Walking on Thin Ice?

I was up at Wollaston, Saskatchewan last week with Cyrielle and wanted to go for a walk to the Northern Store in Hatchet Lake... well there are two options - the ring road around the bay or across the bay. As we were walking, we considered that the bay was a considerably shorter distance to traverse than the ring road, we saw people playing hockey and we saw ski-dooers crossing... we decided to cross the bay.

Now initially we hesitated as I've heard that ski-doos can cross open water if they maintain their speed... I've even seen a picture of it... maybe youtube even has videos. I would personally not want to test the theory as I did hear a story about someone running out of fuel in the middle of the bay and their ski-doo sank.

After what seemed like a significant delay in neural processing, we started across the water. We did however stop to check the depth of the ice as we proceeded... it seemed to range between 4 inches and thinker. If you look closely, my foot is next to a transverse section of crack (horizontal across the photo) - it is about 4 inches deep. The unerving part of crossing the bay was that when we started we could see the bottom with the rocks... then as we delved farther from shore the water beneath the ice turned black!!!

It was exhilarating to walk cross the ice!! Our current philosophical debate is now centred on whether that consitutes walking on water??

Stitches Out

Yesterday was the day to remove my stitches... but I forgot until it was too late.

My first thought was to ask a friend. I went for dinner with my friends Debbie and Linda but neither of them thought it was a good idea to take out my stitches. I told them it was fine, Mike would do it if he was here... they kindly let me know that neither of them were Mike and couldn't bear the thought that they might hurt me cause the stitches were so tight to my skin. Fair enough.

Today I remembered to call my doctor's office only to find out she was booked up, which was to be expected. Really she is a very good doctor. I think this cyst thing was just... well I don't know what it was.

So, I resorted to ask a couple of colleagues if they would cut the stitches out. I mean I would cut out someone's stitches. Jane flatly refused and told me to take a hike. But Cyrielle finished my sentence before it was out of my mouth and said sure! She'd done it before... sort of. =) Hurray!! Now to find a sharp blade and a pair of tweezers... well we found a knife, disinfected it, but the blade was too dull so out to my car I tromped to find my leatherman. I haven't carried it on me for years now, not since I walked through the airport security gate with it on my belt. I no longer wear a belt through security either, most of the time.

We also borrowed Rich's leatherman so we had scissors and pliers for the procedure. It was a great success!! So to remove stitches at home you need one or two leathermans, alcohol swabs and a good friend. =) Here's a photo for the record.

About Mike

Finally the blog to tell you about Mike!! Fear not, I will not leave you hanging for another two months.

I just want you all to know creating this timeline was an enormous task as I was trying not to know how long we'd been together so I didn't have to worry about that terrible 6 week stage when I typically crash any relationship!! But for all of you, I had to step up and give you your story. Here it is...

May 20th, 2009 - Mike and I met at the shotgun range. He was with his friend Lee and I don't think I knew Mike could even talk for about a month. Thankfully Lee was there to talk for all of us.

I went out to spend time with Mike and Lee, but I often skipped out cause I was too tired from my kayaking bender and also wanted to visit friends. Mike's friend Lee did call from time to time to encourage or nag... not sure which... me to come out shooting.

September 2nd, 2009 - I emailed Mike to ask about something Lee told me.

September 9th, 2009 - Mike and I agreed to meet at the range to practice before trap night. (Lee takes full credit for this as he was out of town and told me to call Mike.) We had a really good time!!

September 16th, 2009 - Mike and I met up again to go shooting. I pressured Mike to come kayaking with me. I think he’s a pretty cool dude.

September 21st, 2009 - Mike came kayaking with me and he was really good. We're looking forward to paddling this summer. I tactlessly turned down Mike’s invitation to go out for a beer after kayaking cause it was my bedtime. Really who the heck goes out for beer that late at night? Not sure if he likes me yet.

