2012

I know 2012 has been playing for quite a while now but for many reasons P and I never got a chance to go until last night (after our wonderful Toshi meal =p ). We thought they would still be playing at the Scotiabank theatre downtown; the place was busy enough but 2012 was no longer showing there. Instead, it was playing at Cinema 7 on Granville. Yes, that run-down heritage look-alike building on Granville. But we were determined to see the movie and for a Tuesday deal of $5.99 per ticket, we were not turning back. Heck, we even managed to fit in some late night shopping at Adidas across the street before the movie! Everything was 50% off there! Anyway, I will get back to the movie.

When we entered the theatre, we were the only ones there 15 mins prior to showing; I was actually scared and made P promise he would wait for me directly in front of the door within close proximity while I went to the washroom. Fortunately, a few more joined us...I'd say we had about 20 viewers.

The movie did not disappoint. It was literally action-packed...almost every minute of the 150 minutes. P usually sleeps at the theatre but he didn't at all during this one. It was almost too eventful the whole time that I had a headache afterwards. Other than some parts of obvious exaggeration of impossibility, I did enjoy the occasionally humourous and advanturous movie. Of course, for such an action movie, the effect is much better watching at a theatre but if you somehow missed it like us, waiting for the blue-ray dvd to be played with your own quality stereo system is not a bad idea either.

Toshi

Ever since 2 years ago, I've been meaning to visit this tiny little sushi restaurant on 16th and Main. I used to pass by there at 5ish on Monday nights on my way to my aerobics class when I see this long line up in front of a tiny corner unit. It really caught my eye since I was thinking it must be some good food if people are lining up for it on a cold Monday during the winter.

However, a few months ago, I read a food blog written by my friend about this same restaurant and he had specifically said that though the food was good, it was not worth the hype and long line up. As a result, I didn't push P to go try this place with me.

Yesterday, we finally had the chance to go try Toshi since we were nearby around 4:30. Yes, the line up already started at this time on a Tuesday evening. Yet, P and I thought that since there were only 4 people in line and we didn't want to eat the cold for 30 minutes...we took a walk around the block then came back...wow...what a difference. By 4:45pm, there were already 32 people in the line. Trust me, I know the exact number because the restaurant can only hold 30 seats and 2 people were ahead of us plus many after us that had to wait an extra 35 minutes or so for the 2nd seating.

Though I've read both good and bad reviews about this place, I have to say that this was one of my best Japanese food experience in Vancouver for the price. Perhaps those who didn't enjoy it as much didn't order the right food? maybe service is inconsistent at times? I'm not sure but I would definitely go back to this place. Some great eats we tried last night plus ones we heard were good include the black cod, fried? eggplant, chopped scallop cone (never had such fresh scallop), agedashi tofu, uni, bbq eel sushi, etc. These choices may sound ordinary but each of these tasted much better than what I've had at other restaurants.

Santa's Delivery

Although teaching would never be a profession one would enter to get rich, as cliche as it sounds, it is a rewarding profession. Especially in elementary school, the students and the various activities we do together help one stay young at heart and spirit...for me anyway.

Besides mental and spiritual fulfillment, of course, sometimes there are physical rewards too! Around Christmas time, my students are like Santa and his elves, who shower me with wonderful gifts. This year is no different. In fact, I had so many gifts my coworker had to help me carry a box of them. I truly hope that this actually means both the parents and the students appreciate my existence and teaching in the class. And this does not mean they all felt they had to give me something to show their appreciation; I like them nonetheless.

Amongst the many gifts, I think P liked the hockey tickets the best. I thought the individual shoe ornaments, the shoe spreader set and my 2010 shoe calendar were the most thoughtful since my students noticed how I liked shoes and the numerous pairs I have! I even received shoe-shaped chocolates! Who needs to go shopping when Santa already made his delivery?!?

December in Our Town

Every few years, our wonderful music teacher at school puts on a big school performance for the parents and students together with another equally musically talented teacher. This year's was a musical called "December in Our Town." Of course, with any big production, it becomes quite stressful; as a result, various teachers volunteered to supervise student rehearsals and help out with individual dances and scenes in the play. I was very honoured to take part in this year's play, helping out with the Innkeeper scene of Mary and Joesph looking for a place to stay with the unborn child. As well, I also helped out backstage during the dress rehearsals and 1 of the 2 nights of performance. As predicted, the concert turned out fabulous: the actors, dancers, and choir did not disappoint.

