Auxiliary Turkey Day

Beth and I arrived at Erik's after TA training.  Erik had borrowed some chairs from a neighbour and was able to fit more people than previous years.  I needn't worry about the food situation - Erik had made another huge bird and, most importantly, saved me the neck and organs!  (Thank you, Erik!)  It also didn't seem too late for people to have a couple of cookies for dessert. 

The guitar came out for a little bit.  Mostly, I just enjoyed chatting and catching up. 

Before long, it was time to go - but not before a visit from Erik's little dog neighbour, Romeo.  Would you know it?  Sol's first name is actually Julietta.  So, here I present the rather cute and not at all tragic pair (though Romeo does belong to someone else...) 

Happy Auxilliary Turkey Day!

Tropika

My tropical dreams have been answered!  For a double date worthy of APOMP, Steph, Rem, Paul and I go to the next-best-thing-to-Malaysia-when-one-is-actually-in-Edmonton: Tropika!

Through the doors, we were transported to mock straw hut.  The ceilings were decorated with icicle lights (a clear tropical night sky?), while fake plastic banana trees gave a little semblance of privacy.  To further keep the illusion that we were in the tropics, the guys took the window seats so that Steph and I could have a slight buffer from the cold. 

We ordered a series of dishes to share, starting off with satay skewers of chicken and lamb and deep fried tofu.  A delicious peanut sauce (that had a nice bit of kick) came with the tofu that I liberally applied to almost everything else.  And we definitely did not forget to get naan bread.  It was an extremely tasty meal and I definitely felt warmed up.  Most impressive in presentation, in my mind, was the fried rice - yes, that's half a pineapple. 

Fully stuffed, we skipped on dessert.  Unfortunately, that meant it was time relinquish the fantasy and let someone else enjoy Malayasia (i.e. put on our winter coats and head back outside). 

I know, it's not even really that cold.  But it sure felt nice to make one extra stop - to Paul's for some tea and tuba - before finally calling it a night. 

What a Girl Wants

The (designer) stockings were hung along the table with care...
While we were happily eating Rice Crispy squares.

Nokomis's Thank You Party was another great occasion for a Girls' Night Out.  Kirsten, Kelly, and Catherine met me at the store.  I was horribly late, but thankfully Nokomis had snacks!  I grabbed some punch and joined in the riffling.  It seems the 80s are here for another season (plenty of lace overlays and sheer tops).  Thankfully, there were also a couple of librarian inspired looks - which Kirsten loved - and a few jeweled-toned party dresses to keep me interested. 

The jewlery seemed a bit lackluster from other times (though the wax seal pendents were lovely).  Instead, we paid our attention to the badges.  Modeled after boy scout / Brownie merit badges, these fun patches showed the world the wearer had attained black sheep status or was as sharp as a tack.  Not exactly fashion savvy, but hilarious - or was it the sugar talking? 

Eventually, we'd examined pretty much everything and tasted all the goodies.  What Nokomis probably never expected with all these great things they stocked, it was the pink tinsel, foot tall tree that had the girls plotting.  We sat on the couch and schemed, but settled with simply being inspired to make some pillow and cushion covers (we're not your usual criminals). 

A visit to Wee Book Inn and a thwarted attempt for a cupcake later, Kirsten and Kelly call it a night.  Catherine and I go on the search for some real food.  Over Subway subs (relatively real food), Catherine shows me her photos of Hawaii (her trip with Jaclyn!).  I dream again of sunshine and beaches. 

The formula: Wendy takes a vacation day for her birthday. Us girls take her out for lunch at some point during the week (usually to the Japanese restaurant nearby). We catch up, eat, go back to the office, and then everything returns to workday normal.

Yes, the formula works.  But it's a little predictable. 

We wanted a little excitement for Wendy this year.  So, we surprised her:   When everything seemed to be returning to workday normal, we descended with a huge bouquet... of snacks! 

O.k. It might not have been as nice as her spending her birthday off with Will, but I think she liked it. 

Happy birthday, Big Sis!

Fish, Footwork, and Fantasy

"For traditional horn, you just stick your hand in." ~ What Paul actually said.

