This was supposed to be posted May 29th :)
WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I?!?!?!?! I went to a pub for dinner. Didn't really feel like cooking tonight and I wanted to try this pub that opened down the street last month. Felt like I was in a great place as soon as I walked in, fight playing on one screen, basketball game playing on the other screen, I ordered my fish and chips and a pint of cider and settled in at the bar for a nice meal and some people watching.
I brought my journal with me, an attempt to force me to write a little more. I'm focused in my own little world and ready to enjoy my evening. Sigh... my evening is about to get better. In walks a spectacular example of every thing sexy in a man, and yes ladies and gentlemen he is sitting a discrete stool away from me. Rocking body, hey I have eyes, and gorgeous eyes of his own. He orders an ale from the bar tender and I'm thinking it's gonna be a little harder to focus on my journal while he checks out the menu.
My fired masterpiece arrives with a bottle of malt vinegar; yes I'm feeling good about my dinner. Then the hot guy orders a salad. Now there is really nothing wrong with ordering a salad, nothing at all. However, salad is not the first meal choice I think of when sitting at the bar in an Irish Pub, with a pint of ale! Then I overhear the following conversation...
HG (hot guy)- Do you follow this American Basketball "thing".
BT (bartender)- Not really, but it's the playoffs, so we've had a lot of requests to watch the game.
HG- It doesn't make any sense. How many games to they have to play before this is over?
BT- Not sure let's look at the info on the menu.
Bartender then pushes buttons on the remote, we find out this is game 5 of 7 and Hot Guy decides there is a more appropriate game playing for the bar TV. Channels are changed and now we are watching the French Open.
Sorry, this guy is no longer so hot in my mind. Is it wrong? I feel I could never respect a man who knows less about a sport than me. I'm not a huge fan of basketball but even I know who's getting spanked in the playoffs!
And don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the athleticism required to play tennis and play it well. But when in a pub, I have to question the appropriateness of choosing tennis over the playoffs and dare I say masculinity as well! Goodness!
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Monday, 23 April 2012
It is AMAZING to me how the nice people at the phone company can smile while they charge such wonderful fees for the use of thier technology... I forgot to turn off my data coverage before I crossed into Canada... and now I will have a nice little reminder from my provider reflected in the monetary amount charged to me on a monthly basis. Not bad I guess considering I have been up here 4 months and this is the first such infraction... PLEASE GOD DON'T LET ME DO THAT AGAIN :) All right rant is over. Have a nice day :)
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Final touches are done. My home feels like a home. I actually spent a chunk of yesterday working on my embroidery and watching movies. :) Bliss! What a way to spend the day!
I decided to post some shots of the area around my house to show you where I'm at and the new furniture addition:
Life is settling nicely up here. I've been out with a few new people. Some have been more interesting than others. Is it fair to chat about good and bad dates? Let me know, there have been some shockers. :)
I'm also in a place where I've got a place I feel OK to start writing again. It's been a while since I've been relaxed enough in my own world to think about another one. I guess as boring as the job is I may someday actually finish that book with all the time and space up here.
So far on the calendar I'm looking at a trip to Vegas in May, a visitor in June, a trip back to San Francisco in July, a rest close to home in August, a trip to DC and visitors in September. My retreat days are filling up quickly so if you'd like to make it up here let me know. Next year could fill up quickly :) I've already got a trip in the works for early spring to make a trip across the pond to visit London and the surrounding area :)
As always I'll keep y'all up to date. (How'd you like the Georgia throw back? ;)
Until next time...
I decided to post some shots of the area around my house to show you where I'm at and the new furniture addition:
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| The last piece of furniture! Love my new accent chair :) |
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| Tree outside my front door, Smells so good in the warm air. |
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| View of the river. |
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| Walkway from my house to the river. |
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| Seaplanes land all day as the airport is on the other side of the river :) |
I'm also in a place where I've got a place I feel OK to start writing again. It's been a while since I've been relaxed enough in my own world to think about another one. I guess as boring as the job is I may someday actually finish that book with all the time and space up here.
