most people were overjoyed

You know...I don't think it can be said enough. The death cab for cutie concert was absolutely wonderful. As I stood in the crowd gazing up at Ben belting out his beautiful music I was filled with an overwhelming sense of awe. I only have three complaints: 1. that it wasn't longer 2. they didn't sing transatlanticism and 3. the show wasn't in a small cafe where I could be sitting right next to them instead of trying to see around the tall people standing in front of me. Now wouldn't that be lovely? A cafe concert that is.

I also had fun with the hackey sac between bands. I don't think people hac enough these days. Back in...1998 you couldn't find a person that didn't have a hackey sac in their pocket. As soon as people formed anything that even resembled a circle a hac was dropped in the center. And who remembers killer? Steve wanted to play killer the other night and no one else was up for it...but steve, just so you know I also secretly wanted to play killer. Sure it involves very little skill, but who cares? It's like dodge ball, baseball, soccer, and a firing squad all in one. How could that not be fun?

You know what else we should play?...calvinball!!!

Jenna

Calgary rises to victory!

Calgary 1-Anaheim 0. Good job boys!

Edmonton, where were you last night? I think it would have been just as easy if the game had been cancelled, and in it's place, Detroit could have just taken shots on on our Goalie. The rest of the team could have come back to Edmonton a bit early and maybe practised how to play the game until we have home ice.

Let the playoffs begin.

GO Calgary GO!

---- dangerous words to utter in the streets of Edmonton. So I declare them here.

bits of tim

i feel like a giant timbit today.

J

A Challenge

I am issuing a challenge to all those that love the game crib to step forward and play. I will serve tea and we can engage in delightful conversation. Nay! I say we have a tournament. 5 bucks to get in. Round Robin and then finals. Winner takes the pot. Anyone? Anyone? We should get like 10 people in on this. anyone? anyone? Jenna you are in. David hengen, how about flying back for a weekend? What if I throw in cookies? cake? coffee? mmmmm.....cookies....

Hat
Mat
Sat
Bat
Hay
Bay
Pray
say
sock
lock
mock
rock


The end

the countdown begins...

It is that time of the year again when I pull out my shorts and sunglasses in anticipation of the approaching summer months. I am bored of this luke warm weather and want hot weather NOW! A few times I have put on some shorts and a t-shirt hoping that on the other side of my front door will be some complying weather. Each time I have been disappointed at the return and have had to traipse back to my room to put on longer layers. There has been moderately warm weather, but it lasts only for a few minutes it seems.

It is in these times that I wish I lived in the mountains, or at least somewhere more nature-ish. The sound of ambulances and the power lines right outside my bedroom window are a little bit depressing. There is something to be said for a slower place of life with less people and less noise. I do not feel this way because I am old, I just prefer the smell of the nature over the smell of pollution. I prefer the peaks of mountains over the peaks of tall commercial buildings. Mountain goats to stray cats.

welcome to geriatrica

I don't really want to go to bed right now which is unfortunate because it is way past bedtime. My mind is telling me I'd be better off in bed but my body won't let me get out of this chair. I've always hated bedtime. Also, I have this habit of wasting entire days and then panicking at bedtime because I didn't do the things I had promised myself I'd do. Not just panicking though...but making desperate attempts to do an entire days (weeks, months) work in the middle of the night. Thus, the 5am paper. Back when I was a student during finals (way back 14 months ago) I'd mostly attempt studying with the best of intentions. My downfall was that I'd often try to suntan in my backyard at the same time...which usually resulted in 5 minutes of studying, 3 hours of napping, and an agonizing sunburn. I guess what I'm trying to say is - I procrastinate like a banshee. Please, don't act like you're not surprised.

And although I didn't get many chores done today like I had promised myself, I did have a rather enjoyable afternoon frolicking with my trusty sidekick through Edmonton's wilderness. That's right, today Anna and I wandered into the "ravine of death." The murderer's and rapists playground. Before I left Lethbridge I was forewarned by a good friend not to go near the ravine at night or surely I would die. Good news though, it was not night time and I didn't even see one shifty character (unless you consider sappy, lovesick couples shifty...). The ravine was beautiful in fact. It reminded me of how much I miss frolicking in the forests back home. Actually, I think one day I will live in a forest. That is my long-term plan, forget this career business. I am going to quit life and run away to the mountains. There will be a treehouse, a rope swing, and a pet goat. Oh, and I will definently get dreds. Who's with me???

Another thing I'd thought I'd mention...I love summer!!! Yay for warm weather, frolicking, foliage, thunderstorms, nice green lawns, roadtrips, barbecues, hiking, cliff jumping, tornados (just little ones), playing in the rain...etc. Farewell long, torturous winter!!!

I had an epiphany one night this week while I was hanging out with Anna (side note: if you think we hang out a lot...you're right. she is the only one who ever wants to partake in my random, irresponsible adventures). I am getting old. We were sitting in her living room watching a movie (it was around 11ish) and...I fell asleep. Not only did I fall asleep, but I also had a dream. I didn't even watch five minutes of the movie. At the end of the it I drove straight home (at least I think I did, I don't exactly remember the drive) and went to bed. Clearly the excitement of the evening was too much for me.
I freaked out at the Metric concert when I found out it didn't end until 11:30 because I had to work the next morning. Not only did it end late, but it was far too loud. Did I mention that mostly all I do in my spare time is play cribbage?

