concert goers...who are they?

so you know it's may when you're at an outdoor concert at deer lake park. it was GORGEOUS out - blue skies. i was rushing to burnaby from agassiz. i easily found parking, carried my fleecy blanket under my sweaty arm and made my way to the gates to see the ARCADE FIRE perform...but i was very very early. 5pm in fact. i found a seat on the grass and stared awkwardly at the people behind me for an hour while i waited to see someone i know coming over the crest of the hill. and then there were 7. a shulba, a drewlo, and 5 spiros. good times. mini-donuts and ice cream. warm breezes. i love deer lake.
finally the band came out. there were TEN of them! if you can't see the pics too closely, there was a chello, pipe organ, accordian, two violins, french horns, trumpets, all kinds of drums, guitars, bass, synth, megaphones, and a tambourine or two. you can only imagine. uhh...or listen to song #4 (Intervention) on Neon Bible - their latest cd. the live music was phenomenal. the selection of songs, awesome. the performance, outstanding. a concert to be remembered. i love arcade fire.

sharelle, me and jay (one of the 5)

now as i stood and people-watched my way through the concert, i decided that there are 4 types of concert goers.

type #1 - stand still and listen. these people look very serious while they listen to and watch the concert. you might mistake them for not having a good time but they are. they take their music seriously. they are usually huge fans.

type #2 - grooving but not lifting the feet. these people enjoy the rhythms and want to move around but they are somewhat inhibited by the people around them. they enjoy the music but maybe are not as hard core as the other 3 types though there are always exceptions to the type.

type #3 - moving the feet. these people are loving the music and are moving their feet but staying in one spot. a little groovier. there are all levels of committment to the music within this type - from "i'm a hard core fan"s to "i came to the concert with my friend because they had an extra ticket"s.

type #4 - full out dancing. there are the fewest of this type at a concert. they need some room. who knows if they're moved by the music or if they just like attention. (no offence if this is you...i just don't know anyone of this type in order to deeper research my theories)

and so...those are my thoughts on concert goers. can you guess which type i am? haha.

to do...

i tend to be a bit of an unorganized person. i can force organization, say, if i was cleaning out a closet or something but it usually takes more effort than i am willing to put in. my desk at school is messy to the point of frustrating which i keep meaning to do something about but i just have so many other things to be doing when i'm there. tim has been away since wednesday and the house tends to fall apart a little bit when he's gone. oops. friday night when i got home, the kitchen was so messy and i welcomed a phone call from liz suggesting we see pirates of the carribean. so i was actually looking forward to having nothing planned for today except hanging out at my house. the motivation set in.

i was going to make a to-do list but then i decided to blog instead. why not combine the two? you want to know what i should be doing this afternoon, don't you?

> clean the kitchen
> buy vegetables
> chop, prep, and put the vegetables in tupperware for easy access
> fold laundry
> do more laundry
> clean the bathroom
> watch 2 movies that are overdue (dreamgirls & the prestige...movies tim didn't want to see)
> cancel my membership to just ladies
> deposit a cheque and some cash to the bank
> buy paint for the spare bedroom

now...in all honesty...i like to make to-do lists after i've done a few things. so far, i've already cleaned the kitchen, bought, chopped, and prepped vegetables, and folded laundry. i watched 4 episodes of Family Ties Season 1 and i did attempt to cancel my membership but it looks like it won't be happening without some complication. when i called, i told the girl that i wanted to cancel my membership - could i do it over the phone or would i have to come down. the girl sounded flustered, said i'd have to come in and told me that she didn't have a membership "specialist" there at the moment to talk to me so she'd have one call me back. i said, "but if i can't do it over the phone, why does someone have to call me back?" "well, she needs to check if you have any outstanding payments or anything" "riiiight, but shouldn't i just come in or will she make an appointment with me?" "oh, she'll set a time for you to come in" "this sounds complicated marie..." nervous laughter from marie, "oh no. it's not." we'll see.

