so here it is, march 28, and in southern ontario it's still snowing. apparently this is unusual?!
for my first season here, it went pretty well, all things considered. of course i miss being out west on the real hills, but at least i'm not somewhere where i can't ride at all. we had some pretty wild storms this year, which helped appease me. the season managed to start at the end of november, which i have no real complaints with. and it's still going now, so hopefully i can get another day or two in before heading to whistler! it's also snowing today so i guess that's alright.
i've sampled a bit of what ontario has to offer by way of ski bumps, and managed to find something to keep me occupied at all of them, with the exception of chicopee. sorry to any who call that home, but ouch. i didn't make it to glen eden, mslm, or tremblant. leaves me something to do next year! this year i did get a hot new onesie, which is fanfreakintastic.
so here's where i went this year.... complete with pictures now since apparently i should always include pictures! in no particular order..
made full use of my 5x7 pass. it was nice to stand at the top and see water, reminded me of riding mt washington at home in that sense. i pretty much lucked out on the days i went, had one icy day the entire year, and that's not so bad. taught a couple friends to ride here, and it was still fun. broke my helmet overshooting a landing. glades weren't too bad, they had snow again the other day so i was happy. figured since i'm in ontario i should check out the park, but definitely wasn't ready for the big air/big rails of the real park, so it was nice to have a couple beginner options. not that i used them much, i was too busy hip checking trees!
for the first day of the season it wasn't all bad. pretty tiny, they only had one lift open and a couple runs, but it was enough to say "winter's finally here!". it was great to get a feel for my new setup, it felt fantastic from the moment i strapped in.
having a free place to stay in huntsville made this more exciting. easy to get bored here though, not a lot of challenge on the main runs. had a decent park for beginners though, so i got to pretend like i was a real ontario rider and hop on and off rails.
we went for $10 tuesday, thinking damn, can't beat that deal! and so it was insanely crowded (it was also march break). their idea of a black diamond is about half a second of steep incline followed by flat. the park was poorly designed and there was no park etiquette to speak of. in fact, no mountain etiquette at all.
if only it were a more impressive list... but i guess we make do with what we have! and being in dundas is actually pretty good, since we're right on the escarpment. when there was snow in town, it made it easy to find at least little hills to ride on.
after the disappointment of chicopee mike and i went to the conservation area, built our own mini booter not 5 minutes from our door, and spent the rest of the day practising hitting that. i finally figured out how to pop and grab, and it turned into one of the best days all season for me.
sure ontario doesn't hold a candle to out west, but i figure, for ontario, this season wasn't half bad. i can't wait to ride some real glades in whistler, hike a couple bowls, and ride some runs that last for more than thirty seconds.
hoo-ray for telus!
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Published by kendrat: 7:50 AM
Updated On: 3/29/2008 at 10:04 AM
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so mike and i are officially in ontario. and how. we got to drive the whole way (well, mike drove while i took pictures and sang), only got lost four times (two of which i still maintain were not our fault!), never ran out of gas, and still made it to ontario in time for thanksgiving.
we started it all off with the def leppard and styx concert in vancouver. it was everything i'd built it up to be, complete with middle-aged groupies and lighters waving in time with music. both bands actually put on a surprisingly good show, and although there's nothing better than watching a band perform in the prime of their lives, watching them perform throughout middle age is one of a kind.
our next stop was whistler, where mo was kind enough to throw us a goodbye party. it was awesome to see everyone, and thanks to all who came out. wish we could have stayed longer, but as always, it was onwards and forwards the next day. we had a long drive through to calgary. went the wrong way on the reserve north of pemberton, and again in lilloet. but we were pretty good at correcting ourselves, and didn't go too far out of our way! in lilloet we stopped at the tourist info centre, which doubled as a hunting museum. it was a little eerie asking directions under the glassy-eyed stares of the counter girl and multiple elk, bighorn sheep, deer, and moose heads.
we got through the rockies while it was still light out, and the views made it all worthwhile. the highway we were on was in desperate need of repairs for the most part... in fact, just outside kamloops we actually got caught in construction! not that we really minded, i mean, toyota paseos are built for offroading right?? well, mike thought so anyways. it wasn't until we went over the railroad in alberta that my poor little car got its first taste of flight.
we finally chugged into calgary, having made surprisingly good time after all. something about men drivers and stuff... anyways, we had talked to kyle and he was willing to put us up for a couple nights in exchange for my questionable talents as a model and makeup artist. so, with misplaced faith in googlemaps, we turned left where we should have turned right (the map said slight left! so really, we were following directions perfectly!), and got lost in hidden valley. the thing with calgary is, every little section uses derivations of the same name to demarcate itself from the rest of the town. so we were faced with the choices of hidden valley road, hidden valley crescent, hidden valley heights, hidden valley close, and so on and so on. for how easily we found it, it damn sure wasn't hidden well enough! in the dark, we trundled back and forth until mike said "oh, i think this looks familiar... let's go this way..." and suddenly we were on the map again. whew! i think we were both quite relieved when we found the address we thought was right, and kyle answered the door, instead of some irate old lady in a housecoat. or worse, a happy old man asking if we liked popsicles.
the next day, kyle graciously showed us around calgary, and the weather cooperated (there were a lot of clouds in BC), so we had a fun day. we'd booked the photo shoot for 5, and after two hours of having my hair pulled out by the roots, i was able to slap on some makeup and get the real photos started! apparently my hairdo was worth $300 or so... it looked fantastic, but my only masochistic tendencies involve ink and needles, so i was rather happy that my $300 wasn't necessary, and i can put it to much better use! as for the shoot itself, you'll all just have to wait for the calendar to see the fruits of our labours!
the next morning we were off to drumheller, to look at dinosaurs. mike was making every dinosaur joke under the sun (and then some...), which i didn't find very amusing after the first five minutes, let alone the next three hours... but the museum made up for my frustration! i felt a lot better once we got inside, because bones don't talk, and they definitely don't make jokes about "ooh, dinosaur crossing! we have to be careful not to hit one, or they might go extinct again!" once we'd had all the dinosaur bones we could take, we went off to find our hotel. mike was pretty excited when he saw a hotel advertising "WATERSLIDES!!"
and so we stayed with the waterslides. mike had way too much fun with that... he would go up the stairs, and throw himself into the slide, emerging at the bottom giggling like a little schoolgirl, having almost cracked his skull open on the opposite side of the pool. i went once, but really didn't get the magicalness of it. oh well. we were joined in the pool by an older, rather large man, and seeing mike having such fun, he decided he just had to try it too. i was scared he was going to get stuck, but no, he made it through fine and plopped into the water, also giggling like a little schoolgirl. must be a guy thing.
the next morning we stopped off to visit the largest t-rex ever, which for a minimal fee, we could have climbed up to look out over the town of drumheller. we adopted the "lets not and say we did" philosophy, and took a couple pictures to satisfy our inner tourist, and hopped in the car, heading off to saskatoon.
we'd planned to stop in tramping lake along the way, where my grandmother was born. our directions (again, google maps), specifically told us to go left on highway 21. we found highway 31, and thought "oh, it will be soon!". miles of fields and a few dirt roads later, we found ourselves at highway 4. shi*t. we'd gone too far. but we hadn't seen a single sign indicating which dirt road was highway 21. so we doubled back a bit, trying to find a street sign, any street sign, which would tell us where the hell highway 21 was. or highway 656, that would've worked too. we knew we were supposed to be driving over a lake, and when we drove over a ... pond ... mike said "that might have been it!" he nearly had me convinced, when we passed over another, larger pond. "oh, i bet that was it" he said. after the third "lake" we crossed, i stopped listening to him.