I think I just found gray hair. Oh, where have the years gone? Come back to me sweet youth.

I just hope I live to see my 22nd birthday...

J

the best feeling in the world

I guess I've been pretty busy lately. Being a car owner is pretty tough work. It is sort of like having a pet. I have to feed it, wash it, and spend time with it. I feel obligated to take it for trips, you know, so it can spin it's wheels a little bit. First it was only demanding that I take it around the streets of Edmonton, but lately it has been getting a wee bit restless and wants to go for longer drives. Last weekend it wanted to go to Airdrie. I fear that it will never be satisfied and it will just want to keep going farther and farther. It told me it wants to go to Tofino next. I just hope I have time to satisfy the honda's needs. I would hate to think what would happen if I denied it's requests.

So last weekend. For lack of a bigger vocabulary I will just say this...wow. The trip inaugurated promptly after I got home from working a 12 - hour night shift at the hospital. Not wanting to waste a moment of the weekend, I neglected to nap and instead hopped into the honda and aimed myself south. I realize now that it was a silly decision to not sleep before I started driving; sleeping while driving isn't nearly as comfortable. Also, the last half an hour of the trip I had to keep waking myself up as I was paranoid I would miss my exit. I arrived in Airdrie noonish and met up with my lovely sister-in-law Leah. We had a few hours to kill in the afternoon before Kevan got home from work so we decided to go have drinks at Bogey's Pub & Grill, an establishment right down the street from Leah's condo. The sign on the outside had a gigantic golf ball on it after the word "Bogey's" and advertised, what I thought would be, a good time. Inside, the decor left something to be desired...strangely it had absolutely nothing to do with golf. In fact, our server was dressed up as a cowgirl. I didn't see a pro-golfer anywhere. Not to mention the highly priced/watered down drinks and the uncomfortable chairs. Our cowgirl server (who I assumed was done her shift) left with leather chaps in her arms. We figured her horse must have been tied up outback behind the parking lot.

Ben arrived at Kevan and Leah's condo after dinner and we all piled into his car to drive to Elkford. We spent Saturday in Fernie enjoying incredible spring skiing conditions. It is a strange sensation riding in hot weather. I even saw one guy skiing in shorts and a t-shirt. I just loved the feeling of the warm sun beating down on my face while I weaved in and out of the trees through the soft snow. When we went down at noon to eat lunch there was a band playing outside of the lodge and a crowd of people eating at the picnic tables. Two girls in white skin tight sleeveless one-piece suits with big furry boots were walking around handing out prizes or something. I think they were supposed to be kokanee girls (there was some sort of kokanee promotion going on that day). I thought their outfits were ugly but a lot of people in the crowd seemed to like them. Also, they were kind of annoying and, in my opinion, out of place on the ski hill (I mean, if they fell on the slopes in those suits they wouldn't be able to stop themselves...). The band was good though. They made us all want to break out into an irish jig. Ben actually did.

Anyway, it was a gorgeous day and Kevan ended up getting some pretty good shots with his camera. I was tired by the end of the day (happy tired though). I slept the whole way back to Airdrie.

The next morning at 6am (5am technically because of the time change) Ben and I woke up to drive to Lake Louise for another day of boarding. Due to a lack of sleep I was pretty grouchy when I woke up (I tried my best to internalize it for Ben's sake), but once I got on the hill I forgot that I was mad. The sun hadn't quite warmed up the snow so it was still a little bit icy for the the first couple of runs, but once it came out and everything softened up a bit it was fantastic. After lunch when the sun was blazing high in the sky Ben and I decided we were going to hike above one of the top chairs to the peak of the mountain. With a backpack of water bottles, a thick layer of sunscreen, a couple chocolate bars, and our boards in hand we headed up the steep snow path. The steps obviously weren't designed for short girl legs. I had to practically jump to get to each step. In a little over an hour we were standing on the top of the world looking down into banff. Having never peaked a mountain in the winter before I was pretty darn amazed at the snow-covered valleys that were spread out before us. The air was crystal clear and you could see for miles. I made a snow angel. Initially we were going to go down the front side of the mountain (somehow avoiding the massive cliffs), walk the rest of the way to the highway, and hitchhike back to the resort. Plan 'A' seemed a bit dodgy though (seeing as we didn't know how to get down without dying) so instead we sailed down one of the ridges on our boards and dropped down the backside of the mountain into a bowl of untracked, fresh powder. It was unlike anything I had ever done before. There was nothing holding us back. The snow was smooth and deep and with every turn my board showered the slope with a huge wave of snow. Ben was laughing (out of pure joy) the whole way down. I felt like I was in a warren miller film. We sat in the car on the drive home with big, goofy smiles on our sun-burnt faces.

Not a bad way to leave winter behind. Stay tuned for next season's heli-skiing adventures...

Jenna