first, let me wish alan a happy birthday. i hope you had a really good day, alan. there just may be some cake in your future.
second, i keep thinking about easter and i always come back to the same sad story. when i was growing up, we weren't religious so easter meant only one thing: chocolate. we didn't have a lot of money and so our last easter egg hunt was not for chocolate. it was for nickels. my parents kept a change jar with all small change (this is before the loonie and twoonie) and so my dad hid however many nickels around the house. and we hunted with glee. and then we put the nickels back in the change jar. that was the last easter egg hunt i did as a child.
third, did i ever mention that i saw a coyote? we were driving into work one day maybe two weeks ago and i had gotten a ride home with some of j's coworkers the day before. they had told me about the wild turkeys you can sometimes see on the way home and that they'd heard there were also coyotes but had never seen one. so i'm telling him this story and right when i get to the part about the elusive coyote, i look over and see one, right near the side of the road. incredible! very wolf-like. i was thinking it would look more like a fox, but not so.
fourth, because i haven't been watching a lot of tv lately, the pvr is full of k-shows. i've been doing my best and watching when i can, but this means that i never ever watch live tv. i had no idea that prison break is done for the season! i found out after we watched the season finale this afternoon. i'm really not happy where they left off. the story is very up in the air, nothing was concluded. is that the point?
fifth, you would think i know better, but apparently i can still eat too much chocolate and give myself a stomach-ache. 26 years living with this body and that's what i do to myself. amazing.
Tuesday, April 10
catching up
easter to me means i get a long weekend. so i slept. lots.
thursday night was recovery night. my week was short - only three days - but it was long. friday night we went out with j's work friends. we had dinner at the outback and then played guitar hero. my forearm was killing me! saturday we had a housewarming party. thanks to everyone who came. sunday we had family dinner at j's grandparent's place and monday was a gym/shopping/running/watching tv day. we are now all up to date on 24 but not prison break because we're missing an episode.
boring! i'll give you a better post soon.
thursday night was recovery night. my week was short - only three days - but it was long. friday night we went out with j's work friends. we had dinner at the outback and then played guitar hero. my forearm was killing me! saturday we had a housewarming party. thanks to everyone who came. sunday we had family dinner at j's grandparent's place and monday was a gym/shopping/running/watching tv day. we are now all up to date on 24 but not prison break because we're missing an episode.
boring! i'll give you a better post soon.
Friday, April 6
day 100
today is day 100 in my project 365. there have been some days that have been tough - no inspiration or time = no pictures. but most days i've been completely happy to tote around "my camera" (i've adopted our little point and shoot) and take pictures of things.
i'm actually quite happy with how this is working out. i'm finding i see more things. i'm always looking around and noticing things i wouldn't have seen before. and it's nice looking back through the 99 pictures to see what my life was like.
and then there are the flickr groups dedicated to the project where i've met some really nice people. it's interesting seeing pictures from all around the world. i've learned that what might seem uninteresting to me is something fresh and new to someone else. and maybe in a couple of years it may be fresh and new to me so i should try and capture it so i can have it forever. isn't that what pictures are for?
i'm actually quite happy with how this is working out. i'm finding i see more things. i'm always looking around and noticing things i wouldn't have seen before. and it's nice looking back through the 99 pictures to see what my life was like.
and then there are the flickr groups dedicated to the project where i've met some really nice people. it's interesting seeing pictures from all around the world. i've learned that what might seem uninteresting to me is something fresh and new to someone else. and maybe in a couple of years it may be fresh and new to me so i should try and capture it so i can have it forever. isn't that what pictures are for?
Thursday, April 5
Wednesday, April 4
r.i.p. spider solitaire, you will be missed
someone was obviously paying attention to my thinly veiled cry for help and removed all games from the computer. now i can concentrate on blogging my life away.
absolute comedy was tonight. i am maybe a little in love with the mc. he was hilarious. and hot. such a good combo. thanks to everyone who came out. my baseball team appreciates your support.
tomorrow is essentially friday and i'm especially happy. even though it was a super short week for me with monday off and everything, it was a long week and this long weekend is a nice break. and i have good news: i will start running soon. the plan, which i formulated at work, had me start my 8-week half marathon training today, but i napped instead. off to a stellar start, my friends. stellar.
so now it's time to positive-think myself into running, even though it's raining and possibly flurry-ing out. i am going to start running and i am going to love it!
every runner needs goals (or so i've read) and here is my goal, with some background first. in may 2005, i ran my first race since highschool. it was a 5K and the longest i had ever run before. thankfully i am a moron and didn't realize the treadmill on which i was training was in miles and so i was training at 8K. the race was a breeze after that. last may i ran my second race, a 10K. again, the longest that i had ever run (seeing the trend yet?) and i was happy i finished. this year, the goal is to run a half marathon. and eventually, you guessed it, my goal is to run a full marathon. but i'll wait on the marathon for a bit. focus! so the half marathon that i'd like to run is sunday, may 27th, which is 8 weeks away, hence the 8-week training. and my only goal is to finish the race. i don't mind if i have to walk half of the 21.1K, i just want to finish.
so i guess now i really just have to get out there. wish me luck!
absolute comedy was tonight. i am maybe a little in love with the mc. he was hilarious. and hot. such a good combo. thanks to everyone who came out. my baseball team appreciates your support.
tomorrow is essentially friday and i'm especially happy. even though it was a super short week for me with monday off and everything, it was a long week and this long weekend is a nice break. and i have good news: i will start running soon. the plan, which i formulated at work, had me start my 8-week half marathon training today, but i napped instead. off to a stellar start, my friends. stellar.
so now it's time to positive-think myself into running, even though it's raining and possibly flurry-ing out. i am going to start running and i am going to love it!
every runner needs goals (or so i've read) and here is my goal, with some background first. in may 2005, i ran my first race since highschool. it was a 5K and the longest i had ever run before. thankfully i am a moron and didn't realize the treadmill on which i was training was in miles and so i was training at 8K. the race was a breeze after that. last may i ran my second race, a 10K. again, the longest that i had ever run (seeing the trend yet?) and i was happy i finished. this year, the goal is to run a half marathon. and eventually, you guessed it, my goal is to run a full marathon. but i'll wait on the marathon for a bit. focus! so the half marathon that i'd like to run is sunday, may 27th, which is 8 weeks away, hence the 8-week training. and my only goal is to finish the race. i don't mind if i have to walk half of the 21.1K, i just want to finish.
so i guess now i really just have to get out there. wish me luck!
