Thoughts from Hornby

2010-03-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

The lovely thing about writing on the computer is that no one will notice the drool on my computer monitor.
This car is sexy. But that isn't the only great thing about it, it's green too. That's right Ferrari has made a hybrid. Imagine a V12 electric motor. Still in the development phase this car could change drastically, but I hope not.

This car is amazing.
Read the article here.

The question is not can they, but will they

2010-02-26T12:43:00.001-08:00

I read an interesting article yesterday on Wired. The concern was over Apple's censorship of it's apps store. "From a legal perspective, Apple can do whatever it wants with the content in its App Store. Apple is not government, and thus it is not governed by the First Amendment. In light of the recent ban, many have correctly compared Apple’s App Store to Wal-Mart, which also doesn’t allow porn." While the author doesn't seem to have an issue with Apple removing sexual content, he is concerned whether or not this could extend to news apps in the future.
Now admittedly, I am an Apple girl, but this doesn't mean I wear blinders. Apple does have a scary amount of power, but it is their store and if they choose not to have an 18+ section who am I to say that's wrong. But what if somewhere down the road they do start getting complaints about say a New York Times article, will they be able to pull that too? The news shouldn't be censored, it's there to inform the world about actual events.
I don't believe that they would stoop to censoring the news even if it was obtained through one of their apps. People who get news apps know that not all of it is going to be to their liking. People don't complain to the newspaper vendors when something offends them in the paper, so why should they expect electronic newspapers to behave differently.
Yes, Apple probably can censor the news, but I don't think they will.

Read the article here

The state of global cyber security...who knew?

2010-02-23T21:09:00.000-08:00

I just read a thought provoking article, thanks to Wired. Apparently our international internet borders are not being protected thoroughly. As far as I can see most of the internet isn't terribly secure, but that's the price you pay to be globally connected. There's always a risk online, my dad still won't use his credit card, even for well established sites like Amazon.
This article seemed to be encouraging a cooperative system that what's already in place for law enforcement. "A priority for regulators is to find ways of tracking down criminals across borders and ensuring they are punished, a tough task when criminals can use proxy servers to remain anonymous." Pavan Duggal, Indian cyber law expert and former Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff both hinted of a large scale online catastophy: granted they were only saying that to imply that nations need to start talking now, before it's too late.
However, their visions of a cyber 9/11 got me thinking, what if it did happen, can it happen. How much do we really know about what's going on out there. I'm sure a few of you are reading this and thinking, well I know and it's not hard to find out I say good for you be informed, but the rest of us are just merrily surfing away in our own little bubbles. I don't have a credit card so I'm not too concerned about that, but I've entered my name and address a few times. I tend to worry more than necessary, but what I always come back to is this: I'm a student so I'm broke, and don't know anything terribly sensitive or important. I always figure they've got bigger fish to fry. But what if the internet were down for a long period of time, or even just down?
I think I would be okay. I would miss the unlimited knowledge at my fingertips and the instant access to design from around the world, but I would be okay. I'd probably whine along with the rest of the world, but in the end I'd get over it. I would probably do a lot more art, which I always say I want to anyway. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the internet went away for awhile. That's given me an idea.
For either two days a week or a week a month I will go internet free. With the exception of email because I get important information from my instructors. We'll see how I fare.

Read the article here

I finally understand Busy as a Bee

2008-07-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, summer leads to business. I know it's busier in general on the island, but I don't usually get that much busier, just more work. This year though, I'm out all the time: movies, fashion shows, dinner, potlucks. I think I've been out every night for just over two weeks straight. I love it, but at the same time I'm not used to it. I'm not a terribly social creature, Hornby works for me in the winter...well, mostly.

Last Tuesday I went to Helen and Steve's wedding. It was a lot of fun, to start the ceremony they did a spoof/skit of Romeo and Juliet. Steveno and Helenet. He was a Republican and she was a Democrat. He found her by using Google Earth and MapQuest. Quite entertaining, but nowhere near as good as the reception. I danced from about 8pm to 12am. I haven't had that much fun in a long, long time.

Hello Again

2008-06-11T20:05:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's been a long, looooong time. Life has been rather crazy, but boring at the same time.

