Sunday, December 28, 2008

hawaii? what?

so tim and i are HERE!  in fact, we were here yesterday but couldn't hook up to the internet.  it was discovered today that we have a connection on the deck so i'm sitting here watching the sun go down on the deck typing.  well, to not make you feel as bad, the sun is going down behind a bunch of clouds so we can't see anything.  :)  

hawaii is warm.  that's may seem like a strange thing to report but no matter what the weather is here, it's the same temperature.  it's taking me some time to get my head wrapped around it.  when i was in grade 1, there was a boy, BJ, in grade 3 who had gone to hawaii for a vacation and when he returned, he told our class that when it rains in hawaii, it's warm outside still.  i've never understood.  and now, here i am, and BJ, i want you to know now that i understand.  the rain is warm.  and it will rain for two minutes and be finished.  i love that.  

dec. 29
so i'm continuing this post from yesterday.  this morning we did the classic "get up at 6am to go surfing".  but it's a little different when you're trying to go to one place with 16 people.  impressively, we were out the door only 15 minutes late to meet domi at the beach.  the beach that we're at here at our pink house is in a bay so it's calm and is great for kayaking, jetskiing, paddleboarding, etc.  just not surfing.  so we drove to a better surf beach about an hour away and a handful of people got a domi-lesson.  tim and i were two of the people who hung out on the beach and watched.  :)

and this afternoon is watersports off our own beach here at the pink house.  jet skiing and paddleboarding (which is just looks like standing on a surfboard and paddling)  pics to come in the next couple days.  

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

PHOTOS! (the first of many)

my new maternity jeans...


"you look so much bigger than you should be!"

Monday, December 15, 2008

the lack of photos

so as you know, my computer is in limbo. we don't turn it on anymore. it sits alone in the office. we really need a new one. for now we use tim's macbook that he brings home from work each night.

BUT the other day i took some photos of my maternity pants to post and then when i went to upload them onto his computer, it wouldn't open up the camera to get them off. i know that most computers will open a camera and upload the pics even if it doesn't have the software but don't macs do that too?

so, in conclusion and answer to ashlee's lastest comment on the fireplace post, i thought to take a photo of the fireplace but i knew i wouldn't be able to post it.

i'll keep working on it.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

a fireplace just in time for christmas

tim and i have been talking about getting an electric fireplace for quite a long time but most of them are ugly and then when you get a nice looking one, it's more than $700.  so we haven't bought.  

then last sunday night, there was a christmas variety program at the church and the stage was set up with an electric fireplace and a rug with big chairs etc.  tim and i commented to each other on how nice the fireplace was - pretty nice fake flame and such.  

so a couple days later, my mom calls to tell us that "by the way, that fireplace we had at church is for sale...for $250."  she hadn't even known that we liked it - just knew we'd been thinking about wanting one.  

so today we picked it up.  so great.  nice size.  chocolate brown.  we've already rearranged the furniture.  next time you come over, we can turn on the fire and enjoy the ambiance.  

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

oh christmas tree!

we have a fake tree. it was given to us for our first christmas (this will be our 5th!) by a friend and it's a high-quality, perfect for a basement suite, kind of tree.

it doesn't come apart so it sits fully assembled all year under our stairs and is easily carried up stairs come december each year...already lit. it's the lowest maintenance tree ever.

tim wants to get rid of it. WHAT? he wants a real one. one that will be wet when we go out in the cold to buy it. one that we'll have to buy a stand for. one that won't stand up straight when we get it in the stand. one that we have to wrap lights around. one that will shed needles into our 70's like shag carpet. one that we'll have to find a place to get rid of when january rolls around.

how could one want such a things?

thankfully, i convinced him that since we'll be in hawaii for 10 days right after christmas, our little tree will have to suffice for another year.