I was also fortunate enough to be able to help the school take photos (click Student Life @ left margin) of this event as well as update our school website, so needless to say, I did that right away. All the beautiful dances beyond acting were touching and wonderful, including The Season of Hope, Kwanza Celebration, Bollywood Celebration, etc. I was especially impressed with all the choreography, the Bollywood costumes, sound effects of our backstage crew as well as our students playing the African drums for the Kwanza celebration song. If you have time, also check out the other event photos at our school!

The 70 tradition

My dad's birthday passed by recently and it was after the fact that I realized from some of our elderly that it's supposedly Chinese tradition to have the children treat parents to a "big meal deal" when they turn 70?!? Anyway, we did not follow the tradition but had a great night nonetheless.

As much as I value some Chinese traditions and try my best to give respect to my elderly, I truly believe that not all traditions must be followed as long as we respect the people we love and show that in our own ways. So if the main character was happy in the end, then that's all that matters.

Kitchen works

P and I cook 3-4 times a week despite our laziness of all the preparations and clean-up. I've noticed that we've both had subtle and gradual improvements in our everyday cooking. The following are some of my recent quick dishes:

This is eggplant stir-fried with chicken, mushroom and don't know what the black strips are called in English...

Left dish: Vegetarian meat stir-fried with tomato and fish tofu.
Right dish: steamed egg

Chicken curry with onions, carrots and mushroom

Birthday

I don't remember since when I began to not really "celebrate" my birthday in any big way. I mean, you know, not to invite a whole bunch of friends and plan a whole bunch of activities to do. I guess as one gets older, it's harder to want to "celebrate" the aging? Of course, we can think positive and believe it as the brain and heart becoming wiser but really... it's the body becoming wider.

Anyway, so P and I went to Cioppino's to enjoy a great dinner out. We've heard lots of good things about this expensive restaurant in Yaletown and we were very excited after checking out all the dishes we plan to order from their website. Service was excellent: attentive but not intrusive. The head chef Pino himself paid visits to each table and greeted his clients. We were seated in a room within the restaurant and, hence, was a quieter area.

We had the pear salad and chestnut soup for appetizers. The soup was definitely a winner as they and many patrons have claimed. As for entrees, P had the dungenous crab risotto specially made for him although it was no longer in the menu and I had the papperdelle with braised veal cheeks. Both dishes were awesome...the dishes may look shallow but they are actually quite filling. P had the chocolate lava cake with sorbet specially pre-ordered as my birthday dessert; we really wanted to order one more but ended up with no tummy room in the end.

All-in-all, it was a pleasant experience with enjoyable food. I would say it's definitely worth the money to go occasionally.

Alternate Investment

Okay, so I've never been a huge supporter of make-up. It's not very good for your skin despite making you prettier...for most people anyway. In fact, my mom used to be a make-up artist and she was the one who instilled the philosophy in me that one shouldn't need or use makeup unless it's a special event or until she becomes older. So I guess I must feel OLDer because I've recently shown a growing interest to the world of make up.

Yes, it is exciting indeed. The wallet gates are open to kingdoms like Sephora and brushes, shadows, powders, etc. are flooding into my life while the $$$ is flowing out. But I've convinced myself that it's okay. It's an important investment just like RRSPs, mutual funds, bonds, etc....except it's even better! Because we don't even have to wait to reap the benefits...the rewards are instant. A little painting on the face with the right tools is like a revised C paper into an A. And it's not just me who thinks so. When people around, including my mom, notice the difference and begin to say how fabulous you look, it really makes you value those colours and brushes inside fancy cases just a bit more. Worth it indeed.

A Chat with Leaves

Trees stand tall,
You fall and fall.
Can you hear the wind call you?
Can you surf the breeze beneath you?

Droplets of rain,
Chill through your vein.
Yet, colours of yellow, orange, and red,
Warm you even on the shivering grass bed.

It’s that time of year:
at autumn’s rear,
winter whispers near.

Dunbar Haunted House

So I finally got around to visiting the ever-growing and impressive Dunbar Haunted House on Halloween night yesterday. My friends and I were so glad that it didn't rain out of all days. The atmosphere was great and though there was a long line up, the hour and a half we were there passed by quickly with 10 of us there to chat with each other. Parking was easy to find despite it being a residential area but washroom might be an issue if you really have to go...we just tried to avoid the subject altogether.

