Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Hockey And Life

The Canucks finally shook the proverbial monkey off their back last night (and perhaps an actual monkey from their pants; that's the only reasonable explanation for how they played in games four and five) beating Chicago 2-1 in overtime of game seven. Sure, it's only the first round and they're still a good ways from being Stanley Cup Champions, but Chicago has been a problem for Vancouver in the post-season lately.The past two years, we've faced them in round two of the playoffs and they've beaten us both times. Incidentally, we were eliminated on May 11th both years.

I watched the game with baited breath and I screamed so loudly when they won that my cats didn't even crawl out from under my bed to cuddle with me until well after I fell asleep. I was also very happy that the game winner came from Burrows. We watched him bungle a penalty shot and then we watched him turn over the puck in the neutral zone leading to the Blackhawks short-handed goal which tied up the game with less than two minutes left, and then we watched as he made up for all of that by sliding the puck past Corey Crawford (who had been a f*ing wall all f*ing night. That boy--he's younger than me, therefore he's a boy--was worth every penny the Hawks paid him this year in that one game alone!). Congratulations, Mr. Burrows. You done us proud.

Burrows being congratulated by Daniel (I think. I'm 95% sure that number is 22) Henrik.
Correction: I looked at the picture again and realised, duh, why didn't I look at the completely
unobstructed number on the freakin' helmet? Sometimes, my stupidity astounds even myself!

All I can say at this point is BRING ON NASHVILLE!

My other news is that I am attending an adoption information seminar in two weeks. That's right, adoption. (Mom, sorry you had to find out this way but I hadn't actually phoned to confirm my enrolment when I talked to you on the phone today.) I was adopted at birth. Growing up, I always wanted to adopt (at least) one child. I've had amazing opportunities because of being adopted. I have an incredible family who loves me very much and who I love more than I can ever put into words. I have always wanted to pass that love on to another person who would benefit from a forever family.

Actually adopting is a good few years away but it's something that I've started to think about recently (going out on a limb here and saying that turning thirty last year might have had something to do with it). After a year of talking and thinking and pondering and debating and more talking and, well, you get the picture, I'm taking my first timid steps towards beginning the process.

YAY!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

The only person who will find my five minute paint job the least bit amusing is me.

Well, me and other dorks who've read and/or watched Game of Thrones.

Oh, Sean Bean. You pull off the bunny ears almost as well as you pull of the stoic hero!

I'm off to do a few jobs and then I'm heading over to my mom's for Easter dinner. Whether you follow a religion that believes in Easter or you're a skeptic who lists your religion as "invisible space pickle" (because I do), I hope you all have the pleasure of spending today with your loved ones.

Happy Easter.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Dribs and Drabs

It's been over a week since I last posted and the list of items I want to talk about just grows longer and longer. There is no smooth way to segue from item to item so I'm going with ye olde list option. And because the list is a little on the long (and boring) side, I'm throwing in some random pictures BECAUSE I CAN!

Spring is finally here! Sorta... still a bit cooler than normal but hey! Flowers!

1. I didn't read a single book in March. Not one. It was just not a good month for getting anything done that wasn't 'essential' (eating is essential, bathing is essential, reading is not essential). That puts me at roughly three books behind for my two a month goal, but I know I can make it up because I'm halfway through three books as we speak. I never really was one for reading on book at a time.

That's me getting arrested for not reading.Mounties totally do that right?
Arrest children for not reading enough?
Because they probably should.

2. My Aunt Joan who reads this (Hi Joan!) put me in touch with her friend who is going to Ghana to volunteer. Her friend was looking for information about volunteering. I was hesitant at first because I really didn't think I could be that helpful having volunteered in Tanzania (it's like asking for information about Vancouver from someone who's only been to Toronto). Through our email exchanges, however, I realised that there's a lot of information that I have about volunteering in Tanzania that can be applied to volunteering overseas in general (and especially in developing countries).

As a result of this, I'm going to work on a volunteer page for this blog which will contain this information. It is currently a work in progress and it may be a good month before I actually get it up, but if you have volunteered overseas and have any tips, tricks, secrets, hints, suggestions, or warnings, please share.

This was before I realised his diaper was leaking and he had peed all down my back.
True story.

3. In the same vein, a huge, HUGE thank you to everyone who has supported Matoto in our Ten Days event. We are still collecting all the money before we confirm out total (it's a chicks hatching thing), but we are eternally grateful for all the support we have received. I nu wali.

Education helps level the playing field.
(I really need a drummer to just follow me around.)
(BUT IT'S TRUE!)

4. Shannon started doing OrgJunkie's 52 week organize challenge. I had a few too many things on my plate to start the challenge at the time but kept it in the back of my mind for later. Well, it's later. On Friday, I had to conduct a search under the bathroom sink for *ahem* feminine hygiene products. I'm sure the cupboard under my bathroom sink is like many other such cupboards: plenty of items go in but toilet paper, the aforementioned FHP, and cheap bulk purchase toothpaste are the only items that come out. After five minutes, I finally found some FHP. They weren't mine. I can only assume they were my roommates. She moved out three years ago this June. Note taken; 52 week Org Challenge will start shortly (although I will not be doing the weekly blogging questions, I will occasionally talk about it on here).

Important question: do I organise these alphabetically or by amount of geek-cred they give me?

