New Age Sweat?

So here's an interesting thought that came to mind today. Have you ever noticed those people who look at their hand right after they wipe sweat off of their forehead? You're at the gym working out and the dude next to you is also giving it his all and he's starting to perspire. He takes his hand, wipes is across his head and takes a good long look at what he removed. What is he expecting? Is there something I have yet to experience in my many years of sweating? Yeah I know the Gatorade commercials depict colourful sweat, but dude...that's just special effects!

Today I had a job interview for Rufus & Rory's. It's a 50's diner that's opening up downtown. I think it went alright. I was perhaps a bit too causal with them and perhaps should have taken it a little more seriously, but they seemed like easy going guys and were easy to talk to so I decided to just go for it. Hopefully no harm done. I guess I'll find out in a couple days when they do call backs. Fingers crossed!

Afterwards I planned on going home and doing some homework...but then I ran into a friend and we decided to go drink beer instead. It was far more fun than sitting in my room reading anyway. Now I'm hours behind schedule. The fact that I just wrote that makes me a bit loser. Hours behind schedule?? I need a life.

Bike Ride into Cemeteries

Thursday morning was one of my favorite days so far since being back on the island. What made that day so much more special than the rest is that I finally got to go for a bike ride! It's been over a year since I placed my butt on that old lovely bike of mine. Last year, just a few days after my birthday, I took a nasty fall off of my bike and ended up messing up my knee for well over a month. By the time is was healed enough to get back up on that bike, the weather had taken a turn for the worse and my desire to ride was gone due to rain, wind and cold. Bummer. Then I went back to BC for summer and lent my bike to my friend Jess so that she could enjoy it. When I returned to the island a couple weeks ago, the bike needed a major tune-up and a lovely citizen came to my rescue and cleaned it all up for me, gave me a new tire and a gel cover for the seat (thanks Jim! You're awesome!) So Thursday I hauled my butt out of bed early and took it for a spin. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and I even saw my first fox of the season. The only negative aspect of the experience was that this older man with a very pronounced belly sped by me at one point...this was not good for the ego.

Near the end of my bike-ride I took a turn up to the Sherwood Cemetery to catch my breath and stretch my legs. One strange thing that most people don't know about me is that I love going to cemeteries and just walking around. Reading the headstones can be really interesting and I kind of feel that for a quick second that I get to share a moment with that person whose body has been dead and gone for so long. I walk around and read the names, dates, religious words..and I think about what the world was like when they were around. Some of the plots date back to around 1870 which is pretty neat to see. I am saddened by the tiny little headstones that commemorate the life of an infant or child. Sometimes they have little lambs engraved into the stone and some toys lovingly placed down in the grass. I think about the somewhat morbid (yet responsible) people who have graves all ready and prepared for their imminent death; the headstone sitting there with names on it but no dates of death as of yet. Maybe the family just never got around to putting a final date on yet.



The one thing that gets my head going are the graves that have a deceased husband/wife and bedside is the space for the partner who will later be placed there. So the question on my mind is, what if for instance, a man buries his wife when she is only very young...then he remarries and has a whole new life with another lovely woman...then many years later he dies...where does the body go? With the buried wife or along with the new wife who is still alive and wants to be laid to rest with her husband when she passes as well? What if his new wife dies before he does and she wants to be buried next to him when he goes? Does this mean that she gets to buried one grave over from the first wife? Wife-Husband-New Wife. Hmmm. See how this can become confusing and overly emotional? It's reminding me of several episodes of Six Feet Under.

Anyway, when I tell people that I like hanging out in cemeteries they generally give me a look like I have a third eye protruding from my forehead. Like I'm this strange and mystical creatures who should be locked up for further experimentation. I think cemeteries are peaceful and soothing. Plus they are some of the most meticulously groomed and maintained areas in a lot of cities. Freshly cut grass, fresh flowers arriving daily, tall trees and quiet respectful people to politely ignore. Sounds good to me.

Quit Yer Complaining!