A Friday Feast without Steph is fishy!  So, while we missed Steph, it was also a chance for us to enjoy some fish-based foods.  I brought along "The Original Atlantic Lobster Flavoured Chips" - a gift from Aunt Linda who'd just come back from a vacation on the East Coast.  Most had been curious enough to give them a try.  However, anyone expecting anything close to a shrimp chip were disappointed: they tasted like crsipy seaweed.  Yuck. 

Next day, dragged myself relatively early to Central Lions for the dance workshops.  Paul was already there working on waltz.  Diana Lefebvre, our workshop instructor from Calgary, had everyone in lines practicing extensions and smooth weight transfer in each step.  Again and again we did the box step.  It wasn't exciting stuff, but it was good training. 

Paul went home to work, while I stayed for the remaining sessions.  Eventually, I was fully awake - in time for Samba!  Di wanted us to think about the music and the nature of the dance.  The fact that the music was based on African and Latin American rhythms meant our bodies needed to move in different ways.  First was the smooth, liquid, groovin' (not manic bopping!) where she had us visualise walking the Mardi Gras parade with a tray of drinks in hand (for a downward, forward and back motions).  Next, one was to add in the Latin hip action (on side steps).  Of course, she made it look easy.  I was just happy to not fall on my face. 

Then there was Rumba, where she talked about connection and character.  She wanted us to look at our dance partners and communicate, which lead someone in class to actually ask: "How do you flirt with your eyes?"  I had laughed at the question, but was disappointed when she didn't have a formula for me. 

My brain felt like it would overload, but there was no way I was going to leave early and miss out on the "special" class - the one advertised as "Cha-Cha Burlesque".  True to word, no guys allowed - any who lingered were rounded out. 

There was very little cha-cha really.  And not that much burlesque (though someone did magic a feather boa into existence for the routine portion).  Di started the class with us standing in a circle.  She told her story of how she was a shy person, but after she learned to love her body and remembered how great it felt to just dance, she became this outgoing, sexy, vixen of a dancer / burlesque teacher (I paraphrased a little). 

I had no illusions that I'd become a JLo-esque diva overnight (or ever), but Di definitely had me intrigued.  She wanted us to feel good about our bodies, to learn to move in different ways, and to concentrate on our "sexy zones" (there are five).  Next you know, she puts on some music and asks us to move - as if we're in a jar of honey... as if there's a camera and we need to striking a pose on each beat... and yes in each, to concentrate on our "sexy zones". 

I started these exercises with my eyes open.  It was plain to see that some people moved better than others.  But it soon became too tempting to be silly, and when I caught Melissa's eyes, we started laughing.  So then I kept mine eyes closed, or focused solely on Di for inspiration. 

Then she taught us a short routine.  While I had loved the "Love thy body" mantra of the first part, I wasn't so keen on this next part.  It was a sexy, teasing, walk with turns and back glances, and yes, plenty of focus on the "sexy zones" to, no surprise, Christina Aguilera.  That was still fun.  It grated when she tried to encourage us by saying our sexuality was powerful, and that we could use it to get what we wanted.  This was followed by, "How badly do you want your Jimmy Choos?"  Hmph.  O.k. one sour note for an otherwise really great class*. 

Next day in TA training, the guys hounded us to find out what went on.  We did a little demo.  Of course, Don was not impressed - he already knew all this stuff and could do it better.  Dang him.

* Di founded Burlesquercise.  There are many classes in Calgary, with more slated to launch in Edmonton in 2011.

A Sweet Tomatah

Wrote to Jackie (Paul's mum) about carving pumpkins for Hallowe'en (which apparently does not have an equivalent in England - unless you count turnips), anticipating building another gingerbread creation at Christmas, and sharing photos from the famous Easter Peeps show... when I started noticing a trend: We play with our food. A lot. And it isn't limited to holidays. 

When a particularly cute tomato (from Paul's plant) came to the office, it needed to be played with too.  

House Hippo, Spoka, and Amadillo all join in the fun. 

They attempt a very challenging totem form. 

Then this one. 

In the end, this version was the most successful.

For a little while.

reCAPTCHA and GWAP

What if playing a game could make the world a better place?  Or how about if we could harness the energy of small human activities into something more useful? 

