Now what?

This morning I finished up the touch ups of paint that needed to be done in the bedroom, hallway, kitchen and living room. Once I was done with that I figured I'd remove the tape from the red dining room wall and then see exactly what it needed to make it right. I took my exacto-knife and ran the blade along the edges to loosen the paint from the wall and then started lifting the tape off. It didn't go so well. The five damn layers of paint adhered pretty well to the tape. Not so well to the wall.

Here's what happened.

I have no idea what to do now. Should I get the primer out and start over from scratch? Should I get more red paint and try again? Should I use what I have left of the living room colour and just use that? Sigh ... I dunno.

Suggestions? Offers to help? I'm open.

Fitness Test

We had another fitness test tonight. Considering that we've scaled back the weight training quite a lot in the last 2 months, I was surprised to see how well I did. We started back with the weight training only 2 weeks ago and I seem to be on track for gaining even more strength!

Bench press max weight: 105 (same as last time)
Bench press reps: 63 reps (9 less than last time)
Bench row reps: 91 reps; (3 more than last time!)
Back extension: 3:37 (3 seconds less than last time - argh)
Sprinter run reps: 225 (4 less than last time)
Sit ups: 74 (1 more than last time!)
Push ups: 20 (same)
Chin ups: 0. No surprise there.

Feeling good about these results.

Shawi

Yesterday we raced at the Shawinigan Dragon Boat Festival. It wasn't a great day to be outside. It was cold, it rained, it was windy and we were in wet clothing for a good part of the day. Even though we changed clothing between races, we still had to put on wet shirts for each race and that is not pleasant.

However, we had a fairly decent result. We finished third overall! So another medal! A bronze one this time - but still. A medal is a medal. And I'd rather have a medal from Division A Sport than any other.

We had 4 races all counted. Three 500m and one 100m. The first race we won but as that was the qualifier for the semi-finals, it was just about getting a good time. We didn't have a good race though. It wasn't in control. The second 500m was amazing. We won that too but this time it felt amazing. We were in complete control, we paddled with really long strokes (serious head wind) and really reached and sat up with each stroke. Immediately after that we raced The Best of Fest, a 100m sprint with nine other boats. That was a free-for-all. It took ages for the starter to line us up and give the "Attention please!" call. The next 20 seconds were a blur. With the head wind coming off the water and boats nearly within reaching distance on each side (2 boats per lane!), it was a wild ride. But we did well. We finished second. Our third and final race was not good. We had a bad race. The pace felt too fast (for me), we weren't in control and our finish was not in sync at all. And so we finished third. Not exactly the result we wanted but we finished in A-final and we got a medal so I'm still happy with that.

Hurting today. My back is in spasms, my legs and arms still a little shaky. Think I may have a rest day. No painting allowed.

Painting, painting and more painting

According to my mother (Hi Mom!), I need to update my blog. So where was I? Last I was telling you was that I was spending the first part of my summer vacation at home. Today is day 3 of that vacation. What have I done so far?

1. Painted the bathroom. It's not blue anymore! This makes me so happy.

2. Painted the bedroom. It's not a poo-ey beige colour anymore. This makes me happy too.

3. Painted the dining room wall. It's my favourite red. Or almost. Have got 4 coats of paint on there now and it's looking good. Do think it'll need a 5th coat though. Thank goodness it's a small wall. I love it, love it, love it!

4. Bought the paint for the living room, hallway and kitchen. That'll be my project next week. As I look around the place, I realise I will probably need every minute next week to get it primed and then get 2 coats of paint up on the walls.

I am taking before and after pictures and will make a set on flickr once I'm done.

Have also started thinking about the new headboard I'm going to make (bigger, better and bolder), the desk I'd like for the office/guest bedroom, and how to improve the area above the fireplace.

More updates soon. Promise!

Balconville

In Montreal, when people stay at home for vacation, we don't call it a "Stay-cation", we call it going to "Balconville" (going to Balcony Town). Given that I moved in just over a week ago, I decided on Balconville for part of my vacation this summer. I'll have the chance to paint the place the way I want and hopefully get a little more settled before going back to work.

Once I'm done the painting I'll put up some before and after pictures for you. Then you can ooh and ahh about how great my place is and you'll want to come and stay!

Stay tuned.

The End

Last night I dropped off the last set of keys to my old place and closed the door behind me. Didn't even look back.

Goodbye Lofts Hogan. It's been swell.

The End.

It's all so quiet

I know there are other people living in this building but I haven't heard a peep from the people living above, below or beside me. Wow!

However, I certainly hear the drunks on the street at 3am. Same old story, different location.

All In!

That's it. I'm ALL moved in (minus the stove) ! I can't even begin to tell you how great it feels. Last night as I put away some things, unpacked my suitcases, etc. I kept marvelling at how much space I have now. Not that I ever felt cramped at the old place. I never had that feeling. But now all of a sudden, I almost feel like I won the lottery, you know, and this place can't possibly be mine. But it is!

Moving Day, Part 3

Final Moving Chapter (aren't you excited?!)

This is it! Today I move into my new condo!

Naturally, I'm up before my alarm. Going to do a quick load of laundry (sheets & towels) and then pack the last of the dishes.

Yesterday I took a few more boxes and things over (to the new place) and got those unpacked and pretty much spent the rest of the day organizing the final things at home (old place). Hope this goes well.

Next time I write it'll be from my new condo!

Moving Day, Part 2

Here's a recap of yesterday:

Got half the van (borrowed from Mom’s work!) packed before Eric showed up. Then with his help we were able to get my locker emptied in a few short minutes and pack the rest of the van and Eric’s car. We were on our way to the new place by 9:45am. All the while hoping madly that the first delivery hadn’t shown up yet. Turned out fine – they hadn’t come by yet. Phew. Eric and I hadn’t been there more than 5 or 10 minutes when Marc and Valery showed up. And not long after that did the delivery of my bed (!), washer/dryer and dishwasher show up. My stove did come too but there was a small problem.

I was told there was gas at the condo so that’s why I bought a gas stove. Well … something got lost in translation between the owner and my agent to me. There is gas, but there is NO line to hook up to unless I get the plumber in to do the whole cut hole in the wall, install valves, etc. So, I decided (given that I know now what a plumber costs per hour) to leave the stove in the delivery truck and called customer service. They’ll take it back, no problem. On Monday though I’ll need to call my sales rep and let him know what happened and get a new electric stove ordered pronto. Surprisingly, I wasn’t too freaked out about this. Don’t know how, but I just shrugged it off.

Eric left shortly after that (thank you!). Marc was going to start on my dishwasher and the washer/dryer hook-ups but he also needed his tools and to stop at a hardware store to get a bunch of things. So off he went to get what he needed to get me set up. I was left on my own to start unpacking the kitchen. While he was gone my fridge got delivered. Marc was back by 1:30 and we worked until 5pm getting stuff sorted out. Took a long time but my dishwasher works! My washer and dryer work! My fridge is stable! And my bed is put together! Can’t wait to sleep on that. (Marc, for all this help, I owe you BIG time.)

I tidied up the boxes and bits and pieces lying around before leaving at 5:30.

Have decided that I will definitely be painting the living room and bedroom. I hadn’t quite decided but now I know for sure. The colour is too much on the yellow side for my liking. I will leave the office the way it is for now (light green) and hopefully be able to paint it before September. The bathroom has to be painted. The storage room is the same colour as the bathroom (pale blue). I'll leave that for now but it will be getting painted eventually.

My agent stopped by in the afternoon just to explain the million keys that were left and also how to set the alarm at night when I’m home. He also gave me a bottle of wine! Can’t wait to drink that!

All in all, turned out to be a pretty darn good day. Can't wait to finish up here (at the old place) and get all settled (in the new place). Not long now!

Moving Day, Part 1

My agent dropped off the keys at 8am today. Phew. Now to pack the van, get a brother to wait at the new place for the big deliveries (between 9am-12pm for the bed, stove, dishwasher, washer and dryer and for fun between 12-6pm for the fridge).

Could be a long day ... but it's finally here!

Last Day!

Thanks to all of you who must've done a little "get your ass out" dance on my behalf because I just found out that the last of the stuff is out of MY condo and my agent will be dropping by tonight with the keys.

I was so worried. Have been awake since 4am stressing about this. As soon as my agent told me it was all good, I started shaking like a leaf from the sheer relief of knowing it would finally all work in my favour.

Last 2 Days

Seriously, if I find out tomorrow that I can't start moving things in this weekend, I will be beyond freaked out. Beyond stressed. Beyond out of control. Get the picture?

Having trouble breathing.

Heart Attack

Found out that I may not be able to move in this weekend. Will have to wait until Friday morning to find out if it's a go or not. Way to give me a heart attack.

Here's the story - The owner has a bunch of computer stuff in the condo and will have his work move it. He's hoping to get that done on Friday. If it doesn't happen, then I can't move in because of some kind of security risk with the computer equipment. It's not the end of the world, but it certainly doesn't make matters any easier right now. Add to that the appliances I have scheduled for delivery on Saturday afternoon, anytime between 12 and 6pm. Great.

Teeny-tiny little bit Very stressed out.

