How American Am I? (but I'm not!!)

I wish they had an Average Canadian one...I wonder if spending two years down there at boarding school had any effect on my rating. (and by the way, Affirmative Action bugs me)

You Are 80% "Average American"

You are average because you live within three miles of McDonalds. You are not average since you don't think affirmative action is necessary.

How "Average American" Are You?

Riding the bus irks me!

It drives me crazy...and I have to ride it everyday....

Some of the things that drive me nuts:

1. Some stops people line up and other stops they don't. That doesn't bother me. I can figure out which stop is a line up stop and which stop is a free-for-all-cram-on-the-bus-in-a-great-big-bunch stop. And actually I don't prefer one over the other. What drives me nuts is when people ignore the obvious line up (hello, it's about 30 people long, how did you miss it) and try to cram their way on the bus.

2. People who try to push their way onto the bus when a wheelchair or stroller is obviously trying to get off.

3. People who are way back there in the bus and have to even pass the other door to get to the front door to get off the bus, even though the signs say, USE THE BACK DOORS.

4. Bus drivers who honk and yell at anything that moves on the street. Buses are not the only vehicles on the street!

5. Bus drivers who are idiots and make me fall over...like the one who drove the 22 that I took one dark, rainy night. I got on the bus. It was slippery from the rain. I reached out to hold onto a grab bar and the driver jammed on the accelerator and then slammed on the brakes 15 metres later. Because the light was red. The light had been red since I got on the bus. My hand hadn't quite made it to the grab bar. I felt my legs fly out in front of me. I felt like I was lying in the air. Then my head (and body) made hard and sudden contact with the floor. Then there was yelling. Lots of yelling and then the bus was moving and then it stopped suddenly again. The yelling was all the passengers who saw what happened telling the bus driver exactly what they thought of him. The sudden stop was him checking to see if I had died. Just as I started to get up and regain my balance, zoom, he was off again and I was teetering, but some little old lady grabbed my elbow and pulled me into the seat. Yeah. I'm not kidding. Stupid bus driver.

6. People who don't take their gi-normous backpacks that are almost as big as they are off when the bus is crowded. These are the same people who forget they are wider from front to back than usual and try to decapitate people with said bags.

7. People who eat stinky food like salami or bananas on the bus.

8. People who yell loudly into their cell phones. I don't care what you're having for dinner, who got lucky last night, what minor drama played out at work this morning or what was in the baby's diaper. If you must talk on your cell phone, use your inside voice. I don't care about your life, I don't care that you have a cell phone. I have one too. I usually choose not to use it on the bus.

9. People who attack bus drivers because they think they shouldn't have to pay full fare. Pay full fare and get over it. Our transit prices aren't that bad. Have you ever been to London or Sydney? Be nice to the bus drivers. Seriously.

But I will continue to take the bus...for the time being anyway...because there are only three alternatives: walk, ride a bike or drive. Walking would be okay but would likely take two hours because of the evil hill. I don't have a bike. I don't have a car. I don't like driving, I don't like parking and I certainly don't like $1.195 for a litre of gas. At that price, I'd have to take out a second mortgage to pay for my commute. And it's a short one. And I don't have a first mortgage so I'm out of luck on the second one. But Translink will drive me where I need to go, I don't have to find parking, they just drop me off and they even fill up the tank when necessary...

Time flying and things changing...

Time is moving way to quickly. I have been going back and forth on email with my friend Stacey and we have come to the following conclusions:

1. we last saw each other when she was pregnant
2. she didn't know anything about Alex
3. it doesn't feel like almost 18 months since we saw each other....but it is!
4. that's too long between visits

So we're trying to figure out a time that is "mutually convenient" and I'm looking at my calendar and I just don't know when I became a social butterfly...cause as we all know, I am a homebody. It would be nice to see both Aaron and Stacey and their kids before their kids graduate from university!

So yeah, time flies like crazy and I'm not sure how much I like that. It would be nice if life slowed down a bit so that I could really truly enjoy every second of it and maybe get eight hours of sleep every night too.