The set-up at the house itself was impressive, the fake and real actor/actress costumes were so well-made, we couldn't tell who was real and who was not...which made it extra freakish. They also had actors & actresses "harassing" you periodically in the line-up...it was quite entertaining. They even had a construction-like yellow sign at the front saying "Zombies at work." I must say the house (or rooms set up outside their real house really) was exceptional and better than all the Fright Night houses I've been to at PNE in past years. I guess another thumbs up element to it is that all the proceeds go towards charity and enjoying the haunted house is purely by donation, so it really makes you feel every penny you're paying is worth the value. Some of my friends who had visited last year said they've changed up everything compared to last year, so we'll probably revisit again next year for some more screams and laughs!

Hatha Yoga

I had convinced myself to try to be more active after the whole wedding project, so I signed myself up for weekly Hatha yoga at the neighbourhood community centre. Don't ask me what the difference between Hatha and others is because I won't know. I think Hatha relates to alignment of the body through streteches and breathing exercises. Well, I was somewhat surprised at the level of flexibility I had but at the same time I discovered that something appears to be wrong with my left knee; it crackles and causes slight pain with some of the poses...I don't think that's suppose to happen. I'm also certainly proud of some of the older participants; I hope I can motivate myself to exercise like them when I reach 50 or 60 too.

Anyhow, I find the lessons very positive and useful because although I do some of the same stretches at home already, it was much more beneficial to have someone prompt and correct my poses, posture, breathing, and how to further challenge myself with the same pose. I guess that's the difference between self-taught through watching videos and using cards versus paying someone to teach you. And my oh my, it feels weird but good to be able to stretch particular places that would otherwise not have been reached. Awesome. I'll most likely continue joining similar classes.

Accidental Billionaires

I recently came upon Accidental Billionaires at Book Warehouse and decided to give it a go reading it. It turns out to be a short and easy read; I managed to finish within a couple hours. Now, one might wonder why I'm reading a non-fiction book about billionaires...it's not like I'll likely become a billionaire by accident myself...but the book triggered my interest because it's about the making of Facebook and its original purpose, current success, consequences of its success, etc.

It's intriguing but a bit disgusting how such a successful social network originated from the purpose of giving guys more chances to know girls and eventually getting laid in university. Of course, for many of us, it's strictly to check out lives of people you know any time any where...and possibly even without them knowing. It's fun to be curious about people you know and to learn information about them through what they post without actually having to talk to them...I mean...really who has the time to communicate 1 to 1 when posting a message on the wall can help you reach all 500 something of your "friends." Nonetheless, the success of Facebook bringing together so many friends led to the failure of the friendship that once existed between the founders...ironic isn't it? The power, and perhaps consequence, of money.

Each time I log into Facecrack now (originally known as FaceMash), I can't help but remember the book and the partial (because only 1 out of the 2 original founders contributed information to the making of the book) truth behind the site's success.

New Car Syndrome

So I recently traded in my sporty Celica for the family ready RAV 4; it's actually not a huge difference besides size and height of course. We enjoy our new car well, yet, I find that we are currently experiencing the new car syndrome. Previously, we only washed my silver car maybe...well...once a year. It bothered us only a little and was tolerable even with a bit of bird poop and piles of barely invisible dust mites. Nowadays....even with a piece of grass stuck to the car body, we would dirty our hands to remove it! We even have a cloth prepared especially to wipe off rain stains from the car...we need to try our best to keep its pure whiteness! And parking at work? Well, my colleagues would tell you the lengths I'd go to just so leaves don't fall on my car! I think I'm even managing to get to work slightly earlier so to gurantee myself a good spot!...No wonder I have no time to update my blog...

Hmmm...any idea how long this syndrome lasts for before time cures it?

Modern Family

So a few of my colleagues were discussing about a hilariously funny new TV show over lunch the other day and they made it sound so awesome that I decided to search it online. They couldn't remember the name, so I had to be creative with my search such as "best fall TV shows" keywords, etc...

At first, I ran into "Glee", which is another good show reminding me of High School Musical but that wasn't it. Alas, I discovered "Modern Family." I was able to watch the first 2 episodes online with some more searching and found it really amusing! It talks about 3 modern families consisting of the tradition family, the remarried couple, and the homosexual couple. Watching their personalities, lifestyles, coping strategies, etc. I feel that the show does truly depict many aspects of today's society beyond its humourous aspects. I think it's worth 30 minutes of our Wednesday nights. If you're interested, check it out on ABC @ 9pm.