4 Days to go (6 days "officially")

Officially or not, I don't have too many days left in my first condo. I feel a lot of things right now. Loved living here. Loved the sense of pride at owning my own place for the first time. Loved the neighbourhood (prostitutes, crack houses and all!). That said - I can't wait to have a separate bedroom! I can't wait to take a bath in a proper bathtub! I can't wait to have a balcony!

My 50 bazillion lists are multiplying exponentially on a daily basis. It will be great to get moved in, decide once and for all on paint colours, unpack and decide where to place or hang all the things that have been packed away for more than a year now.

A few more days, a few more headaches to work through but very soon it will all be worth it.

2 Condos

Nothing like buying a condo before selling your old one to start your week off on the anxiety and panic stricken foot. But that's what I did this morning. By 9:30am I was the proud owner of two condos! Now provided there are no problems or hiccoughs this coming week, by next Monday afternoon I should have sold my old condo and only have one place to worry about.

Until then it'll be a week of panic attacks and shortness of breath (without any exercise involved).

#60

#60 on my 100 Things to do before I go list, in case you've forgotten, was "Cater a party". It only took me a week to realize that I can now cross this off my list.

Last Saturday my dragon boat team hosted an intro to dragon boating day (ok, not a party, per se, but feeding 200 people is a big job so I will say it's pretty much the same thing). And hello, I was the caterer. I decided the menus, I made the grocery lists, I delegated tasks, I made sure it all came together, I worked from 6:30am to 6:30pm to see that about 200 people got their lunch and/or buffet dinner. True I did not actually have to cook any food myself, but that's just because of the type of food we were having. I cut my share of bagels, showed my team mates exactly how to make a wrap, washed and cut endless fruit, packed over 100 lunch bags, prepared nearly 20 platters of food and scurried back and forth from our makeshift kitchen to the tables endless times.

Consider it done.

Happy Birthday!

My youngest brother, Marc, turns 32 today. How did that happen?

Happy Birthday!

10 Years Since I Last

Imagine, it's been 10 years since I last leaned over a toilet and puked my guts out. Nice imagery, huh?

That panic that I so glibly thought was gone - back in full force last night! Think maybe it was a combination of factors. Panic, stress, tired, run down, and a couple of practice races at training last night had me jumping off the boat and running (and stopping to bend over and gag) before finally making it to the toilets where my 10 years "sans" barfing record ended.

Oh well. I felt somewhat better after that though, so here's hoping the next 10 years will be vomit free.

Last two weeks

A week yesterday until I sign at the notary for my new condo. Two weeks yesterday until the movers show up. One competition down and one to go. One fundraiser down. 70-something boxes packed. I've lost count of the number of boxes and bags I've given away.

The panic I was feeling a few weeks ago has subsided. That or I've just gotten so used to it that I hardly notice anymore. Ha.

There will be the last minute things to take care of but I can deal with that. Now I'm just excited to move and paint and unpack and revel in all that lovely new space for ME.

Feeling good. Tired. Very tired. But still good.

First race of the season

Yesterday we had our first dragon boat competition of the season. After all the training all winter long, we'd finally arrived at the moment where we'd see the results of our effort.

We competed in the sport mixed category, against 8 other teams (other categories were men, women and community mixed). One sport team pulled out sometime between Friday night and Saturday because we were only 8 sport teams in the end. This meant there would be two sport divisions, A and B. Of course we wanted to place in division A and we did!

It was a rough start to the day. We had to be at the site by 8:30am. It was cold, raining and windy. I was frozen and wet before our first race. Our first race was 1000m. We were in the second heat (not against any of our real competition) and we won! Off to a good start. Funnily enough, by the time we were getting out of the boat after that first race, it stopped raining and the sun came out. A few hours later we had our 500m race. Again in the second heat (this time against THE best in Montreal.) We lost by 0.08 seconds. So we placed second but were thrilled that we'd done so well. Our competition was rather surprised to see us so hard on their tails. Apparently they had quite the debriefing after that race. Our combined times from the first two races gave us our position for the third race, a 250m. We had placed in division A. Still don't know how we finished in this final race, but either third or fourth. It was a bad race. We had a bad lane (yes, there are bad lanes), we had to contend with the wind (lanes 1 and 2 are protected from the wind by the grand stands) and we also don't train for sprints. Anyway - as bad as felt, we knew that we'd either place third or fourth in the final results so there was still a chance for a medal at the end of the day.

About half an hour later, after a change of clothes and lots of chocolate milk, we found out. We listened to the placings and winners of all the other categories before ours. Even though we didn't have any more races ahead of us, I was still nervous. Finally they got to calling the fourth place winners - it wasn't us! Some of us were surprised (me). They called the third place winners - it wasn't us! Now all of us were surprised because that meant ... we'd placed second! And a moment later it was confirmed - we had indeed come in second place. I was so surprised! Really shocked! Never, ever expected us to do so well against those teams. The team that came in third was not happy with us - at all.

In the end, we were 4 seconds off the first team, and still 2 seconds ahead of the third team. Quite a big gap.

To celebrate our (unexpected) victory, we went out for great Chinese food in China Town. A long day (left at 7:30am, got home at 7pm), but an eventful, surprising and GREAT one!

26 Days Left

Today I remembered to buy more packing tape. What a relief. Tomorrow night I can tape a bunch of stuff together. Like bookshelves, skis, boxes and stuff.

Last month

Down to the last month until I move. 67 boxes packed. Think there are 12 empty ones left from my stash. Hoping that'll be enough. Panic not so bad these last few days.

Five weeks

I've looked quickly on the calendar and it seems I'm moving in five weeks. This freaks me out. Especially when I start to think that next Saturday is really my last "free" Saturday (even though half of that day will be spent at practice).

There will be a few evenings I can use to pack but I know I won't get too much accomplished then. I'm usually too tired to do much more than sit and read.

So what I suppose I'm trying to say is ... time to get off my ass and get cracking!

The things you find

Going through my textbooks last night, I found Word Perfect 5.0. The first computer course I ever took. Think that was from about 1990. Have put it in the recycling pile and agree that I probably should've thrown that classic away before I moved into this place, before I moved to the old apartment in NDG, before I moved to the Bahamas, before I moved to Mexico before I moved to England/Ireland.

Me and my OCD

Being a touch on the OCD side of organized, I've started a spreadsheet for my move. You know, numbering the boxes, indicating the room they belong in and briefly listing the contents. This way I'll be able to track which boxes get on/off the truck. But then last night I had a stroke of genius! Genius, I tell you!

I decided to get some coloured stickers. What I'll do is put a coloured sticker on the box and then a post-it with the same coloured sticker on that, stuck on each door/area where the boxes belong. So everything will be colour coded, identified and numbered. You're thrilled, aren't you? I can tell!

Stuff

Where exactly did all this stuff come from? Did I have it when I moved in? Seriously going to have to get rid of a whole lot of stuff.

Appliances for sale

Still haven't heard if the people buying my place want the appliance so am going to start advertising their sale.

Amana fridge ($300), white, bottom mount freezer, with ice maker
Frigidaire range ($200), white, ceramic cook top
Frigidaire washer ($200) and dryer ($100), white, front load, stackable

Can be sold together or separately.

Pictures provided on request.

In the meantime, I've started buying new appliances for my new condo. Bought a fridge today and am going to sort out a bed, range, dishwasher, washer and dryer tomorrow. All this money flying about worries me not a little.

Lists

With all the lists I write, I could write a book. Has anybody already done that? Mine would be called "My Book of Lists". Original, no?

New pictures

Oh yeah, pictures from the Easter weekend in Windsor can be found here.

All mine!

Got the final bank approval yesterday (minutes before presenting a French webcast to two offices).

Just in time too. Apparently the other people whose offer expired because they couldn't get the financing, suddenly reappeared with their pre-approval, a completed home inspection and were threatening to pull rank or something (you know, some legal jargon term) on my offer by saying that they would have the final approval from the bank any day now. Don't know what would've happened in that case but luckily I don't have to worry about it.

Precisely two months from yesterday I'll be signing for my new home. Yeah me!!!

One more step done!

My financing came through this afternoon so my agent was able to stop by tonight and have me remove all the conditions of my offer!

Yeah for me!

Home inspection

Had the home inspection yesterday. Talk about moving things along quickly. It went well and the inspector only had a couple of negative comments. On the whole she was very impressed and was happy to see that the condo has great windows (keep the cold and the noise out!) and no sign of moisture in the walls.

The paper work with the bank is on it's way and should all be finalized by next Monday or Tuesday due to the Easter holiday.

My heart isn't racing quite so fast now and I don't feel nearly as stressed out but I can't really say that I'm stress-free. Soon though.

It's mine!

They accepted my offer! Building inspection tomorrow afternoon and then it's just to get the financing finalized. PHEW!!!

Offer is in

Put in an offer for the condo yesterday afternoon. Ever since then I've been having shortness of breath, a racing heart and my neck has been tensing up so bad that my shoulders have found a new home around my ears. My good old friend insomnia is back in town so I'm up at 2:30am writing on my blog.

Calling this stressful right now would be an understatement. It's so far above stressful for me, I don't even know what to call it. Logically I know that everything will probably end up fine. There's no reason my financing shouldn't go through but I'm still freaked out about suddenly having a nearly $200K debt over my head. I was probably like this when I bought my current condo 5 years ago but apparently my little brain has forgotten what that was like.