As part of the things changing in my life, I've decided to slow down. So...the calendar comes out and when there are more than two Girl Guides nights in a week on the calendar, there are no more Girl Guide events that week. Unless it's a really special event or something like that. Or if it's a camp. Cause I'm going to camp this summer and it's a week long and somehow I don't think it would go over so well if after the second day I said to everyone, well, I'm here, but I'm no longer doing Girl Guide stuff...sorry...yeah...not so helpful!

And things changing...well...there are more and more and more of those things every day it seems. My other friend Stacey finally convinced me to go to the gym with her and I liked it (I CAN'T believe I just said I *LIKE* the gym). Roslyn is leaving Vancouver and, thus, the blue house. Alex is moving into the blue house. Kelsey is abandoning me to move back to K-town. Anne is going back to Ontario...and the list goes on and on. I guess I shouldn't complain. Saying goodbye to three people sucks, but there are these three amazing things, letters, telephones and the internet, so while they won't be in Vancouver anymore, at least they won't be somewhere totally inaccessible!

Okay...if that isn't a Monday morning ramble, then I don't know what is!

Enough already!

more about the census

Okay...so punk told me about Count Me Out. I'm a little bothered that those guys down there are looking after our census information...

Other fun stuff included in the "BIG" version of the census:

Is this dwelling in need of any repairs?
Do not include desirable remodelling or additions.

• No, only regular maintenance is needed (painting, furnace cleaning, etc.)


• Yes, minor repairs are needed (missing or loose floor tiles, bricks or shingles, defective steps, railing or siding, etc.)


• Yes, major repairs are needed (defective plumbing or electrical wiring, structural repairs to walls, floors or ceilings, etc.)

(a) How many rooms are there in this dwelling?
Include kitchen, bedrooms, finished rooms in attic or basement, etc.
Do not count bathrooms, halls, vestibules and rooms used solely for business purposes.

______ Number of rooms

(b) How many of these rooms are bedrooms?

______ Number of bedrooms

Other questions include things like annual income, who pays the rent, who pays the utilities, who pays the mortgage. All kinds of language questions, all kinds of employment and education questions - how many hours you worked, what kind of education institution you attended since September 2005, how many weeks of paid work you had in 2005. Pretty much everything except what you ate for dinner!

census time

So...it's census year. The big bad package came in the mail to be completed by May 16.

And there are some interesting questions on there...like how many hours you spend doing household chores in a week...eye opener! It really is! I counted and I can't believe it's 15-29...that's a few hours a day (it's actually not as bad as it seems because you're supposed to:

"...Report all time spent on each activity, even if two or more activities took place at the same time."

So multitasking gets double/triple/quadruple counted...but even still, I'd be in that same bracket...imagine what happens if you have kids and you're a super multitasker - I bet you'd get to fill in the 60 hours or more...which just seems like so much...and there's a separate questions for hours of unpaid child care you do in a week!

Good thing there isn't a question about daydreaming...

Angel Walk

Last night I finally finished Angel Walk. It was one of those books that I started forever and day ago...more than once actually, but it lived at my parents' house, so I would never finish it because I'd forget to take it home with me.

So at Christmas I took it home with me. And proceeded to read all kinds of other books in between, but in the last few weeks it has become my before bed book.

I inherited a liking for books about World War II from my mom. Don't ask me why - I think it was a horrific war, but books about WWII, non-fiction and fiction, have a bizarre attraction for me. So this book and it's back and forth between lake country Ontario, which reminds me in a small way of the lakes I grew up with, London and other parts of Europe was definitely appealing.

It was good. I enjoyed it. And now it's done. And that's okay. There wasn't anymore to write about, there were no more secrets to uncover, although the last secret, the one that Tyke tells us, seems totally out of place and almost unnecessary.

But anyway...

In answer to that favourite question: Would you recommend it?

YES...but only to the right person...not everyone likes frustrating love stories, war and abandoned children.