You know how we always push away the good things in our lives because we are so stubbornly stuck on obsessing with focusing on the negative things instead? As terrible as it is. I think it's human nature to do this and frankly, it sucks! Today I am came to the conclusion that I need to stop bitching about the little things in terms of my "altered" health because I have it so insanely good it's not even funny!

Ever since I was 10 years old I have had stomach issues which were never officially diagnosed by a competent doctor. I missed a ton of school as a kid because I would be so doubled over in pain it hurt to stand up straight. I had every invasive test known to mankind and all of them came up negative. Sometimes it's a good thing to actually find something wrong so that it can have a name and hopefully a cure. This was not the case for me. So I suffered for many years trying to learn what triggered the pain and eventually tried some diet plans in hopes of finding some relief. For many many years now I have followed a somewhat strict diet which involves little/zero fast food, pop, greasy food, rich food, dairy, baker's yeast, bananas and many others which are not coming to mind at the moment. Eating like this is can be definitely inconvenient at times but it's just the way it is for me.

In class this afternoon, we were discussing diseases of the lower gastrointestinal tract and the topic of ileostomy and colostomy bags came up. Now, in case anyone doesn't know what these are, this is when a person has such a terrible diseased small intestine that he/she needs to have a large part of their intestine removed and detached from the colon/rectum. They then have to create a hole in their abdominal wall in which they pull the intestine out of the body, pull the intestine around the hole and clamp it in place. So literally, if you put your finger inside this abdominal hole, you are putting your finger inside an intestine. A bag then has to be attached to the hole and it serves as a holding for all waste that is created through the process of eating and digestion. Essentially, this is their poop-bag. They have to carry their poo in a bag attached to their body for the rest of their life.

I am suddenly 100% ok with my stomach problems. Bring it on!

Just Another Manic Monday

The day that just won't end...this is how I feel right now. I guess I could just go to sleep but I'm on a bit of a roll so I'd might as well just keep it going until I crash. Although sleep would be amazing at the moment.

Monday is my one big day for at school. I have all four classes today and they go from 10:30am to 6pm. I only get an hour break overall, and while this can be a good thing most of the time, sometimes I need to get things done on campus and having very little extra time can be a pain. But classes were fairly good today. My first class was a psychology class and we watched a movie about genetic anomalies of these four people, and how they have "super powers". While the movie was very cool, it wasn't a good idea to turn down the lights and have a movie session for my very first class of the day. Movie watching in class always makes me sleepy, therefore I was in a bit of a fog on my way to class #2. Fortunately this is my favourite class (Lifespan Nutrition) so I perked up somewhat quickly when class began.

After Lifespan was my hour long break in which I had to write a journal entry for another class. The journal entry was assigned last week and due at 3pm today, so this boggled my mind because normally I am well on top of these things but somehow this assignment got past me. Luckily I had that break to get it done, hopefully to the professors standards as well.

Class #3 was all about diseases of the lower GI tract so basically we spent 75 minutes discussing farting and pooping. I know I should say "flatulence and bowel movements", but where's the comedy in that? If you can't laugh at a good fart reference then you'd might as well be dead!

Class #4 was my second psych course and this is a class that keeps me on my toes. The format is 100% different than what I am used to and it throws me for a bit of a loop sometimes. I am used to structure, format and lectures in terms of classroom environment...but this one is different. We all gather our chairs into a big circle, then talk about "how we are" and discuss how the weekend went. It's a rather personal experience and can be really difficult for some of the students. A lot of people really hate talking about themselves. Then we are split into groups to discuss some articles that were assigned to read, then we all talk about them together as a class. I think I'm going to like this class as soon as I get a better feel for it. Plus I am worried about the weekly tests that we are going to have because I have no idea what to expect!

Class #5 was another 3 hour class in which I got to learn how to save my butt if I were to ever over serve someone alcohol...oh did I forget to mention my fifth class of the day? I got a ride down to Holland College from my amazingly sweet boyfriend who went out of his way to make sure I got there one time, to take me to the Responsible Beverage Server course that is offered down there. It's a super easy class that teaches you to basically not serve people alcohol to the point at which they can be impaired and hurt themselves or somebody else because you can get sued. Since I am looking for a server job at the moment and you need this course to get a job doing that on PEI, I felt it would be smart to do it. I got 100% of the test so now I get to serve booze to whomever I want! (Don't be impressed. It was an open book test and we were allowed to talk to other students and even ask for answers from the teacher). I am officially a responsible beverage server.

