Wishing you all a very happy beginning to your next year on this big blue marble...

Not so Anonymous

But this is still not a place that I let my long term friends visit.

I've always liked that I had my secret spot( though, since I've met so many of you in real life I suppose it really isn't that secret anymore...), a place I could babble on about whatever and nothing all at once.

New job, life long disease and married life have taken me away from the blog. The old job gave me varied hours and thus more time to type, type, type. Back in my slightly healthier days I could always whip up a trotting post. Pre Boy I had more friend and/or kid stories to share.

Now I am going to make time to write minimum once a week because, as I said to GeekHiker, I have a few more words than FB allow and I sometimes long to post more than fluff, the angsty stuff that the parameters of Fb does not allow me.

Not my Exhaustion...

Whew.

It was a month to make it through the days. A month of less sleep and late night talks. A month of listening to fights and rants. A month of rallying strength to be there. A month of many tears.

The Boy and I had someone living with us in April.

Her marriage is failing.

She is my friend and we had to help out. The Boy is kind like that.

She moved out at the beginning of May, in to her own rental, and at that point we realized how exhausted we were after that month. Wow.

She has been living in that for at least a couple of years, if not longer, and I do not know how she is still functioning. Listening to her and watching her is just so sad. I wonder what her husband is thinking....

I had the *cough* pleasure of sitting in on one of their 'talks' (aka husband shoutiness, her quiet and dejected). The thing is that I know he was reserved because I was there. I've seen him take other people on and I know that the 'talk' I witnessed was very minor.

The hardest part for me was that he invited their children in to listen as he mocked their mother and sat back as there daughter talked very disrespectfully to her mom. I know she is hurting because her family is falling apart but her dad should have called her on that. There are a few of us within the inner circle of this friend and after talking to one another we came to the conclusion that none of us would have gotten away with talking to one of our parents like that; the other parent always stepped in.

I am having a hard time seeing hope for this relationship. It's a weird thing because theirs was once one of the relationships I really admired; I wonder what that says about me!

I'd archived this, unsure whether to post it, and was rereading and decided it should be put up. It is an interesting journey to be a part of this disintigration of a relationship. I watch and listen and comment and analyze. I discuss it with the Boy and we make new commitments. I discuss it with other friends in the know and we wonder at our friends strength and commit to calling each other out if we notice anything in one another relationships.

My heart aches for my friend. Things have gotten better with the kids, I think they have gotten over the initial shock, and things are good with my friends job. Things are not good in her marriage.

Even though I cannot bring myself to tell her I think it is over I also cannot tell her I think it will work out....

A Quick Fly By

Hi again...

I think the internet thing should be worked out by the time I am back from over the pond.
Yay!

I went to the Doc and.....not cancer.
Woo and hoo!
But they still don't know what is up with me and have sent me for more blood tests to see where to go from here.
Not so hoo.

Working with people touched by the crazy is very interesting. It would make great blog fodder but I really need to keep my paycheque. Feel free to ask me if you know me IRL.

I got Olympic tickets!!! I am beyond thrilled. Plus it means that GeekHiker will be coming to the Great White North.
Yippee!

Alright, off to do more laundry and continue making trip lists...

And the Winna is...

Me!



I don't win things generally but this time? Oh yeah!
I'd gone to a fundraiser that a friend was involved with and on a whim entered the gift basket draw (actually I purchased tickets). After the event I checked my numbers and there I was, top winner.

I was flabbergasted.

Sure it is a lot of girly spa products that I don't really use but there were also some gift certificates for over $140 so that was something rather nice. :)

Just a Silly Girl Sits Down (or how to concern your new friends)

A drive to the Emerald city on the back roads to view new scenery and have a more relaxing drive.

Find the U. District, park the car, roam about and check in. A bit of a doze may have occurred.

Bump into FiL, get directed to the pub and wander down to meet Colin. I got ID'd, passed over my license, was given raised brows by the doorman who told me I don't show my age (Yes! *air fist pump* ). Greet Colin and receive a hug from a new instant friend. Joined by Fil and beers all around.

We catch the bus downtown and join Juan at the Elysian. Beer flows, food is consumed and talking and laughter abound.

All full of belly, we make our way to the venue to see Deerhunter.

We wander to the floor and pick a spot. We all watch the opening band.


And then....