It will be so worth it though. I must keep telling myself this. Meanwhile I need to find new ways to relax and I can't find my meditation CD. Better check what's on the Weather Network then ;)

Found it!

Visited a condo last night that I immediately fell in love with. I swear, I walked in and could see my furniture there already.

Pros:
Wood floors
FABULOUS kitchen (!)
2 balconies (!)
Above ground level
2 bedrooms
Walk-in closet (!!)
Separate shower (!)
Gas fireplace (!)
Gas line out to BBQ on balcony (which I'm told is a feature, but it's not like I'm grilling up huge whacks of meat every night)
Storage room in the unit
Proper dining room space for my dining room set
Low condo fees
Close to the bike path
Walking distance to metro, groceries, fruit/veg shop, SAQ
Close to the bus
Bigger than what I have now, but not so big that I would be paying for wasted space
Building is 4 years old, only 1 owner before me

Cons:
At the very top of my budget
Bigger of the two balconies faces north, onto the parking lot and other balconies
Doesn't really have a view
Would have to take the metro to work
Might take 10 minutes longer to get to work (by metro)
Probably 15 minutes longer to get to work on my bike
No parking spot (but I don't have a car anyway, this is just for resale purposes, 10 years down the road)

I'm nit-picking, I know. But I've been up since 4am thinking about this and trying to find all the bad things that could throw things out of balance for me. After work tonight I'm going to take the metro there (see how long it takes) and walk around the neighbourhood to see how long it would really take to do things. But as you can probably tell, I'm pretty much sold on the place!

Fitness Test

After our last fitness test in January, I gave myself some goals to reach before the next test. More than my usual, just get to practice and see how much I improve. This time I really did push myself, sometimes a little bit too much.

Bench press max weight: goal - break 100lbs (stuck at 95lbs since last August); realised: 105! I might have been able to do 110lbs if one of my spotters wasn't a such a complete idiot - I had to try it 3 times because of her and finally stopped because I could see I was tiring out. Argh.
Bench press reps: goal 70 reps; realised: 74!
Bench row reps: goal 80 reps; realised: 88!
Back extension: goal 6:30; realised: 3:40 (got a cramp in my left leg from my calf all the way up the back of my thigh, v. disappointed)
Sprinter run reps: goal 200; realised: 229!
Sit ups: goal 70; realised: 73!
Push ups: goal 20; realised: 20!
Chin ups: goal 1; realised: 0 (despite all my visualizing, positive thinking and really "seeing" my goal - argh!)

Anywhere where we have to do our maximum reps, we have 90 seconds to go full out.

So proud of myself. Granted, I still can't do a single chin up but I will.

Visits

Visited another condo this afternoon and have one to visit tomorrow. I gotta say, I really did not expect to be looking at so many places. So far nothing has really impressed me.

And really, the only fun part about visiting all these places is that mostly I can be all judgmental in my head and nobody will think I'm a bad person. Also - I must be some kind of neat freak because some of these places are so filthy and crammed with stuff and ugh, I want to bring extra socks in my purse so I can change after walking on their nasty dog/cat hair balled floors (today). Does this make me a bad person? Maybe. Maybe not. But really, people at least make your damn bed (last week)!

Who wants chocolate?!

Montreal Mix is selling chocolate again to raise funds for various competitions this summer. I have lovely Belgian (though of course, not nearly as good as Swiss ;) chocolate - caramel filled, coffee flavour and dark, as well as dark chocolate squares with caramel filling. I'll tell you now - it's ALL good!

Please buy some so I don't eat it all. Heh.

More visits

Stopped by two more condos last night. Both were good sizes but the oddest layouts! In one, the bedrooms were larger than the living room and in the other, all the rooms were these small squares exactly the same size. Very weird.

Have another place lined up to visit early next week and am also going to expand my search area into Côte St-Paul/Ville Émard area to see if I can get more for my money there. The one thing I have noticed so far is that the further west you go, the higher the municipal taxes are - ouch.

The visits

Not off to such a great start. Visited five condos on Saturday and none of them I would even give a second thought.

Condo #1: bank repossession - hasn't been taken care of in a long time. Water tank had leaked, ruined the floor and part of the wall in one area, top of radiators were rusty, walls were filthy, kitchen in dire need of complete remodel.

Condo #2: 3rd floor above a hair salon, on busy street. Large but needs a complete gut job. I'm talking floors, walls, ceiling, doors, kitchen, bathroom and back porch area (the floor sagged and was soft under foot).

Condo #3: 2nd floor on an avenue in Verdun, close to the metro. Clean, bright but living room, dining room are smaller than what I have now and the kitchen is half the size of what I have now. There was a good sized second bedroom and balconies in the front and back. But apparently not such a safe avenue.

Condo #4: 2nd floor unit, in the process of being renovated haphazardly. New floors, new kitchen, new bathroom but they didn't replace the windows, half of which don't/can't open. No outside space. Building not secure in a sketchy area.

Condo #5: Remodeled 2 floor unit. Main floor with updated kitchen (not much cupboard space though) and half-bath but no room for a table. Oh and no closet on the main floor - where do you keep your boots? Or if you have a table, then you don't have a living room. Bedrooms upstairs, both irregular shaped, hard to fit furniture. No outside space, no extra storage space.

Was a little disappointed by this search. But my agent has already sent me links to a couple of other places. He'll try and get some more information for me and set up appointments this week. Suivant, next!

The search begins

Will be visiting 6 condos tomorrow afternoon with my real estate agent. Two of them look good from what I can see on mls, the other four it's too hard to tell. I will try to remember to post my reviews tomorrow night.

Expressions & Sayings

Some of the funny or odd things the kids said in Belize:

"Ca'isee?" - Can I see?
"What o'clock?" - What time is it?
"We ball!" - Our ball
"Where you done gone?" - Where did you go?
"Back!" - Pick me up
Miss Julie, Miss Jenna and Miss Janet - Julia, Jen and Janice (as for me, half the time I was Miss Stephanie, the other half Ma'am!)

Instead of saying "Hi" or something similar, people in Belize actually greet you by the time of day with good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night. So even at night, if someone enters a room, store, etc. you get a "good night" out of them as they're coming in, even though they're not saying good-bye. It took a few days to catch on to this but I quite liked it.

Sold!

At last - I have sold my condo!

Nearly a year to make it happen, but finally it has happened.

Since putting it back on the market in February there has been a steady stream of visitors which in itself gave me hope that a buyer would turn up soon. However, I wasn't expecting somebody to see it once and then present an offer 6 hours later. That is what happened though.

After hearing the offer, going through it all with the agent and then (not) sleeping on it, I decided to accept. The offer is very nearly 95% of my asking price. Naturally, I would've liked even more but after a year, the current market conditions, I think it would be too risky for me to ask for more just for the sake of another two or three thousand dollars. I would much rather accept, sign and move on!

I'm thrilled, excited and scared. Now I have to find a new place to live!

February 7

Saturday

Up early this morning for a half day trip out to Caye Caulker. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It started off a little chilly but warmed up beautifully and was clear and sunny all day.

Caye Caulker is a small island off the coast of Belize. Very small and caters exclusively to tourists but looks like a decent place to stay for a couple of days. Julia had been before so she took us over to a quiet little place right on the water where we had our breakfast picnic. My breakfast tostadas never tasted so good! We hung out there for a while, got some sun and recapped bits of this week. We walked around the town a little, stopped at the market stalls and bought some earrings. Back on the water taxi by noon feeling very much like I'd just spent a whole day relaxing, not just a few hours.

We stopped at the Robateau's to pick up Keith and then back to the church while Jen and Janice packed. For lunch we finished off the last of the tostadas. I'm embarrassed to even think how many I've eaten by this point. Probably just as well we're heading home tomorrow.

Got Jen and Janice to the airport for 2:30pm and then Keith, Julia and I drove out to the eco-reserve park to go for a swim. There weren't many people there so we were all pretty happy about that. We all had a swim (chilly, but I made it in!) and then warmed up in the sun.

Back at the school we had our last dinner together. Julia and Keith played a bit of hockey with some of the kids and by 9:30pm everyone had gone.

Major Robateau apparently told Keith that at first he wasn't too sure about having a team of four women come down to work for the week, but after seeing what we could do and did do, he said next time keep the guys away and bring us back!

It's been great working with Keith and Julia again and also a lot of fun getting to know Janice and Jen (Julia's cousin).

Oh - this afternoon, as we were getting ready to pull out from the school to go to the airport, all of a sudden, behind us this little head popped out from the back seat and there was Ishmael! Even funnier was that we'd been joking last night about him doing exactly that kind of thing!

Anyway, it was sad to see the girls go. Really felt like our group was breaking up. We worked well together and enjoyed each other's company. With any luck, we'll be able to do it again some time. Soon, I hope.

Not done yet

I know, I know. Haven't finished typing up my notes from Belize. It's coming. I'm just wiped out right now. Back soon.

February 6

Friday

Last day of work.