When I got home I learned that there was a lettering waiting for me from the Dean's office informing me that I made the Dean's List at UPEI. Now I have to attend the Dean's Academic Honours and Awards Night which I have been told from past students is a very boring and uneventful time. Why do they feel the need to award our "academic success" with a night of torturous boredom? I guess I should be grateful right? This is what we're told anyway.

Weekend So Far!

So it's Saturday night and we're heading out to celebrate Sarah's birthday in an hour or so. I'm supposed to be studying for a quiz that I have to write tomorrow but I just can't concentrate right now. I don't know why, but reading about diseases of the lower GI tract just doesn't appeal to me at the moment. I think I'm just tired and bit overwhelmed at the thought of going out again tonight.

Yesterday Chris and I went out to dinner with his good friend Mark and Mark's new girlfriend Erin. We went to The Globe which is one of Charlottetown's night clubs. I've heard nothing but good things about the food at the Globe so I was looking forward to checking out the food scene they have happening there. The meal was...fine. Not as great as I expected it to be but it was enjoyable. The company was much more stimulating than the food. After dinner I headed over to my friend Jess's house and the other three headed elsewhere for the evening. I'd made plans with Jess and some other girls from school to go and see a band which was playing at The Alibi. A girl Andrea who's in my program is from Newfoundland and this band is a group of guys that she knew from high school. They're called Matthew Hornell and the Diamond Minds and they play folk/alternative type music. I'm not really sure what you'd call it. But I call it fun! The guy who opened up for them put the whole place to sleep. When he got to his last song I couldn't help but just laugh because he was so corny and somewhat desperate of a musician. It was just not good. I was so very happy that Andrea's people were lively and fun to listen to.

(The Band)

When we were watching them play last night, I kind of sat back and took in the scene and just couldn't help but smile. The guys on stage looked like a group of fishermen just rockin their instruments. Plaid, jeans, huge beards, boots...just an everyday looking group of guys. Plus the audience was just so Islander is was great. The people here have a certain way about them and yes, it can be very charming and very stereotypical of what people expect Islanders to be like. But that's a good thing! Some stereotypes are worth living up to. Anyway, the night got late and the beers stopped being poured, so I headed back home to my warm bed.

Today was a very busy but also very unproductive day. It began with a nice long shopping trip with Jess. We headed to the mall and around town a bit on the lookout for some clothes and shoes. I was quite successful and picked up some nice "grown-up clothes" as I like to call them. We also headed to the market where I bought some fresh local produce (yum yum!). Since neither of us wanted to do any school work, we further procrastinated by heading down to Timothys to get some coffee and people watch. Nothing like avoiding homework like gossiping about the locals! I walked home in the amazing sunshine and Chris came over soon after. We had plans to go to The Dunes this afternoon, which I am officially in love with.

The Dunes is the gorgeous gallery over in Brackley Beach which sells pottery (made right there in the building), local crafts/art, furniture, jewelry, clothing and all kinds of amazing things. It also has a fancy little restaurant set up in there and a vast garden for anyone to take a walk through. I wanted to buy everything. (Mom, you would LOVE it there. We'll have to check it out when you guys come to visit!) Some of Chris's friends also showed up to take a look around the place. After we all had our fill of the sights of the gallery, we all drove out to Brackley Beach to enjoy the warm sunshine and lovely day.







Now, it's party time. Where will I find the energy? Oy.

Need For Speed

Today I had one of those moments in life where you're slightly annoyed at the human race and also a bit embarrassed to be a part of it. Let me explain a bit.

I've been working to try to get back into running again so I've been hitting the gym regularly to get back in the swing of things. I am a terrible endurance runner and I find that running on a treadmill is much easier because it is the lazy man's way of running since you don't have to use any extra energy to propel yourself forward, which is perfect for me! Today I was reminded as to why I dislike running at the gym; competitive treadmill users.