October 17th, 2009 - Mike came to a wine tasting with me. I thought he wasn't going to come because he had to wear "business casual" and working on the rig, he told me he didn't wear or own those type of clothes. Well being a stubborn Taurus he couldn't shake me that easily so I called to tell him we were going shopping after work, only to find that he was already shopping. =) I thought perhaps he liked me. I was glad that he went shopping cause I was tired so I laid down for a nap before hockey. The wine tasting went great! I drank too much and in the end couldn't decide what bottle to buy so I just linked arms with Mike to steady myself for the rest of the evening. (He liked it.)

Anyways, have to tell you about the end of the night - Mike found me sitting on a chair... may have been talking about him so my cheeks could have been burning. I joked that it would be wonderful if he would bring the truck around so I didn't have to walk. He pointed out the door and replied, "That truck?" WOW!!! I just laughed - he's a keeper.

October 22nd, 2009 - Mike, Kirsten and I went to the Strathcona Haunted Ghost Walk. Still not sold on whether Mike was interested in me or not, I thought I should invite him out again. =) I surreptitiously linked arms with him and Kirsten so I could casually have a reason to touch him. It worked well and Mike took the initiative to hold my hand. Yay!!!

October 23rd, 2009 - I had the day off so Mike and I spent it together talking. Oh and he drove me to my flu shot and took me out for lunch and cupcakes and he doesn't even like sweets! We agreed we were interested in each other. I let him know that I was spoiled with my work travel so I never open doors or pay for food and I only drive occasionally. If he thought I was a spoiled princess he never let it show. But we did have to argue about opening doors. I haven't driven since, but I do open some doors, and we split food bills.

We also discussed "what is dating?" and I'll share that in the next blog.

October 26th, 2009 - We kissed - okay Mike kissed me and then I kissed him back and I really liked it.

October 27th, 2009 - We agreed to spend time together exclusively (and I was supposed to dump all my other boyfriends).

October 28th, 2009 - Mike met my friends Mark and Chelsea at their weekly bible study kick-off party. Mike let me know that he wasn't really interested in going regularly cause he's illiterate and wanted to do other stuff with me. But he did reassure me that if I wanted to read to him I could and if I wanted our kids to go to church he's okay with that too.

October 31st, 2009 - Mike and I were supposed to meet up to hang out before going to my friend Scott, Carrie and Virginia's place for Halloween. Well, Scott was working so Mike and I agreed we would take Carrie and Baby V grocery shopping together if Mike came back in time from shooting or just me if he was late. Well he was late so I took Carrie and we planned to only be an hour... two hours later Mike called to see where we were and we were just on our way to the grocery store... we had to shop around for fake eyelashes!!! =) Honest to god, Mike found this endearing and laughed - thank goodness because I think it happens more frequently than I'd like to admit.

Halloween was awesome! And Mike even scored points cause he brought extra candy which was much needed when we ran out!!! My only concern is that Mike is getting all the awesome boyfriend points and all I do is arrive late. I guess I should be thankful he likes my cooking. =)

November 5th, 2009 - Mike and I agreed it's okay to be boyfriend-girlfriend.

November 10th, 2009 - Mike insisted we've crossed the line and are dating. This is so embarrassing, but here goes... I had just come home from visiting my mom and dad and what should I get? A painful pimple on the back of my neck where I can't see it. Mike saw it and screamed, "What is that on your neck?!" Oh the shame. I befuddledly responded, "I don't know a zit or a hive, I just got it this morning and it hurts!" Unfortunately for Mike he asked if I wanted him to pop it. My eyes lit up at the thought that Mike might be a kindred spirit and like popping other peoples pimples!!! (Okay this may be an exaggeration, I only do this for special friends.) So Mike took out his gloves and safety glasses and was all geared up for the process. The irony is that he did pop it - I just about died from the pain, but didn't want to be a wimp - and part of it hit him in the forehead, just above his safety glasses!! So much for keeping himself sterile. Oh god, I'm laughing too hard here. And thus Mike decreed that we were now officially dating. =)

November 16th, 2009 - Mike and I were both out of town working and I called him everyday and talk for about 40 minutes; the highlight of every day last week.