I think we can say we completed our projects here. We finished the floor just after lunch and the ceiling in the office. The bathroom is done. The dining room and kitchen at the school are done. There is still the stuff for the bedroom to go back in, but really most of that the Robideau's need to go through themselves. Although I would've loved to go through and purge, purge, purge. Oh well, next life maybe.

For lunch today Miss Rhoda made us something special! She made us fresh tacos (actually tostadas, as I have recently found out) and homemade salsa fresca. OH MAN! So amazing. So incredibly spicy, but still so amazing! Julia told us the bowl of salsa was soup (it was still hot) so I filled a bowl, threw my spoon in and swallowed a full spoonful. Figured out pretty damn fast that it was not soup. We had a good laugh at my expense.

This afternoon after school, we took 9 or 10 (yes, 10) of the kids to Old Belize to swim at the beach. It rained off and on while we were there and it wasn't exactly hot. I had no intention of going swimming and am glad I didn't. The kids enjoyed it - the beach, swimming, the water slide, jumping around, splashing. And it was fine while they were in the water and moving. But a lot of them didn't have towels to dry off, just a change of clothes, if that. Little Kevin, Leroy's brother, just shook and shook with cold. Janice had also wrapped him up tight in a her towel. So tight that he lost his balance and fell over sideways into the sand. The poor kid couldn't even put out a hand to stop him. Because he was wrapped so tight he couldn't move himself to get out of the sand. Janice and I did giggle a little at that but she got him sorted out quickly enough. On the way home in the van, we ate ALL the popcorn that Julia made last night. Crazy. I should've taken a picture of that. Anyway - the kids LOVED the popcorn. The bag was empty when we got back to the school.

Today was a lot of fun. Loud, a little chaotic but we didn't lose anybody and nobody got hurt so that was a success. I hope the kids enjoyed it too and remember it for a long time. I know I will.

Tomorrow we're supposed to go to Caye Caulker so I hope it's warm and sunny!

February 5

Thursday

Note to self: never run after a robber. Gun, no gun - just don't. Still - have started fantasizing about hurting yesterday's robber. Stiletto heels are featured prominently.

Short work day today but as ever - tiring. Julia and I tiled most of the floor in the room. Julia glued the floor, I placed the tiles. Tomorrow we'll finish up the cut pieces along the edge. Damn but that room looks almost like new already! We are good!

Jen and Janice spent the morning at the school sorting some supplies for the teachers. But they had to make a quick get-away after being called to the principle's office. Yesterday afternoon while Keith, Janice and Julia were at the police station, Jen gave the kids some street chalk (I was hiding out cleaning the stove in the kitchen, terrible, I know ...) to keep them occupied after she'd played a million and one other games with them. Where she gets the energy, I don't know. Anyway - this morning as Jen and Janice were walking through the school yard, a voice called down to them from the upper floor classrooms, "Good morning". Janice apparently said hi back, but Jen says she knew right away. It was the principle. And she was calling them up to her office. Because the ground of the school yard and a lot of the walls were covered with chalk drawings and words (only 2 f-words, which we rubbed off before school). Well, Miss Garbutt (truly her name, and apparently cousin to our new young friend, Egbert (Eggy) Garbutt, I kid you not) was not impressed at the state of her campus that morning. Jen and Janice were given a talking to and it was understood that no more chalk would be handed out to any child, student or not. Aiieeeeeeee! Of course, later that day it poured and I mean POURED with rain and all the chalk got washed off. If only it had rained during the night! Miss Garbutt (can't help myself) would've never known the difference. Ah well. Chalk it up to experience (pun completely intended ;)

For lunch today we didn't get robbed. Yeah! No, the Robideau's took us to Old Belize. About 15 minutes away by car, there's a restaurant and cultural interpretation centre as well as a man-made beach and water slide. Lunch was nice; unfortunately it rained most of the morning and early afternoon. The museum part gave us a tour of Belize from 100 year ago. Our guide, Frank, was interesting, even though we were noisy and he had to start his presentation twice before we noticed we were about to be given a tour. It was hard not to get the giggles!

On the way back into town, we dropped Mrs. Robideau off at home (the Major had left us earlier to attend a funeral). From there we headed over to the handicraft market. They had such beautiful things there (and also at the souvenir shop at Old Belize) - great carvings and wood work. Here I was able to buy a beautiful salad bowl set made from 7 types of wood found in Belize. It'll match the chopping board at Old Belize! Then we stopped at another little outdoor flea market (i.e. tourist trap). Other than a pair of earrings, we didn't buy much.

The others all played with the kids while I got dinner ready. When dinner was ready that meant it was goodnight to the kids as well.

Julia's prepared some the hugest bag EVER of popcorn for our trip back to Old Belize tomorrow afternoon with some of the kids. I just hope it's sunny. It would be a shame if the kids couldn't swim. At any rate, should be ... loud!

February 4

Wednesday

Today started off normally enough. Slept terribly (couldn't get my earplugs to stay in) but didn't feel too bad this morning. We all went over to the Robideau's and worked until noon. Keith was off with the Major to the Rotary Club for lunch which left us on our own for lunch. We decided to bring a picnic with us and catch some sun down on the water front.

We had eaten our lunch and were all relaxing and enjoying the sun when a guy came up to us and asked for a dollar. This is a pretty common occurrence here being that we're white. Usually we just refuse and that's the end of the story. Not today. Today Julia refused him. He asked a few questions (why wouldn't she give him money) but when we wouldn't give him any money, he did finally leave. I was lying down on the cement at this point, just chilling, listened to this exchange and found it a little off. But the guy left so I dismissed it. Just made sure I was hanging on tight to my backpack and relaxed again. A few minutes later though, he was back. This time he tried to hit Janice up for a dollar. She wouldn't give him any money either. This time he didn't want to take no for an answer. Janice finally reached into her bag to give him some money but he reached over (from on his bike) and grabbed her bad and rode off on his bike.

I didn't see this happen. All I heard was suddenly Janice saying "He took my bag." She didn't sound excited, scared - just like she was stating a simple fact. I swear, the second I heard "he took my bag", I was sitting up, jumping off the cement barrier, pulling my backpack on and started to run after this guy, tightening my backpack as I ran. I never thought twice. About half a block away, as the guy was turning up a street, the girls were yelling after me to stop, to come back. I couldn't figure it out. I shouted back something stupid about we could catch him, come on. He wasn't riding fast. But then then Julia shouted after me (she had to shout, I was too far away for her to just speak in a normal voice) "GUN!!!" I was still running though but now I looked behind me, kinda slowing down as the word was sinking in. Julia shouted again "HE HAS A GUN!!!" I was almost at the corner where this guy had gone with Janice's bag. All of a sudden, I got it. This guy had a gun!

I didn't see this guy face on. I couldn't even tell you the colour of his bike or what he was wearing. All I could see was Janice's purple metallic bag hanging off his left hand.

Anyway, apparently Janice only noticed the gun when she finally decided to give him the dollar. Julia saw the shape of it under his shirt the second time he came by. We walked around the block hoping to see the bag thrown down on the ground but couldn't find it. Janice didn't want us to go down the street he'd come up. She wanted to stay on the busy street and get back to the school.

So we picked up the few things we needed at a couple of different hardware stores, stopped for an iced coffee and made our way back to the school. We were going to clean and paint the stove/sink/fridge wall in the kitchen. Janice needed a little time on her own, so she went back up to the church to chill for a bit. Julia, Jen and I started in the kitchen.

When Keith got back, Julia told him what had happened. He was shocked of course. He took Janice and Julia to the police station to report the theft. That took a lot longer than he thought it would but they took the situation very seriously. At any rate, at the very least, Janice will have the police report for her insurance and will hopefully be able to get back a little money. Luckily Janice didn't have much in her bag. Only about $6, her water but also her camera and her watch. Obviously she was upset about losing her camera but was glad not to have been hurt. In fact, all of us felt pretty much the same way.

Think we all felt pretty terrible about the whole thing. I'm kicking myself now for not being more aware of what was going on. I should've got up after the first time that guy asked for money. I should've made sure we all had a good handle on our stuff or at least made sure we had a dollar easily available to hand over without having to open our bags. So stupid. And then running after him. What the hell was I thinking?! Well, I didn't know he had a gun. All I could think of was pushing that asshole off his bike, getting Janice's bag and then hurting this guy. Really hurting him. Kicking him, stamping on him ... I'm not a violent person so I'm having trouble thinking of how I can hurt this guy. Kicking and stamping is all I got.

Anyway ... the day did end on a happier note. We had a BBQ for the kids. Hamburgers and hot dogs for all the kids. And there wasn't a crumb left. Luckily we had some potatoes and I was able to cook those up for us, with a little bit of salad on the side.

The girls played outside with the kids until 8pm and then we had our down time. Our week is coming up fast to its close. Our work at the Robideau's is nearly complete and the same at the school.

Tired now. It's been a long day.

February 3

Tuesday

I'm beat. Think we worked hard today.

The Triple J's stayed here at the school this morning to do their workshops with the kids. All three of them are super happy with the way it turned out. They did 2 hygiene sessions with the younger kids in the morning and then a sexual health one with the older kids in the afternoon.

