Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm now 26. I feel sort of old. My big gift this year was a guitar from my parents. I'm pretty excited about learning how to play. I've decided that I will sign up for a few lessons to get me started and then I'll see if I can learn on my own after that. So far I can play e,f,and g on the first string. That's it.

* UPDATE *
I can now play Ode to Joy poorly. Really need to take some lessons in January!

My new bike!

I got a new mountain bike today!!! I decided to branch out a bit from road cycling and give this whole mountain biking thing a go. I'm basically terrified of most of the more technical stuff but I'm excited to learn and hopefully I'll gain some confidence as I get better.

Accountability

So far today my "contributing to the world" score is hovering only slightly above zero. Other than paying the guys at the bike shop for fixing my bike I have done little to make the world a better place. This isn't because I couldn't think of anything to do, in fact I have oodles of school preparation to take care of as well as household chores that I keep promising to do and don't. Unfortunately that debilitating beast known as procrastination has reared its ugly head yet again and forced me to sit around reading stupid things on the internet and hoping someone will update their blog. (Update: Thanks to Jenn for updating her blog!). As part of this procrastination I decided to take a look back at my own blog to see how stupid it all seems a few years later. So far I have discovered the following things:
1. My brain is going to mush and I am becoming less interesting over time.
2. I really haven't kept up with the initial intentions of my blog. Especially the part about rating other people's blogs.
3. People are losing interest (I realize this assumes there was a measurable level of interest to begin with). Comments are down considerably from 2006.

In the name of accountability I have decided that if I am going to continue to have this blog I need to address the above issues. Here is my 3 point plan:
1. Say "yes" to more stuff. I think that saying "yes" more often will make my life more exciting and result in more interesting blog entries.
2. Reference other blogs more often in my posts.
3. Make new friends. Perhaps blogs are really only interesting for the first year. New friends might still think the blog is a novel idea and I could have a solid year of interest before they realize that they have better things to do with their time.

Vancouver

I spent the long weekend in Vancouver with Kris and Ath. It was super fun even though they had just moved into their new apartment and we had to unpack a lot of boxes. The trip met all the requirements of a good trip to Vancouver: Sushi at Toshi's, ferryboat rides, fish tacos, sea wall walks, waffles, mountain adventures, and lots and lots of yummy coffees.
Highlights of the trip this time:
1. Hiking "The Grind": We felt pretty fit considering it is sort of a fit people thing to do. Gimpy (my ankle) did well on the hike too...I was pretty happy about that.
2. Going for trendy dinner: We had to walk down a sketchy alley to get into the restaurant and we saw two people smoking crack AND a rat. I'd never really seen a rat before. (The dinner was also very delicious)
3. Meeting baby Nikko (My cousin's baby): Nikko is certifiably cute and not at all breakable...my kind of baby.

I will post pictures as soon as my sister sends them to me.

Cabin Vacation

Just a few photos from my latest trip to the cabin. The weather was great and I had a great time even though I couldn't participate in any of the biking/hiking/golfing fun. Luckily I was still able to swim and canoe so I didn't go crazy!

My super fun summer

One of the best things about being a teacher is having the whole summer off. It's great. This is my first summer of teacher fun and my plan had been to play frisbee, lawnbowl, go to the cabin, and head out on a few trips such as canoeing. So far things are not going exactly as I had planned.

The latest snag in my plan involved trying a little bit too hard at frisbee last week. The girl I was marking was going to get the frisbee and I tried to stop that from happening and ended up with a high ankle sprain. After a trip to see my favourite sports med docs I am stuck in an aircast for 2 weeks and will then need physio after that.

The strangest thing is that I am really quite sad that I'm not going to get to play frisbee for at least a month (my other activities aren't quite as dependent on a healthy ankle). I had no idea I actually liked frisbee that much. It's weird how you realize how much you like something once you can't have it.

The latest Brinkley saga

As some of you have already heard Brinkley spent Monday and Tuesday at the vet hospital. He woke up on Monday morning and couldn't use his back legs. Needless to say I was completely freaked out and terrified he was going to be paralyzed forever. Luckily, after approx. $2000 in vet bills he seems to be doing much better now. The current diagnosis is that he had severe gastroenteritis and an injured leg all at the same time. The gastroenteritis resulted from eating 2 socks, 2 loaves of bread, and a whole bunch of deer poop. The injured leg is apparently a strained (hopefully not torn) ACL in his right hind leg. I am trying to figure out how to post the x-rays, no luck so far though.

All of this means that he is on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and isn't allowed to do any activity for 2 weeks. Those of you who know Brinkley will understand that there is likely to be a certain amount of destruction after 2 weeks of no walks. I will be sure to post any destroyed items for all of you to enjoy.