This week I'm back in town and he's still away for another two weeks. Now we talk for over an hour every day... I miss him alot.

I have a plan though - "My Missing Mike" therapy plan - I have lots of things to do around my house and friends to visit so I'll just keep busy while he's away. I'm good at that, plus my tv misses me so I may have some much earned couch time to catch up on. Today I have work to do for teaching at Augustana in January and laze around, tonight I'm going to a shooter party, ... and lots more. =)

Resolution of the Dating Faux Pas

Well after two months I am happy to say that my dating faux pas is out in the open and resolved. In the end, that extremely good looking young man who ditched his dad to come kayaking on Monday evening with me, won my heart. His name is Mike and we're officially dating and I've put in my vacation request for next summer to Prince George or Whitehorse... it sounds promising.


I will admit that it was a tad stressful and I have no intention of putting myself in said position again. There were a number of nights that two of them showed up to the pool and really, it was awkward for me. Enjoyable to my friends who knew what I did. Glad you could have a laugh at my expense. =)

Thankfully I was honest with Mike and told him about my poor judgement cause he's also extremely smart and found my blog. I tried to find my blog and couldn't!!! How could he just find it on his first try!?!? I was somewhat shocked as this is my private journal to all of you!!! But then he confronted me with the question, "Were you just going to keep it a secret from me?" To which of course my jaw dropped as that was not my intention, it had just not occurred to me yet that it was something I should share with him. Well crisis averted, Mike still likes me and is enjoying my blog... I am feeling rather exposed though as I try to remember everything I've written about in the past... I suppose if it was important enough to tell you, I should tell Mike at some point... the bright side is, he'll read about it, so I don't even have to remember. =)

Mike, material published on this site can in no way be used against me in any manner - it's in the fine print.

Epic Punch Biopsy

For anyone who has had a sebaceous cyst before, they are rather uncomfortable, for those of you who haven't a sebaceous cyst is a blocked gland under the skin's surface that can't drain. I used to have a pair that resembled little horns; one on the left and the other on the right side of my head. It was an extremely appealing characteristic of mine. =)

So about 5 years ago I had one removed cause it rubbed on my kayaking and hockey helmets. No problems! Doctor did a great job, had a few stitches for a week and then I was off to play. A year later it came back, maybe because a portion was left behind the year before, hard to know for sure. A resident doctor removed it that time and my doctor gave play by play commentary, it was rather interesting; I was only missing the video feed.

This fall after my kayaking bender it was time to remove the other one. Smartly I thought let's do it in between kayaking and hockey seasons. So into the doctor's office I went (same one as before), but instead of a scalpel she decided it would be better to do a punch biopsy. It's like the equivalent of taking an itty bitty cookie cutter to my head with my scalp being the dough. I'll admit, it's not my favourite sensation. But you know, medical technology is always progressing... well supposedly. I inspected the alleged cyst they removed and I couldn't see it, I said, "it's pretty small to be causing all that kerfuffle." To which they agreed and I started having deep philisophical thoughts about my seeming oversensitive hyperchondriac reaction to a bump in my head.

Well because it was a punch biopsy I had to leave the stitches in for 2 weeks. Come week 2 I went to get the stitches out and finally touched my head... you'll guess immediately what I found!!! They cyst!!! The target cyst was missed by 5mm. =( Of course I'm annoyed, but think I should go back to my doctor and let her know the problem.

Of course, she reassured me that they had in fact removed a cyst last time. Fine, I'm thinking, but I asked you to remove this other one. So a bigger punch was used this time. I just about spoke up to say that I thought perhaps the punch was not the most appropriate method, but really, my medical skills involve polysporin and bandaids. And really, how could they miss the cyst a second time?

So on with the procedure. I saw the cyst this time, and it was smaller than I expected, but it was there. They stitched me up, I was happy, and off I went. Two weeks later I am in Fond du Lac, SK about to get my stitches out and I feel my head again... WHAT THE HECK!!!! The cyst is still there, granted there is a little nick missing from it, but it's still there!!! How can this be possible? Even the nurse practitioner was dumbfounded. I'm concerned that I may soon be balding with all these punch biopsies!