Tuesday, April 3
neglect
i promise that i am not neglecting this thing because of facebook. i'm neglecting my blog because of facebook AND other things. other things like flickr and spider solitaire (who invented spider solitaire anyways?) and work and sleep and eating and sports. imagine that.
that and i don't really have much to say. for a second time this post, imagine that.
i've been thinking lots lately about running. and biking. i miss both. my plan was to run a half marathon this year. back in 2005 i ran my first race. it was a 5K and i was happy with my time and the whole racing thing. then last year, i stepped it up and ran the 10K race. again, i was happy that i finished (and somewhat surprised at myself because, until that week, i had never run that far. ever.) and then i just fizzled out.
but that's going to change. i'm writing it here so i can't back out. i'm going to start running again. it's going to become my life. hello, new life! goodbye, couch potato batman.
that and i don't really have much to say. for a second time this post, imagine that.
i've been thinking lots lately about running. and biking. i miss both. my plan was to run a half marathon this year. back in 2005 i ran my first race. it was a 5K and i was happy with my time and the whole racing thing. then last year, i stepped it up and ran the 10K race. again, i was happy that i finished (and somewhat surprised at myself because, until that week, i had never run that far. ever.) and then i just fizzled out.
but that's going to change. i'm writing it here so i can't back out. i'm going to start running again. it's going to become my life. hello, new life! goodbye, couch potato batman.
Monday, April 2
wow
this was a long weekend. i worked 9-5 both days at the wedding show. it went well though and actually went by pretty quickly.
friday night was the make-up birthday night for a bunch of the girls on my ball team, including me. it was an exhausting week so i left before everyone went out to the bar. i had a good time though.
saturday night i stayed in and watched tv.
last night we had dinner at j's grandparents house.
and then today i slept in and spent the day doing house stuff. party this saturday!
friday night was the make-up birthday night for a bunch of the girls on my ball team, including me. it was an exhausting week so i left before everyone went out to the bar. i had a good time though.
saturday night i stayed in and watched tv.
last night we had dinner at j's grandparents house.
and then today i slept in and spent the day doing house stuff. party this saturday!
Thursday, March 29
if you're sleepy and you know it clap your hands
*clap*clap*
this has been a long week. monday night i went out with my volleyball team (only baseball girls showed up but whatever) and tuesday night i had hockey - both normal occurences for me. last night though, i said i would play volleyball with a coworker whose team needed another girl. the game was downtown and started at 9. what was i thinking?
normally i would nap and be fine to stay out a bit later, but i wasn't tired after work. i felt weird. j wasn't home. he got called into work at 2:45am and stayed until 6pm. ridiculous. so i did groceries and organized some pictures.
i'm paying for it today. you know the feeling when you're awake but you're so tired that simple things seem so complex and take so much effort. so i'm not doing anything tonight. i'm going to get home, put on comfy clothes and plunk down in front of the tv and watch tv until i fall asleep. now if only i had a cook!
this has been a long week. monday night i went out with my volleyball team (only baseball girls showed up but whatever) and tuesday night i had hockey - both normal occurences for me. last night though, i said i would play volleyball with a coworker whose team needed another girl. the game was downtown and started at 9. what was i thinking?
normally i would nap and be fine to stay out a bit later, but i wasn't tired after work. i felt weird. j wasn't home. he got called into work at 2:45am and stayed until 6pm. ridiculous. so i did groceries and organized some pictures.
i'm paying for it today. you know the feeling when you're awake but you're so tired that simple things seem so complex and take so much effort. so i'm not doing anything tonight. i'm going to get home, put on comfy clothes and plunk down in front of the tv and watch tv until i fall asleep. now if only i had a cook!
Tuesday, March 27
now i know
you always hear about the poor fools that hit reply all to a work email and say something nasty and it gets sent to everyone. well, today i got a taste of what that must feel like.
we got an email about a meeting about our new directorate, whatever, point is, this email went out to about a hundred people at my work. like the good little employee i am i immediately went to put it in my calendar. i do this with most meetings. so i add it like normal and am going about my work when i start getting emails from people accepting my meeting invitation. turns out, with our new email/calendar system, the default setting is to put all the email recipients in the required invitees to any calendar dates you set up. why??
so my request went out to about a hundred people. after i got five emails, two phone calls and one frantic admin in my office, i quickly went and changed the meeting in my calendar and took everyone off the invitee list. that sent them all another email! just my luck! so then i was getting more emails and calls asking why they were no longer invited.
all this to say that i felt like an idiot and i just wanted to leave. go home. get away from all the phone calls and emails and smirks. laugh it up because it wasn't you.
now, i can kinda imagine what it must feel like to send a nasty email to only your buddy but instead send it to the higher ups. oops!
but to top it all off, i get home and j tells me he can see through my pants. the poor boy isn't feeling well so i kinda laughed and asked him what he meant. turns out, i had two holes in the bum of my jeans. the ones i wore to work all day. good thing i wasn't wearing bright blue underwear. oh wait, i totally was! where is the rock i can crawl under? where?
we got an email about a meeting about our new directorate, whatever, point is, this email went out to about a hundred people at my work. like the good little employee i am i immediately went to put it in my calendar. i do this with most meetings. so i add it like normal and am going about my work when i start getting emails from people accepting my meeting invitation. turns out, with our new email/calendar system, the default setting is to put all the email recipients in the required invitees to any calendar dates you set up. why??
so my request went out to about a hundred people. after i got five emails, two phone calls and one frantic admin in my office, i quickly went and changed the meeting in my calendar and took everyone off the invitee list. that sent them all another email! just my luck! so then i was getting more emails and calls asking why they were no longer invited.
all this to say that i felt like an idiot and i just wanted to leave. go home. get away from all the phone calls and emails and smirks. laugh it up because it wasn't you.
now, i can kinda imagine what it must feel like to send a nasty email to only your buddy but instead send it to the higher ups. oops!
but to top it all off, i get home and j tells me he can see through my pants. the poor boy isn't feeling well so i kinda laughed and asked him what he meant. turns out, i had two holes in the bum of my jeans. the ones i wore to work all day. good thing i wasn't wearing bright blue underwear. oh wait, i totally was! where is the rock i can crawl under? where?
