i almost... want to knit this
what would i do with it after its finished??
pb
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Before it starts, before I begin?
oh how soon things just fall back into place ...
skye and i spent a whole day last week at the hospital repairing her crooked nose. the waiting took forever because the surgery wasn't scheduled, but the actual surgery was fairly quick.
and.. no black eyes, no swelling. what a relief.
she no longer has pain her black eyes are gone.. and all the swelling is going. quite amazing really.
her nose is still a little crooked. any further surgery will require an incision - but we'll see again in 3 months or so.
i'm sick. my throat is really sore. i missed hockey again last night. 4th week in a row. ugh.
sama just finished her chem exam. she said it was really hard but i'm sure she did well. she always does.
i woke up this morning and watched "Becoming.." on much. backstreet boys. isn't that funny. i don't think i've ever seen a backstreet boy video and sat and watched the "becoming.." version. i must be sick.
pb
skye and i spent a whole day last week at the hospital repairing her crooked nose. the waiting took forever because the surgery wasn't scheduled, but the actual surgery was fairly quick.
and.. no black eyes, no swelling. what a relief.
she no longer has pain her black eyes are gone.. and all the swelling is going. quite amazing really.
her nose is still a little crooked. any further surgery will require an incision - but we'll see again in 3 months or so.
i'm sick. my throat is really sore. i missed hockey again last night. 4th week in a row. ugh.
sama just finished her chem exam. she said it was really hard but i'm sure she did well. she always does.
i woke up this morning and watched "Becoming.." on much. backstreet boys. isn't that funny. i don't think i've ever seen a backstreet boy video and sat and watched the "becoming.." version. i must be sick.
pb
Monday, June 13, 2005
All these things that i've done
A few weekends ago, i worked my second of two apprentice teaching weekends. What does that mean? Apprentice weekends are pay-free teaching weekends. I got scammed into this one. I was originally signed up for a “regular” weekend but prior commitments for the in class on Wednesday allowed me to be available to teach an “all women weekend”.
Unpaid. No wonder the other instructors made fun of me for agreeing to take the all women weekend … Now
I know why… LOL
Don’t get me wrong. I had a tonne of fun – and would gladly do another women's weekend.
My first apprentice weekend was wet and miserable. I don't think it stopped raining once. So, I was thrilled to see 60% chance of rain for the women's weekend. the overcast clouds allowed the sun to hide for most of the day. we lucked out and didn't feel a drop of rain except for a little spitting at the very end of the day.
In the late morning the sun decided to poke out from behind some clouds for about an hour. Once again i was caught off guard slapped with another sunburn. OUCH.
The women’s weekend - wow.. you really need patience for this one – definitely a good one to have under my belt. i can't tell you that i have a lot of patience nor can i even begin to say how much of it i do possess. Before this weekend i would have guessed that i would have a lot less patience. Our saving grace was that there was six of us to take turns coddling and dealing with the tears.
Riding a motorcycle has always been pretty easy for me and when something comes so naturally for me it's hard to understand why it doesn’t connect with someone else. now, having taught a few weekends, I’ve realized that some people are just not cut out to be on two wheels. Just like T will never go near any type of pet now matter how much you emphasize that it won’t hurt her and isn’t coming after her - some
people will never realize that the brake is there in case you do give too much throttle and others will be confident that the brake is there… but just forget
to use it…
i just finished my 4th weekend this past weekend. sunburned again but that's not new. sunscreen doesn't help that much...
What have I learned during these teaching weekends??
I’ve learned to jump – far and quickly out of the way. Really not a hard lesson to learn when you have a 300lb motorized vehicle heading in your direction.
I know now that it’s harder to push a motorcycle up a ramp backwards than it is to pick up one that is lying on its side.
Some people look like they can ride.. but can't... some people look like they can't ride... but can..
I’m still a little reluctant to speak in front of people .. ok.. a lot reluctant ... that "i'm going to vomit" feeling only appears right before i have to teach a lesson not all day anymore.... …
but as with all things, in time, that too will go away.... i hope.
pb
Unpaid. No wonder the other instructors made fun of me for agreeing to take the all women weekend … Now
I know why… LOL
Don’t get me wrong. I had a tonne of fun – and would gladly do another women's weekend.
My first apprentice weekend was wet and miserable. I don't think it stopped raining once. So, I was thrilled to see 60% chance of rain for the women's weekend. the overcast clouds allowed the sun to hide for most of the day. we lucked out and didn't feel a drop of rain except for a little spitting at the very end of the day.
In the late morning the sun decided to poke out from behind some clouds for about an hour. Once again i was caught off guard slapped with another sunburn. OUCH.
The women’s weekend - wow.. you really need patience for this one – definitely a good one to have under my belt. i can't tell you that i have a lot of patience nor can i even begin to say how much of it i do possess. Before this weekend i would have guessed that i would have a lot less patience. Our saving grace was that there was six of us to take turns coddling and dealing with the tears.