Every so often when using a treadmill at the gym, I suddenly become aware of one of these people on the machine beside me. These are the people who always have to go slightly faster than you at all times because they want to be better than you. This person is constantly (like, every 2 minutes) looking at the stats on your machine to make sure that he/she is running at least 0.5mph faster. I always found this to be a very strange and actually common phenomena at the gym. Why do these people feel the need to run faster than me anyway? I'm not the kind of person who ever judges others at the gym. If they're there and trying at what they're doing then I applaud them for the effort. I'm not going to idolize you just because you can outrun me. Most of the population can outrun me! I am very aware of that already. Perhaps these people weren't coddled enough as children or maybe dad didn't pat them on the back for getting an A in math class. Maybe they tripped and fell during the high school track meet try-outs and need to find redemption somewhere else in life. I don't know.

Anyway, I just find this so silly. If I were a better runner then I would try to beat them at their own game and constantly increase my mph speed just to aggravate them...but this would inevitably result in me getting thrown off the machine in complete exhaustion and humiliation in a matter of minutes.

Funny story. A past roommate of mine once did this. He noticed that the girl next to him was one of these competitive treadmill people so he kept upping his speed to bypass hers. I remember him coming back to the apartment about an hour earlier than he was expected to be back since he exhausted himself by running at tremendous speeds to keep up...but felt that he proved a point that day. What that point is I'm still not sure of, but I guess as long as he feels that he did the right thing then that's all that matters. I just wish that I were there to witness the competition in action!

Technology Love Affair

So I have somehow lasted about 9 months of writing this blog and have never brought up the topic of cell phones. How that is possible I am not sure because I have a lot to say when it comes to cellular technology. I am one of the last people on this planet who does not own a cell phone and that is for a couple of reasons. The first one being that I feel like I have little use for one. I like the fact that people can't get ahold of me at any every moment of the day and that I don't have to worry about my backpack ringing when in class or at the theatre. Another reason is that I would probably find it depressing how it would rarely ever ring since there aren't a lot of people who call me throughout the day.

I actually had a cell phone this summer. I didn't want to get a land line at my sister's house which I was renting, so my mom asked me if they wanted to use their ancient cell phone for the summer. I found that while the cell phone was handy for some situations, I still basically used it as just a regular phone. I didn't carry it around with me throughout the day unless I was waiting for a very important phone call. It just sat at home on the counter 99% of the time. Like I said, I like being cut off from the rest of the world most of the time. I actually found myself texting with my heterolifepartner a lot but I didn't really enjoy doing that. I would have rathered just picked it up and given her a call to actually talk. Talking saves a lot of time compared to texting.

So the reason I bring this topic up today is that this afternoon while I was walking to class, a girl was walking through a doorway while texting. I held the door for her and she was 100% oblivious that she just walked through an open doorway while a complete stranger held it for her. It makes me sad that we are so cut off from the environment around us because we are trying to constantly stay in touch with the rest of world. What if it had been the man/woman of her dreams holding the door at that second and she brushed on by without even knowing that she just passed her soul mate? Hmmm? Did anyone think of that? Chris always makes fun of me because I walk with my head up and my eyes straight ahead, meanwhile he walks most of the time with his eyes to the ground. He always asks me how am I supposed to know where I'm walking or walking into with my eyes up all of the time. I respond by asking how he gets around missing out on what's surrounding him instead of at his feet? Sure I may lose my footing a little more often and trip a time or two, but at least I am looking people in the eye instead of at their feet!

I am off topic. My whole point of this whole thing is that it's sad how human relationships are not seemingly as important as the love affair we have with our cell phones and computers. A lot of the time I feel a bit isolated because I don't have the cell phone that keeps me in contact with everyone else and I know that one day I will have to get one just because all other kinds of phones will be fazed out (like VHS and cassette tapes) and we will be unable to survive without owning one (like the internet!). The only really sad part of it all is that it will be some 15 year old kid at Telus or Bell or some place that, will be teaching me how to use one. Oh the humiliation in my future in inevitable.