Monday, March 26
surprise surprise
we had a surprise party for my dad on saturday. he was very surprised.
his whole family was there and the beer was flowing. this is a picture of the shirt i made him:
he was also gifted a 24 of beer and gift certificates to a fancy restaurant and home depot. the man was in heaven!
and now i have all the left over cake. i brought it into work with me so i won't have to eat it anymore.
but work. sigh. i was really hoping today was sunday. again. i know. no such luck.
other news from the weekend: j managed to set up and wire the central vac!
his whole family was there and the beer was flowing. this is a picture of the shirt i made him:
he was also gifted a 24 of beer and gift certificates to a fancy restaurant and home depot. the man was in heaven!
and now i have all the left over cake. i brought it into work with me so i won't have to eat it anymore.
but work. sigh. i was really hoping today was sunday. again. i know. no such luck.
other news from the weekend: j managed to set up and wire the central vac!
Sunday, March 25
costa rica 2007 - santa elena / monteverde
day 5 - tamarindo to monteverde / santa elena, the monteverde / santa elena part of the day
the grayline bus picked us up at our hotel. the first bit of the drive was fine. it was pretty flat and the rest stop was nice enough. we switched buses for the last leg of the trip and turns out it was only the two of us and the two girls i had met on the beach two days previously on this bus. odd how these things work out.
what we hadn't considered was that this last 39 km was all in the mountains. mountains make for a very long trip. you have to go up and you have to go down. and back and forth and back and forth. those 39 km took us almost 4 hours. we saw an amazing sunset but we were cold and tired and jolted and we didn't know ahead of time how long the trip was so we weren't exactly prepared for the 5 hours it took. (we will now know to inquire about the length of a trip before heading out.)
we arrived in santa elena and were dropped off at our hotel, hotel don taco (apparently some mob reference that j knows that i don't) and turns out the two girls were staying there too. it was raining - the first time we'd seen rain since arriving - and it was cold. it's all relative because 20 C felt cold. but it was damp and not at all like the tropical paradise we'd left.
santa elena and monteverde are basically the same place, but different mountains. we stayed in santa elena but did things in both places since they were so close.
day 6
we woke up early and found ourselves a shuttle to the santa elena reserve from downtown. the drive was pretty twisty and bumpy. the whole area has purposefully left its roads unpaved to deter tourists. it was only about a 20 minute drive but there was a super annoying american who would not shut up. this guy's wife was "sick" and staying at the hotel where they were staying. i think she was taking a breather from her annoying husband. we got to the park and ran off so we could get away from this guy. he was THAT annoying.
the santa elena reserve is a cloud forest and was very cool and damp and sounded like a million faucets were dripping. it was very peaceful and quiet. (apparently, the monteverde cloud forest reserve is the main tourist attraction in the area and is crowded and busy and loud and good luck seeing any wildlife, so we chose to skip that one.)
we didn't see much wildlife but we had a good two hour hike and avoided our american friend. we caught a shuttle back into town where we had lunch and decided to go to the butterfly farm.
there are tons of butterflies in costa rica and the butterfly farm had lots of insects that j was able to hold (i didn't but i'm not regretting this at all). he got to hold a tarantula and adult and baby cockroaches and a whip-tailed scorpion.
the babies were on the under side of his hand.
if you have questions about how any of these creatures felt to hold, you will have to ask j next time you see him. the guided butterfly garden then took us through 4 enclosures that represented the 4 major habitats in the country. it was really neat.
on our way back to town we stopped at the monteverde serpentario. we saw lots of snakes but my favourite was the turtle cage:
we took it easy the rest of the day and even tried to do laundry in the sink. too bad santa elena was so damp our clothes hardly dried. but really, we wore the same thing every day because we didn't have a whole lot of warm clothing to choose from.
day 7
today is the day for hanging bridges and canopy zip lines! we were up early to catch the shuttle up the mountain. the hanging bridge tour was first. our guide was great and we were able to see lots of wildlife.
and at one point we got to climb up the middle of a fig tree.
then it was down the mountain a bit to the zip line place. we had to wait for a bit, but then got all geared up and were zipping in the canopy after a quick safety lesson.
we were with some very nice people thankfully because at one point i was so scared. there's a tarzan swing and apparently this scared the crap out of me and i was shaking really badly. you had to climb up a bunch of stairs to a platform with a gate. they hook you onto this super long rope and then shove you off the platform (i say shove, but the guides were all very nice and very good at putting people at ease). i almost turned back and went down the steps but i went and i screamed the whole time. there were probably 15 zip lines, the last one we had to go together and it lasted a couple of minutes. it was incredible.
we spent the rest of the day talking about how much fun the zip line tour was and thinking about where to go next.
day 8
we decided to visit the frog pond. our guide was very knowledgable and funny. he was able to point out all sorts of frogs that i'm sure we wouldn't have been able to find without him. we saw some big ones, some poisonous ones and some very bright ones (tricked you! poisonous ones and almost always bright.. to advertise their posion).
we booked our transportation to our next destination, la fortuna, at the hotel and then headed out for our night hike. this was one of the creepier things we did because we got to see tarantulas in the wild.
we also learned about banana plants (did you know they are a hybrid and were developed to fruit only once and then die? shoots come off the plant and that becomes a new plant. there are no seeds and no fertilization) and birds that sleep in the banana bunches and saw a sloth!
after the night hike, we stopped at the frog pond again. our tickets were good to another visit and they recommend coming back at night when the frogs are active. it was a game trying to spot the frogs without a guide. we did well.
