A Few of my Favourite Things

One of my favourite things: friends
Another one: turning over rocks and finding creatures

Exhibit one: MannyAnother Favourite things: water locations

Another Favourite thing: TRIUMPH! The only fish of the afternoon. A 3lb-ish, small mouth bass. (He was released)

Last night Mark and I get all dolled up (well, I put on a necklace) and head 'across the river' (Sault speak for the United States of America) to see a friend sing/perform. It was at the local university - Lake Superior State if that matters - as a frosh event but it was the last chance to hear her sing before I take off.

We show up to the designated room (Flamingo Desert or something along those lines) right on time - because Mark and I can't be late if we tried to be late. We also show up looking a little too mature for frosh week (remember, I had a necklace on!) and walk in to a games room with about 50 first years playing pool, board games and ice breaker activities. No KT Antler (have you found this on google alert yet, KT?). So we grab 90s Trivial Pursuit and hunker down to wait. I'm the latte, Mark is a palm pilot (wasn't there supposed to be a Kurt Cobain???)

3 pies each, 45 minutes later (and no one questioning our age, thank you) my bladder signals and I go in search of a washroom. And there she is: right across the hall. So we missed the first set but we got to play some trivial pursuit (and we tied, which is about as close to winning against Mark as I thought I could get -- there was no Science section!)

We joined the group and chilled with her mom, pop and boyfriend roadie crew for a great show. Oh and the awkward/nice 'freshman' who sat down with us and told us all about ethanol production and asked us endlessly about curling (but of course, we're Canadian!).

Let me just finish with saying: that girl can sing. And play guitar. I'd take her home.

ps. And undergrad was fun and now it is done. Whew.

NOT Ready to Use my First Aid/CPR

One minute Mark and I are making dinner (me: grilled cheddar cheese sangwich. him: pizza grilled cheese) and my mini sis is grabbing a snack. We're joking around. Sis is adding things to the conversation. Then she is totally incoherent; talking to herself almost. Then the twitching begins and the talking makes sense, she is almost trying to fight it off.

Witnessed my first seizure tonight. She's a pro now with three under her belt since April, but this was the first I've seen. Oh, and I don't like it.

Second time I've ever had to call 911. First time was for an old man who had a little too much happy juice and fell outside our house. He was ok. This time I was actually scared. I may have cried. I may have told the dispatcher to stop asking questions and send an ambulance already. It took a long time for her to come around even with the sugar that the paramedics pumped into her. But I was calm by then. That was 5 hours ago. She's been to the hospital and out and you would never know.

The first aid training I went through just two weeks ago at work? Well, I'd love to say that it kicked in. I can't really say it. Some of it did (you're still a good teacher T-rav!):

1. Get her to a laying down position: remembered! (someone was going to put her in a chair and I kiboshed that one)
2. Do you give juice? Not a clue. We played it safe and decided not to have her also choking. Did not remember.
3. Recovery position: didn't remember, but she ended up that way.
4. Move stuff out of the way: remembered!
5. Call 911: remembered!

I don't ever want to have to use my life preservation skills (and only in Quebec are you legally obligated, as a lowly first-aider, to help someone in need -- although once you start helping anywhere in Canada you have to keep helping until the professionals get there)

Snoop gone Country

Amazing country version of Gin & Juice (originally by Snoop Dogg). The twang just makes the tune. If you don't like swearing then you probably shouldn't listen. But if you do check out this Zac Brown Band song.

Dodging bullets

This house is a junk food mine field. Getting back from the gym today I had to side-step numerous fatty-traps just to put my stuff away. Mostly successfully (two timbits and about 5 sun chips consumed....but you should see how much I DIDN't eat!). Never have a 17 year-old brother with the metabolism of the Flash.

Open the door: open bag of Cheesies on the Deacon's bench

Down the stairs into family room to say hi to sibs: various open bags of chips, chocolate bars, a massive donut box filled with baking goodies from last night.....(Here is my downfall: junk food 1)

Drop my stuff off in my room (home free zone!)

Up stairs (past the cheesies again!) to make a platter of turkey (protein!), cheese & pickles:
Kitchen table sports buns, skittles, cookies and open twix bar. I maneuver around that famously and avoid opening the cupboards where the rest of the packaged filth/scrumptiousness lies.

Barely dodge the chocolate milk in the fridge as I grab my intended meal.

To the living room where I browse the net, eat my protein and avoid the shiny wrappers of the chocolates on the piano.

One thing to look forward to about school: being way to cheap to keep junk food around the house.

A Fine Saturday

Lately (about the last two weeks) I've been pretty down. At least significantly more emotional than would be normal for me (especially since I tend to cry semi-annually). It isn't all bad; maybe being a bit more emotional would be good for me. I think I've narrowed down the causes:
1) All my handy crazy drugs are now definitely out of my system.
2) Just a few weeks before a big change: back to school, leaving Mark, some stress and a busy big-city life.
3) Lack of purpose. I function best when I have things to accomplish. The first part of the summer I had a class to complete and a garden to tend to. Now I have my "A" secured and the garden just keeps giving and giving without much taking.

This Saturday was a good day. Hot, finally. Mark and I ventured to the 'other side' (aka America) to pick up the textbooks I had shipped to the US side to save on shipping. We took the afternoon to explore our twin town that is definitely fraternal. We took the shoelace express through the little shops, had a Bratwurst (that was NOT a hot dog), fudge and ice cream were involved.

Back from the Twilight zone we tried kite flying for a second time. Unsuccessfully for a second time after I managed to break our rainbow flyer within the first 3 minutes just a few days ago. Epoxy doesn't hold kites together. But it did get me to take out my camera again. It has been a while and it feels good. I was on a roll so I took some of my garden too.
Lil'sluggy enjoying my peas

Big poppa zuke
Some (zucchini) fruit of my labour
Broccoli gone to seed (pretty flower seed) with chamomile fleurs in the background.
The whole shebang!

Mission Accomplished

I played 3 games of ultimate tonight (just 1/2 hour ones) and I didn't embarrass myself. Luckily it wasn't very competitive and everyone was friendly, fun and encouraging. I had some great catches and even smacked the frisbee onto the ground so the (unfortunately named) Team Hymen Gels couldn't get it! But was I winded. The ladies I covered were talented and fast.

I felt like a salt-lick afterward. Moose would flock to me to replenish electrolytes. Showering was a must but I was reminded by this article from Good Magazine about my/our ridiculous water consumption. Feeling guilty I'm trying to make adjustments. Testing the military-style shower they recommend (only running the water to wet and rinse). This isn't me saying I'm now some super-eco but just that there are really easy things I/we can do. But this will only matter if I do it regularly. There are some not-so-easy things recommended in the article too. Like putting on a toilet seat on a bucket and relieving oneself into a bed of sawdust. Crap. Sawdust. Pee. Sawdust. You get the idea: bathroom backlava. Then just compost and, voila! Nutrients into your garden. I'm thinking that I'll never get there.

Blindness (2008)

Originally a book by Jose Saramago this story was adapted into a movie (the latest movie trend). The premise: people all over the US are suddenly struck by a contagious "white blindness" which causes the general public to freak out and lock up the sufferers.

Genre I thought it would be: thriller/action/doomsday
Genre it really was: Commentary on the human condition/thought-provoking

The film is set up as if it were a social experiment (the Milgram Prison experiment meets the Warsaw ghettos). What happens to humanity when any legal system is taken away, food is scarce and no one can see who you are.

And that is where it gets so disturbing we turned it off. Yep, there is lots to learn from this film. And a mass-rape scene. Skip that part.