As I am travelling all this week and on the suggestion of the nurse practitioner I went into the Stony hospital the next morning before my meeting to have it removed by a different doctor. After a 20 minute check in and a meander to the emerg section I got to sit in the waiting room for 2 minutes before being ushered to a bed. I gave the nurse a rundown of my purpose in Stony, the paramedic took my blood pressure, and the doctor asked about my case history.

Now we're ready, the doctor marks the cyst with a pen, shaves part of my hair off... it will grow back right??... and we begin again. The doctor was nice enough to comment that it wasn't that big and I felt a little silly making such a fuss, but really I like my kayaking helmet. So he cuts my head open and I hear a surprised remark, "oh this is a bit bigger than I expected". Well I saw the cyst and I am very disillusioned with my doctor - how could she possibly have missed the cyst? I now have a dint in my head and feel confident that it is gone. =)

And hopefully now, my helmet will fit my hornless head better. =)

A Dating Faux Pas

I love kayaking. We all know that though by my frequent drops off the earth. Now, if I date someone, I think I'd like them to kayak too. It's only logical or we would never see each other. Well I am not dating anyone in particular right now, but I am taking time to get to know a few men better...

Well two of them agreed without any hesitation to take a kayaking clinic... they both signed up for mine... oops #1. Solution - thankfully I convinced one to join another clinic.

Every week we have a kayaking session where members can come a practice or socialize. This week, three of them will be showing up... oops # 2. Solution - I tried to get one of them to come to a Monday session where I will be running an intro session for a few students... he's going to the shooting range with his dad that night. Sigh.

I would like you all to keep me in your thoughts and no need to comment on reasons why I might be single still. =P

I hope you enjoy the irony of my situation as much as I do. TTFN

Corn in Pots

Well, I completed my first year of growing corn in pots. I even chose a short season corn and what do I have to show... senescing corn. They looked pretty when they were green, but now they are not. Didn't even get one ear of corn. Oh sigh.

Next year I will grow sunflowers in the pots. I think they will be happier. The corn I discovered is high maintenance, needs fertilizer, and water. I know water!!! Just kidding, I did water the corn, but I did not fertilize.

In fact, I still have to bring in the garden!!! I was going to do it this week, but now I'm travelling to Stony Rapids. I know, you're all surprised to hear I am travelling for work. Trust me I was surprised too. I have not travelled since February. Should be a good trip. Just getting everything together. Thankfully I didn't make any plans so I didn't have to bump anyone. =)

Watches

I finally bought myself a new watch at Superstore so that I would not get out of bed too early when I am camping... well I know this sounds odd, but I try to sleep in on camping weekends... but sometimes I wake up at weird hours 12:31, 3:22am, 4:08am... etc. and sometimes when there is no cell phone reception my cell phone dies or loses time... well my old cell phone. I bought a used phone on kijiji - new for me and it's great!! I can put it in airplane mode and it won't keep looking for a signal so the battery lasts and even though it doesn't have reception, it keeps time!! Hurray.

Back to the watch... Well water resistant definitely does not mean waterproof. So when I took my watch on the river as a good kayak leader should... although it seemed to work well on the first day, I am afraid that my upsteam lean lead to some serious underwater time and my watch face is now filled with a solid layer of condensation.

I am hoping that our dry Alberta climate will suck the moisture out of if quickly. =)

Sweet dreams.

State of Mind

I was looking through some photos from 1999 and I saw pictures of me learning to kayak and holding my neice as a baby... I had no grey hair!!!!

Why is this important you ask... here's how last Friday went down... (can someone remind me I have soup on upstairs???)

