Olympic Spirit!

Nicholas, Ana and I fully embraced the Olympic spirit today by attending the torch relay party at the local Prince George recreation grounds. It was amazing! We totally missed the torch coming in by a local alpine skier, but the Acadian line dancers were a hoot and the fireworks display afterwards was definitely one that will be hard to beat! To top it off, we got our own Olympic edition mini Coke Zeros...which taste absolutely horrible and are full of aspartame but hey! All in the spirit, right?
The protesters were out in full force, and I'm glad that nothing really came of it other than the peddle-tone chant to go with the rest of the music being played. It was a family event, a time to celebrate and have fun and feel part of something bigger than us or the town in which we live. I can't imagine what it will be like in Vancouver!
And, now I have my own little Olympic memory to last all my days....and for that I am thankful. When I'm 80, and still trying to rid my body of the Coke Zero, I'll think of tonight as a great moment in my history.

Quacks...

House: "FYI: It's not Lupus. As a matter of fact, it's never Lupus."
Ha ha, I wish! No, in fact, it IS Lupus. I just have a quack for a doctor.
I find it very disconcerting indeed to be stuck up north, with a doctor who doesn't do his job! I went to see him today, for some prescriptions. It's always a scary moment when your doctor can't pronounce your medications (but I'll give it to him, he IS from another country...although as far as I know pharmaceutical naming is quite universal, even in India).
Worse though, is that today, he asked me if I get regular bloodwork for my Lupus. I said I usually do, but hadn't lately, because I didn't have a standing order for anywhere nearby. Of course, I then asked if he could do this...and he said he didn't feel comfortable until he'd read through my charts. I love that, over 3 months ago, I left a photocopy of my history with him. And he said he took it home to read it...and I caught him red handed in a bit of a dither. He never read it after all, and realized that as he opened my chart!
At this point, I'd take House in a flash. Unconventional, weird, crazy, and most definitely a user, but at least he can't be accused of neglect.
One more reason to get out of the north...

Surprise

Opening up my story each night is really like opening a box full of unknown magic...I never really know what is going to jump out of me as I begin to type, or perhaps what will disappear...it is all so very spontaneous and unpredictable! That's isn't always a bad thing, of course. Oftentimes, great ideas come from little planning, with one little thought or idea blossoming into an entire chapter or some new exciting event or adventure for my character Nola to embark on...but it doesn't come without a battle. Some nights I can't seem to squeeze anything out, but luckily those nights are seldom. Other nights, what I come up with doesn't seem to fit anything else I've written! I'm at one such point right now...do I jump right from her youth (in the form of a prologue from her mother's point of view), or do I have the story unfold bit by bit, going up through the ages with large and small jumps in time so it doesn't come across as overly pedantic? Not sure...written it both ways now, but reading it back, it seems rather disjoint (again!) and hard to follow. I should read it and know exactly who is who and when and where. Not getting that so much at the moment...

I suppose I'd better tackle the challenge before it gets too late.

Total estimated time till novel is finished: eons!

Roses Aren't For Eating!

It's rather amazing what one single hard candy can bring to mind.
I remember when my Grandma and Grandpa used to live in downtown Nanaimo...it was a big, old house that looked like a miner's cabin on stilts, the bottom part being filled in over a giant hill of bedrock and turned into a basement full of 50 years of odds and ends and other such treasures. It had a trap door from the laundry room, which had big blue and red tiled linoleum. The main room, a sort of sitting/dining room onto which all other rooms opened, had ceilings at least 15 feet high (more?) and panelled by hand in tall varnished planks of wood. Very unique! The kitchen was peachy-pink...tiny, like the galley kitchen I had in Egypt, although very efficient in my grandmother's care. At dinners, only Grandma could really be in there because it was just plain dangerous while cooking to have more than one person in it! Although, she allowed me to stir the gravy...that was my job. And I still can't make gravy!
And there was a funny little bathroom, which at first had a ghastly wallpaper, big huge floral patern from who knows where. Blue, and maybe red? I can't fully remember. It's the smell I remember most though, and perhaps that sounds bizarre but there was always a aerosol can for all those little unpleasantries that come with bathrooms. And, in my childhood, it was almost always scented like a rose.
In my opinion, there are two rose scents. One, the typical musk rose, the other, a fruity sort of scent like those of white and pink tea roses. The latter is what I prefer, possibly entirely because the musk rose reminds me so much of that over-the-top can or rose-scented Glade.
I've seen rose-scented soaps, and creams, aerosol spray of course, but the whole reason for this rant? A rose flavoured candy.
My sister-in-law, Ana, brought Habibi cream and rose candies. At first, a little like a Werther's (also a reminder of grandparents), that sort of creamy flavour but rather more indistinguishable than the Werther's flavour. And it wasn't so bad...until I bit into the middle and was overcome with musky rose. The very scent from long ago in that bathroom, when my brother went to town spraying Glade like there was no tomorrow, there it was, in my mouth. Strange. But how lovely, to remember.