All sounds too good to be true, but Spark's (CBC1!) 15-Nov-2009 program has Nora Young interviewing Luis von Ahn about this exact thing.  The sometimes annoying, but spam preventing "please type what you see in the box" authentications are being used in reCAPTCHA to help digitize old texts, while playing a game through Games With A Purpose (GWAP) teaches and trains computers how to deal with different types of information - at least that's what it says on their sites.

I've visited both and played around.  Definitely addictive.  At least this way my time-sucks and distractions are not completely to waste.  Let's see if I can get past level "2 Gwappie".

Still Looking

“Good, only 770 more pages to go.”  The going probably would have been easier, except that there are simply too many strange words in Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  I would trip multiple times in a sentence and Paul would correct me.  I would also start giggling.  At our current six pages an hour speed, the complete "Trilogy in Five Parts" will take us a while. 

The laughing was much needed for the end of a very long day that started with viewing five different houses. 

While I had been very excited at the start of the morning, it soon became very obvious that what I could afford in the areas I liked, was something that would take a lot of work. 

There was the over 100 year old house with sloping floors and a staircase that had no banister.  It was charming in an odd ball kind of way with lovely large windows, a new half bath, and bright sunny colours.

There was the 60 year old house with an evergreen in the front yard that looked like it would eat anyone who came too close.  The current owners definitely made everything look nice on the first and second floors (dark hardwood floors, richly coloured walls).  They even dealt with the almost no closet space issue in a creative way: Stuffing things into the walls (i.e. shoes and clothes were nestled in the pink the pink fluff, and then a little cupboard door was attached to cover it all up it). The basement had also been partitioned off with curtains to create a small office surrounded by storage boxes. In this mini maze I found a toilet and sink raised up on a tiled platform - surprisingly it was not listed as a half (quarter?) bath, but maybe they weren't hooked up.

There was another close to a hundred year old house where the most memorable feature for me was a cracked green linoleum covered, really long and narrow basement with an upright piano sitting approximately in the middle.  I thought of the ghost story potentials.

My favourite was unfortunately owned by a smoker (who must have smoked indoors from the smell) and had two cats (we saw) and probably a dog (evidenced by a dish).  I also suspected a member in the family was an artist as the walls had been painted with small murals. Its basement wasn't very large, but it did have a working toilet, sink and shower - however, if you wanted privacy in using any of these, all you had was a curtain. 

I couldn't believe how even with our zipping through each house, the whole morning had gone and we were late in meeting Steph at the blood clinic.  Thankfully, Stephen was there with her and her third try wasn't a strike.  (Mine, however, didn't go as well.)

Paul nursed my aching arm and to help replenish my iron made cottage pie for dinner ("Shepherds keep sheep, cottages keep...").

I continued to hem-and-haw over the houses we had seen.  Realtor Lynn had pointed out areas of concern (area didn't look safe or check if the electrical box had been updated) and used her expertise to advise on what kinds of work would most likely need to be done (and their estimated costs).  Paul was positive and encouraging in general, rather than giving much of an opinion.  The problem was, of course, that I could see myself in any of these these places.  But none of them really seemed like a great idea. 

Finally, between cottage pie and Hitchhikers, I said "Yes."  I left a message for Lynne about how to make an offer on my favourite.  This afternoon, she called me back with the news: The house had gone pending (someone had made an offer) only hours after we'd seen it. 

I'm disappointed, but at the same time, I knew it needed a lot of work.  The search will just have to continue.

Feast at Jenn and David's

... with dog, cat, hamster, and fish (and possibly kids)

I didn't have my camera ready, so I was left watching, mouth open, when David dove behind the couch.  Both his legs were up in the air and I'm sure I giggled at its cartoony-ness.  In less than a second it was over.  He was upright, and the hamster was in his hands. 

This successful maneuver was launched after other scrambling attempts and taking apart a section of the couch had not worked.  Alas, all this excitement only further convinced Paul that a hamster and hamster ball for his place was a bad idea.  (I still think it's pretty cool.). 

Jenn and David had made a lovely dinner for Feast.  After we ate, I retook the tour and was introduced to the new (to me) animals of the house.  Zeus, the dog, Erik's favourite, stayed relatively calm throughout the night.  Soldier (Soja?) Boy, the beta fish, stayed in his tank downstairs (his hilariously neurotic thoughts given voice by Jenn). 