So far on the calendar I'm looking at a trip to Vegas in May, a visitor in June, a trip back to San Francisco in July, a rest close to home in August, a trip to DC and visitors in September. My retreat days are filling up quickly so if you'd like to make it up here let me know. Next year could fill up quickly :) I've already got a trip in the works for early spring to make a trip across the pond to visit London and the surrounding area :)
As always I'll keep y'all up to date. (How'd you like the Georgia throw back? ;)
Until next time...
Monday, 2 April 2012
Crafts and the Results
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| I LOVE my new crafting table! |
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| The Results... A picture board and framed prints :) |
I spent my day discovering craft stores in Bellingham and Fernadale. The result is a picture board, framed prints and a nifty dry erase board. Settling in and decorating... I am starting to feel a little more at home :)
Advice for picking out sheets...
Yes, ladies and gentlemen we are going to discuss bedding and the importance or making intelligent choices when selecting the sheet you put on your bed. For today we are going to focus on three basic types of material; percale, flannel, and satin. Until recently I was a pretty boring person, flannel and percale were the limit of my experience. Moving up here and finding myself in need of bedding and finding satin sheets on clearance... I simply could not resist. Walking out of TJ max with my satin matched set with pillow cases included, I felt as if I was breaking out of some unknown shell I had previously been encased in. How luxurious! I would soon be sleeping on satin sheets. What an extravagance! By a serendipitous coincidence I even managed to match the sheets to the new bedspread I bought.
I went with tried and true the first time I made my beautiful new bed instead of being brave I went with plain old cotton sheets. Then during laundry last weekend I decided it was time to be brave and try something new. Satin sheets the first night were no problem. Probably because I was able to sleep in the next morning. The next night was the night of "Why we do not sleep on satin sheets when we want to be rested". I crashed out quickly thanks to a super soaky bath. My plan to go to sleep early which worked for a while. Until... Well at first I wasn't sure. I just couldn't get comfortable and it wasn't a great night. Work the next day was long, and not just because of the 14 hour shift...
After how tired I was I thought, "OK tonight is definitely going to be better as my night shirt and I slid into my satin cacoon and then my head slid off the pillow. Confused I punched my pillow a bit and tried to place my head on it again, dozed and my head slid off again, dozed and slipped. After the third wake up I ripped the offending pillow case off and threw it across the room, groaned and collapsed and drifted blissfully into sleep, if only for a short time. My alarm went off at it's usual time, blah 3am. As I reached for the alarm, Please God let it turn off quickly, an easily slipped from between my wonderful satin sheets and listened to the rest of my alarm music from the floor next to my bed. Thankfully my alarm was still not far away and could still be shut off easily and thankfully I now realised the reason for my poor sleep.
I showered and got ready for work but still couldn't let myself leave until I had ripped the offending sheets from the bed and thrown them in the laundry room. No more satin sheets, thank you very much.
I went with tried and true the first time I made my beautiful new bed instead of being brave I went with plain old cotton sheets. Then during laundry last weekend I decided it was time to be brave and try something new. Satin sheets the first night were no problem. Probably because I was able to sleep in the next morning. The next night was the night of "Why we do not sleep on satin sheets when we want to be rested". I crashed out quickly thanks to a super soaky bath. My plan to go to sleep early which worked for a while. Until... Well at first I wasn't sure. I just couldn't get comfortable and it wasn't a great night. Work the next day was long, and not just because of the 14 hour shift...
After how tired I was I thought, "OK tonight is definitely going to be better as my night shirt and I slid into my satin cacoon and then my head slid off the pillow. Confused I punched my pillow a bit and tried to place my head on it again, dozed and my head slid off again, dozed and slipped. After the third wake up I ripped the offending pillow case off and threw it across the room, groaned and collapsed and drifted blissfully into sleep, if only for a short time. My alarm went off at it's usual time, blah 3am. As I reached for the alarm, Please God let it turn off quickly, an easily slipped from between my wonderful satin sheets and listened to the rest of my alarm music from the floor next to my bed. Thankfully my alarm was still not far away and could still be shut off easily and thankfully I now realised the reason for my poor sleep.
