why ;-) The propellor logo was EVERYWHERE in the building. There was even a real propellor behind the desk where you check in. Not sure I like the logo much . . . I think a compass, perhaps, would have been a better logo ;-)
Our room. Two queen-sized beds with 4 pillows each. The room was large and gorgeous . . . and had a tv that accessed HBO. What more could a girl want?
The kitchen in our room. Not quite sure we needed this kitchen for our overnight stay (particularly as the hotel has a free continental breakfast every morning that we enjoyed on Saturday), but it was pretty cool.

I didn't take a picture of the bathroom, but it was nice too. It had INCREDIBLE water pressure. Flushing the toilet startled us every time 'cuz the water pressure was so strong. Seriously, it was a little freaky! Stay tuned for some pictures of what I bought . . .

Shoes!

2008-05-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know. This is my third post today. I meant to post this earlier in the weekend, but time got away from me. I wanted to introduce you to my newest pair of shoes. They are supremely comfortable, and two sizes smaller than my normal size 10. They are Crocs and this particular style is called Malindi.

The only tiny complaint I have with them is that they leave my feet pretty dirty by the end of the day. But since all my sandals have the same effect, I'm willing to live with it!

Woot woot for long weekends!

2008-05-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe what a busy weekend it's been! It all started on Friday night . . . a group of us from work had made plans to go out for dinner to a local restaurant to see a former coworker who had been transferred to another location. It was meant to be a reunion, but as it turned out, our former coworker couldn't make it :-( The six of us who went out still had fun though . . . well, mostly. Have you ever had one of those friends who just drives you crazy all the time 'cuz she's competitive with you (for no good reason)? Well, one of the women at the dinner on Friday night was one of those kinds of people. I don't even think I can describe her as a friend anymore since her behaviour is just so thoughtless. Luckily, we don't work together anymore. Anyway, all evening at dinner, her stories had to be the biggest and best. She had to display her "intelligence" continuously throughout the evening by saying things she thought were clever and funny, but were really just annoying and rude. I got annoyed by her early on when I was answering some questions posed to me by a friend on the other side of the table. The woman asked me if I had had my hair highlighted when it was cut. I answered her, and immediately this annoying woman, who was sitting right next to me, turned to me and said "did you get highlights too?" as though she hadn't heard my friend across the table ask the question. This happened a couple of times. A friend of mine who was sitting across the table from me told me yesterday that she had noticed a couple of times when this woman (who is her roommate, coincidentally) had literally cut me off mid-sentence to say something "witty." I didn't notice that, which I guess is a good thing because it may have made me exchange words with her and that might have wrecked the evening.

On Saturday afternoon I had my usual Saturday lunch with my best friend. We ate at our usual Cactus Club, where I was disappointed to find out that they're taking my favourite meal, the smokehouse quesadilla, off the menu :-( At least they will still serve french fries with garlic mayo . . . Anyway, she and I made plans to go down to the States to go outlet shopping next weekend. Soooooo looking forward to that! On Saturday evening, I went over to my friend Sheryl's place for her birthday dinner. It was a very enjoyable evening spent with good friends and eating good food and enjoying the gorgeous weather outside. We chatted and watched the kids play and soaked in the sun. I discovered that it only takes me 20 minutes to walk to her house, which is very cool. Anyway, I didn't get home until just past midnight so it was a pretty tiring evening.

On Sunday morning, I had plans to meet my friend Anne and her boyfriend Shawn at Joyce Station so that we could go to a restaurant (which I think was called "Fantastic Restaurant") for dim sum. It was such a nice day that we walked from Joyce Station to the restaurant. A very enjoyable 10 minute walk up the street, which was much nicer than taking the bus. I ate some delicious food, but had to draw the line at finishing the chicken feet. It wasn't that they tasted bad, in fact they tasted just like chicken, but they had a lot of small bones that I kept having to spit out and it was making me gag slightly. Anyway, we got nice and full and then went back to the skytrain station. I headed home to start my laundry and rest for a few hours before heading out for my next event. Some of the adult students at my school had organized a birthday dinner for Angela, one of the teachers at the school and a good friend of mine. They invited me and another teacher, Leanna. The plan was to meet at an Italian restaurant, Marcello's, on Commercial Drive at 5pm. I had never been there before, so I met up with Leanna at Columbia Station and we went together. She's spent a lot of time on Commercial Drive, so she knew exactly where she was going. We made it to the restaurant by 5 and the students joined us shortly after. The birthday girl, Angela, was late because she was coming home from Cultus Lake and got a late start. Anyway, the students were a lovely group, very fun, and we were kept entertained all evening. After dinner we went to another restaurant (we were looking for a place with a patio, but quickly realized that we'd never find one on such a gorgeous evening) that had a large open window, and had drinks and snacks. After that, we walked over to a gelato place and got some gelato - delicious! By that time it was past 9, so we decided it was time to head home. All in all . . . a great evening!

Today will be devoted to finishing my laundry . . . and if I get it together on time, going to see the new Narnia movie. I think right now I'm going to go back to bed and read more of my book and wait for my current load (pinks and purples) to finish drying.

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to wish all the mothers in my life, and mothers-to-be, a wonderful Mother's Day!

Technology rocks!

2008-05-10T18:46:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology (gmail chat), I just talked to the future! Actually, I was talking to Jenn online and since she's in Japan, it's Sunday morning there right now ;-) They are doing well and enjoying their trip a lot so far. It was so nice to talk to her and hear about how things are going! It's been harder than I thought it would be having the majority of my family out of the country right now! Jenn and Lance are just at the start of their trip, but my mom and stepdad will be home on Monday some time. Actually, I'm not really sure exactly when on Monday they'll be home, so I assume the earliest I'll get to talk to them is Tuesday afternoon/evening.

Well, better go, my dinner is waiting!

Coffee

2008-05-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

When I was younger (like in my early twenties) and someone had asked me "how do you like your coffee?" I would have replied "I like my coffee crisp!" (please tell me you recognize that commercial!!) Even though I learned how to make coffee at an early age (in my teens - it was the only way to ensure that my mom was in a good mood when she woke up!), I never developed a taste for it. I don't even think I tried it for the first time until I was in university or something. Never having pulled any all-nighters, I guess I figured I didn't need that infusion of caffeine ;-) These days, however, I've noticed that I'm drinking a lot more coffee than I used to. Don't worry, it's not like I've developed a 3-cup a day habit or anything, but it does make me wonder a bit.

Coffee never really ever interested me until I talked to my doctor one day about my headaches and migraines. She suggested that I buy an expresso when I felt a really bad headache coming on as the caffeine would dilate the blood vessels in my brain long enough to allow the medicine some time to work. After I explained that I don't even drink regular coffee, she agreed that a regular cup of java would probably do the trick. I have to admit, if I catch it at the right time and drink that cup of coffee early on, it does work remarkably well.

Drinking the occasional cup of coffee for my headaches also led me to the conclusion that if coffee works well for my bad headaches, maybe coffee would work well for those mornings when I'm really tired and having trouble waking up. That worked too! So these days, I think I am up to a cup of coffee in the mornings 2 or 3 days a week. Luckily I work in a place where the coffee is free, as long as someone actually gets around to making it in the morning! I almost NEVER make coffee at home, unless like this morning, I wake up with a headache that I want to get rid of quickly. I'm sitting here now, finishing my second cup of coffee and watching a season one episode of House on DVD. Life is good.

Me in 6 Words

2008-05-07T19:32:00.001-07:00

Dianne tagged me for this, and since I dare not disappoint her again with my lack of posting . . .

I have to describe myself in 6 words. This is going to be hard . . .

Wait, that's it!

WORK SHOULD NOT RUN MY LIFE

Anyone who has read my blog knows that my work is a big part of my life. Even when I'm not actually at work, I am thinking about work, dreaming about work, doing work at home, blogging about work . . . and the list goes on. I am young and should not be spending so much of my time devoted to work! More and more lately, I've been trying to leave my work "at work" (not that it's been working too well, and as we're coming to our busiest season, I don't anticipate this being too successful over the summer). I am getting tired of having SO much responsibility and feeling like I can't ever take time off or let myself rest for even a moment! Don't get me wrong, I generally do love my job, but I don't think work should be my entire life. I'm still at a bit of a loss as to how I can effect some lasting change in this area, but I guess acknowledging that it's time for a change is a good first step.

Now I'm supposed to tag some people. Not too many people read my blog (or at least comment to let me know they've been reading it). There's really only one person for me to tag right now, and that's my sister Jennifer. As she's in Japan right now, I don't expect her to complete this request any time soon, but that's okay. I've got time to wait :-)

Holy Cow!

2008-04-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

I think it just struck me now that my mom and stepdad are not just across the river in Burnaby, but actually in a whole other part of the world! They flew to Germany yesterday and won't be back until May 12th. For the first 10 or so days in May, all of my closest family will be out of the country as Jenn and Lance will be in Japan! It kind of boggles the mind . . .

Jenn if you're reading this . . . SHOES!! One of my students was wearing a totally cute pair of shoes today that her mom sent her from Japan. I'm just saying . . .

**For anyone who is reading this and is suddenly struck with the inspirational thought "I should totally buy Kim a pair of shoes because she is so awesome, my shoe size is ladies 10. Sometimes I have to wear a 10 wide though . . . **

Voila!

2008-03-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

Woot woot! I finally finished my most recent cross-stitch project! I can't even remember when I started this particular project, but I was determined to finish it today. I didn't actually have that much stitching to finish, just some of the backstitching of the lettering and on the purple flowers. This is the finished project all mounted and with its hanger.
The close-up shot of what it says. I don't know what exactly I'm going to do with this yet. I may display it on one of my walls at home, or I may give it away as a gift. I'll have to think about that one . . .