After the release and catch of the hamster we had some of the a lot of cake (in honour of Jenn's birthday). 

(Left: Jenn finally sits down to have some cake.)

Before heading out Jenn also showed me her dice for D&D.  They were indeed very pretty. 

Superhero Mommies

"We have something to tell you..."  A huge smile then spread across my face.  I squeezed Paul's hand as I channeled the tension from holding my tongue - I wanted to blurt, "You're pregnant!"  Of course that didn't take much intitution on my part (those are code THE words to mean that, when you're married). 

And then, Adriana confirmed it. 

Yes!  How exciting!  I don't think Paul had known or had planned a gathering for at the Faculty Club for this occassion, but it worked out well.  We munched at items from the buffet as Andria and Leo gave us more information about the pregnancy (a craving for chips, mild nausea) and the first ultrasound - they are scientific about it and had done a lot of reading. 

From Juno I learned of fetus fingernails, from them I learned that a preganant woman's heart pumps up to 50% more blood during the pregnancy, and that her joint flexibility is greatly increased.  Paul remarked it sounded like she was morphing into a superhero.  He even said he'd like to try that one day.  Hm... I'm sure there's already a movie for that. 

Babee!

Checked voice mail after class (still held despite being Remembrance Day) while Don drove me home.  Soon, Jazzy's voice was telling me Shauna and Jesse had earlier today a baby girl.  Yeeee!  Don looked at me weird.  I didn't care.  The phone tree worked!  Um... as long as I wasn't in charge of calling one of the other girls down the line. I called Paul.

Congrats, Shauna and Jesse! 

Remembering Barbara

The house had been transformed into a museum.  I quietly entered and began reading the walls that had been covered with photos, letters, and clothes she had made.  Around me, people gathered and talked.  So many people, so many people Barbara's life had touched. Vocal Alchemy, which she once belonged to, sang a couple of pieces.  Paul and I paid our respects to Malcolm and continued to explored the house, nodding to various Mathies along the way. 

I had to leave early for TA training, but afterwards, I visited Paul to talk.  Neither of us had known Barbara well.  To me she was a kind and intelligent woman (a mom of a friend) who tried to engage me in conversation eventhough I was awkward.  There was so much more.  The memorial / celebration showed me how extraordinary she was.  She had been active and an activist.  She was passionate about her causes and volunteered avidly.  She was caring and lively.  It is sad to know she's gone.  She's made me think of what I want my life to be about. 

More on her life at Globe and Mail.

Northern Lights Classic 2009

Almost everyone from the old guard was now a night competitor.  Though I couldn't volunteer at night this year and see them in action, I still signed up to be a day time runner.  

Pro-Am events dominated most of the morning.  It was another case of the same people in the same categories dancing the same dances.  There was one pro (Alex) that I thought was mezmerising, but the couple she's in wasn't terribly inspiring.  I'd awake from the blur to run the score sheets or to eye a particularly fabulous (or awful) costume. 

I'd encouraged my students for weeks to come and see Don compete.  When Adult Standard Bronze came, I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of my TAs were in the same category.  They all made it to the finals, but it easy to see who would win. 

At lunch we were treated to a performance showcase done by a group that encouraged dance for all abilities. 

During lunch I got to catch up with some old time volunteers and Tayo (fellow runner and UADC instructor), before getting ready for the afternoon Latin events.  Perhaps this is when caffiene kicked in: It all seemed so much more lively. The Pro-Ams sizzled.  The floor was filled during the breaks for social dancing (Tayo even lead me through a couple). 

The much anticipated Adult Latin Bronze was tight as it could be.  The judges somehow managed to decide between (what I thought) were extremely evenly matched couples for the finals, while there seemed to be too much happening all at once on the floor (below).

Then, another surprise: Seeing Darren and Amanda compete in Adult Latin Silver B - which had been strangely scheduled for the afternoon.  As I was not supposed to show any partiality, I cheered for them in my head. 

Not volunteering for the night shift made the day seem strangely short (eventhough I returned next day for a morning shift).  I miss seeing these friends more often and being with them in their and at their finest, competing. 