Riding a motorcycle has always been pretty easy for me and when something comes so naturally for me it's hard to understand why it doesn’t connect with someone else. now, having taught a few weekends, I’ve realized that some people are just not cut out to be on two wheels. Just like T will never go near any type of pet now matter how much you emphasize that it won’t hurt her and isn’t coming after her - some
people will never realize that the brake is there in case you do give too much throttle and others will be confident that the brake is there… but just forget
to use it…
i just finished my 4th weekend this past weekend. sunburned again but that's not new. sunscreen doesn't help that much...
What have I learned during these teaching weekends??
I’ve learned to jump – far and quickly out of the way. Really not a hard lesson to learn when you have a 300lb motorized vehicle heading in your direction.
I know now that it’s harder to push a motorcycle up a ramp backwards than it is to pick up one that is lying on its side.
Some people look like they can ride.. but can't... some people look like they can't ride... but can..
I’m still a little reluctant to speak in front of people .. ok.. a lot reluctant ... that "i'm going to vomit" feeling only appears right before i have to teach a lesson not all day anymore.... …
but as with all things, in time, that too will go away.... i hope.
pb
Thursday, May 26, 2005
don't let it get away...
YAY!! Skye was voted valedictorian for her graduating class!! That was the good news from yesterday....
it was however preceeded by this....
up until yesterday i had never seen a broken nose. i've seen them after they've healed and i've seen them on TV.. but never in real life just after it happens.
skye broke her nose yesterday. this btw, is her second baseball injury. last year at around the same time she came home with a black and blue finger, after running into her friend. after sitting in emergency for 8 or so hours, the doctor confirmed it. broken.
yesterday, was a little more dramatic. when i usually get a call from her school, it's usually skye or the receptionist saying that she's not feeling well and wants to go home. however, when it's her teacher calling ... i know something is wrong. yes.. that dreaded call. "hi pb, this is mr. c". my heart stopped. something happened to skye. it's like that old adage "no news is good news"... it's never good news when the teacher calls. "skye got hurt playing baseball." "again???" i asked. "yeah... she caught a pop fly with her nose." i thought, what?? her nose??? where was that glove she made me go with her to get the other night at 11pm. why didn't she use the glove? after a few minutes of evaluating if she had to go to emergency or not, i decided to take her anyway.
thank goodness skye was in good spirits and laughing in the background when he called. my heart was pounding and i was already in a panic when i heard mr. c's voice. when i finally got to her school to pick her up, she was still pretty happy. but ... the blood.. so much blood (i'm so glad i didn't see the pool she so vividly described to me) and ohhhh.. the swelling ... i can't even begin to describe the swelling. i still can't look at her without my eyes tearing up.
4 hours in the emergency room, 2 minutes with the doctor. again, broken. this time, no splint, nothing. too much swelling and too much blood at the time. ugh.
so we agreed. no more baseball for a while and if she does want to play baseball, i certainly won't mind investing in a full caged helmet for her.
pb
it was however preceeded by this....
up until yesterday i had never seen a broken nose. i've seen them after they've healed and i've seen them on TV.. but never in real life just after it happens.
skye broke her nose yesterday. this btw, is her second baseball injury. last year at around the same time she came home with a black and blue finger, after running into her friend. after sitting in emergency for 8 or so hours, the doctor confirmed it. broken.
yesterday, was a little more dramatic. when i usually get a call from her school, it's usually skye or the receptionist saying that she's not feeling well and wants to go home. however, when it's her teacher calling ... i know something is wrong. yes.. that dreaded call. "hi pb, this is mr. c". my heart stopped. something happened to skye. it's like that old adage "no news is good news"... it's never good news when the teacher calls. "skye got hurt playing baseball." "again???" i asked. "yeah... she caught a pop fly with her nose." i thought, what?? her nose??? where was that glove she made me go with her to get the other night at 11pm. why didn't she use the glove? after a few minutes of evaluating if she had to go to emergency or not, i decided to take her anyway.
thank goodness skye was in good spirits and laughing in the background when he called. my heart was pounding and i was already in a panic when i heard mr. c's voice. when i finally got to her school to pick her up, she was still pretty happy. but ... the blood.. so much blood (i'm so glad i didn't see the pool she so vividly described to me) and ohhhh.. the swelling ... i can't even begin to describe the swelling. i still can't look at her without my eyes tearing up.
4 hours in the emergency room, 2 minutes with the doctor. again, broken. this time, no splint, nothing. too much swelling and too much blood at the time. ugh.
so we agreed. no more baseball for a while and if she does want to play baseball, i certainly won't mind investing in a full caged helmet for her.
pb
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
If you never tried, then you'll never know...
I have this love – hate relationship with the game of golf. What’s there not to love?? A few hours of frolicking in the sun with 3 friends that you love hanging with, good exercise when we don’t rent a cart and when we do… it’s even more fun driving the golf cart around. After 9 or 18 holes, I’m nicely sun-kissed and got a few good shots out, had tonnes of fun …
I love golfing.