but despite wanting my little tree to stay, i can't work up the motivation to decorate it. it already had a string of lights on it when we brought it up at the end of november but we thought there should be more so we bought another string. the string sat in the box for week until we figured out that we accidently bought net lights. we took them back and bought a string. it sat in it's box for another week. tim suggested each morning as we drove to school, "tonight we'll decorate the christmas tree!" to no avail by the time we returned home. finally...2 and a half weeks after we carried our tree up the stairs, we wrapped the second string of lights around the tree. it looks terrible. we need to take the old string off and wrap them all at once. but we just left it looking terrible. as for decorations? they're still in the box in under the stairs. i guess we should try to get those on before christmas at least. what's with the lack of motivation? maybe it's knowing that my tree is leaving next year. maybe it's because all our decorations are cars and sports. maybe i like the look of just little white lights. ...maybe i'm just lazy.

this weekend...for sure.

in baby news...

i am getting fatter. sure, i knew it was going to happen and don't get me wrong, i'm embracing it with open arms...in fact, helping out a little by eating more than i should and not exercising (you know, i was sick and all for three and a half weeks). but people like to tell me how they can't believe how much i'm showing so early in my pregnancy. (thanks. for your own personal future reference, i wouldn't recommend saying this to pregnant people, even if you're thinking it. ) my mother in law has been convinced that it's twins. and when i went out and bought maternity pants this past weekend, i was starting to come to terms with the fact that...it may just be twins.

i went to the doctor yesterday. i'm not just fat - there's definitely a baby in there. i heard the heartbeat. but he's sure it's not twins. from where he could "feel the top of my uterus" (weird!) it's not high enough to be two babies. phew. but he told me all was well and it was time to call and make my ultrasound appointment. i'm not due for the appointment for another 4 weeks or so but apparently appointments book up fast.

so i called today. the FIRST appointment available: 10:30am on January 21. are you kidding me? sigh - i just want to know if it's a boy or girl. i guess i have to wait a little while longer...

Monday, December 08, 2008

so we're not on the ball...

tim and i are headed to hawaii as of december 27 - my friends Angela and Domi are getting MARRIED! we have known that we would be going for months and months now. but did we get passports? no. and now it's pretty much too late. sooo....we know that you don't need a passport to drive into the US until june 2009. we're going to be driving into seattle. then to fly within the states, for example, seattle to honolulu, you don't need a passport. and then flying back, we won't need a passport. and then driving home from seattle to abbotsford we won't need a passport. right? have a missed something or is it all going to work out despite our lack of being on top of things?

Friday, December 05, 2008

cream cheese overload

so do you ever order a bagel and cream cheese from tim hortons? what's with the amount of cream cheese that they put on those? it's shocking. i scrape off enough cream cheese for maybe 3 more bagels. is this just at my local TH? or is it at yours too?

Thursday, December 04, 2008

from the mouths of babes...

i finally told my class this week on monday that i was pregnant. i guess i was showing in chapel so some parents figured it out and were all over me. so i thought i'd better tell my kids before they heard it from their parents. they were very keen. they made a suggestion box for names that i should name the baby. Some of my favourites include Shasha, Minique, Vennasa, Oatis, and Lulu.

then the next day, one of my kids comes up to me and says, "Mrs. Shulba, I think your baby grew a little last night!" aka. you're looking a bit fatter...I told him it was probably just the shirt I was wearing.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

come june...

there will be a baby shulba.

WHAT? yes, i'm pregnant. I figure most of my readers may already know but just in case...it's going public.

so i've been a little stressed about telling my school peeps because i'm new here and now i'm not even finishing my first year at this school. but people are of course happy (at least outwardly haha) for us but last week i told a few people one at a time and i cried every time so i decided it better just be one announcement this past friday. of course, people want to say how "they knew it!". what i've discovered, however, if a woman my age/marital status says they are tired, hungry, or sick - people ask if you're pregnant. it's been interesting having to avoid that question being that i've been tired, hungry, and taken some sick days (but for a cold - not pregnancy-sick). but now it's out and i still cry at the mention of me being pregnant. haha. i'm a little weepy. (and you thought i USED to cry a lot...)

i have to say that my main emotion is nervousness. sure, we're very excited and it's what we wanted (even though it happened much quicker than we expected) but the thought of giving birth is totally scary but almost equally as scary as just having a baby around afterwards! :) so i know my emotions will ebb and flow as the weeks go by but as of right now, june 4th sounds very close.