I went to the preschool fashion show on Sunday. My charming date was Savannah. This is the first one I've been to since the one I was in when I gradded...I think. There were some very nice clothes. Lots and lots of super cute sun dresses. The models did well. Unfortunately there were no men. :o( Matt and Anthea did a salsa number somewhere in there. There were doing awesome, until the music just stopped on them. Good job guys!

The biggest thing that's happened though is my "auntie" Joanne's death. She died on May 27th. There were three families that have spent every New Years together for as long as I can remember. The parents were friends before they were parents. We were eachother's adoptive families. I'd like to honour my honourary aunt here. We loved you Auntie Joanne. We'll miss you.

Her celebration of life was really tough. My "cousin" spoke about her family being out East and us becoming her family. That was really hard. The barbecue the night before was fun. Played some wii and hung out with my cousins and some of their friends.

I love you guys!

Inspiration strikes again.

2008-04-14T20:26:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday I spent a the last few hours needed to get my dad's logo dialed. He is so happy with it. It's his third iteration of his logo, he didn't even use the last one because he didn't like it. I think he's going to stick with this one for a long time.

I'm not sure about the water, you lose part of the logo when it's small because of the shadows in the waves. I like how it looks like stained glass and it looks awesome without the water. All in all I'm quite pleased with it.

On top of designing my dad's logo I got into the Art Program at North Island College for September. I was pretty sure I was going to get it, but I got my letter a few days ago. I'm really excited to be going back to school. Go figure, eh. I never thought I'd be glad to get back to school, but this time it's something I'm really interested in. I just hope that the good looking Art History is being run this year and not next year. There's one I really, really don't want to take and the other one looks super interesting. The courses were supposed to be posted on the 11th, but still nothing. Bah.

We got to go out!

2008-04-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday Jer and I were just hangin' in the shop when Jeff Bishop came in. Jer asked what the Breeze was up to and Jeff mentioned an optional wine-pairing dinner. We were both so desperate to go out we added out names to the list.

We got there at 6:30 dinner was supposed to be 7, but our first course was served at 6:45. It was a mescalin salad with local watercress, candied pecans, smoked cheddar, and hearts of palm. It was great, the flavours played off each other so well.

Our next course was scallops in a chili lime buerre blanc sauce. I've never knowingly had scallops before, I tend to not like shellfish. I loved these, I definitely could have done with seconds, like some people... :o) I was starting to get rather full by this point, but we still had two more courses to go, one of which was dessert.

For the main course Jer and both chose the "melt-in-your-mouth" black cod with sage potatoes and grilled veggies. The veggies and potatoes weren't terribly exciting, but the cod really did melt in your mouth. Again, I'm not fond of white fish, but this blew me away. Jer wants to get a smoker now because the smoked items of dinner were so good. I'm all for that.

Lastly, was orange-apricot layer cake with dark chocolate ganache. Dessert was disappointing. The slice of cake was way to big. Apparently it wouldn't stand up if it was thinner. The taste was good, but way too much after the light tastes of the meal. Plus I was full.

All in all, Ben was in fine form. I don't find their buffet dinners all that exciting, totally not worth the rep and the price, but the sit-down dinners are always incredible. I'm going to try to get to more of them.

A long time coming

2008-03-24T12:39:00.000-07:00

It's hard to fit everything in when it's been so long, but I'll do my best. It's seems the longer it's been the less detail I have the patience to write about.

First there was no writing because Hans, Mary, and Kelly came up. They got here on Sunday and left Wednesday afternoon. We had fun, enough though Mary wasn't feeling well. She kept it together pretty well, after much sleeping. Monday night Al, Rob, and Amanda came over for a St. Paddy's day dinner. Apparently they all knew eachother from Bike Fest days. It was a wonderful evening, sort of like a mini Supper Club. Hans and Jer made a wonderful Irish stew, with many tips from Mary. Al sort of cheated, he brought a green salad instead of Irish food, but it was very good and the only healthy thing on the table, so he's forgiven. Amanda made yummy mashed potatoes that have a special name, but I don't remember what they were called. Being sick killed my brain.