Who am I kidding? Yes it’s sunny … but honestly, the sun has never kissed me, it beats the crap out of me with a big fat burn on my head shoulders and neck… hurts to move, hurts to lie down, hurts to shower. Yes, I have heard about sunscreen.
A few good shots. Let me define this. We were at a par 5 course. Thank god we only played 9 holes. I doubled par almost every hole – ok… EVERY hole except for one which was a par 2 or 3 and I got a true 4. Sometimes it took me 6 strokes before I even got anywhere near mb or paul’s drive off the tee. So out of something like 70 – 100 shots (not swings.. I don’t count it when I swing and miss the ball completely, even though I should) I may have had 10 good shots. WOW - a whopping 10-15% of my shots are relatively good? LOL.
I keep on forgetting, but I usually only last for about 8 or 9 holes before I get bored on a par 3 course. Sunday’s game was par 5. I was done after hole 3. There was a water hazard at every hole – so it seemed. I know I can’t make it over some of the water hazards so most of the time I just took the drop on the other side.
Mb got negative yardage on one swing – a feat I only thought yves was capable of. His ball hit a tree and rebounded about 15-20 feet behind him. He also looked for a MIA ball behind a couple trees at one point only to find that will’s drive off the tee found its way through all the trees to his head. Luckily his oakley’s were on his head and took the brunt of the impact. We’ll have to shop for another pair of sunglasses but at least his noggin is still intact and unscathed.
I didn’t lose too many balls and probably found as many as I lost but not without consequences. I walked through some branches to look for my lost ball and ended coming out with my legs covered in scratches top to bottom which, by the way, I was allergic to. The scratches turned into huge red welts and my legs were all splotchy for about 4 holes. How deceiving though, because the scratches didn’t even hurt till I showered that night.. and thank goodness for that because the burn from the water on the scratches way over shadowed the pain from the hot water hitting my sunburn..
All in all, a great day. I still got to spend the morning hanging with 3 people I love to hang with, the battle scars from the 9 holes were not really that bad and in the end, I still love golfing. Sunday was the lovely mb’s bday and mother’s day. 1/2 price for 9 holes for mommies. we spent the rest of the day napping, stuffing our faces with cake and then a bbq.
Happy Birthday GCL. I hope you had as much fun as I did.
pb
I love golfing.
Who am I kidding? Yes it’s sunny … but honestly, the sun has never kissed me, it beats the crap out of me with a big fat burn on my head shoulders and neck… hurts to move, hurts to lie down, hurts to shower. Yes, I have heard about sunscreen.
A few good shots. Let me define this. We were at a par 5 course. Thank god we only played 9 holes. I doubled par almost every hole – ok… EVERY hole except for one which was a par 2 or 3 and I got a true 4. Sometimes it took me 6 strokes before I even got anywhere near mb or paul’s drive off the tee. So out of something like 70 – 100 shots (not swings.. I don’t count it when I swing and miss the ball completely, even though I should) I may have had 10 good shots. WOW - a whopping 10-15% of my shots are relatively good? LOL.
I keep on forgetting, but I usually only last for about 8 or 9 holes before I get bored on a par 3 course. Sunday’s game was par 5. I was done after hole 3. There was a water hazard at every hole – so it seemed. I know I can’t make it over some of the water hazards so most of the time I just took the drop on the other side.
Mb got negative yardage on one swing – a feat I only thought yves was capable of. His ball hit a tree and rebounded about 15-20 feet behind him. He also looked for a MIA ball behind a couple trees at one point only to find that will’s drive off the tee found its way through all the trees to his head. Luckily his oakley’s were on his head and took the brunt of the impact. We’ll have to shop for another pair of sunglasses but at least his noggin is still intact and unscathed.
I didn’t lose too many balls and probably found as many as I lost but not without consequences. I walked through some branches to look for my lost ball and ended coming out with my legs covered in scratches top to bottom which, by the way, I was allergic to. The scratches turned into huge red welts and my legs were all splotchy for about 4 holes. How deceiving though, because the scratches didn’t even hurt till I showered that night.. and thank goodness for that because the burn from the water on the scratches way over shadowed the pain from the hot water hitting my sunburn..
All in all, a great day. I still got to spend the morning hanging with 3 people I love to hang with, the battle scars from the 9 holes were not really that bad and in the end, I still love golfing. Sunday was the lovely mb’s bday and mother’s day. 1/2 price for 9 holes for mommies. we spent the rest of the day napping, stuffing our faces with cake and then a bbq.