i've had quite a crazy time finding a doctor as my own doctor doesn't do maternity. but the short story of that is that i found myself a doctor in langley which is only 25 minutes from my house. sure, abbotsford has a new hospital and all but finding a doctor that had hours for appointments that i could make it to just wasn't possible. i'd have to leave school early for every check-up which isn't really an option. so my new doctor is just around the corner from where i work. he's also been my friend's doctor through her whole pregnancy and delivered her baby last week - she said he was so fantastic. i'm very glad to hear that. :)

so we plan to find out whether it's a boy or girl whenever it's possible so we'll be letting you know one of these weeks to come. i'm 13 weeks as of Friday so i think i can find out at 20weeks.

yep, it's crazy.

Monday, November 24, 2008

something to listen to...

so there is FINALLY a new radio station to listen to in vancouver (an online live anywhere if you want) - it's The Peak 100.5 and it's what i've been waiting for. when Z changed over to Crave, i had hopes that it was going to be different...but it's exactly the same. and the Fox is too hard for me. 101 is too old for me. so when tim came home and said, "hey - there's a new station and it's so great!" i was pretty pumped.

and so far it hasn't let me down. i've heard sarah harmer, tom petty, coldplay, jason mraz, arcade fire, death cab for cutie, plus lots of new and obscure stuff that they find and talk about, wanting you to call in and tell them what you think. almost nothing that there is on Crave which is great. some days, it's like i'm listening to a playlist from my ipod.

i called in the other day to find out the name of the band playing the song at that moment because it was fantastic. i sent them an email to let them know what a great station it is. we need to support a new station so that it doesn't go anywhere. we can't lose it! so check it out...

Thursday, November 20, 2008

the opinions of children

today i work up feeling like i might be coming out the this cold. thank goodness.

when the kids came into school today, the opening scenario:

child 1: "how are you feeling today, Mrs. Shulba?"

Mrs. Shulba: "actually, i think i'm starting to get better!"

child 2: "well, you're actually looking worse."

good to know.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

sick day much?

so today i am as equally sick as i was over a week ago. last week, i worked one day in the whole week. did it help me get better? no. i didn't go to work today. does it make me better? no. what the heck?

i was told i should try nasal spray. people get addicted to this stuff because it's so good, right? i would like to be addicted to it because it would mean that something is working for me. i keep trying it, squeezing the bottle harder, sniffling in deeper but it doesn't seem to work. am i doing something wrong?

i'm a little worried that this much ahem...stuff...has come out of my face in the last 9 days.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

a little hypo...

i've been sick for over a week now. i've had the worst cold of my life. so stuffed up, can't sleep at night because i wake up every hour blowing my nose, plugged ears. yuck. but you know...going about my life as though i have a cold.

with my days off work, i've been watching a lot of grey's anatomy (which takes place in a hospital for anyone living under a rock) and the other day i saw an episode where this guy kept coming into the clinic with a runny nose and they kept sending him home because - it's just a runny nose. then the 4th time he came in, someone clued in that it might not be a runny nose and they sent him for some scans. they figured out that it was spinal fluid leaking out of his nose and his brains was sinking in his head.

oh my goodness. i went straight to the walk-in clinic.

but i just have a cold. and i hope it goes away soon.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

whole wheat what?

kraft dinner. yes, it comes in whole wheat and it's just as good as regular. you know, if you like KD. i like it with lots of ketchup.