we never did find it, and eventually admitted defeat, continuing on to saskatoon. i guess finding a community of 20 people is a little more difficult than it should be.
the next day was saskatoon to winnipeg. a lot of people will say the prairies are boring. i agree. sort of. growing up on an island in the pacific ocean, i definitely didn't have much exposure to rolling fields of grain, so i found it interesting. there was always something to look at, and a lot of ramshackle old barns and sheds, which i quite like. winnipeg turned out to be quite the treat, believe it or not.
we decided to stay at the holiday inn, since i was paying, or so mike says. when we checked in, we were offered a suite, a fancy room, or a kids room. being cheap, we went for the kids room, and man did we ever make the right choice! as soon as we got on the elevator, mike was already getting giddy, talking to the fish in their aquarium. as soon as the door opened, the first thing we saw was a pirate mural. mike started giggling. we stepped out and looked to our right, where there was a huge jungle gym with another pirate walking the plank. mike giggled some more. we walked down to our room, and there was a treasure chest on our door. mike ... well, you probably have a good idea by now what he was doing!
in essence, a kids room is a glorified playpen. inside our room there was a queen bed (supposedly for the parents), and a whole separate room for the kids, complete with bunkbeds and more pirate murals! the kids also had their own TV and PS2, which we did not use becuase we spent too much time in the 'play room' right outside our window. we played foosball, went swimming in the kiddie pool, and got attacked by a shark named jeffrey (his mother was quite content to let him chase us around the pool). as usual, onwards and forwards the next day, we pushed into the dreaded ontario, and saw one of our only sunsets on the trip (lots of clouds).
thunder bay to sault ste marie the next day, we really wanted a hotel with a pool, so we asked around, and since the best western (mike REALLY wanted to enjoy its waterslide, unfortunate for him) was playing host to three tour buses, we opted for the quiter option, which turned out to be not all that quiet in the end anyways. we did get to enjoy a thunderstorm that night though, which i found pretty exciting!
ontario was where we finally decided to get out of the car at real rest stops, not just pulling onto the shoulder for thirty seconds of waving cameras around. i figured since i'm going to have to live here, i might as well make it worth my while!
the thunderstorm followed us all the way home the next day, and i was a bit scared that the power would go out right at the end of the canucks game, but it managed to hold together and i got to watch the canucks win in overtime, so at least my first night as a resident of dundas was exciting!!!
and now i realise i've written way too much, as usual. oh well, i guess that happens! mike and i have been settling in (or back in, in his case). it's been a whirlwind, but i think things are finally starting to settle down. our internet is finally up, which means i can actually start applying for jobs. yay! hope everyone is well and you guys didn't miss us too much!
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Published by kendrat: 3:22 PM
Updated On: 10/20/2007 at 11:20 AM
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Thursday, September 13, 2007
so screw january first, it seems like september's the time of new beginnings. and a new beginning it is for me; mike's finally convinced me that ontario will be a-ok, and so we're leaving my dingy little one-bedroom for his two-bedroom-one-and-a-half-baths condo. i know, i know, the usual migration for boarders is east to west, not west to east, but can't a girl follow her heart as well as the snow sometimes?
what on earth am i going to do in ontario, you may ask... well... um... yeah. here are my options:
a) collect cans from people's bins at 4AM on recycling day and return for refund
b) shovel snow for little old ladies
c) be a snowboard instructor
d) be an artist
e) stay at home mom
f) collect EI and sit on my duff
g) make home movies
and after a lot of thought, i came up with reasons why i couldn't do any of them...
a) because people in ontario are terrible at recycling
b) snow? what snow? it's all ice dammit, and i don't own an ice pick
c) see above, minus ice pick
d) i have no artistic talent whatsoever... whoops
e) not pregnant, too broke to be preggers
f) i quit, so therefore no EI cheques
g) no camcorder, no one would want to see a time lapse of how fast my hair grows anyways.
in all seriousness, though, i'll probably end up looking for work in my same field, care. i'm contemplating going back to school, too. the horrors of last go round of university has worn off some, so i feel like maybe i could handle more school, this time for a masters of psychology. masters degree = more job opportunities = more money in the long run. but, masters degree also = staying in ontario for at least two years. decisions, decisions. i have until december at least to decide if i want to make the enrollment deadline or not.
as for right now, i'm bloody sick of packing. we've used up every single empty box we own, and even a few we don't own (they showed up in front of our door this morning magically), and now we're on to garbage bags. what can i say, we're classy movers. tomorrow's the big move day, luckily my parents have lots of storage at their place (once i reclaim my room anyways), so we can store it all there for when we can finally move back. it's amazing how much stuff gets accumulated after a year and a half... and how much i'm not allowed to give away!
so, in other news, mike and i both quit our jobs at the end of august, with the intention of taking some time to actually enjoy ourselves before we leave. and it's worked out pretty well i might say! we went sailing for 5 days, which was awesome. visited a few of the gulf islands, and even though the weather didn't cooperate at first, it turned lovely and we had some great sailing weather (we actually got the sail up this year!).
we rested for a few nights, then went off to tofino (green point campground) for two nights and three days of the best weather tofino has likely ever seen. we really lucked out, it was gorgeous. lots of sun and sand, with another day we might have had time to rent surf gear, but we had to be home to pack and move. in the near future we have a three day trip to ontario planned, for mike's grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, then another camping trip to strathcona park, and then it's the big drive to ontario. really looking forwards to the drive, should be great.
ANNNNNNNNNNNNNND... so here i was, making all these plans for the drive, working on the 27th being the day to leave, heading up to whistler for a night, blahdy blah blah... and then i find out that my sister's bought me a ticket for def leppard on the 27th in vancouver as a birthday gift! and mike's got us a hotel room 400m from GM place or something, and styx is opening for them, and yadda yadda yadda! definitely going to be an awesome birthday celebration, that's for sure! and so totally worth pushing back the departure by a day! i'm so impressed the two of them kept it quiet for so long (eryn bought the tickets months ago)!! super super stoked, i can't wait (THANKS GUYS!)!
so all in all, a super exciting month i'm having, it can only get better from here!
so ever since third year university, when a proper east indian dude fixed me proper east indian chai, i have been in love. with chai lattes that is, not the dude. if i miss my breakfast chai latte, the day just isn't the same. it makes a delicious refreshing beverage on the hill, and it makes a tasty time-killing companion. up until now, i have been buying the tetley chai tea bags, chucking a bag in a mug of milk, and nuking the hell out of it.