A Big Thank-You

2008-03-16T22:10:00.000-07:00

As you can imagine, the last week has been a difficult one. I spent Tuesday just sitting at home watching tv and trying to make sense of everything. My sister spent the day with my stepmom helping to get things organized for my dad's memorial service on Saturday. On Wednesday we were both with her, helping out and running errands. It helped to stay busy. Thursday was my last day off work. I went out for a while and tried to keep my mind off things to see if I could regain some "normalacy" in preparation for returning to work. It worked . . . mostly. Getting a sympathy card in the mail and seeing my dad's obituary was tough. Tougher than I thought it would be. Anyway, I returned to work on Friday and everyone was very sweet and supportive. My students, at least my morning students, had signed a card for me (I suspect they had help with their English as, even though they are high level students, the English in the card was word perfect). One of the students had also gotten a separate card for me, just from her. It was very, very touching. One of my coworkers gave me a card too. Everyone else told me how sorry they were and how happy they were to have me back. It's nice to know how loved I am! Anyway, I went out to a housewarming/candle party on Friday night. I wanted to be with friends. It was fun and it was nice for a couple of hours to feel "normal" again.

Saturday was the memorial service for my dad. It was nice to see how many people turned up. My grandparents came up from Oregon. My dad's old business partner came and spoke, as did some old family friends. My sister delivered the eulogy and she did a wonderful job. Her words captured my dad's life and spirit far better than the ones I attempted to write, so I'm glad I opted out of reading my letter to my dad. We received a lot of cards and flowers, so part of my afternoon was spent writing thank you cards to send to people.

I feel pretty okay now. I will always miss my dad, but because of the nature of his disease (Alzheimer's), I feel like I've been missing him for several years already. I am very glad that he's now in a place where he's not a prisoner of his mind anymore. My dad died relatively young (he was barely 65) and was in good health otherwise. Watching him waste away was so difficult. I am glad that I got to spend extra time with him in his last week. I don't wish that kind of life on anyone!

Sig Feuchter 1943 - 2008

2008-03-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sig Feuchter, February 22, 1943 - March 10, 2008

My dad passed away on the evening of Monday, March 10th, 2008. He was 65 years old. Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six years ago. Around the same time, he was was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma . . . cancer. That started what turned into a six year journey of watching the Alzheimer's eat away at the man who was my father. He was a good, strong man, but the disease turned him into a mere shell of what he was. Cancer, the disease that everyone fears, seemed like the "easy" part of the battle, though I know that I can probably only say that because I wasn't there on a day-to-day basis. This journey has been difficult for everone involved - my sister, my step-mom Barbara, my step-sister Roisin, and myself. Although I am very, very sad that my dad has gone, I do take some comfort in knowing that he's gone to a better place where he isn't suffering anymore and where he can be himself again. I love you dad! God bless you and may you rest in peace!

Um, yeah. I'm not having a very good year so far.

2008-03-03T19:41:00.001-08:00

*Warning* This is NOT a happy or uplifting post in any way. If you don't want to get bummed out, stop reading here!

So I haven't been feeling too great lately. I've been crampier than usual and have been experiencing more than my fair share of back ache associated with the cramps. Normally I wouldn't be overly concerned as my period is usually fairly wonky, but since I was getting some strange coloured urine sometimes too (think tea coloured, and sometimes bloody), I was actually fairly concerned. After googling my symptoms (always a bit dangerous, and definitely NOT a good idea if you have a tendency to be a hypochondriac), I figured I might have a urinary tract infection. I ended up going to the doctor last Saturday. The doctor asked me about my symptoms and had me give a urine sample. He suspects I have a small kidney stone. Most of the time I feel fine and my urine is a normal yellow colour. Occasionally though my urine still looks funny and I get crampy and achey. Right now we're just keeping an eye on things (and I'm trying not to freak myself out when people who have had kidney stones and children tell me that passing a kidney stone is more painful than child birth! Personally I think these people should be telling pregnant women these things to make them feel better, but whatever!). Interestingly enough, the doctor that I saw at the clinic was my next-door neighbour about twenty years ago. He asked after the family, including my dad, who used to be his mechanic. Which leads me to . . .

My dad is dying. He's been in the hospital for years now (well, various hospitals and care facilities), but yesterday my step-mom called my sister and I to let us know that the doctors and nurses caring for him felt that his "departure was imminent." So yeah. Not fun. We went and spent the day with him, which was good. He didn't look too bad, all things considering. He's not eating anymore though, so I guess it really is just a matter of time. With my step-mom we talked about stuff like the funeral plans. What I am dreading most right now is the phone call telling me that it's over. How will I cope if I get the call at work? What will I do if the phone rings at 2 o'clock in the morning and wakes me up? I think my mind is focusing on this in order to have to focus on anything else. Surprisingly I had a fairly normal day today. I did have to tell a few people at work what was going on and it was okay. I was able to do it without crying, so that's something I guess. Some friends on facebook sent me messages too, so that was nice. For now I'm just trying to be very organized at work so that if I do have to leave suddenly, or I can't go in the next day, my sub has something for that day. The other couple of days I don't particularly care too much about. Now I'm going to try and find a particular picture of my dad that my step-mom would like to use for the memorial service. So if I'm not posting for a while, at least you know why.

Six Random Things

2008-02-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

I saw this on Dianne's blog and decided it would be fun to do . . . And since I need to tag someone, I tag Jennifer to do it (so she'll update her blog finally!) . . .

One - I have an irrational fear of small birds and moths. My fear of snakes, I feel, is perfectly justified. When I was younger and would go with my family to visit my cousin who lived in Burnaby, I used to get subjected to my cousins budgies. She would let them fly around free downstairs and of course, they tended to land on us sometimes. Scared the $@!* out of me! As for the moths . . . every once in a while they would be in my bedroom and I would scream when I saw them.

Two - I only ever skipped one class in high school. Seriously. It was in twelfth grade and the class I skipped was one in which there was a university presentation for UBC (you know, to entice us to go there). Since I'd been to SFU's presentation already that day, I figured I didn't need to see the UBC presentation because I'd made up my mind that I was going to SFU. I ended up going to UBC for all six years (two degrees) of university.

Three - I hate cooking AND cleaning. What I want most (some days) is a housewife from the fifties who will cook and clean for me and make sure that dinner is waiting when I walk through the door. If I could find a man who would do this and make a killer six-figure salary, I'd marry him.

Four - I've never once in my entire 29 years (only ten of which have been above the legal drinking age) had a drop of alcohol. This really surprises some people. Today, my TWELVE YEAR OLD STUDENT told me that she drinks beer. What the $@!* are her parents doing when she's drinking beer??!!

Five - I don't have a driver's license. I failed my driver's test. I don't have any current plans to get my driver's license.

Six - The concept of space travel fascinates me, but I don't think I could ever become an astronaut. Have you ever seen how cramped those rockets and shuttles are? My claustrophobia would kick into overdrive!!

Martian Death Flu

2008-01-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

I have the martian death flu. I knew I was getting sick a couple of days ago when I came down with a cough, quickly followed by a sore throat. Yesterday was a snow day, so I got to stay home and rest, which was a really good thing since I discovered that for the first time in a long time, I had a fever! I thought rest would help, but I woke up this morning at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep after that. Around 5:30am I started getting really bad stomach cramps, and without getting to graphic, let's just say I couldn't keep anything down. At 6:45 I got a phone call saying that our school was open today, so I had to get up and get ready for work. Right around the time I was getting dressed I realized I wasn't really in any shape to teach. I headed off to work anyway because I needed to make sure my sub had a lesson plan. I spent 20 minutes trying to write out a lesson plan, while answering phones to tell people that we were open today. I was also trying to not be sick again, but wasn't so successful with that. I left work at about 8:30 and headed home. I stopped at Safeway to get some supplies like gingerale, Buckley's cough syrup, some chicken noodle soup, and buns. I finally got a short nap this afternoon between 2 and 5. Now I'm going to make my chicken noodle soup and watch tv for a little while, then it's back to bed for me!

114

2008-01-11T21:56:00.000-08:00

Today I did something I promised myself I wouldn't do again for a long, long time. You see, I have an addiction that I've been trying to break myself of. It's been hard, but I thought I was making real progress until today. I was even good over the holidays - a time when most people "fall of the wagon," so to speak. There wasn't even a very good reason for my weakness today. I didn't have a bad day or anything, I just simply fell prey to temptation. I'm not particularly proud of this. Yes my blogger friends, today I bought some new socks. Plural. Not as in one sock for each foot; I bought several pairs of socks. Ten pairs to be exact.

I was walking through Zellers this afternoon on my way home from work. I was looking for a cute pair of slippers to wear on pajama day next Friday when I came across the socks. That's when I spotted them. A 5-pack of gorgeous blue socks. They were calling me. I grabbed them. Then I spotted the equally cute 5-pack of pink socks. PINK! How could I be expected to resist beautiful socks in my favourite colour? But by that point I'd already fallen in love with the blue socks. So, I ended up buying both packages. I am weak. You see, a while back I decided that I owned more than enough pairs of socks to last a lifetime, so I decided to stop buying myself socks. I was doing pretty good too - I haven't bought my own socks since April. I got a pair of socks from Paris back in the summer from my best friend. I got four pairs of socks over Christmas from various friends and family. But I haven't purchased any socks for myself in ages.

Here are most of my socks (the ones currently in the laundry hamper stayed there) piled on my bed. The new pink and blue ones are on the right side of the pile in front. Aren't they pretty? I have socks for pretty much every major holiday (Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas). I'd love to complete my holiday sock collection with socks featuring Canadian flags (for Canada Day) and socks with turkeys (for Thanksgiving). I also have a fairly extensive collection of handknit socks from my relatives in Germany. I get a new pair each Christmas. I love them for the cold weather - I wear a pair at night during the winter to keep my feet from freezing.