Friday, November 07, 2008

the lack of SYTYCDC enthusiasm...

i don't know if you've noticed, but i haven't been too on top of my SYTYCDC postings. i've been feeling some anger rising as they stretch the show out in order to have a commercial between every dance and finally last week, i just taped it so that later i could watch it with no commercials. (yes, liz, i know i need tivo) but i didn't even watch it later because i didn't care. *gasp*.

what is it about this season? is it the people? i don't think so - i love the little ballerina and seeing what non-costume (aka jeans and tank top) nico will be wearing. is it the fact that it's canadian? no, i think canada's stepping up to the plate - the lighting was weird the first episode with the top 20 but they've got that down pat now. is it the judges? now that they've got two different judges filling in each week and gotten rid of luther and buddy-boy - it's going much better. i especially liked michelle williams last night.

so what is it? maybe it's the back-to-back seasons. one of the great parts of SYTYCD was the anticipation for the next season. i don't know. but whatever the reason, i'm not super pumped. i hate the stretched out episodes - i want more dancing and less talking. maybe i'll feel differently when they start doing two dances each and keeping it within the hour...? or will they? sigh.

the latest addiction....

hot chocolate.

the school has these big costco size containers of hot chocolate powder in the staff room and the other day i thought i'd have a cup. then later, i had another. and still later, another. everyday, i try to limit it to just one cup but i'm cold, i want sweetness, it's so yummy. i brought my own 44% less calories hot chocolate powder to school the other day thinking that would help but it just doesn't taste as good.

i am drinking some now as i write. how am i going to break this...?

but speaking of drinking addictions...i have had diet coke in weeks. i don't have any in the house ever. once in awhile when i get wendy's, i have diet coke but it's hard to believe that it's so removed from my daily meals. crazy. remember the three a day? wow.

Friday, October 31, 2008

oh halloween...

so today in devotions when i gave the kids the opportunity to pray, i'd say at least half of them said, "Dear God, thank you for Halloween."

Thursday, October 23, 2008

my computer is under attack

or maybe it's going to attack me?

it has a mind of it's own. for awhile, you'd be doing things on it and then all of a sudden the mouse would start moving itself around clicking on things and opening up boxes everywhere. then finally it would calm down and i'd have to go around and close all the boxes.

the computer very much dislikes facebook. it often shuts itself down when i'm there which is why if you've sent me a facebook message in the last week, i have not replied. i can't get facebook at school OR home now. i should go to the library...

and then tim, thinking it was a good idea, installed some anti-virus thing on the computer. it was of no help. and now, every website i go to, a page pops up saying that i shouldn't be looking at this page unprotected and so i press "continue" anyways and sometimes it lets me continue and other times it doesn't.

so if you've been wondering about the lack posts or the lack of my presence on fb - that is why. i do, however, check my hotmail and work email constantly at school. haha.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Flashback to Grade 4...

in grades 4 - 7, i was a runner. and every October, our school participated in the Bear Creek Cross Country. i loved it.

today i went back. i don't think i've blogged about being the cross-country coach this year but it's been fun being the newbie coach and learning how it all works as the teacher. and today was Bear Creek Cross Country.

i show up at school today in jeans and runners. my other coach (and another grade 3 teacher with me) says to me, "are you running in those?" i thought she was joking. but apparently, at the end of the day before the award ceremonies, there is a COACHES RACE. what? it's probably good that i didn't know or else i would have stressed. haha. but no, i was in jeans. i wouldn't need to run.

but since lisa (the coach) lives two minutes from the school and was stopping to pick up her sunglasses, she grabbed me a pair of pants to wear.

and now i would be a runner.

so the kids were awesome - some great placings. unfourtunately didn't pan out for us in the final standings but we had a GORGEOUS day and lots of fun.

and then the coaches had to run. about 1.8km. it's a bit of an adrenaline rush because there were probably about 40 people racing. and when we got to the start line, there was a woman in matching red adidas tank and capris - very professional. men in spandex stretching. these people are runners. i knew i couldn't do it without some walking...and there was some walking. every corner i rounded, i thought it was the finishline so i would start to speed up and then it wasn't the end! many people passed me...i did not pass anyone.

when we finally hit the end, tons of kids were cheering, i ran up the hill, fast guy sped by me right at the finishline but as it turned out they were placing men and women separately so for the women? i finished 5th. what a flashback to grade 4. though i didn't cry at the end this time. ha.

and now my workout is done for the day!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

and then it was thanksgiving...

and we made it happen. turkey, ham, gravy, yams in halved oranges, yams and apples, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans with slice almonds, and rolls.