While all that was going on, Keith and I continued working at the Robideau's. We did do a little bit of shopping after lunch. Got Jen a new air mattress as hers has a leak. Anyway, work - in the bedroom I got the first coat of paint over the base this morning and then a second coat this afternoon. Keith got drafted by the Major to help him with the ceiling in the DHQ office downstairs.

I'll admit, it was good to be alone for awhile. For some reason this time (trip) I'm finding the constant people and noise a little hard to take. It's not that anybody's pissing me off or anything like that. I'm just glad for a little alone time is all.

This afternoon after the girls finished the sessions, they came over to the house and helped finish up. The bedroom is looking pretty nice now. We'll be able to start putting the floor down tomorrow! I hope I get to use the drill :) The bathroom still needs another coat of paint it's looking miles better already.

Tonight after supper we took the 5 of us and 15!!! of the local kids down to get ice cream. Crammed all 20 of us into the van. Despite the crowd, the kids were amazingly well behaved. I thought for sure it would be complete chaos but it wasn't so bad. The people at the shop were great. They didn't even blink when I said 20 people were about to descend on them. Guess they're used to tour buses.

Oh yeah - this morning after a lovely break with fresh orange (peeled ever so kindly by Mrs. Robideau. I don't even remember the last time anybody peeled me anything. That woman is so nice), Keith was going to show me the work that needed to be done there. The Major come out and started back to work. Keith was helping him a moment later and before I had a chance to leave, the phone rang. Major asked me to answer. I hesitated, looked at Keith - who could hardly contain himself, and answered the phone. "Good morning, Salvation Army." Took the message. Hung up. And then Keith burst out laughing. Smart ass. Wait until Mom hears about this. She will laugh too.

I have a lot of thoughts about this country. It seems like it should be extremely beautiful and well kept but so far, in the city, that is precisely what it isn't. It's extremely poor, dirty and in complete disrepair. I know the tourists go to other areas of the country but surely the do see some of the city. There is a Tourist Village here. Feel confused, overwhelmed, tired. But all the same very glad to be here.

February 2

Monday

What a day! Woke up to a crazy loud rain storm. Up here in the church it sounded like a train or a truck or something ridiculously loud was going through. Plus we can also hear the rain beating down on the tin roofs all around us. I could hear it through my earplugs (which I am very glad to have, by the way) and could not figure out what the noise was. Anyway, it rained basically all morning. So much rain in fact, that many roads were flooded and caused traffic problems.

Our morning of painting went very well. Jen, Keith and I started on the Robideau's extra bedroom while Janice and Julia worked in the bathroom. We came back to the school for lunch. Miss Rhoda is the cook at the school and sees that about 100 kids get their lunch each day (some also get breakfast). Back to the house after lunch to finish up our first day.

While Jen, Janice and I painted this afternoon. Keith and Julia took the two boxes full of medication and medical supplies (donated by Health Partners) to a local clinic. This was a great success and much appreciated. Think they said they took some pictures.

After cleaning up we came back again to the school and painted the bottom portion of the "dining room" walls in a dark green. We got the kids to help us tape the ledges and even gave each of them the brush to paint something on the wall before we covered it up properly. The little kids loved this! I made a simple girl happy face with hair. Picasso I am not.

Miss Rhoda came back while we were painting and made us these fry cake things. Like a beaver tail, but I guess it's a Belizean version. Whatever - they were amazing. And then Mrs. Robideau came by and brought us some pizza for our dinner. Must've cost a fortune here! There was still some left over, plus the food from yesterday and Saturday's leftovers ... we're not going to run out of food any time soon. I just hope we get to eat it all before it goes bad.

Tonight the other girls played Tag and Hide n' Seek with the kids while Keith and I painted a second coat on the walls in the dining room. The paint dries so fast here. Crazy. Later, while the girls were preparing for their workshops tomorrow with the school kids, I sat outside and chatted with some of the kids. They are at times loud, quiet, violent, caring, playful, bullies. It's very confusing.

The Creole and their accent is hard to understand but I'm starting to get it. Sometimes though I have to ask the kid to repeat something they've said two or three times and it still doesn't make any sense to me. Ah well. Even now, 8:40pm, there are still a bunch of them outside, chatting, laughing and arguing.

February 1

11pm now. Long day but fairly relaxing.

Kind of an awkward start this morning. Couldn't figure out how to open the door to the school to go to the bathroom. Tried all four keys. Twice. Damn door would not open. Decided to just sit outside and wait until Keith woke up and opened the door. Didn't have to wait long. All my messing about with the keys woke him up and about 30 seconds after I stopped all the jingling, he opened the door. Sigh ... I'm such an idiot. The inside door didn't even need a key to open, all I had to do was push.

Then of course, trying to be as quiet as I can, I made all kinds of noise. Dropped my soap. Nearly shrieked at the cold water only shower. Made a wooden bar fall on the floor. Sigh ...

Before church started, Keith and Julia went to move the van so we could get out later and go pick up Janice and Jen from the airport. While they were doing that I started taking pictures of the school yard. I was still doing this when they walked back, with a few of the local kids in tow. The kids wanted to know why I was taking pictures of their school yard. If I told them that schools in Montreal didn't have dirty cement walls and topped with barbed wire they wouldn't believe me. I just let them think I'm a crazy white lady.

We made a quick trip to the local market for some fruit. Better prices than the grocery store (I think) and much better looking produce. We got some yummy mini-bananas and a gorgeous pineapple. The guy at the market told us that if we were going to eat the pineapple today, we should pull the top off. He did that for us in one pull. Very impressive. Apparently you should only do this if you're going to eat the pineapple that day. Huh.

We got to skip out of church half way through (woo hoo!) to go to the airport. Back in town, we walked down to the DC's house for lunch. It's about a 10-15 minute walk from the school. Mrs. Robideau made us a typical Belizean lunch, served buffet style because there was just no room to put 7 of us around a table what with all the stuff that got pulled out of their spare room. She made fried plantains. My favourite. They were delicious. Also rice and beans, plus potato salad, some chicken dish and some fresh veggies.

Janice and Jen both seem very nice and friendly. Jen is quick to laugh. Janice is a little more quiet but it's easy to see she's completely genuine and kind. So our Triple J is complete (took a picture of the three J's in front of a water taxi place actually called "Triple J"!). We seem to be a good mix of characters.

Those kids played hockey and football for hours non-stop. Crazy.

Tonight we went for a drive around Belize and wound up at the Casino. At the bar we ordered a bottle of coke and 5 glasses. Heh - bet they weren't too happy with that order. The bar had this living room set in white fabric covered completely in clear plastic. So weird. We arrived just in time to see the half time show (Bruce Springsteen) then back to the school to sorted our bags for our work this week.

Finished the day with a game of Dutch Blitz. First time I heard of this game but caught on easily (if slowly) enough. Didn't do so hot but that's OK. Have to see if I can buy this at home.

Looking forward to starting work tomorrow.

January 31

After an early start from home, I made it to Belize on time and with all my luggage. Keith and Julia were here to meet me.

We're staying in the church. The girls anyway. Keith will be staying down in the school, in the eating area.

Discovered that if you keep the ceiling fans on while trying to heat water for pasta on a gas stove, it will take about half an hour. Funny how fast it went once we turned the fans off. Note to self: keep the fans off in the kitchen, no matter the heat.

Speaking of heat. It's warm, low 20's tonight. Not as hot as I was expecting. But that's OK. Anything is better than snow, ice and freezing temps.

Did a quick drive by tour of Belize City tonight. Will do a more complete tour tomorrow once Jen (Julia's cousin) and Janice (friend of Jen) arrive. They arrive late tomorrow morning. "Downtown" Belize reminds me very much of Panama. Particularly the difference from the rich to the poor. And how close one is to the other. Sometimes no further than across the street.

Have so far been introduced to Charles, Ishmael and Isiah? I can't remember his name! Kids that live just on the other side of the cement school fence. Julia & Keith played soccer with them before dinner. They played to 5 goals. It was pretty funny. Those kids may be genius with a soccer ball but the hockey sticks are awkward in their hands.

Monday we'll start work at the Divisional Commanders' (DC's) house. Mostly organizing, painting and new flooring in there for the new officers coming in to the quarters this spring.

These kids LOVE Julia. I can see that already. She's a magnet. Right now they're huddling close around her and playing Spider Solitaire. They can't get close enough.

It's been a long day. Think we're all pretty much ready for bed. Our bathroom is out the church door, down the flights of stairs, along the alley and in the school building ... hopefully won't need too many middle of the night visits.

Belize apparently lives off the tourists but none of that wealth is trickling down to this people in this area. The people around us are living in shacks - it's hard to believe. Many don't have a proper roof, windows, not even proper plumbing it seems. Garbage pick up looks to be nothing more than taking it outside to the curb and then letting the street dogs loose on it. How do these people survive?

What do people earn as a "good" living here? What's going on that they are so poor? It just doesn't seem possible that they can go on, day after day, like this. It's hard to understand.

Home again

Back from Belize. Had a great time, took loads of pictures and learned some new skills and a little bit of English Creole too.

Am in the midst of editing 487 pictures so bear with me. I'll get them up to flickr as soon as I can. Will also give you the day-to-day updates of the trip starting tomorrow, probably.