Happy Birthday GCL. I hope you had as much fun as I did.
pb
Monday, April 25, 2005
Friday, April 22, 2005
good night, good night...
as a single mom of two teenage girls i find myself often wanting to be way too overprotective. can a parent be too over-protective?? in any case, i often talk to my friends about "how we were at that age" and that is usually enough to want me to lock them in the basement and throw away the key until they turn 18.. make that 30. reality sets in and i usually find myself just asking them the "concerned" parent questions hoping to balance the fine line of cool concerned parent and over-protective crazy parent.
so over the past week skye has asked me several times if she could go hang out with her friends at the park after school. because it falls on a friday, it would mean that i pick her up, drive her to piano lessons, then pick her up from there and drop her off at her friend's house so that they can walk to the park together. i hummed and hawed about this for days... logistically, for me, it doesn't make sense because since we moved, her school and her friends houses are not as close to our house as i'd like it to be...
so today, skye begged the question again... "mom, can i go to the park with my friends??" ...
me: who are you meeting there??
skye: some friends from school??
me: what time are you going to be home? how are you getting home?
skye: i'll be home by dinner and i'll take the bus.
me: the bus?? who are you going to take the bus with??
skye: hmmmpf.. mom, i can take it myself.
me: um.. ok.. be home by 5 for sure, not a minute later.
skye: 5:30!??
me: 5.
skye: ok 5. i'll be home by 5
me: so who exactly are you meeting??
skye: san, john, kyle, marcel, miguel
me: what?? you and 5 boys?? skye.... is catherine or JQ going too?? how bout wong??
skye: no, they can't go.
me: skye.. i'm not sure i'm comfortable with you meeting 5 boys...
skye: mom!!?? what exactly do you think i'm going to do to them???
....
so... to that, i had no response. i told her again to be home at 5 and dropped her off. what was i thinking???
pb
so over the past week skye has asked me several times if she could go hang out with her friends at the park after school. because it falls on a friday, it would mean that i pick her up, drive her to piano lessons, then pick her up from there and drop her off at her friend's house so that they can walk to the park together. i hummed and hawed about this for days... logistically, for me, it doesn't make sense because since we moved, her school and her friends houses are not as close to our house as i'd like it to be...
so today, skye begged the question again... "mom, can i go to the park with my friends??" ...
me: who are you meeting there??
skye: some friends from school??
me: what time are you going to be home? how are you getting home?
skye: i'll be home by dinner and i'll take the bus.
me: the bus?? who are you going to take the bus with??
skye: hmmmpf.. mom, i can take it myself.
me: um.. ok.. be home by 5 for sure, not a minute later.
skye: 5:30!??
me: 5.
skye: ok 5. i'll be home by 5
me: so who exactly are you meeting??
skye: san, john, kyle, marcel, miguel
me: what?? you and 5 boys?? skye.... is catherine or JQ going too?? how bout wong??
skye: no, they can't go.
me: skye.. i'm not sure i'm comfortable with you meeting 5 boys...
skye: mom!!?? what exactly do you think i'm going to do to them???
....
so... to that, i had no response. i told her again to be home at 5 and dropped her off. what was i thinking???
pb
Monday, April 18, 2005
Even heroes have the right to dream
spring is definitely here. took my baby out several times and wow.. did i ever miss it. everything is running smoothly and as usual numb bum sets in even after a short 1 hour ride. ;) gotta luv it.
even sama went for a ride with me on saturday to gm's house. she loved it (yay!!!). just as she hopped off my bike mel pulled up with her parents in their car. sometimes she pretends to be all embarrassed when her friends see her on my bike but i think she secretly loves it.
all is good...
:)
pb
even sama went for a ride with me on saturday to gm's house. she loved it (yay!!!). just as she hopped off my bike mel pulled up with her parents in their car. sometimes she pretends to be all embarrassed when her friends see her on my bike but i think she secretly loves it.
all is good...
:)
pb
Thursday, April 07, 2005
The future’s open wide
i can feel this little splinter in my hand. i cannot see it. when i rub my finger over my palm the little splinter moves and i can feel it pinching me. i can't feel it with my finger though... only the pain from it moving when i rub against it. i would love to be able to dig it out as it is quite bothersome but because it is nowhere to be seen, i don't even know where to start digging. this is really bothering me. can you see it?? let me know if you do.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Open up my eager eyes
ALL YOU CAN EAT - those words are enticing to say the least.
particularly so, when they are strung together with "SUSHI".
several weeks ago, amazing t sent an email out asking if any of us would like to join her to satisfy her hankering for soft shelled crab rolls at this new all you can eat korean / japanese place nearby. i reluctantly, agreed. ALL YOU CAN EAT - those are dangerous words. i always feel an unexplainable pressure to consume way more food than my body is capable of processing or storing comfortably. growing up, my parents instilled in us the need to not only literally eat all that you can but also eat the expensive food items like meat and seafood... don't bother with the pasta and rice. even on the best of days where i starve myself all day, i can barely ingest what i perceive the value of dinner to be. most of the time, i go in, knowing exactly where to draw the line and then at some point, before i get too full, i stop and i leave content.
the players that night ... yves, amazing t, jord, don, elaine, mama y, skye, me and the adorable MB. we must have had at least a couple hundred pieces of sushi, sashimi, etc. amongst other things... teriyaki, soba, udon, edamame, and some other stuff we only referred to by number. the rolls just kept on coming out.. and just as we finished what we thought was the last plate, another plate came out. we ate and ate and ate and before we all knew it, we were past full. at the end of the night, even laughing hurt because i was so full. i don't ever remember eating that much before... now i know why.
