Look who we found streaming through Calgary!

Sam and I were very excited to hear that the CLBI ministry tour would be making a stop in Calgary! We got our two favorite chlidren for two whole nights, it was wonderful!

We picked them up at a church in the 'hood late Friday night, then took them home for snacks and sleep (but not before story time with Nooksack). We all slept in, then Sam and I made a delicious brunch of gluten-free heart-shaped waffles with dream whip and strawberries to go on them, plus bacon, fruit, and orange juice. 

Eventually we all got ready and went to explore Kensington a bit (that is the cool neighborhood in Calgary... they loved it). While in Kensington, we went for tea/coffee at The House. I had a London Fog with lavender syrup instead of vanilla and it was AMAZING. I highly recommend it. We wandered home for a delicious supper, then took them back to the church so they could get ready for their performance.

The show was great. The best part by far was the gumboot dance, which Lauren and Dieta both participated in. It reminded us of Stomp, except we knew two of the dancers so it was way better. Dieta also played the harmonica for one of the songs. Sam and I bragged about knowing the two coolest people on stage.

After the show we rushed home to eat our gluten-free chocolate cake with the leftover dream whip and strawberries from breakfast. We also did a Tim Tam slam, then we rushed to bed because wake up time was 5:15 am this morning (Sam had to go back to practicum and the girls had to be in Red Deer for church). Of course we had time for story time with Nooksack, but after that it was lights out.

This morning we all woke up, they got ready and left, and I went back to sleep until noon.

Squash

I have no idea what to blog about these days and I am a little worried that that means I am leading a bit of a mundane life. Oh well.

I suppose I can tell you about my new hobby. Sam and I have taken up squash and it is really quite fun. We went for the first time last Thursday because Sam really wanted to, but I had to do all the phoning around to find out where we could play, what we would need, and how much it would cost. It really wasn't that difficult, and Sam was working while I phoned around, so I will stop complaining. We played at the YMCA, where the student rate is less than $8, which includes equipment and gives you an hour on the court. It really was great fun. The next day we experienced something known as "squash ass," which is defined on urban dictionary as "the intense amount of pain in the buttox region that is a consequence of playing too much squash." I would hardly say that we played TOO MUCH squash, but we experienced the sore bum effect nonetheless. We are going to play some more now that our bums have healed, maybe tomorrow evening.

Another thing I want to tell you, or should I say complain, about is the extended winter we are having here in Calgary. Last Friday it was SO nice. The snow was almost all gone and it really felt like spring. I even went out and bought myself a bike helmet so that I could use my bike as a mode of transportation instead of my massive gas-hogging vehicle. Then Saturday came around and we got like 25 cm of snow. The bike helmet has been sitting in my closet since I bought it. I really want to use it, but I'm not pro enough or brave enough to ride my bike through the snow and ice. It snowed some more yesterday.

I'll stop complaining now and just go get my ice skates back out. Those are fun, and I'm getting pretty good at the whole stopping business, so I guess I'll keep that up.

In other news, I'm currently waiting for a study permit so that I can keep plugging through school. The class I'm in now is a bit of a breeze and I'm wishing I would have taken two classes instead of just one, but it was a good trial period as far as getting a feel for a new school as well as in terms of getting myself back into the academic swing of things.

Tonight was GOOD.

I was (jokingly... I hope...) informed when I got home that I was at risk of being kicked out for being too Bohemian. This is probably due to the fact that I left my drum out as well as the fact that I now look like this...

Anyways, that was right before supper. After supper, Sam and I went to Safeway and picked up some things for nachos and puffed wheat squares. As we were leaving, Sam pointed out that I could fulfill a lifelong dream and make some money by putting away other people's carts. We saw someone drive away and leave their cart loosely in the parking lot. There was another cart nearby that had been left astray as well. I made fifty cents just by walking across the parking lot! (You may recall that returning carts for lazy/cold people is a business concept I am working on.) Then we got home and I gave the fifty cents to Jeff (Sam's dad) as my "Bohemian Premium."

It was really nice how I accomplished a major life dream while coming up with money to pay my "Bohemian Premium" by doing something somewhat Bohemian.

Dry Bones

Dry Bones is a guy from various Mario games. He's the skeleton turtle guy who crumples when you jump on him, but then reassembles a few moments later. It's pretty unrelated to what I'm gonna write about now.

Dry hands are the WORST! I've always had reasonably clammy hands, but when it gets really cold here, they get so dry. I have to moisturize like crazy.

Last year, during the first really cold spell, I made Sam look at my tummy to see what was the matter. I had a mild rash and I was all itchy. She was all like, "Dude, you have dry skin. Go put some lotion on." I didn't even have any lotion! I had never had to deal with such a thing before.

It's the worst after showering, which also makes my hands dry. I can't even touch my clothes to put them on until after I've moisturized my hands. That feeling of dry hands on cotton is just awful! I think I've come to rely on my natural moisturizer (sweat) as a grip enhancer and I really can't handle being without that.

Dream on

I have been dreaming like mad lately. Twice I have realized that I was dreaming and controlled events in my dreams - pretty cool! Last night I think I dreamed that a friend changed what time we are meeting tonight from 4pm to 7pm. At least I hope it was a dream, otherwise I'm gonna be really early.

(P.S. check out my RUTRTW score... I recently won 3 in a row!)

Thanks, Celia!

Celia sent us (us=me and Sam) these reusable knit coffee sleeves so that I don't have to feel so bad about playing RUTRTW. We love them! We even used them on our glasses while we ate supper so that our hands would not get too cold. I think that was around the time Sam's dad wrote a sticky note that read "you're a couple of dorks" so that he wouldn't have to waste his breath saying it so often. Oh well, we are really quite funny and awesome if you ask me.

Sleep

I woke up at 5am for no apparent reason, did some homework, ate some breakfast, listened to one of my new CDs. Then I took a 4-hour nap and now I'm awake again, doing homework and listening to new music. I also ate breakfast again. I OKed this with Sam first, who is an expert on eating meals at odd hours.

Anyone (who doesn't already know) want to take a stab at what I have done to my hair?