Friday morning I woke up with one goal on my mind - do yoga! As I was contemplating yoga my sister called so we had to chat for a bit... then I had to call my mom to say hello... an hour has now passed. Next I thought I'd best eat before yoga cause I was hungry. I walked downstairs and promptly went outside to check on my freshly planted Saskatoon berry shrubs. They look good, but need a bit of a soil top up. Then I walked around the yard and noticed that the raspberries needed to be picked... I thought I had time for raspberries before yoga. I walked into the house for a bowl and yes, I did pick raspberries... then saw that there were some peas... oh and a zucchini... might as well pull some weeds while I'm out I thought.

Then into the house I meandered. I had promised a friend and myself to make banana muffins for the folk festival that night and it was already 10:30ish... I think... I checked my email and then decided to make the muffins before yoga because they would take 20 minutes to bake... I could do yoga while they were baking. So I started making muffins. I was pretty hungry but then I chose not to take a break as I would have to test the muffins and they could be my breakfast. The first batch of muffins go into the oven and I realize that I only have one stoneware muffin pan... sigh. I make a loaf out of the remaining batter form batch #1. That's right I made two batches with different fill. =) YUM!!!

I ended up deciding that I had to eat som raspberries and whipped cream... or was it ice cream... might have been both. So I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV instead of doing yoga while the muffins baked. But really, They were the first batch and needed to be watched.

I put the banana bread loaf in and check the time... 11:30... I'm supposed to be at a friend's house at 1:30... it is highly unlikely in my current state of mind that I will get there. I called and thankfully Natlaie was pretty flexible with her plans... it was decided I would arrive at 2:30 instead. I finished my muffins and my thoughts returned to yoga. It was best for me to get all my folk festival stuff together so I was ready to go and then I would do yoga.

Suddenly, it was 1:45 and I had to go but I hadn't done yoga!!! ... oh well, I showered, changed and loaded up the car. I arrived at Natalie's house at 3:00... =)

It was a good day, and at least I put my yoga clothes on. Now I have to go check that soup. I really hope it turns out.

Green Thumb

I have really good news about my gardens! I have a plan for revamping the front yard that involves no grass! The neighbours are very interested, now I just need to price it out. I want to do a combination of paving stones with ground cover, like thyme. I'm very excited... but I think it's a next summer project.

My current project is to mow the grass... sigh... my flatmate who has been doing it this summer is away working in the field... good for him, bad for me. I won't mow it today cause I am home sick, but perhaps later this week.

I have good news about the dead shrubs in the front yard. My flatmate cut down the mostly dead tree and dug up the root ball, wire mesh and all!!! So I planted an Evan's Cherry tree! So far, it is still green. We had to meet the waste removal specialist and put the root ball in his truck because it was too heavy. I thought these specialists were supposed to be really strong!!??

In the back yard, some of you may already know, I had to dig up some of my yard and edging to erect a garden shed last fall. Well the garden shed is doing well, the dug up yard became a haven for weeds... so over my holidays a couple of weeks ago (I know, my blog should have been my first priority) I dug up more lawn... oh right, I aslo dug up lawn and edging earlier this summer so I could put in my corn pots. I found corn requires lots of fertilizer, so although they look good, if I don't fertilize them soon I'm not sure I'll have any corn. I want to use my worm compost, and I have some, it just needs to be extracted from the worm bin. Anyways, you can imagine the yard... smooth lawn and mulch with rubber edging sticking out at various intervals. =) So I dug out the lawn to reform it and put the edging back, I was going to leave the edging out, but really, then the grass roots would spread faster and that would mean more work. Now all that remains to to lay newspaper and wood mulch.

