Morocco

Dinner club started for Jer and I last night. We had previous plans for the first one. Last night was Morocco. The food was incredible. Everyone did a great job; although there were far too many delicious, sweet desserts.

I think we had 14 people last night, the house worked great for that many and we could have accommodated a few more. I invited Savannah and her family before Jer told me there were already going to be 14 people. I'm glad I invited them, they were a lot of fun and brought lots of yummy dishes.

Talking with Amanda later: she said she was going to invite them, but that Jer had asked her to stop at 14 because of the size of the house. She was also going to invite Toglia and her family; other people I wanted to invite too. They will definitely be asked to the next one. Tapas!

Dangerous and Deadly

And just what was I doing that was so deadly you may ask: I was working. Teen Night is dangerous. To start the evening off: I turned around to get a ball and tripped over Jethro. He complained about his shoulder and then forgot about it: my knees didn't fare so well. I went down hard on bunched up jeans. My knees are a pretty colour now, though :o)

Later, we decided to play glow in the dark basketball. Anthea's head met my glass which bent and met my eye. That one was painful! My eye watered for about five - ten minutes and I couldn't keep it open for more than two seconds. It was all red around it and it was about half it's size for a little while. It's mostly fine now, but my poor glasses aren't. They're usable, but not great. The plastic has been bent, at least I made them not crooked anymore.

"Drivin' in my car car in..."

Well, you know the rest, or you do if you played skipping games in elementary. I bought my first car yesterday! She's wonderful, handles beautifully, just few minor problems, and she's red. I've always wanted a red car: a Mustang, but a Cavalier will do. Thank you to Doug for giving her a check up and a, mostly, clean bill of health.

I was supposed to meet Sarah at 4 yesterday and then we'd get the 5 home, but she didn't show up until 4:30. I was totally stressed, luckily I had gone to the insurance place before and got almost all of the paperwork out of the way. My cheques don't have my name on them so the lady at the insurance place gave me a form that my bank needed to fill out. I went up to the Comox Valley Credit Union to see if they could do. The lady there wasn't supposed to but managed to sweet talk her into it, I showed her my cheque, my ID, and my bank card. She said she had no way to verify that I had an account there, but she did it anyway. Thank you Myrna! I wish I could send you chocolates, without getting you in trouble.
I think that's the important part of my car, there were minor issues leading up to buying, but nothing insurmountable. It's been so long since I've posted that I can't remember what's happened in between, except for the trip to see Hans for his birthday.

Jer and I decided to take the train to Shawnigan, instead of driving, it was a brilliant decision. The ride both ways was very nice, but on the ride down there was a tree over the tracks and we just slowed down and pushed it off. Rather interesting/exciting if I do say so myself.

Once we got to the station on the other end we get off and Jer says "Where are we?" My reply showed a distinct lack of knowledge. There was a woman there dropping off her friend though and she said she'd take us where we'd need to go. She said it was no problem, but she spent most of the short ride telling us how awful she felt because of this allergic reaction to wine she'd had the night before.

The party was good, although Hans was very, very drunk and Jer felt the need to catch up to him, but Hans stopped drinking not too long after we got there and started sobering up. Jer was even having a few issues drinking water out of a glass at the end of the night. :oD

We met some people who had been coming up to Hornby for about ten years, Hans has the frame of the bike I really want for sale in his shop, but I just bought a car I don't need to buy an expensive bike too, well...I can't buy a bike too really. Jer called Steve after we got there and he came over, it was nice to see him again. He'd just a inherited his son's old cell phone and wasn't used to it, it rang and he missed his very first call. It was his son checking up on him because it was late...weird role reversal, huh?

There were lots of funny stories, I don't think I've ever laughed that hard with people I don't know. Then off to bed. Mary gave us a fleece sheet to sleep on, it was amazing. It really helped with the cold, they had been keeping the fire going outside all day, but not in the house.

In the morning Mary had a migraine so we didn't see her, or Kelly who was still in bed, so we had a nice breakfast with Hans and then off to the train for the ride home.

Stupid Thursday

Thursday was just not my day. I got up and it seem all nice and peaceful, the shop was closed and we were just hanging out, then the phone rang. It was Joanne on the other end, calling for a ride to work. I had about ten minutes to get ready to go, I hate it when I forget about work, it makes it harder to find the energy to go. It was fine when I got there, a little boring, but it went well. I was a little worried, still am, but I know I'll be alright.

After work I went over to the school to photocopy a flyer to give to the kids about Teen Night. The first bus left just as I got there, there was no one to tell me what my mum's copy code was or how to turn the stupid thing on. I gave up on the flyer, things just weren't going my way. So, I called Jer to see if he'd pick me up, but he had just gotten home and was leaving soon. I managed to get a ride quite quickly, it went to the hill just before my house. I hung out with my mum for a bit then walked down to the house. This is when it started.

I'm interested in Sarah's car, so I called Steve and Nancy to get the keys, no answer. My mum said she would drive me down to get the keys before 6:20. I then proceeded to spend from 4:45ish to just after 8:00 on the phone trying to make the Ski Day happen. I called Mount Washington just before five, only to be put on hold until exactly 5:00 and then be told that there was no one to answer the phone. I called everyone I could think of to find out about road conditions and whether or not there was a free/cheap shuttle. There is not! An entire car bailed on me and the other two drivers didn't have chains.

I had finally gotten a go ahead to cancel, leaving the individuals the option to go up and I would give them tickets, when Somebody called. He still wanted to go and was willing to drive, so I said sure I'll give you tickets later.