WELL. all that changed. someone, who shall remain nameless and faceless, lured me down the path of Starbucks Lattes. like throwing money into a bottomless well, so have Starbucks chais sucked me in. so delicious, so soothing, so incredibly naughty. because, at almost $5 a cup (sorry, a grandiventiloolipapa, or whatever the hell they call them), i was buying into one of my least favourite chains. but, like any addiction, so hard to stop once you've started. and then, i discovered Starbucks ginger cookies. oh. my. god. so tasty! and nothing goes better than a Starbucks chai latte than a Starbucks ginger cookie. nothing.
so here i was, being sucked in to the vancouver lifestyle (minus the non-fat-soy-extra-foam-caffeine-free-sugar-free crap) head first, kicking and screaming all the way. ok, well, not really kicking and screaming, more like drooling and smiling, but you get the drift. anyways. i have found my salvation.
the other day, cruising through costco, mike and i stumbled upon 'tazo chai latte base', the very stuff Starbucks uses! at a fraction of the cost, we picked up three boxes, and now, five mugs later (at about 30 cents a mug), i am happy as a pig in mud! AND, i'm not watching my money prance away down a long, dark, hallway with a bright white light at the end of it.
now all i need to do is find a ginger cookie substitute...
in conclusion, screw you starbucks! i don't need you any more!
so my dog has been running away recently... my parents said that she would run away and not come home, even to eat, for hours and hours. she'd leave her breakfast, dinner, behind, which is so unlike her. but, she was still full of energy, communicative, loving. anyways, my mum took her to the vet today, and the vet thinks her liver may be failing. she's staying at the vet's overnight for observation and blood tests, but the vet's not giving a very positive outlook. my pup's 9. tomorrow we'll know what's wrong.
in the meantime, the canucks are playing again tonight, and if they don't step it up, they're out. i thought they were doing well after the second on tuesday, but then they just let it all go to hell. eh well.
and i finally put up my telus pictures in a gallery, check 'em out!
so i figure it's about time to take my boobs off the front page of my blog (sorry konk) and say a big all around thank you to the wonderful people who made telus this year so awesome. i had a kickass time, boarded every single day i was up there (and more than one run i may add!), met some great people, and re-met some old favourites. of course, there were some noticeable absences this year too, but we tried to fill the gaping void you left with too much alcohol and weed.
oh wait, we were planning on having too much alcohol and weed anyways, so..... yeah.
cheers all! i'll put pictures up as soon as i'm not feeling lazy.
don't hold your breath.
and by the by, coldMD actually does work!
so my boobs grew again. i thought they were supposed to stop after puberty?? hell no, apparently. as if bra shopping wasn't difficult enough as it was, finding the one 34D left at the store was like finding a million dollar bill lying on the ground. and stupid me managed to rip my favourite bra, meaning it needed replacing. so off i go, with my trusty sidekick, and lo and behold, none of the bras fit. they all give me quadruple boob action, which, i'm sure, is super sexy and all, but i would always feel like i needed to grow another pair of nipples to match. actually, then i'd have an excuse to get some more piercings, so it wouldn't be all bad... but i digress. turns out the mammoths have grown AGAIN (which actually explained the occasional extra boobs in my old favourites). bah humbug. godzilla tits strike again.
and yes, i wish they breathed fire. at least then they'd do useful stuff like roast marshmallows and stuff.
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Published by kendrat: 8:23 PM
Updated On: 3/31/2007 at 8:24 PM
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so my dog had the unfortunate luck to run into certain incredibly rude dogs on thursday. my mum was walking her in the local park, and this lady with her 7 dogs was on the beach. two of her dogs came to say hello to my pup, and decided they didn't like her. so they each grabbed an end, and tried to rip pixie apart. luckily the lady's friend came and separated her dogs, he's an animal behaviour specialist. pix was bleeding all over, so my mum rushed her off to the vet, where she was put under and stitched up. two of the bites were so deep that they had to be drained. she's on doggie drugs for healing, but she doesn't have to wear the queen elizabeth collar. i saw her yesterday, and she's doing well, a lot more lively than i would've expected.
the lady who owned the attacking dogs has agreed to foot the vet bills; apparently she was deeply apologetic. i took some pictures of pix last night, here's how she's doing...
she doesn't seem too bothered by the stitches, and apparently she's the model dog when it comes to medication taking, so it's all good! she'll be 100% soon, thank goodness.
yesterday a good friend (and coworker) of mine was brutally attacked. her fiance tried to kill her with the closest object to hand: a samurai sword. thank god it was dull, otherwise we would be without one of the best people i know. i still can't get my brain around it; it's completely out of left field, or whatever the saying is. totally unexpected, he always came across as a nice guy. and i know she wouldn't have stuck around if he was routinely a shi*t, she's such a strong person and would never put up with it. i can't even imagine what she must be going through right now...
i barely ever hear of stuff like this happening in victoria, let alone to someone i respect and care about... it sucks.
Friday, February 23, 2007
and man was it amazing. i had such an awesome time, met so many great people and relaxed my ass off. ate delicious food (and some not so delicious food... damn misleading buffets!) every day, enjoyed the sunshine and the BEACH. oh man, the beach.
miles and miles of sand and sun and more sand. and pretty much deserted, as we were at the only resort within the area. there were coral reefs just offshore, and so we spent lots of time snorkelling around them. saw some interesting corals and fish, and we even met a spear fisherman trailing a long line of fish, strung through their gills. every morning after breakfast we'd walk along the beaches... through the mangroves, and wading through the shallows, swimming whenever we felt like it. there was always a game of beach volleyball going on that we could join in, then at noon it was time to learn the merengue on the beach.
after merengue lessons it was aerobics time, when we got to watch muscly men in spandex shorts run on the spot and hump thin air while we ran on the spot and humped thin air right along with them. (this was before we discovered stretching class with eryn's favourite perv-recipient)
after lunch, it was nap (siesta) time. i don't know who the brilliant person was who invented siesta time, but i owe him/her a HUGE thank you. with the siesta i was able to play volleyball and swim all afternoon, and last all night on the dance floor.
about five times a day, we'd hear the resort theme song, and be coerced into dancing the choreography to the song. the entertainment staff (some of the cutest girls and boys i've ever seen) was great at convincing everyone we really wanted to dance, and not only dance, but sing along with the song. by the end both eryn and i had the choreography down pat, even if we did miss a few of the thrusts due to bad timing. what can i say, uncoordination runs in the family.
speaking of the entertainment staff, they are the ones who kept us going, and who made our stay so amusing. eryn and i would walk around the pool, and as soon as one of them saw us, they'd shout "SEESTERS!" and we'd be talked into a round of bocce ball, sandal flipping, volleyball, ping pong... you name it, we did it. and at night, the whole family would be out, and we'd get called up as "seesters and mami and papi!". made it like one big family. and i am proud to say we met an italian man named fabio! what a fantastic name! we'd never met a fabio before... fabio. he was a good dancer too. and almost as crazy as eryn and i. and without further ado, may i introduce the one and only, FABIO!
for the first three days of our stay it was sunny and warm and beautiful. for the fourth day it was rainy and warm and beautiful. day number five was mixed sun and cloud and warm and beautiful. days six and seven were more of the same. are we seeing a pattern here!? warm and beautiful!!!! it was great. even on the cloudy days we could wear bikinis around, which i'm sure the old men at the resort appreciated.
one of our days we spent on a "jeep safari". we took an open bus through the backroads of the dominican, into the interior. we saw a lot of the dominican people, their houses, their ways of life, their children. most of the people travel by motorbike/dirtbike. quite a few by donkey/horse, and more by SUV/4WD. makes sense, since the roads are pretty crappy. we did a lot of bouncing around in the jeep, and seatbelts were useful and mandatory. we stopped at a rubber production ... house. there was rubber hanging everywhere to dry, and a press to thin it out. the children gave us flowers and wanted to be in every picture we took. i had one young boy so intrigued by my camera that he spent ten minutes watching the display screen and comparing it to what was really in front of him. and whenever i went to take a picture of something, he ran to be in the shot. after that, we travelled through the jungle some more, through streams and over hills, to a farm. there we sampled the local produce, and my god was it delicious. fresh fruits, cocoa beans, coffee, coconut... i'd never had fresh fresh coconut before, and man was it tasty. i could've eaten that and nothing else for the rest of the trip, but then i'd have been pooping constantly, because fresh coconut is probably the best laxative out there. i mean.... girls don't poop. right. anyways. we had hot chocolate made directly from cocoa beans, i dont know what they put in it, but i felt like i was in heaven. then it was bananas covered in grated cocoa and honey made from coffee flowers. damn, i'm drooling just writing about this. ok, time to move on... let's just say, dominican food rocks!