Picnik with Cherry Blossoms

I love Japanese cherry blossom trees...I remember plucking the petals off as a child (only off ornamental cherry trees, of course; I'm too much of a cherry lover to risk losing any fruit!) and tucking them behind my ear like some tropical beauty. I took this photo one particularly fine spring day in May. I couldn't believe how late spring came to Mackenzie...May, and the blossoms only just blooming! I was in rapture over the colour of the blossoms in contrast with that of the sky, and knelt down to take a picture of the blossoms from underneath with the sky as a backdrop.

Not quite content, I loaded this photo into an amazing online program called picnik.com, which lets me edit the photo and use interested effects for free. Fun! I like the way it turned out..a little vintage, a little surreal, pretty.

The Final Goodbye

Well, the wait is over. My Grandpa Heath, my last living grandparent, passed away this afternoon at 4pm. He was a very sick man...I am relieved to know that he passed away in relative peace, without any painful medical interventions, just as he wished. I'm still very objective about it...I just spent an entire day at school, from 8:30am-9:30pm, trying to pull off a great drama production and fundraiser for Haiti (which I did...$500 in donations and counting!), only to come home to find out Grandpa had passed. I suppose the worst is over...I no longer have to dread losing them, which I've done (subconsciously) for years because we were so close. We'll hold the funeral in March, on his birthday (the 25th), so we can include the navy, his 35-year career.
Time for bed...sleep makes everything better, because you can't think! Rest in peace Grandpa...I'm so sorry I couldn't be there to say goodbye, to be with you in your final days. I'll miss you forever.

The Waiting Game

I am getting very skilled at the waiting game....it's not something I always enjoy playing, but my life seems to enjoy throwing it my way!
I had a very difficult time getting through the day, because my mind was on my grandfather, and not at all on my students and the job at hand. I must admit I did enjoy little tidbits of the day, when I wasn't emotionally capable of holding in my annoyance for lazy students who don't listen, and let them have a little taste of my anger! But the truth is, my mind was far away on my only grandparent still alive. My mother phoned to tell me that he was in the hospital, with multiple aneurisms (aortic and abdominal) and was also going into renal failure.
It isn't a full-out shock. The only thing inevitable in life, after all, is death. At 89, my grandfather has lived a full and eventful life, although the last few years have taken a toll. But it still comes as such a hit, like you're in the middle of a war, and all around you you're aware that bombs are exploding and people are getting hurt, but you never really see it or feel it till they hit you yourself. Then what you've always known all along becomes real, and becomes part of who you are.
I've had far too much of this lately...such close relationships with all my grandparents doesn't make it any easier. Last night I went to bed and became overwhelmed by the faces flashing before my closed eyelids: my Grandpa Hudson's rosy cheeks and smile, Grandma Hudson's sweet face and little chuckle which still rings in my ears (I hope I never forget it), Grandpa Heath smiling in reminiscence as he tells me a story of war or of his youth, and Grandma Heath with her cheeky sense of humour and tins full of Christmas baking. All such wonderful memories, and how glad I am to have them! But to have lost my Grandma Heath a month before my wedding wasn't fair. And to lose the other three all within a year's span? Ridiculous.
I am still reeling from losing my Hudson grandparents this summer, within a day of each other. I don't think I've really fully grieved yet, just bits and pieces here and there. I went through the Christmas cards of past years this holiday season, and found cards in their handwriting and suddenly they are treasures. Now I may have to face it all again.
I hope and pray Grandpa will pull out of it. The doctor's say he may very well keep going for a while, for aneurisms are completely unpredictable. They may burst tomorrow, or not do so for months. Grandpa, of course, won't allow surgery. I think he's at a point where, were he to go, it's ok. I don't know how the renal failure will play out...we'll just have to wait and see.
Thus the waiting game...I just hope he knows how much I love him. I hope I can say it to him, at least one more time.
Never wait to tell the special people in your life how much you love them. You never know when it will be your last opportunity.

