Friday, September 27, 2013

Chop Chop


Pinch me!

 
My two favorite things in the whole entire universe are going to the hair salon and having a beer.  To my delight I have discovered a salon in Vancouver that serves you beer while they cut your hair!! 
 
 
I’m not making this up  I promise – heck, I could never lead you on about something so delicious.  Aww...sigh....I always thought that was what heaven was - a never-ending someone running their fingers through your hair while you sipped a never ending beer.  But now I find this is something I can do before I die!  You can imagine my excitement!!

 
You know, I’ve been to Kathmandu and Marrakesh and Ebenezer, and that was all nice…but let me tell you it’s going to be surreal to scratch “Go to heaven” from my bucket list!

 

 


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Friday, September 6, 2013

Itsy Bitsy Spider


I have an interesting friend…wait…HAD a friend.  My balcony in my summer home in Vancouver, has a glass exterior.  So a few weeks ago, a, slightly-on-the-larger side, yellow-y, black spider built a web on the outside of the glass.  I hate spiders.  They scurry on eight appendages, they lurk, they are gross.  So of course, my first reaction was ‘EEEWWWWW, how do I get him away?!’  Then I thought about spending the summer indoors.  But then I thought, ok, logically, I’m bigger and more dangerous to him then he is to me and he’s on the other side, so if he stays there, then it’s ok.  Plus I’m grown up, I’m mature, he’s just a spider...
 
So after much deliberation I let him be. 


And I have to admit, it was pretty cool.  I did spend a little time out there observing the little fellow as he patiently waited for dinner and then scrambled over in a flash to grab his prey, bring his supper back to the center of his finely crafted web before devouring it.   I watched him expand and repair his beautifully symetrical web.  It was good - my own discovery channel.  He stayed on his side of the glass and I stayed on mine.  I actually came to be pretty proud of my buddy.  People came over and I’d show him off.  He had it pretty good there for the longest part of August. 

 

And then the rain came.  Washed the spider away.

 

And being that it’s Vancouver, the ‘out comes the sun and dried up all the rain…’ part never happened.


He just disappeared.  About a week went by, until a friend from Calgary was in the city and stopped by for a visit.  I was showing off my summer home, and even took him out on the balcony and said, ‘sometimes I sit out here and read or there was this spider over here, he was my buddy… ‘ and as I pointed to where he had resided on the outside of the glass, my finger felt something sticky, stringy….oh GROSS!!!  A spider web!!!  EWWWW.

 

And then.

 

I saw him.

 

Tucked under the railing on MY side of the glass!!

 

I screamed as I ran into the condo and locked the door.  My poor friend on the other side.

 

 

How could he?  I mean you didn’t see me coming over the glass on his side while he called it home.  Yes, I had thought about it.  But I didn’t knock down his web.  Ok, sure it was cause I was scared that he’d panic, or I’d panic, and he’d fly into my face somehow, but the point is – I left him be and we got along fine!!  Quite neighborly in fact.

 

And to think - I even shooed poor stupid flies his direction!

 

 

So, it turns out – spiders are gross.  They are evil, they lurk, and they definitely can’t be trusted.

 

 

Only time I open my balcony door now is to let in the poor innocent flies.

 
That's right Mr. Spider-Pants...I won't be shooing any dinner your way anymore until you get off my property!!!

 

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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Pass the Soup

Is it because I'm getting old that I have these thoughts?

Today I went to grab a coffee and the coffee-ista, or coffee artist or whatever it is they call themselves, had two fairly large metal ball piercings. One through each of her cheeks. 

All I could think was, 'when this young lady eats soup, does it leak out and drip down the sides of her face? ...well, if it doesn't now, it sure will when she realizes that she has outgrown her rebellious years and removes the metal balls, for you can fill in a hole in the ground, but however will you fill in a hole in your face?'


I'm not intolerant or particularily judge-y. People make their own choices and I say all the power to them, but I just wonder sometimes how well people think things through.

But then, who knows. Maybe she doesn't even like soup.



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September Musings

Ah, and another September begins.  I’ve always loved Septembers.  They feel fresh – like the start of something new.  I guess it stems from years of starting another school year in September.  It’s amazing how certain things stick with you over the years.  

Anyhow, I had a lovely summer vacation!  Well...technically, minus the 'vacation' part – although living next to the ocean made it feel a lot like a vacation, even if I was working through the majority of it.

Vancouver had an amazing summer and enjoying the sunshine from its beaches made me realize how lucky I am for the opportunity to have lived in such different places – growing up on the Saskatchewan, prairies living amidst the Rockies in Calgary and now on the shores of the Pacific in Vancouver.  Each place unique and boasts its own pluses.  But I’ve also noticed that as the cities get bigger, one’s space in it gets smaller.  I find myself fascinated by the fact that children can be raised inside of apartments.  Growing up on a farm, one takes for granted that the outdoors is your playground – acres and acres of it!  I used to explore the ‘forest’ in our backyard, build snow forts out by the bins and catch tadpoles in the marsh.  I was free to ride my bike for miles or disappear for hours.  And I thought that was how the world worked.  Children roamed. 

But I have since learned that this is not always the case.  In truth, we are a small, privileged few.  We may not have grown up with swimming pools, corner stores and movie theaters just down the street, but we grew up with something few people have – space.  Space to run and stretch; space to hide from traffic noise and light pollution – to see hear silence and see stars.  Movement not limited to a sidewalk, play not determined by the availability of supervisors, and views not obstructed by skyscrapers.  To be able to swing your arms and hit no one and no thing isn’t something everyone can do in this world. 