after another drive, we stopped at a ranch for lunch, where we witnessed a cockfight. now, the roosters just pecked at each other, and the ranchers didn't let them kill each other, but it's a national sport so to expose us tourists to the culture, it was deemed necessary. i thought it was interesting, my dad was disgusted. there ya go. our tour guide warned us not to eat too much at lunch, because we were off to the beach next for a walk and a swim. it was an awesome beach, full of volcanic rocks and even more sand. plus the surf was up high, so it made for some fun wading around as we had to wait for the wave to recede before we could get around the rocks! after the beach it was on to the waterfall, where most of us enjoyed a short walk (i heard one of the older ladies complaining - she was rather large) to the river. we all cooled off in the water under the fall, and a local boy jumped into the pool from 40 feet up a tree. finally it was time to return to the resort, after a long day. it was an eye opener to be sure, seeing more of the less well-off areas of the island. the one thing that stuck out for me was how happy everyone was. not just the children, but the adults smiled and waved as the bus went past. there didn't seem to be any resentment towards foreigners, and i thought that was pretty special.
on the day we walked to the closest town, las terrenas, it poured rain on us. during the downpour, a taxi stopped in front of us, offering us a lift. as we only had enough for the taxi ride home, we declined, but he insisted he was going to las terrenas anyways, and he would take us there for free. i thought that was pretty cool of him, he wanted to chat and practise his english. eryn and i met another man like that on our very first day. he was sitting on the beach above the high tide mark, and he beckoned us over. initially i thought he was a beach vendor, but he just wanted to "talk english" with us.
at the resort, the entire staff was also very friendly and helpful. i know the entertainment crew were paid to be so, but it wasn't just them, and everyone seemed genuine in their happiness to be with the guests. every night at dance time, the staff would walk through the seated guests, picking them at random to dance with. it encouraged everyone to get up and dance and practise their newly learned merengue moves. eryn even graciously accepted me as her steady dance partner! we had fun with it, and other guests told us how much they'd enjoyed watching the two of us dance together. whether that was just the fact that they liked seeing two girls dancing together or whether we actually pulled off dancing as a couple, i don't know. either way, it was fun, and i'd go back any day! i just wish it wasn't an 8 hour plane ride to get there.
PS to anyone thinking of going there: sunscreen and lip balm are your friends. your bestest of best friends!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
so is there some sort of law that says the beginning of a new year has to be insanely busy? i feel like i've been on the go constantly... sure could do with some time off. but wait, what's that? i'm getting some? you don't say! my wonderful parents have splurged on a family trip to the dominican, so i'll be sitting on a beach doing absolutely nothing for an entire week. it's gonna be rad.
my job's kept me busy, as usual. the schizophrenic lady threw a birthday party for my aunt, but as my aunt's still in hawaii the only guests to the birthday party were me and mike. she still loved it, we ate birthday cake and cheesies and watched charlie and the chocolate factory. she liked the oompa loompa songs so much she got up and danced along. i took my other resident out to breakfast and bowling, and i lost spectacularly, i think my high score was 71. we won't talk about my low score.
in the other house, things are rocky. the old dude's on a med change and he has ringworm, so he's been testy and screaming lately. the young guy's becoming more and more unmanageable, throwing his bed around his room (yes, his bed. not his bedDING, his bed.), trying to eat through the glass on his window, pulling his penis out in the middle of walmart, trying to push TV units out the window... and from that he goes to laughing and happy in the space of about 5 minutes. and ten minutes later he's the resident from hell again. all because his parents refuse to allow ANY meds whatsoever, except for those which control his seizures. i'm not big on meds myself, but he can't function without them. period. his quality of life could be improved amazingly just by giving him a low level mood stablilzer. we've had to remove everything from his room except for his bed (we've taken the wheels and headboard off) and an armoire that's bolted to the wall so he can't pull it down on top of himself. it sucks. i can't imagine what he has to go through every day, with such extreme mood swings and a bare room. the good news is, the society's making inroads for him. they've set up a committe to meet with everyone involved (parents, caregivers, representatives from different societies) to address all these issues. i'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that something they can work something out for him.
since i kicked the cold that kept me sick for half of january, i've finally got together with amanda again... her new favourite activity has become "beating up mike". i find it amusing to watch a nine year old girl whacking my man with a pillow. call me sadistic, but i laugh my ass off. she's doing awesome in school, i'm so proud of her. she showed me some poems she'd written for her english class, and i know 20 year olds who write worse than her! so yeah, definitely a smart little kid. she's always asking me to explain stuff for her, last time it was how time differences work across the country.
speaking of kids, i've also interviewed for a part-time, hopefully weekday job working with a 5 year old boy who has autism and down's syndrome. it's a behaviour therapy program (ABA for any psych kids out there) and it's what i originally wanted to get into, back when i was starting to apply for psych-related jobs. the little guy is adorable, so sweet and he seems to really enjoy the therapy. i got to witness one of the sessions, and they invited me to run a few trials myself. it was great. i'd love for it to work out... hate waiting for the call!
january and february have been damn busy... still managed to get mike up to see the home mountain, aside from poopy snow it was awesome. stayed in a little hostel for a couple nights, boarded the days away... well, until he broke his baseplates that is! can't wait to get back up there, but if it keeps raining i'll be mad. really mad. i'm holding out for friday... snow snow snow!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
I started to write this so many times, but stopped because I couldn’t find the right words. Not that there are any “right” words, but I like to think before I write. Lord knows the thinking has issues with happening before speaking, so the least I can do is use my brain to write.
My grandmother died a week ago today. Hers was the first death I’ve experienced in the family, and while there has to be a first for everything, I’d hoped this one could’ve held off indefinitely. Of course, I wasn’t THAT naïve, but a girl can hope. Unfortunately, when death calls, he doesn’t take a rain check (well, unless you’re Peter on Family Guy… then you get into all sorts of shenanigans with death). My Gramma died less than two weeks before her 89th birthday, and four short days shy of Christmas.
She loved Christmas. For as long as I can remember, my Gramma would come to our house on Christmas Eve for supper, and then spend the night. She would always sleep in the small bedroom, which meant that whichever of us kids claimed that bedroom at the time was displaced (Eryn had it until she was seven; I gave the big room to her for her seventh birthday, and lived in the small room from then on. Perhaps that’s why I never grew?). As a result, my sister and I had a sleepover on Christmas Eve every year. Putting two excited children in bed together to wait for Santa probably wasn’t the most conducive to a good night’s rest, but it sure was fun. Even if I did have to put up with Eryn’s smelly feet in my face all night. Christmas day we’d wake up (early of course), and Gramma would already be up waiting for us so we could all open our stockings together (she crocheted Christmas stockings for us all with our names across the top. This year while laying them out I put hers out as well out of habit, only to have to fold it up and put it away again).
Then she was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease and moved into a nursing home. The sleepovers stopped, Gramma would just come for Christmas Eve dinner and we’d open gifts with her that evening. As the disease progressed, she became more and more confused. Taking her out of the home, even for a brief Christmas dinner, became out of the question. The first year she was unable to come to dinner, it felt like there was something huge missing from the holidays, even though we still went to see her and had a small celebration in the nursing home with her. This year, the early Christmas party was to be on Saturday. It never happened.
