Postcard from Finland from AriS
Description: none
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Playoff time
Well, round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs starts tomorrow and for some reason this year I can't help but thinking of a certain Canucks playoff run 15(!) years ago. I was away at boarding school on an Island in the Pacific where most people had no idea about hockey and couldn't figure out why I was so excited about it...I spent the first half of the playoffs cheering for the Canucks all alone.
We had some strict rules surrounding television viewing which included no TV between the hours of 8:00 pm and 9:30 pm and 10:00 pm and 5:00 ish pm. Being a few hours behind the west coast this meant that a lot of the Canucks games where during class time, especially once they started playing on the East Coast. And since TV time was limited and there was only one TV in the dorm, I had to get creative on how I was going to watch these games.
It turned out I was in luck! The son of the teacher who lived at the end of my hallway watched hockey! All I had to do was convince him to watch the Vancouver games. Now, he seemed so old to me then...I'm thinking he was, oh, 24 at the most, but when you're 16...Anyway, long story short, many afternoons I could be found in their living room watching hockey while other students got help with school work in the dining room or made long distance phone calls from the phone in the kitchen.
It was a relief to get home not only have clear and easy access to the Canucks games, but also have a whole family (not to mention friends) who would cheer along with me! That I was a hockey fan was a source of great amusement to some of my boarding school friends. It just made me more Canadian than they already thought I was. One friend in particular tried to claim that since it is the NATIONAL Hockey League, all those Canadian teams, past and present, must actually belong to the USA. My counter - since Lord Stanley gave the Stanley Cup with instructions it should be presented to the top team in Canada, cities like New York, Boston, Detroit and Chicago must have ceded from the Union to join Canada.
No such bantering this year, but I'm happy to be in a hockey friendly place with people to cheer with me...and maybe, just maybe we'll have even more to cheer about than we did in 1994!
We had some strict rules surrounding television viewing which included no TV between the hours of 8:00 pm and 9:30 pm and 10:00 pm and 5:00 ish pm. Being a few hours behind the west coast this meant that a lot of the Canucks games where during class time, especially once they started playing on the East Coast. And since TV time was limited and there was only one TV in the dorm, I had to get creative on how I was going to watch these games.
It turned out I was in luck! The son of the teacher who lived at the end of my hallway watched hockey! All I had to do was convince him to watch the Vancouver games. Now, he seemed so old to me then...I'm thinking he was, oh, 24 at the most, but when you're 16...Anyway, long story short, many afternoons I could be found in their living room watching hockey while other students got help with school work in the dining room or made long distance phone calls from the phone in the kitchen.
It was a relief to get home not only have clear and easy access to the Canucks games, but also have a whole family (not to mention friends) who would cheer along with me! That I was a hockey fan was a source of great amusement to some of my boarding school friends. It just made me more Canadian than they already thought I was. One friend in particular tried to claim that since it is the NATIONAL Hockey League, all those Canadian teams, past and present, must actually belong to the USA. My counter - since Lord Stanley gave the Stanley Cup with instructions it should be presented to the top team in Canada, cities like New York, Boston, Detroit and Chicago must have ceded from the Union to join Canada.
No such bantering this year, but I'm happy to be in a hockey friendly place with people to cheer with me...and maybe, just maybe we'll have even more to cheer about than we did in 1994!
Monday, April 27, 2009
More Cherry Blossoms
Well, we went out on our walk today and there were even more beautiful blossoms to be seen.
J isn't too excited to look today, but she did get a bonnet!
J isn't too excited to look today, but she did get a bonnet!
Canada - Ontario - Our Cabana
Postcard from Ontario from insightful-ear
Description: This one came from Ontario from a fellow Guider who had visited Our Cabana in Mexico a few years ago.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Rockets and Giants and how that impacts our household!
Last night we took Baby J to a hockey game. A Vancouver Giants-Kelowna Rockets playoff game to be more specific...
J is pretty good at games. She doesn't cry and she eventually sleeps - she even likes to cheer sometimes! (See below) What J doesn't know is that Mommy and Daddy cheer for two different teams when the Giants and Rockets meet.
Daddy is trying to impress on J the importance of choosing a team to cheer for...she looks confused in her Rockets t-shirt with the Giants towel.
Here she is, cheering. She really does cheer...she waves her little arms and legs and squeals along with the crowd! I guess right now it's okay if she cheers for both teams!