in other news, i was in langley today and got a new cel phone!!! holla! i'm so happy because i've been feeling very out of touch when i'm trying to meet up with someone and can't find them etc etc. okay...it doesn't sound that bad but i was trying to hook up with sharelle and another friend at the arcade fire concert on thursday night and i was most definitely was not enjoying using the payphone and random guy's cel phone. it's fido, pay as you go, 5 cents a minute on evenings and weekends. no fees. free voicemail, caller id, call display. how can you go wrong? if you decide to sign up, give them my number and you'll get a credit of $20 and so will i. umm...but i'm not gonna post my number on here...so leave me a comment with your email address. :)

as for the paint? i'm thinking that's not going to happen. as if i'll be motivated enough to paint tomorrow while tim's gone. i'll wait. haha.

i can't get past chapter 1...

i'm at the beginning of 5 books. i've started them all but i'm in one of those phases where i just can't keep reading. maybe it's the busy-ness of life. maybe it's facebook. either way, i'm stuck. tim's away until monday so my goal is to read at least one of the following:

brian's hunt by gary paulsen. if you're read hatchet, this is one of the sequels. it's new. if you haven't read hatchet, get to your public library today.

'Tis by frank mccourt. the author of angela's ashes which i loved. i thought i'd like his other work too...but so far, no luck.

the perfect elizabeth by libby schmais. i've borrowed this book twice from rachel and still haven't read it. it's supposedly chhick-lit which i should love but i haven't gotten into it yet.

stargirl by jerry spinelli. i've read it many times but i like to reread good ones. i just gave a copy to katie last week and it made me think, "i should re-read this one again."

divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood by rebecca wells. saw the movie and didn't like it that much but i thought i'd give the book a try. maybe the movie just wasn't as good as the book. that's usually the case, right?

any votes for the read of the week?

a whirlwind of a weekend

alyssa and james' wedding weekend has come and gone. there was some major dancing, piggy back riding, daring, pedicuring, first lulu hoodie purchasing, driving, posing, smiling, laughing, shivering, more posing, tearing, bouquet holding, speech writing/giving, powerpointing, more dancing, chocolate stealing and sleeping. yes, it was a full weekend. congratulations to alyssa and james - we hope that hawaii treats you well.

as for photos...there are many...on my camera...in white rock. stay tuned for these at a later date. for now, tune into ang's blog as she breaks down with too many "secrets"...

and sharelle, we can't wait for your more thorough recap.

sarah, plain and tall

have you ever read this book? i really disliked it at first when i read it on my own. but i was lacking a novel study for grades 2 & 3 so i chose to do it anyways. well, when i started reading it with my kids, they were totally into it which made me like it a lot more. so i searched for it on amazon and who knew that in 1990, Glen Close and Christopher Walken acted in Sarah, Plain and Tall the movie. whaaaat? "i got a fever. and the only prescription is more cowbell." oh christopher walken.

anyways...my kids are watching the movie right now. i made them popcorn. however, the movie is NINETY-EIGHT minutes. oh man, it's slow. if my mom were here, she'd be asleep by now. i told them that they could draw while they watch. we're 30 minutes in and slowly, one by one, they're pulling out their drawing books.

but hey -- i own the movie...so if anyone wants to borrow it. haha.

coffee? what?

so during our plant unit, we did some experiments on plants to see what they needed to grow. we put one plant in a box and one plant outside of the box. we put flowers in food coloured water. and the last experiment, we have been watering one with water and the other with coffee.

now...what would be your hypothesis on what will happen to the coffee plant? when we started it, i thought it wouldn't grow as well as the watered plant. but then i started thinking, "well...coffee is just water...and people use coffee grounds in their gardens...maybe this plant will be okay..."

are you wondering how i can be a teacher and not know that coffee is good for plants? or are you not sure either? state your hypothesis.