I showered and got ready for work but still couldn't let myself leave until I had ripped the offending sheets from the bed and thrown them in the laundry room. No more satin sheets, thank you very much.
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Sunday on the Island with Mel
Good Morning today, woke up with my alarm and wasn't too bitter at being awake :) Happens when you are not waking up at 3am. So this morning was operation try out a new Sunday School class. What an adventure. After rummaging through half of my summer wardrobe and trying to make it fit the winter weather here... really need to rethink my California wardrobe... I finally settled on an outfit. Glad I set the clock in my room ahead as I made it into my car a full 5 minutes early.
Now what would you do with an extra 5 minutes when you already had a 10 minute buffer in your time allotment to get to church? Of course you would go get coffee! I decided to try the local sensation of Tim Horton's. For those of you Americans unfamiliar with this phenom... it is basically the Canadian version of Dunkin' Donuts, with powdered milk. Yes, you read that right, they make lattes with powdered milk. Needless to say if I go for Timmy's I stick to black coffee.
Back to the story... I made it through the line and up to the register and decided in celebration of the pound that was missing from my weight on the scale (and the sit-ups I promised myself I would do later in the day) I also deserved a donut due to my excellent time management skills! What delectable fat pill should I select? How can you choose such a thing? Delectable pastries calling my name from the case, screaming at me by the time I reached the register. The great amount of restraint I displayed in choosing two should be applauded! Besides, kruelers (Canadian spelling) are more air than pastry so that one didn't really count. Now the Boston Cream? I take full responsibility for that one, as a law enforcement officer it is part of the job that I do a quality control check on various distributors to ensure only premium Boston Cream donuts are being served. Despite the powdered milk deficiency, this place had an exceptionally fresh Boston Cream.
Pay day was last week and I haven't had time to change any money to Canadian yet so I am a little dependent on cards until the banks open tomorrow. Imagine my shock when I swiped my card and the screen read invalid... My beautiful sapphire card! Apparently Timmy doesn't like Visa, go figure. Master Card only will cure my craving for caffeine and sugar. Strangest thing in the world, but luckily I was prepared with a random card I have thought about closing about a million times.
I am now armed with delectable fried pastry and coffee. Oh wait, before I am out of the parking lot fat pills are gone. Oops, guess I should have made more effort to eat breakfast before hitting the road. Man I was hungry.
Now I am getting to church. This weeks discovery is on the other side of the island, but it has something other placed are lacking... an evening service! I made it early enough to hit a Sunday School class :) Yes I will meet new people today. I open the door and wonder... Am I early? The foyer is practically empty. Maybe there is a secret meeting place for this fabled morning Bible Study. I notice three people chatting next to a desk marked "Welcome Centre". OK. I am psyched up. I am going to meet new people who are older than my parents. That's OK, maybe I can adopt a new grandparent? Right? As I approach the two men turn and walk away and the woman starts walking in the opposite direction! No darn it! I am going to make a friend today and you do not get to walk away. "Excuse me?" Yes I have her attention. "Is there a Bible study this morning?" "Oh yeah I guess you can follow me to my class." OK not as welcoming as I was wanting, but I have made contact! I am one step closer to meeting.... Whoa, where is the mix with this group? Is there any one here under the age of 60? And are we really having a class on environmental stewardship with this class? Granted, the class was a pretty good, informative session on environmental ministry. I was not aware of the potential but it definitely makes sense.
On to the service... where I sat alone, not something I am unfamiliar with, listening to a message on encouraging one another. Not a bad message until the pastor had every one put their arms over the person sitting next to them to sing the final song. Lean on me can be pretty lonely when you are the only one in the pew. So. Next week I will try to find another church, and we shall see where we go from there.