thankfully my cousin dan, who is a cook, and his wife nicholine were staying with us so they helped out a lot.

my mom and her sisters

yum.

my uncle sam carved the turkey and the ham.

and now that i look through the pics, i realize we don't have any photographic proof that i cooked a turkey...just witnesses. :) but i survived my first thanksgiving dinner with 17 people. next year? thanksgiving for 6 - 8? no problem.

here are a couple good pics from the rehearsal dinner of me and my grandma and aunts.

introducing matt and katie macdonald

what a beautiful day! the sun was shining, the ceremony was fantastic, the reception, great, and matt and katie are MARRIED!



my aunt laurie travelled with her outfit and bagpipes to pipe at the beginning of the wedding. so great.



i didn't have a camera with me so i rely on others. thanks to those whose photos i've borrowed.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

oh fieldtrips!

today i sent my students on a very strange fieldtrip. this was a fieldtrip that "the grade 3 classes do" which is typical of the big school mentality...but i like it. this fieldtrip however was QUITE the planning. it was a car rally.

the car rally was in conjunction with the conclusion of our Mapping unit. the kids had to find their way around langley finding 5 different checkpoints. i'd made clues with the help of google maps from one house to the next. when they got to a checkpoint, someone would give them the clue to the next place. they would direct their parent driver to the next spot.

the reason it was strange - i didn't have to go. i stayed at the school! i had my cell phone and checkpoint parents were to call when all the cars had come by and driver parents were to call if anything went wrong. i got SO much marking done.

so after all my google mapping work, it turned out one clue was wrong. shoot. only a couple cars ended up making it to that checkpoint. the others skipped it since i'd give the drivers a master set of clues.

one checkpoint was TWU (where tim works) and the kids had to go into the building, ask where Mr. Shulba worked, and find his office to get their next clue. they were SO jazzed about meeting Mr. Shulba. tim called me when they'd all come by and said that there had been one huge group of about 17 and then a little group of 3. i asked him if they'd been quiet and polite and he reported that they HAD! yay.

the final report? one mom said that the kids in her car figured out that the numbers on the houses on one side of the street are even and the other are odd. another mom kept her kids on task by yelling, "hey! look at that!" every so often. one mom told me that as her group was walking into tim's building, the kids coming out were saying, "mr. shulba is so cute and nice."

hmm...

it's nice to see that this is a place that you can all connect and chat with each other in my comment section. i'm serious. it gives me great joy to see 9 comments...even when they are just a conversation amongst other people with very little relation to my blog.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

winners...and jackets...

so since the jacket season hit, i've been at 4 winners. the first winners, i found a steve madden black wool jacket that was so cute but large. so off to other winners i went. to no avail. steve madden in any size smaller than large was just no where. i tried on maybe...40 jackets. no exaggeration. some twice because i'd forgotten i'd already tried a particular one on. the problem with winter jackets is you just can't anticipate the layers you'll be wearing under themon some january day. do you get the size that "fits" or the size that fits with a bulky sweater underneath? either way, a large wasn't cutting it.

winners workers must DREAD jacket season. jackets lend themselves to trying on in aisles. if one tries on 40 jackets, it's tempting to not re-hang but drape the jacket over the rack. and many, many people have given in to this temptation...

i just want you to know that if you only shop in white rock winners...it is THE WORST winners i have ever been in. it's the messiest. nothing is in the right spot. things are on the wrong size hanger so when you spot the tan little small sign around the hanger and run towards your long-searched for jacket with open arms only to find an XL! it brings shouts anger at strangers. look out. so fyi...shop the abbotsford winners...it's practically a regular store with all the sizes of one particular shirt on one rack sometimes.

and today at the abby winners, i searched for my steve madden jacket but it was not found. i gave up looking because everything is so neat there, there's really no digging required. off i went to the boot section, picked up some pumas, wandered around in clearance, spent some time in the dressing rooms and as i was walking towards the check-out...i spotted a few lone jackets on a rack in the petite section. i paused. and then i dug down to the black one at the very back...i recognized the buttons! i saw the steve madden tag! IT WAS A MEDIUM! i put it on - love it.