The Book Diet

I'm on a book diet. Truthfully, I've been on a book diet for about six or seven years, but I just can't stick to it. The book diet started out something like this:

• I am an obsessive book buyer
• People give me books/bookstore gift cards for my birthday/Christmas etc
• I have a giant bookcase that is full of books and there are books in various other places through the house plus books in boxes and not in boxes at my parents' house
• I looked at all the books I have and realized there were quite a few I had never opened. This was a long time ago, just before I graduated from university, and I didn't really have time to read anything other than my course material and sometimes even that was too much
• There is a small fortune tied up in books in my house
• I am also an obsessive book keeper (one who keeps books as opposed to a bookkeeper). Unless it's horrible, I won't get rid of it

So...space and money were very tight resources when I finished university and I decided I had to go on the book diet. Which meant NO MORE BUYING BOOKS until I'd read, or attempted to read, every single book in my bookcase at least once. There were a few exceptions to this:

1. If something came out that I HAD to have (in recent years this applies to Harry Potter)
2. Gifts were okay
3. I could buy books if I had a gift card/gift certificate
4. While travelling, if I found myself bookless, I could purchase ONE book at a time. Unless the book was super exceptional, it should be left with someone I stayed with, a fellow traveller or even in the seat pocket on the bus/train/airplane for someone else to read

So...the book diet worked very well for the first few years when I was travelling a lot and living in London. Then Anne came to visit from Aberdeen. I had been great about not buying books because they'd be a pain to transport back across the ocean and there was a decent library of books that were mostly left behind when people continued on their travels, so I had no problem finding reading material.

But then Anne came. And around that time I decided I needed to read Chocolat. Anne is as obsessed with books as I am (maybe even more obsessed). Anne needed a book for the really long train ride back to Aberdeen.

So we went to Waterstones. Anne was looking for something in particular that we didn't find there. So we went to Charing Cross Road, home of multiple wonderful used bookstores, specialty bookstores and regular bookstores. And that was the beginning of the end.

I was already in possession of my copy of Chocolat but somehow, we got on the 24 bus back home and I had about 8 books in my bag. And I kept buying them. But I kept telling myself that I'd leave them for the Pax Lodge library and it would be okay.

But then...well...a week before I came back to Canada, Megan came to stay overnight on her way back from Denmark and she offered to take an extra bag home for me. So I gave her a 40 lb backpack that was almost entirely BOOKS. More books.

See...the book collecting needed to be curbed!

So...the book diet is kind of working these days. I try not to go into bookstores anymore because I'm not entirely sure I could restrain myself. The thing about the book diet is that you don't actually lose books...and in the end, once I've read all those unread books, I'll actually get to start "gaining" books again!!!

EDIT FEBRUARY 3, 2009: The link to the Pax Lodge library no longer works. The Pax Lodge library is now the "Our World Lounge"

Oddly enough...I am a Cancer...

so I guess I fit with the great big astrological plan for me! What a cute little crabby too!! And yes...I do like home. If you know me, you know there isn't anywhere I'd rather be...and family, well...yeah, I guess you could say my family is a little, teensey, tiny bit important to me...

You Should Be A Cancer

What's good about you: you're incredibly kind, caring, and generous What's bad about you: you can be too moody and impossible to understand In love: you enjoy wining and dining the object of your affection In friendship, you're: likely to depend on other friends for emotional support Your ideal job: historian, marine biologist, or religious figure Your sense of fashion: you dress to match your mood You like to pig out on: classic home cooked meals, like mac and cheese

What Sign Should You Be?

More about Cancerians:
Cancer, the fourth Sign of the Zodiac, is all about home. Those born under this Sign are 'roots' kinds of people and take great pleasure in the comforts of home and family.

Cancers are maternal, domestic and love to nurture others. More than likely, their family will be large, too -- the more, the merrier! Cancers will certainly be merry if their home life is serene and harmonious.

Traditions are upheld with great zest in a Cancer's household, since these folks prize family history and love communal activities. They also tend to be patriotic, waving the flag whenever possible.

A Cancer's good memory is the basis for stories told around the dinner table, and don't be surprised if these folks get emotional about things. Those born under this Sign wear their heart on their sleeve, which is just fine by them.

