Cleanse day 1 & 2
Well Happy New Year great Christmas blah blah blah. I’m starting the year off feeling restless and trapped. This is is the longest Cohen and I have gone without traveling in a really long time. I’m currently working as the activities coordinator, which is far more boring and less rewarding than teaching. Anyway, Cohen and I have decided to do The Cleanse (the master cleanse, the lemonade diet, whatever you want to call it) again. This is our second time doing the cleanse. The first time we time we only lasted 8 days. You are supposed to do it for 10 days. Day one was really bad for me because of my caffeine addiction. I had a headache so bad that I almost vomited. Today I feel a lot better. The only negative thing is how bored I have already felt lately, to take away food right now is really torturous. I hope that this will be a healthy way to start the new year. I also hope to start yoga again right away. I stopped before because the studio that I was going to closed. Also, I got a new tattoo, a very cute maneki neko, done by Cohen.
…
I really admire people who can blog on a regular basis. I find it hard to keep it up. Quite a bit is going on lately. I started training for the activities coordinator position this week. Tomorrow is my first day all alone. I think it should be pretty boring this week, but fairly crazy next week. The first week of the study block involves telling each class about all of the exciting things that we have to offer for the upcoming month and then signing them up and taking their money. December 5-7 I’ll be going to Big White, which should be super fun.
Enough about work. I’m really feeling bummed about the lack of mountain biking lately. Since day light savings time started, it has been dark by 4:30 and raining almost daily. I don’t feel very comfortable riding in the rain and I’ve had a cold for the last week. I wonder if I’ll get any riding in the winter or if I should just accept that I might not ride until spring. Cohen and I are both feeling antsy; really feeling the need to travel. We’re looking at a couple of big options for month long trips next year and also a week long one a bit sooner.
Smokin’ Halloween
So last Sunday I decided to go to H & M to get some new clothes for work. As I was walking down main street, I had to pass the bingo hall. I walk passed said bingo hall at least once a day every day. Those assholes are out there blocking the sidewalk and smoking most of the time when I walk passed. I’m an ex-smoker myself and just like most ex-smokers I hate the smell. All of that aside, there are bigger reasons why these bingo-hallers annoy me. Blocking the sidewalk in a high traffic area is inconsiderate and annoying. While living in Taiwan and suffering from a bad case of “I miss Canada like crazy”, I mistakenly believed that Canadians were considerate people. Now that I’m back here, I realize we are just as rude as the rest of the world and if we were as densely populated as most of the world, we’d be even worse. Anyway, on top of all of this, there are signs posted in front of the bingo hall telling them to please smoke in the back, where they have built them a covered smoking area. Finally, they are violating a city by-law, which states that smokers must not smoke within 6 meters, yes meters, of any doorway, window, or ventilation. So, as I passed the bingo hall last Sunday, I reached up and covered my mouth. No big deal, just not wanting to breathe in their toxic shit. Just as I pass the last of them, some asshole yells, “It’s a free country we can do what we want.” I almost kept walking, but instead, I turned around and pointed at the city of Vancouver “no smoking sign” and informed him that he was violating a city by-law. After that everything degraded. Two of his buddies joined in and began saying things like, “It’s not like it’s poison. It’s just a smoke.” and “What about cars?” The final straw came when the three fifty somethings began taunting me asking what I was gonna do about it. By then I could see that my logic filed brain was no match for these grown men, who were basically regressing to a “I know you are by what am I?” point in their lives. The thing that really pissed me off was that I hadn’t said anything to them, only covered my mouth as I walked through their haze. So, I pulled out my phone so they could see what I was doing and began to walk away. First, I called information for the non emergency police number. The police referred me to the city, who I called right away. It being Sunday meant that I left a message. I was very happy when the next day on my lunch break when I received a phone call from the city stating that they would be sending out an inspector to deal with this issue, which has apparently been ongoing. And that’s my story.
Halloween was great. I’m glad I dressed up, even though few could guess who I was. I wish I had a kid to take out trick or treating. Pictures are from work.
Shopping and Shit
Well yesterday Cohen and I spent most of the day driving around the North Shore checking out full-face helmets for mt. biking. My dad is going to Borneo soon and is going to be gone for Christmas. He said that he would buy me a full-face helmet as a Christmas gift. I ended up getting one for about $120 which is a smokin’ good deal. We also drove by the housing co-op that we applied to over there. It looked really nice and is at the base of Mt. Seymour. Speaking of Seymour, I’d really like to go for a ride today, but Cohen is working and I don’t like to ride difficult trails alone. I think I’ll go downtown and go shopping again, this time for new work clothes. I got the activities coordinator position and I feel like I need some stuff that isn’t quite so formal. It weird that I”m spending the weekend shopping because I actually hate shopping and spending money. Being over in North Van yesterday was so nice, I really hope we get into that co-op and are living there by next April.