Greeting Party and Late Birthday Party

It's been a busy couple of days around this place and crammed pack full of emotion. Yesterday was Saturday and my first task of the day was to head to the farmer's market to pick up some bread. I buy this amazing whole-wheat sourdough bread from a local man there and it's the only bread that I buy when I live on PEI. It's so incredibly amazing. I chatted with him for a while about sourdough starters and he seemed thrilled that I even know what a starter was. He's a nice man. So that was wonderful to be able to buy my first loaf of bread of the school year! Hooray for carbs! I headed to the gym after that where it was really quiet and I had the entire weights area all to myself! Hooray for being a loner at the gym!

When I got home I found Kaylynne's family already at the house waiting for her arrival. Did I mention that Kaylynne was coming home from Kenya yesterday? Her mom, sister and grandparents all came down to surprise her for her return. Plus they brought Earl back! Yay for Earl! Unfortunately we learned the day before that Kaylynne's car was broken, so when I returned to the house I found them all outside in the rain trying to figure out what was going on with her car. They eventually had it towed away to a mechanic. Poor Toyota. But the main focus was that Kaylynne would be back on Canadian ground in a matter of hours and everyone was excited to see her. I got a bit of homework done (I'm behind in my readings already!) and by 4:45, me and Sam jumped in the car and headed to the airport to meet up with the rest of the entourage. There were tons of people there (plus signs and flowers) to greet Kaylynne and Christina (the other student who went to Kenya as well) as they arrived home. I think it was total shock when the girls saw the giant group of familiar faces all waiting for their return. It was a really emotional moment for sure and there were a lot of teary eyes in that room when the hugs went around. But it was a nice moment. Unfortunately the family had to drive back the same day so it was a fast visit for them. And here I was more than happy and ready to give up my bed for them if they had wanted it (I planned to sleep at Chris's to make sure there was an extra bed if they needed it). Oh well. Welcome home Kaylynne! YAY!

So today is Sunday and it's been a good one. Chris's family had a dinner tonight to celebrate my birthday the recently passed and I was overwhelmed by it all. The food was incredible (the caraway bread that they make is just delicious) and Chris's sister Kelly made a chocolate raspberry cake (dairy free!) which was beautiful. They all sang me Happy Birthday and I'm sure I probably turned 9 shades of red before the last line was sung because we all know how much I LOVE being the center of attention...but it was great nonetheless. I felt honoured to be there tonight and I appreciate how much they look out for me and make me feel at home.

Now I get to cram Chapter 3 of my Lifespan Nutrition textbook somewhere in my brain and take an online quiz! The fun never stops around this place!

Second Day Optimism

So since I don't have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, technically today was my second day of classes. My first class of the day was a psychology class called "Sensation and Perception" and I think that I am going to really enjoy this class a lot. It's all about how we sense and perceive the world in relation to our natural senses and how our individual reality can be altered from person to person based on the strength of their individual touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight. Pretty cool stuff.

But I think what makes me excited about this class is the professor. The first day of class he came in wearing a t-shirt that said "Use Your Brain" and there was a picture of this zombie head with the brain all exposed and spilling out.
That alone made him awesome. What I enjoyed about him in today's class was that he kept using these pop culture examples that no one in the class seemed to get except for the handful of students who were over the age of 25. He kept referencing Star Trek, the Matrix and even the Wizard of Oz. I found myself giggling like a moron while every one else just sat there numb, listening to him ramble along. I enjoyed it anyway, but I am a huge fan of corny conversation and references.

Not much to talk about really. I had a job interview yesterday but I am quite certain that I will not get the job because I had zero enthusiasm going into the interview and didn't make a very good impression of myself. I think I am just so sick of job interviews and the same old boring questions over and over again that it's too easy to just ramble on without any personality because it's all just so monotonous. "What do you have to offer this position?" "Tell me a situation in which this happened..." Blah blah blah. After the questions were done and we actually had a conversation, I think I may have been a bit more enjoyable to talk to, but still, I sucked. Obviously it's not the interviewer's fault for this. They have to ask those questions to prove to Human Resources that an interview actually occured. I bear no fault at them. It's the system's fault. The women I talked to were very lovely actually. I think that this t-shirt pretty much explains exactly how it all went down.