Workin' Girl

I have now officially been a real live teacher for one week. I'm teaching grade 1-2 at a nice little elementary school not too far from home. So far it has been really really hard. But also fairly enjoyable. The first few days were pretty much just terrifying, but now that I'm starting to get my head around the grade, the kids, and the school it is becoming more and more fun each day. YAY!

Books!

One of the best blogs out there is becoming a book!

Book deal

The Ants Are Back. It Must Be Spring.

Well, Brinks is shedding like crazy, the days are getting longer, and the hoards of teenagers (aka the Ants) have returned to Riley Park. It must be spring!
For those of you who live near Riley Park you will know exactly what I mean. There are groups of teenagers (mostly smoker-goth-wastoid types) who congregate in the park during the spring and summer. Mostly they just sit around and smoke, swear and adjust their various piercings. I'm not sure what it is about Riley Park that attracts them in such large numbers? Perhaps us Kensington folk are just so cool that all of these teenagers can't help but want to join in!

Miss Boyer

As some of you have already heard I will officially be "Miss Boyer" beginning in May. I will be a substitute teacher for May and June and then I will have my very own classroom in September. I am excited about having my very own group of kiddies for the fall but of course I am also somewhat terrified. Introducing a whole group of kids to school and helping them to like it is a big responsibility and I am still wrapping my head around the idea that they are counting on me to do it!

For those of you who live in Calgary it won't be long before I begin pestering you for art materials, ideas, and likely your expertise at some point. Start saving your egg cartons.

Miss Boyer

Dog Sitting

Jon is dog sitting Brinkley while I am on vacation. As you will read, its going quite well. Jon is an excellent dog sitter.

Hey mer,
Just writing to let you know that brinkley is doing well. He came up with a new game yesterday that I REALLY enjoyed. Its called "keep the dead bird away from Jon". He was very good at it.

So....I let him out in the yard and he found a dead frozen bird. I thought at first i would leave him and at first it worked, he just wanted the attention for having it, but then it kind of looked like he was nibbling on it, so i thought i should take it away from him b/c i wouldn't want him to get sick. So I started chasing him. He really liked this part. I was able to get him cornered in the yard, but then at the last second he would get away. My first attempt to catch him didn't work, i lunged and touched his hips, but he was able to get away. So I worked at cornering him some more. AND THEN, I was able to dive at him and catch his back legs, only he didn't stop moving, he ran and dragged me through the snow while I hung on. he came to a stop and then we started a new game. Who can wait the longest. I didn't really want to touch the dead bird so i held his collar fairly tight and told him every command i could think of to get him to drop it. I think it took at least 15 minutes. I think the whole neighbourhood heard me. But he let go and the game was over. How disappointing for brinkley. We made up that afternoon though, I think we both just needed to cool off.


Hope you are having a great time in san fran .

See you soon,
Jon :)

Travel Karma

I must have done something to improve my travel karma. I was supposed to leave last night for San Francisco but my flight was overbooked. I volunteered to give up my seat so they gave me $600 in travel vouchers. It is especially funny because my seat to SF was purchased with travel vouchers! United Airlines is officially losing money on me.

Now I just have to figure out where I am going to go next! With a $600 discount my options increase substantially! YAY!

P.S I realized I forgot to write on the 14th, so happy belated Singles Awareness Day. Love you all!*

* amount of love may vary

A bit depressing

15,051

THANKS TO BRINKLEY

Photoshop

I'm learning to use photoshop. In case my skillz are so good you can't tell this is a photoshopped image Brinkley doesn't actually have that crown....it belongs to the Queen.

2008 resolutions

I'm thinking of making some new years resolutions. Luckily, I didn't complete any of my resolutions from last year so I figure I can just roll them over to this year like unused cell phone minutes.
Here are my resolutions from last year:

1. Do 1 chin-up. Currently I can do 0 chin-ups.
   
2. Knit something other than a scarf
3. Run faster
4. Drink champagne for a whole night to see if i have a hangover the next day. (there is a rumor that you won't get a hangover from champagne if that is all you drink...I'm intrigued)
5. Read the Economist every week

Here are the resolutions that I will be rolling over to this year:

1. Do 1 chin-up. Currently I can do 0 chin-ups.
   
2. Run faster

I didn't actually accomplish the other resolutions. I've just decided I don't really care about them. In addition to these 2 resolutions I would like to add:

1. Learn to play the guitar
2. Develop a more exciting social life

So in conclusion here are my new years resolutions:

1. Do 1 chin-up.
   
2. Run faster
3. Learn to play the guitar
4. Develop a more exciting social life

On a lighter note I found my dancing twin. Sad but true.