Autumn
Thanksgiving went well. Cohen and I had a nice dinner together. I made a tofurkey for the first time, which was gross, but everything else was fantastic. I’ll post a few pictures of our around the coffee table dinner. They’re quite funny. Last night I used the rest of the butternut squash to make a soup. First, I roasted the squash with some potatoes, carrots, ginger and garlic. Then, I simmered everything in a vegetable broth. Finally, I blended it all and topped it with a little bit of cream.
In some ways I really love this time of year and in others I don’t. I love the colors and the cool crisp air. I hate the lack of light and the rain. I’m looking forward to Halloween. My school is having a boat cruise party and since I might be the activities coordinator by then, I’ll probably be going. I am thinking of dressing up as Kat Von D. So yeah, I reconsidered the activities coordinator position and I’ll find out Thursday if the job is mine. I’m up against someone with more seniority than me, but I think I have a fair shot.
Tomorrow a new study block starts, but if I get the activities job, I’ll only have my class for 2 or 3 weeks. I ended up really loving my class last month so it will be hard for these guys to compare.
Cohen
Election
So I voted yesterday. The candidate that I voted for won in my riding, but her party didn’t do too well. I’m disappointed that so few Canadians took the time to vote. I guess it was the worst voter turn out in history. I’m disappointed that the Conservatives gained seats. I’m also torn about our electoral system. It baffles me that a party could get almost 7% of the popular vote and not get one seat; whereas, another party gets just less than 10% and get 50 seats. Canadians say that they are concerned about the environment, yet the Conservatives (the one party that has just said a giant fuck you to the environment) win. I suppose if the Liberals had a remotely likable candidate things might have been different. Anyway, I feel like I am just reiterating a conversation that most Canadians are having, so I’ll stop. Oh one more thought, who are all these people who voted Conservative because I don’t know a SINGLE person who did. I had more things that I wanted to write about and pictures I wanted to post, but I just realized that we have no pictures on our computer due to recently reformatting. Oh well there is always tomorrow.
Gear Jammer
Cohen and I went for a mt. bike ride today. To be honest I keep expecting the season to be done. It’s too dark during the week to go for a ride and given the fact that it rains incessantly here I figured that it was all over. We rode up to gear jammer, which is quite a little grunt and then had blast coming down. It’s a super fast flowy trail. Near the end, we decided to exit via upper cut, which had an awesome A frame on it. I was able to just blow through it on account of Cohen standing there urging me to, “just go”. Overall it was a super fun ride- the kind of ride that makes you feel like a good rider.
Fun Shit
I always think of things that I’m going to write about here and then forget when I finally get around to updating. I did something this week that I never thought I’d do. I went to yoga. Not only was it yoga, it was hot yoga and I LOVED it. I went both Monday and Tuesday and hope to go again tomorrow and then hopefully get into a routine of 4-5 times a week. In case you don’t know, hot yoga is a form of hatha yoga done in a room heated to 40 degrees. I absolutely loved the intensity and difficulty that the heat added. I really want to keep active through the winter and hope that this is something that I stick with. In other news, I went ice-skating wit my school on Thursday after classes. It was a total blast. Most students had never been before and pretty much held onto the boards the whole time, but it felt great to be on skates. I was asked by my boss if I would be interested in taking over for our activities coordinator for three months while he’s away. At first I thought I’d like it, but after going on the activity on Thursday and talking with the current coordinator I don’t think I’d be suited to the job. It involves a lot of tedious tasks and it involves dealing with large numbers of ESL students in public. Further, I love my current hours. As I mentioned before, Cohen and I are looking to move to the North Shore. I sent away to a few Housing Coops to get application forms and I already received one back. I hope to fill everything out and get it back to them quickly. This would greatly reduce our housing charges and increase our space. Fingers crossed.
Random
My mom’s in the hospital again.
We went for a nice hike/walk on Seymour today.
I really want to move to the shore.
Next weekend is a long weekend and I feel like I need a staycation.
Cohen and I are planning to go to New York in May and Peru in October 2009.
Here is a picture of the cookie type thing that I mentioned last Sunday. I wish I was eating it now.
Siobhan 
leave a comment