Finished getting the pictures in another room up and sorted through my jewelry. Things are slowly feeling more and more like home. Stay tuned for shots of my area in the next week. Tomorrow is another off day then starts my 6 day push to the weekend :) Catch you all on the other side :)
Now what would you do with an extra 5 minutes when you already had a 10 minute buffer in your time allotment to get to church? Of course you would go get coffee! I decided to try the local sensation of Tim Horton's. For those of you Americans unfamiliar with this phenom... it is basically the Canadian version of Dunkin' Donuts, with powdered milk. Yes, you read that right, they make lattes with powdered milk. Needless to say if I go for Timmy's I stick to black coffee.
Back to the story... I made it through the line and up to the register and decided in celebration of the pound that was missing from my weight on the scale (and the sit-ups I promised myself I would do later in the day) I also deserved a donut due to my excellent time management skills! What delectable fat pill should I select? How can you choose such a thing? Delectable pastries calling my name from the case, screaming at me by the time I reached the register. The great amount of restraint I displayed in choosing two should be applauded! Besides, kruelers (Canadian spelling) are more air than pastry so that one didn't really count. Now the Boston Cream? I take full responsibility for that one, as a law enforcement officer it is part of the job that I do a quality control check on various distributors to ensure only premium Boston Cream donuts are being served. Despite the powdered milk deficiency, this place had an exceptionally fresh Boston Cream.
Pay day was last week and I haven't had time to change any money to Canadian yet so I am a little dependent on cards until the banks open tomorrow. Imagine my shock when I swiped my card and the screen read invalid... My beautiful sapphire card! Apparently Timmy doesn't like Visa, go figure. Master Card only will cure my craving for caffeine and sugar. Strangest thing in the world, but luckily I was prepared with a random card I have thought about closing about a million times.
I am now armed with delectable fried pastry and coffee. Oh wait, before I am out of the parking lot fat pills are gone. Oops, guess I should have made more effort to eat breakfast before hitting the road. Man I was hungry.
Now I am getting to church. This weeks discovery is on the other side of the island, but it has something other placed are lacking... an evening service! I made it early enough to hit a Sunday School class :) Yes I will meet new people today. I open the door and wonder... Am I early? The foyer is practically empty. Maybe there is a secret meeting place for this fabled morning Bible Study. I notice three people chatting next to a desk marked "Welcome Centre". OK. I am psyched up. I am going to meet new people who are older than my parents. That's OK, maybe I can adopt a new grandparent? Right? As I approach the two men turn and walk away and the woman starts walking in the opposite direction! No darn it! I am going to make a friend today and you do not get to walk away. "Excuse me?" Yes I have her attention. "Is there a Bible study this morning?" "Oh yeah I guess you can follow me to my class." OK not as welcoming as I was wanting, but I have made contact! I am one step closer to meeting.... Whoa, where is the mix with this group? Is there any one here under the age of 60? And are we really having a class on environmental stewardship with this class? Granted, the class was a pretty good, informative session on environmental ministry. I was not aware of the potential but it definitely makes sense.
On to the service... where I sat alone, not something I am unfamiliar with, listening to a message on encouraging one another. Not a bad message until the pastor had every one put their arms over the person sitting next to them to sing the final song. Lean on me can be pretty lonely when you are the only one in the pew. So. Next week I will try to find another church, and we shall see where we go from there.
Finished getting the pictures in another room up and sorted through my jewelry. Things are slowly feeling more and more like home. Stay tuned for shots of my area in the next week. Tomorrow is another off day then starts my 6 day push to the weekend :) Catch you all on the other side :)
Saturday, 24 March 2012
So here's a look at my place, some is still in progress and more pictures will follow. The layout sucks a little as I figure this blog thing, patience as I post more :)
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| First things first, Mom said to make sure my bed was made... |
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| ...then to find my coffee pot. |
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| Bedroom |
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| Living Room and Dining Room |
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| Boxes in the Office |
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| And more boxes |
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| Making progress... |
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| More progress... |
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| Boxes are gone and I have a place to sit. |
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| Definate Progress |
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| My dining room :) Love my dining table. |
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| And then the furniture arrives... |
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| It's a start to the bedroom... |
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| Hutch is still in progress. |
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| And the result... |
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| Just missing the TV... |
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| Amazing how much art adds |
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| Looking into the kitchen... |
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| Final look at the kitchen |
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