5. Last year, my old high school started an Alumni Band. We practiced for about six weeks and then opened for the current senior and jazz bands at the annual Mother's Day concert. Well, they decided to do it again and I decided to rejoin. Let this be a lesson for you children: once a geek, always a geek.

I miss band trips. Why couldn't we redo that part of high school band?
Who wouldn't want to be stuck on a bus for 10 hours with
people you barely talked to 15 years ago?
6. Playoffs are in full swing. For those who are not Canadian, I'm referring to ice hockey playoffs. (Seriously? Do the Americans really need to specify ice hockey on their broadcasts? When was the last time they televised a field hockey game on national television?) My boys were doing really well until last night (when they got trounced 7-2 by Chicago but when you obviously forget to show up to a game, that's what happens). Assuming they don't completely choke tomorrow night, expect a few hockey-related, beer-fueled posts on here. Just a warning.

The Canucks' skill level on Tuesday was somewhat akin to these guys.
Still, love my boys. My dad told me to cheer for the underdogs because when they win, it's a sweeter victory.
I have suffered through a lot of bad years and it really has made this year so rewarding.

M dad also told me not to be a damn fool about it which is why I don't cheer for the Leafs.

7. I have to speak German in three weeks. Granted, this lady speaks English but where would the fun be in that? Ich muss Deutsch sprechen!

YAY GERMANY!
Wait, this is the flag of the Swiss Canton Wallis. My bad.
I can't wait until she starts laughing at my Canadian-Swiss accent in German.
Grueesächt! Chuchichäschtli! Chässchuechli!

8. There's more but I haven't been in bed before midnight once in the last week. I might have been able to pull of working on five hours sleep when I was twenty but now it just makes me moody and short-tempered. Actually, it did that to me in my twenty's as well but we were all so sleep-deprived and hopped up on caffeine that we didn't notice each other's foul moods.

8.a. I'm a little obsessed with the mini-series on HBO called Game of Thrones (of which I am currently reading the book--almost done--and am also obsessed with) plus Doctor Who starts up this weekend... I'm just saying that my writing might be a little distracted and/or very sci-fi/fantasy/hockey heavy for the next few weeks/months. I'm sorry but I'm a dork. You all knew this when you started reading this... unless you're new here in which case: hello!

I got chills when I first saw this and not just because Winter Is Coming!

Monday, April 11, 2011

The Dreaded Lurgy

About two weeks ago, I thought I was on the verge of getting the flu. I had that achy, sore, lethargic feeling so I took a night off dancing and pampered myself with a hot bedtime bevvy and an early bed time. It seemed to do the trick.

By the time last Friday rolled around, I couldn't concentrate on some writing I was working on. The weekend consisted of making myself go out for previously planned social commitments and staring at the same writing trying to will itself to fix what I perceived was wrong with it. "Write yourself better," I moaned repeatedly at it to no avail.

After a busy but very low-key Sunday, I crashed at 9:30. I had to accept defeat to the chest/head/throat thing that had been festering in me for two weeks. I slathered myself with Vicks VapoRub and crawled into bed.

Tonight is going to be a repeat. Hopefully I'll be back to semi-interesting posts in the near future.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

A Geek on Her Birthday

My friends at work made me a birthday card. They followed the tradition I started a few months back of making the birthday card. The first few cards were born out of necessity when we had forgotten two birthdays, but then it became a thing: what crappy card coloured with highlighters would Andrea give you this time? And now I have received my very first crappy work card. It brings a tear to my eye. It was devoid of highlighters but that's okay because it was a Doctor Who picture on the front. You NEVER ruin a Doctor Who picture with highlighters!

As we settled down to start our workday, Lester* came over to my cubicle.

"We found another picture of that thing..."

"It's a Dalek."

"Right, whatever. Anyway, we found another picture and it said "you will be exterminated" and JBobby* was asking me what that meant and I was like "I don't know, do I look like I watch Doctor Who?"

"It's what they say. It's their threat. EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! And then a little blue laser beam comes out of that thing there and they kill you."

"Okay. So, we went with this picture instead and then we gave the card to Darth* to sign, and did you read what he wrote?"

"Hopefully you don't get exterminated."

"Right." She laughed.

I smiled.

"I went over to point it out to him," and it was at this point in her story that I started to laugh. Not because I found it funny for the same reasons she did, but because I found it hilarious that she didn't realise he was just writing what any Doctor Who fan would write on the inside of a Dalek card. It's like having a Friends card with Chandler on the front and writing 'Could I WISH you a happier birthday?'

"...he didn't find it that funny. I was trying to point out to him how funny it was that he wrote the same thing the other card had said but he wasn't really laughing about it. So I said to him 'I guess one things abundantly clear' and he replied 'that I'm a giant dork?'" More laughter from Lester.

I'm laughing at this point but still for a completely different reason than Lester.

"We are both giant dorks," I agree.

I turn to my card with a smile still on my face as Lester heads back to her cubicle. She pauses at JBobby's desk before sitting down.

"Yeah, she didn't find it that funny either."

My non-funny Doctor Who birthday card
(made with love and work supplies)

*Names, as always, have been changed to protect the guilty innocent.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Next Comes Saturday

I had plans for a post today but two things happened:
  1. I got distracted by boring things like housework.
  2. My computer is now moving at a speed just slightly faster than the glaciers at the end of the last ice age.
I'm off now for fabulous Ethiopian food followed by a hockey game.

Hopefully my computer will be more cooperative tomorrow.

PS. You can still donate to Matoto's Ten Day Event using the button on the right.