The mascot of Cancerians is the Crab, and much like this shelled little critter, Cancerians are quick to retreat into their shells if it suits their mood. No wonder these folks are called crabby! For Cancer, it's not that big of a deal, though, since they consider this 'shell' a second home (and they do love home).

The flip side of this hiding is that shell-bound Crabs are often quite moody. Further, in keeping with their difficulty in sharing their innermost feelings, it can become a Herculean task to pry a Crab out of its secret hiding place. What to do? Give the Crab time -- eventually these folks will come out to play again. When they do, they'll be the first to say so, in keeping with the Cardinal Quality attached to this Sign.

It's said that Crabs are first to laugh and first to cry, so you can bet they'll fill you in. That shell, by the way, isn't the only tough thing about Crabs.

These folks are tenacious and strong-willed and like to get their way. If their well-documented kindness and gentleness doesn't do the trick, however, they're not above using emotional manipulation to make things happen. If that still doesn't work, they'll just go back to their shell and sulk, or find a way to get back at the source of their pain, since Crabs can be rather vindictive.

That said, any self-respecting Crab would tell you that they are ultimately motivated by protecting their home and loved ones, a most noble goal.

Birthday for Fifers

May Day = Fiona's birthday...

It's hard to believe, but I have known Fiona for 22 years (there's no way I'm that old...by "that old" I mean 22!)...I'm not sure when or how we met. Fiona often tells me that I have a scary memory for detail, but that's one detail I cannot remember at all. Some people (our moms) think maybe we met at French Summer Camp or Brownies or maybe just randomly on the playground...My first two memories of Fiona are vague - I don't know which one came first. One is of talking to her on the playground and the other is of a Brownie meeting where all three groups got together to meet (we were in different groups). In both memories, I feel like I must have known her for a while. I definitely met Fiona sometime in the fall of Grade Two. Only, I was still in Grade One. I changed schools that year so that I could go into French Immersion, but it meant I was two years behind my classmates. Seven is an okay age to acquire a new language, so the school's solution was to put me back in Grade One for part of the year and then after Christmas move me to Grade Two. Fiona was most certainly in my Grade Two class. Because Grade One was a portable and Grade Two was in the school and the portable had hooks, but the school had lockers and lockers were given out at the beginning of the year and there were never quite enough to go around anyway, I had to share a locker and I am almost positive I shared with Fiona. And if we didn't share, well, my locker was really close to hers.

Blah blah blah...it's Fiona's birthday and that up there became about me somehow.

So, Grade Two was the cementing of our friendship and even though sometimes we fought, sometimes we didn't like each other, sometimes one (or both) of us would wish the other would just GO AWAY, somehow we stayed friends through elementary school, Guides, hormones, high school, Pathfinders, sleepovers, Bronze/Silver/Gold Camps for Canada Cords, my disappearance to boarding school, and living together (!) for two years even though we said we'd never ever ever live together. I can safely say Fiona is one of my very best friends, we've shared secrets (important ones and ones that just seemed important at the time), she knows most, if not all of my secrets, she has seen me laugh so hard my face turned red and I couldn't stand up, she's seen me cry about important stuff and not so important stuff, she's seen the after effects of too much cat hair and not enough sleep (boy, I get crabby!), she's seen me and my sisters behave like evil siblings, she (and D-Man) became our honourary siblings even though they knew how we could behave, although we've since grown up and are nice to each other...anyway, I could go on and on and on and on when really, besides announcing to the world how great I think she is, I'm just really trying to say:

Happy Birthday Fifi!!!

Who has seen the wind?

Okay, so maybe I haven't seen the wind, but today I really feel like maybe I have! I don't know what's going on out there, but as I wandered to work (well, fought my way to work with my eyes mostly closed), I thought, someone out there doesn't want me to work today. The fact that I am putting so much effort into my morning march is definite proof that I should head home to bed! I really believe I'd be blind if I hadn't been wearing my glasses...debris EVERYWHERE!!! It's so deceptive because it's so nice when I look out my window...but I almost get swept to sea when I go out the door!!!