Oh and you may remember all that topsoil I had for give away last year!?! I kept some for my front yard plans that are still just a pipe dream... but they are getting closer, I have gathered numerous rocks for my rock garden wall... a few more trips to friends' farms and I should be good. Anyways, the topsoil was left under a tarp in my back yard as a temporary measure because it was covering the planned location of three saskatoon berry shrubs. Well over my holidays another accomplishment was to move the remaining dirt into roughneck rubbermaid containers... well I underestimated the amount of soil that was left and ended up scrounging bins... 9 in total!!! I used 3.75 to fix the lawn I dug up... that leaves 5.25 for the front yard. But the point is! I was able to plant the remaining three saskatoon berry shrubs and they are very happy... though I suppose I need to check on them. I am happy the shrubs are planted and the soil contained... I now have a number of not very decorative bins in the back yard that are too heavy to move. =)

Earth to Nicole

I received a few very encouraging emails over the last month inquiring, "What the heck is your problem Nicole!? Update your blog! No email, no blog, no phone call! Where are you and what are you doing?" Thank you for caring. =)

Since my last blog I started kayaking every weekend, except for two because I was really tired and had to do some yardwork and watch TV. Paddling has been wonderful this summer. I decided that it was about time I start challenging myself and paddling new rivers and playing on the river even if it meant I might have to roll or swim. I didn't end up swimming, but my roll is getting better. =) I'm having difficulties grasping the concept of don't lean upstream. My friend Brace told me it's a fundamental principle of physics... but really I think I didn't take physics after high school so one can't expect that to be common knowledge. hee hee.

My current favourite rivers that I want to run again are the Sheep River by Turner Valley and the Mistaya River by Saskatchewan Crossing (hwy 93 and 11). Now I hear you are supposed to run the Sheep and Mistaya in a big boat, but I only have my playboat... it just means I should check the water level... I think. =) If I can't paddle them again this summer, they'll be top of my list next year.

Here is a picture of me goofing off posing on my boat for a photo... when I tipped over. =)

Dead Garden Part 2

The saga of the dead garden continues this year. Two months ago I tenderly planted some tomatoe and pepper plants and nurtured them to 1 foot high!! Last Wednesday I had an evening at home to do what I wanted... so after two months of having all these plants in my house I decided they had to go outside, plus it was in between two paddling weekends so seemed convenient.

Well as those of you in Edmonton know, Thursday there was a frost!! I swear, I checked the forecast before planting. Needless to say my squash, tomatoes, peppers and beans are now all dead =(.

But more than that!! I think all the shrubs in the front yard are also dead!! So now, I have a dead tree and two dead shrubs from last year, and now 4 more dead shrubs!! I may have to revise my front yard plans... anyways I do not have enough rocks for my rock garden yet, so maybe the front yard will be for next year. I think I want to turn part of my front yard into an extra parking space - so I mean paving stones of some sort.

The good news is that I can buy more squash seeds, and I have my pots for the corn - I just need soil for them. And I'm sure I can buy a couple of tomato and pepper plants at the greenhouse to replace my lost ones. =) So now, I just have to plant more peas and beans. I meant to do it tonight, but instead I'm watching "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Perhaps tomorrow night. =)

Pyrola

These are the best and newest photos of me this year!! I love my floating head!!

Beer

I was just minding my own business the other day when I was informed that beer only stays good for 3 months!! Oh my, I thought, I have some beer that is older than that...

After some discrete inquiries I learned that beer does have a shelf life, but it is longer than 3 months. However, I was challenged with the response of why on earth would one keep beer for that long? Logically, when you consider the competition - beer versus cocktails - cocktails win 80% of the time.

The immediate concern was what to do about the beer?

• At first I thought I could have some friends over and drink it, of course keeping the hard liquor locked up for the evening. BUT, what if the beer was bad, I would die of mortification if I served bad beer.
• I thought I could throw it away and start fresh, but the idea of wasting potentially good beer knotted my stomach and I quickly discarded the notion.
• My third thought was to test it to confirm its quality.

If the beer was still good then I could share it. BUT then I realized that I should employ some statistical test on a sample of the bottles to determine the proportion of bottles that were good and bad; with the hope that the majority of them were good. Because really, if I sampled only one bottle luck of the draw would result in me testing the only good bottle. However I soon realized that I would have to drink every bottle to confirm the quality. My plan was to drink one beer a day, solely for purposes of testing the beer. I say "was" because it didn't turn out quite as I anticipated. I am not a hard core beer drinker, which really I should have guessed based on my preference for cocktails.