For more photos visit the NLC site or for some behind the scenes stuff here.

A Tribute in Brass

Um... what is it that you want us to do? 
Having arrived early at McDougall United Church with Paul for set up and warm up, a nice lady (the Treasurer?) put me almost immediately to work.  I was given programs, a cash box, and a price list - I guess that meant I was in charge.  I sat in the pews considering what needed to be done (and what to tell the rest of the volunteers). 

(Right: Watercolour of McDougall United Church)

Beth, Steph, Rem, and Kathy arrived not long after and we went to the entrance set up tables and create some order.  We calculated $ 14 and $ 18 admissions (made change - not my strong point), handed out programs, and kept the inner doors closed as the band continued their warm-up (more and more difficult as people came inside from the cold). 

(Left: Church chandelier that reminded me of modelled molecule and a cocktail ring.)

Once the concert started, we quietly joined the audience.  Watching them, I marvelled: So British! 

Paul had told me the Mill Creek Colliery Band was a brass band in the British style, but I had not expected so many people in the band to be British.  Or... actually, it might have only felt that way because the compère (offering background and insight to many of the pieces) had the accent, and the featured soloists were also from the UK. 

The tenseness from before was soothed away by the music. 
I thought I knew the basics of brass instruments and their sounds - I was corrected.  There were so many "other" instruments in the band (ones I wanted to call a "mini-this" or a "giant-that") all making lovely sounds.  I was most shocked (and enamoured) by the euphonium solo - who knew they could sound so beautiful? 

By the end of the night, I knew what my brain liked the most (as they were quite stuck in my head): The infectious Austin Power's theme, runner up to The Carol of the Bells*.  The latter we sang (bonged) in the entrance/exit before finally saying good bye. 

*Plug: Available on their "Celebrate Christmas" recording.  Get one today!

(Below: The band from above.)

Feast with Orville and Tunia

Tunia vs Lint Monster.

Lint monsters reunite. 

Hide Away and Lessons on Becoming Freakin' Fabulous

Henry: I have your tiny coil-bound notebook and pen. Nice stick figure of the waltz frame, by the way. It wasn't necessary to label the circle at the top as the head; it's pretty obvious.

Leslie: Whoever it is, I’d take it as a complement on your drawing that Henry knew it was the head :)

I made my way to Erik's after getting sick at work.  The bus seemed to start and stop a million times more than it needed, churning my stomach even more.  Eventually, the bus driver told us the road had been blocked to cars and for everyone to get out.  This worked out perfectly - when I got sick again, I was outside (thankfully, with a plastic bag). 
 
Inside Erik's place, I thought only about drinking water and rest.  
 
Hours later, I was feeling better.  Paul skipped dance class to check up on me anyway.  We read parts of "Freakin' Fabulous: How to Dress, Speak, Behave, Eat, Drink, Entertain, Decorate, and Generally Be Better than Everyone Else" by Clinton Kelly.  I was in no shape to be fabulous, but we had a good laugh between silly photos captions, funny suggestions, and lively writing.  (Maybe we'll be closer to fabulous in the future.) 
 
Today, I'm back at work, wishing I could pinpoint what it was.  (A reaction to the H1N1 shot?  H1N1 itself?  A bug from waiting in line with a hundred other people on the weekend?  Or maybe I managed to poision myself with my latest baking project... which means I should be more careful.)  But, whatever, I feel almost completely better now.  That means the show can go on for tonight's class. 

Tea for Three

An afternoon of tastiness and tea, at Rutherford with Jenn, Steph, and me. 

It was catch up time.  Haven't talked to Jenn in a long while.  She hasn't been blogging much, instead doing the podcast.  She's also been doing some pottery with the kids.  I had to laugh when she said one of them just liked putting the clay through the garlic press.  Everything they've been making thus has seaweed detailing or hair or grass... Yeah, I think I would do that too.  Their house seems to also have been changed to an animal house (cat, dog, hamster, beta fish). 