I handed out some resumes to some businesses around town yesterday as well, so hopefully I get a callback or two. Hope hope hope.

Went to the gym today to try to get back into running. It wasn't pretty.

Tip of the Day: When you haven't run on a treadmill in over 9 months, don't expect you'll be able to pick up where you left off. It doesn't work that way.

First day of School

You know that school has officially begun when not a single textbook has been cracked open and the agendas are overflowing with party after party and friendly get-together after get-together. Everyone is so excited to see each other that we forget the main reason we are all meeting in the first place is because we have the common goal of completing university.

Day one of arriving in PEI was a bit of a whirlwind. I unpacked all of my boxes and suitcases and settled back into my old room. I must admit that now that I am all settled in and back in this province, it feels pretty good to be here. Plus coming here this time around was way easier than any other time before because I already had everything I needed to live here...it was just a matter of unpacking it and putting my life all back in place. There was no mad rush to buy bedding or books or anything. This was very comforting.

Tuesday I did a little bit of minor shopping then headed over to Chris's place to pick him up to do some errands. Of course he was still in bed, so while he got mobile and ready to head out, I chatted with his lovely family for a while. They invited me to come back over for dinner that evening which I graciously accepted. After eating take-out for two days it would be lovely to eat a real meal. Chris and I did some grocery shopping and puttered around for a couple hours before dinner. I had a horrible time trying to get my computer to hook up to the internet here at the house, so we tried to figure that out for way too long than needed. Anyway, we headed back to his parent's house for dinner, which was delicious. His sister and her boyfriend were also there, so it was great to be able to catch up with them a little. Unfortunately we had to take off soon afterwards because Chris is playing a show on Thursday night (which he found out about on Tuesday) so he had to meet up with the other band members to practice a bit. After he dropped me off at home, I quickly changed then walked down to Hunter's Ale House to meet Sarah, Jo and Ann. It was fantastic to see them again! I've missed them terribly since being away. Oh how I love them!

Today is Wednesday which means first day of classes. I wasn't very excited to haul my butt out of bed this morning to take on day one of the semester, but it turned out to be a rather great day. I'm really looking forward to my first class which is a psychology class. It's called Sensation and Perception and the professor seems really great and got us all pumped about what is to come in the following months. So that was a good start. My second class was Lifespan Nutrition which is exactly what it sounds like: nutrition that we need throughout our lifespan. It should be interesting. Plus I have some good friends in that class so they will make it fun to go to. Afterwards, Jess and I walked around for an hour bumping into familiar faces and having a good time. We headed to Clinical Nutrition to meet up with everyone else who is in our class (the rest of the 4th year students that is). It was just buzzing with chat and excitement of everyone seeing each other for the first time all summer.

After that class, a bunch of us headed over to Churchill Arms for some drinks and food to celebrate the first day of classes and our friend Mia's birthday. Good food + good beer + good company = a great time. They make really good curry at that place and it's near impossible to go through the doors without indulging. Yum yum.

So it's Wednesday night and I have every single night of my entire week booked for one thing or another. Yikes. This should be a fun week. What I really need to do is keep my eyes on the prize (a degree) and not get TOO sidetracked by having tons of fun in the process. Ok, maybe just a little fun.

For a While!

So it’s nearly 9pm and I’m safe and sound in good ‘ol PEI. It wasn’t an easy trek to get here, but we got here eventually. Let me explain.

We drove super early to Kelowna yesterday morning to catch the 11am flight out of there. We were all tired for the drive since we spent the night before consuming lots of delicious food and playing games with the family. But we hauled our butts out of bed and got on the road as soon as possible. The main strange thing that happened during that drive was the number of dead cats on the road. It’s quite rare to see cats killed by cars, and we saw 2 kitty road-kills in less than 5 minutes. Strange? My first comment was, “is this a bad omen to see this many dead cats?” No one answered. There were actually a lot of dead animals on the drive. And I mean A LOT! I’ve honestly never seen as many as I did this time. Cursed highway?