After taking the picture I decided to count all of them. Yup, if you haven't already figured it out, I have 114 pairs of socks, including the ones currently on my feet and the ones in the laundry hamper. My socks used to occupy one whole dresser drawer on their own. One drawer isn't enough to contain them all anymore. I had to put the cold weather socks in a different drawer since they take up a lot of room. The holiday socks, since each pair only gets worn once or twice a year, ended up getting moved to another drawer too.

Here's the sock drawer with all the remaining socks crammed into it. Hopefully I'll be able to get over my momentary weakness and not let it happen again this year. Then again . . . life is short and I do love my socks!

Welcome, 2008!

2008-01-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone has enjoyed their holidays . . . I have! So, how did you spend New Year's Eve? I went to see a movie with a friend and then came home. Since we were both rather tired, we skipped the whole "watch the ball drop on tv" thing and headed back to our respective homes to try and get some much-needed sleep! I was in bed reading (I'm re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if you're curious to know what's on my nightstand) when it became 2008 :-) I'm looking forward to a 2008 that's full of more adventures, friends, and family. Since I don't make New Year's Resolutions, I don't have any to share with you today. I hope we can share the adventure of 2008 together!!

Mooning Santa

2007-12-26T11:50:00.001-08:00

Here's the Santa that I gave my mom for Christmas! This is also the first video I have ever uploaded to YouTube :-) Enjoy!

Wow! Two posts in one night!

2007-12-16T21:55:00.001-08:00

I know, you're shocked! I'm posting twice in one night . . . and both my posts include pictures!! Just wanted to share the most recent cross-stitch project I finished. This is the first project I've finished in ages. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if it's the first one I've finished in a year. I started it on Friday. It's quite small (about 2.5 inches square), which is why I was able to finish it. Without further adieu . . .

Britney Spears

2007-10-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

In case you're one of the 10 people on the planet who hasn't heard the news . . . Britney Spears has lost custody of her two young sons. This was front page news on the CNN website, and I heard it mentioned as a headline on a local news broadcast too. Why is this headline news?? Is there nothing else going on in the world that's more important than a 25 year old young woman who has clearly made some mistakes in her life? Seriously??! I think, if even half of what I've heard reported is true, that taking her kids away from her was a good move. I applaud the judge who had the guts to say "your actions and behaviour around your kids is not acceptable and until you clean up your act, your young children cannot live with you!" I hope this makes her get the help she needs because she clearly needs some help! I also hope that her family and friends (not the people she parties with, but the people who actually want to still know her when she's a paunchy eighty-year-old) put her on suicide watch. I do object to the fact that our reputable news agencies think that this news is more important than anything else that happened in the world today. What does it say about the state of our society today that the latest celebrity scandal is front page news??

re: TV

2007-09-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week catching up with all the shows premiering this week. On Monday I watched Heroes . . . it was good but I'm not sure if it will stay in my weekly line-up or not. On Tuesday was the much-anticipated premiere of House. Totally, totally WORTH IT! I loved every second of the episode. I thought it struck exactly the right balance between the humour and the medicine. I also watched the season premiere of Law and Order: SVU. It was good too. On Wednesday was America's Next Top Model. I have to say I was quite surprised and impressed with this season's emphasis on going green and banning the models from smoking. I will only be fully and completely impressed if the emphasis on going green is a theme for all future cycles as well and not just a "hook" for this cycle. I also watched the premiere of the new show Dirty Sexy Money. It was . . . . interesting. It might be a little too out there, even for me. On Thursday was the premiere of Ugly Betty. Again, totally, totally WORTH IT! I even skipped Survivor to watch it and I'm so glad that I did. I also watched the premiere of Grey's Anatomy. It was good, but not fantastic. I think this year they may struggle a bit in the ratings against the juggernaut that is CSI. Tonight I will watch the premieres of Numb3rs and Las Vegas. All in all I have been pretty pleased with the shows I have watched and I'm looking forward to the fall season immensely. The only thing I'm disappointed about is that there won't be a new season of The Amazing Race until winter!! That totally sucks, but hopefully it will be a kick-ass season and worth the wait!

Five Things Meme

2007-08-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

FIVE THINGS
I was tagged by Dianne to do this meme. Honestly since I enjoy doing these so much, I would have done it anyway :-)

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago:
- Finishing high school
- Starting university
- Working at a gas station. Definitely NEVER doing that again!
- Looking for a social life
- I can't remember! I'm getting old . . .

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
- Chocolate
- Crackers
- An apple
- Ice cream
- Popcorn

5 TV Shows I've Seen Every Episode Of:
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- House
- Friends
- Full House

5 Things I Would Do If I Were A Millionaire:
- Travel to Europe!!!!!!!!!!
- Buy a second home in Whistler (okay, I'd seriously have to be a mulitmillionaire for that!)
- Pay off my mortgage
- Pay off my student loans
- Pay for a friend to go back to school

5 Bad Habits:
- Not eating when I'm super-stressed out
- Eating too much when I'm only moderately stressed
- Watching tv when I should be doing something more productive
- Not cleaning my apartment regularly
- Talking with my mouth full

5 Things I Like To Do:
- Read
- Watch tv
- FACEBOOK!
- Go shopping
- Sing

5 Things I Would Never Wear Again:
- The tiger-striped bright pink bathing suit my mom made me one year (sorry mom!)
- My barbie t-shirt
- Toe socks (I had high hopes for them, but my toes are too short for them to be comfortable)
- Glasses with large frames
- My purple jeans

5 Favorite Toys:
- My MP3 player, which I hope to upgrade to an iPod one day :-)
- My digital camera because it has encouraged me to take more pictures
- My computer
- The CD player next to my bed
- My cell phone

5 Things I Can't Stand:
- Sleeping in a warm bedroom!
- Having the door between my bathroom and bedroom open while I'm trying to sleep
- Incompetence
- Laziness
- The smell of rotten food

Now it's my turn to tag 5 people. Hmmmm . . . Jennifer, Megan (you've been tagged twice, now you must do it!), Heather (let's see if you're reading this), Janet (now you've been tagged twice too) and anyone else reading this who hasn't done this meme yet!

Sexy

2007-08-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

My new haircut is awesome! It's a little shorter than I had intended, but I'm okay with that because my hair grows very quickly. When the stylist started cutting it she said "when was the last time you were in here?" I said "I don't really remember. It was in the winter some time though." She said "was it a year ago?" I was like "oh no, not that long ago!" She replied with "are you sure? Because I'm cutting about a year's worth of growth to get you to the length you were last time!" Yeah . . . my hair grows very quickly. Anyway, after a very reasonably-priced haircut (just under $20 for a shampoo and cut), she was able to talk me into highlights too. It's something I've been thinking about since the last time I was in there. Anyway, I decided that it's now or never, so I've made an appointment for next week . . . pictures to follow after it's done!

The ARK

2007-07-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

Last night I went with some friends to see the movie "Evan Almighty". In the movie, God (played by the brilliant Morgan Freeman) commands Evan Baxter to build an ark for the imminent flood. Without giving too much away, let me just say there are some truly, truly funny parts in the middle of this movie that had me choking on laughter for a good 15 minutes. Don't be mistaken however, this movie is not the best thing I've ever seen. The setup at the beginning is completely obvious and they really hit you over the head with the message. There were a couple of comedic gags that are very obvious and hit completely "below the belt", but otherwise it was a pretty good movie. During the previews there was another Steve Carell movie that looked really good too . . . Dan in Real Life.

One of the things I discovered last night was the idea of the ARK. No, not the boat, an Act of Random Kindness. A lot of people probably call these random acts of kindness, but I rather like the acronym ARK and how it all ties together with the bigger message of the movie. Last night on the skytrain on the way home after the movie, I experienced a real-life ARK! I was sitting on the train feeling really tired (it was past midnight) and just wanting to be home. When the train pulled into Gateway station (one stop before mine), I saw a transit officer outside the train. Thinking he was going to get on and check fares I bent down to dig my bus pass out of my purse. When I looked up, the officer was standing in front of me, holding a white rose bud to me (it looked as if it had just been picked off a rose bush). He said to me "have a good night!" and then got off the train just before the doors closed. It was so random and sweet and totally made my evening (which had already been pretty darn good to begin with). Anyway, the picture above is of that rose, which opened this morning. That simple gesture brought me happiness and I've been in a good mood ever since. I want to perform an ARK for someone else now . . . and I strongly encourage everyone to perform an ARK this week!

Happy Canada Day!

2007-07-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

I've spent the better part of the this fine Canada Day watching the first season of Lost on DVD. It's very addictive. A while back I had a dream in which several Lost characters appeared and after that dream I started getting a very strong urge to start watching the show. A friend from work happened to have the first season on DVD (she bought it in Korea) and she was kind enough to loan it to me. Because it's from a different country I wasn't sure it would work in my DVD player, but it does so hooray! Anyway, I want to try and watch as much as I can today and tomorrow because I'm not sure when I'll have time to watch the rest after this long weekend. So I guess what I'm trying to say people is if you need me, I'll be LOST :-)

Moving

2007-06-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

Nope, I'm NOT moving just in case you read the title of this post and went "What?!" This past few days I've been trying to get our Juniors program organized so that we could move to our new summer campus. The move happened yesterday and it went quite smoothly actually. But that's not actually what this post is about. Today I helped my best friend unpack and organize her boxes in her new classroom at school. It was a bit of an overwhelming job for her and I was happy to go and help her. I would have helped her move all the boxes too if she'd needed it, but there were two teachers (only TWO, out of a school of at least 12) who kindly helped her move them on Thursday and Friday. Anyway, we spent a good 3 hours unpacking, organizing, and throwing things away. In return she bought me lunch and drove me all the way home. She didn't even need to do that; I was happy to help. But I did learn something in all of this. I think we both did. Both of these recent moving experiences has taught me that anything having to do with moving really shows you who your real friends are! Moving is such a grubby, yucky, exhausting experience that it seems like it really takes true friends to offer to help you. To my true friends who have helped me move in the past: THANK YOU! To the people who helped us move boxes and desks yesterday in anticipation of summer: THANK YOU! To the people who may potentially help me move at some point in the future (at an undetermined time as I have NO PLANS to move ANYTIME SOON): THANK YOU! To all of my friends and family reading this blog: if you are planning to move, I will help you. That's what friends are for!