However, after five days of drinking beer I had to take a break. My body was designed to drink cocktails as frequently as I desire, but not beer. =)

I've taken a week off and I think I am ready for another testing session, but I think I will limit it to three days for health reasons, as well as concern for the public at large. At this rate I should have all the beer drunk within say six weeks... at the earliest. To date although I have drank five beers, somehow 11 new beer appeared in my house... It has me stumped too. I'll keep you posted. =)

Teaching

Well, I may be temporarily crazy. I am teaching biology labs at Augustana (UofA) and kayaking at the UAPS (United Albertan Paddling Society) in addition to my job. But I love teaching!!! I hate marking!!! Not to worry though. I am very content most of the time, except that I do not see my friends as much as I would like to right now. Only 4.5 weeks of teaching left though and then spring will be upon us and I'll be ready to think about biking. =)

You may wonder why I am teaching and coaching at the same time. Well it has been 3 years since I taught at Augustana and the gap in my life resulting form not teaching was growing and I was discontent. But, I love to paddle, and I thought I would contribute back to the UAPS community so I took my level 1 certification for kayaking this winter and started applying for grants for new equipment and coach training to help cover costs and now I'm coaching too.

For those of you interested, the UA in UAPS used to stand for University of Alberta, but in the UofA spirit of profit they decided to cut us loose and form a Campus Rec club. Unfortunately they are lax in caring for their equipment and slow to attend to their financial responsibilities. But the UAPS is coming together, we're working with the new UAPC (UofA Paddling Club), and although I feel at times I am overly aggressive for example in meetings - meetings are for business, so I redirect the conversation frequently because I think people can socialize after the meeting; I mean for godsake imagine chattering on about your personal life and then complaining that the meeting is running too long, -sigh- and -shrug-, I am really excited to be part of the force driving the revival of the UAPS to a community oriented club.

WOW!! Building the UAPS is like a mountain, but I love to organize and find it is quite refreshing to be entangled in this collapsed web, realigning and linking the strands anew. I am really looking forward to this summer and becoming a better coach and working with a wonderful group of friends to make UAPS a success. We even have a new website under construction and a cool domain name http://www.paddleuaps.ca/ =)

And thus it came to be that I overloaded my schedule this new year. =) I love you all and hope to see you in the spring. Most of my free time is being spent in my shell right now, and I am quite happy there. My only fear right now is when will I have time to watch the 1995 Pride and Prejudice 6 hour BBC mini-series with Colin Firth???

Hockey

Well this post is two weeks late cause I did not have computer access when I wrote it and instead of entering it into the computer at my earliest convenience, I carried it with me for safekeeping. Now it is tattered and folded and no one can know its contents unless I send out this blog.

In my Christmas letter I mentioned I scored a really good goal in hockey and that perhaps it was a good omen that I would score more after Christmas... will it's true!!! I have scored 3 goals since Christmas and none of them on a shooter tutor!!! I am so excited. I scored a goal this past week too... but they have yet to determine whether the whistle blew before or after my shot. And the down side is there is no video replay to confirm. =( My friend Darren was kind enough to call me a showboater!!! Oh my! But really, I don't score every week, this is a big deal for me. Someone has to celebrate!! =D

I wrote this message on paper as I waited for my bus from Saskatoon to Edmonton. The flights were booked solid out of Saskatoon to Calgary/Edmonton! But my Tuesday Karma has depleted and I waited from 6:12am until 8:40am before I boarded a bus... I of course slept for the first hour and a half of the following 8 hour trip.

On the plus side, I did not require a body search to ride the bus, it was quiet and roomy, and a much needed mental respite.

Horseshoes

I feel as if I have horseshoes in my back pocket today. Why you wonder? I’ll tell you.

I was late for work, but I washed the dishes, emptied the garbage and recycling, watered the plants, except for the dead ficus – my second I am evidently not a ficus growing proficienado. What I’m trying to portray is that, although I was late-ish for work, I had a very productive morning, not to mention that I packed for another trip to Stony Rapids.

