Three Days for Mon-Mon

Year end is always a busy time, but Monica's birthday wasn't going to disappear! 

We arranged things around the year end calendar. 

 Lunch on the 29th at Upper Crust. 

(Left: How many hot waters and lemons?)

(Below: Grey and purple must be this season's colours) 

(Left: Meatloaf, Special of the Day.) 








Monica seemed really happy with her present... but what was it exactly? 

Wendy demonstrated.

Then it was back to work. 

But that wasn't the end of it.  We had something else up our sleeves for the next day! 

Surprise! Cake! 

Today, the actual day, was really a mad rush in the office.  Perhaps the best gift for her was not having to work late.  And I'm sure Wayne had something special planned! 

Happy Birthday, Mon-Mon!

Princess Peanuts

Kathy: So, do you think he’ll bring you back something sexy?
Steph: You mean a French man?

Paul's back! 

Just for me, he's smuggled across the customs a pocketful of strange peanuts and a T-shirt with some French on it.  My French isn't great, but it probably translates to: "The most beautiful princess in the world," or something to that effect :P  And that's a pretty sexy in its own way.

Yesterday, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. was also Earth Hour, and we had the lights out.  But, it turns out most people in Edmonton didn't. 

Plato's Pizza and Pool

"Do you think the jukebox is trying to tell us something? "

Three Michael Jackson songs had played in a row from the modern jukebox, and no one was manning it!  Um... this probably freaked me out more than it should have, perhaps I was oversensitive about the music since it was playing and we weren't dancing! 

Instead, the TAs had assembled at Plato's Pizza to (somewhat guiltily) enjoy pizza and other Italian fare (with numerous napkins to soak up the grease), and to socialise and get to know each other outside of dance. 

Julie dazzled with her statistics knowledge (I'd not known she's studied it).  But, the conversation on our side of the table kept returning to dating, maybe because Dan kept lamenting how now almost done his engineering degree he's still single.  Not that Tony was worried, but he still asked, "Where do you find nurses?"  Wilson, not missing a beat, "At the hospital."

With that avenue exhausted, our side went to play some pool. 

Julie did exactly what Wilson coached and landed some really good shots (below).  Wilson was no slouch either.  But inspite of my ineptitude, Tony and I still managed to win!  My only contribution: Hitting in the black ball at the very end without the white cue following.

Shane, known for being fashionably late, still  exceeded all expectations by showing up almost 3 hours late.  His excuse: Every time he headed for the shower, someone would call.  Well, that is one a danger of being too popular. 

While I had a good time, the gathering had felt a little off, a little awkward.  Is it because only a small part of the group attended?  It also didn't seem to me that we really mixed... or really clicked.  I guess I'm still looking for that close-knit feeling from my early TA days.

A friend is upset about her upcoming birthday... and I'm thinking too about how I'm getting... Not that that'll stop anything! 

There are more aches... a few more white (grey) hairs...  I usually don't mind the whites /greys, but a particular unruly one got to me: Other people were commenting on it, other people were pointing at it.  I could feel these people were itching to pull it out... 

So, instead of trying to tame it, I pulled it out.  And found it had a dark root... um... What?  Why? 

I'm not sure what's going on, but to me this is a sign.  Worrying about whites / greys are obviously more trouble than they're worth. 

Playing Connie

"What happened to Connie?  She looks squished."

Alright, the students probably didn't think that, but I thought it on their behalf. 

But aside from the size and height difference, I'm sure the Newcomer II and Pre-Bronze class (i.e. Level II and Level III) would have noticed a less graceful than usual partnership with Wilson (an adjustment required for, again, size differences and forcefulness / resistance).  And especially in the latter, tennative and hesitant footwork.  (Yes, I really should be thinking about more physio...)

I'm glad to be able to help Connie out while she's out of town for work, but boy, did I feel out of place!  The two classes were huge and I felt embarrassed by my inabilities.  I was out of practice for these higher level / more technical questions, and my ankle simply couldn't hold some of the poses for as long as it took the instructor to teach them. 

As D&D used to say, there is a problem when you people can't tell the difference between you and your students.  I think I'm treading a thin line. 

To the Beat of a Different Drum

"Speaking as a teenage boy who was in the church choir..." 

Chris D had summed up the curious case of the extremely unenthused dancer and backed it with his expert credentials.  Basically, "He probably has a crush on that girl in the group." 