Wednesday Jer and I went to help out at the Fire Department Cadet Camp. Neither of us, plus many others, were feeling that well, but everyone kept it together nicely. Jer taught fire behavior. While I didn't have any knowledge to impart I took a group around between the stations, made sure they behaved themselves and all that. I'm glad I did: it meant I got to participate in the stations too.
First we were at was Giff's. We learned about basket stretchers and how they rescued people who fell off the mountain. I got to be raised in the basket stretcher. It was kinda scary, but really fun too.
Next upstairs to see Jer and fire behavior.
After fire behavior we went to see Duncan. He lead us through 4 Bay on our hands and knees following a hose and under a truck to save Rescue Randy. When I say we I mean, the kids did this, I followed on foot and then walked around the truck.
Out last station was with Rob and Doug doing motor vehicle rescues. They showed us the cutters and the spreaders/crushers. The cutters were the best. First the kids cut little bits off the car door then Rob let me try. He held them while I was cutting, bah. I was at a awkward angle though. We were their last group so they decided to finish removing the front door. They used the spreaders, but when it was down to the last hinge and some metal they had to switch to the cutters. Rob let me cut the rest of the door apart. All by myself. It was sweet. The kids got the use the crushers on some toasters and an old radio. We missed out on the alarm clocks.

After lunch it was hose time in the school parking lot. We hooked up to the school tank and pumped into the lake and pressurized some hoses. We got to run the hoses, water and foam. Doug let me hold a water hose at 125lb by myself, but I couldn't knock over the stupid cone. It was fun pointing the hose straight up: it got everyone so wet. Hee hee hee. The foam one was neat too, but water was more fun. The foam looked really neat when you shook the hose. The patterns were awesome.

After Cadet camp we went to my parents house, I wanted a bath. It always makes my colds feel better. We were just going to stay for a bit and hang out with them, but we felt so sick we fell asleep in my room and were asleep all night.

My aunt and uncle got here Saturday afternoon and I spent the day with them. Then Jer and I went to see Juno. It was so funny! I highly recommend it. I spent some time with my aunt and uncle before they left later.

Last night we had dinner with John, Marilyn, and Caroline. It was a nice evening, even with the power out. They had a very good trip.

I think that's it. Lots of time being sick and some time visiting.

Happy Pi Day

2008-03-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

Best pie ever
Bad pic though.

The saga of the library book.

2008-03-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Okay it's confession time. I don't have a very good track record at the library: please don't hold it against me. I just seem to have a hard time getting back, I tend to go maybe three time a year. So, I was in town and I got one book out. I figured I could get that back on time. I conveniently have a friend working at the Hornby library right now so I asked him to return it. It was all well and good I thought, until he told me he had forgotten to return it. I decide I'll just wait for him to go into work next week, but I get this email saying that the book is due Thursday and he doesn't work until Saturday.

I called to get him to bring it to Supper Club, but he didn't come. So, I call again the next day to see if I can pick it up on my way to Art's Afternoons at the school, no answer. I leave early to stop at his house to pick up the book anyway and the stupid dog starts barking it's head off at me. The dog wakes up Greg, who I need to talk to anyway, but he had night shift the night before and I felt bad. But he's up anyway so he comes out to his truck with me and gives me the book. I drop it off at the library and I am still on time for Art's Afternoons. And yes, I did get it back on time. *takes bow*

You might be wondering what Art's Afternoons is. Every Thursday, it used to be Wednesday, for a month the kids at the school get to spend the afternoon with a local artist learning their craft. I offered to help out if I was needed so I ended up with Norma doing pottery. I loved Art's Afternoons when I went to school here and I wanted to get to go again, volunteering is a good way to do this. This week was the final week so our group was glazing, well not everyone. Because so many people are sick AND one of the art teacher couldn't come in our group grew from last week and we had some kids just starting to sculpt and some glazing. Norma said the kids that started late can glaze after spring break. In between helping the kids and Norma I got to glaze my turtle I made last week. He is so cool now. I'll post pictures in a couple of weeks when I get him back. Norma said she'd put him in the kids' art show.

Nalysnyky and Pysanky

2008-03-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday afternoon I left quilting at 2:30. I thought this was a bit of overkill, but I had to shop before cooking and I know cooking always takes longer than I think it will.

I started cooking around 3 and didn't stop until about 6:45. Nothing was terribly hard, but the crepes are a little time consuming because I can only cook one at a time. Everything went according to plan except, for one small thing; I started running out of the cottage cheese filling. I had an easy fix though, I got Jer to make me up some more.