On top of all that I had to find a supervisor to Teen Night. I had called people the day before but no one was home and they didn't call me back. Ian agreed to help me out. I'm very greatful.

I still haven't managed to get a hold of Sarah or Steve and Nancy.

All in all, it was a very frustrating and disheartening day. I will definitely not do organizing of that nature again.

Another Crazy Wednesday

My morning started far too early for my cough. I was almost out the door and I realized I needed the key, so a quick stop at home on the way to Room to Grow. I fill in for Vicki at Teen Tutoring when she's unavailable. It was quiet, as it always is when I'm there, just two kids.

After Teen Tutoring comes quilting, today was a little different. My mom happened to be around when the kids left so I went and spent a couple hours with her looking at quilting stuff at home. I found my next pattern! Last time I spent like two weeks looking for inspiration. My mom had some printed sheets with patterns; one had hers, but one of the other ones had the perfect pattern. It's the only one I've seen that I would actually like to have on my bed.

I went to quilting all excited with this pattern and everyone said it was very nice, but... It's a very challenging pattern, lots of tiny points. I am definitely not the most accurate sewer in the world, but I'll do my best.

After quilting was the HIRRA meeting. It wasn't nearly as painful as I expected. I learned some interesting things, but mostly I was there to support Lynne when she gave the HIAC presentation. She did very well. I'm not sure if I'll be attending regularly, but I'll definitely pay more attention when the agendas are sent out and may attend the odd meeting.

The Moving of Watertower and other delights.

I think I will start with the "other delights". Unfortunately it is not particularly delightful, not bad, but totally not a delight. Yesterday was board meeting day. The meetings are always interesting and yesterday was no exception. There was something extra exciting though, we have a new board member! Rudy Rogalsky has joined and agreed to be our Treasurer. We're very lucky to have him. We also have another potential new board member, hopefully we didn't scare her off. ;o)
We left the house bright and early this morning to go off to the trails. Jer had arranged with Andrew Carmichael to meet at 9:30 to move Watertower trail. Andrew recruited some people and Jer recruited a couple and it turned into quite the group. We had bikers, riders, hikers, and the helpful out on the trails.
It ended up being Jer, myself, Sara Vipond, Andrew and Lynne Carmichael, Dale, Derian, Jan, Karen, Jim, and Olivier(?). Sara, Karen, and I spent most of our time working together cleaning up the trail behind the heavy clearers. It was definitely the most fun I've had trail clearing, I got to get to know someone new and reconnected with someone I don't see very often. I think Sara and I managed to convince Karen to try either a Thursday (9AM Slade Women only...Rachelle) or Sunday ride (2PM Slade).
The trail is moved, groomed to perfection 2/3 or 1/2 way, and totally ridable the rest of the way. I was shocked, it was pretty much the whole trail that had to be moved. Their property is much bigger than I had originally believed.

Newness, sickness, and happiness

Unfortunately I've been sick for three or four days, but luckily I was well enough to have my first day at my NEW JOB!

I've started working for the Festival Society. Mostly doing organizational, admin stuff. The filing is quite out of whack. Later when it gets closer to festival time I will get to do some advertising stuff. I'm very stoked about that, I think I want to go into graphic design, probably in the advertising sector. The first day went well, not terribly exciting, but good.

As of today Jer and I have been dating for a year. It's been a good year. If you had told me last year that this is where I'd be today I don't think I would have believed you, but here I am. Life is good. I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

The Last of Christmas

Every year we go to Campbell River on the first. Our three families have been gathering since as long as I can remember. We rarely see each other throughout the year, so this is our chance to reconnect. I have this great relationship with one of my "cousins", we rarely talk, but we're very close, hugs are a little longer, and you feel like you see the person all the time.

This year was much the same as the others, but without a pool table. We usually play pool all night, but my "Uncle" Brian had his stuff all over it. :o( Even though it's usually the same thing each year, I wouldn't miss it for the world. Elise has missed quite frequently in the last few years, other plans seem to come first for her. Ah well.

And so we say good bye to the last of the holidays.

Island Hopping

New Year's Eve was great. Jer and I went to Gabriola to have one last hurrah with Sasha and Amy before they leave.

We got there around 6:30ish with a dinner invite for 7:00. Sasha and Amy were doing about a million things to get ready, luckily dinner got moved to 8:00. We met some nice people and had some great food and then moved on.

The second party we went to was at a friend of a friend's of Amy. It was Amy's friend's birthday so she wanted to see her before she left on her trip. (Did any of that make any sense?) They were attempting to play Balderdash with way to many people, half of them drunk. The game swiftly broke up for socializing.

After a big Balderdash resume with a smaller group of people. While the drunks were playing Balderdash Jer, Sasha, Amy, her friend, and I played Pick Two. It's like Scrabble on crack. I'm definitely going to have to buy it. Jer and I played Sasha and Amy for the first game, then Jer sat out and the three of us played a couple of games.

We rang in the new year and stayed for a bit, then went home to bed.

This morning we woke bright and squirrelly. I cooked breakfast while the others ran around getting packed. I had to be on the 1:20 to meet my parents, so at 1ish we went to go to the ferry. Jer backed the truck down the driveway, then turned it off at the bottom for Amy to hop in to take us. When Amy turned the key some bad noises happened and not much else. Jer tried to no avail. Time was getting tight so we jumped into Amy's car. Initially we tried with me sitting on Jer's lap. We shuffled around and Jer drove. Along the way Jer decided not to come with me to get his keys for Van. So we split.

It was an interesting morning. I hope his truck is okay, he had to stay on Gabriola to take care of it.