Interestingly, part way through the game the Easter Bunny put in a delayed appearance and brought J this little Easter gift. I guess she might have to wear it to next Saturday's game...we'll see!
J is pretty good at games. She doesn't cry and she eventually sleeps - she even likes to cheer sometimes! (See below) What J doesn't know is that Mommy and Daddy cheer for two different teams when the Giants and Rockets meet.
Daddy is trying to impress on J the importance of choosing a team to cheer for...she looks confused in her Rockets t-shirt with the Giants towel.
Here she is, cheering. She really does cheer...she waves her little arms and legs and squeals along with the crowd! I guess right now it's okay if she cheers for both teams!
Interestingly, part way through the game the Easter Bunny put in a delayed appearance and brought J this little Easter gift. I guess she might have to wear it to next Saturday's game...we'll see!
100 things I have or haven't done...
I've bolded the ones I've done. I've italicized the ones I'd like to do. The others I'm either undecided or pretty sure I don't think I will ever do.
- Started your own blog
- Slept under the stars
- Played in a band - if the school band counts!
- Visited Hawaii
- Watched a meteor shower
- Given more than you can afford to charity
- Been to Disneyland/world
- Climbed a mountain
- Held a praying mantis
- Sang a solo
- Bungee jumped
- Visited Paris
- Watched a lightning storm at sea
- Taught yourself an art from scratch - does knitting count
- Adopted a child
- Had food poisoning
- Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
- Grown your own vegetables
- Seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre
- Slept on an overnight train
- Had a pillow fight
- Hitch hiked
- Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
- Built a snow fort
- Held a lamb
- Gone skinny dipping
- Run a Marathon
- Ridden in a gondola in Venice
- Seen a total eclipse
- Watched a sunrise or sunset
- Hit a home run - in t-ball maybe....
- Been on a cruise
- Seen Niagara Falls in person
- Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
- Seen an Amish community
- Taught yourself a new language
- Had enough money to be truly satisfied
- Visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa
- Gone rock climbing
- Seen Michelangelo’s David - we saw the fake David - the line up for the Galleria dell'Accademia was about five hours long and we only had two days in Florence. But the fake David is in Florence
- Sung karaoke
- Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
- Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
- Visited Africa
- Walked on a beach by moonlight
- Been transported in an ambulance
- Had your portrait painted
- Gone deep sea fishing
- Visited the Sistine Chapel
- Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
- Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
- Kissed in the rain
- Played in the mud
- Gone to a drive-in theater
- Been in a movie
- Visited the Great Wall of China
- Started a business
- Taken a martial arts class
- Visited Russia
- Served at a soup kitchen
- Sold Girl Scout Cookies - Girl *GUIDE* cookies
- Gone whale watching
- Gotten flowers for no reason
- Donated blood, platelets or plasma
- Gone sky diving
- Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
- Bounced a check
- Flown in a helicopter
- Saved a favorite childhood toy
- Visited the Lincoln Memorial
- Eaten Caviar
- Pieced a quilt
- Stood in Times Square
- Toured the Everglades
- Been fired from a job
- Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
- Broken a bone - this goes with the ambulance ride up there....
- Been on a speeding motorcycle
- Visited the Grand Canyon
- Published a book
- Visited the Vatican
- Bought a brand new car
- Walked in Jerusalem
- Had your picture in the newspaper
- Read the entire Bible
- Visited the White House
- Killed and prepared an animal for eating
- Had chickenpox
- Saved someone’s life
- Sat on a jury
- Collected Employment Insurance
- Met someone famous
- Joined a book club
- Lost a loved one
- Had a baby
- Visited the Alamo
- Swam in the Great Salt Lake
- Been involved in a law suit
- Owned a cell phone
- Been stung by a bee
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Spring has sprung
Spring is here...Baby J and I went for a wander today and checked out the sunshine and beautiful flowers. It's amazing how much easier it is to get our of bed when the weather is nice!! I've actually been getting up before J some mornings!
Baby J checking out the pretty flowers (gotta get this kid a sun hat!)
cherry blossoms
cherry blossoms
Baby J checking out the pretty flowers (gotta get this kid a sun hat!)
cherry blossoms
cherry blossoms
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Oh Billy Bob Thornton
So, on Wednesday there was the now infamous Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxcutters interview on CBC Radio's Q. I just caught the tail end of it and the interview that followed where Jian seemed shell shocked and his next interviewee kept telling him he'd been great and it would have been awesome if he'd asked BBT about Angelina.
