All in the Fullness of Time

When I was almost half way through grade 12, I was informed that despite stellar grades and an unnecessary number of academic credits, I was not going to graduate because I had misinterpreted what counted as an “applied skill.”  So in the second semester, I dropped whatever I’d been planning to take (History, maybe?) and registered for Foods and Nutrition.

At the time, I was pissed off about it, because I took school very seriously, but it ended up great.  It was a super easy class, I got a Food Safe certificate for taking it (necessary if you want any kind of food services job in my hometown), I learned possibly the only practical things I learned in all of high school, and on double-block Wednesdays, I’d have banana bread or whatever to share with my friends at lunch.

When Does the Penny Drop?

This whole pregnancy thing – I don’t know.  It is just not sinking in.  I mean on one level, yes, I know this is happening.  Clearly.  I am not stupid.  And I planned this.  And I’m an excellent planner.  But my brain – it’s just not processing the information in the fully aware way I would have expected it to.

Extremely Bad Manners

Ha ha!  I have fun plans tonight that I’m really excited about.  But how I got them was embarrassingly shameless.  (Which is why I’m sharing it with you, my lovely readers!)

As you may know, it’s the Oscars this evening.  (They officially changed the name from the Academy Awards to the Oscars the other day, which makes one ask oneself, “Why bother?”)  I watch a lot of movies and this year I’ve seen most of the nominees.  I know awards shows are kind of dumb and the Academy is pretty out of touch with the movies people actually enjoy, but the Oscars are the one day a year when I wish I had a TV, so I could watch them.  If I had a TV, I would host excellent Oscar parties, with pools on who would win and over-the-top themes.  It would be epic.  (But probably also stressful.) 

Pop Culture Cramming

So, we have here that most rare of things, a gorgeous sunny Vancouver winter day.  It is truly glorious.  Am I going for a hike?  No, I am not.  I do not hike.  Much.

No, instead, I am sitting inside enjoying the light through a window, which is how I most like to enjoy the sunshine.  I may have been a cat in a former life.  And what else am I doing as I luxuriate in the sun and write to you, my friends?

I am boning up on pop music.

When You Find Out You Aren’t In the Majority

This one is particularly classy.

So, about a year ago, I wrote this post about snow globes.  If you haven’t read it, you should.  I think it’s kind of funny.  And let’s just say that in the divide of those who love snow globes and those who think they are a waste of space, I fall firmly into the second camp.

Actual Comment My Spam Filter Picked Up Today

“Bonjour I’m Sarah.  I’m a blonde but I still think your posts are fantastic.”

Quality use of the word “but” there, Sarah.  And I like the French bit too.  Very sophisticated.

In other news, DISNEY ON ICE TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!

A Person of Influence

I’ve recently discovered, to my utter shock, that I can make people do things.  I’ve only just figured this out, so I don’t know if it’s a new thing, or just something I never noticed before, but it’s like suddenly finding out you have a super power, to be honest.  Here’s the evidence I’ve built up around my theory:

Conversations With The Shop Guy Downstairs

So I was in the little shop at the bottom of my work building earlier today.  It’s one of those shops that sells soft drinks and snacks and lotto tickets and cigarettes.  I love the guy who owns it.  He plays classical music and always compliments my purse.

I noticed that he had for sale a type of protein bar that I’ve never tried before.  For those of you who never eat the things, I can tell you that they range in flavour from kind of ok to downright vile.  But I am currently trying to follow a food regimen set by some people at the gym that involves eating more protein than I’ve ever eaten in my life.  As I vegetarian, I am having troubles with this, so I’m working at finding palatable protein sources.  So then this happened:

Me to the shop guy [That’s terrible; I really should learn his name]:  Do those protein bars taste any good?

Shop guy (Looking): Oh!  No!  Chocolate is much better.

Me: Well, yeah, but compared to the other protein bars, are they ok?

Shop guy: No, they’re all very bad.  You should get a chocolate bar.

It made me happy.  I think I liked his honesty, especially considering that the protein bars cost easily four times as much as the chocolate.  I also liked that as far as he was concerned, they were basically the same things except that chocolate bars were good and protein bars were bad, so clearly the right choice was obvious.

Taking a Ride on a Fairy Boat

I think I’ve mentioned before that my husband is Australian.  (And, since earlier this year, Canadian now too!)  We have been together for about ten years, and we only spent one of those years in Australia.

Summer Fun Near the Bridgeport Skytrain Station

Ok, ever since I moved to Vancouver about six years ago, I’ve been hearing about the Richmond Chinese Night Market.  Now the name alone was enough to provoke my curiosity.  I love Chinatowns, and I love open-air markets, and I love the idea of having such a thing in the evening instead of 10 am on a Sunday or whenever they usually happen.

Also, a bit of background for those of you who aren’t familiar with Vancouver: Chinatown here isn’t all that big.  Yes, it has Chinese people, but it’s nothing compared to Richmond.  Richmond is out in the suburbs and it seems to be where a large part of our Chinese population has chosen to settle.  It has entire areas you can drive through that don’t have any signs in English.  It’s kind of awesome.  So presumably a Chinese night market in Richmond would be the real deal.