BUT then...i recognized the classic impulsivness of my buy. so i found a big, fat sweater, put it on, and THEN tried on the jacket. yep...it works. and i ran to the cashier. i couldn't contain my excitement so i told her the story. she smiled politely. i wanted to wear it out of the store...but it was 24 C out today - it couldn't be justified.

(umm...you're maybe wishing to see a pic but i'm alone at home with no one to take my picture...hold that thought.)

give me 5 days...it'll probably get returned. haha.

whaaat?

This are done a little differently in a bigger school (think going from 55 kids to 400 kids). Today I got the hot lunch form. At Agassiz, we filled out our little hot dog form a day or two before hot lunch day. Sometimes I didn't even order until the morning of but I always got my hot dog. Today, this form has ALL the things to order for the next 3 months. It includes 4 different kinds of pizza, Booster Juice smoothies, Sun chips AND Lays (2 flavours), as well as Krispy Kreme donuts. Woah. Then in small print at the bottom it says, "To comply with the new nutrition standards for the food and beverage items being sold in schools from the Ministry of Health and Education guidelines we have changed our pizza and chip selection." WHAT? I just want to know what they changed it FROM! how does Krispy Kremes make it through the loops?

I have to say though...with all the nutrition in schools things that are changing these days...I'm glad I still have the option of really looking forward to pizza and booster juice on Hot Lunch!

(only 6 more days of the cleanse left...)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

sigh. where has all the blogging gone?

i don't know. you'd think with no facebook in the house here at school, i'd be madly looking for something else to waste my time! but alas...i seem to have turned over a new leaf. i work. weird, i know.

i think of lots of things to blog about in a day but i have been spending very little time at the computer lately...sometimes going a whole evening without even logging in.

my life is a little consumed with a cleanse right now. i'm on day 9. of 21. dr. joshi cleanse (i don't know the real name for it). everything you eat is gluten-free, dairy-free, no sugar, fruit (except bananas), red meat, tomatoes, potatoes, or caffiene. so that means i eat a lot of vegetables, brown rice, chicken and fish (but no tuna). that's not so bad, right? ugh. it's only not so bad if you're alone in your house at all times. but this weekend was quite the hurdle. i was in tacoma (more on that soon) and then had to resist judy's chili, homemade bread, and pumpkin roll. WORST. tim fell off the wagon for the chili. he's now no longer on the cleanse. i'm getting by but not without wondering to myself each day, "why am i doing this?".


one might ask, "do you feel better?". but i never felt that bad! i definitely feel healthier. I had pretty low energy the first few days but after that, i've been back to normal.

one thing i found yesterday that will decidedly keep me on the cleanse until the end was Riceworks rice chips. umm...maybe it's cheating because are they processed? i guess so, right? but there's no artificial flavouring or additives so who knows. but seriously, they're a small cheat without cheating. i'd eat these over doritos or potato chips anyday. i recommend you try the sweet chili.

Friday, September 12, 2008

SYTYCD...C?

so i thought maybe adding another letter to that already ridiculously long acronym was not going to be worth it...[insert mary voice] BUT IT SO WAS WORTH IT!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!

wow. canada. i'm so glad that we did it right. i was nervous. often it takes us a couple seasons but wow - first big night and it was awesome. was there only 2 people who didn't make it either to the finals or to choreography? yes. there was two. this is what i WANT - to watch some dancing! it was great.

AND another episode again in 3 days? yes, in canada, sometimes we get it right.

[and as an aside to all the mary-haters...the maters, i think i'll call them...can you honestly say that it would have been SYTYCD without her? no. those other two judges were lame. thankgoodness mary was there.]

Thursday, September 11, 2008

it's official...

facebook has been banned at school. shoot. :)

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

7 days in?

so. school has begun. i've been teaching at the new place for 7 full days.

last night i got 8 full hours of sleep but woke up tired. my throat was a little sore. i took some cold fx to no avail. i went to school and my throat got a little sore-er and my nose started to run. i'm still tired.