Our flight out of Kelowna was late, but this was no big deal since we had a small layover in Calgary. Also the flight in Calgary was running quite late as well so we literally walked off of one plane and hopped onto another to head to Toronto. While waiting to take off, we also learned that two passengers failed to show up for their flight so they had to find and remove their luggage from the cargo hold…this meant a longer wait for takeoff. The flight was quite uneventful (which is always good) and I watched a semi-strange but enjoyable movie called “The Paper Man”. It stars Jeff Daniels who plays an unsuccessful writer and has only one friend; an imaginary friend named Captain Excellent played by Ryan Reynolds. If for only one reason to watch this movie, do it for the fact that Ryan wears spandex the entire film. I wasn’t complaining.

So we arrived at the Toronto Airport 40 minutes late for our flight to Charlottetown. Needless to say, they left without even looking back for us. So we went to customer service where they informed us that we were booked on a flight to Halifax in a few hours which would land around 2am and then catch an 8am flight to Charlottetown. Ugh. Ok. Fine. About an hour into waiting for our next flight, I had an idea! We went back to customer service and asked if they would put us up in a hotel for the night in Toronto and get us on an early flight to Charlottetown. The very helpful and very blond lady at the desk asked us to sit down and wait while she called her manager. An hoooooouuuuuur later another lady came over and told us that we had a room at the Delta and a flight to Charlottetown at 8:30am. Sweet! By this time is was 11pm and we still had to wait for our luggage to get brought to us. We went down to the baggage claim and waited for an hour and a half for our baggage to show up. Chris’s guitar didn’t show up though, so we went to another customer service desk and asked what the deal was. The dude there assured us the guitar was somewhere in the baggage area but was about an hour away from getting out to us (since it was a unusual shaped luggage it had to go to a different area for processing). Ok. Fine. We’d get it tomorrow.
We waited another half hour for the shuttle to the hotel. By the time we got to bed last night, it was 2am and we had to get up in 3.5 hours to get back on the shuttle to make sure we got back to the airport for our flight. The one thing I hate about big cities is that it takes so long to get from point A to point B. It took 6 hours to get from the customer service desk (awaiting approval for flight change) to bed. So many lines to wait in, so many people to bypass, just so much much much. I just really wanted sleep. Mmmmm. Sleep.

The next morning went smoothly. The flight from Toronto to Charlottetown was smooth and simple and we landed safely just before noon. I was really sad to watch the mountains fade away during take off from BC, but now that I am back here in PEI…I feel good. Sam and I went out for drinks and dinner and it was nice to sit back, gossip and chat, and just enjoy the evening. I’m exhausted and anxious to get all of my errands done tomorrow, but being back in this house and back in this familiar city is strangely comforting. BC is my heart and I love it…but if need be, I can survive here for a while. FOR A WHILE!

I Heart BC

Today is my last day in BC for a while. I've never been so hesitant to leave this place as I am right now. It's nearly noon the day before I leave and I haven't even begun to pack yet. There's something wrong with that right? I should want to fly across the country to finish my degree right? One would think!

I've been enjoying my time back in my home province so much. I've taken advantage of some great features of this area and have learned an incredible amount of what we have around here (in terms of hiking trails, great restaurants and of course, my wonderful friends and family). I'm going to miss it while I'm gone. It's just good to know that it's not going anywhere and will be here waiting my return.



Thanks for the memories BC! (That's the BC flag in case you weren't aware)

Book Review Returns

Alright, this is part two and most likely the final chapter of my book review. Since school starts in only a matter of days, that means that my leisure reading will be coming to a screaming halt and I'll be up to my eyebrows in textbooks and online articles. This review has 5 novels to discuss, but 3 of them will pretty much be explained as one (since they were a series). Also, you will notice quite quickly that I have actually already read all of these books, except for the first one, which turns the title of the blog into an unfunny pun. But I love puns so I'm going to roll with it.