I want to share some memories of her, because so many people never got to see her as I did. Alzheimers causes people’s entire personalities to change, and as the disease eats away more and more of their brains, the confusion and the forgetfulness make it difficult for them to remember how or what they were. In the early stages, the patient often experiences a complete 180, and is paranoid and angry where they were once happy and cheerful. As my Gramma moved down that path, she accused family friends left right and centre of trying to mug her, simply because they were trying to help her cross the street and she couldn’t remember who they were. In the nursing home, she would often complain of hating it there and wanting to go “home”, triggered by seeing a familiar family face and knowing it didn’t belong in her surroundings, therefore she must not belong either. A friend of mine who worked with my Gramma would tell her that “Kendra says you can have a sleepover here with me tonight!” whenever this came up, and surprisingly, it worked. My Gramma would return to her normal happy self and enjoy the rest of her day.
When I first learned how to use a telephone, my Gramma was the first person I called. She was always there for us, to lend a hand, give a few words of encouragement, remind us to share, or break up a fight. In kindergarten, she would come pick me up from school, and we would go out for fudgsickles at the local corner store. We’d take our treats back to her house and have fun until my dad came to pick me up. I remember one day coming out of class, I fell down and startled myself. Before I could start to cry, the principal picked me up and put me on his shoulders. I have a vivid recollection of looking down at my Gramma from my perch, and her laughing up at me asking how the weather was up there. She had a great sense of humour, always teasing and making light of things. I’m happy that sense of humour stuck with her throughout her life; even in her final days she was still teasing the nursing staff. For the last few years, she’d been teasing me about boys, telling me not to rush into anything and to take my men for a test run before I married any of them. In return, I asked her if any of the men on her floor had caught her eye, to which she replied with a laugh “What would they want with an old woman like me?! Besides, they’re all too old for me!”.
My Gramma was the one to introduce me to makeup. When she thought the time was right, she took me down to the local Shoppers Drug Mart, loaded up the basket of her walker with all manner of cosmetics, and sent them home with me and my sister. She was always very generous; if she knew there was something we liked, next time we went to visit her she’d have a whole stockpile of it. When her vision got too bad for her to continue driving, she gave her car to my cousin who had just got his license. During high school, my Gramma would let me spend the night with her if I wanted to go out with my friends, or even if I just plain didn’t want to go home. I would cook dinner and dessert for her and she’d let me pick what show I wanted to watch on TV. We’d talk about school and music, and I’d do my homework while she watched Jeopardy and crocheted.
I learned to crochet from my dad, who learned from Gramma. She was a master of the craft; she could make anything from basic potholders to intricate lace. My uncle swears he once saw her crocheting in her sleep, and I quite believe him. She was truly an artist. Her hands were always soft and smooth, and every time I went to visit her in the nursing home, she’d hold my hands in one or both of hers. I remember how her wedding ring looked way too big for her finger, but she never once took it off, even though her husband predeceased her by 44 years. For half her life, she remained true to his memory. There’s a lot to be said for loyalty like that. Family was everything to her.
After she gave away her car, my Gramma walked everywhere. She occasionally took the bus or a cab if the weather was terrible, but she thought nothing of walking two hours to the mall to go shopping, or an hour to the grocery store to stock up on our favourite goodies. One day after a trip to the mall, she invited me over for dinner. I showed up and she immediately got a conspiratorial look on her face. She showed me her new purchases, which included not only a new bra, but some realistic looking implants for said bra! She said she was tired of having two shapeless flaps of skin and wanted to feel like a woman again.
These are just a few memories I want to share. There are so many more, but it would take years to write them all. My Gramma was always so proud of me for going to university, working for the government, playing silly songs on the piano… everything. The funeral service was yesterday, and it was nice to see the small crowd that came. The service was traditionally Catholic, and the priest was an old family friend who came out of retirement specially for my Gramma. I hope she knew how many people she touched, and how much she will be missed.
For those of you who stayed with my ramblings this long, thank you.
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Published by kendrat: 4:33 PM
Updated On: 12/28/2006 at 4:34 PM
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Saturday, December 02, 2006
there's nothing quite like your first day of the season on your local hill. i had mine yesterday, and i couldn't have asked for a better day. well, maybe that my back leg wasn't so sore from all the powder, but that's my own fault for not being in better shape! mind you, when i woke up yesterday morning i was definitely having second thoughts. it sounded like the entire New York Symphony Orchestra had snuck into my bedroom during the night, and had decided to wake me up way too early by playing their best, loudest, piece. of course it was just the alarm on my cell phone - i have it set to a rousing rendition of some Bizet masterpiece that's played in pseudo-orchestral cell phone notes, but being rudely awoken from dream world it startled the hell out of me. it was 6AM. what the hell was i doing up? what mad insanity has possessed me to think that going to the hill was a good idea today? my brain almost convinced me that
a) working until midnight meant i got to sleep in the next morning, end of story
b) the roads were probably icy as shi*t anyways, and i like life
c) i had to work the next day bright and early, and boarding would make sure i was damn tired for work
luckily for me, my right hand chose that moment to smack myself silly. and no, not in the way that boys smack themselves silly first thing in the morning. up i got and immediately added point D to my list:
d) it was FREEZING out and my bed was still nice and warm, my nips could cut glass
suffice it to say, i got dressed in 5 seconds flat and took considerably longer getting breakfast and tea into me. so it was a bit of a late start, but i got out on the road eventually. the drive up wasn't as hairy as i'd been afraid of, and the lineup to get my season's pass also wasn't as bad as i'd been afraid of. the sun was shining, the snow was light and fluffy (well, as light and fluffy as it can get at mt washington), and i had a new jacket to test out. the first run was pure heaven. i started on one side of the mountain and worked my way to the other side throughout the day. even though it hadn't snowed overnight, there was still plenty of fresh pow if you knew where to look. i boarded right till closing, and it was delicious. absolutely delicious. the wind picked up around midday, but that just made another excuse to ride longer lines to keep myself warm. everyone i met on the lifts was so surprised to hear i was boarding alone... is it really that strange?? i love it! listening to my music, riding at my pace, for as long as i want... what's so bad about that?! so in conclusion, it was an amazing day! i'm super glad my procrastination didn't get the best of me, can't wait to go up again!
last week i went up to whistler with the ever-sexy moselle. we stayed at her friend's cabin and boarded together on the friday. it was an awesome first day of the season! not only did i get to baord whistler, but i got to do it with a great friend! the drive up was a bit sketchy; it was snowing from squamish up, but my little car put putted through the snow to whistler. the only trouble was when we backed into the driveway only to realise that we were in the wrong one! once we got there we found some kickass old 80's ski suits. of course i got suited up so that mo could take pictures! it was at this point that paul showed up in the cab... took one look through the window and told the cabbie "yep, that's the place, the ski suit gives it away".
the next day it was sunny then cloudy then foggy then cloudy then foggy... the visibility was all over but the snow was great and the company was great so all in all it was a great day! we found the tree fort in the trees that we never knew existed... and met a dutch guy on the lift who asked us to take his picture in a santa hat... it was fun!
unfortunately we had to cut it short as i had to rush off to vancouver to pick up mike at the airport. really, not that much of a sacrifice! but that was before i spent four hours in vancouver's rush hour traffic before i even got to the airport (for those who don't know, the drive from whistler to vancouver international usually takes about 2 hours). it sucked! and poor mike had to spend hours at the airport while i was stuck in stupid traffic. continually pressing the clutch wasn't so great for my boarding legs either...