Anyway, on Thursday I was listening to Q and of course they were talking about it. I live in a baby bubble right now and I don't think I saw the news or used the computer on Wednesday. Well, as Baby J was napping, I wnet and found the video of the interview to see for myself.
WOW! I don't envy Jian at all...but I do think he handled it well.
And Billy Bob Thornton, well, whatever!
And then today, well, today they announced that after being booed in Toronto on Thursday night, Friday and Saturday nights of their tour had been cancelled. Officially it's because someone had the flu, but I think maybe BBT might have taken exception to the gravy cat calls and the unfriendly reception he received. I wonder how much longer BBT will be a member of the Boxcutters. The rest of the band didn't look too happy with him during the interview.
Anyway, on Thursday I was listening to Q and of course they were talking about it. I live in a baby bubble right now and I don't think I saw the news or used the computer on Wednesday. Well, as Baby J was napping, I wnet and found the video of the interview to see for myself.
WOW! I don't envy Jian at all...but I do think he handled it well.
And Billy Bob Thornton, well, whatever!
And then today, well, today they announced that after being booed in Toronto on Thursday night, Friday and Saturday nights of their tour had been cancelled. Officially it's because someone had the flu, but I think maybe BBT might have taken exception to the gravy cat calls and the unfriendly reception he received. I wonder how much longer BBT will be a member of the Boxcutters. The rest of the band didn't look too happy with him during the interview.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Terremoto in L'Aquila
Eighteen months ago we were in L'Aquila.
The square looked like this:
And the hillside looked like this:
And now, well, it doesn't look like that. We heard last night there was a massive six point something earthquake (or terremoto) and 60,000-70,000 people are now homeless. I keep see the pretty little streets in my mind when they show the horrible shots of rubble and destruction.
What a sad thing to have happen.
The square looked like this:
And the hillside looked like this:
And now, well, it doesn't look like that. We heard last night there was a massive six point something earthquake (or terremoto) and 60,000-70,000 people are now homeless. I keep see the pretty little streets in my mind when they show the horrible shots of rubble and destruction.
What a sad thing to have happen.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
And so it begins...
We've finally started the making-our-place-feel-like-ours process.
This weekend Alex cleared out the little storage room off our deck and I patched and painted it. Next weekend we're hoping to install a compact deep freeze and some shelves. It looks so much better in there already, it's amazing!
And on Tuesday someone is coming to measure and quote for new blinds for our windows. Because ALL the blinds in our house suck! I can't wait to sleep in a dark room again! And I can't wait to get rid of the hideous orange drapes that are in Baby J's room so that her room will be dark enough for nap time!
And then, then it's on to painting the whole house. We've got a painter coming to do the ceilings and then we'll do the rest...yay!!
It's taken us eight months to get started, but I'm hoping we'll be done before I go back to work in five months!
This weekend Alex cleared out the little storage room off our deck and I patched and painted it. Next weekend we're hoping to install a compact deep freeze and some shelves. It looks so much better in there already, it's amazing!
And on Tuesday someone is coming to measure and quote for new blinds for our windows. Because ALL the blinds in our house suck! I can't wait to sleep in a dark room again! And I can't wait to get rid of the hideous orange drapes that are in Baby J's room so that her room will be dark enough for nap time!
And then, then it's on to painting the whole house. We've got a painter coming to do the ceilings and then we'll do the rest...yay!!
It's taken us eight months to get started, but I'm hoping we'll be done before I go back to work in five months!
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
It's April...and this is not a joke
Dear Mother Nature,
I'm not kidding, it's snowing today. Are you playing some kind of cruel joke on us? Yesterday the sun was out and while the wind meant that it was a bit chilly, it was beautiful. And today, before I even got out of bed and opened the blinds, I KNEW it was a grey day. I didn't think there would be snow on and off. At least, unlike last April when it snowed, it's not sticking...but ugh. I was going to take Baby J for a walk, but that's not likely now. UGH...
That's all...ugh...
I'm not kidding, it's snowing today. Are you playing some kind of cruel joke on us? Yesterday the sun was out and while the wind meant that it was a bit chilly, it was beautiful. And today, before I even got out of bed and opened the blinds, I KNEW it was a grey day. I didn't think there would be snow on and off. At least, unlike last April when it snowed, it's not sticking...but ugh. I was going to take Baby J for a walk, but that's not likely now. UGH...
That's all...ugh...
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