day 9 - monteverde / santa elena to la fortuna, the santa elena part of the day
we learned from our trip from tamarindo to santa elena that it's nice to get to the new place when it's light out. it's less disorienting that way. so we hopped on a shuttle after scarfing down our continental breakfast and finding out that the hotel didn't take credit cards. we were down to less than $20 cash and unable to get money out of the bank machines. let's just say we were both a little worried about our cash situation, j more than me. i knew we'd figure it out somehow. "hi, mom and dad, please send money."
next post: la fortuna
the grayline bus picked us up at our hotel. the first bit of the drive was fine. it was pretty flat and the rest stop was nice enough. we switched buses for the last leg of the trip and turns out it was only the two of us and the two girls i had met on the beach two days previously on this bus. odd how these things work out.
what we hadn't considered was that this last 39 km was all in the mountains. mountains make for a very long trip. you have to go up and you have to go down. and back and forth and back and forth. those 39 km took us almost 4 hours. we saw an amazing sunset but we were cold and tired and jolted and we didn't know ahead of time how long the trip was so we weren't exactly prepared for the 5 hours it took. (we will now know to inquire about the length of a trip before heading out.)
we arrived in santa elena and were dropped off at our hotel, hotel don taco (apparently some mob reference that j knows that i don't) and turns out the two girls were staying there too. it was raining - the first time we'd seen rain since arriving - and it was cold. it's all relative because 20 C felt cold. but it was damp and not at all like the tropical paradise we'd left.
santa elena and monteverde are basically the same place, but different mountains. we stayed in santa elena but did things in both places since they were so close.
day 6
we woke up early and found ourselves a shuttle to the santa elena reserve from downtown. the drive was pretty twisty and bumpy. the whole area has purposefully left its roads unpaved to deter tourists. it was only about a 20 minute drive but there was a super annoying american who would not shut up. this guy's wife was "sick" and staying at the hotel where they were staying. i think she was taking a breather from her annoying husband. we got to the park and ran off so we could get away from this guy. he was THAT annoying.
the santa elena reserve is a cloud forest and was very cool and damp and sounded like a million faucets were dripping. it was very peaceful and quiet. (apparently, the monteverde cloud forest reserve is the main tourist attraction in the area and is crowded and busy and loud and good luck seeing any wildlife, so we chose to skip that one.)
we didn't see much wildlife but we had a good two hour hike and avoided our american friend. we caught a shuttle back into town where we had lunch and decided to go to the butterfly farm.
there are tons of butterflies in costa rica and the butterfly farm had lots of insects that j was able to hold (i didn't but i'm not regretting this at all). he got to hold a tarantula and adult and baby cockroaches and a whip-tailed scorpion.
the babies were on the under side of his hand.
if you have questions about how any of these creatures felt to hold, you will have to ask j next time you see him. the guided butterfly garden then took us through 4 enclosures that represented the 4 major habitats in the country. it was really neat.
on our way back to town we stopped at the monteverde serpentario. we saw lots of snakes but my favourite was the turtle cage:
we took it easy the rest of the day and even tried to do laundry in the sink. too bad santa elena was so damp our clothes hardly dried. but really, we wore the same thing every day because we didn't have a whole lot of warm clothing to choose from.
day 7
today is the day for hanging bridges and canopy zip lines! we were up early to catch the shuttle up the mountain. the hanging bridge tour was first. our guide was great and we were able to see lots of wildlife.
and at one point we got to climb up the middle of a fig tree.
then it was down the mountain a bit to the zip line place. we had to wait for a bit, but then got all geared up and were zipping in the canopy after a quick safety lesson.
we were with some very nice people thankfully because at one point i was so scared. there's a tarzan swing and apparently this scared the crap out of me and i was shaking really badly. you had to climb up a bunch of stairs to a platform with a gate. they hook you onto this super long rope and then shove you off the platform (i say shove, but the guides were all very nice and very good at putting people at ease). i almost turned back and went down the steps but i went and i screamed the whole time. there were probably 15 zip lines, the last one we had to go together and it lasted a couple of minutes. it was incredible.
we spent the rest of the day talking about how much fun the zip line tour was and thinking about where to go next.
day 8
we decided to visit the frog pond. our guide was very knowledgable and funny. he was able to point out all sorts of frogs that i'm sure we wouldn't have been able to find without him. we saw some big ones, some poisonous ones and some very bright ones (tricked you! poisonous ones and almost always bright.. to advertise their posion).
we booked our transportation to our next destination, la fortuna, at the hotel and then headed out for our night hike. this was one of the creepier things we did because we got to see tarantulas in the wild.
we also learned about banana plants (did you know they are a hybrid and were developed to fruit only once and then die? shoots come off the plant and that becomes a new plant. there are no seeds and no fertilization) and birds that sleep in the banana bunches and saw a sloth!
after the night hike, we stopped at the frog pond again. our tickets were good to another visit and they recommend coming back at night when the frogs are active. it was a game trying to spot the frogs without a guide. we did well.
day 9 - monteverde / santa elena to la fortuna, the santa elena part of the day
we learned from our trip from tamarindo to santa elena that it's nice to get to the new place when it's light out. it's less disorienting that way. so we hopped on a shuttle after scarfing down our continental breakfast and finding out that the hotel didn't take credit cards. we were down to less than $20 cash and unable to get money out of the bank machines. let's just say we were both a little worried about our cash situation, j more than me. i knew we'd figure it out somehow. "hi, mom and dad, please send money."
next post: la fortuna
Friday, March 23
neglectful
i don't like not posting. and believe me, i would like to be posting more often. but these costa rica posts are hanging over my head. i feel bad that i've only done two so far and i feel bad posting about my regular day-to-day stuff when i have so much to say about our trip, but we did so much and saw so much that it's overwhelming. one of these days, i'm going to sit down and do it, but until then....
while i'm here i can tell you about me. i've been working with my brother to put together a surprise party for my dad tomorrow afternoon. today is my dad's last day of work. he doesn't officially retire until may sometime but he has enough leave pilled up that he can stop going into work today. so we're having a party! i'm really excited because i know he'll be happy and we'll have fun.