getting zapped...literally

so we have these massive powerlines that run over the playground beside our school. when i wear sandals, i can feel electrical zaps on my feet which hurt to the point that i don't like to stand on the grass in sandals. the kids don't seem to feel them. but one does question the long-term health concerns from having so much electrical current running through her.

thank goodness there are still some good people...

so yesterday afternoon, i made a quick stop at save-on to get a few things for the mother's day dinner that i was making for my mother-in-law. i was just getting a couple things so i didn't pick up a basket. always the wrong plan when you don't get a basket because you will always get more than you expect. anyways...i always throw my wallet in my basket but because i didn't have a basket today, i had my wallet under my arm...i thought.

i get up to the till carrying a precarious tower of items and realize that i don't have my wallet. hmm...where would it be? i wait until i get up to the cashier and ask her if she could ring it all through then save the order because i think i left my wallet in the car. she does this and i run out to the car. it's not in the car.

i think...no, i wouldn't have set it down or dropped it...but i do a quick re-trace through save-on anyways.

no, of course. i just must have left it at home.

i drive home. zoom zoom.

the wallet's not at home. so i call save-on and tell them that i was just there. i'm wondering if a wallet was turned in.

"well...what's your name?" "rebecca shulba." "yeah, it's here. we've been trying to page you for half an hour..."

sigh of relief...but half an hour? c'mon. i've maybe been gone 4 minutes.

so i drive back to save-on, get my wallet, get my groceries and am back on my way to mother's day dinner. thank goodness for the good people of abbotsford, turning in random wallets that they find.

a little too much adreneline spent for just a quick stop at the store.

my "thing"

now i am very aware that teachers can be a strange breed...sometimes i pretend that i am not a "typical" teacher. however...i have a confession to make. i've decided to make something "my thing"(...some pronounce it "thang"...ha) as a teacher. like you'll remember me because i was obsessed with "my thing". and my thing is going to be....drum roll please...poetry.

are you disappointed?

yes, it's poetry. i love teaching kids about writing poetry and i love having my kids read poetry...why not make it "my thing"?

now perhaps some of you are still wondering what it means to make something your "thang".

well...i spent a LOT of money in the last two months on Scholastic buying poetry related books. some i was able to get the school library to pay for. others, i wanted to keep for myself. i bought a 10 book set of Jack Prelutsky books. i bought a 10 book set of biographies of famous poets. i bought a book of poetry frames for writing poetry. I bought Alligator Pie, See Saw Saskatchewan, and A Poke in the I (a collection of concrete poems). I have plans to have kids memorize poetry and have poetry parties next year. that is what it means to have something be your "thing".

okay...so i got a little excited when i figured out "my thing".

but why keep this "thang" at ONE collectible item? so i picked another...

fractured fairy tales.

i love them! kids love them! they're so clever and funny. if you don't know what i'm talking about, go to your public library and take out The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales. i bought Big Bad Wolf is Good, The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza), and Goldilocks has Chicken Pox among a few others.

so i spent a little money at Scholastic. in fact, i'm in the red with the teacher who makes our orders. but i'm just so excited to have these two...things.

it's days like these that i know i'm a teacher.

Inspiration from 1990

This morning i opened my email and my mom had sent me an email titled "goal". She's scanned a goal that i'd written when i was in grade 2. i couldn't figure out how to upload it here so i'll just type it:

My Goal

Is to be a good swimmer. I'm going to get used to cold water and practice it. I'm going to take more lessons. I'm going to aim to pass level orange.