All About Me (for the umpteenth time)

2007-06-22T21:20:00.001-07:00

As most of you know, I'm kinda a sucker for these kinds of surveys, so when I saw this on Jay's blog, I couldn't resist adding it to my own:

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My middle name, Wilma, is after my maternal grandmother, Wilhelmina
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? A few weeks ago I guess, when some of the stress of dealing with the upcoming summer got to me
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING Yes!
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? I don't eat much lunch meat since I'm not big on sandwiches, but if I had to choose, I guess I'd say roast beef.
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Nope.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? No, never (heavy sarcasm here). You're reading the blog of a person who was once called a "sarcastic wench" . . . does that answer your question?
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Most emphatically no!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Normally I'd say Cheerios, but the past few times I've purchased cereal it's been Lucky Charms 'cause I love those marshmallows!
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes I do.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Depends on what kind of strength you're talking about. Physically I'm okay . . . I can carry heavy grocery bags home and lift the things I need to. I think I'm strong mentally, though. I'd like to think I have strength of character too.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Plain old vanilla.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their faces and their sense of humour
15. RED OR PINK? Definitely pink!
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My weight.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My dad.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Well, I want to see it on lots of people's blogs . . .
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? blue jeans and no shoes, but green woollen socks.
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? a chocolate chip cookie
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Sense and Sensibility (I've got the DVD running in the background)
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? pink
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? the Honeysuckle Belle body wash I got from the States, grass, storms
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mom
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Well, I got it off Jay's blog and I can honestly say that she's a wonderful person whom I have yet to actually meet in person!
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? I don't mind watching hockey . . . and soccer
27. HAIR COLOR? Light brown (some might say dirty blonde, but I don't)
28. EYE COLOR? Hazel
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No. I wear glasses, but have never really wanted to try out contacts.
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Chocolate
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? I like both, but I'm a sucker for a happy ending at the end of a romantic comedy :-)
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? The Incredibles . . . I was watching it just before I popped in Sense and Sensibility
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Blue
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? I like aspects of both . . . but probably I prefer winter a little more because I don't do well in the heat.
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Cake.
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Have to agree with Jay on this one . . . Dianne (hint, hint)
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Jennifer
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (have to refresh my memory before the next book comes out!)
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Just the mouse . . . guess I'm boring!
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Debbie Travis: From the Ground Up
42. FAVORITE SOUND? Hugh Laurie's voice . . . both his normal accent and the fake American one. I also love the sound of laughter, especially when I've said or done something to make people laugh!
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? The Beatles
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME??? Germany, but that was a long, long time ago (close to twenty years!!)
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Making a fool of myself (on purpose) in front of teenagers. Seriously, I have no fear anymore, which is good since during the summers I routinely speak to LARGE groups of teenagers (think 200!)
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Burnaby, B.C.
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Everyone! I love reading these things and filling them in!

New and Improved Kill Count

2007-06-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

The new number is 18. Yes people, 18 dead! It's a glorious day when you can brag about killing 18 fruit flies. Now I have to get back to my important ninja work (wait, that reference probably doesn't make sense to you unless you were with me on Friday night).

The First Kill Count of 2007

2007-06-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

At least I think it's my first! Anyway, I put out the secret fruit fly death formula only a few hours ago and I've already claimed five victims! Woot woot! Fruit flies will tremble at the mere thought of coming anywhere close to my sink ;-)

Weird Dream

2007-06-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

I just woke up from another really weird dream. It was a little scary and had a really cool ending. In my dream I was in my room, lying in bed. My room pretty much looked like it does now, but bigger and with stuff (like kids' art projects) hanging from the ceiling. I was lying in bed thinking about the stuff I had to remove from the room so it could be painted (I know what prompted that part of the dream!). Anyway, as I was lying there, a HUGE spider (the size of my hand or bigger) crossed the wall that I was staring at and then crossed the room on black webbing! (Hmmm, I did watch the second Harry Potter movie last weekend) Anyway, I jumped out of bed and started freaking out and screaming. This was one HUGE and menacing-looking spider. My sister came over at that point. She was going to help me clean out my bedroom. I told her about the spider and she said she would help me get rid of it. We found some raid and I started spraying close to where I had last seen it. The spider came out of the closet and I blasted it with spray. It went into death throes and ran back into the closet. I kept spraying it and it came back out of the closet. My sister, who was holding a fly swatter, handed the spider the fly swatter so that it could take it's own life with a little dignity. Then the spider started TALKING to my sister! I can't remember what they were talking about though. A few seconds after that, my attention was attracted away from this sight by the sounds of talking outside my window. I looked outside and I saw Harry Potter flying towards my window on his broom! Hermione was with him, and she had just landed on the sidewalk down below my window. I remember saying something like "Jennifer, forget about the talking spider for a minute, you gotta come here and see this!" and that's when I woke up.

On Saturday Afternoons in 1963

2007-06-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

I've fallen in love with a new song. It's called "On Saturday Afternoons in 1963" and it's sung by Rickie Lee Jones (whom I had never actually heard of until I heard this song). I first heard this song on a first season episode of "House" called Paternity. It's played at the end of the episode when you see House watching his patient play lacrosse. It struck a deep chord in me the first time I heard it, and not too long ago as I was rewatching the episode on my House DVD, I decided I had to find out what the song was called and download it (perfectly legally through iTunes, so relax people!). The official House website has this cool feature where you can look up the songs played in any episode of House . . . for the second and third seasons only! Do you have any idea how freakin' annoying that was?! Anyway, I did a little internet research and found the name of the song. I downloaded and have been listening to it ever since. It makes me feel nostalgic and happy and sad at the same time. The melody is haunting. Anyway, the lyrics are below. If you have the chance to listen to it, I strongly suggest that you do!

The most as you'll ever go
Is back where you used to know
If grown-ups could laugh this slow
Where as you watch the hour snow
Years may go by

So hold on to your special friend
Here, you'll need something to keep her in :
"Now you stay inside this foolish grin ... "
Though any day your secrets end
Then again
Years may go by

You saved your own special friend
'Cuz here you need something to hide her in
And you stay inside that foolish grin
When everyday now secrets end
Oh and then again
Years may go by

Crazy for Hugh

2007-06-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

I might be a little, no, a LOT, crazy about Hugh Laurie. If you don't know who I'm talking about, this blog is clearly NOT for you. A little while back, the picture on my MSN screen became this:

This picture alone wasn't enough to feed my addiction. I changed the desktop of my computer at work to this picture:

To be 100% fair, I didn't actually set out to find this picture when I did my search at work. I typed the phrase "Baby Blues" into google, intending to find a funny cartoon panel from one of my favourite cartoons, "Baby Blues." It must have been fate (or destiny, I'm not sure) that lead me to this picture. I don't think I'll be changing it, unless I find another picture of Hugh. A few minutes ago I decided it was time to find a Hugh Laurie picture to spice up my desktop at home. This is what is now on my home desktop:

Excuse me while I take a moment to wipe the drool off my keyboard. So, do you think I'm addicted?

Renovations

2007-05-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since I posted, but I've been quite busy with my latest project: renovating my apartment! I guess renovations isn't quite the right word since I'm not knocking anything down or making many major changes. The painting that I had planned to do in the living room/dining room area is done. I wanted to take this week to paint the living room/dining room area and my bedroom, but it wasn't meant to be. Instead, EVERYTHING is getting repainted! My bedroom will have to wait until after I choose fabric for curtains, however . . . boo! This is what's been done so far: We've selected and purchased fabric for slipcovers and throw pillows, the paint has been purchased and put on the walls in the living room/dining room, and new light fixtures have been purchased for the kitchen and hallways. The exisiting light fixture for the dining room is going to get painted to match the decor. Eventually we'll paint the table too. Oh, and I purchased a new showerhead and a new towel bar and toilet paper holder for the bathroom. It's been an expensive week already! Anyway, once everything is done I'll be posting pictures of before and after! Stay tuned . . .

Outlet Shopping

2007-05-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

Got back from outlet shopping down south a little while ago. We had a BLAST! We didn't actually make it all the way into Seattle, instead we stopped at Seattle's Premium Outlets in Tulalip. Picture it . . . a huge complex with about 80 brand name stores, and only 5 restaurants in the food court! Oh well, the mission was to shop, not eat, right? Anyway, we spent about 4 hours walking around and shopping, and we got some fantastic deals! I got three pairs of shoes, all for the summer, for about $75. The first pair of sandals came from Nine West and the other two are from the Shoe Pavilion. The second two pairs are identical, just different colours. They are easily the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. Putting them on my feet was an almost sexual experience. Anyway . . . I also bought a pair of capris and two t-shirts from Lane Bryant. My friend got a pair of sandal from Nine West that are identical to mine, a denim skirt, two pairs of capris, a couple of shirts, several panties and a couple of bras, as well as a new Coach wristlet. By far the busiest store was Banana Republic. The line-up for the change rooms alone was easily as long as the border line we encountered heading south (about 90 minutes). Then there was another long line up for the cashier . . . it was just too much. Anyway, after we went shopping we decided to head back towards the border to find a hotel so we didn't have to hurry this morning. The first Best Western we stopped at was full, so we kept going towards Bellingham. We stopped at the Best Western Heritage Inn right next to Bellis Fair. It was a perfect location . . . we even managed to go into Bellis Fair for a little while (where we made a couple of purchases as Victoria's Secret). We had breakfast at Denny's this morning and away we went. The line up to get back across the border only took about 5 minutes, which was nice. We declared about a third of what we purchased, so technically speaking, we are guilty of smuggling ;-)

Meet my new Hollywood boyfriend

2007-05-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

His name is Sendhil Ramamurthy. He can currently be seen on "Heroes". Need I say more?