that night i got home and sat with MB - both afraid and unable to move too much. we both agreed that the night's binge was a little outrageous - i even learned something new about him and his abilty to eat. what i believed to be a bottomless pit, in fact did have a bottom.
today, several weeks since our sushi binge, i still think about that night when someone invites me out for sushi. t, don, elaine, skye, jord, mama y and i think even yves, all have gone several times since. mb and i, we haven't indulged in sushi at a restaurant in weeks. i know for a fact that this is by far the longest time i've gone with out having a roll of some sort. i think i'm due for some soon... anyone want join me??? just say when...
buttercup
particularly so, when they are strung together with "SUSHI".
several weeks ago, amazing t sent an email out asking if any of us would like to join her to satisfy her hankering for soft shelled crab rolls at this new all you can eat korean / japanese place nearby. i reluctantly, agreed. ALL YOU CAN EAT - those are dangerous words. i always feel an unexplainable pressure to consume way more food than my body is capable of processing or storing comfortably. growing up, my parents instilled in us the need to not only literally eat all that you can but also eat the expensive food items like meat and seafood... don't bother with the pasta and rice. even on the best of days where i starve myself all day, i can barely ingest what i perceive the value of dinner to be. most of the time, i go in, knowing exactly where to draw the line and then at some point, before i get too full, i stop and i leave content.
the players that night ... yves, amazing t, jord, don, elaine, mama y, skye, me and the adorable MB. we must have had at least a couple hundred pieces of sushi, sashimi, etc. amongst other things... teriyaki, soba, udon, edamame, and some other stuff we only referred to by number. the rolls just kept on coming out.. and just as we finished what we thought was the last plate, another plate came out. we ate and ate and ate and before we all knew it, we were past full. at the end of the night, even laughing hurt because i was so full. i don't ever remember eating that much before... now i know why.
that night i got home and sat with MB - both afraid and unable to move too much. we both agreed that the night's binge was a little outrageous - i even learned something new about him and his abilty to eat. what i believed to be a bottomless pit, in fact did have a bottom.
today, several weeks since our sushi binge, i still think about that night when someone invites me out for sushi. t, don, elaine, skye, jord, mama y and i think even yves, all have gone several times since. mb and i, we haven't indulged in sushi at a restaurant in weeks. i know for a fact that this is by far the longest time i've gone with out having a roll of some sort. i think i'm due for some soon... anyone want join me??? just say when...
buttercup
Friday, March 25, 2005
light up, light up...
bloomington illinois. 10 hours from toronto. this is where i am tonight. sama. skye. koos. yves. tina. don. mom. and sweet little jordan. here with jade. conner. tj. mark. julie. a.terry and a. virginia and adorable ian. :) walmarts are 24 hours here. targets close at midnight. we had intentions for a big shopping day.. but that didn't work out as well as planned. driving thru the night proved a little more exhausting than we imagined. we won the lottery crossing the border. mom had tonnes of meat dumplings packed and the border 'puter arbitrarily picked our car for a check. luckily it only required us to get out of the car and make an appearance at immigration. it helped that we had 3 sleepy kids in tow. dumplings made it here with only a few casualties which we ingested this morning. yum.
:)
pb
:)
pb
Monday, March 21, 2005
do they wobble to and fro...
it's really amazing how disconnected from the rest of the world i've been feeling over the past few weeks - particularly last week. thanks to a nasty virus on my 'puters, i've had no internet access at home - it has been about 2-3 weeks. last week, however, i took the week off for March break. my only access was through my cell phone, occasional visits to t's house, or when i was able to convince the ever charming MB to bring over his notebook at which point we would also have to count on "ap router" to also have his unsecured wireless line open. none of these proved very reliable. my cell phone was a slow connect and displayed limited text, visits to t's house were not as frequent as i would have liked, and "ap router" didn't have his computer on sometimes (it's actually quite terrible that i'm complaining about someone who doesn't know enough to secure his/her wireless connection).
i've been checking email infrequently and have not visited any of my favourite "check daily" websites and i haven't been upkeeping this blog. i'm way behind on my reading now. this week, i'm back at work - feeling a bit more connected but still not able to catch up on reading/blogging because i'm just too busy here.
so ... some random thoughts ...
'puters
as of last night virus is gone and internet is back up. i need a new router too.
yay...
motorcycles
ahhh.. i went for my first ride this season last sunday... it was cold. lovely but cold. not my motorcycle either. i had to get certified to become a motorcycle instructor (yes.. i passed!!!). it was so cold my fingers were numb and hurting. i couldn't even tell if i was actually moving my fingers at one point without looking at them. in any case, after many attempts to gain feeling in my fingers, i mustered up enough warmth to take the test and passed with zero points :). woo hoo...
the other day sama's bf came over and i pulled the cover off my bike to show him my baby. man, it took every thing in me to not give it a big "i miss you" hug. i've been really craving a ride especially with the weather starting to warm up. the certification ride came just in time, but not quite the same when it's cold and not my bike. i may even put the battery in and fire it up over the next few weeks. i'm tired of sitting on it in my garage making "vrrroommmm vroooooooooooom" noises.