i've been trying to come up with a design for a golf shirt to give my dad. i came across some sayings online, but retirement sayings are apparently few and far between and corny as hell. plus it's a golf shirt so i've come up with more of a logo type thing. i wanted something like those no smoking signs with the cigarette in the circle with a line through it. but the circle was really limiting so i decided instead to spell "work" and cross it out.
then i went back and forth on whether to use capital letters or small letters (oh the choices!) and decided i would try different fonts at work in both capital and small letters, print it off and check them out. i felt kind of obsessed or just plain crazy but came up with a design i'm happy with. but the whole thing gave me inspiration for my picture of the day:
while i'm here i can tell you about me. i've been working with my brother to put together a surprise party for my dad tomorrow afternoon. today is my dad's last day of work. he doesn't officially retire until may sometime but he has enough leave pilled up that he can stop going into work today. so we're having a party! i'm really excited because i know he'll be happy and we'll have fun.
i've been trying to come up with a design for a golf shirt to give my dad. i came across some sayings online, but retirement sayings are apparently few and far between and corny as hell. plus it's a golf shirt so i've come up with more of a logo type thing. i wanted something like those no smoking signs with the cigarette in the circle with a line through it. but the circle was really limiting so i decided instead to spell "work" and cross it out.
then i went back and forth on whether to use capital letters or small letters (oh the choices!) and decided i would try different fonts at work in both capital and small letters, print it off and check them out. i felt kind of obsessed or just plain crazy but came up with a design i'm happy with. but the whole thing gave me inspiration for my picture of the day:
Tuesday, March 20
absolute madness
my baseball team is hosting yet another fundraiser at absolute comedy. this time it's wednesday, april 4th. it's only $5. it's always a fun time and will be a great way to kick off the easter long weekend. any takers?
we had our last volleyball game last night. our last because we lost. we placed 2nd in the league and had to play the 8th place team. something happened and we just never pulled it together despite never losing to that team in the regular season.
so now i'm down from three teams to one. tuesday nights until june i'm still playing hockey. this gives me plenty of time to start running. i told myself i was going to run a half-marathon this may so i have to get to it! that's not a lot of time to get my body into the shape it needs to be in to run more than twice as far as i've ever run before. j says he'll train with me. that i'll make him run slower. at least i can be of service.
we had our last volleyball game last night. our last because we lost. we placed 2nd in the league and had to play the 8th place team. something happened and we just never pulled it together despite never losing to that team in the regular season.
so now i'm down from three teams to one. tuesday nights until june i'm still playing hockey. this gives me plenty of time to start running. i told myself i was going to run a half-marathon this may so i have to get to it! that's not a lot of time to get my body into the shape it needs to be in to run more than twice as far as i've ever run before. j says he'll train with me. that i'll make him run slower. at least i can be of service.
Sunday, March 18
facebook face time
i finally gave in and signed up for facebook friday night. holy people i haven't seen in years! how many of you are there? tons. the answer is tons.
quick update: friday night we went to the live lounge to watch permanent daylight in live 88.5's big money shot. they were good but unfortunately didn't advance past round one. there was some interesting music that night. i can't forget the country-ish band with the emo bassist and all the screaming. it was not my kind of music.
saturday was the glorious glorious sleep in. sweet sweet sleep. it had been too long. we did a lot of running around on saturday and bought things for the house like blinds and a central vac. do you know how excited i am for central vac? we have a vacuum cleaner but it's so heavy and clunky. i've only used it once because i dread using it. but central vac is my friend. it is partially installed.
saturday night we went to matt and julie's place for games night. no st. patty's day nothing for me. not my thing anymore. but games night was fun. we played my game, the big hit, cranium pop 5. it's always good for laughs.
i slept in again today and spent a lot of my day in front of the computer. facebook - blarg! i did organize the "office / craft room" though and spent time with my cats and j's parents. it was a nice day and a nice weekend.
quick update: friday night we went to the live lounge to watch permanent daylight in live 88.5's big money shot. they were good but unfortunately didn't advance past round one. there was some interesting music that night. i can't forget the country-ish band with the emo bassist and all the screaming. it was not my kind of music.
saturday was the glorious glorious sleep in. sweet sweet sleep. it had been too long. we did a lot of running around on saturday and bought things for the house like blinds and a central vac. do you know how excited i am for central vac? we have a vacuum cleaner but it's so heavy and clunky. i've only used it once because i dread using it. but central vac is my friend. it is partially installed.
saturday night we went to matt and julie's place for games night. no st. patty's day nothing for me. not my thing anymore. but games night was fun. we played my game, the big hit, cranium pop 5. it's always good for laughs.
i slept in again today and spent a lot of my day in front of the computer. facebook - blarg! i did organize the "office / craft room" though and spent time with my cats and j's parents. it was a nice day and a nice weekend.
Friday, March 16
say what?
i need some ideas for a saying. my dad is retiring next friday and i want to make him a teeshirt with a saying on it.
the internet hasn't been helpful at all and the best i could find was "i'm retired not expired" and "i'm retired, ask someone else".
does anyone have anything good? i'll take all the suggestions i can get!
the internet hasn't been helpful at all and the best i could find was "i'm retired not expired" and "i'm retired, ask someone else".
does anyone have anything good? i'll take all the suggestions i can get!
Thursday, March 15
new dryer hook up
when we moved we got all new appliances (j: the ones we have now work fine. k: let's get new ones! - we got new ones) but we haven't been able to use our dryer. not until today that is. it's natural gas and so needs a contractor guy to be hooked up. let me tell you how NICE it is to have a dryer. we don't HAVE to hang our clothes to dry. we can do a load and then do another. right away! wow, the things you miss when they're gone. you really start to appreciate a little warm air and a little tumble tumble. tumble away, my little dryer, tumble away!
ooh, new dryer. j is the first one to use it:
and this is us being excited about our new dryer, except j wasn't playing nice and was trying to look disgusted. i snapped the picture before he got his disgusted look finalized and this is the result:
did you honestly think i was mature? how wrong you were. now he's playing:
the post from monteverde / santa elena is coming soon, i promise! we did so much there so writing it is a little overwhelming.
ooh, new dryer. j is the first one to use it:
and this is us being excited about our new dryer, except j wasn't playing nice and was trying to look disgusted. i snapped the picture before he got his disgusted look finalized and this is the result:
did you honestly think i was mature? how wrong you were. now he's playing:
the post from monteverde / santa elena is coming soon, i promise! we did so much there so writing it is a little overwhelming.
