Left to my own devices

"The car door has gone insane!"

~ Vincent demonstrating what an accent can do to the Chinese word "locked"... it was funny ...at the time.

Mattress flipping - more stuff on the web about it than I ever thought and with such thought. An activity that's probably better done with help. Yet strangely satisfying when completed alone. This was my Friday night. It did, however, improve my sleep.

Woke up to a lovely looking Saturday. Spent the morning both annoying and amusing Mom by using her sewing machine. Hemming skirts: easy. Making pants smaller: much more complicated! Pants are frighteningly 3-D. And now proudly I have a pair with one straight leg and the other, boot.

With such accomplishments under my belt, headed over to Sophie's place for a moving party. First time to meet Sophie's mom. Someone had told me that she was very Greek. My thoughts were, "She's very MOM." Specifically, she reminded me of my mom.

Anyway, moving. Bits, pieces, textbooks, boxes... Steph got us organized. The grant finale: Couch! And the girls did it! I have no clue how they got it into the elevator (thoughts of time/space fluxes, and references to Dirk Gently), and was amazed when I saw it appear in the downstairs hallway. And very thankful that the stairs were not involved. (Another team had moved a couch via stairway onto 5th floor - and so the couch equilibrium had been maintained.) Then part trolly assisted, the couch was brought over to the U-haul, carried up the ramp, and slid into the middle of all the other furniture and boxes as if it were a puzzle piece.

We head over, unpack, chat a good deal lots, and eat a wonderful meal that had been prepared by Sophie and her mom. Hm... simply delicious. (Note, to self: Must learn to cook)

Next day, Jeff proved to be again, many times braver than myself. He's come down to visit for his vacation, and the whole day was to be spent with family. First started with dim sum, then followed by babysitting. Celina and Kevin had decided that their cousin Jeff would take them to Galaxyland. I tagged along.

The next 3 hours Jeff went on all the rides that they picked. I was suffering from heights just standing on the ground with all the stuff, and watching them. Jeff was such a good sport - the kids had taken to playing with his belly, and the giggling was infectious. Very glad they didn't decide to play with mine. I took lots of blurry pictures on his camera. About 50 of them were of the carousel (my favourite), with a few mixed in of the three of them sticking their tongues out and crossing their eyes.

A quick delivery of the kids ended the G portion of our day. I could hardly wait! What was in store now that we're meeting up with Vincent? Something like last time? Not exactly. Tamer, but still a taste of "their" life. Didn't leave Vincent's condo until 9 o'clock. Drove across town to find a good restaurant (that was still open). Ate and chatted. I had fun talking to XinXin, Jeff's friend, who was very sweet. Vincent's friend Barbie loved my voice (why thankyou... I'm going to stop talking now). But I definitely was the odd ball. They called me very CBC. Well, so were most of them. But I showed it. Come midnight, they took me home before heading out to Bar Code and or possibly something else. The night was very young. I, however, was feeling very tired.

"So when you say "may day" art show, do you mean there'll be airplanes crashing? Or is this something about may poles?" ~ Erik

Minutes before the big meeting, I was trying to eat, and prepare invoices, and check voice mail all the same time. Crazy? I expect work will be like this for the next while. We got the news this week that Tip Tip is heading out to a special project, and Eva was taking medical leave. Ack! And then there were... This is not good. But at least, when I made it to the meeting, I was somewhat lucid. Unlike Wedesday...

I start giggling in the exam. Janet, the instructor, catches my eye and says "It's going that good, eh?" Right... there's not that many people left in the room, so I don't feel so bad about my outburst. My "mirth" had come from completely and utterly no longer being able to think. Somewhere along the way I had started to correct the spelling and grammar mistakes on the exam, completely ignoring the fact that I was supposed to be making a judgement on whether ethical standards were violated. On top of that, when I did manage to focus, my brain was making smart aleck answers in a snarky voice. My brain doesn't like me.

Was truly much happier the next day when after work I managed to rope Erik into going to the May Week Worker's Art Exhibit. And we headed into "The 'Hood", as Jeff called it. He gave us the grand tour of the old Alberta Cycle building (bare wires and all) before running off to official duties. And the two of us looked at Art. The towers made of river-washed stones caught my attention. And would you know it? While we were "critique-ing" the artist shows up. Erik was unphased. And they went on to talk about how it was made, how long it took... what was the artist trying to acheive... I worry when talking to people about their art. This was not bad. No talking, just listening. I really, really wanted to build one... Putting those feelings on hold for a moment, went on to view the other pieces, and to listen to Laurelle (gorgeous, gorgeous voice - so jealous). Found out a little of Erik's ideas on "Arty Art". Saw many people who I recalled from the cast of "Splice of Life".