Everything at dinner was delish as usual. So much variety, too much good food. One of the nice things about being a little late is that people are almost ready to eat by the time you get there. Usually we have to spend at least half an hour inhaling wonderful smells without being able to try them.

The food was great, but the highlight of the evening was pysanky, Ukrainian Easter eggs. Rob and Amanda graciously supplied eggs, dye, and tools for us all. The decorating was so much fun, it's very hard to stop. In fact Jer and I stayed a little too long because I was on egg number three.

I was ready to go, but then Savannah starting make Humpty Dumpty and I thought he needed a girlfriend, Humpy Dee-dee. Jer said he didn't mind saying so I started once again. It took longer than I thought it would: I looked up and the only other guests left were Savannah and Bethany. The four of us did help clean up though.

The top left egg is my favourite, egg number 2. The symbols showing are the symbol for swallow, as in the bird. Amanda had a book with traditional symbols in it. The egg also has the symbols for: sun, star, tree, bee, and flower on it.

Thanks for a fun evening guys.

Fun and Excitment Galore! mmm pizza opens next week

2008-03-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, lots of stuff happened today.

I decided today was a good day to start a new knitting project. I went through my options and thought I'd attempt a toque: it looked like a fairly easy one. I might have been finished right now if I hadn't missed the small line that said "knit 75 rows..." I cast on my 85 stitches and then proceeded to follow the instructions for the crown. I followed the instructions perfectly, after I interpreted them, just at the wrong time. I finally figured this out what I had done sometime around 2:00ish. I am now doing it correctly and I've got about an inch and a half done. It is a beautiful bright spring green. I'm not sure who I'm going to give it too. I am not a toque person.

After starting my toque it was off to the depot. Not very exciting, but definitely necessary. Or so one would think. I have nothing to read so I wandered into the Free Store to look at books, I only found one novel, BUT I found a Japanese/English Snoopy book. I have been looking for a Japanese/English book, comic, manga, whatever for ages. The good old Free Store pulls through. And if that wasn't enough I found something almost as cool right after. Jer called me into the back to look at this sewing machine he'd found; it was a decent machine, it worked and all, but... I looked down and there was an old case and when I opened it inside was like the coolest sewing machine I've ever seen. It's a really old looking Aristocrat. I can't find any information on it online. It's missing it's foot, but who cares, it's great.

After the depot Jethro and I helped Jer clean out his trailer. Toglia's getting a small family of woofers and it's the only place to put them. After that back to the house for not much action. Until later...

Jer's beening planning on make this awesome dessert called Dulce de Plantanos: so, he decided tonight was the night. We decided that it was too much for just us and gave Doug and Rachelle a call. A quick run to the Cove and we were set. Jer cooked with a bit of chopping/peeling assistance from Rachelle and I; and some stirring/pouring assistance from Doug. Lots of laughs and conversation: much of it around food. The dessert turned out awesome! We could have done with at least two more people to help eat it though.

More photos soon, Google isn't happy right now

Turtles and mysteries

2008-03-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to go to town/Demxx yesterday, but I got a call from Tina asking for help with Arts Afternoons. I had offered help earlier so I only felt right saying yes. It was so much fun!

I was helping Norma with a pottery class for the primary grades. There were four of them: Spencer, Heron, Cassidy, and Sachel. Four kids to two teachers was a good ratio, although they didn't need much help today. It was the third week so they were pretty independent. By the end they were working on sculptures instead of the platters and house candle holders they were working on before. I made a turtle candle holder: haven't played with clay forever.

Norma's daughter, I think, is the woman who makes the crooked, jazzy looking house candle holders. I've wanted one for so long. It was neat to see the kids making them. We're glazing them nextweek. I'm glad Tina called, it was a blast. They even helped clean up.

Afterwards I went home and hung out for awhile. My mum and I got sucked into a computer game. We started it at 10:30, but I didn't think it would take that long to finish. I didn't leave the house until 1:05AM. Bah, stupid mystery games. Interesting story line though: wife wins lottery, husband's having an affair with her best friend, they fight, wife trips and falls down the stairs, goes into coma. The game takes place in a coma induced nightmare.

"Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium"

2008-03-05T21:15:00.000-08:00

We just watched the best movie! Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium sounds like it would be a children's movie, but it is reality a touching story. Magorium's Emporium uses a fun situation to teach you about life, friendship, death, and Magic. His store is incredible. It's the first original movie I've seen in like a year. Everything is a sequel or a remake. Bah.

Feet firmly planted on the ground

2008-03-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I was all set to take the kids climbing at Rob's, but poor Rob cut his hand. I'm very sorry that Rob hurt himself, but I am relieved that it didn't happen. Energy levels run a little high, so I was worried about them not having much space to run. If we go down in April they can play outside.

It seems Thursday was a tough day for more than just Rob: Jer broke his toe that night. I believe the story currently is he was ripping it down The Way and a little puppy ran in front of him. He swerved to avoid hurting it, crashed, and the only damage he did was to his baby toe.*

*Facts may not be 100% accurate. Check out Jer's blog for his version of the story.

Jamaica...and a bit more.

2008-02-28T18:35:00.000-08:00

Ay, yi, yi. It's been a long time. I must say, I can't remember specifics about Tapas night, but it was fun. I ended up in the living room with a couple people. I don't know why people seen a little resistant to the moving to the living room here.

It was hard to move the Social Climbers to the living room too. That was a fun night. I'm glad it was here, I'm not sure I would've been there if it hadn't. I haven't been riding in way too long. It was really nice to see Liz again. Word on the street is, they're coming up on spring break.

Speaking of spring break, Jer called Hans the other night and they might actually get up here this year. Jer mentioned the Cadet Camp, hopefully Kelly will be taking part in that. I'm looking forward to it this year. I've ended up volunteering to help corral the kids. It should be a good couple of days of learning and fun.

Finally, on to last night. Dinner Club #4 for the year was a blast. I got the last puzzle piece! And it was the only piece I did, puzzles are much more satisfying this way. I'll have to remember that for next time the power goes out. I did way too many puzzles last year. As always, the food was phenomenal and far too much of it was consumed. That last piece of dessert always has to be tried. :o) Elaine, Bethany, Amanda, and I had a blast talkin' in the kitchen. The conversation definitely meandered to interesting places. Although the best line came from one of the Hornby Island Quilters. In reference to American politics, "we've got to get those a**wholes out of the outhouse."

Keep your fingers crossed for me, I've got Teen Night down at Rob and Amanda's tomorrow for the climbing wall.

Surprise

2008-02-11T20:03:00.000-08:00

I went for a ride today. I've ridden three times since like March and it didn't go so well. The first one I fell, bad. The second one I was terrified and it wasn't a good ride. The third one I felt sick and actually had to ride out.

It went well today though. At first I wasn't happy and I was scared and unhappy, but it got a bit better. By the end, I actually liked it. The new part of Watertower is still really bumpy and soft, not good when you're scared.

I'm very proud of myself for riding through the water. I don't like water! Well, not when I'm riding anyway, but I did it! I sat there looking at it for quite a long time before I just stopped thinking and let go.

It's still going to take time for me to let go enough to feel like I'm enjoying riding again, but I have hope that it'll come now.

Social Climbers go Wild

2008-02-10T22:53:00.000-08:00

The majority of the Social Climbers just left. We had them over for dinner, even Liz was up. I was worried that there would be a bunch of pressure to get riding again. There was a little pressure, but mostly a lot of understanding. The understanding works way, way, way better if you're trying to get me to do something.

I have to say I wasn't looking forward to tonight as much as I usually would because I've had a bit of a long, tiring week. Early town mornings and dealing with a "new" car. I had one mechanic tell me it wasn't worth it for me to fix my car and wouldn't do the work. I took it to another garage and they, not only fixed it, they told me that some things were fine that I was told needed to be fixed before.

Anyway, back to the party. We had Liz, Elaine, Sara, Jules, Elisa, Gayel, and Amanda. There was wine, brandy, and Apple/Pear juice. We had so much fun! I miss hangin' out with them, I definitly need to get out riding with them again. I will when I'm not working Thursday mornings anymore.

Morocco

2008-01-31T16:14:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-29T20:49:00.000-08:00

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..."

2008-01-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-12T08:39:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-01-07T20:20:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-05T23:12:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-01T22:40:00.000-08:00

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.

