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!

Introductions and Resolutions

First, a very important announcement: I have named my Venetian Cat Marionette. Ladies and, well, probably just ladies, let me introduce Sir Mountcatten von Pussenberg GBE.

Part of me wishes I had been this creative when naming my actual cats instead of just naming them after hockey players, but how often am I going to have to shout at Sir Mountcatten von Pussenberg to get off the counters? Point taken, self.

I actually took the time to set a few resolutions this year. More importantly, I actually sat down and thought about how to achieve them. That's usually been my problem in the past, I come up with these goals but I don't actually think about what is needed to reach them. I assume I'll figure it out as I go about living life. Well, my German is only a smidgen better than it was this time last year so obviously the idea of just bumbling along and letting it sort itself out isn't working. Shocking, I know!

There are a couple of fitness goals but they're going on the other blog because that's where they belong, but for the non-fitness ones:

1. Get German back to a fluent level - I said at one point that if I wasn't done this by the end of last year, I'd walk away from this goal but I let this goal get pushed to the side for French (long story). Once the urgent need for French passed, I dropped them both. I will spend at least four hours a week on German, whether that be going over my old textbooks, reading, conversations in German, or watching German movies/TV shows. Using the CEFR guide, I am aiming to successfully pass a B2 German practice test before the end of the year.

2. Read 20 books for fun - Thanks to the Great Book Challenge, my goal for this year should actually be 24 (2 a month) and although that would be doable if I stuck to a normal sized book, there's one book I want to read which is 1979 pages and another one that's almost as long. Although I'm still going to aim for 24 overall, I'm setting the goal at 20 so I don't feel too much pressure to skip the big books.

3. Cross 20 items off my 101 in 1001 list

Anyone else have some resolutions/goals they've set for 2011 they'd like to share? No? How about a pint of ice cream you'd like to share?