Wednesday, March 14
strange things
usually i'm super hungry. all day. i get to work and starve all the way to lunch. monday, i was remarkably not hungry. it was weird. i felt weird about not being hungry. it was kinda nice to not be thinking about my stomach all day.
it lasted one day. just monday. i'm back to normal but i can't help but wonder what it was about monday that made me not hungry.
and then there's the temperature. all last week, i was boiling. and it was cold out, but i was hot. i wore sandals and a teeshirt at work all week. normally i wear at least two layers and am still cold. well that was last week. i'm back to freezing at work. i'm currently sitting with layers and layers on and am still cold. i even have my winter coat over my legs.
the only conclusion i can draw is that i'm weird. conclusion enough for you?
it lasted one day. just monday. i'm back to normal but i can't help but wonder what it was about monday that made me not hungry.
and then there's the temperature. all last week, i was boiling. and it was cold out, but i was hot. i wore sandals and a teeshirt at work all week. normally i wear at least two layers and am still cold. well that was last week. i'm back to freezing at work. i'm currently sitting with layers and layers on and am still cold. i even have my winter coat over my legs.
the only conclusion i can draw is that i'm weird. conclusion enough for you?
Tuesday, March 13
where did the weekend go?
the weekend is gone and i'm back at work and i'm tired! i was thinking of staying home today just so i could sleep more. but then i remembered the pile of work i still have to do and got out of bed. like i've said before, two weeks is a long time for work to pile up.
i ended up going to the woman's show sunday morning instead of saturday morning. my mom came and picked me up so j could have the car (he installed the oxygen sensor or something). she also paid for my ticket and a donation so i could get a magazine. the show was huge, much bigger than the two wedding shows jessp and i went to in january, and there was tons and tons of food. apparently women are interested in food. i was surprised though by how many of the vendors were female. on one hand, female consumers can relate to female vendors, but on the other hand, female consumers flirt with male vendors. i would assume that make vendors at such a show would do well. i'm guessing that at the man's show coming up (i kid you not) a lot of the vendors will be scantilly-clad females. anyone want to go check it out and report back?
we also spent a good chunk of the weekend doing house-y stuff.
here is a picture of the elusive light fixture from two posts ago:
we bought a garbage can for the downstairs bathroom (powder room) that we can finally use now that we have frosted film on the window:
and we went to ikea and bought a poang chair for the living room, which we rearranged:
we helped clean out our old place so renovations can start and came home with all the stuff we left behind including my two bamboo plants. rolo approves:
and finally, we took the computer desk and computer out of the basement in preparation for our new couches and put it upstairs in the "craft" room:
costa rica post soon.
i ended up going to the woman's show sunday morning instead of saturday morning. my mom came and picked me up so j could have the car (he installed the oxygen sensor or something). she also paid for my ticket and a donation so i could get a magazine. the show was huge, much bigger than the two wedding shows jessp and i went to in january, and there was tons and tons of food. apparently women are interested in food. i was surprised though by how many of the vendors were female. on one hand, female consumers can relate to female vendors, but on the other hand, female consumers flirt with male vendors. i would assume that make vendors at such a show would do well. i'm guessing that at the man's show coming up (i kid you not) a lot of the vendors will be scantilly-clad females. anyone want to go check it out and report back?
we also spent a good chunk of the weekend doing house-y stuff.
here is a picture of the elusive light fixture from two posts ago:
we bought a garbage can for the downstairs bathroom (powder room) that we can finally use now that we have frosted film on the window:
and we went to ikea and bought a poang chair for the living room, which we rearranged:
we helped clean out our old place so renovations can start and came home with all the stuff we left behind including my two bamboo plants. rolo approves:
and finally, we took the computer desk and computer out of the basement in preparation for our new couches and put it upstairs in the "craft" room:
costa rica post soon.
Saturday, March 10
costa rica 2007 - tamarindo
day 2 - san jose to tamarindo, the tamarindo part of the day
i mentioned that we thought we were going to die on the flight from san jose to tamarindo. we were white as ghosts when we landed. but, to our credit, the plane was wee and the wind was brutal and the runway was gravel. we ended up sitting in the "airport" for a couple of minutes, letting the nausea pass. i put the word 'airport' in quotation marks because it was small and more of a roof with three walls.
we got a cab to take us to villa macondo, a mid-range hotel recommended in the lonely planet guide. we got the last $35/night room, the old manager's room that was off to the side but had a fan and aircon and a fridge.
right away we went down to the ocean, which was about a hundred meters from our hotel. j was scouting out the size of the waves, i was scouting out all the shells and rocks. the beach was beautiful - white/grey sand, clean, clear water.
after a nap, we decided to ask the hotel about surfing. turns out the woman working the hotel is dating pedro, a member of costa rica's national surf team and he does lessons. an hour later, we're in the ocean each with our own surf board and pedro yelling at us when to stand up. j was up and away his first time and i was up my third or fourth time. it was scary and hard on the body but incredible all at the same time. at first the salt water burned my eyes and nose and tasted awful (i did a lot of falling) but i got used to it and was able to surf. a bunch of locals on the beach were watching us and clapped and whistled every time i caught a wave.
we were in the water for about 2 hours and completely exhausted by the end of it. it was an incredible experience and left us both on an adrenaline high for hours. while we were surfing though, there was the most incredible sunset i've ever seen. of course the camera was not with us (pedro's mom was taking care of it - i kid you not) but we managed to get this shot when we were done:
tamarindo is known for its sunsets. apparently, the sharks come out about the time the sun goes down. pedro called it "animal planet" time. and we were in the water!