Blog Facelift!

Welcome to the the new blog layout! Some more clueless html editing and haphazard meanderings through the web, and my blog is haute couture.
It is Sunday night, and I've pulled out the leftover Christmas turkey bones for a hearty, healthy homemade soup to chase away the winter chill. It seems to have worked; the snow continues to melt and the air is (comparative to normal northern temperatures in January) warm and balmy.
Lots of changes in my house since the last post. Sadly, the thing that's changed the least is the word count on my novel...so many ideas and no clue how to use them! I've added a small prelude to the book in the form of a prologue from my character Nola's mother's point of view. I wanted to establish from the beginning that it was indeed a fantasy book, and historical as well in an 18th century setting. The prologue accomplishes this...but it also manages to introduce some of the story conflicts early on, such as truthfulness, and also introduces the characters' motivations. I'm happy with it. It also allows me to make the plot less pedantic, allowing me to avoid listing the details of Nola's life chronologically and instead just jump ahead to a time in her life where there will be more to work with. I felt quite frustrated, trying to bring across Nola's voice as a six-year-old...it seemed too affected, no matter how I tried it (first person, third, simple language, etc.). I think it will work much better now, but I've had to cut approximately 12,000 words out as it no longer fits in the narrative. That hurts! So much work...but perhaps I can use it somehow, later.
What has changed in my house is that Nicholas and I are no longer alone...not that we minded it (in fact, we are quite content to be together most of the time, having gotten used to relying and depending on each other for support and company during our adventures teaching overseas and in the north). I am so happy, though, that his 20-year-old sister, Anastasia, has moved in with us from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to attend the college here. I am so thankful for her company, and we're having a wonderful time. How amazing to have a fuller dinner table, and someone to help in the kitchen! I love that about Nick's family...always lots of people around, full tables and flourishing conversations. Mind you, a full house is a lot to juggle and can be difficult at times. Still, it's nice to feel that even though we can't start our family yet, it has grown.
One week of classes left before students write exams and new courses start...I'm looking forward to the change. In the meantime, I have to figure out how to schedule in writing time again, as it keeps getting placed on the back burner. And exercise..I don't have a clue when I'm supposed to do that!

Winter Blahs....

My house feels empty and void of cheer, after spending the entire day packing up my Christmas decorations and vacuuming up every last vestige of the season. Things do seem mildly more organized and distinctly less cluttered, but overall it is rather depressing.
To add to my funk, we are having a sudden and tremendous thaw outside, which for January, up north, is very odd! I noticed I could hear the cars going by the house today, as they wooshed over the wet roads which are usually frozen baths of noiseless ice. Now, I can hear water dripping from the eaves,  a sound I haven't heard since September/October. I did hear it is El Nino this year, and that alone brings sense to this phenomenon, but it still seems odd, to go from -30 one week to raining and +7 another. No wonder the pine beetles survive to destroy so many trees. The forests are ravaged here, and all because the temperature doesn't get cold enough to stave off the pine beetle.
We watch The Happening tonight, so I'm on an environmental bent. I must admit I did not expect an environmental moral to this movie...really it just seemed like a bunch of senseless gore, watching two hours of people's neurotransmitters and neural pathways being warped by some environmental hazard and then committing suicide because their "survival" mechanism had been shut off. And, to find out it was the trees' doing, and the grass's, and that the plants talk to each other, and caused it all to happen because they have no other way to stave off threats (unlike humans, who can move and run away).
Hmm...bottom line: take care of the planet! And here I am in my warm, cozy home, burning up the electricity and natural gas, thinking about what chemical I can splatter on my wall to change the colour of this room instead of how I can reduce my imprint on the environment.

The Long Way Down

RIDICULOUSLY exhausted today...I don't ever remember feeling this completely dead after Christmas break, and my mother pointed out that perhaps it is because most of the break came before Christmas (and was thus full of preparations and business) as compared to after (as it has been for the last few years). Couldn't function at work at first, and had to go and get a coffee!
But, lovely to come home and just relax after supper, not have to run errands or go to work somewhere else, take some time to sip a cup of tea and relax in the tub.