So my morning at work went very smoothly, had a wonderful jalepeño havarti on rye. I left for my house after lunch to catch a taxi to the airport without delay. Arrived at the airport and could not check in… well my flight was 1.5 hours late and I was going to miss my connection!! (Edmonton-Calgary-Saskatoon) Oh my, thankfully the wonderful lady at the counter booked my standby on the 3pm flight. I had just enough time to walk through security and get on the plan. Thank goodness I showed up early!!! Now I should mention there were six seats remaining and 9 standbys… and Murphy’s laws, remember Murphy’s laws. I enter security, take off my belt, get out my computer, put my eye drops in a plastic bag, put my banana in the bag too just in case, take off my coat and toque and scarf… ready. On the other side of the scanner I was randomly selected for a pat down!! AGAIN!!! I swear I’m going to start keeping track of the proportion of airport visits that result in my random selection for a pat down. But, thankfully the pat down was quick and actually I think I enjoyed it, it was almost like a massage… was that my inside voice? =D

I arrive at the ticket counter and low and behold there is room for me on the flight and I walk right on.

In Calgary I have to go the baggage carousel to pick up my bags cause they were not checked though due to my standby status. I found them no problem and headed to the check-in counter with some difficulty. At the check in counter they cannot find me and I experience a momentary anxiety until I remember, I have a 10:20 flight if all else fails and I can go to the Maple Leaf lounge and drink Baileys. =) So in the end I get another standby ticket. Off I go to the gate… at security I am somehow AGAIN randomly selected for a pat down… I need help here! I know it is possible but give me a break. I have to admit she did not do as thorough a pat down as the previous lady. Anyways, at the gate I find out I have to wait a half an hour before I can find out whether there is room for me on the flight. I hesitate trying to decide whether I should go for a Bailey’s or sit at the gate. In the end I decide to sit at the gate assuming I will most likely have to wait so I can spend the rest of the night drinking. Well I make it on the flight so no Baileys. Perhaps I don’t have horseshoes in my pocket. =)

In the plane, I fall asleep as usual, only to wake up after a while to hear the captain apologize for the delay but some of the passengers could not find the gate so their luggage is being unloaded. So an hour late, but in one piece and with all my baggage I made it to Saskatoon in time for supper and a good night’s sleep before I hop on a plane tomorrow for Stony Rapids. Now if I only had internet access to post this tonight. =)

Sweet Dreams.

Life in the Fast Lane

I am writing to inform you that I am unsuccessfully balancing work, teaching, house renos, dating and socializing. As such, house renos have been put on hold, I am unprudently procrastinating in my marking and I have limited my dating to one person at a time. =)

I did encounter a valuable find on Kijiji this week. A lady was selling a bedside table, when I went to buy it she was also selling a couch, chair, desk, printer stand, shelf, 2 lamps and ... for $450. I have been looking for smoke/pet free second hand furniture for a long time!! It is much nicer than my current regifted set so I expect I will be harrased for putting it in my basement, but it fits better. And really I like my regifted set upstairs. Now I have to reassess the use of my basement, I had thought that I wanted to put my sewing down there... but now the couch changes things and I am contemplating moving the sewing back to the guest room. Yes, the more I think about it the more logical it would be. I mean something has to happen with the crafts! Right now there are a number of rubbermaids in my room and to be honest... it would be nice to reach my dresser and closet without traversing the equivalent of Mount Kilimanjaro each day.

I did envision painting the guest room... well now that it has a purpose I suppose I should get to it. =D

Back to furniture though. I am happy to say that my bedside table is no longer a plastic drawer unit topped with a square of sanded plywood for weight. Slowly but surely I will move into the adult realm of home funishings. As an aside, I do not want to sell my loveseats so I went online and there are a dozen or so organizations that accpet furniture to give to people in need. My only concern is that the loveseats are in need of a steam cleaning... sigh. Why does cream have to show the dirt???