My Spidey-Sense

2007-05-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

Last night I saw Spiderman 3. It was good, but not as good as the previous 2. The theatre was packed so I had to sit quite close to the front, but I didn't mind. What I did kind of mind was the fact that the two kids next to me wouldn't stop talking! Their parents would shush them once in a while, but not often enough for my taste. I think they were probably too young to be at an evening movie (though it wasn't really late - it started at 7) since about halfway through the movie they started asking to go home. The other thing I didn't like was about three-quarters of the way through the movie a guy's cell phone went off. The man actually answered the phone and had a five minute conversation right in the theatre!

Anyway, I thought the special effects with the Sandman villain were superb. The other villains, I'm sorry to say, were a little disappointing. The black goo that takes over Spiderman for a while made for some very interesting personality changes in Peter Parker though. His "new" personality made for some of the funniest moments of the film. The other funny parts came from Bruce Campbell's character and Ted Raimi's character. On a scale of one to ten, I'd rate Spiderman 3 a solid 6.5 to 7.

Movies

2007-04-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

I ended up renting 4 different movies yesterday evening. Each was different from the other, and each was good in its own way. Here are my thoughts on each:

1. Notes on a Scandal
This movie was initially recommended to me by a friend at work. This movie, more than any of the others I rented this weekend, resonated with me. I felt very sympathetic to both characters, but more to Judi Dench's character. I can easily imagine how the loneliness of the years impacted her enough to make her an obsessive woman with only her cat and fantasies for company. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate this movie a 9.

2. John Tucker Must Die
This movie was just a little bit of fun for the weekend. It actually was a bit better than I expected. The plot is fairly predictable, but it's still cute. I find it a little hard to believe that the female lead can be "invisible" in school given that she's blonde, cute, has a good figure, and is smart, but whatever. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate this movie a 7.

3. Scoop
This movie was the most unexpected of the 4. Having seen Match Point, which was another Woody Allen movie starring Scarlett Johansson, I was expection something a little more slick and mysterious. This movie was a little bit more like a comedy - particularly the scenes with "death". I also couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that Scarlett Johansson's character was a bit of a nerd. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate this movie a 7.

4. Freedom Writers
This movie was probably the most predictable of all 4 in terms of what the ending was going to be. Anyone who has seen Dangerous Minds, Stand and Deliver, or even Mr. Holland's Opus knows where this movie is going to end up. But that's not really a bad thing given the movie's subject matter. The only "complaint" I had with this movie was the pointlessness of Patrick Dempsey's character. I guess he serves the purpose of illustrating just how dedicated Hilary Swank's character was becoming to her students, but really, was that 100% necessary? Anyway, it is always inspiring to see a teacher make a difference in the lives of her students, so I enjoyed the movie anyway. On a scale of 1 to 10, this was an 8.

Ways in which I am like MacGyver

2007-04-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so there's really only one way in which I'm like the character MacGyver - I was able to fix a problem with a single paperclip (and no, the problem wasn't that I need to hold some papers together)! The zipper on my jacket broke and for now, I'm using a paperclip to operate the zipper. This is only a temporary fix until I can buy a new jacket . . . but I can live with it for now.

Just came home from seeing the movie "Fracture" with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. Wow! It was a very, very compelling courtroom drama. I'm impressed with the Canadian boy, I must say. The whole time I was watching all I could think of was "where's the gun?" Now I know. I also saw a preview for a movie that I want to see. It's called "Martian Child" and it stars John Cusack. It looks like a really touching story. The premise is a little goofy - single man adopts a young boy who thinks he's from Mars - but I have a feeling that the Mars bit is really only an opening into a deeper discussion of the importance of being yourself. At least, I hope so.

I think maybe tomorrow I will walk over to the video store and rent a few movies that I've been meaning to see. I haven't actually rented any videos in a long while (can't really remember the last time I rented a movie) and it will keep me busy while I'm stuck at home doing chores.

Hello out there in blog land!

2007-04-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow bloggers (or at least the ones not currently too addicted to facebook to keep up with blogging)! How is everything with you? I'm fine, but pretty tired these days. No specific reason I guess, just life catching up with me. My students have been fine, work is fine, blah, blah, blah. I'm closer to choosing my paint colours, but I was rather disappointed today when I stopped by Home Depot for some sample paints and discovered that it would cost me nearly $50 to get the 3 colour samples I wanted. FORGET IT! I picked up some more paint chips and plan on taping them up around the room in order to make my final decision.

Went to a re-gifting party last night hosted by my lovely sister. The basic idea was that people brought over stuff that they no longer wanted (either new or gently used stuff, not garbage) and had the opportunity to take other people's stuff. The stuff that was left over at the end of the evening was being donated to charity. It was a really cool idea and worked quite well, for the most part. There weren't a ton of people, and the stuff that people had brought was good stuff. I think in the future though, there should be a few "rules" or procedures set up so that choosing items is fair. There weren't any problems or anything last night, but I could see problems arising if more than one person really wanted one particular item. Anyway, I got rid of the stuff I really didn't want anymore, and came home with nothing. There were a couple of things that I would have taken if nobody else had wanted it, but the items were taken after all.

Last night before the party my purse strap broke. Has that ever happened to you? It happened to me about a year ago, which is what prompted me to buy the purse whose strap broke yesterday. Had the fabric not been so thick, I probably would have been able to sew the strap back on, but I didn't have the best needle for the job and there were about 4 layers of fabric to sew through, so I couldn't get it back together. The purse was starting to get a little worn (it wasn't overly expensive to begin with) so I decided to use the opportunity to get a new purse. I ended up splurging and getting two purses - one black and one brown. Both are Roots purses, and the black one is really similar to the one I was replacing, so I'm happy.

Back to work already again tomorrow - yuck! I love my job, I really do, but I'm looking forward to having a week off next month! Anyway, I'd better get back to those paint samples.

Reality Roundup

2007-04-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it, I'm addicted to reality tv. I just finished watching America's Next Top Model and now I'm watching The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll. On Sunday's I watch The Amazing Race and The Apprentice. On Mondays I watch The Bachelor (but not as regularly as the other reality shows) and on Thursdays I watch Survivor. Here are my thoughts on what's happening on the shows:

The Amazing Race: What can I say? I actually really did like Rob and Amber and I'm sad that they're gone. Of the teams that are left, I think I like Oswald and Danny the best (Oswald is soooo cute!!). Charla and Mirna are growing on me, but I honestly don't care at all for the Beauty Queens (Dustin and Kandice) or Eric and Danielle.

The Apprentice: What a lousy season! I can't believe Trump moved the show to L.A. It seems to have lost its edge. The business tasks, for the most part, have seem rather uninspired. This business in the last episode of having the final task being done by the final four was just lame. The task was just like any other task and it sucked! Trump had better get his act together and move the show back to New York or I'm not watching again next season!

The Bachelor: Can't say I have many strong opinions about the show right now. Andy is cute, that's for sure. He seems like a genuinely nice guy too.

America's Next Top Model: Kinda glad that Jael just went home. She takes awesome photos, but she really doesn't do well when she has to talk. I went through a period of not liking Rene, but I think she's getting better so I kinda like her again. I still like Brittany too. At this point I'm not really sure who's going to win.

The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll: I like Melissa R. She's so cute . . . Chelsea has an awesome voice though. Melissa S. is just a b*tch. She looks old too. Asia annoys me when she sings, but when she talked about her daughter during the interview I saw a new side to her. I still don't know who should win.

Survivor: Some interesting twists this season. I really like Earl and Yau-Man. I liked Michelle too, but she was voted off last week. I'd love for Yau-Man to win!

Sun Run!

2007-04-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

Edit (April 16, 2007): My official time, according to the Vancouver Sun newspaper, was 1 hour, 57 minutes and 31 seconds. Woot woot!

These are the photos from today's Sun Run. My mom, step-dad and me!! We walked it in approximately two hours - my best time by a good half an hour. I felt great during and after the walk. I actually really felt like I could turn around and walk the whole thing again by the time we were done :-)

Sweet Dreams

2007-04-13T06:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I had a very interesting dream last night. It started on the skytrain, heading eastbound. I was crossing one of those pristine landscapes that you only get in BC: snowcapped mountains, a clear blue mountain lake, etc. Somehow I knew I was heading towards New West station. For anoyone who doesn't know about the skytrain, snowcapped mountains and a clear blue lake are NOT what you cross to get to New West station. Anyway, when I looked down at the lake (and it was most definitely a lake), I saw a bunch of whales! At first I saw blue whales and humpback whales (a lot were lying on little islands and not moving - not sure if they were dead, or just not being "used" at the moment. You'll see what I mean in a minute.) After another minute or so, I saw a bunch of killer whales frolicking and playing in the water. As we approached the station, I looked to my left and saw a killer whale "shaking" it's head (think "Free Willy" style). You think that would have tipped me off in my dream, but not yet! Anyway, we got close enough to the station to see people lined up waiting to board the train. That's when everyone on the train saw a killer whale jump up high enough to start trying to eat the people standing in line at the station! Everyone on the train and at the station started screaming! Then there were a few men who jumped out and tried to act like heroes, including the man above (Terry O'Quinn). When I saw him, I suddenly knew that we were in the middle of filming a scene from the show "Lost", except that nobody on the skytrain knew what was happening. All those whales? They were trained animals and props. In the next heartbeat, I was at work in the staffroom of the school. I was lying in bed (no, in real life there are no beds in our staffroom) in that near sleep state where you are aware of what's going on around you, but your eyes are closed and you don't care what's going on. There were only a few people in the staffroom, and they were in the kitchen area looking at a staff shopping list I had written. One of the other teachers was trying to take credit for it and it was annoying me, but I was too tired to say anything about it. A few seconds later I was walking out the door with one of the "Three Stooges", and I realized that she'd gotten a haircut. I knew it was a Thursday afternoon because she said "see you on Sunday morning at the Sun Run!" and I said "aren't you coming to work tomorrow?" and she explained that she was taking the day off to deal with a car payment problem she was having. That's when I commented on her haircut. I had to lie and tell her I thought it looked good, when in reality, short hair does not suit this woman at all! A few seconds later, we were both on the skytrain together, heading westbound. In reality, neither one of us takes the skytrain to get home. Anyway, she got off at a stop (don't know which one, it didn't look like any of the stops I'm used to) and was walking along a path parallel to the skytrain tracks. I looked over at her to wave when I saw that she had a tell-tale baby bump and was in fact pregnant, but nobody at work knew it yet. That's when I woke up. So. Weird.

