weddings are fun with my fam

we had a family friend's wedding to go to. my sis and i were really good childhood friends with all the girls in this family but as we grew older we grew apart since we all went to different schools. it was a beautiful wedding but you know how weddings can be if you are not really that close or involved in them. so my siblings and i did this.....

oishii

t and i had a t & t adventure on Sunday. it is an asian market full of asian treats. i love going there even though the last time we were there a very tiny Chinese lady rammed her cart into the back if my thighs and i made the mistake of pushing back, and she went off like a swear word siren. lucky for me it was in Chinese, but it is noted that as a tall white girl i am NOT allowed to do the push back ever. anyhoooo, this trip was so fun. i love seeing all the fruits and vegtables i was used to seeing and eating while i was overseas ( i spent 1.5 years in asia). it made me miss japan even more. but i did get to scoop up some of my Japanese favourites including these chip-like treats we call Calbee. they are soybean shaped and green and have the texture of a cheeto. weird yes..delish, absolutely. we also purchased green plums which were very good, i have only ever seen purple ones but i think the green are better. i think my favourite part was when we decided to buy tuna as they have the best selection of fresh fish. so we wander through the maze of people to the counter and look at all the varieties of fish. i am not a huge fan of fish smell of seeing them lying on the ice but what made me squeal was when one of the fish heads (as in not attached to a body) opened and closed it mouth while its eyes moved. EW EW EEEEEEEW. while i was containing my squirmishness t tried to ask for tuna, one guy looked at us confused and pointed to a lady for us to pose our question. so t tried her...she walked us over to the fish and drew her arm like vanna white over the fish counter as if to say “here is the tuna” except that there were about 7 different fish lying there. since we don’t know how to recognize tuna in its uncanned form (ok maybe just me) we gave up. sigh..... it is pretty cool when you are in white, red-neck Alberta and there is an entire grocery store where people don’t speak English. I love it.

BO versus cologne

i am pretty active and regularly hit the gym or go for a run around 6 am. (before you give me crap i am NOT a morning person, i have just trained myself to get up an out early so i can laze around in the evenings) anyhoooo this morning i went to the gym. i literally get dressed in 3 minutes and head out the door. yep it is not so pretty but it is early and i don’t care. i am there to workout and i don't do small talk at the gym. i do,however, take the time to put on deodorant unlike the gentleman i worked out beside this morning. i got trapped. i walked up the elliptical,as i usually do, put my water bottle in the holder and WHAM! was hit by a wave of really horrible man BO. i know i know i stink too when i work out but i am pretty sure not like this. But then i was stuck...i could not just pick up my stuff and change machines, how bad would that look and how awful would stinky guy feel. so i stuck it out and he was only there for about 10 minutes before he left. perfect. or so i thought...this other guy gets on the same elliptical wearing an overwhelming amount of cologne. in fact it turned my stomach and gave me a headache. i am not sure why you would bother with cologne at the gym...maybe he knew the guy before me stank so tried to even it out. Beats me, i am still trying to decide if BO beats the cologne.

metaphors, meh and secrets

so things have been trucking along but there have been a few potholes. fortunately i am working on the paving part...sigh i really could talk in metaphors all day but then i suppose at the end of the day i would forget what i was talking about. anyhow back to straight forward, which i am, apparently to a fault at times. perhaps i am too honest but really i don't believe in lying but i suppose it comes off not so nice at times. i digress, back to the metaphor speak so things have been sort of meh for me umm...professionally (ironic isn't it? i want to be more direct but i do see the danger of blogs and being too honest so i will have to work around the issue a bit). so i have decided that the only one who can make it change is me. so i feel more positive already and am doing a mental tap dance on the guilt i have surrounding this, wait maybe it is more flamenco style (i like the dresses much more).
i watched "the secret" about 2 months ago and although cheesy i think there really is some truth to what and how you think affects the world around you (ex: positive thinking bring positive opportunities). sometimes i am bad at this whole positive thinking because i feel that this whole idea is a bit hippy dippy but then when i see someone,who is happy and excuding positive vibes, loving life i think there must be something to it. and since i have been thinking that traveling the world, living on beaches and growing my hair down my back beats sitting in an office all day, i think i may just have a hidden flower child on the inside. but a clean flower child - i will never not shower or wear patchouli (aka soil smell) perfume in case you were worried.

gross floors, good friends and gord

on friday night i:

• did a little stampede partying
• had a few vodka tonics
• tried avoid the questionable puddles on the floor at cowboys
• line-danced with my sis
• was in way too many silly photos (if i figure out how i will try and post one)
• watched my husband put spurs on with his flip flops
• contemplated the dress code at the calgary stampede
• was amazed that completely random people feel that they can say whatever they want to you while intoxicated

on saturday i:

• had breakie with a good friend of mine
• rehydrated (see above)
• had more drinks on our front lawn with friends
• made a yummy dinner of turkey burgers

on sunday i:

• had to go to a bridal shower (it was nice...really just not my thing that is all)
• tried to buy shorts but arrived 5 minutes after the store closed (grrrrrr)
• went to the tragically hip concert where gord downie danced, writhed, crawled, jumped and sang his heart out on stage
• ate one last bag of mini dougnuts

hassles cost $5

(July 12, 2007)

so last night was a mission and a half. kait, my little sis, and i had to buy a bridal shower gift for a shower we are going to this weekend...before i start my story i should probably explain just how much i dislike this part of what we call “the wedding”.
why do we need parties to celebrate the bigger party...why are there no men at a shower....why do these events have themes and games (blech). i know they are traditional and that i am sure some people love them but i get all weirded out by them. yes you are getting married, yes it is a very big decision, but it is not the only big one you will make in your life. (FYI kait did plan a shower for me due to our mother’s insistence on it, i did not want one but i got one and i know kait planned it against her will so i forgave her....there were no games)

anyhooo so there we are in home outfitters strolling aisles while we ponder what to buy (it had to be plate related because yep...it is a “plate” party) so after a bit kait starts muttering that she is going to kill herself and i am wondering if the massage chair might kill me, we moved on to pier 1, mikasa and finally indigo. yup, the bookstore is where we found our plates. Success and no bloodshed... well at least not that moment. So we get 2 plates, 1 set of cute coasters, and a cookbook. we practically ran to the till we were so happy...plus that is where the lindor chocolates are. enter new cashier...there we are at the front all excited to be done and kait asks if they have a box for one of the plates, cashier replies “are you asking for a box?” i was a bit taken aback as i had just heard what kait said, so how could this person not? kait said “uh yeah that is what i asked for”. We get a no on the box. ok cool then maybe we can get it to fit in the bigger box with the other plate. So we checked it out and things look good, kait makes sure the cashier gets the code so that we can put the 2 away together. i ask for gift receipts (a must with any wedding related gift) and then i get 3 different ones including one for the card. at this point i am laughing out loud....as someone who worked in retail for a long time i cannot believe this craziness. we leave slightly pissed off but glad we are done.

15 minutes later... i arrive at my folks place where i was going to wrap the gift before kait and i watched “so you think you can dance.” i started digging through the bag and realize i am not only missing another gift receipt but my original receipt, with the list of what we had bought, is no where to be seen. i call the store, speak to a helpful sales associate who locates my receipt...then i had a bad feeling and asked if the smaller plate was on there, it was not. so basically we have stolen a plate (ironic as kait made a joke about this in the beginning). at this point i am not impressed but said i would get back there to sort it all out

2 hours later... after watching our dance show and eating jalapeno cheese i went back to indigo to sort this whole mess out. i get there pull out all the stuff, talk with the manager, try not to get frustrated, buy the stolen plate, get all my receipts and, get this, i was given a $5 gift card for the hassle...yes $5 covers my gas and annoyance. Sheeeeeeeesh. at least give me a book...or, if i was kait, the bucket of lindor chocolates.

9 days of fun

i am back after 9 days of checking out the west coast. Too may things to write about so i will list them

Attended a baseball game in Vancouver, am reminded why people get drunk at these events (way too long)
Walked Robson on Canada day
Arrived in Tofino when it was pouring rain
Bought tarp in Tofino, t climbed trees to put it up
Saw the most amazing forests and the biggest slugs i have ever seen
T surfed, i sunned (and fought off a huge bug all by myself) on the beach
Paid $1 for a 3.5 minute shower and managed to have time to spare
Got truckers to honk as we drove to Victoria
Explored Victoria, who knew all the crazy stuff that is here in Canada
Ate at Rebar restaurant twice, it was food heaven!
Decorated 2 flower girl baskets
Attended a very beautiful wedding
Cried at the beautiful wedding
Danced at the wedding too
Drove the long way home...sigh