Dinner

2007-12-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

Jer and I had 7 people over for dinner last night: Gordon, Mary, my parents, Brenda, John, and Ayla. It was originally just going to be the four parents, but Brenda, John, and Ayla were here and we thought it would be fun to have them too.

It was a great evening, everyone said how much fun they had. Mary even asked me for a recipe. I made a Tomato and Cheddar Souffle for each person and everyone raved about them. I'd definitely like to do a big dinner again sometime. I've never played hostess before, it's rather enjoyable, especially since we there's a dishwasher here to deal with the bulk of the dishes.

Family Time

2007-12-29T16:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon my cousin, Brenda, her husband, John, and their daughter, Ayla arrive. It's always so much fun when they're here. Ayla always comes right to me and I'm with her the majority of the time. We read The Night Before Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas...or in Ayla's case How the Grouch Stole Christmas.

We had a unconventional second Christmas dinner with them, turkey Shepard's pie. It tastes great and it's good way to use up the leftovers.

Earlier in the day I sewed strips to the back of Jer's quilt so it can be hung in the quilt show. I'm pretty excited about having it exhibited. I'm lucky that Jer is so understanding about my taking the quilt away as soon as he's gotten it.

Town Day

2007-12-28T15:05:00.000-08:00

Town was strange yesterday: half the stores were closed, and the others were packed. Future shop was scary! The line was halfway to the back of the appliance section. It was a mob scene. Jer got in line while I talked to a friend for a few minutes. I think I stood in line for about 10 seconds with him before we bailed.

We started at the bottom of 5th and wandered our way up one side and down the other. It was a pleasant morning. We found some sales, bought some clothes, well, I bought more than he did. Unfortunately the store with the boots I fell in love with last week was one of the closed ones.

I ran into my aunt and cousin in Winners. They finally got to meet Jer, apparently my aunt has heard a lot about him. Here's to family gossip. ;o)

We almost decided to stay overnight in town to see a movie, but changed our minds and came home instead. A quiet evening was just what we both needed after a hectic town day.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-26T19:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was great. Christmas eve Jer and I went to my folks' house and hung out, ate, and played games. We opened the family game from under the tree. The game was great, you get to be a spy from: Russia, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, or the States. I was Italian: Rosita. My dad won. After much laughter, watching of the animated Grinch, and Christmas story time, Jer headed back to his house.

I slept on the couch, it was terrible! Well worth it though, I was up bright and early for stockings. My parents and I opened our stockings, then presents. We made a BIG mess on the floor: the pile was about three feet high. My cat, Missy crawled in the biggest box and didn't get out, even though my other cat really wanted to get in, poor Flopsy.

Jer came for the end of presents. Finally I can stop hiding his quilt from him. He was really happy with it. I made him wait until the end to open it, I think the wait was more exciting for me than him.

After a huge dinner, we played some more games. Everyone bailed on me in the first game and we ended up playing Pick up Sticks. I know, I know, it sounds lame, but it's actually quite engaging once you get into it.

Quiet and Fun

2007-12-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

I spent most of the day working on Christmas stuff at home, until Jer picked me up. I got a lot of stuff done during the day, but I didn't finish until about hour ago, as of this post.

After Jer picked me up we went and walked around on the beach in front of his dad's for probably about an hour. It was a very pleasant way to pass the time. We both got lots of great shots.

Last Teen Night before Christmas break. It was very quiet: just Jethro, Toglia, and I. The three of us played Clue and Careers. It was one of the more fun times I've had actually. It's nice to be able to do stuff like that, it's too hard with lots of kids there. Both ways are good, but last night was more like it was a couple years ago.

1/4 of Party #3

2007-12-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

The bits of time I was at Party #3 were fun; it's too bad Greg and I had to take off. Good conversation and beautiful fire. When the wind whipped up the sparks looked almost like fireworks: it was gorgeous!

Teen Night went well, not as many kids as usual though. Unfortunately the school left us some oranges and juice down by the gym, big mistake. The thought was nice, but it created a huge mess. There is a reason we have a strict no food, no drink policy at the school during Teen Night. Ah well, it was very kind of them.

Party #2 (I skipped party #1)

2007-12-21T08:52:00.000-08:00

The party at the hall last night was fun. I expected to recognize everyone there, but there were a few unfamiliar faces in amongst the crowd. One turned out to be Rachelle's mum, she seems very cool, I hope I get a chance to talk to her a little more tonight.