Paint, paint, paint

2007-04-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Have to decide on paint colours. I would do like Dianne did and post my options, but I'm not feeling so technical right now. I have taken the enormous step of taping up some paint chips to the wall to see what I like. I took the chips to work yesterday to get some advice from some of the lovely ladies I work with (well, those still in the building past 3:30 anyway). They had a multitude of opinions, particularly after I showed them some pictures I had on my e-mail of what my place looks like. They were so curious to see what my place looked like that they crowded all around me and my computer. Discovered that I'm still claustrophobic . . . I thought I was going to die at one point when all 5 of them were standing around me! Luckily the feeling passed quickly. Unfortunately their opinions were very diverse and didn't bring me any closer to a decision! Laurie did suggest taping up the samples I liked the best, which I was planning on doing anyway, and that was about as helpful as it got.

I thought I may get some more guidance last night when my mom came over. Yeah, not so much. I mean, she did have lots of ideas, but they didn't really involve paint colour. One thing she suggested which I liked was to paint the dining room area a darker shade than that living room area to define the two spaces. Still no closer to choosing actual colours though. All my life I've had trouble making decisions about what colour to paint things. It's happened every time I've had to choose colours for my bedroom when I was younger. Luckily I have a little bit over a month to decide. If I stare at these paint chips long enough, I may actually make a decision!

Facebook

2007-04-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

It's all I hear about these days at work . . . so I joined Facebook today! I don't know how often I'll use it given I rarely use my MySpace account, but it'll be fun for networking. Anyway, if you're on Facebook and want to add me, search for Kim Feuchter!

Clean at Last!

2007-04-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

Well I actually did it. I told lots of people I would (including everyone who reads my blog) and I had to force myself to do it, but I actually did my spring cleaning this weekend! I started early on Friday morning (got up at my usual 7am to trick myself into thinking it was actually a work day) and spent about 3 and a half hours filling garbage bags and emptying boxes. I took about 7 or 8 garbage bags out to the dumpster (and boy did my legs feel it the next day!). I managed to accomplish my first goal of the living room and bedroom. I have to say, they both look awesome now! I forgot to take the traditional "before" photos, so there's not a lot of point in posting the "after" photos (I e-mailed them to the family members who have seen my place at its worst, figuring they now deserve to see my place at its best). I took a break on Friday afternnon when I was done the task I had set myself. I ended up with a tub full of odds and ends that I'm donating to charity, unless my friends want to lay claim to any of the items in it. A few of them, after sending out an e-mail offering up the stuff in the tub, have e-mailed me back to lay claim to a few of the items, so that's good. I also have a bag full of clothing to go to charity (if I took another close look at my closet, I could probably come up with another bag full) and three boxes of stuff to go down to my storage area.

This morning I woke up early again (though not quite as early as Friday since my task for today was a lot smaller) and tackled the kitchen. That was mostly a cleaning job rather than an organizational job. Traditionally my kitchen is a terrible mess, but I couldn't let it stay that way given the nice and clean living room and bedroom I now have. I got the room cleaned and organized (my counters have never been more free of stuff) and it only took an hour and a half (including the time it took to wash the dishes. There weren't that many dishes, but one of the bowls was new and it had a sticky label on it that took about twenty minutes to pick off). I got a couple of other pesky chores done too. I definitely want to get my painting done sooner rather than later! My walls have a bunch of holes in them from stuff that the previous tenants had hanging on the walls and I don't want to hang up my own pictures until the walls have been patched and painted! Hopefully I'll get the painting and "redecorating" done during the last week of May when I have my Spring Break from school. Now I just have to decide on paint colours!

Numbers

2007-04-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about numbers lately . . .

1 - The number of biological siblings I have

2 - The number of televisions I have

3 - The number of days it took for me to remember that it's now April and I should change the calendar

4 - The number of step-brothers and sisters I have

5 - The number of the Level I teach in grammar class

(This could get boring really fast, so I'll skip ahead a little)

15 - The approximate number of telephone numbers I have memorized

19 - The number of pairs of new socks I just bought from Zellers (where they have mega-cute socks!)

20 - The number of pairs of socks I just cleaned out of my drawer

31 - The number of telephone numbers currently programmed into my cell phone

115 - The total number of pairs of socks I currently own, including the 19 new ones and the 20 I took out of my drawer. WOW! I could pretty much wear a different pair of socks every day until July 27th before I would have to wash them all and start again. May I say again . . . WOW!

Woot Woot for the Sun

2007-03-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

So my dentist appointment on Saturday went fine. Apparently I have very nice teeth (said to me by both the dentist and the hygienist) and very strong enamel. That's nice to know. Since my appointment was finished early, I was able to get a couple of errands done before I was supposed to meet my friend for lunch. Long story short: we didn't end up having lunch as she got "detained" elsewhere. Actually, it really ticked me off as we were supposed to meet at 2 and she didn't end up calling me until close to 2:30 to tell me that she was running late. Since she just left a message on my voicemail, it was almost 3 by the time we actually talked and I was STARVING! Needless to say, I was more than a little irritated to find out that she was going to be able to make it after all. Grrrr.

How glad was I to finally see the sun on Sunday?! I have to say, I had no idea just how depressed I was starting to feel until the sun came out! My two favourite seasons are fall and spring. Both tend to be cool but not freezing cold. I love fall because of the changing colours and the excitement of "back to school" (well, before I started teaching year round). But, I love spring because of the feelings of renewal, birth, and the emergence of the sun! I love how seeing the sun again brings a fresh bounce to my step and a new lightness to my heart. In honour of the sun, I wrote this haiku today:

Saw the sun today.
Will it be back tomorrow?
I sure do hope so.

In honour of spring (and the rain forecast for later this week) I wrote this spring haiku:

The rain falls gently
As I walk around the town.
I am soaking wet.

Can you tell that the theme this week in my afternoon class is poetry? Tomorrow we'll go over the poem "In Flanders Field", which is a poem I happen to really like. I still remember most of it from when I had to memorize it in sixth grade (typed as I would say it):

In Flanders Field the poppies blow between the crosses row on row that mark our place and in the sky the larks still bravely singing fly scarce heard amidst the guns below we are the dead short days ago we lived felt dawn saw sunset's glow take up our quarrel with the foe to you from failing hands we throw the torch be yours to hold up high and . . .

Just for reference, here's the actual poem:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

(Turns out my memory ain't all that bad after all!)

Ugh

2007-03-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

I have a dentist's appointment today. When I was younger going to the dentist never bothered me, but now . . . I'm sure it was the cause of last night's mild insomnia. I'm sure the constant rain isn't helping either. It's pretty much supposed to rain all week, which is too depressing to really put into words. So let me just say again, "Ugh!"

The Many Faces of Kim

2007-03-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

I got this way cool idea from the way cool Vesper!

Kim . . . The Botticelli version.

Kim . . . The Manga version.

Kim . . . The Modigliani version (my favourite!)

Old Kim.

You can transform yourself here. Be careful though . . . as you can see, the results can be scary!

The Zzzzzzzzzzz Report

2007-03-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

I don't know what did it, but this week I finally managed to get a decent night's sleep without any sleep aids! Ever since Thursday night I've had no problems falling asleep . . . or in getting a full night's sleep! I pretty much feel back to normal now, which is a relief. I'd forgotten how nice it was to be able to go to bed and fall asleep :-) Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sleep Review

2007-03-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I tried the sleep CD last night. I can see where it would be helpful for people who have a hard time letting go of their worries or anger. It goes through certain steps to help a person relax, so it talks about deep breathing and relaxing your muscles. The spoken word is combined with relaxing music designed to help a person fall asleep and sleep deeply. Since I didn't have any worries or anger and felt relaxed, I don't think the CD particularly helped me. I listened to it for about an hour before I switched to one of my books on tape. All in all, I had a fairly decent night's sleep - it took me just over an hour to fall asleep, and then I only woke up once during the night to use the bathroom. I think I'll take a sleeping pill tonight and then that's it. I'm putting the pills away and only using them in an emergency.

And the Oscar Goes to . . .

2007-02-26T07:26:00.000-08:00

I didn't actually think I'd watch the Oscars last night since I've lost interest in it over the years, but at 5:30 when it started . . . For the most part, I enjoyed the awards this year. I thought Ellen did a great job hosting. I really enjoyed her bits out in the audience with Martin Scorsese and Clint Eastwood. What made me laugh the hardest, however, was when Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt were presenting and taking about who was supposed to get Merryl Streep her cappuccino. Cut to Meryl Streep in the front row and the expression on her face is CLASSIC! I thought the men generally looked awesome in their tuxedoes, but not a lot of the women wowed me this year. Helen Mirren looked awesome, I loved Cate Blanchett's dress, Kate Winslet looked divine, and Maggie Gyllenhall looked great. I thought Jennifer Hudson looked wonderful (when she took off that stupid gold cropped jacket) and Jodie Foster didn't look too bad either. Oh, and I thought Emily Blunt looked fab too. Can't say I was thrilled with Anne Hathaway's getup, and I really didn't like Nicole Kidman's look, or Gwenyth Paltrow's outfit either. At 8 o'clock I did change channels and watch The Amazing Race, but I flipped back and forth and saw most of the major awards too. Way to go Jennifer Hudson for winning an Oscar for your very first movie! I was pleased that Helen Mirren and Forrest Whitaker won too. I haven't seen The Departed, but I've heard from many other people that it was awesome, so I'm sure it deserved to win Best Picture. All in all, a good evening.