after all of our excitement, we showered, had dinner and went to bed early.
day 3
our first actual day of vacation and sleep in... until 9:30. at least we were rested. we compared bruises - i had tons and j had none - and ate zucaritas before heading out to the main street.
my knees:
i also had bruises on both hips and my ribs from throwing myself on the board.
zucaritas:
j was so happy with surfing that we decided to rent him a board for two hours. he surfed while i tanned on the beach. he had a great time surfing.
but i didn't have a good time on the beach. it was really windy and sand was blowing from my right. sand was everywhere. it really wasn't pleasant. and then a bunch of ticos were all of a sudden right beside me. i wasn't feeling all that safe so i went and sat beside a girl i didn't know. turns out she was tanning while her friend was out surfing. the two hour board rental seemed to last forever, but j finally came in. he was super happy. i was super happy to be off the beach and get showered. we had sand everywhere. for days.
we went out for dinner and tried to get sunset pictures, but the sunset was not half as stunning as the night before.
day 4
just as we lucked into a sweet surf instructor, we lucked in on our next adventure. we were looking to snorkel. we walked along the main street in town and checked out a bunch of places. we found one we liked and would fit with our schedule so we booked it. the shuttle picked us up and took us to the beach, just down from pedro's. turns out it was us and another couple on a 66' catamaran with 4 crew members.
we set sail and cruised along using the wind (they usually have to use the diesel engines but it was windy enough to use the sails). it was choppy but not so much that we were sick. after about an hour, one of the crew came and told us that we wouldn't be able to snorkel because it was too rough. we were disappointed but okay with it because we're on vacation and we're going with the flow. we asked if we could go to a little beach somewhere. because there were only 4 of us it was totally fine and they found us a beautiful little beach.
this beach happened to be sheltered enough that they decided snorkeling would be possible. so we put on the masks and jumped in the rhib and went in the water. i was NOT okay with snorkeling at first. i maybe haven't mentioned this before, but i am not fine with lake water or being in the ocean. i surprised myself the day before by being able to surf. but snorkeling proved much harder for me. when i was finally able to breathe and be under water, i was still a little panicky. i held j's arm really tight and we went along. our guide, a guy from belgium who went to costa rica and never left, took us along and showed us things. it was probably about 15 feet deep with lots of fish. we saw the cloud of sand from a stingray darting away. we saw a trigger fish that our guide pulled out from between two rocks. we saw tons of fish.
we got to shore on the little beach and i was happy to be on dry land. we walked along the beach, totally deserted, and looked at all the crabbies. when we got back to our guide, he pointed out some turtle tracks and the mounds where the eggs were. we didn't get to see turtles (turtle season closed the friday before we arrived) but this was good enough for us. we swam back out and got picked up by the rhib and made it back to the boat. waiting for us was a pile of food. we ate and drank tons and settled in for the trip back.
we sat right out front of the boat.
and got to see the sunset over the pacific ocean. it was beautiful.
we booked our bus ride to monteverde / santa elena through the hotel, set to leave the next afternoon.
day 5 - tamarindo to monteverde / santa elena, the tamarindo part of the day
we had to pack everything and check out. the hotel was super nice and let us keep our packs behind the front desk and let us use the pool. we did for a while, but we had one last thing we wanted to do in tamarindo: an estuary tour. so we walked all the way down the beach and found a boat guy to take us on the tour. as our luck would have it (our luck could have simply been our lack of planning, but it was working for us) it was just the two of us with two guides. the estuary was near the end of the beach and led away from the ocean. we were hoping to see monkeys.
we saw a cayman, lots of birds and crabbies, and some sleepy monkeys.
the tour lasted about two hours and by the end of it we could spot birds much better than when we started. we walked back along the beach and went back to our hotel to wait for the bus.
we really enjoyed tamarindo. we found the climate pleasant except the really strong wind and therefore blowing sand everywhere. the people were nice and we had no problems doing everything we wanted to do. we never felt threatened or scared. it's a really beautiful place and we would definitely go back again. and next time, we would try more of the costa rican food (we were a little scared of everything and ate mostly subway, pizza and zucaritas).
next post: monteverde / santa elena
i mentioned that we thought we were going to die on the flight from san jose to tamarindo. we were white as ghosts when we landed. but, to our credit, the plane was wee and the wind was brutal and the runway was gravel. we ended up sitting in the "airport" for a couple of minutes, letting the nausea pass. i put the word 'airport' in quotation marks because it was small and more of a roof with three walls.
we got a cab to take us to villa macondo, a mid-range hotel recommended in the lonely planet guide. we got the last $35/night room, the old manager's room that was off to the side but had a fan and aircon and a fridge.
right away we went down to the ocean, which was about a hundred meters from our hotel. j was scouting out the size of the waves, i was scouting out all the shells and rocks. the beach was beautiful - white/grey sand, clean, clear water.
after a nap, we decided to ask the hotel about surfing. turns out the woman working the hotel is dating pedro, a member of costa rica's national surf team and he does lessons. an hour later, we're in the ocean each with our own surf board and pedro yelling at us when to stand up. j was up and away his first time and i was up my third or fourth time. it was scary and hard on the body but incredible all at the same time. at first the salt water burned my eyes and nose and tasted awful (i did a lot of falling) but i got used to it and was able to surf. a bunch of locals on the beach were watching us and clapped and whistled every time i caught a wave.
we were in the water for about 2 hours and completely exhausted by the end of it. it was an incredible experience and left us both on an adrenaline high for hours. while we were surfing though, there was the most incredible sunset i've ever seen. of course the camera was not with us (pedro's mom was taking care of it - i kid you not) but we managed to get this shot when we were done:
tamarindo is known for its sunsets. apparently, the sharks come out about the time the sun goes down. pedro called it "animal planet" time. and we were in the water!
after all of our excitement, we showered, had dinner and went to bed early.
day 3
our first actual day of vacation and sleep in... until 9:30. at least we were rested. we compared bruises - i had tons and j had none - and ate zucaritas before heading out to the main street.