WHAT? only seven days and i'm sick?

you know you've encountered new germs when...

don't worry - it's not call-in-sick yet but i'll be taking my vitamin c and going to bed early tonight for sure. meet the teacher night tomorrow!

Thursday, September 04, 2008

oh koodo...i love you


so i'm back in the land of the cellphones again. i've been pretty hard to get a hold of for many moons and then i found koodo. sure, the commercials are totally strange and annoying. but their plans are not. they're fantastic! [raise hands above head] "c'est fantastique!" (yes, i've started teaching french again....) i walked out future shop with a fantastic phone, low monthly bill, paid nothing, and don't have a contract! i have a tab. i love it. i love the way that i could pick the features of my plan. there are no system access fees. every plan has unlimited evenings and weekends from 7pm on (and you can pay an extra $5 for evenings to start at 5pm) AND all plans include text. and now i'm a texting fiend. (if you're wishing i would text you, check my number on FB.) if you're looking for a new plan/carrier...i recommend.


in funnier cell phone news, i thought that i would sell my old fido (which isn't even that old) on craigslist for $30. it doesn't have a charger (which is why i fell out of cell phone land) and apparently they're now hard to find plus to re-activate was going to be at least $35 so i figured - get rid of it. but seriously, who's going to buy a phone with no charger for $30? well...someone in abbotsford in the worst looking but running truck i've ever seen. i was feeling bad for selling it to them but when she said that she had a motorola charger, i even said, "do you want to check the phone with the charger first to see if they're the same?" and she said no. so i made $30.


now i'm looking for other things that i can sell on craigslist! haha.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

sigh...

that's how i'm feeling. and that's maybe how most teachers feel their first week back to school. there's so much to do but sometimes no matter how much you do, nothing more can happen until those kiddos arrive and fill up the classroom with reasons for teaching. but nonetheless, there is this panic-y feeling that fills me the weekend before school begins. "i have to do something great this weekend!" i think. "tim! we need to do something fun this weekend!" i say. "it's my LAST weekend!" i shout.

sometimes i forget it's not my last weekend. there will be another one next week.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Monday, August 11, 2008

days of summer: 6


abbotsford blueberries
10 lbs.
washed and bagged for my freezer


Saturday, August 09, 2008

*sigh* joshua?

two comments on the last post? there must be more SYTYCD fans reading this blog that have something to say now that it's all said and done!

well i thought that i'd be okay with either katee or joshua...but then katee got kicked out. and i was sad. consoled a little that josh won and not twitch (though, don't get me wrong, i do love twitch) but it should have been katee. this is what happens when we leave the voting to american highschool girls. haha.

highlight of the finale: all the old SYTYCD dancers in the big final dance. i was watching the show with 3 boys (one who's a hater) and 1 girl who's watched this whole season but not the past ones as wholeheartedly as me. which is all fine and good...but i scared them all when the finale dance came on - screaming out peoples' names, "there's benji! i love you dominic! i hate you neil!" stuff like this. at the end, i looked around and everyone was looking at me. hmm...

yay for SYTYCD live in september!

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

ahh...the finale

so there we have it. the last chance for courtney, twitch, joshua, and katee to bring it. it was pretty good.

katee just seems so far and away the winner - she's such a wonderful dancer. i really felt it even more when they did the little clip of her journey through the competition and the clips were all dances i really remembered. that's a sign of good dances - the ones we remember. and when she's in ALL of them? how can she not come out on top? ...umm...usually that's when they don't come out on top, isn't it? shoot. maybe i've ruined it for her. ;)

joshua is amazing. he also could win it.

i've loved twitch since the audition. and he never lost that lovable quality (which mandy moore so poorly put it as the "sparkle in his eyes"...i'm sure his home boys are loving that) if he won it though, i don't think it would be deserved in comparison to katee. but i think he's made his mark (just as nigel so fantastically put it) on this competition.

and courtney? i can't believe she made it this far. sure, i've liked her all along but top 4? apparently i'm not the only one who feels this way because the judges just kept saying it over and over which must be strange for her to keep hearing.