march break
i have never taken a week off work to just stay at home and relax. this past week was my first. i can't really say what i did with myself most of the time. it really is something to have no commitments for the week. no appointments, no gymnastics, no tramplining, no ball hockey, no work ... amazing. no internet left me with no surfing and no msging and no emails. i didn't sleep as much as i would have liked to, i didn't go out much. i cleaned my basement. i ate - too much. my family, the three of us, put on 15-20 lbs. ice cream everyday will do that. sama saw a lot of guy and skye had a tonne of fun with jq and wong. i had lunch with thesnowdog on wednesday and brought lunch to the very busy but delightful MB on thursday who cancelled the lunch date we planned all week. i visited iln on her bday and was even able to squeeze in some studying for the certification day for the motorcycle course. thursday today and i am just starting to wrap my head around all things work related - thank goodness this is a short week.
Happy Easter ...
princess buttercup
i've been checking email infrequently and have not visited any of my favourite "check daily" websites and i haven't been upkeeping this blog. i'm way behind on my reading now. this week, i'm back at work - feeling a bit more connected but still not able to catch up on reading/blogging because i'm just too busy here.
so ... some random thoughts ...
'puters
as of last night virus is gone and internet is back up. i need a new router too.
yay...
motorcycles
ahhh.. i went for my first ride this season last sunday... it was cold. lovely but cold. not my motorcycle either. i had to get certified to become a motorcycle instructor (yes.. i passed!!!). it was so cold my fingers were numb and hurting. i couldn't even tell if i was actually moving my fingers at one point without looking at them. in any case, after many attempts to gain feeling in my fingers, i mustered up enough warmth to take the test and passed with zero points :). woo hoo...
the other day sama's bf came over and i pulled the cover off my bike to show him my baby. man, it took every thing in me to not give it a big "i miss you" hug. i've been really craving a ride especially with the weather starting to warm up. the certification ride came just in time, but not quite the same when it's cold and not my bike. i may even put the battery in and fire it up over the next few weeks. i'm tired of sitting on it in my garage making "vrrroommmm vroooooooooooom" noises.
march break
i have never taken a week off work to just stay at home and relax. this past week was my first. i can't really say what i did with myself most of the time. it really is something to have no commitments for the week. no appointments, no gymnastics, no tramplining, no ball hockey, no work ... amazing. no internet left me with no surfing and no msging and no emails. i didn't sleep as much as i would have liked to, i didn't go out much. i cleaned my basement. i ate - too much. my family, the three of us, put on 15-20 lbs. ice cream everyday will do that. sama saw a lot of guy and skye had a tonne of fun with jq and wong. i had lunch with thesnowdog on wednesday and brought lunch to the very busy but delightful MB on thursday who cancelled the lunch date we planned all week. i visited iln on her bday and was even able to squeeze in some studying for the certification day for the motorcycle course. thursday today and i am just starting to wrap my head around all things work related - thank goodness this is a short week.
Happy Easter ...
princess buttercup
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
The heart is a bloom ...
Happy Birthday Slowpoke!!!
Slowpoke...
Of course i wish to extend the traditional birthday wishes but first i just wanted to say this...
the other day i looked at the calendar and noticed that my birthday falls on a friday. It's not for several weeks still but i wondered and almost stressed over whether or not i will be playing hockey that night. I think in the past, there would be nothing better than playing hockey on my birthday.. but now, not so much. i'm on the fence. so here you are... your birthday today and you will be playing hockey tonight. knowing you the way i do, i'm pretty sure it was a decision you made without hesitation. for whatever reason, thinking about your passion for hockey always inspires me to play more as well. i'm feeling a bit more pressure to go play for my own birthday now.
i hope you have a really great day. i hope you don't read this till monday cuz that would mean you took the day off. i still don't know who john wong is but if i ever cross paths with him, i'd thank him for playing hockey and planning badly so that you came to play with us. Thanks for your friendship, sharing your occasional hockey wisdom and listening to me gripe about all things hockey all these years.
Happy happy Birthday M!
pb
Slowpoke...
Of course i wish to extend the traditional birthday wishes but first i just wanted to say this...
the other day i looked at the calendar and noticed that my birthday falls on a friday. It's not for several weeks still but i wondered and almost stressed over whether or not i will be playing hockey that night. I think in the past, there would be nothing better than playing hockey on my birthday.. but now, not so much. i'm on the fence. so here you are... your birthday today and you will be playing hockey tonight. knowing you the way i do, i'm pretty sure it was a decision you made without hesitation. for whatever reason, thinking about your passion for hockey always inspires me to play more as well. i'm feeling a bit more pressure to go play for my own birthday now.
i hope you have a really great day. i hope you don't read this till monday cuz that would mean you took the day off. i still don't know who john wong is but if i ever cross paths with him, i'd thank him for playing hockey and planning badly so that you came to play with us. Thanks for your friendship, sharing your occasional hockey wisdom and listening to me gripe about all things hockey all these years.