This was just as intense emotionally as the past trips to Panama but in different ways. I'll get to that soon.

All in all, I'd go again in a second.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

6:10pm - New flickr set is up here.

Last one

Safe to say I'm excited now. Couldn't focus on anything long enough to get stuff done last night so it'll all have to happen tonight. No pressure.

Also, put my condo back on the market. Fingers crossed and all that hoo-hah. Third time lucky, right?

2 ... !

Panic hasn't set in yet but in case it does, Super C gave me the most fantastic toy ever when we met for lunch today.

Check this out!!!

3 More

Thanks to a night at home last night, I am now pretty sure all my stuff will fit. As much as I'm trying to pack light, the hockey bag seems to have filled up fast. Looks like I may pull out a few things before the final pack on Friday night.

Aren't you thrilled?

4 Days

Woosh! Where does the time go? Down to 4 days until departure..

Had my first fitness test of the year last night. Some things are better, some are the same and some are worse. No surprise there but still not impressed with myself.

Here are the details:

The maximum weight I can bench press is still 95lbs (same)
The maximum reps I can bench press in 90 seconds (using 45lbs) is 62 (better)
The maximum reps I can bench row in 90 seconds (using 45lbs) is 62 (worse)
I can do a back extension for 6 minutes, 20 seconds (better)
I can do 188 sprinter runs in 90 seconds (same)
I can do 63 sit ups in 90 seconds (worse)
I can do 0 push-ups in 90 seconds (way worse)
I can do zero chin-ups in 90 seconds (same - heh)

6 Days Left

Less than a week until I leave for Belize! Even though 2009 is less than a month old, it feels like it's been January forever. Probably because it's been so horribly cold here for a good two weeks now.

This trip will be different than my past trips to Panama. We're a small group, only 5 of us. We'll be staying in the church and doing work ... not too sure where yet. The other 3 women on the trip will be doing some health and nutrition sessions with the kids at the school (which happens to be right next door to the church). After school we may also be kicking soccer balls around the school yard with the kids.

Can't wait to experience Belize!

Anagrams

Did you know that one anagram of my name (there are a lot), Stephanie, comes up with:

Panties eh

How appropriate is that for a Canadian woman?!

Athlete

Last night I picked up my new access card to the Olympic Basin training facility. The card has a cool picture of the Big O (not sure why but anyway) and a dragon (for us dragon boaters!). It also has my name and title of "Athlete".

Athlete! I tell ya. Is that the funniest thing you've ever heard about me or what?! I've been called a lot of things before but athlete has never, ever been one of them.

My niece is famous! Check this out!

Read the whole thing. Sister-in-law (Sue), nephew Wesley, and proud aunt (i.e. Me!) all get a mention too.

Christmas Baking

If you want to see what all the baking was about, click here.

Happy New Year

2009 is here. Weird, eh? Doesn't it seem like Y2K was just a minute ago?

Reflecting (briefly) on 2008 here are a few highlights:

March - earn TESL certificate
June - win first Dragon Boat race of the season, take Darcy to see Robert Munsch
August - win second Dragon Boat race (getting quite used to it!)
September - Kathryn & John's wedding
October - up my TESL certificate to Honours with specialization in business English
November - babysit Darcy & Wesley for a week, come out alive

Being who I am, I can't ignore the stuff that didn't quite go my way:

March to September - real estate agent #1 doesn't market my condo, it doesn't sell
September to December - real estate agent #2 takes on my condo but financial crisis brings market to a screaming halt, condo doesn't sell
November - take 2 sick days, breaking my 8 year good attendance record at the firm
December - Dragon Boat team decide once and for all we won't be going to China in 2009

And yet more

Baking, that is. Don't tell me you're surprised.

Simple stuff today. Chocolate, cranberry and pistachio bark. Double ginger cookies.

I figure three more and I should be set. In case anyone's worried, the Toblerone cookies will be one of those three.

More Baking

My cookie tins are filling up fast ...

Saturday I managed to make some pumpkin cranberry bars and some pumpkin muffins. Today I made lemon drop cookies, jam filled cookies and chocolate ice box cookies.

Just a few more to go.

Off to a good start, sorta

Made a good start on the Christmas baking yesterday (molasses spice cookies, lemon poppy seed cookies and cranberry noel cookies, as well as caramelized almonds) but felt like I needed a break today. So I didn't bake anything. Sorry.

Maybe tomorrow. Sometime between 12 and 5pm. While I wait for the Videotron technician to come by and fix my cable problem.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everybody.

Maybe now is a good time to start baking some cookies.

Workout

Now that dragon boat training is finished for 2008 (back again in Jan. 09) I've been hitting the gym every day again to keep my cardio up. All good!

Or it was all good ... until my usual bus didn't show. Took an alternate bus, trudged through unploughed sidewalks and streets to the metro. I got to the gym at 6:30am today only to discover that the gym was only open from 7:15am to 3:00pm (who knew there was a Christmas Eve schedule?). There I am, in 15cm of snow, in front of the gym with a change of clothes, but no towel and no make-up so I couldn't go and shower at work. Only one thing left to do. Back in the metro, managed to catch a bus when I got off the metro and made it home by 7am. Quick shower and change and still made it back to work for 8 o'clock!

Got my workout, of sorts, just not the one I was expecting. Way to teach me how read.

6am Jumper

Who jumps on the tracks before 6am?

So it's Monday. Back to the routine. Out of bed at 5:45am, on the bus at 6:03, arrive at the metro by about 6:07 only to find out there's a JUMPER on the tracks and service will be re-established by 6:15, then 6:24, then 6:33, then ... I don't know because I'd had it. Back up ALL the stairs, back onto a bus at 6:42, finally got on a machine at the gym by 7:10am. My one hour of early morning cardio and crunches turned into a brief 20 minutes of cardio and that was all I had time for.

Not the best start to my week, especially with the icy sidewalks, slushy corners and leaky boots.

What was I thinking?

Why did I take the bus home tonight? I knew it was snowing. I knew it had been snowing all day. I knew we'd had more than the predicted 5cm. I knew downtown would be a mess. But did I take the metro? Did I walk home? NO!

I took the bus and it took precisely and exactly one hour and 25 minutes to get home. Sometimes I really wonder ...

Voice

Please can I have my voice back now? Still better than last week but not all back yet. Very frustrating.

Also, this sinus rinse and nose spray stuff makes me gag and cough like I have never coughed and gagged before. Yeesh.

Wesley, you're a little bugger.

Summary

Been wondering how I survived last week? Me too.

Trip to Windsor on Thursday was uneventful. No delays, arrived just in time for dinner. Friday we got the schedule for the coming week and did a run to the bus stop to figure out how it all worked. Friday night Nick & Sue left just after putting the kids to bed. Sue was suspiciously quiet ... think she was missing them before even leaving the house. Funny though, that afternoon Darcy told Sue, "You can go now, Mom." Guess someone was ready to get the party started.

Despite all warnings that Wesley would cry every night for 20-30 minutes after putting him to bed, he only did that the first night. The rest of the week he would chat or sing to himself a little and then drift off after about 10 minutes. He did cry a little at nap time in the afternoon but that was kinda all over the place.

Saturday morning we headed to the mall. It was cold and rainy and there really wasn't much else to do. Never had I seen so much of a mall floor and so little of the shops. That's what happens when you let the 1-year old out of his stroller. Wesley managed to fall asleep in the car as we were on our way home ...

Sunday my parents took the kids to church and I fed my OCD by taking the Magic Eraser to the dishwasher (sorry, couldn't help myself). At breakfast though, I was feeding Wesley his cereal and he sneezed out the longest snot I had ever seen in my entire life. It must've been 6 inches long. It was gross. Pretty sure I gagged a little. Darcy, my Dad (aka Papa to Darcy) and I made crafts in the afternoon - paper crowns and snowflakes.

Monday I took my Dad to the airport bright and early and later took Darcy to swimming. Mom stayed home with Wesley. Darcy's a great little swimmer! She was fearless in the water. Looks like she'll be swimming laps in no time. Got her off to school without any problem. Wesley was apparently pretty cranky without Darcy around. Heh. Found Darcy a little cranky by dinner time. Heh. Realised just how much Wesley likes to climb on stuff. Stairs, boxes, chairs, sofas, anything really. Wesley kissed me for the first time, unasked no less. Just suddenly turned to me and start smooching his lips at me. No cheeks for him either. He kisses on the mouth.

Tuesday ... ummm ... think Mom's OCD started to hit her. She started cleaning the fridge. Oh yeah and then Darcy's little friend Quinn from across the street, who also takes the school bus with her, came over after school. It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes when he yelled "PEE!" I just pointed him in the direction of the stairs. A minute later he was yelling again and I realised the gate was locked. Unlocked it for him and asked if everything was ok and did he need any help. Quinn didn't answer, just ran up the stairs. A minute or so after that I could hear what sounded like crying (over the sound of Wesley screeching to climb up on my lap - his chosen favourite of the day). Turned out Quinn hadn't been able to get his pants undone fast enough and ended up peeing down his leg. So then Mom got him ready to go home, with much crying and carrying on by Quinn. No sooner did Quinn leave but Darcy burst into tears of dismay that her friend had gone.