Standing in the dark room I felt my feet shuffle. Then I saw other peoples feet. Yes, I 'sat down'. My first thought was 'shit' and my next was 'where's my bag?' (passport in it). I quickly got up, beelined for the door and the next thing I remember is not feeling my bag, sensing someone behind me, touching me and someone else grabbing my arm.

The boys had followed me and were taking care of me and my weird case of blacking out. Apparently it was hard to find my pulse. And I was hot. We all went to the hall area which was near an open door. After about 5 minutes everything seemed to get brighter and I felt more normal, as normal as one can feel when they fell down.

I spent the rest of the evening propping up the bar just in case. Falling down put a bit of a damper on my night but the company more than made up for it.

Thanks you three for a great evening. Very good to meet you Juan and Colin after all this blogging time. And FiL, always good to see you.

I Claim the Ruby Slippers

I'm off to the Emerald city to meet with The Scarecrow, The Lion and The Tin Man.

I do believe there may be beer and music involved.

Bag is packed and I am out the door!

Memories and Coincidence

I had a long call with a friend who is trying to work out some things with another of her friends. Much truth was told, a few tears shed and a story of one of my friendships that is no more.

I chose to aske some hard questions in the friendship and in the end I caused out demise. I tried to do what I could to salvage things but she wasn't interested.
It took me a good 6 months to get over (ha, get over...), or should I say move on, from the loss of those 11 years.

Later that same day I was Facebooked by the friend no more.

Went from wedding to pet sitting, well started the pet sitting last week actually, and am now covered in fur.

Good thing they are cute.

But...
And this is the hard, and unbelievable, part: no internet!
Horror of horrors!

And people mock me for not having a cell phone.
This is much worse...

Blogging will be even lighter than normal me thinks.

I'll be twirling and swirling the day away here...

She's Offensive

A friend of mine was complaining about being really big, bigger than she was the first time she was pregnant.

My not so kind response was "Well you are all bagged out from the first kid so you show much sooner this time."

Apparently my social niceties went out the window.

I have a couple of friends that I'll call up every so often and tell them about a gig I think they'd enjoy. They really don't need my help or anything but every once and a while I manage to find a band they don't know about and so pass the information along.

This time it was Los Campesinos.

Parenthetical girls/ (((GRRRLS))) were the first opener and we only managed to catch their last song, a cover of OMD's Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans). I'd have liked to have heard more of them, very earnest and sweet, but I was distracted by the singer's cheekbones and alabaster skin. He was beautiful and I am sure he makes all the girls jealous.

Next up was You Say Party! We Say Die!



This was the first time I have managed to see them live which is pretty pathetic as they are from here. I've heard a few of their songs before but hearing them on disc or vinyl is nothing in comparison to them live. The singer, as I mentioned to Juan, reminded me some of Siouxsie in her slinky, jerky movements and her stage presence. She had a brilliant connection with the crowd and drew them along with her.

YSPWSD and Los Campesinos toured in the UK last Fall and they seemed to have created a friendly bond. During each bands set the other band was invited on stage for a lovely, shouty, bouncy, smiley sing along; near impossible to not enjoy 12 people having so much fun together.

Los Campesinos took the stage, dealt with a few technical glitches and they got the room moving. Their music is poppy, peppy and bounce worthy. It sounds so positive and infectious yet lyrically they are rather dark and angsty. I wasn't disappointed at all especially since they played my favourite song, International Tweecore Underground (on the UK release but found last Fall on a blog- v. good to run to.).

I was sent a newspaper article, snail mail and all...(thank you!)

Christopher Hirst, Writer
Gabrielle Collard, Web Producer
Brian Sewell, Art Critic
Carolyn Braby, Finance Manager
Colin McGregor, Retired Vicar
Lee Bullman, Writer
Anna Pavord, Gardener
Jilly Cooper, Novelist
Marcus Berkmann, Quiz Compiler
and
Just a Girl

All people who manage quite well in the world without cell phones.
We haven't died.
We get peace and quiet.
We may not be rotting our brains...

I had to make one of those awkward phone calls this morning. Well I didn't have to but it's one of those grown up things where you just need to suck it up and do the thing you'd rather not because it is for someone else.

A good friend's dad died and I got the message late yesterday. As I am up early to day to go for a trot to dig wells I took a few deep breaths and made the call.

~ring ring~
Hello?
Hi.
Who is this?
It's Girl.
Ohhhhh! Hi girl! *giggle*.

The 6 1/2 year old had answered the phone. We had a little chat about her grandpa and how she was doing and when she was going to be coming out. She also told my that "Mummy's in BC already because daddy said he was getting her a flight no matter what."