And then, you can watch "Cougar Town" if you're interested...another top fall show according to my research.

My new best friend

Maybe it's the new school year, maybe it's the newly added responsibilities, but I find this September particularly exhausting for me. There seems to be never ending work to do at school and still more household chores when I get home. As a result, I decided to invest in something that would make me feel like I'm getting a reward after each hard day's work.

Our new massage chair is awesome. It massages from head to feet with different ways to massage, music, various intensity and strength, comes with heat pad and arm massage pads too. It always helps me relax after tense thinking and work. Of course...I'm certain it can still be even better, especially with the feet functions...but then again...I'll have to work much harder to afford the even more expensive one! This one will be just fine for now.

Nice hacker?

Most of us have been freaked out by people of all sorts some point in our life but have you ever been freaked out by a machine? I certainly did yesterday. So the incident goes like this...

As many of you know, the start of a school year is one of the busiest times of a year for a teacher and the same goes for me. So I was logging onto my classroom computer in a rush to type up a sign up schedule for teachers before I did some testing on students and had a meeting with another colleague when--I lost control!

After logging in, I wanted to click on Internet Explorer to check my email first but the mouse pointer was moving against my will in the opposite direction and had its own agenda by clicking into various items before going into WordPad and then TALKING to me! For the first few seconds, I thought I had been overworked and was hallucinating but no. It turns out to be the district's IT HelpDesk remotely controlling my computer and telling me what it was doing, so I would just let it control MY machine! Well...before I knew it, I was having a full conversation with my machine...

So yes, I got hacked. But no, it wasn't bad. Reminds me of the power of the remote district though...they can read and know everything we do on those computers.

Seattle

Before school started, P and I were determined to go on a mini-trip to ANYWHERE. Due to limited time and a busy work schedule for P, we settled for Seattle and some shopping at the Premium Outlet and Alderwood Mall on the way (you know...good currency exchange rate). Weather was initially very nice and our shopping was going well. This time around, we booked our hotel through Hotwire and it turned out to be awesome. We had a great room at Mayflower Hotel with 2 bathrooms! The hotel was located in the centre of downtown where everything was within walking distance and the customer service was excellent. Most importantly, we only paid half the regular price! Unfortunately, we were so busy with valet and loading and unloading luggage to and from that we forgot to take a picture of the hotel!


We got a chance to walk around downtown Seattle before returning to Vancouver and we walked by this mobile PIG sandwich stand and had to give it a try. The pulled pork sandwich turned out to be juicy and good though for a pricey $6 without any sides or extras. And of course we had to go visit Pike Place Public Market...that's just a tradition!

The market was as I remembered it last time I visited at least 5 years ago. There's still the throwing fish stand, the beautiful bouquets of flowers and the colourful fruits. Ahhh...memories.

Our Wedding Day Finale

Yes...the inevitable truth WORK is looming around the corner, so I must finish my wedding posts otherwise I would never get around to it...probably until my wedding anniversary!

The Banquet...

Our banquet in the evening was held at Kirin restaurant downtown. Originally, we had booked the Kirin in New Westminster because it was newer with fancier decor as well as more spacious. However, because of Chinese date superstitions triggered down from some elders in P's family, we've had to change our date and only their downtown location was able to accommodate to our change. Nonetheless, the food and location were still excellent albeit a lack of service and room for walking and playing games comfortably.

I had given myself the thrifty challenge of making all the tissue paper bouquets as centre pieces for the banquet. Thankfully, I received some help from my MOH and her boyfriend, so the process was much more pleasant. I'm sure it would've looked a lot better with real bouquets but for a mere fraction of the cost, I think my tissue paper bouquets were just fine.

We prepared some wedding favours for our guests. Each person either got a cute groom keychain or a bride keychain together with 2 of our engagement photo cards. They were very cute and the gold bags matched our overall colour scheme very well. Some guests even took our cards as if they were collectible items and tried to gather all of our 6 different poses from the reception table. If you were one of them and didn't manage to get all of them but still want to...just let me know...I have extras.=)

It took a bit longer than expected for me to redo makeup and hair from the nearby studio, drive back, get changed, and finish some more tea serving as well as photos with guests before the official start of the banquet. As a result, I felt a bit frantic and stressed initially...especially when we almost had a wardrobe issue! (Some of you will know...it has to do with my brown velvet bow for this ivory dress.) Consequently, we didn't have time to take much photos while I had this dress on with so much action needing to happen.