The cooks did a great job with the food, lots of vegetarian which isn't always the case. Here's to dinner anarchy! ;o)

Congratulations to the medal winners. It's great that Hornby has such dedicated volunteers; they're a credit to our community.

Parties organized by people other than your usual crowd always generate unexpected conversations with people you make not talk to often. It makes for a good evening.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone tonight in the next holiday party on my list.

All Done!

2007-12-19T16:20:00.000-08:00

Phew, I'm beat. Town sure takes it out of you, especially this time of year. I think Islanders get hit harder by seasonal crowds than city people: we just don't have the immunity to it that they have built up.

I managed to get everything done I needed to, except the main reason I went to town. Luckily my parents are going in tomorrow and they'll get it for me. I'm done all my of Christmas shopping and there's still six days left. This is a rare and momentous occasion, probably never to happen again. I do still have two handmade gifts to finish up, but I don't have to shop any more!

We ran in to Doug twice in town and on the ferry. Hornby people seem to gravitate to each other when they're in town. If I see someone I know once, I'm almost guaranteed to see them twice. Last week I ran into Gordon and Mary in Superstore like four times, we'd go opposite ways and still manage to find each other.

We saw Doug at Canadian Tire, he left, but five minutes later he was back to ask Jer about a certain kind of fire extinguisher. The lady beside us told him to get one from the fire department. We had a good laugh about that one. It does lead me to wonder though, if our firefighters don't know where to get fire extinguishers, how are we supposed to know?

I was supposed to go to the kids' Christmas play tonight, but I'm just too beat. It was really, really good last year: Margaret wrote it. Apparently, Margaret wrote this play too, ah well, I'll hear all about it later.

Tonight was also supposed to be Party #1, but again, I just don't have any energy to socialize.

2007-12-16T09:34:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems life got in the way again.

Friday night the concert went quite well. The kids were great: Light a Candle is a song everyone should know. I think the best song of the night was the one that the community choir sang with the kids though. It was definitely the one I had the most fun singing. Out choir performed better than I thought we would and everyone said how well we had done. All in all a good night, but not enough community carols were sung.

Kudos to Santa Claus. He did a fantastic job as always.

Saturday Teen night was quiet once again. I like it quiet, it's rather fun. First Savannah, Anthea, Lily, and I played Cranium then the four of us and Jethro played Careers. It's a game made in '71 by the Parker Brothers and it's actually quite fun.

Busy Busy Busy

2007-12-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a few days. Things have been nuts. I'm not really sure what I did on Tuesday (no entry in my calendar), but on Wednesday was quilting all afternoon and then choir.

Things seemed a little shaking, considering our performance is tonight. Eeek. We redeemed ourselves a little Thursday night with an extra practice though.

Thursday was town all day for Christmas shopping and some school/work related appointments. I blew through almost my entire shopping list except for two people and I know what I'm getting them, plus the gifts are on Hornby.

Not only did I get most of my Christmas shopping done I've also figured out what I'm doing school wise. I'm going to take a few online courses just for fun in January and then I'm going to enroll in the Fine Art and Design program at North Island College. I'll do the two year diploma program and possible the extra two years through Emily Carr and NIC.

I'm very excited. I think I've figured it all out.

School confusion

2007-12-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

I hate university/college websites, it's impossible to find anything, especially if you're looking for distance classes. I wish there was one website that would tell which school offered which classes, so you didn't have to go to each school's site. You'd think they'd want to make their sites easy to navigate so prospective students would want to go to the school, but no. Bah

Where have all the children gone?

2007-12-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

Quiet night tonight. There were only two kids at Teen Night: Jethro and Mackenzie. We ended up chillin' in the trailer until about nine and then Toglia drove Jethro to Farran's. So Kenzie and I left. It was rather nice with just a couple kids, I am wondering where everyone else was though.

This afternoon was nice, I spent the afternoon at my folks' house.

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Not all is TGIF

2007-12-07T22:54:00.000-08:00

After a nice calm Thursday, Fridays are work day.

First some book keeping at the shop. I was stuck with something, but I called the accountant and she sorted me out. Thank God for professionals.

