Movie Review

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

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

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!)

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

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

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

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!

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?)

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

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

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

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

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!

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 . . .

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

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

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

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!

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 . . .

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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

Technology rocks!

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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.

*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

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

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

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!