1) Home from the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean. If you have never read a Vinyl Cafe book by this man, I highly recommend going out and finding one. I have read several of these books and have enjoyed every single one equally. He's a Canadian author and his books are based around humourous stories of a "fictional" family who live in Toronto. Dave and Morley are the parents and they have two kids, Sam and Stephanie. What I love about these books are that the people are believable as a family that we all know (or even are ourselves) and the stories may be a bit out there sometimes but are still achievable by any means. McLean's books leave me laughing out loud, or at least with a smile on my face. It's an easy read and is very convenient when you want nothing more than a leisurely book to get through.

2) Dragon by Clive Cussler. How to even begin to explain? Clive Cussler is who got me into reading when I was young. I mean, I was always an avid reader growing up but it was his books that made me go out and want to find more, more, more!!! All of his books star the same characters, one of them being the famous Dirk Pitt (who I would run away with if he ever showed up on my doorstep). There are 21 Dirk Pitt novels out there and I have read (and own) 18 of them. They are so witty, so funny and just action packed from beginning to end. I like how Cussler takes events from history, puts them in his books and gives them a twist to make it his own. Dirk Pitt nearly dies about 5 times in each book, then gets out of the most insane situations and always gets the girl(s). It must be his dreamy green eyes and thick, wavy black hair.... So Dragon was written 20 years ago and I bought it at a second hand book store here in Trail. I've probably read it at least twice already but his books are easy to read over and over again. This one is about a bomber jet carrying a nuclear warhead which disappears just outside of Japan in 1945. Apparently there were two atomic bombs heading to Japan that fateful day but only one made it (bombed Hiroshima). What happened to the other one!?!? Fast-forward 56 years and you get a great book full of Japanese terrorists and underwater adventure. Great times!

3) Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobbs. This was a series of three books (Ship of Magic, Mad Ship and Ship of Destiny) about merchant families, pirates, serpents, dragons and talking ships. They're obviously fantasy novels but are so incredibly enjoyable. When I try to explain what these books are about, people tend to snicker a bit at the idea of these liveships which come alive and talk and have emotions and feelings. But they're so good! The books are captivating and full of adventure, raw emotion and a little bit of romance. They're based around a family who owns one of the liveships and when she awakens (three captains have to die on the deck before they can awaken) there is major family rivalry and all hell breaks loose. Some people go out to sea, others run away, the ships have minds of their owns, then throw in some pirates who want to rule the waters and dragons who want to rule the world and it's just chaos.

I've read other series from this author and she's really great. What I really enjoy is that you get so caught up in the characters and stories of each one of them that you do not want to put them down until you know what happens! Plus Hobbs is great at character development throughout the three books. If you're meant to love a character then you absolutely adore him/her. Or if you're meant to hate a character, you loathe him/her with a passion. Or you may start off feeling one way about someone and half way through the book come to have a completely different take on that person. The good guys become bad guys, the bad guys become good guys...they all mesh together into a wonderful trilogy. A great read for anyone who has a big imagination and a love for adventure novels.

Starbucks Seduction

Kaylynne, I was thinking of you when we passed this building in downtown Seattle. This is the first Starbucks to ever open and the year was 1971. This is the original logo that was created when the franchise first opened. She's a twin-tailed siren (a seducer who would lure sailors to their deaths on the rocky shores by singing enchanting songs), but since both of her breasts were exposed, they changed the logo to where her hair covered her chest but still exposed her belly button. Then they decided that that was just too much to expose as well, so they cropped her to what she is today!

I also learned that the name "Starbuck" comes from a combination of a mining camp on Mt. Rainier, which is the gorgeous mountain about 90 miles from Seattle, and from the name of the first mate in Moby Dick. The things you learn from wandering around aimlessly through a city!



And just a side note, it may have been all in my head since it's the first Starbucks to ever open, but my iced americano that I got from this location was possibly the most delicious one I have ever had. Yum Yum Yum. Maybe it's the vintage coffee beans they use ;)