A slideshow I put together started off our evening banquet followed by P and my speech. I would say they ran smoothly aside from the wedding march music coming in way too late and the microphones having a life (or lack of...) of their own.

Shortly after, I changed into the red dress. I personally like this dress the best although many of my friends and relatives voted for the blue one to come later. Plus, this was the only dress that matched with all the gold jewelery that many relatives gave me as part of the Chinese tradition for weddings...so I had to almost wear all of them as my respect for their gifts! I really missed eating all the great food because P and I were always busy socializing or taking pictures with guests. If not, we were then speaking, kissing, or playing games. Above is a picture of us playing the popular shoe game...we were very surprised by the level of difficulty of the questions by our young volunteers.

Towards the latter part of the night was the bouquet throwing highlight. Using my firm teacher voice, I was able to get a great turn out of single ladies for catching! However, many of my Asian friends and relatives were way too reserved and didn't even want to try catching! Initially, we had "fixed" the result and said that we would let my MOH A. catch it (the one in purple/maroon) but really...I couldn't even control where I threw with the bouquet being so heavy and there being so many of them. Nonetheless, it did end up in my MOH's hands but she pushed it away into P's cousin K! Hence, the both of them ended up taking the aftershot with me.

My MOH and P's best man also gave 2 wonderful speeches during the banquet and then we drew a close to our memorable day as we thanked everyone for coming with smiles and hugs.

Our Wedding Day Part II

The Ceremony...

Our wedding ceremony was at Minoru Chapel in Richmond. The minor problem we had that day was the fact that some of us were in kind of a rush to get to Richmond from Burnaby after the tea ceremony with the groom's family and relatives. We had 40 mins. to accomplish this task; however, only some of us made it on time because others took the Willingdon route and Willingdon was under construction part way. Knowing this, P. and I tried to stall time and actually waited in the car for them for an extra 10 mins but only some made it during this time.



I'm sure it was disappointing for some since they missed the first 5 minutes or so when the entire ceremony was less than 20. Unfortunately for us, one of our groomsmen S. who was also our videoman was also late and missed recording my dad and me walking down the aisle. Nonetheless, he was very apologetic and it really wasn't a big deal for us because I know we'll probably watch it a few times and then hardly ever touch it again. Plus, we've got nearly second to second shots. Otherwise, everything was perfect--even the weather was nice & cool for pictures!

I must admit that the entire ceremony was very fast and I could barely remember what I said for the vows but it was very calm and pleasant. The most embarrassing part was P's knuckles grew when he was nervous and I had a difficult time pushing the wedding band through! But I was successful at the end.

For $15 we were able to purchase some bubble blowing devices for our guests to use as we walked out of the chapel at the end. Some may feel this is a bit pricey for a one time 10 seconds use but we thought it really added to the happy atmosphere and was well worth the price. Our younger relatives had extra fun with them...

After all the relatives and friends had taken their photos with us and gone for lunch, our photographer was very hardworking and keen to suggest that we take a few newly wed shots in the inviting vine area nearby. My 10 seconds of beauty shots in the vine/bush below turned into a swollen sacrifice because I was bitten 3 times on my left arm and back and all 3 bites swelled in redness all night during our banquet. I felt as if I was poisoned because my left arm was numb all day.

Our Wedding Day Part I

I know if I don't get around to writing about P. and my wedding, I will soon forget some of the details, so here is my attempt at starting:

Picking up the bride & Tea ceremony...

If you've ever been married you probably remember the not sleeping enough and having to wake up early routine but I must say I did manage to get 6hrs of sleep the night before, so it's really not too bad. According to P., he only had 3 hrs of sleep the night before.



Anyway, my make-up artist/hair stylist as well as our photographer arrived promptly at home...what a relief! The make up and hair took tremendously long...what was estimated to be 2 hrs took 2.5. In fact, I didn't get dressed and ready until after the groom and party had arrived AND they were 35 minutes late already! I know they weren't late on purpose but the car decoration was having a fit as the car moved. It was a miracle that we somehow arrived at the chapel on time later with our tight games and tea ceremony schedule.

