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.
Showing posts with label Weekend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weekend. Show all posts
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Woot woot for long weekends!
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.
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.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Outlet Shopping
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 ;-)
Monday, March 26, 2007
Woot Woot for the Sun
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!)
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!)
Friday, November 10, 2006
Rain, rain, GO AWAY!
Normally I enjoy rain, but there comes a point where it gets to be too much! This morning I woke up to another rainstorm similar to Monday's. I opted not to go for the rubber boots this morning and decided to take the bus to work - something I haven't done in about a year. I did manage to stay drier, but I got to work twenty minutes earlier than usual. Since I had done all my prep already, there wasn't much for me to do. C'est la vie! At least my pants remained relatively dry!
On the agenda for this weekend: lunch with my best friend tomorrow (mmmm, back to White Spot with the hot, competent waiter and the delicious sweet potato fries!), and a visit with my dad on Sunday. Monday is reserved for sleeping in and doing laundry since it's a holiday.
In technological news . . . I just downloaded Internet Explorer 7. It is very similar to Mozilla Firefox which I don't personally use but have seen in action a lot. I'm quite pleased with it so far. I particularly like the idea of tabbed browsing. I think I'll download it on my work computer one of these days. Speaking of work, it sounds like we're going to be getting new computers soon! My computer has actually held up quite well, but newer sounds better to me! We're getting flat screen monitors, which is really cool. As with all things though, I'll just wait and see.
Have a wonderful weekend lovely readers!
On the agenda for this weekend: lunch with my best friend tomorrow (mmmm, back to White Spot with the hot, competent waiter and the delicious sweet potato fries!), and a visit with my dad on Sunday. Monday is reserved for sleeping in and doing laundry since it's a holiday.
In technological news . . . I just downloaded Internet Explorer 7. It is very similar to Mozilla Firefox which I don't personally use but have seen in action a lot. I'm quite pleased with it so far. I particularly like the idea of tabbed browsing. I think I'll download it on my work computer one of these days. Speaking of work, it sounds like we're going to be getting new computers soon! My computer has actually held up quite well, but newer sounds better to me! We're getting flat screen monitors, which is really cool. As with all things though, I'll just wait and see.
Have a wonderful weekend lovely readers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
