David's Exciting Adventures

This is a list of things that we learned about planning our own wedding, which might come in handy for others who are doing it themselves.

1. You will survive and won’t kill each other.
2. No matter how hard the bride tries to get to the wedding on time, there will be something outside her control that will make her at least a 1/2 hour late. (ie car accidents, bridge closures, car accidents on bridges, slow drivers, etc.)
3. If your wedding is in the lower mainland it is inevitable that at least one person will have eaten a “special cookie” prior to the event.
4. Plan for more dancing and less talking.
5. The ring will eventually fit on the finger. You will just have to wiggle it around a bit.
6. Choose a great tasting cake and don’t freeze any of it for your first anniversary or first born. Just eat it!
7. To make sure there is no rain on your wedding day, use the Canadian Farmer’s Almanac and archived weather data from Environment Canada. It worked for us and how! No rain and sunny blue skies.
8. Slow down and enjoy the day.
9. Don’t forget to be present and listen to the marriage commissioner’s words.
10. Savour having all of your closest friends and family together in the same room, especially the out-of-towners. It is an opportunity that does not present itself frequently enough.

I know I haven’t posted in a long time but here is the latest update.
Later today I will be married to my love in a location overlooking the ocean with our friends and family looking on.
Then we can finally relax and enjoy the food, drink and dancing.
Thanks to all those who helped out. Couldn’t have done it without you.

At last we have a day of reprieve! It’s been so hot and stifling lately — and the mugginess yesterday — ugh. I am revelling in having cold fingers as I type this.

It is back to thesis work today. It has been slow going for me as I find it so difficult to maintain motivation when I am not expected in a classroom, I am thousands of kilometres from the university, and my looming deadline is a year away. I have all the “tools” to organise my time and set reachable deadlines and goals, but it’s hard to be accountable when it’s only to yourself. I suppose I just don’t mind letting myself down.

I must admit that I have a lot on my mind lately besides school. The big one is planning the wedding (75 more days!). It is at a stage now that all the larger decisions have been made and booked, and there are only small things left to sort out. It has also certainly been worrying not being employed and having to rely on one income. However, we both know that it’s only for the short term. I am just trying to have faith that the universe will see things through and all will fall into place.

I will be doing another triathlon in a couple of weeks, and this time with my brother. It’s a mass start in a lake, which I have never done before, so hopefully I don’t get too much water up my nose, what with all the splashing and scrambling! The ride is apparently quite flat, and I am looking forward to a non-asphalt surface for the run. I feel fairly ready for the race, but one can always practice more! It has been challenging to get out and exercise with this heat — especially the running. The sweat has just poured off of me, even when done indoors on the treadmill. I much prefer the swimming practice of course. (I wonder if swimming at the waterslides counts??) We also join our usual cycling group every Tuesday night for three hour rides. Thankfully all of this exercise has meant that I fit into my wedding dress when I went to pick it up on Thursday!

Yesterday David and I dropped his folks off at the airport at a sinfully-early hour. (They were headed for sunny California which, contrary to popular belief, we are no longer visiting!) We found ourselves sitting in the economy parking lot at Vancouver International at 7:30 am, wondering what we could do in the big city on a Sunday morning. We eventually made our way down the deserted streets and parked at Granville Island, where we wandered around and enjoyed the peace and tranquility of a city still asleep.

Most shops were only due to open at nine or ten, so we walked over to West 4th and discovered the annual Kitsilano Soapbox Derby. These amazing structures went zooming past us down the hill between Burrard and Yew, with very serious little drivers behind each wheel. There were wooden cars, metal cars, and even a corrugated plastic car. All had big-name sponsors and were equipped with their own brakes, though one vehicle plowed right into the hay bales that marked the finish line, and still another managed a very successful burn-rubber-kind-of-stop that resulted in its graceful halt after a 360 degree turn!

Since I am working full-time on my thesis these days, David and I have had to become more creative with our activities, finding free or inexpensive ways to have fun. It’s been amazing to discover how much you can do for free! Wandering along 4th, watching the soapbox cars whiz past, we learned that they were giving out free samples of Coke Zero at the top of the street, so we made our way there and found a gaggle of pretty people decked out in Coke gear. Strutting about their company SUV and gyrating to the beat of their hip tunes, they barely noticed us scoop a couple of mini cans from their display cooler. Our verdict on the new flavour: tastes like Diet Coke but with no funny after taste. We eventually returned to the Island and enjoyed a plate of deep-fried everything: oysters, cod, calamari, prawns, onions, and fries. Yum.

After a couple of other stops, we started to head towards home. On the way out of the city, we swung past my old elementary school, where I attended kindergarten through grade 2. It still has the same gravel backyard I used to wander around in at lunch, sipping on my tetra pak of Super Socco. We then followed the short route that I used to walk with my brother to get home and discovered our old house has been repainted and fitted with a new railing on the upper balcony. Other than that, it still looks startlingly the same, albeit smaller than eight-year-old Rita’s eyes can recall. It is obvious someone has been taking great care of the place.

Once home, we had Anthony (and Tara!) over for some barbequed salmon, roasted zucchini with feta, and great conversation. A really beautiful and long-lasting day!

Well, it has been a while since a post has found its way to this site and I apologize.
Ball hockey is well underway for the summer and Rita took some photos at our last game.
I am in the process of uploading them all (or at least the good ones). There are posted at lower res but if you like any I can send you a better quality one.
Can’t wait for the next game!

Coming to you today from Dublin, California.
We are taking in the California lifestyle these days. Traffic, shopping and eating. There are all these things everywhere.
Going to the chocolate factory now to take a tour and sample some awesome dark chocolate.
The weather is warm but cloudy and rainy.
Will update as time allows.