I didn't get to watch the games until afterwards on video but I heard lots of laughter and complaints. These were good indications that my sisters did a great job preparing the picking up mini mahjong in ice, jello sock eating, and singing games. Many thanks to them...and of course thanks to my MOH A. for hinting at the "fixed amount" of the red pocket to speed up the whole process...haha.

The tea ceremonies at both my home and our new home went smoothly and speedily...considering we were on a tight schedule, we faired pretty well managing to squeeze in many photo opportunities, receiving lots of lai see and jewelery. Well, and receiving lots of new dents and scratches at our new home with so many people around...but let's save that story for another time.

So off to get officially married we shall!

Afternoon Tea @ Adonia

My friend H. was wonderful for taking me to a delightful surprise this afternoon as a treat. We visited a small tea house called Adonia in Kerrisdale. For $23/person, we received 3-tiered treats of various pastries, finger sandwiches, and baked goods. Not to mention we also had some pudding-like dessert as well as biscotti, scones, and shrimp cocktail to pair along with our tea of choice.

Needless to say, I'm not having dinner tonight because I'm so stuffed. We couldn't even finish everything and started eating only the toppings and leaving the breads and pastries or just taking tiny bites to try everything. It was a very quiet and peaceful tea house where we were able to chat, relax, and have a good time for 3 whole hours! Service was also good and I would recommend it to others. The fine china was all kept in great condition and the decor was delicate and fitting for a tea house.

If I had all the money and time in the world, I would probably frequent this place! I also think it's a good alternative to Secret Garden; I think Secret Garden tea house charges more too.

Pictures to come soon...my laptop does not like recognizing my memory card adapter.

My bridal shower & stagette

Thank you to all those wonderful gals who helped organize &/or attended my bridal shower & stagette Saturday. I had a "wild" time and hope you did too. And, of course, thank you for showering me with wonderful gifts and GAMES. I liked all the thoughtful gifts and P. loved some of them...

To all those who didn't come...I'm sorry...there are no pictures I can show except this one showing some of the props used. Some evidence and memories are better remained private after all. Just trust me...I did things that I would never do again...but I did feel proud that I scored so many free drinks in one night!!! Special thanks to S.Y. for PUSHING me in the right directions. To S.V.: so I guess I don't look that old after all? Or are we just considered as cougars with charm?

Homicide up close

Have you ever wondered or imagined if a murder would happen to someone you know, near you, or even to you? Well, I experienced this yesterday morning as I drove to work at Clinton Elementary for summer school. I heard on the radio that Clinton and Plum St. in Burnaby had a few blocks taped off because of a "police incident" but I didn't know where Plum St. was, so like any other typical citizen, I assumed it would not be near where I was going.

I was so wrong.

Plum St. happen to intersect my school and I didn't even realize although I've been driving pass it for 8 days already. So apparently someone set a car with a live person in it on fire nearly outside our school...so of course the driver died and our staff parking lot was taped off. Yet, because it only happened early in the morning and it didn't happen INSIDE our school...it was too late to inform parents and summer session went on as usual beside the fact that students kept asking what happened and why they weren't allowed to go outside.

Lucky thing for us though is that we didn't have to go to work today because our school had to be closed off for investigation! Even the students were bewildered and at least half my class wrote in a detective perspective about the incident in their free-write journals. And as I left the school early Thursday afternoon, I was surprised to see the numerous reporters and cameramen around the taped off areas and hidden in shaded areas all waiting for some action. But, actually, I didn't know what action they were waiting for...didn't the action (homicide) happen already at 4am?

Jury Duty

Just recently, I was commenting to my relative V. how lucky she was that as soon as she arrived in Vancouver after having left for HK for a few years, she receives a letter from federal court summoning her for jury duty. Of course, being the stereotypical Chinese, she wrote a letter to have herself exempt using the English as a second language reasoning.

Just my luck, I receive my very own jury duty FIRST CLASS mail letter the day after! Not only did I luck out in receiving one too, but it said that the case in question would require my service for 6-8 MONTHS if selected!!! And they even wrote months in block letters too! Now, don't misunderstand me because I've actually always kind of been curious about the law and court cases, so I don't actually mind doing jury duty, especially since I've never done it before. However, even being fully paid, having to be on leave from work for almost a whole school year is really too much for me. According to the letter, my Christmas break, spring break, and other day offs are determined by them too.