We also talked a little bit about fashion.  One of her friends is big on the the designer look and right now distressed is in.  Why pay someone for holey clothes?!  For Steph and Jenn it's because it's not the look they go for.  For me, I'm not willing to pay the big bucks.  But one can easily do distressed with some sandpaper, knives and scissors (lots of tips on the web, including taking the clothes to a firing range).  But I'll probably stick with deconstructed / reconstructed. 

Thank you, Steph.  Happy birthday, Jenn!

Treats

Hallowe'en on a Saturday - the perfect chance for Celina and Kevin to get their greatest trick o' treat haul yet.  At least that's what they thought.  They wanted to stay out late and had planned to transport all their loot with a toy wagon. It was ambitious and they had thought of everything - even the detail that I was to pull the wagon. I vetoed that, but let Kevin bring his gun.

(Right: Celina, a fallen angel, works on her halo. [Would fallen angels even have halos?])

(Left: Kevin as "a terminator".)

Much sooner than what they originally wanted, we went back home.  (Turns out a Terminator outfit isn't that comfortable or light).

On to the wheelin' and dealin'! 

Celina: This is a dark chocolate Twix - it's super rare!

Lana: But it's worth nothing to you because you're allergic to it anyway! (Not too subtle subtext: Gimme, gimme!)

Kevin showed great skill in negotiation - maybe because he really didn't care that much for a lot of the candy (chips were his thing).  Name brands again trumped store generics.  Carl came by near the end to do a little "taxation".  But even with all the debits, the kids and I had a good harvest. 

See what Paul missed?  Oh well, what can one do when the ESO calls? 
 
(Right: ESO's Tuba 2 for the Hallowe'en concerts.)
 
Good job, sweetie!

Queue Shot

08:46 - I walked past a toddler Tigger and princess to take my rightful place at the end of line for the H5N1 ("Swine") Flu shot at Bonnie Doon.  The Health Clinic is set up in the Atrium (green area) and the end of line is near the dental centre (end of blue area). 

09:00 - Clinic has just opened.  In the past 15 minutes or so, more people have lined up.  The end of line is now only 10 feet away from the Sears entrance.  I read my book and eye the trolly with coffee and muffins.  Someone (at the cafe?) was definitely thinking (and probably making some good money). 

10:30 - We've been inching along, when I noticed a marker: Estimated wait time 4.5 hours.  That doesn't sound great.  Thankfully, there are benches and poles along the way that I can lean on.  Also, someone has left sections of the National Post along the trail.  I gratefully collected the discards to read. 

My book, Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships by Eric Berne (referenced in Margaret Atwood's Payback), is interesting and witty (games are humourly named by an oft uttered phrase game players use, such as "If it weren't for him").  But also depressing.  It seems that everyone is involved in a game and most of these are dysfunctional.  However, the premise is that by recognising what games are being played, one can change the behaviour or cease to play. 

Regardless, I enjoy the break of reading about meringue ghosts (so cute!) and other holiday treats, and someone's search for voodoo.

10:53 - The 3.5 hour marker.  Woo! 
11:46 - The 2.5 hour marker.  Better than expected, but still - Ugh. 

Meanwhile, in the line, people are very nice.  No one expects an entire family with young kids to have to wait in line all together; A parent takes the kids and walks them around, while the other parent waits, then they return bringing snacks, or switch for bathroom breaks... I got a little anxious being there by myself, but the family behind me were very kind, they assured me they'd let me back in the line, so I ran to the food court, picked up some lunch, and went to the bathroom. 

Back in line, I call Paul.  As I ate my Subway sandwich he kept me company.  There were more children in costumes now, and I could see some working in the shops in costume.  Meters away from the registration table there's an announcement: No more immunizations.  Oh, no!  I hope they mean that's for people just joining the line. 

13:53 - I'm in the 15 minute waiting area (to make sure I don't have any major allergic reactions).  The shot itself took no time.  The registration was fast, if a little awkward (I didn't want to tell them that while I wasn't technically in a currently defined risk group [or at least depending on certain lists], I've also been unusually sick in the past few months and really thought I shouldn't take the chance). 

I returned Angela's call; Jack answered.  He got his shot today too.  His experience: Waiting outside in the cold from 6 a.m. until the clinic opened at 9 a.m.  Then just getting his shot at 12:30 p.m.  A total of 6.5 hours.  "O.k. you win."