I'd been pulled in by Michael, Olivia, and Monica to attend this year's Research and Innovation Awards ceremony.  Yes, it was interesting to see highlights of some of the work and award winning innovation happening at our institution, but at almost 2 hours long, I was fully ready to bolt once the lights came up. 

But then I saw someone waiting for me at the door: Chris D!  It didn't cross my mind that we'd bump into each other (despite our offices kind of working together on some projects). 

We headed over to the refreshment table and he filled me in on what his office did and what he did there.  Then I tried to explain to him what my office did and what I did there... We came to a kind of sort of working (if vague) understanding.  (Funny how strange it really all is when we try to put it into words.) 

This was done over squares of some of the best chocolate cake I've ever tasted (the calories be damned). 

So in the end, it was good.

Birthday Fun and Games

Yesterday

Jenn: "What's up?" 
Paul: "Nothing new..."

Today

Paul's in France. And thus had to miss Stephanie's birthday games (and cake) night. 

We played Steph's new game Dixit, which she described as "Apples to Apples with pictures". 

 

Then we had a break for cake. 

 

We returned to games. 

 

Steph, Michael, Shannon, Stephen and I lined up our trains for Ticket to Ride.   (By following Chris's personalised strategy for me: "Complete routes" and "Get longest route", I managed second.  My best showing yet!)

 

Pandemic was contained within the side room. 

And Mr. X led Chris and Erik through a wild chase around London. 

In Which Stephanie's Birthday is Feasted

Erik: You're a year behind.
Me: I have FIVE days!

Though I should have probably been hard at work at the computer to get my blog up to date, I decided that Steph's birthday Feast would be more fun.  I was right. 

Rem made lentils and salad collide, and helped define "unimaginably large" (where the number and it's square give the same emotional impact). 

 

 

 

Then he made his handmade perogies go splash!

Steph played with her birthday present from Rem. 

And we all talked. 

About socks:

Paul: Friday... Freida, who's a red-head... carrot-top... orange.
Steph: What is Tuesday then?













About French relatives:

Paul: I had an auntie, but she's now British.
Steph: How horrible!

Erik, as usual, didn't like being photographed, but seemed to have a small smile for me while posing with Ralph (the duck).

Steph opened presents. 

We found out "How's your father" is a noun.  So, how's a little "how's your father" ?

Steph proved and the packaging is sometimes more fun that thing inside. 

 

And I found out reasons why running is like smoking:

 

1. It's addictive

2. It's expensive

3. It makes you smell

4. It makes you go outside in the cold for no particular good reason

5. It makes you look dangerous

6. You start (and continue) because of peer pressure.

St. Paddy's Fest

Backed by popular demand, the office social committee decided to put on a St. Paddy's karaoke party after work Thursday. 

There was planning, advertising, and then come the day of, committee members did a big haul of all the supplies (with Boss Michael in charge of karaoke machine and the green beer).  Attendees brought snacks to share. 

Wendy kicked off karaoke with
"Top of the World". 

Next, with some coaxing, Olivia let loose her lovely voice with "Superstar" (I've since learned this is a huge Carpenters hit), before heading out. 

It was a tough act to follow, but I gave it my best on "She Will Be Loved" (was it always that long?).

With more people arriving and people getting more comfortable, there were fewer pauses between songs. 

Oliver sang "What a Wonderful World", and Michael "Tight Fitting Jeans". 

Amy, Kerri, and Lainna picked some crowd pleasers we could all sing along to ("Tubthumping" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun").  And then Lainna stuck around for a solo of "Our House" (what strange lyrics). 

"The Agreements Team" thought it apt to sing "Money, Money, Money". 

And then, shockingly, Tricia and Amy took up the mics for "Ice, Ice, Baby".  The song is funny enough, but was made even funnier with their good-girl looks and occasional rapper poses. 

By far, Wendy sang the most (perhaps to ensure she had plenty of draw entries for the prize pack?). 

There was Coldplay's "Viva La Vida", "All Out of Love", and Beyonce's "Halo".  She encouraged me to join in on the last one, but it was all jumbled in my head - wasn't this Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone"?

More comic relief came from Oliver, going into a rant of "Just how many times do we  have to ask you for help, Rhonda?"  (Below: Pat didn't know either.)











The social committee and a couple of others stuck around to the very end for the draw.  To everyone's surprise, the ballot wasn't Wendy's - it was Olivia's!

Hosting the event took a lot of work, and I was disappointed with the small turn out. But all those who came seemed to have a lot of fun (regardless of whether they sang or not... or maybe because they didn't have to sing, like Paul).  I hope the disappointing part doesn't discourage our new committee members.