my knees:
i also had bruises on both hips and my ribs from throwing myself on the board.
zucaritas:
j was so happy with surfing that we decided to rent him a board for two hours. he surfed while i tanned on the beach. he had a great time surfing.
but i didn't have a good time on the beach. it was really windy and sand was blowing from my right. sand was everywhere. it really wasn't pleasant. and then a bunch of ticos were all of a sudden right beside me. i wasn't feeling all that safe so i went and sat beside a girl i didn't know. turns out she was tanning while her friend was out surfing. the two hour board rental seemed to last forever, but j finally came in. he was super happy. i was super happy to be off the beach and get showered. we had sand everywhere. for days.
we went out for dinner and tried to get sunset pictures, but the sunset was not half as stunning as the night before.
day 4
just as we lucked into a sweet surf instructor, we lucked in on our next adventure. we were looking to snorkel. we walked along the main street in town and checked out a bunch of places. we found one we liked and would fit with our schedule so we booked it. the shuttle picked us up and took us to the beach, just down from pedro's. turns out it was us and another couple on a 66' catamaran with 4 crew members.
we set sail and cruised along using the wind (they usually have to use the diesel engines but it was windy enough to use the sails). it was choppy but not so much that we were sick. after about an hour, one of the crew came and told us that we wouldn't be able to snorkel because it was too rough. we were disappointed but okay with it because we're on vacation and we're going with the flow. we asked if we could go to a little beach somewhere. because there were only 4 of us it was totally fine and they found us a beautiful little beach.
this beach happened to be sheltered enough that they decided snorkeling would be possible. so we put on the masks and jumped in the rhib and went in the water. i was NOT okay with snorkeling at first. i maybe haven't mentioned this before, but i am not fine with lake water or being in the ocean. i surprised myself the day before by being able to surf. but snorkeling proved much harder for me. when i was finally able to breathe and be under water, i was still a little panicky. i held j's arm really tight and we went along. our guide, a guy from belgium who went to costa rica and never left, took us along and showed us things. it was probably about 15 feet deep with lots of fish. we saw the cloud of sand from a stingray darting away. we saw a trigger fish that our guide pulled out from between two rocks. we saw tons of fish.
we got to shore on the little beach and i was happy to be on dry land. we walked along the beach, totally deserted, and looked at all the crabbies. when we got back to our guide, he pointed out some turtle tracks and the mounds where the eggs were. we didn't get to see turtles (turtle season closed the friday before we arrived) but this was good enough for us. we swam back out and got picked up by the rhib and made it back to the boat. waiting for us was a pile of food. we ate and drank tons and settled in for the trip back.
we sat right out front of the boat.
and got to see the sunset over the pacific ocean. it was beautiful.
we booked our bus ride to monteverde / santa elena through the hotel, set to leave the next afternoon.
day 5 - tamarindo to monteverde / santa elena, the tamarindo part of the day
we had to pack everything and check out. the hotel was super nice and let us keep our packs behind the front desk and let us use the pool. we did for a while, but we had one last thing we wanted to do in tamarindo: an estuary tour. so we walked all the way down the beach and found a boat guy to take us on the tour. as our luck would have it (our luck could have simply been our lack of planning, but it was working for us) it was just the two of us with two guides. the estuary was near the end of the beach and led away from the ocean. we were hoping to see monkeys.
we saw a cayman, lots of birds and crabbies, and some sleepy monkeys.
the tour lasted about two hours and by the end of it we could spot birds much better than when we started. we walked back along the beach and went back to our hotel to wait for the bus.
we really enjoyed tamarindo. we found the climate pleasant except the really strong wind and therefore blowing sand everywhere. the people were nice and we had no problems doing everything we wanted to do. we never felt threatened or scared. it's a really beautiful place and we would definitely go back again. and next time, we would try more of the costa rican food (we were a little scared of everything and ate mostly subway, pizza and zucaritas).
next post: monteverde / santa elena
Friday, March 9
permanent daylight rocks
the show last night was a good one. the live lounge was not a bad little place but it was little. we didn't stay for the other two bands and i feel kinda bad about that but it was a weeknight and we were tired. i was tired despite my huge nap. thanks s&l for coming. it was really nice to see you and tell you all about our trip (= bore you to death).
permanent daylight made the first round of live 88.5's big money shot and are playing next friday night at the live lounge again. they're a good band and could use your support so if you have $5 and no plans for next friday night, come out with us.
tomorrow afternoon i'm going to the women's show with my mom. i've never been before and i'm not quite sure why my mom wants to go. could be that she's a woman or that she's in the tradeshow business. anyone want to come?
i got tagged to organize the next hockey night for work. i helped organize and paid for the last (and first) one but wasn't able to play. this one i'm making the date work for me so i'm sure to make it out. gotta reap the fruits of my labour, or something like that.
and on a completely different note, the light fixture we bought for the dining room came in and we picked it up and j installed it earlier this week. it wasn't an easy install and took him a long time but it looks good and will look even better when we have a third light bulb and a dining room table.
and that's all i got.
(trip update: i am working on the tamarindo post and will have it up sometime this weekend or early next week. sorry for the delay.)
permanent daylight made the first round of live 88.5's big money shot and are playing next friday night at the live lounge again. they're a good band and could use your support so if you have $5 and no plans for next friday night, come out with us.
tomorrow afternoon i'm going to the women's show with my mom. i've never been before and i'm not quite sure why my mom wants to go. could be that she's a woman or that she's in the tradeshow business. anyone want to come?
i got tagged to organize the next hockey night for work. i helped organize and paid for the last (and first) one but wasn't able to play. this one i'm making the date work for me so i'm sure to make it out. gotta reap the fruits of my labour, or something like that.
and on a completely different note, the light fixture we bought for the dining room came in and we picked it up and j installed it earlier this week. it wasn't an easy install and took him a long time but it looks good and will look even better when we have a third light bulb and a dining room table.
and that's all i got.
(trip update: i am working on the tamarindo post and will have it up sometime this weekend or early next week. sorry for the delay.)
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