In the next part Erik "kidnaps" me to "the opposite of communism". We're heading down Jasper Ave and I think... The Bank (dance club/bar)? In actually: Starbucks. He drives me home. I look through his glove compartment and find that if asked the question "Do you have any grey poupon?" The answer would be "Yes". A few bars of Queen were sung (kind of badly).

In which a lot of dessert is eaten... and this is a good thing.

Dang Martha Stewart! And so I was very bad and very good at the same time. Yes, I was procrastinating from studying, but I was also listening to David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day (a must listen for his Billy Holiday renditions of commercial jingles), while chasing away dust bunnies, and gutting and purging Cosmo magazines from under my bed (one does not need to have that many tips on hand...). See! The good must at least balance the bad... but then I come to Martha Stewart Living. Argh! The photos are so beautiful! A whole spread on orchids... and salt... and no studying or cleaning was going to be done for a very long time...


Kelly's Dessert Party

My "Unfermented (unprocessed) Chilean Wine" didn't get one vote. Oh, well. At least it was all eaten up. My own votes went to "Heaven" - a deep-dish layered ice cream sandwich number that just oozed goodness (or it was it calories?). An imminent mass sugar crash was avoided just in time as the potluck party next door offered to share their food stuffs. How well it worked out that they had no desserts, and we were in need of tofu (Yay! Tofu!) It must have been near the end that Clarence and Darren started singing songs from Tetris and the Mario games. Scary part - it was great! And that assertion was independent of the sugar high.


Math, Music, and Saturday at Allendale

Cloudy Saturday. Ivan, Andrew, Rem, and Tomas were on the lineup. Not sure what to expect. I was late, but thankfully things were running late. Rem and Reese started out the night with four sad songs. One of which almost made me cry (everyone turned to Steph on the dedication). Followed by an acoustic set with Elaine and Andrew (Fake Plastic Trees)... And then things got noisy! Andrew plugged in his electric guitar, Elaine was set up on bass, and Matt on drums. Ivan cooled things down with a set of quiet classical preludes on piano. And Tomas closed things off with blues numbers... and then a big jam! Andria pulled a bunch of us girls to the floor - it can be a lot of fun to be a groupie.

Micah and I had zipped around with our cameras during all this music. And at the end I was even surprised at the number I took (over a 160!) Not that many of them turned out, people insisted on moving to the music (what's with that?!). And though I played with the spot light, it only worked some of the time.

The music didn't stop. Next up was DJ Aaron. Bar dancing can be so much fun. Matt lured me onto the floor with a chocolate strawberry cupcake. And before long, I was grooving to the funky soul beats that came from vinyl (!). Anne and Liam came, and Steph and Rem left. Ben danced in front of the spotlight (Go-Go Ben!) and demonstrated how a beer bottle effectively distracts from less than elegant dance moves. There was no salsa, but surprisingly the beat still worked, and Elaine lead me through. Lana's signature chicken wing made another appearance, and she and Micah did a bird dance... or two. Attempts at sexy moves produced giggles. And a dance with Anne morphed into the Macreana. And as I was spinning and jumping, it almost didn't matter that I wasn't taking pictures. Micah was right - we could have danced all night. But I had plans for the morning. Headed out into the cool night. Right outside, a blinking light signaled that Malcolm had arrived! A short chat and I was homeward bound.

Couldn't fall asleep. The rhythm was still in my head. And I wanted so much to sing. I lay in bed formulating a practice schedule... wait... um... Audit 2... CGA... studying... right. How motivated can one be for something where the big "reward" at passing the course is that I qualify for another exam? Think back to Steph's reminder: it's better than failing and having to do it all over again. Good point.

UADC Volunteer Brunch

Morning came and it was time for the brunch! Rationalized that by drinking coffee I was increasing my metabolism, and thus could eat the omlette, the seafood, the pineapple, the zucchini salad, and still have room for a cookie. I was coached to wear a dress for the occassion, and probably would still feel fine if didn't have to sit down , or be hugged by so many people that I probably will not see until next season. Which is the sad part. Was fully intending to enjoy the embraces, if not for the stomach issue. Maybe gluttony is my new sin / vice.

Got dropped off at Nick's parents, and ended up having a nice walk with Nick around the old house (further renovated) and neighbourhood. His parents are selling and moving to Canmore. Felt a little of the Barenaked Ladies "The Old Apartment". Who would have thought that I still had stuff over there? And that staring at a no longer existent water stain would be emotional? Totally cracking up.

Onward to studying. Midterm in 44 hours.