I take nothing away from the city; in fact I enjoy a lot of what it affords.  The people-watching is incredible, the array of dining and entertainment options are only feasible because of its size.  The architecture of its buildings is beauty in and of itself.  But one thing I will never again take for granted is a place with space.  There is a finite amount of land on earth and when you get a lion’s share, soak it in!  For far too few people know the true value of having a great deal of space.


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Friday, August 23, 2013

At the end of the day, it's still just a sandwich

Do you know how to know if you've paid way to much for a sandwich?

Ask for half of it to go....if it comes back packaged in a reusable tupperware nestled in a designer brown bag - you've paid too much.


Seriously?!

Seriously.


But...I'm trendy now....with my designer sandwich.  AND I got free tupperware!



hahaha,
happy friday!

Friday, August 16, 2013

Time Change

The funny part about living in a different time zone, is that it took me one day to adjust to the vancouver morning time.  I had no problem waking up an hour later. 

But no matter how many months go by, I can never adjust to having my friday-after-work-beer an hour late...



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Sunday, July 21, 2013

It's a sideWALK people, not a sideSAUNTER

I walk down the street and I wonder - why don't sidewalks have two lanes?

If you can visibly see the grass grow when you walk by - get out the way yo!!


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Friday, July 12, 2013

Resident...Residence....Residency.....

One of the guys I work with is from South Africa.  To give you a bit of background - he moved here with his wife a couple years ago.  They live downtown Vancouver very close to where I am.  I haven't been over, but apparently they have a really nice one bedroom apartment on the 18th floor with a gorgeous view of the ocean. 

Sadly, but for excellent reason, they have to move out of that apartment so have been looking at apartments - 2 bedrooms...(so there is 1 for the baby!)

Anyhow, on Friday morning a whole gaggle of us from worked walked down to the Starbucks to get coffees and on the way back he announced quite proudly, "I forgot to tell you guys, but we are celebrating because my wife and I got our permanent residency!"

Everyone smiled, and said, 'hey congrats', 'that's exciting', etc.

I said, 'So where is it?'

He said, "What?"

I said, "Your place - where are you going to live?  Where is your new apartment - your permanent resi...den..ce....uh...den-cEEEEE...oh.....uh...never...mind......"

As soon as I said it, I knew.  In my defense I've lived in one country all my life - a permanent residence, means you stopped renting and took out a mortgage....but it was too late.

The whole gaggle enjoyed a nice long chuckle at my expense!


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Life on the Coast

Can I tell you about my Wednesday?
 
After work, I went to the beach with a friend.
We had a bottle of wine and a couple sandwiches - a picnic on the beach!  It was nice.
 
THEN...
 
the sun set and it was amazing - the colours of the sky reflecting off the water...so pretty....
 
THEN...
 
everyone else on the beach left because the sunset was over.  But we didn't rush, just kinda hung out a bit talking.  It was right about when we were thinking, 'well maybe we should go...' that a blue heron came to the edge of the water, about ten feet from us timidly dipping it's feet in the water.
 
I'm sitting there thinking, 'And this is just a regular wednesday night...I have to go to work tomorrow....'
 
It's nuts.
Sometimes I forget I'm not on vacation.
 
 
 
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Friday, April 5, 2013

One thing, and one thing only.

My office lacks one thing:

A beer cart that plays the ice cream truck song.


happy friday!

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Friday, March 1, 2013

Yesterday at lunch....

Tanya: "Hey, want a carrot?"

Joaquin: "No thanks.  I don't believe in vegetables."

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Thursday, February 28, 2013

What's the weather now?

Every morning I check the weather app on my phone so I can dress appropriately - scarf, no scarf; mittens, no mittens; sunglasses, no sunglasses; etc.  For the past couple weeks, I check the weather, dress appropriately then walk outside only to find it is a lot nicer than I expected.

My phone says minus 12, feels like minus 18 - so I touque it.  Get outside and people are wearing shorts.  Now the weather in Calgary changes fast.  People joke that it changes every 10 minutes.  But even if that weren't an exaggeration - it doesn't take me ten minutes to lock my door and walk down two flights of stairs.  Yet, every day lately, without fail, by the time I put my mittens on and get out the door, the weather has gone from mitten-weather, to non-mitten-weather.

Again this morning.  Yesterday was nice out, today it said coldish, so I dressed for coldish - got outside....oh crumb!  I'm hot.  And not in the 'check me out, I'm beautiful' kind of way.  I'm sweating hot.

So I'm at work and someone says - oh it's supposed to be nice this weekend - plus ten.  And I think, this guy's on crack.  My phone said around the 0 mark, with snow.  So okay for end of february, but no plus ten....

I pulled out my phone and tuned into the weather network just to show him how wrong he was.  And in big bright letters it read - 5 day forecast - -1; 0; -1; -6, -11

I had done it - proved him wrong!  He agreed that what I said was just what the forecast read, but then ever so graciously pointed out that above the forecast, in big bright letters, it also read "Saskatoon"...


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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

So far so fast

Do you think that five years ago Mark Zuckerberg for a single second imagined this would be in the international news, “The continuation of the conflict between the different political forces and their difference over how the country should be run could lead to the collapse of the state and threaten future generations,” el-Sissi said in an address to military academy cadets.  His comments were posted on the armed forces’ official Facebook page.”



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