i was suprised by the first hiphop dance and the kudos that it got from the judges. sure, mandy moore was miss positive, no criticism tonight but the other two? it was not deserving of the scream. it looked like they missed some major moves but tried to mask it? did anyone else feel like that? i was shocked by the positivity from the judges afterwards.

i love wade robson. i was SO excited that he came and choreographed a dance for tonight and it was a great great dance. and i was also happy that they gave us the reason as to where he's been all season because every wednesday i say, "but where's wade robson been?" yay.

strange number for the final 4. i was pretty pumped for it - mia? oh yeah. but then i had mixed feelings. i wish i had tivo (or just recorded it on the vcr) to play it back and re-assess. kilts? there was so much going on and i'm often yelling at the camera angles that miss people and felt like they played into my lack of excitement for it. i feel fairly strongly about season 2's final 4 finale and i rewatched that one tonight to figure out why. i think i just loved all those dancers more than the seasons 3 & 4. hmm...

at least i'll get to see lots of these dances again LIVE in september when tim and i (and liz and darian) go see SYTYCD on TOUR! what what!?!?

prediction for winner? katee.

"welcome home!"

said my forgotten sweet potato...

the julie/julia project

so i was thinking that at the end of august, i'd post all the books that i read this summer and write a blurb about them. well...this one was too good to wait...and heck - who doesn't need a good book to read by the pool/beach in the sunshine, right? or in your bed curled up during a thunderstorm?

here it is: Julie and Julia : 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen : how one girl risked her marriage, her job, and her sanity to master the art of living - by Julie Powell

this 29 year old woman, living in NY, hating her string of temp jobs, and feeling distraught about turning 30 and having nothing accomplished in life gets this random idea that she'll cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1...in one year. waaay back in 2002 when everyone didn't have their own blog, she began blogging her cooking fiascos. alyssa had mentioned this book a month or so ago and i can't remember if she'd read it or just heard about it. i remember saying, "how could that be a whole book?" well it is.

i feel like this is a random idea that I'D get and blog about and wish that i hadn't started but have to finish because i said i would...which is exactly how julie feels. and when you hear the premise of the book, you think that it must be chapter after chapter of recipe after recipe but it's not. it's a lot about her life with some cooking thrown in. and the things that she makes are crazy. and julie is hilarious - very much like a friend that you know. you probably have an instant picture in mind of what type of person is taking on this cooking project, right? i did. my picture was kind of an (unsuccessful) rachel synchyshyn - you know, ulimate multi-tasker, love for food and talent for cooking, clean, measures ingredients carefully, enjoys good cookware... but she's crass and not rachel at all. doesn't hold back the honesty in the crazy that this project made her: the mean things that she said to her husband, the screaming profanity breakdowns, or the number of times she'd have to try to make something over and over until it was halfway decent. (she's not much of a perfectionist)

i'd definitely recommend the read - there were many lines i wanted to write down and quote here but didn't...and then couldn't find the page again. i checked out the FVRL library website and all but one copy is "in library"...apparently only one other person besides me in the lower mainland is reading this book. however...a disclaimer to my rave reviews: there are references to things of a sexual nature (she often equates cooking to sex)...and as mentioned earlier, more swearing than you'd expect from a book like this (she says her sailor mouth comes from her mom) so you know...beware. i think as i was reading, it was a "yeah...this is pretty good" but as it comes to the end, you're sad to see it finished and want to read more. and julie powell ends it well - poignant but with a laugh.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

travel collections...

when we were on the east coast, we took lots of photos. we were usually disappointed with our sad little camera's performance but at least we could document our trip. there are lots of boats. lots of churches. lots of lighthouses. eventually when we would see one of these three things and wonder if we should take a picture, we'd say, "nah, we already have lots." but apparently, we couldn't hold back because when i went through our pics today, i had to laugh at how many of each we have. and now you get to see them in my final travel blog posts...good OR bad.

travel collections: boats














travel collections: churches











travel collections: lighthouses