After a little more conversation we said our goodbye's and hung up.
That may have been the least awkward awkward phone call I've ever made.
I can't wait to give her a big hug when she arrives.

It was a very girly evening of fun; movie, popcorn, cosmo's and spicy prawns and scallops.

Fun was had.

How to Freak out Your Friends

Ask a question or make a statement along the lines of:

What's the point?
I don't see the point.
Is there a point?
There doesn't seem to be a point.

Ouch.
I need one of those bum doughnut things after a 27k bike ride.
I haven't really ridden a bike since I was a teen and that was many moons ago.

I was more concerned that my thighs would hurt but it's the butt that is agonizing.
The day was worth it though.

I went with a group a friends for a ride in the city to look at the cherry trees in bloom. It wasn't quite what people initially hoped for because it snowed Friday and Saturday.

Snow....

In the morning it was on the grassy areas as well as plopping off the trees and into the holes of my helmet. It meant it was pretty cool out (bright red nose weather) but the sun broke through and it was nearly perfect for riding around.

Now I'm going to bed and hoping to forget about the tush...

I might whine every so often about friends and all the talk about their husbands/wives/kids (is there nothing else to talk about?) but then you get such a good story that it makes up for anything that may have been mind numbing.

I've written about this family before because they have some of the best, story worthy things happen. It's the sex talks, marriage information and pee-noose questions that get the most laughs.

Well little Mr. Pee-noose has taken to, well, thrusting into the bed and couch. His mom said mostly she ignores him but that it kinda creeps her out when he does it next to her on the bed. She and her husband talked about it and decided it was something they needed to curb happening in front of other people and so would remind him that this was a private thing.

The next time he began bumping the bed his mom told him to stop.
His reply?

But mom, I need to do my pee-noose zercizes!

Maybe he's got a point.

Things that sound so wrong and yet are so innocent...

Can I suck off your hose?

Just a Girl to GeekHiker

(I didn't want to carry my water bottle and was asking if it was okay if I drank from his camelback tube.)

Into the Valley: Day Three

And finally we had a chance to strap on some planks...

Since we were finally able to talk to someone from the ski area the day before we knew that we were going to get in some skiing today. We ate our breakfast and headed up to the pass one more time.

Success!

We parked, found the nordic centre and proceeded to sign our lives away and pay them for this privilege. The staff were skilled enough that they could just eyeball us and hand us the right length skis and poles; mine were the longest of our group. *surprise* They slapped on some liquid wax before sending us out to our lesson rendezvous point. As our instructor was not yet there most of us made a mad dash for the washroom and to grab our sunscreen.

Instructor Anna greeted us, made us do introductions as well as tell her what activities we are involved with (one of my least favourite things to do in group settings) before leading us to the practice area. I've never taken a cross country lesson before, we just winged it as a family, so even though I can ski it was still interesting to listen to her explain some of the whys and wherefores. Plus I got to watch everyone else...

All in all everyone did a decent job of sliding along and keeping on their feet, well until the hills anyway. The snow was near perfect that day; sticky enough that you could ski up the hills without doing the herringbone or side stepping and slippery enough to be able to caught a good sliding rhythm.

We skied to the top of a green run, where we stopped for snacks and photos of the Clark Range, and then the fun began. A school group headed back down before us, screeching and hollering the entire way down. It made me laugh but it made some of my group slightly nervous. After a few reassurances to them that it wasn't a cop out to take your skis off and walk I headed down. What a rush! I forgot the thrill of managing to stay upright, down a hill, while doing a half snow plow on cross country skis.

I reached the bottom before the others and it gave me a moment to just be; it was lovely, quiet and peaceful. Then I had the perverse pleasure of watching four people stumble, tumble and roll down the hill. I tried not to be too amused because that would just be mean!

Another short distance and another large hill were tackled before we all settled into the cafeteria for lunch (just before the second hill another skier inquired if I was with the high school group; apparently I look 17 in my snow gear [that's the age he said]). As we sat chatting over our food it seemed clear that everyone had had a pretty good time and there was talk of planning another attempt for next year. I don't know if I'll make it and if I don't I shall be jealous.

A bit more practice was had then it was time to turn in our equipment. On our way down three of us stopped at tunnel view to try to capture another sunset, with decent success.

We capped off the evening with Nalgenes full of cider and the hotel hot tub. I do believe GH was in his glory what with having four women soaking along side him and two in their unmentionables.