on saturday it snowed in victoria! lots and lots and lots... sunday i ended up working a double shift because no one could make it out their driveways... monday we were snowed in! in downtown! it was great! i love snow! heh vic sucks though, two snowplows for 300,000 people?! you've got to be kidding!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
so for the past little bit i've been raking in the cash. not a bad situation, but it's meant a lot of work. a lot of long hours, but lots of overtime pay. which is actually quite necessary because they've put the shifts i've been filling up for a permanent position... and there's no way in hell i'll be getting it. out of the three people that have applied, i have the least seniority. and in a system based on seniority, that blows. no matter that i need the hours and really enjoy the shift i have now... such is the nature of the beast i suppose. so this is my last week working a steady 40 hrs (before overtime), then it's back to 16 hrs on the weekend and on call otherwise.
other than that, i still love my job. the actual job part anyways... i'm starting to notice some silly politics around the house that kind of suck, but i guess that's pretty normal for any job!
recently one of my coworkers asked me to do a photoshoot for him. and no, not that kind, get your minds out of the gutter! the basic concept was to have me in front of a mountain of dirty dishes, accompanied by a box of exlax and a book on philosophy. here's what came of it:
so whistler's opening this weekend, and i'm so excited! the snow has finally arrived, even mt washington's looking decent. with luck i'll be heading up to whistler next week sometime for my first run of season. should be good! i even got an edge card so i could afford it a bit better... getting my snow tires put on tomorrow and then i'll be set. can't wait! winter's here folks!!!! bring on the snow!!!!!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
well we did have a great hallowe'en this year! tonnes of fun visiting with joe and the gang, definitely missed whistler parties! eryn and i drove over from the island, picked up jenelle and moselle along the way in vancouver, then headed up to whistler to get ready and party with joe, steve, jon, bexx, and everyone else who came out! it was a killer night, met some more awesome people, and stayed out way too late dancing up a storm. it was easy to tell when joe was coming, because the bar would erupt in a chorus of "NACHOOOOO!"s. and geoff, with his flashing lights and kickass costume had admirers of all sorts. he was like the main tourist attraction. of course my shoes were ridiculously high (as was i), and so i wound up walking to sevvie in my stocking feet. turns out the ground was pretty cold... whoops... eh well, the cabs finally materialised, and after gracefully turning down the invite of an air mattress if i should get tired of nacho, we were back to joe's (nacho's) to cause bit more ruckus before finally retiring. poor joe had to share his bed with moselle and myself, but between freezing my butt off in the aussie condo and having my joe-heater, i took the heater! turned out to be a bad choice because after all the drinking, both mo and joe were snorers! but i still love them both dearly. after a far too early brunch at wildwoods, we were off to roadtrip home. eryn and i both had a good nap on the ferry, and man am i glad i could sleep in today!
so, in conclusion....
NACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
i love my new bed. i haven't slept this well in years! i'm waiting on a proper duvet cover from ikea (it's a king size duvet but you'd never know, would ya?) and then i'll be totally good to go. but man. is it bliss having a good bed finally!
saturday night i went to a halloween party with my sister. ate so much chocolate i felt like i was a kid again going trick or treating. threw together a lisa simpson costume last minute, and went with my princess of a sister to the partay.
on the way out of the point, we heard the siren going at the fire hall. get to the top of the hill to find all three fire trucks on the scene of a rather minor accident. a car had somehow lost control on the one straight stretch of the road and hit a rock. not much damage that i could see, and the driver was already out of the car by the time we got there. as we pulled up the ambulance arrived, and seconds later two cop cars. must've been a slow night, we never get that kind of response in the boonies. i was having difficulty with my hair being too tall for my car (now i know what it feels like to be joe!), but i made it in one piece.
lucky for me, it was a pretty low key party. the highlight consisted of having a friend dressed as che hitting on me and telling me that he was happy because there were two of everyone at the party, and if i'd just excuse him for a moment so he could go barf in the sink. as if i don't get enough puke threats at work! anyways, after we got home, i discovered that my hair could stand up on its own. HOT.
watched jackass 2 last night, and i definitely haven't laughed that much in the theatre in ages! ice age 2 came damn close (when the hell is that one coming out to buy anyways?) but damn.... those kids are crazy.
so i'm back from out east, and just finishing getting over a cold (could i perhaps have been overworked lately? me?!). not sure my brain is all there again yet, but eh, it happens. my one remaining job has been hectic, but i'm getting used to it. within four hours of stepping off the plane last wednesday i was already back at work for a staff meeting! but hell, i had too good of a vacation to really complain.
i guess i should apologise to mike for dragging him off to toronto to visit all *my* friends, but i'm hoping he got drunk enough that it wasn't that bad... and yes, he even survived shopping with me. mostly cause i shop like a man, but hey, since when was that a bad thing?! in and out, right? anyways, i was super happy to see all my old friends. went to dinner with my best friend from high school and then out to the bar after to see another friend's band play their first gig ever. all things considered, it was a good show! and i got to see people, so that made me happy.
thanksgiving dinner was the whole meet the family shebang... i think i passed inspection, although i'm sure mike's too nice to tell me if i didn't! we also drove up north for a night, and i will have to admit that ontario does have its own beauty... just not in its cities. it would've been nice to spend more time up there.
the flight home was horrible. they've put in those no-liquid rules for carryons, and so, of course, everyone was trying to take liquids on their carryons. the lineup for security was gigantic, and growing fast, and this was at 7AM. even from my space in line it took 45 minutes to get to the door. by the time i got to my gate there was no one else in the waiting area... but i wasn't the last one on the plane by any means. we delayed takeoff for another 30 minutes while we waited for passengers to make it through security. then we waited another 15 minutes while they took 5 bags off the plane that belonged to the 5 people who hadn't made it through security. and then we had another half hour wait while a lightning storm raged above us. when we finally took off, an hour and fifteen minutes late, i was pissed. and not in the good way. the stopover time i was allowed in vancouver was a grand total of one hour, zero minutes. so by the time we got there, technically, my flight would have already landed in victoria. great.
now, i dont know what our pilot did while in the air, but he managed to get us touched down on the runway in vancouver only fifty minutes late. ten minutes before my connecting flight to victoria was supposed to take off. and of course, just my luck, my departure gate was at the exact opposite end of the damn airport. running through the airport while you have a cold and are dehydrated because they wouldn't let you bring your own bottle of water on board the airplane... sucks. it sucks. thankfully i made it in time and all is well. i guess i should look on the bright side and say "hey! at least i didn't have to have a long stopover in vancouver!"
this past friday, i went to visit my grandparents on saltspring island. my grandmother had a hip replacement surgery two weeks ago, and i am happy to report that she's doing wonderfully. she's up and moving about with the help of a walker, and really looks well. it was my grandpa's birthday on friday too, so we got to have cake and cookies. the weather was awesome, everything cooperated so well! it was a nice little break for me, and it was really sweet watching my grandpa help my gran out and getting frustrated with her when she tried to do something for herself! all in all it was a great day.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
yup, it's that time again. i'm off to ontario for thanksgiving weekend, taking an entire week off both my jobs and i couldn't be happier! considering i haven't had a single day off in the past month, i figure i'm about due. so it's finally friday for me, hell yeah. it's one of my coworker's birthdays today, so we'll be having cake, what better way to finish off a month of work??
so for those of you in the area, mike and i will be in toronto friday night, at the savannah room, at my friend's show. it's his band's (vivisector) first show ever so the more the merrier! yup. should be good times.
hope all you canucks out there have a kickass thanksgiving weekend, eat, drink and be merry!