Wednesday - Mom's OCD hit in full and mine too. She finished cleaning the fridge and freezer, while I cleaned the microwave and cabinet, inside and out. In the morning, while I was helping Darcy get dressed, Mom was trying to dress Wesley but she didn't have his clothes ready and he was so wiggly that she decided to let him walk around naked for a little. Of course he came into Darcy's room, where all the action was. But I didn't see him come in. All I heard was Darcy suddenly screaming with hilarity "Wesley's peeing on my carpet!" I turned to look and sure enough, there he was stood still, peeing, not a care in the world. All our racket must've scared it back up because he stopped and then ran around laughing and beating his chest (good Monkey Boy!). Seconds later he was climbing up Darcy's chair (still naked!), sat down and started really peeing. Like, there was a puddle of pee. Well, Darcy and I were practically peeing ourselves from laughing so hard and then Mom was there too doubled over laughing. She explained what she'd done and we explained what he'd done. Finally we did manage to get everyone suitably dressed (and took the blanket off the chair and straight down to the laundry). Nick and Sue called later that morning. Darcy probably told them 3 times that Wesley peed on her chair. Good stories never get old, right?

After Wesley's power nap that afternoon, we headed out to the mall. Better success this time as we took the little stroller and Monkey Boy was happy to sit in that and look around. I managed to get Sue's birthday present (lovely loose teas) and we ran a couple of little errands. Darcy had a bit of a meltdown before dinner. You know, not listening, didn't want to clean up, little whiny, etc. Then at dinner nothing was pleasing her and so it all kinda fell apart. Mom took care of that pretty fast and pretty soon there were more laughs than tears. They went out to Kids Club and I stayed with Wesley.

Thursday - Mom and I did more cleaning (not to say that the place was dirty - it's just that we're the type of people that need to be doing stuff like that, even if it's not our house - we just can't help it). Wesley obviously has Swiss blood in him. He climbed on everything in the basement, including Darcy's dollhouse even though he's bigger. Darcy went over to Quinn's after school and came home a little cranky again. Huh. Maybe it's just a long day for her? I dunno. Bath time after dinner sure gave us plenty of laughs. Think the kids went to bed happy and tired that night.

Friday - last bit of kitchen cleaning (heh!) and last day of school for the week. All Darcy could talk about was that her Papa was coming back that night. Never mind that her Auntie and Grandmaman had taken care of her all week ... all she was interested in was her Papa. Hmph. Anyway, Quinn came over again after school. No pee accidents this time (phew) but Wesley managed to bite him and boy, did that make Quinn cry! We played Dora the Explorer bingo (can you see how far I've fallen?) and I lost my voice. My mom took Darcy to pick up my Dad from the airport. Darcy was so excited! And still pretty excited when they got back to the house. Papa even had to put her to bed and read her stories.

Saturday - Mom baked Sue's birthday cake in the morning (strawberry cheesecake) and I baked chocolate chip cookies with Darcy as my helper in the afternoon. Bit more cleaning (what are we like?!) At dinner, in stage whisper, Darcy told us she thought she was losing her voice. Kid is quite a drama queen. Also very argumentative - career in law? Sue's parents dropped by for a quick visit in the evening and the kids were thrilled to see them. Big kisses and hugs for everybody. Wesley didn't play shy at all - it was very sweet. Nick & Sue were knocking on the door by about 9:45pm. After a quick check of the kids, they sat down and were happy to tell us about their cruise. Sounds like they had a great time.

Sunday - we were on the road by 9am and dropping me off at home just after 6pm.

Happy 40th!

Happy Birthday to Yvette! My best friend turns 40 today. Phew - where the heck have the last 20+ years gone?

Just think, Why - imagine if we hadn't been in the same Grade 7 music class? You would've never seen lunatic me singing "Good Night Ladies" into my clarinet (really, I am certifiable) and we wouldn't have laughed ourselves silly ever since. Crazy.

Have a great birthday! And take notes on being 40. I'll be turning to you for advice sooner than I like to think (or can manage to calculate in my head).

Back home safe and sound. Pictures are up here. Details about the experience soon.

Much reduced

After Sunday's fiasco of an open house, my agent suggested I drop the listing price for my condo. I was fully prepared to agree. What I wasn't prepared for was a $20,000 drop. But after his research, my research and a long string of emails back and forth, I had to agree that he was right. If I want to sell my place, it will never sell at its current price. Papers have been signed and updates will follow shortly on the various real estate web sites. Hopefully this means things will move quickly now. At any rate, my agent is very positive and encouraging.

What pisses me off more than anything is that I trusted real estate agent #1 (back in March) to list my place appropriately, given it's location and the type of unit it is. It is very obvious to me now that she never had any intention of selling my place. I'm well shot of her and look forward to moving ... soon!

Open House

Anybody wanna buy a condo?

Open house from 2-4pm at my place today. Stop on by. BUY MY HOUSE! PLEASE!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Update 4:20pm

ONE visit. That's it. That's all. One damn visit.

My agent wants to lower the asking price to get people in here and I'm more than ready to agree. We'll meet later this week to iron out the details.

Argh!

Honours!

So much for 4-6 weeks for the results. Two weeks later and ...

The Board of Directors of Oxford Seminars certifies that Stephanie Titcombe [me!] has successfully completed all programme requirements of the "Advanced 100-Hour Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages/Teaching English as a Second Language Certificate Program with a specialization in Teaching Business English (Honours)"

Thank you very much!

Happy Anniversary

Did you know that it was five years yesterday since I moved into my condo? Well, it was. My original plan was to live here for five years then sell and move up a rung on the property ladder.

Hasn't quite turned out that way. My place has been on the market for over 7 months now and there have been 10 visits in all that time. My new real estate agent will be doing an open house for me next Sunday and I very much hope that will bring in some new interest. I have about had it living in a place that I no longer feel is my own, without my most precious objects around me, that must constantly be kept so clean, so tidy that I can't even cook the foods I want because of the odours that may linger.

What I hate more than anything is that I have no control over any of this. I have discovered that I have control issues and a lot of the time feel that nothing gets done (or done right) unless I do it myself. Bit frustrating to realise this and still be unable to do much about it.

Happy 5th Anniversary to me. Keep your fingers crossed that I won't be celebrating six years here.

It's not even Halloween yet!

Some of the stores downtown (The Bay, in particular, as I was there tonight) have their Christmas decorations up. Why? Why would you do that? Can't we just let Halloween come and go and then worry about Christmas.

(And I don't need to hear any comments from my audience about me being a Scrooge, thank you. I am not like that. I just don't like all the hype and what-not.)

The S-Word

Snow. You thought I was going to say something else, didn't you?! Ha.

For those of you reading who don't live in Montreal, there was snow on the ground this morning. Not much but anything more than nothing is still more than I want to see in OCTOBER!

It was snowing when I left for work at 8:00am and it was snowing again when I left work at 6:30pm. Sigh ... this is only the beginning. Hope you're ready to hear me whine and complain for the next 6 months about the damn snow, how cold it is, etc. Too bad if you're not :(

Chocolate! Who wants chocolate?!

Fundraiser #2 for my Dragon Boat team starts now.

I'm selling chocolate bars to raise some money for our trip to China in May/June 2009. $2 each. Three flavours - dark, coffee filling and caramel filling.

Get 'em while you can!

Three Cups of Tea

I have just finished reading Three Cups of Tea. For some reason it took me a while to read it. Not because it wasn't interesting. Far from it. I think because the situations the people go through are sometimes too hard to bear.

More than ever, my plan for India in 2012 is still on and this book has inspired me to keep on track.

As suggested at the back of the book (if it inspired you to do more - how could it not!) here are suggestions for how to help:

1. Visit the Three Cups of Tea website.
2. Suggest Three Cups of Tea to friends, colleagues, etc.
3. Check if Three Cups of Tea is in your local library. If not, donate a book or suggest the library add it to their collection.
4. Encourage a local independent/chain bookstaore to carry this book.
5. Write a review for amazon.com, etc.
6. As the book editor of your local newspaper or radio to review the book.
7. Pennies for Peace, is designed for school children. Donate your pennies!
8. Make a tax-deductible contribution to their non-profit organization. Visit www.ikat.org. It costs $1.00 per month for one child's education in Pakistan or Afghanistan, a penny to buy a pencil, and a teacher's salary averages $1.00 per day.

Was that ... ?

No, it couldn't have been.

But I think it was.

Snow.

And much crankiness followed.

Stupid Question

This is so embarrassing ... but I have to ask.

If I wrote a test with 85 questions and I need 90% on this test to be awarded honours, how many questions do I need to answer correctly?

Another Visit

Have another potential buyer scheduled to visit my condo today. Despite all my concerns about the economy/real estate market tanking, the headlines forecasting recession, etc.

My house is clean, sparkling, tidy, bright and ready. As the months (and months, and months ...) have gone, my house doesn't feel much like my house anymore. All my personal little favourite things are packed away. I am packing boxes here and there and getting ready to move fast. If only the right buyer would come.

Today is sunny and warm. The visit is around noon. The parc is beautiful right now. The maples on the edge are vibrant red and yellow.

Come on, lucky buyer, come on!