As a result, I had to write a letter with very creative reasoning in order to have myself exempt...and no...I couldn't use the English as a second language reason unfortunately. I won't say what I wrote but they were very strict with the exemption approval and did ask me several very detailed questions. Well, I guess I'll have to wait until next time before I can experience jury duty!

So Many Thanks

As summer finally begins for me, I have much to thank about, so I've decided to include it all in a list poem (my students' favourite poetry):

Thanks to...

1. my students for all the wonderful year-end gifts and cards; you were really the best, not me.
2. my colleagues who've contributed to another great year in my teaching career.
3. my amateur budgeting skills, I'd only feel more financially secured by teaching summer school.
4. swine flu, I'll be paranoid all summer about dry coughs and diarrhea.
5. Camp Timberline, I now have an uneven tan and would have to make a trip to the beach to even it out for the wedding.
6. the wedding, I would be anxious and busy all summer.
7. the wedding again, I would be spending all my summer school income and the year's savings.
8. my friend M., I am envious of his vacation while busy with items 3-7 above.
9. my 1 and 1/2 yr old niece E., I realized that every simple thing, including items 3-8 above is a blessing for me...to have summer employment, to NOT have H1N1, to have nice weather, to be able to get married & afford it, and to have great friends...

...so thanks.

Vampires & Werewolves

Where have I gone the past week or so? Forks. Twilight.

If you've ever read those Twilight books peeking out of your daughter's bookshelf you would know what I'm talking about. So I was finally submerged over into the dark side. I tried extra hard to NOT be convinced to read those teenage love series since November but unfortunately, those 4 big black books were just a little too difficult to resist. In fact, I've not had enough sleep through the week as I plowed through 4 books and dove into thousands and thousands of pages of fantasy. The result?

Me: "P., you must be a vampire!"

P: "Huh?"

Me: "Explain why your hands are always cold and you always have difficulty sleeping then! Don't think I didn't notice those *blood stains on your lips in the morning!" (*It's really only because sometimes he drinks red wine in the middle of the night...or is it?!?)

Yes, P. thinks I've almost gone crazy but I'm finally returning to reality...well...almost...I still have those Stephanie Meyer websites to plow through.

Camp Timberline

Every June, I go to camp with the Grade 7s I teach at school and last Mon-Wed was no different. The only thing different this year was that we finally had awesome weather and the heat was actually quite intense. My great attempts at trying to stay out of the sun and preventing myself from getting even darker didn't really work.

The flowery and wide entrance this year is welcoming compared to the flooded entrance and road we had the previous 2 years. I consider the ranch big in size for our Gr.7s to use as a 3 day camp site. The big house in the background has some cabins and a big cafeteria and kitchen downstairs together with camp offices. The sand space to play volleyball outside the dining hall is also quite nice. Even me, the not so sporty one, ended up playing there quite a few times with the students.
This year, like previous years, I stayed in the Buffalo Pound. It's spacious for one person since it's really meant to sleep up to 9 people. However, being the city girl, I would much prefer my own bed...maybe next year would be better when we get to try the new bunkhouse they're building with individual washrooms for each cabin.

Of course there are a whole bunch of outdoor activities for our students on the ranch. Another staff member and myself were in charge of the archery station, so of course I had to take the opportunity to prove I can do archery and pose at the same time.

This was also the 1st year we got to go horseback riding with the students! It was very fun to ride on Rosy (my horse) but a bit scary when we had to trot though it was only my first time riding ever. And let's not mention the pain that one endures afterwards because of the trotting...horse riders will know what I'm talking about. I was not warned! Just my luck...I also happened to be assigned to the hungriest horse, so she took every opportunity to eat grass and hay along the entire ride and I had to exercise my practice on pulling the reins. Rosy was also very big for the petite me and I was barely able to touch the stirrups as we rode.



And who can miss out the bonfire at night when we go to camp? The great part about bringing elementary students is that they're just so excited to be away from their parents (many for the 1st time in their lives) that they're always happy and appreciative of all the activities. Needless to say, the marshmallow roasting and camp singing were very enjoyable. Why do you think we're willing to go back every year and supervise day and night? Sorry for the darkness in the video though...I swear it wasn't as dark when I was filming...but it's probably better that I didn't show any student faces anyway.