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10

"Boy, you guys are dull." A Paris Hilton look a like with side pony-tail's instant appraisal of our group. Flashing teeth. "Just kidding! So are you the birthday mom?" She was looking at me. "Um... I booked the party..." Eyebrows raising, my thoughts: "How much sugar did this girl eat?" And "What?! How old you think I am?!"

So this wasn't the awesome start that I wanted for Celina's birthday party. On some levels I had very high expectations. On a personal level, the goal was to survive the sensory overload, and not let them see Cranky Auntie Lana.

Though I had cringed, the hostess's comment was apt... for 10 ten-year-olds, they were looking pretty tired, and un-motivated. I weighed the observation: Pro - Easy to control / Con - Um... this was supposed to be fun. I wondered if I would catch Celina smiling at all... But after some ice cream cake (right: Hello Kitty picture proof positive that Celina has 2 boyfriends - see candles) they brightened right up.

Celina who used to direct (command) me while cranking an imaginary film camera, gravitated to the corner to the blue screen. (Left) She controled the shot, while her friends danced around - their images where then pasted into the Chuck E Cheese music videos being broadcasted on the television screens. When that novelty wore off: To the land of games and tickets!

I doled out game tokens dutifuly. And with one eye on the kids, played a couple on my own too. Felt like a complete basketball star when I managed to get 13 points of baskets in 30 seconds! Whoo-hoo!

But I before long, I was getting a headache. Too many blinking lights, noise, and garish colours. Good thing the kids had run out of tokens. With their bounty of tickets they traded for little plastic fists that could be shot at each other, spinning tops, plastic rings... the same treasures I had collected as a kid. And then the other adults who were sitting in a dark corner having a conversation, took some of the home. And of the rest - the parents came to pick them up. Hurrah!

Best parts: Celina said she had fun. And then later she opens my birthday gift in the quiet of a restaurant (we had a family dinner after the party) and pronounced it cool (Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt). It wasn't so bad.

Stop and smell the...

"Aw, where did these come from?" It's probably the 3rd or 4th person to and visit because of the beautiful roses that Vera brought me. Simply been spoiled since coming back to work this week. Flowers, cake (made with Vodka) and souvenirs from Toronto... now if only can get out of this mood. Think happy thoughts...

Lots of good moments for the long weekend. Sleeping in was divine. Vacuumed room and did some dusting. Took a nice walk with Chris. Last dance class went by fairly smoothly - despite collisions in tango - and now I'm free! Though that's only been a week, and I'm suffering from dance withdrawal...

Went to Steph and Rem's for dinner and the Easter Bunny made appearance... in a chocolate mole sauce. Definitely a much more secular meal than last year's lamb. Played Scattegories through the night. Silliness abound: Would one find a Bassoon in the ocean? Or would one more likely find a Bassoonist? Was later described by Steph as a "photographer with an accounting habit".

A very nice day with Catherine where we walked the malls out of the cold and then went over to my place. Yep, the two of us managed to squeeze into my room. Listened to music and she loaded games onto my laptop! Ah! That wasn't smart plan. How will I concentrate on Audit? Well, I guess it turned out o.k. Didn't have the proper hardware to actually run games. That disaster was averted. But there's still Facebook...

Next day, after finishing up taxes, migrated to the Facebook site to do a little more exploring. Still haven't done much with it, but people are finding me. Surprise! Jaime back from old Chinese school days. What do I say? I'm excited that she got in contact. But nervous about how much I've changed... or maybe that I didn't change at all. Silly brain. Didn't retain much of "The Tao of Pooh" (Benjamin Hoff) now did I?

In Bisy Backson fashion, thinking about weekend: Celina's birthday, library book sale downtown, and Audit class. Hm... sleep...

*Gasp!* Terry's hands were around my neck. Um... I'd like to think that if I had my tea, I wouldn't have let her get so close... but really... she can be pretty fast. And who expects to be (play) strangled at work? Oh, right - YEAR END! Added stress to a group already strained. Not a pretty sight. And I've been the thorn in her side all week. Not intentionally of course. In my state of half consciousness, I manage to do just the wrong things. And my freakishly my right transactions were still setting off system errors (which she had to help fix). I owe her flowers, candy... something. What a crazy week. Surprised Lidia by saying "What the HECK?!" really loudly. I guess she didn't think I had it in me. At least it's over... for now.

What didn't go away was the snow. And there's been talk. Maybe it'll be like this for a while. The clouds and gloom definitely affected my mood, but I still manage to flip-flop between thinking "Why the heck isn't it spring already?!" and "Wow, how beautiful."


Here's to a great long weekend. Away from work. And time to clean up the details! And now off to the last dance class of the season.