Monday, September 25, 2006
so this morning i awoke to a pounding and banging from next door. and no, not the kind that one typically hears late at night in the honeymoon suite in the gay area of town, but the kind produced by industrial strength hammers, sanders, screw drivers, what have you. turns out the girl next door to me has decided she doesn't feel safe in this building, and had all the locks changed on her doors, as well as adding a security system and some extra security precautions. i think she's strange... no one can get into this building unless they a) have a key, or b) are buzzed in by someone they know. pretty standard apartment building etiquette.
i first noticed her obsession when our landlady sent out notices that she would shortly be coming in to change the batteries in our smoke detectors (fat lot of good it did me, the bloody thing goes off when i'm in the shower now...). girl next door added a padlock on the outside of her door, which she locks whenever she leaves her room. i can only assume that she has a matching one on the inside of the door as well. now, i can understand her being intimidated by our landlady, if she is the religious straight prude that i assume her to be (have never heard a male voice from her apartment, let alone sounds of her getting it on). she must hate me and my life of sin, which probably explains why she refuses to even look at me if we pass in the hall.
anyways, this morning curiosity got the better of me, and i headed to the store to buy some milk, passing her door on the way of course. lo and behold, there were two men dismantling her door, adding extra locks and security thingies, as well as putting in an alarm system. now, i think this is a little over the top, even for a single woman living alone. there are 17 apartments in this building, and people are quite serious about the safety of the building, as i found out coming home thursday night. i was walking up the path to the front door, where two people were standing and smoking, holding the front door wide open. as soon as they saw me, they moved away from the door and let the door shut! the bastards, i spent a good five minutes digging through my purse one handed trying to find the damn keys. but i digress. bottom line, every apartment has three locks in effect: the locked front door, the deadbolt, and the chain. all quite substantial and sturdy.
the real question is: what illegal drugs/aliens is she hiding in there, that need all this special security??
in other news, friday night i went to the tattoo.colonies.com launch party. had a great time meeting people and making fun of the three girls with their dance routine, as well as the two drunk-off-their-ass girls who kept bending over the railings backwards to make eyes at jesse (PAINER), although i'm pretty sure one of them checked me out at least as much as she checked him out! it's true what they say, sitting around the colonies.com crowd gets you ladies. although, i'm pretty sure i scared one girl... i smiled at her and she looked so frightened, as if she couldn't make up her mind to run away or smack me. there were air brush tattoos that seemed quite popular (the lineup of girls went on for ages), and they were ideally situated right next to the entrance.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
a note to my loyal readers: it's a long one today. i've got nothing better to do right now than sit here and write, so if you want the down and dirty, you'll have to actually read! important news of the day: i have two part time real jobs! with regular hours and regular pay! details at the bottom. and now, story time!
so over the past few weeks i've been spending most of my time near water, salty or otherwise, and with some of sb.com's finest. moselle, mike, and of course eryn, who doesn't fit with the m's, but is fine nonetheless. and i mean that in a purely platonic way of course. i've spent far too much time in a bikini (didn't have time to change yesterday and wound up wearing it to work under my clothes... how professional!) but at least i have a decent tan to show for it, which is much improved on my pasty-ass-ed-ness of late. mmm ass. but i digress.
so. sooke potholes with mo. how much trouble can two girls cause in the middle of the wilderness anyways?! far too much. we didn't meet a bear, but we did meet a divorced father of two who clearly thought we were lesbians with an open mind to including a lonely old man while his sons fished happily away. the potholes are beautiful, and we got in some good exploring, swimming, and psuedo-rock climbing. the water was... well... freezing. good thing i don't have balls or they'd still be somewhere around the vicinity of my nipples. it was an awesome time, just getting out camping for a change. the sound of a river is so soothing at night. i couldn't have asked for a better camping partner, either!
after our little holiday, we came back to victoria to celebrate some friends' birthdays by going out and getting drunk. yes, me. drunk. that half beer really finished me off! a couple old friends of mine also came out, so i was super happy to see them. they're living down in boston now, so i don't get to see them nearly as much as i'd like. i used up all my change throwing it down eryn's cleavage, and then spent the next few days wondering why i had no change to buy things with... we gave our friend a birthday gift of a tiny little girl's bike that eryn had found in the ditch. good times all around.
and then, after a few days of work, i had mike out here to show him the ropes of being a good summertime BC citizen. i also took him to the potholes, where we played jane of the jungle on the tire swing and tried not to hit any children in the head with rocks. the next day we took my little sister amanda (and a bag of trail mix fortified with extra chocolate) to sidney spit, a little island full of sand off the coast of sidney (bc, not australia). we had a sandcastle building competition where everyone got prizes: i had the best landscaping, mike's was prettiest, and amanda's was most durable (that thing could've withstood terrorist attacks). mike and amanda also dug gigantic holes and threatened to bury me in them. luckliy for me, the tide came in and filled up the holes. we finished the day with a big water fight (damn but the ocean's cold!) and then spent what seemed like an eternity waiting for the ferry to arrive.
saturday it was off to visit the parents (and eryn) and get a rundown on the boat. that night was the last fireworks of the season, so we took some snacks, my mum, eryn, and her friend kevin down to the beach to watch them. it was a good show, and good company, even if i didn't understand all the movie quoting that was going on in the male contingency of the party.
sunday was the day i became captain. oh, the power. i could've keelhauled mike for insubordination if i'd been so inclined... lucky for him we'd just had the bottom done and there were no barnacles on the underside of our boat, and so, keelhauling lost its appeal. my parents own a 25 foot C&C sailboat named Cirrus, and they were generous enough to let us borrow her for the weekend (actually, my mum was downright ecstatic that Cirrus was finally getting some use). so early sunday morning we cast off from the dock and motored three hours to portland island. i would've liked to have sailed a bit, but it was dead calm for pretty much the entire weekend. the main anchorage is tortoise bay, so named because it is protected by the tortoise islets. or perhaps the islets were named after the bay, i don't know. all i know is, it's a beautiful little spot and i'd expected it to be incredibly busy on the labour day long weekend, especially with such gorgeous weather. to my surprise, it was almost deserted, only another dozen or so boats in the bay.
we anchored on the first try (some other fancier boats took as many as three tries to anchor! go us!) and set about exploring the island. and explore we did. after a quick dip in the ocean (quick because it was so bloody cold!) on my part, and a foot dabbling on mike's, we decided, foolishly as we were to find out, to take the path to the right. it was all fine and dandy until the path petered out. but we could hear (and see) some people ahead of us, crashing away through the undergrowth, so we decided to follow them, because, obviously, they knew where they were going. well. after getting a little sidetracked, we found that we'd lost our questionable guides (along with mike's sunglasses), and were now somewhere in the middle of the island without so much as a deer track to follow. i think they were actually wood sprites who would have led us to our death if they hadn't realised what an incredible dork i am and thought better of adding my soul to their ranks. we decided to push on, and eventually we would meet up with either the shoreline trail or the mid island trail. that was the idea anyways. the undergrowth was full of unseen brambles, and neither one of us were dressed properly for bushwhacking. i was wearing only my (still wet) bikini and flipflops that have seen better days. not ideal. but we survived, and an hour and a half later ended up back on the shoreline trail in a spot that would've taken us about ten minutes to get to if we'd chosen the left fork.
one of the keys to good boating is good (junk) food. so i was pretty happy to get back to the boat and all my delicious chocolate i had waiting for me. hello, my name is kendra, and i have a problem. i'm addicted to chocolate. and cherry blasters.