Rebecca MacDonald

soft rock remembered...

remember when we were in highschool, and all i listened to was 103.5? though i feel my taste in music has developed significantly since then, i do still turn on the soft rock station once in awhile and am always impressed that i can still sing along.

the song i've had stuck in my head this week is that one by lionel richie - "hello? is it me you're looking for?" and i sing that line around the house all evening long. it's driving tim crazy.

today, driving to school i forgot my ipod so i was forced to listen to "the valley's light rock" which is based out of chilliwack. remember the song with the lyrics, "as i...lay me...down to...sleep, yes, i pray...that you will hold me dear...til i fall away...etc" i loved that song. i had it on a mixed tape.

i reminicsed about pop-up videos with my carpool buddy, sally, and since she had never seen them before, i quoted facts about a variety of songs that came on while we drove. like the song "loveshack" by the b-52s? rupaul was in that video. (remember rupaul?) and when the one girl yells out, "tin roof rusted"? yeah, there was no reason behind that except it sounded good. i'm sure sally was very entertained. aren't you?

i once decided i was going to write a novel when i was in 3rd year university...pure chick-lit...and i was going to call it, "my quarter life crisis" (yes, lyric from j.mayer) and the basis of all my life's crises was my addiction to soft rock. i wrote the first 2 pages...which are awesome by the way (haha)...and then lost my groove. oh well...

so that has been "soft rock remembered"...tune in next week when rebecca remembers "skip-it"...

alyssa's home!

so she may not be blogging about it yet but i will! sunday afternoon/night, tim and i spent some time in vancouver hanging out at james and alyssa's new place.

we had some dinner which alyssa made and it was wonderful!

then we tried to strap down a queen sized bed to the roof of our truck. (and i use the term "we" lightly...though alyssa and i were forced to stand there. haha.)

congrats to alyssa & james on their new place!

like old times...

so on their way to korea to teach english, raquel and hannah (who i lived with in university) stopped into the lower mainland so kara and i went to richmond to have some dinner, do some WINNERS, and drink some starbucks. good times...

raquel and i...yes, those are knives

kara and hannah
3 of us in a bathroom stall to make fun of this mirror beside the toilet. wha???

raccoon eyes

this morning i put on mascara which i don't often do on school days.

tonight i took goggles to swimming lessons. but pulled them off and on throughout the night.

i forgot i was wearing mascara and rubbed my eyes like crazy.

then i went into the changeroom and when people stared at me, i smiled at them.

i went into the the little changing stall thing and when i was dressed, i opened the door and a girl outside the door jumped back when she saw me.

i looked in the mirror.

shoot.

i'm a born swimmer...

as a child at swimming lessons, i hated water. i couldn't open my eyes under water. my hair got in my face. water got stuck in my ears. i couldn't get enough breath. i swallowed more chlorinated water than a child should.

yesterday was no different. i began adult swimming lessons. i couldn't open my eyes under water. my hair got in my face. water got stuck in my ears. i couldn't get enough breath. i swallowed more chlorinated water than an adult should.

why did i sign up? well, totally out of rebecca character, i decided that i should try something new and do it alone with no friend support. i need to be able to swim this year for triathlon #2 because i didn't really swim so much in triathlon #1. i mostly walked along the bottom of the lake and moved my arms as though i was swimming. in fact, i never put my face in the water. so this year, things need to be different.

there are 4 other ladies in my class. 3 moms who came together and who don't swim. another girl my age who, like me, swims good enough but wants to improve all her strokes. so the instructor sends me and this girl off to swim laps and then works with the other 3 ladies. then she checks on us and tells us something that we need to do differently. then she works with the other 3. in one 45-min class, i'd have to say that i definitely improved. (kara will be happy to know) i can turn my head to the side to breathe instead of forwards. but i swallowed a lot of water. and my eyes were sore. on thursday, i'm definitley taking goggles. but overall, it was a positive experience. just being forced to stay in the pool that long and swim was good for me.

highlight of the night was when the instructor asked me if i wanted to work on my back crawl for awhile. she probably noticed that i looked more like i was drowning in my front crawl than swimming. i turned on my back, she showed me the stroke and i took off. her words? "you're a born swimmer!" haha.

one class down, 7 more to go. :)

the illegal photos...