Happy happy Birthday M!
pb
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Destiny is calling me
yes.. i still have THAT cough. since christmas. i've given up on the puffer and went to some homeopathic concoction that was given to me. 10 drops of this plus 5 drops of that. tastes boozy. i've been doing that for 2 weeks. no noticable change.
after much prodding from many people i decided to go see a chinese doc about this cough. he did some acupuncture- one needle in each hand by the meaty part between my thumb and index finger and two needles in my face just underneath on each side of my nostrils - and he gave me some "foo cha" and sent me on my way. he's treating my allergies/asthma, which will hopefully fix my cough, and my migraines. coincidentally, i got a migraine after seeing him on sunday and today is the first day without any sort of head pain. hopefully, it has just worn itself out.. typically 3 days is how long a migraine lasts for me.
i stayed off the more potent drugs this time so that it doesn't counteract the eastern meds... my migraines mixed with the right drugs, creates the most wicked dreams. i missed that this time around.
no cold food/drinks, no spicy foods - those don't go well with the foo cha.
the "foo cha" tastes awful. a brown powder mixed with a little warm water creating a brown pastey liquid that i have to drink. the woman who gave it to me said it was sweet... but i'm thinking that she's never tasted sugar before.
now i should be on my way to a cough and migraine free existance. next ... i need to get my foot looked at. it's still bothering me.
pb
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
this moment she's been waiting for ....
Marty: You should wait 'til you meet someone who excites you.
Willie: Well, you know, she may not be out there.
Marty: It's like "The Wizard of Oz," Will. The whole time it was right in your own backyard.
- Beautiful Girls
******************************************************
so it turns out that the adorable MB called me from blockbuster a few nights ago telling me he was going to rent a movie ... he asked what i wanted to see... i told him i didn't care and that he could just rent anything and bring it over to watch (that's probably why i'm getting scammed on the movie choices.. it's totally my fault for really not caring what we watch..) ... so we went back and forth and after a few minutes i realized that he must've read my blog from last week. so i chose - "touch of pink".
since my blog, (which was actually more just me griping about my indecisive nature and not directed towards mb), we've seen two movies ... touch of pink and a couple nights ago we decided to forego the oscars and saw million dollar baby (mutual choice). both movies were excellent... but i really recommend million dollar baby though...
pb
Willie: Well, you know, she may not be out there.
Marty: It's like "The Wizard of Oz," Will. The whole time it was right in your own backyard.
- Beautiful Girls
******************************************************
so it turns out that the adorable MB called me from blockbuster a few nights ago telling me he was going to rent a movie ... he asked what i wanted to see... i told him i didn't care and that he could just rent anything and bring it over to watch (that's probably why i'm getting scammed on the movie choices.. it's totally my fault for really not caring what we watch..) ... so we went back and forth and after a few minutes i realized that he must've read my blog from last week. so i chose - "touch of pink".
since my blog, (which was actually more just me griping about my indecisive nature and not directed towards mb), we've seen two movies ... touch of pink and a couple nights ago we decided to forego the oscars and saw million dollar baby (mutual choice). both movies were excellent... but i really recommend million dollar baby though...
pb
Thursday, February 24, 2005
You'll never shine if you don't glow
"According to most studies, people's Number One Fear is Public Speaking.
Number Two Fear is death. Death is Number Two!!!
Now, this means, to the average person, if you have to go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy!!"
- Jerry Seinfeld monologue, episode 61 of Seinfeld.
This is me... total fear at the thought of public speaking.
I've got two kids.. one looks like me more and the other behaves like me more (i really don't know who is more cursed)... so it did come as a bit of a surprise to me when skye (the one who behaves like me) continually won (came 1st or 2nd) her school's public speaking contest. each year, she writes and presents her speech first in front of her class, then in front of her school and last year, even went on the the next level competing with many other schools in the region - each time placing first or second.
i distinctly recall sitting in the audience and feeling so scared ... i had a death grip on the cards she no longer needed and i read them over like it was i who had to stand up there, my palms sweaty, my heart racing, my knees weak. she was thoroughly grossed out when my cold clammy hands reached over to comfort her. she really didn't need me there.. she was calm, collected and couldn't wait to go up there to blow everyone away. that she did,... each and every time. i was soooo impressed.
i recently enrolled in a motorcycle instructor training course. yes.. to become an motorcycle instructor. i, along with a few other instructors, will have to teach a class room of people how to ride a motorcycle. this is the beginning of a series of things that i will do to help me conquer this terrible fear. a few weeks ago, our class was asked to learn some lessons that would prepare us to present to a group of students in the spring. i was so nervous about having to stand in front of anyone to practice the lesson presentations. the night before i couldn't sleep, i felt nauseous, and had thought up a gajillion excuses to tell the instructor as to why i did so badly.