After the shop, a quick stop home for Jer to pack and me to make some dinner.

Jer left for his fire course in town and drop me at Teen Night. Unfortunately, shortly before Greg was due to arrive I noticed that all the food, even veggies, and spritzers left from last week were gone. The kids seemed fine with no chips, but it was a total bummer.

Happier news for tomorrow I hope.

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Thursday, the day of rest.

2007-12-07T00:41:00.000-08:00

Ahh, Thursday. It is always much appreciated after a long Wednesday. There is nothing on the calendar and Jer has fire practice. What can be better than a whole day to yourself.

I started the day by finishing the scarf I'm knitting for my dad...well I ran out of wool, it's almost the same thing.

After knitting time was over I went for a walk around the point. The view always surprises me anew each time I go out there. It was just me, my camera, and some birds.

Along the way I stopped to admire Gordon's tribute to Jerry Pethick. It's a beautiful piece. He built it on the site of Jerry's studio, using wood from the old building.

I generally wasted the rest of the day, except for starting a poster for the Recreation Mt. Washington day in January. I received a call from Bonita this afternoon: she's going to be away, so I'm mostly organizing it now.

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Today is brought to you by the word Looooong...

2007-12-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

Phew, today was a tough one. I had to be at Room-to-Grow to supervise Teen Tutoring at 9:30AM, next comes quilting, and finally, choir. All of this takes me from 9:30AM to 9:30PM. That is one heck of a day.

Teen Tutoring was a washout today, I was all alone. Teen Tutoring used to be huge when I went. What could be better than a day off from commuting and school? Now, if I'm lucky two kids show up. Ah, well, there's always next week.

Quilting was a total blast! I got my quilt layered and I'm ready to quilt. Rachelle was supposed to go though, and she didn't make it. I hope she comes next week.

And last but not least, choir. Things were a little shaky tonight, well they went alright, but with our concert next week, it was a definitely an eye opener.

Stupid hot tub isn't working. It turned off randomly last night. Before it turned off water was getting warm though! We will find an electrician and it will work soon.

Hot Tub Day!

2007-12-04T19:44:00.000-08:00

Today we filled up the hot tub, Thanks to John for cleaning it. The pump and heater are running as I type. I think the water's getting warmer and am convinced that all is well and I'll be soaking tomorrow, but Jer's not convinced yet.

We're definitely having a hot tub party soon.

Finally a little warmth in my poor toes.

Winter Amusements

2007-12-03T15:05:00.000-08:00

I read something in a book by Bill Bryson today, "...which [is] worse, to lead a life so boring that you are easily enchanted or a life so full of stimulus that you are easily bored." (The Lost Continent Pg. 59)

We went to the Christmas fair on Denman the other day with Doug and Rachelle, not only was the fair good, but there was excited in both directions. On the way there a woman in a mini hit a parked car on the big hill. She could either avoid the sand truck or the car. The four of us helped push her back onto the road, but she didn't make it off Denman because of car damage.

The Denman fair is much bigger than ours and it's nice to see different items for sale than the same old on Hornby. We all bought some really nice things. I managed to score gifts for hard to buy for people! I also ran into some friends that I haven't seen in awhile. It was great, I hope to go next year.

The snow was magical, although it did cause some more excitement coming home. I'd been told by a friend from Denman to go the back way and we did, but had some trouble getting up one of the hills. It was a little scary, but Doug is a great driver and we made it home fine. Missed the ferry by about ten mins though.

Happy Birthday Doug!

2007-12-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Rachelle organized a surprise birthday party for Doug at Pete and Judith's today. She quickly whispered minimal details to me yesterday after Jer and I dropped off Doug and his truck.

The party was a ton of fun. There were some people there that I don't normally spend much time with, it was great to get to know them better.

All evening Elaine was saying "lets go tobogganing." Finally at around 9:30 PM a bunch of us went out. It was so much fun! I haven't been sledding on Annie's Hill since I was a kid. There wasn't much snow, but we got in some great runs and some snowball fights. Thanks for the old snow pants Pete.

The blog thing came up this evening, Pete just started one and he was quite excited about it. I had started one devoted to the Social Climbers quite some ago, but didn't keep it up. So this is my second attempt.

Here's to friends, parties, snow, and toboggans.