And, watch Long Way Down, the third (first being Long Way Round and Dakar) of three documentaries featuring Ewan MacGregor (yes, the actor) and his good friend Charlie Boorman circling the globe on their bikes. The first (Round) was a trip that started in London, and ended in New York, and they got there almost entirely on bike. Through Europe, Eastern Europe, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Siberia, across to Alaska, Yukon, B.C. and Alberta, then to the States. It was absolutely mind-boggling and amazing to watch. Long Way Down starts at the tip of Scotland, John O' Groats, and all the down through England, France, Italy, to North Africa, through Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and at this point they are (where we're watching) in Malawi. The destination? Cape Town, South Africa. All on motorbikes! What I like most is that they visit Unicef support sites, and are bringing awareness of many different issues, both good and bad, to the public's eye. They have visited some of the worst sites of the Rwandan genocide from 13 years ago, they toured schools where children were massacred in Uganda, and it is amazing how many atrocities occur in Africa without our even knowing.
Completely recommend this series...even if every second word starts with an F. At least it's F with a British/Scottish accent. Somehow less crass to the ear...

Busy Bee

Why is it that my haircut looked SO good the first day, and now I can't figure out how to style it properly? Hmmm..guess I'll have to keep experimenting. Here I am skating in Jasper - tons of fun, but 3 times around the 1km track was enough for me!
I'm trying to figure out why I'm so busy this week, and why I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants, always. Then I realize that the semester is almost over (marking, marking, and more marking), I'm starting up again after a two-week break, and I have moved up my bed time so that I get enough sleep! Not that I stick to the proposed bed time very well...we aim for 9pm, and end up turning the light out at 10:30, although that's better than 11pm I suppose. The aim is (along the vein of New Year's resolutions) to get up at 5am to work out, because we know very well I won't exercise when I get home from work or in the evening, and if I don't get with it I'm going to turn into a great big stuffed pig. I do hope it calms down, though...too crazy!
I'm excited to say that my household of two plus dog is expanding...with a 20-year-old. My husband's sister will be arriving from the United Arab Emirates to live with us and go to school here, since it's so difficult for foreigners to go to university there and make a go of it/transfer decent amounts of credit back here. I'm looking forward to having a fuller house...and in some ways it'll probably hold us to more of a schedule which is nice. I'll also get to cook for more people which is great, because it gives me more encouragement to cook a decent meal instead of go for something quick....although we generally eat well. Yey, a sister!
Now, as for this blog, where on earth did all my goodies go? Are YOU seeing the designs, or just a black/blue page with words? It all suddenly disappeared and I don't know how to get it back. Perhaps I should stick with simple blog layouts...

Resolutions

I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions....probably because I never seem to keep them, their being far too drastic with words like never, and always, with no exceptions for sometimes and maybe! And then I just feel annoyed, because I couldn't keep the resolution. Gee, I wonder why? So, I play down the resolutions a bit, but still do commit to certain things.
For example, I am excited to get back to my book. I took a break in December, especially over Christmas, concentrating on just resting and enjoying some time with my family. In order for me to actually write this book, I needed that drastically. I must admit I am not thrilled to be returning to work tomorrow morning, but I am thrilled to get back into a regular schedule with blocked out times for writing. December brought a lot of the unexpected, and unscheduled, and it threw me for a loop.
So, my non-resolution? Finish the book.
My second non-resolution? Write every day in the blog, even just a little, especially if I haven't found time to work on the novel.
Third non-resolution? Work out, eat well. Why is it most people have this as a resolution? Again, gee, I wonder why. With obesity rates through the roof and chemicals coming at us every which way, no wonder we all seek improvements on that front. For me, I seriously need to get off my duff. And, once again, barring the unexpected, I have no excuses not to. And, of course, eating well. Nicholas and I are recommitting ourselves to "eating clean," which is a monstrous task when you are busy and just want something quick, but will make us feel better in the long run. For the first time, I'm feeling seriously bogged down by Christmas treats. I hardly ate any, not craving any of the treats I made, and I felt ugh after eating my pastries. This is actually a good thing - I have more motivation to eat clean now that I know my body just can't handle anything else. Rich foods no more! Before I know it I'll be eating mash and soaking my dentures in a glass at night...
All the best to all returning to work tomorrow morning! Here's to a successful year for all of us, whatever are endeavours may be.