Chinese New Year

2007-02-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

Today at the mall where my sister works they had a Chinese New Year celebration. Stores had the option of hanging red envelopes containing money outside their stores and a Chinese dragon (which turned out to be a lion) would come around, collect the money, and bless the store. My sister's office took part and it was really cool! According to Yvonne, my sister's lovely Chinese coworker, I would share in the good luck since I was in the office during the blessing. None of us had cameras with us, but Yvonne and I both took pictures with our camera phones.
This is the best picture of the 5 I took. The lion was followed by some drummers, which you can see to the left of the lion. It was totally cool to watch the lion stretch upwards to reach the red envelope, which had lettuce attached to it. Then the lion threw lettuce at us and into the office for good luck. Way cool!

Sunday Summary

2007-02-18T09:17:00.000-08:00

It's only Sunday morning so there isn't much to summarize yet, but I know what I will be doing today, so I thought I'd talk about that. First let me tell you about my knee . . . it's healing a little bit every day. I'm able to walk on it more and more, but I get tired more easily because my walk still isn't 100% back to where it was. So in my quest to go back to living my regular life yesterday, I went out with my best friend for lunch and then we did a bit of shopping (not a lot because a lot of standing around makes my knee hurt, and because it didn't take us long to find what we were looking for anyway). In the afternoon I stayed home and watched a couple of DVDs (Take the Lead with Antonio Banderas and Shall We Dance? with Richard Gere).

Today I will be going with my sister and brother-in-law to Maple Ridge to visit my dad for his birthday. His birthday isn't actually until Thursday the 22nd, but since that's the middle of the week, it's not practical for us to go then. We're also going to celebrate Chinese New Year by having Chinese food for lunch. I haven't had Chinese food for a while, so that should be good. Tonight is the season premiere of The Amazing Race so I'm looking forward to watching that too.

Woot woot!

2007-02-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

Went to the doctor this morning and things turned out really well! When I told the doctor how much better my knee was feeling and how I felt like I could do more walking, he was really shocked, but pleased. The x-rays were normal, he said, and then he said that there was no reason why I couldn't go back to walking to work as long as I was careful (not about the knee necessarily, but about the neighbourhood)! May I reiterate . . . WOOT WOOT! As a result, I was able to walk to the bus stop this afternoon and take the bus the rest of the way home. Tomorrow morning I plan on walking to work. Life is good again!

Going to the Doctor

2007-02-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

Well, in a couple of short hours I should be in the doctor's examining room to find out more about my knee. It is actually feeling much better than it was last week at this time. I feel like it has more mobility, it's not aching as much towards the end of the day, and my limp is disappearing as I'm able to walk more and more naturally. It's obviously still not 100%, but it's feeling so much better already that I really, really, really want to believe that it will heal on its own over the next few weeks. I don't know if that's a realistic wish or not, but there you have it. I've been trying to keep off my leg as much as possible, particularly in the past couple of days when I've been feeling better and wanting to walk more. I don't want to overdo it right now and set my recovery back. I mostly want the doctor to tell me today that it's okay for me to walk to work again in the mornings. That's been the biggest pain (and cost) of all - taking a cab to work every morning! I'm glad I live as close as I do and I've only had to pay around $8 a day, but still, it's added up fast! I can take the bus home from work more easily than I can to work, so I'll still be able to rest my leg a bit. Lovely blog readers, keep your fingers crossed for me today! I'll post again tonight and let you know what the doctor said!

Happy Heart Day

2007-02-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. I hate this holiday. I have never had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day and that just makes me feel like crap. Then I feel like crap for feeling like crap. This year I feel terrible because I usually get valentine cards for my students (sometimes little treats too) and this year I couldn't make it to the store because of my knee. At least one of the other junior teachers is bringing treats for her students, so now I feel really bad. All because of my stupid knee!!!!!!!!!!

The other night I started thinking about getting an MRI. I've never had one before (I've been quite healthy and relatively injury-free all my life, so my visits to the hospital have been minimal), but I've seen them done many times on tv shows like House and E.R. If the MRI is actually like what I've seen on those shows, it scares me a bit. Not the actual test itself, but having to lie still in such a small space for the duration of the test! I get chills just thinking about it! I really must be a bit claustrophobic because when I stop to think about it, it totally freak me out! I guess, if and when I ever get this MRI, I'll have to tell myself to just relax and breathe.

6 Weird Things About Me

2007-02-11T18:41:00.000-08:00

I've seen this meme on several other blogs and I enjoyed all the little details I've learned about those people, so I'm doing one of my own.

One
I have this funny habit of talking to myself. You may not think that's weird, and normally I would agree, but it's gone beyond just talking to myself. I answer myself too. I also narrate the things I'm doing, particularly at work. It's not at all unusual to hear me say something along the lines of, "okay, I'm going to make 10 copies of this grammar package, then I'll send that e-mail to X, and now I'm looking for that worksheet I need for language arts class . . ." I have to tell the people around me to tell me to shut up once in a while or I won't stop!

Two
I once went to a Star Trek convention dressed in a costume. I'd do it again. 'nuff said.

Three
When I was younger one of my favourite snacks was a mustard sandwich. Not a sandwich with mustard on it, but a piece of break with nothing but mustard. Yummy!

Four
I'm 20-something years old and I've never had a drop of alcohol to drink. I never intend to drink alcohol either.

Five
I do not like the movies Bambi or Dumbo. I find them both incredibly boring.

Six
I am a teacher, but I have not yet developed an addiction to coffee. I'll have the occasional cup, particularly if I feel a headache coming on or if I'm really tired, but usually weeks can go by before I pour myself another cup of coffee.

My poor knee

2007-02-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

Went to the doctor this morning. He believes that I've ruptured some cartilage and sent me for an X-ray. He says I need an MRI too, which with the state of our health care here in Canada right now, I will likely have to wait up to a year for. For now I'll be limping around a lot, and I may get some crutches next week. I have to go back and see the doctor next week, so hopefully things will become more clear then. Right now I'm not amused.

Sun Run Training Week 1

2007-02-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

Once again this year, I'm doing the Sun Run. This year I'm actually training beforehand because I'm doing it with my mom and she really wants to train. Today, in the rain, wind, and near-freezing temperatures, we walked from Royal Oak Skytrain Station and Edmonds Skytrain Station (for those of you not from the Lower Mainland, keep reading as I'll be giving you actual numbers in a moment!). The walk took about an hour, roundtrip. Based on what I know about how fast I can walk and the distance I can cover, I estimated that we'd walked about 4 km. I was wrong. It was closer to 4.5! I felt good afterwards and I'm still not at all sore (yet! We'll seee how I feel tomorrow morning!) I still think setting the right pace is key. Anyway, before that walk I had spent a good 25 minutes walking in New Westminster (different story), so I'm guessing I walked about 2 km then. I suppose walking to and from work everyday has really done me good as even after mom and I stopped walking I felt as though I could have gone on much longer! We stopped for a couple of reasons . . . both of us had to go pee, it was really rainy and cold and we were getting pretty wet, and we were getting hungy! We had a good lunch of homemade soup and toast made by my stepfather - thanks Howie! Anyway, we're going to walk again next Sunday, and if the weather is decent we'll go down to the dikes in Delta and walk along the water. At this rate we should be in good shape for the April 15th Sun Run!

EDIT: It's now Tuesday morning (this post was originally made on Sunday night) and I haven't felt a bit sore from the long walk on Sunday. Things are looking good!

Geeky Post

2007-01-31T20:33:00.000-08:00

This post marks a "first" for me . . . it's my first post using the Mozilla Firefox browser! Hopefully all of you reading this won't notice any difference ;-) Over the past couple of years many people have suggested that I try this browser but I always resisted. I figured that Internet Explorer was good enough for me. To a degree, I still think that. My school uses an online database for things like our progress reports and attendance records. In the last couple of months every time I tried to sit down at home and open the database website, I would get rerouted to the homepage of the school. A coworker recently experienced the same problem and told me this morning that after she downloaded Firefox she didn't have any more problems. Lo and behold - same thing when I downloaded Firefox at home! Unfortunately because my program uses a different version of the database that hasn't been finished yet, I'm still not really able to use it at home, but at least now I can access it! I've also discovered that Firefox is fun to play with, but I think I will still continue to use Internet Explorer as my primary web browser.

And the number one show on the planet is . . .

2007-01-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

. . . CSI: Miami! I'm not even joking. I was reading this article in my TV Week magazine about CSI: Miami and at the end of the article was a mini-article about the top 10 shows on the planet, according to the research firm Informa Telecoms and Media. Here's the complete top-ten list:

1. CSI: Miami
2. Lost
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Te Voy a Ensenar a Querer (I Will Teach You to Love)
5. The Simpsons
6. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
7. Without a Trace
8. Inocente de Ti (Innocent of You)
9. Anita, No Te Rajes! (Anita, Don't Give Up!)
10. The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

5 Things

2007-01-21T19:58:00.000-08:00

Here are 5 things you don't know about me (which I stole from here):

1. I can sing/rap the entire theme song to The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. What can I say? It's one of those songs that really sticks in your head!

2. I talk to myself. A lot. And I have been known to answer myself sometimes too. It's the way I organize my thoughts.

3. Right now I have a Barry Manilow song stuck in my head: "Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl . . ."

4. I love men with British accents! Let me reiterate: I LOVE men with British accents! Hugh Laurie, Hugh Grant, Patrick Stewart, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Clive Owen, Daniel Craig, John Hannah . . . the list goes on.

5. Although all my teacher training was with young children (five and six year olds), I discovered that I love teaching teenagers. They drive me crazy sometimes, but connecting with them is really worthwhile.