monday was labour day, and a lot of the boats in the anchorage left while we were walking around the island. we managed not to get ourselves lost this time, and brought enough snacks to feed amanda's kid's klub. during our lunch break we had a nice parks canada girl come up and survey us. they are thinking of introducing a $7.00/person/day fee for all of their parks, just to use the trails. now, i'm all for keeping our parks beautiful. but. $7 just to hike some trails? and no discount for locals? they already charge for parking, usually between $3 and $5. it starts to add up in a hurry. so much for keeping our children active... i know if i had to pay every time i wanted to hike i wouldn't be hiking nearly as much. i don't have a lot of money to throw around on fitness; if i did i'd have gym memberships and gear for every sport out there. and i'm way off track again.
anyways. we walked all the way around the island without getting lost! the only bad part was me being too short to get over a log, misjudging how far i had to lift my leg, and opening up a big gash on my shin. mmm yummy. it looks pretty nasty. after dinner we went back ashore and raided the apple trees. portland island used to have a farm on it, and lots of sheep (we had a problem with kiwis so the sheep have been moved to a high security farm with kiwi repellant fences) and an orchard. so mike climbed the trees and shook the branches while i danced around underneath and tried not to get hit in the head by falling apples. of course, i was useful and tried to catch any good apples that mike might throw at me, only, i became rather wary of him after he tossed one while i wasn't ready and it bounced off my chin.
yesterday morning bright and early we weighed anchor, and, after cleaning all the seaweed off it, headed back to my parents place. it was my first time docking the boat, and i have to say, i did a damn good job of it! backed her in beautifully, mum was there to hand me the lines, and Cirrus was back safe and sound. had time for a quick lunch and a chat with mum, then it was off to work for me. which brings me to my good news...
WORK
i am now a permanent part time employee at vancouver island autistic homes society! the house i have been working at had no positions available, so i applied at one of the other houses within the agency, and ended up getting the job. it's weekend work, 8-4 saturday and sunday, and i'm going in for training at the new house today. i get full benefits and am now at the top of the call list, meaning if a shift comes up at either of the houses i'm trained for i'll be one of the first to know. so yay! more hours, regular time... what could be better?
oh yeah, another job! i've decided to once again sell my soul and work for the BC provincial government, this time in refunds. at least i'll be making people happy instead of angry. it's part time work for two months, so i think i'll be able to handle it. 4 hours a night, 5-9 shift, and supposedly i'll get shift premium, meaning i'll get to make proper money. i get stat days off too, so that will be nice.
the only thing is, i'll be working 7 days a week. and during awkward hours which won't let me see a lot of amanda. she's back in school so we won't have entire days to spend at the beach. but i figure a couple hours a week is still better than no hours... eh well. hopefully i won't go crazy!
to those of you who read this whole thing... wow. i applaud you. shirts... i mean hats... off to you! hope everyone else has been having as much summer fun as i have!
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
right, so i know a bunch of you wonderful people out there have congratulated me on my new tat, sympathised about the job, what have you... and i promise i'll get back to you all individually, i just somehow keep running out of time and being super busy. not that i'm complaining, the next few days i'm camping out at the sooke potholes with none other than the lovely moselle23... i'll be leaving in, oh, approximately five minutes! so yes. i think of you all (naked) when i'm alone at night (and naked). or something like that! i'll be back in full swing eventually!
and in conclusion...
TITTIES!!!!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
so it's come to that time again. i love my job. but. my hours have dwindled to nonexistant. and nonexistant hours make for a very poor kendra. and as much as my best selling novel kicks ass, it hasn't made it anywhere close to paper yet. so yeah, i'm thinking it's time to find a new job. again. this blows!
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Published by kendrat: 10:54 AM
Updated On: 8/19/2006 at 10:54 AM
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come one, come all, and see my beautiful mermaid! she's all finished, finished her up on tuesday and got the photos in today, so of course i have to share her with you all! leroy did an amazing job as usual, and he's either going to love me or hate me because everyone i work with (and their friends!) now wants him to mark them for life. so sorry for upping your workload, leroy, but that's just what you get for being so good at what you do!
as everyone can probably tell, i'm pretty stoked on my new ink. she's absolutely gorgeous. we had a minor setback with the background; when it came time to put it in, we decided what we'd been planning on wouldn't quite go properly. so leroy, being the angel that he is, sat down to draw a new one right then and there. i tried to be all helpful and stuff, but i have no idea about art, all i know is i like what came out! so yeah. word has spread around my work site pretty fast; this morning a lady i haven't seen in a few weeks asked to see my mermaid! and the reviews have been unanimously positive.
check out my gallery for pictures!
so this past weekend was nothing other than eryn's white trash party. there was a lot of trash, a lot of white kids, and a few combinations thereof. eryn and i started the weekend off in style by cutting the sweetest 15 minute mullet known to mankind.
not only did this man let us near him with scissors, but he kept the mullet for the whole weekend, even wearing it to work. i'm sure his boss was impressed. unfortunately, no one else would trust eryn and i with scissors near their head, so that was the only mullet we cut.
the mud wrestling pit was a success, even though it was damn cold out and nipples were fit to cut glass. for photographic evidence i will again send you, my loyal reader, to eryn's ( westcoastfvckup) profile.
surprisingly, there were only two major incidents over the whole weekend. both were perpetrated by boys from squamish. coincidence? i think not. the first night, in a drink-induced sleep state, a certain someone got up and sleep peed on my mother's elliptical trainer, the whole while mumbling gibberish. oh, and did i mention he was naked at the time? apparently while drunk he does not like exercise. go figure. it makes me cautious to sit anywhere in the basement now...
the second night i will blame on tequila and cheap beer. after mud wrestling a certain girl, another certain someone was so eager to hop into the shower with her that he missed the top stair and tumbled all the way to the bottom, spraying mud as he went. luckily the hardwood floor and white wall broke his fall, and he got up fine (whether that is also true in the shower remains open to debate). the wall, however, now has a permanent imprint of his elbow and shoulder... something to remember him by. hopefully in 9 months there won't be another something.
after all this madness and mayhem, i had to tone things down for my little sister's birthday party. she turned nine last week and invited a whole bunch of her friends (and me) over on the weekend to celebrate. so i got to sit by the lake in the sunshine and wind and do absolutely nothing except smile and eat good food. cake and hotdogs and fresh fruits and veggies... damn it was good! i also got to judge the sandcastle building competition (of course amanda won!), so it was all good.
i'm still recouperating, but i think i've caught up on at least some sleep! maybe today i'll get something accomplished....
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Published by kendrat: 11:07 AM
Updated On: 7/31/2006 at 11:35 AM
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so the tattoo bug bit again, and i finally got my rib tat that i've been working up to for years. she's a lot bigger than i at first anticipated, but it was love at first sight, and as soon as i saw her i knew... she's the one for me! that's right, i'm in love with a mermaid. she's my first multiple sitting tattoo, i feel like i'm losing my virginity all over again.
for me, there really is no significance behind a mermaid, except that my sister drew the original and i thought she looked awesome enough to make into a tattoo. so i let my artist loose on her, and couldn't be happier with the result. so thanks to eryn for the original, and thanks to leroy for marking me for life!
now, my mermaid's no sissy ariel figure like the little mermaid (ok, i might be little, but my tattoo's huge!). mermaid legends have been around since the assyrians, and that's a damn long time for them to have been wandering the oceans and singing sailors to their death. during shipwrecks, mermaids would pretend to rescue sailors but actually squeeze them to death and steal their souls. so i gues ariel got that part right when she tried to rescue prince whatever... only, she's not supposed to fall in love with him. eh well. that's disney for you.
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