see the sad thing is, the material i am supposed to teach is pretty much written out for me. the ideas and lessons are already prepared, my job is to teach it, not to write it. the other thing is that my audience will be filled with willing participants. generally, no one is forced to learn to ride a bike, they do it willingly, clinging to your every word because it is something they want to learn. how hard could that be?? it's not like they would even know if you forgot to say something or explained something incorrectly... AND the course is designed with a lot of safety nets in case you do forget to mention something while presenting the lesson.
that same week skye was given the task of writing a speech for this year. she ran around the house in a panic, not knowing what subject she would write about knowing the deadline was a few short days away. I'm not sure why, but that triggered in me the memory of the panic that had set in for her last year when her speech was assigned and the year before and the year prior to that. from that, i remembered all those times she stood in front of her peers, parents and teachers and just astonished everyone with not only her words, but with her poise and confidence.
the following week, i went to my class ... equipped with the inspiration and motiviation skye unknowingly gave me. i did better job presenting my material with the knowledge that skye effortlessly stands in front of 5-10 times as many people and presents something that she writes herself to an audience, who are the most critical because they are asked to choose the best ones and also forced to listen to speech after speech after speech. remember that?? in grade school, having to listen to speech after speech, and comparing each one to the next so that you could help to vote for the classmate who went to the next level. now, THAT.. must be really hard to do...
my kids are truly amazing (not just saying that because i'm their mother). they give me strength when i'm feeling defeated ... they make me smile when i'm sad ... and inspire me when i'm feeling stuck. they go through life just doing their thing and in the process have taught me more than they'll ever know. thanks guys, you're the best!
skye, by the way, came 2nd this year in her speech presentation. THAT'S SECOND IN HER SCHOOL!! Had her school been more prudent in signing up for the regional speech competition, she would have made it past her school gym again. Congrats babe! you are truly amazing.
pb
Number Two Fear is death. Death is Number Two!!!
Now, this means, to the average person, if you have to go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy!!"
- Jerry Seinfeld monologue, episode 61 of Seinfeld.
This is me... total fear at the thought of public speaking.
I've got two kids.. one looks like me more and the other behaves like me more (i really don't know who is more cursed)... so it did come as a bit of a surprise to me when skye (the one who behaves like me) continually won (came 1st or 2nd) her school's public speaking contest. each year, she writes and presents her speech first in front of her class, then in front of her school and last year, even went on the the next level competing with many other schools in the region - each time placing first or second.
i distinctly recall sitting in the audience and feeling so scared ... i had a death grip on the cards she no longer needed and i read them over like it was i who had to stand up there, my palms sweaty, my heart racing, my knees weak. she was thoroughly grossed out when my cold clammy hands reached over to comfort her. she really didn't need me there.. she was calm, collected and couldn't wait to go up there to blow everyone away. that she did,... each and every time. i was soooo impressed.
i recently enrolled in a motorcycle instructor training course. yes.. to become an motorcycle instructor. i, along with a few other instructors, will have to teach a class room of people how to ride a motorcycle. this is the beginning of a series of things that i will do to help me conquer this terrible fear. a few weeks ago, our class was asked to learn some lessons that would prepare us to present to a group of students in the spring. i was so nervous about having to stand in front of anyone to practice the lesson presentations. the night before i couldn't sleep, i felt nauseous, and had thought up a gajillion excuses to tell the instructor as to why i did so badly.
see the sad thing is, the material i am supposed to teach is pretty much written out for me. the ideas and lessons are already prepared, my job is to teach it, not to write it. the other thing is that my audience will be filled with willing participants. generally, no one is forced to learn to ride a bike, they do it willingly, clinging to your every word because it is something they want to learn. how hard could that be?? it's not like they would even know if you forgot to say something or explained something incorrectly... AND the course is designed with a lot of safety nets in case you do forget to mention something while presenting the lesson.
that same week skye was given the task of writing a speech for this year. she ran around the house in a panic, not knowing what subject she would write about knowing the deadline was a few short days away. I'm not sure why, but that triggered in me the memory of the panic that had set in for her last year when her speech was assigned and the year before and the year prior to that. from that, i remembered all those times she stood in front of her peers, parents and teachers and just astonished everyone with not only her words, but with her poise and confidence.
the following week, i went to my class ... equipped with the inspiration and motiviation skye unknowingly gave me. i did better job presenting my material with the knowledge that skye effortlessly stands in front of 5-10 times as many people and presents something that she writes herself to an audience, who are the most critical because they are asked to choose the best ones and also forced to listen to speech after speech after speech. remember that?? in grade school, having to listen to speech after speech, and comparing each one to the next so that you could help to vote for the classmate who went to the next level. now, THAT.. must be really hard to do...
my kids are truly amazing (not just saying that because i'm their mother). they give me strength when i'm feeling defeated ... they make me smile when i'm sad ... and inspire me when i'm feeling stuck. they go through life just doing their thing and in the process have taught me more than they'll ever know. thanks guys, you're the best!
skye, by the way, came 2nd this year in her speech presentation. THAT'S SECOND IN HER SCHOOL!! Had her school been more prudent in signing up for the regional speech competition, she would have made it past her school gym again. Congrats babe! you are truly amazing.
pb
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
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