It's your turn! What don't I know about you?

My Dad

2007-01-15T19:07:00.000-08:00

For some reason I feel compelled to write this post tonight. I don't talk much about my dad since it's difficult to talk about his current circumstances. You see, my dad isn't the same man I knew as I was growing up. He lives in a hospital now, suffering from Alzheimer's disease. As part of the disease, he doesn't really talk anymore and doesn't walk either. I don't think he recognizes me when I visit either, so it's hard to make those visits.

Anyway, usually I confine my thinking about my dad to early in the mornings when I'm walking to work. It's a quiet time when I can be alone with my thoughts. Since I walk to work in the morning, the fresh air and exercise reminds me that I can't dwell on any thoughts for too long as I only have a twenty minute walk. Usually I feel like it's the only time I can really allow myself to feel what I'm feeling. I try not to let my emotions show too much with my friends or other family members. I don't really know why. I feel like I have to carry this burden myself and be strong for others. My mom and dad divorced a long time ago, and even though my mom probably would understand a little bit of how I feel (her own mother had Alzheimer's disease), it's different for her since she lived in a completely different country from her mother and didn't see the daily/weekly/monthly progression of the disease. I guess I also think that it's not fair to make my mom listen to the feelings I have about a man she divorced and doesn't love anymore? After all, she is remarried now. I don't often share my thoughts with my sister either. She has her husband now to share her feelings with, and I kinda feel like I don't belong in that family group anymore. I definitely don't feel like I can share my feelings with my stepmother because she already assumes so much of the burden of taking care of my dad. She visits him daily and helps to feed him and attends his care conferences. I don't want to add to her burden by sharing how I feel. My friends know about my dad, but I can't talk to them about my feelings either since I hate to show any kind of weakness or strong emotions in front of them. I usually take the role of "caretaker" and advice giver in my circle of friends and it's hard to picture myself taking the opposite role.

Anyway, today during my third class my students were listening to a song by Beyonce called "Listen". The song kinda reminds me of some of Whitmey Houston's songs, and that made me think of the movie "The Preacher's Wife". Then I remembered that when I went to see that movie with a friend, my dad was in the same theatre watching the movie too and we ran into each other on the way out! It was such a random, chance meeting and it was really special since we only got to see our dad on weekends after my parents got divorced.

I thought of my dad again during my lunch break as another teacher and I were talking about our skiing experiences and I remarked that both my parents enjoyed skiing when they were younger. That reminded me of a picture I have of a ski trip we took one year to Big White. My sister and I are on a tobaggon with my dad. He looks so young - he has hair! It's brown. He even has facial hair. (ALTHOUGH YOU WOULDN'T HAVE NOTICED THE ABSENCE, BLOGGERS, I'VE HAD TO STEP AWAY FROM MY COMPUTER FOR 15 MINUTES AS I WAS CRYING TOO HARD TO CONTINUE TYPING. I THINK I'LL BE OKAY TO CONTINUE NOW.) Now I'm remembering that one Christmas Eve, before my dad married my stepmom, we had Christmas Eve dinner at my dad's place. He lived in a converted "apartment" above the mechanic's shop he owned (it wasn't zoned to be an apartment, so it was very cold and made of concrete). We had fondue and went to Church. We decorated his place with candy canes. I also remember my dad taking me to Star Trek conventions, including two in Seattle! I remember being in a campground with my parents when I was really young and my dad taking me by the hand and walking me to the bathroom. I came out of the girl's washroom and turned in the wrong direction and got lost. I remember my dad and sister going out skiing and walking the Sun Run together one year. I wish I had gone too. My parent's came to my grad dinner dance and I got to dance with my dad . . .

You know Bindi Irwin, that cute little daughter of the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin? Ever since he died, I can't watch little Bindi on tv. Every time I see her, I just cry. It's like that with the Amanda Bynes/Colin Firth movie "What a Girl Wants" too. Each time Amanda Bynes's character Daphne talks about not being able to dance the traditional father-daughter dance at her wedding, I think about how I'm never going to be able to do that either. It makes me cry every time. Then, at the end of the movie, when (for those of you who haven't seen it, I won't spoil it for you) we discover the happy ending, I cry even harder 'cause that's not going to be me.

I hate this disease! I hate that I'll never be able to walk down the aisle at my wedding on my father's arm. I hate that I'll never be able to dance with my dad. I hate that he won't be able to hold his future grandchildren in his arms. I FUCKING HATE IT! It's so bloody unfair! I know the politically correct thing to say is something along the lines of "I just count my blessings that I had a good father growing up. I'm so much luckier than all those people who didn't have a father, or who had abusive fathers." Even though that's true, that's not how I feel! I want my father back! I feel like Alzheimer's disease is a long, long, long period of mourning for the death of a person you used to know. At least when a person dies you can mourn and then get on with your life. With Alzheimer's disease, the person you love is gone, but their body is still there. Honestly, it's like living in purgatory.

Two

2007-01-13T07:25:00.000-08:00

Seen this on several blogs recently, but stole it from Vesper!

Two names you go by:
1.. Kim
2.. Teacher

Two parts of your heritage:
1.. German
2.. Prussian

Two things that scare you:
1.. Heights
2.. Being told by my strata council that I am responsible for paying a special levy that totals thousands of dollars that I don't have!

Two everyday essentials:
1.. Attendance/Marks book
2.. A good book to read

Two things you are wearing right now:
1.. Woollen socks
2.. Jeans

Two of your favorite bands or musical artists (at the moment):
1.. Rascal Flatts
2.. Avril Lavigne

Two things you want in a relationship (other than love):
1.. lots of laughs
2.. respect

Two truths:
1.. I am a worrier (but I've gotten a lot better over the years!)
2.. I am a wee bit messy (okay, maybe take out the wee bit part!)

Two favorite hobbies:
1.. Surfing the internet
2.. Reading

Two things you need to do this week:
1.. Finish my progress reports!
2.. Clean my bathroom

Two stores you shop at:
1.. Chapters
2.. Payless

Two favorite sports:
1.. Hockey
2.. Volleyball

Two shows you like to watch:
1.. House
2.. Ugly Betty (I just started watching this show and it's awesome!)

Two things you’d buy if money were no object:
1.. First and foremost I'd pay off my students loan and my mortgage
2.. A piano and organ. I know how to play the organ, but I want to learn the piano!

Two wishes for 2007:
1.. A house-elf to do my cleaning for me
2.. More 3-day weekends!
(I made silly wishes on purpose! I'm in a silly mood!)

The obligatory "Happy New Year!" post

2007-01-01T00:46:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Now that's out of the way . . . let me tell you what I did tonight. Normally I don't really do anything for New Year's since to me it's just another day. Today was going to be more of the same, and if I was still awake at midnight, maybe I'd say happy new year to myself. That all changed at 4pm this afternoon however. My best friend called me to tell me that her asshole boyfriend had bailed on her at the last minute. She was pretty upset with him; they were supposed to go out to a function and he opted to go out with his friends instead. They have been going out for nine years and are on the verge of getting married (more on what I think about that at a later date). Because of how late he ended up calling to cancel on her, she couldn't get tickets to go out with some of her friends from work, so she called me. I had already told her I wasn't doing anything, so I invited her over to my place for dinner and Nintendo. We ended up having a really good evening! We went to White Spot for dinner. During dinner she said she wanted to see "Blood Diamond" with Leonardo DiCaprio. Since I wanted to see it to, I said "let's do it!" We drove over to the nearest theatre afterwards to discover that it was starting in 10 minutes. We never experience such awesome timing, so in we went (good movie, but very violent! Leo was really, really good in it. It's hard to believe he was once the "king of the world!"). After the movie we went back to my place and played Mario Party on my gamecube. The game finished about 5 minutes before midnight so we turned on the tv and watched the ball drop in Times Square. Then, because the First Night celebrations were happening at my local mall, the office tower of which I can see from my windows, we watched the fireworks (Jennifer, we had an awesome view! I told you I face the right direction!). Then we chatted for a while about the asshole boyfriend, then she went home (we weren't drinking so don't worry, no drinking and driving happening on our part tonight!) As a bonus, I spent close to an hour cleaning my apartment while she drove over from Vancouver, so the tidying I thought I wouldn't end up doing over my vacation did kind of get done! Sweet! Now, since I'm so awake still, I'm going to go to bed and watch an episode of "House" on DVD. Tomorrow is my last morning to sleep in before I go back to work on Tuesday :-(

Luigi's Mansion

2006-12-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

One of the best gifts I got this Christmas was a copy of the video game "Luigi's Mansion" for the Nintendo Gamecube from my best friend (thanks Sonja!). Yes, I enjoy the occasional video game, particularly if it comes from the Mario (or in this case, Luigi) genre. I also enjoy the Donkey Kong games, but I digress.

I had tried the game a couple of times before (my sister owns it) and hadn't really liked it since I found sucking up ghosts with a vacuum cleaner a wee bit difficult. Owning the game myself allowed me to practice a lot more and I really started to enjoy it. Anyway, I've pretty much been playing the game non-stop since Wednesday, and today I BEAT THE GAME!

Now I have to confess, I had some help. A lot of help, actually. I downloaded a walk-through off the internet (hey, they publish whole books on how to beat the games, and I got the information for free!) and have been using it to help me figure out exactly where to go for each stage of the game. It also contains a handy map so I know the names of each of the rooms I have to go to. I could have figured out the game on my own, but it would have taken a lot longer.

The game was a lot of fun, but I found it a little too easy in some instances. I read an online review of the game that said that because it was one of the first games released for the gamecube, it was mostly designed to show players exactly what the gamecube could do. In some cases I really found this to be true. It was still really neat, so I'm not complaining. Apparently if I restart the game now, I'll have the option of trying a harder mansion, so I'm eager to explore that option. And this time I'll do it all on my own . . . maybe!