Here is the picture we received from California:

Isn’t he cute?

On Friday night, David became an uncle! Jacob was born a strapping 9lbs, 15 oz and 21.75 inches long. Mum and baby are doing beautifully, and we are told they should be going home today. We haven’t seen any photos yet, but apparently he has a head full of dark curls and a lovely temperament. We can’t wait to see him!

I haven’t blogged for some time as I have been transitioning from work to school mode. I have just resigned in order to re-focus on the thesis, so I’ve had a time of it settling down mentally and switching into academia. Oh, and of course there are always excuses to do chores, Christmas shopping, etc. Procrastination indeed it is, but not in the negative, I-just-don’t-care sense. Nope. I have read that procrastination can entail a myriad of things, including performance anxiety, which is what I suffer from. However, I have also read that if we wait for motivation to arrive before starting on things, we will continue to procrastinate. This means that we must start in order to get motivated, and not the other way around. Who knew? Armed with this knowledge, perhaps we can eliminate the evil of procrastination all together? Ha! Nonetheless, a very wise friend recently informed me that perfect and finished will never be in the same room. This has certainly eased the burden of starting …

Yesterday morning it became official. I am now a cyborg. I have starting using an insulin pump to control my diabetes. After 24 hours of use my glucose levels are remarkably stable. This has been a life altering event for me. Before getting this device I had to eat to feed my insulin levels but now the device gives insulin based on how many carbs I eat. This is a great improvement as I can now eat when I want and what I want. The only drawback is the possibility of weight gain so still have to watch how much fatty food I eat.

The picture above shows a clear case while is actually a blue colour.
Lots of testing still to be done but I love it.

The building inspection is done, the papers are signed, and we have handed over the fat deposit cheque. Yes, we are officially homeowners. It feels rather anti-climactic as we went through the upheavals of “what the heck did we just get ourselves into?” LAST week. We’ve already scoured the local home improvement shops for fun stuff like faux wood flooring and tiles printed with “real” tile finish. It boggles the mind how many questionable and ugly patterns of lino exist in public! I think I need to change professions and become a lino-pattern-designer. Or, better yet, I should become a bathtub designer because who ever invented rectangular, shallow tubs obviously prefers the shower.

Yes, the condo has these glorified holes in the ground. There is nothing more aggravating than sinking into a freshly-drawn bath and having half of it immediately slosh out through the overflow drain — the latter placed conveniently halfway up the already ridiculously-shallow tub. I much prefer the angled-back and arm rest variety. Swimming capacity would be nice, too. I think I need a pool …

David took a hockey stick to the face last night.

He called me from the hospital and told me there was nothing to worry about. Of course I had to go down there because I started to pace. He was stitched up by a very nice Doctor-in-residence who was at least half of David’s age. We had a surreal conversation while he demonstrated his handiwork on David who lay sprawled on a stretcher in a hospital corridor. I watched a few bashed-in faces stumble past but, all in all, not too traumatic a visit to Chilliwack General. Poor boy can’t make facial expressions and/or raise his eyebrows without wincing. Ick.

Welcome to my very, very first blog posting EVER! I am pacing our apartment awaiting the call from the mortgage broker telling us that, yes, we will be in debt at a locked in rate for the next 4 years. He was supposed to call this morning, and it’s now 1:00 pm. He’s waiting for the okay from CMHC that the condo we agreed to buy earlier this week is a safe investment for all. I feel as anxious as the weather outside: rain whipping down at a 45 degree angle. How can I concentrate on the thesis today? Okay, do I ever concentrate on the thesis??

Great news, we have allowed the bank to give us lots of money to purchase a condo.
Once all the paperwork is processed we will take possession Jan 14/06.
We are very happy with our purchase and can’t wait to paint and remodel.

It has been a while since we played a B division team. Thursday night we played hard and won 7-3.
Not too exciting a game as we dominated. Hope we play the same way in our next game. It is an A division team though so trying to not get hammered too badly.
Next game, Thursday, Nov 10, 9:00pm.

Well it turned out to be a good game. We were in it until early in the third period when they went into overdrive and scored many goals in a short period of time. It was only 1-0 for them after the first period.
They are an A-division team after all. Final score 5-2. Ryan scored both our goals in less than two minutes late in the third.
Our record stands at 2-3. Next game: Thursday 7:45.

Well, game 2 was a loss for us but we don’t feel bad because it was against the leading A division team and we did a lot better than last year. Game 3 was a win for us (5-3) even though I knocked the ball into our own net.

Well we did win last night to start the season on a positive note.
With 19 seconds left in the game we scored to make it a 5-4 victory.
Little bit of rust out there but we didn’t play too badly.
We will need a lot more luck on Sunday as we play an A division team.

Well, it looks like I am finally adding a new post to the blog.
A lot has happened since the last posting in April.
Our summer hockey was great. No rollerbladers. Lots of practise for the indoor season.
Our first game in the indoor league is tonight. So hopefully we won’t be too out of shape. I hear the team has changed a bit since last year what with retirements and new additions so we may need some time to gel.
The even bigger news is that I am engaged to my love, Rita, whom I had just met as the indoor season was ending. So, I had a busy and exciting summer.
I will try to be good and update on a more regular basis from now on.
Stayed tuned for hockey updates from the Hitmen.

Today the weather is great for the start of the outdoor ball hockey season.
Since this is the opening game I, of course, won’t be there as I am going to the Pacific International Auto show today.
Have fun shooting hard balls at each other and I will join you next week.

Ryan has sent in some pictures that everyone should see.

If anyone wants to submit their photos from the season please send them to monkofnee@yahoo.ca.