Pumpkin

How is it possible that less than a week before Thanksgiving, there is NO pumpkin at my grocery store? How am I supposed to make pumpkin muffins? Pumpkin soup? Pumpkin, walnut and cranberry bars? Pumpkin scones?

(and there was much muttering as I left the store with everything I needed EXCEPT the darn pumpkin. mutter... mutter... mutter)

The Purge

Haven't heard anything from my agent so I'm guessing the guy isn't making a decision in my favour. Eh bein.

Meanwhile, I've packed 4 boxes of books, 4 boxes of photo albums and put 39 foodie magazines and 22 travel magazines in the recycling.

What else can I do???

Do what it takes

Had my first potential buyer visit yesterday afternoon. My agent was already booked, so he asked if I could be around to take the agent and his client through. No problem for me - I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get this place sold.

Agent and Client showed up 10 minutes early. Good thing I'm so horrifyingly organized and was ready for them. Gave them the 10-cent grand tour. They asked a bunch of questions about the people living in the building (kids, noise), cost of electricity, etc. I raved about my small but nicely planned kitchen, the great bookshelves that make my bedroom and how they can be moved to suit one's purpose, the amazing parc as a neighbour, even showed them the locker space. The whole thing took about 15 minutes or so. Even brought out my Dad's joke about the building being an old pool, so my place literally & figuratively has floating floors. Cheesy, I know, but they thought that was hysterical. Or maybe they were just humouring me.

This morning I heard back from my agent and apparently the Client will be meeting with his Agent tomorrow morning to discuss my place and another in my building. Mine is smaller but, according to the Agent, brighter! Granted it was a grey afternoon and I did have every light on in the place but hey - if that's what they remember it's fine by me.

The Client must have quite a wide budget. My place is 600 sq. ft. and going for $159K. The other place is 900 sq. ft. and going for $219K. Huh.

Semi-Annual Wardrobe Switch

2 black cardis (and yet, I still have 2 black cardis left in my wardrobe ...)
1 black dress
3 skirts
1 pair of shorts
4 pairs of pants
7 shirts
1 long sleeve top
10 camis (and I still have 7 in the drawer)
7 t-shirts (still probably have more than I need)

That's what I've got in the donation bag after my semi-annual wardrobe switch. Good feeling!

New Week, New Listing

Met with my new real estate agent this afternoon and have signed the papers to my condo back on the market. Agent #2 took pictures of the place, got a bunch of details about the place and has already prepared the listing to get it up on their website site early this week.

Keep your fingers crossed, people. I'm feeling confident, the agent is positive and so far has been super fast on everything I've asked. There are a couple of great condos out there just waiting for me so I hope this goes fast!

Let's get this show on the road

I gotta sell this condo fast so I can decide once and for all where the heck I'm going to live for the next 10 or so years. I can't keep finding two nearly exactly the same places and finding pros and cons to each of them while trying to decide which is the better investment.

CRAP!!!

Gosh

Posted here twice yesterday and only just noticed that I said the word "gosh" in both posts.

Must be my soft side (you can stop laughing) making an appearance.

Here We Go Again

At the risk of sounding like an 80s hairband, here I go again.

My contract with the real estate agent ran out at midnight Sunday. Today my listing was off mls and I was able to pick up my house keys from the agent. At the same time that all this was happening, my parents estate agent (who sold their condo twice, in a month, in a dead market), sent my Dad an email, who forwarded it to me, giving the agent's coordinates. Tonight I left him a voicemail and less than 20 minutes later he called me back (no "I never got your message" crap). Going to meet this agent in a few days and we'll get cracking on getting my condo sold once and for all.

Strangely enough, on Saturday both my agent and her assistant left me messages. The assistant wanted to set up an appointment for Sunday. The agent wanted to renew her contract with me! Then I read the paper and noticed that she'd placed an ad in the paper for my place - ONE DAY before the contract ran out! Gosh, that made me laugh. Also that she was SURPRISED I didn't want to renew my contract with her!

Anyway - contract with agent #1 is done, contract with agent #2 will hopefully be on the table by the end of the week.

Updates to follow.

Three Times More

Last year was my first year dragon boating and I only got to compete at two festivals. The season ended suddenly when our team ran out of funds for training and the last festival.

This year was quite a different story. I raced at six festivals this summer! Wow - I hadn't counted them up before today but it's pretty impressive. Come on now - SIX! Gosh, so impressed with myself.

Done!

That's it - Dragon Boat season is over! I made it through to the end! I'm so proud of myself. Yesterday the Montreal Waves finished our summer season at the Quebec Cup and we did well!

Our 250m races on Saturday were average - we finished 4th in Division C. Great that we made C, but it sucked that we couldn't place in the top 3.

Our 500m races on Sunday were much better. We finished 3rd in the semi-final and 2nd in the final. That final was a great race. We were neck-in-neck with a boat to our left and it was only the last couple of strokes that put them ahead. So close.

The end of the day finished with the 2000m challenge (up to 12 boats racing, leaving the docks with a 10 second delay between each boat). We were a bit worried about that. When we've practiced this race, we've always done it in 500m sections. At the competition they decided to break it into 250m sections. The organizers said because it made it more interesting this way. For the spectators - yes, I agree. But for the paddlers, doing 7 turns instead of the 3 we'd practiced was kinda hard. No, a lot hard! Funny what adrenaline can do to your body though. It pushed us through the first 3 turns no problem. We even managed to pass not one, but two boats! Turns 4 and 5 were hard, no question there. But as we came into turn number 6, we were able to feel the surge in the boat, knowing that our last 500m was coming up. And then- we powered through our last turn - screaming and shouting and grunting our way through, we even managed to pick up some speed going down our last straight away. And then, we were done! We'd made it through 2 kilometres and 7 turns! What a feeling. It was a great end to a pretty fun season paddling with these women.

We sat around and watched the last 2 races and cheered (i.e. screamed ourselves hoarse) for our coach as he paddled on his men's team. Then down to the pub for a celebratory burger and beer. A short night out and then I was in bed shortly before 9pm.

I have some other things to say about the weekend (mostly about the cold, the cold, the cold), the fun t-shirt I bought, the great atmosphere at the festival but for me it all works out to finishing off the season with a bang.

Now I can rest. For 6 whole weeks! Then we start the indoor winter training and I can start complaining about my aches and pains all over again ;)

Oh yeah - October 18, RDS, 11:00am, you can watch the Saturday races of the Quebec Cup. Doubtful that you'll see my team, but you'll see some interesting racing (particularly the mixed elite sports teams doing their 2k) and maybe it will inspire some of you to try it out next summer ...

Cold already

This weekend will be my sixth and last dragon boat competition of the season. I'll only be racing with the Montreal Waves so it'll be nice to really have a chance to relax between races (2 x 250m, 2 x 500m and one crazy 2k race). However, with a couple of very cold nights ahead (down to 3C!) - it's going to be positively frigid paddling. You can guess that I'm not looking too forward to that. I will have a suitcase with me full of dry and warm clothes. (How long will my hot water bottle stay hot?)

Wish us luck or at least that nobody gets hypothermic.

True Blood

Two episodes in and I'm hooked. True Blood is the latest in fab TV from HBO. It's about vampires, based in the South (States, that is) and is rather over the top but I can't help myself, I really like it. It certainly helps that our hero, Bill Compton, is one sexy and hot looking vampire.

Kathryn & John Got Married

Photos from Kathryn & John's Wedding are up on flickr.

It was a great day. Everything worked like clockwork (of course it did - Kathryn was in charge!). Everybody seemed happy, relaxed and remarkably stress free and it came across through the whole ceremony. It was a casual and friendly atmosphere - very much like a party at the Wight household. Even the rain managed to hold off until after the ceremony.

Congratulations, Kathryn & John.

That's a first

Sunday night I celebrated my birthday with my family. My usual birthday menu (bbq salmon, potatoes, veggie kabobs, corn on the cob). My mother even humoured my request for a formal dinner in their new dining room, with the good china and silver, etc.

After dessert, we retired to the salon/living room/sitting room/parlour (take your pick) and I opened my presents. My parents had actually already given me my gift (Kitchen Aid stand mixer - so beautiful!) several weeks ago so there was just a card from them. Marc gave me a couple of cool Native art things from his cruise to Alaska (for Chris's wedding). Eric bought my ticket to the Radiohead show earlier this month.

The thing is, these two brothers NEVER and I do mean NEVER EVER give me a birthday card (or at least since Marc outgrew making his own). And that's OK. Really and truly. I get it. I don't know if it's because Sam is more a part of Eric's life or if she's rubbing off on him (in a good way) but this year Eric gave me a birthday card. That in itself was pretty shocking. More shocking was what was written.

Imagine if you will, a lavender coloured card with a black and white picture of two puppies snuggling closely together, it says For My Sister. Open the card and it continues, "Close as can be - that's you and me!" Then I nearly peed my pants for laughing so hard. After reading the card out to the rest of the family Eric admitted he got it in the joke section. Ha, ha, ha. Whatever possessed him to get a card, I don't know but I sure had a good laugh. I don't think a joke card could've been any funnier.

Good one, Eric.

I should also mention that Marc gave me a good laugh too. He showed up at my parent's place for the birthday dinner a day early.