Weekend at a Glance

It was the best of times, it was the best of times...it was the weekend.

Friday night marked our 10 month-iversary so we grabbed some dinner out and headed to Blades of Glory. John Heder, Will Ferrell, thank you for being vessels through which hilarity can flow. See that movie folks.

Saturday we headed to the 'Ford to see our good friend Heather graduate from college. There were a few of us there (besides her fam) cheering her on and I even got a few pics. Afterward, about 14 of us went to Presto Cucina and enjoyed some yummy lunch in celebration of Heather's achievement. Saturday night Mike and I rented Fast Food Nation. Interesting movie. I think it's worth the watch.

Sunday we picked up the pace. Church in the morning followed by stopping at Timmy Ho's to get lunch to eat in the ferry line-up on our way to Mike's cousin's 14th birhday. Then we left that shindig to pop over to Abbotsford because there was a grocery wedding shower happening for my dear friend Karin. Mike hung out with Karin's fiancee David and watched some classic DVD's while eating cupcakes I made. After the shower was over we all grabbed some eats and hung out at BP. Good times, noodle salad.

And this week is shaping up to be a busy one, yet again. I should really go grab a nap right now. Happy Monday!

Shh! It's here!

Don't tell the weather man--I don't think he can handle it. It is a little alarming. And it's still a bit of a secret.

Today I was noticing that, magically, dandelions have sprung forth at the educational institute's field from the cold clutches of the winter ground. I looked down today and there they were. I'm not sure they were there yesterday. I guess God had some extra yellow and green kicking around last night and knew that we needed some brightening up around there. Enough of the boggy brown and brown and brown and green-ish field!

And while meandering around my backyard I stopped by our lilac bush and there it was: a bud. And above that one, another. And below it and to the left and to the right...they're everywhere!

Take a deep breath and hang on...

Spring is on it's way!

Addendum

Seems that after reading through my post about the trip, Mike noticed I had forgotten a couple of notable things.

On the way to the ferry we hit insane traffic as there was an accident in Pitt Meadows. We decided to take a back way and we ended up in a very long line of cars. Some vehicles behind us obviously had more important places to be than everyone else because they would zip up the opposing traffic lane and try to weave back in. That's until our hero in the van directly behind us and his friend in the van behind him got into kahoots with each other. When a vehicle (usually a ridiculously large truck or zippy sports car) would try to pass, the van right behind us would weave out and him and the friend behind him would box the no-brains driver in. It was a thing of beauty. I rolled down my window to give my new favorite driver the thumbs-up sign. He gave me a wave. It provided me and Mike with quite a few laughs, a feeling of satisfaction, and entertainment for the traffic jam. Who needs those portable DVD players in your car when you have guys like that around?

And I thought I'd give R's "Dollar Bet" a go. As we were driving onto the ferry, I bet Mike a dollar to dump the entire contents of a package of juice crystals, that belong in a 500g bottle of water, into his oral cavity. He did. I took pictures. It was very amusing.

There, I think I've got it all now.

Island in the Sun

Here's the account of the weekend on the island for Natalie and Kurtis' wedding. It's late, but it's long:)

March 30th, as soon as I was off of work, Mike and I loaded Zander (my trusty Sportage) up, ran a few errands and headed for the ferry. We had reserved a sailing for the 8pm ferry and boarded the Queen of Cowichan shortly after. The ferry ride was pretty uneventful. Upon docking in Nanaimo, we headed up the Island Highway towards Cowichan Bay where we were staying at The Ocean Front Grand Resort. We arrived at The Grand at nearly midnight and "Lurch" checked us in. The suite was the biggest I had ever stayed in...2 queen beds and a TV with a sliding glass door, bathroom, kitchen (fridge and stove), dining area, and a sitting room with another sliding glass door. And facing the ocean.

The next morning we headed to the local White Spot for some breakfast and I look over to see the groom, Kurtis, having some pre-wedding sustenance with, what I assume are, his guys. See, I had yet to met my friend Natalie's fiancee, Kurtis, but they pasted a picture of themselves on their wedding invite. I told Mike that I wanted to say something. At first he thought I shouldn't "freak the guy out on his wedding day"...he came around. So as the guys were leaving, I called out "Kurtis!". He looks over with a "yes...". I informed him that "You don't know me but I recognized you from your wedding invite. I'm one of Nat's friend's, Lindsey, and this is my boyfriend Mike. Guess we'll see you in a couple of hours!" I felt like I had just told a really good joke.

The whole ceremony was beautiful. Natalie and Kurtis just seemed "right" together. It's a good feeling to have when you don't know the man your friend is marrying. Before the ceremony, Mike and I had noticed a banner hanging on the wall...we call it "Revelation Jesus". More to come on that later. After the ceremony, we headed to Chemainus because I was, once again, trying to take Mike to The Twisted Sisters Tea House (tried in the summer, it was closed). We went and had high tea and it was amazing. As soon as Mike bit into his warm scone with raspberry preserves and heavy cream, he couldn't even wait to finish what was in his mouth before he exclaimed "Oh my gosh! This is so good!". I replied with "I know! This is why we had to come here!". We came home with 3 of their many loose leaf teas. We'll be making repeat visits.

The reception was very efficient. They were introduced as they walked in and headed right for the dance floor for their first dance, after which we were informed that they had always wanted to have dessert before dinner so they cut the cake. The food line moved with great precision and speed. It really was a marvel. We sat at a good table with some friends I hadn't seen for awhile and that Mike had seen...well, never:) Before the reception Mike said I should take a picture of "Revelation Jesus" because we know there are people who would want to see it. I wasn't sure of how to go about it so Mike suggested that I pretend to take a picture of the head table. Worked like a charm. Later on there was a bit of dancing and then we headed back to the hotel.

Some tarts checked us out of the hotel on Sunday morning and we were on our way. We had a 7pm reserved sailing because we had plans to grab dinner at a fabulous restaurant we know in Nanaimo so we just kicked around all day. We went to a couple malls, a Starbucks, and it snowed. We had dinner at The Phonecia. If you're ever in the area, eat there. It's hella yummy.

We ran into the maid of honor, our friend, on the ferry ride home, the illustrious Cathy Jo. Her and another one of the bride's friends, Jen, entertained us for the last leg of our journey.

It was a great trip. And, again, now we can't wait to go back to the island.

Mug Meanderings

Yesterday morning, right before school started, I knocked my (empty) coffee mug off my table and the dang handle broke in about 4 pieces! Needless to say, I had to toss the poor thing out, and while I did I wondered if it was an ominous sign as to what my day was going to hold. Turns out it wasn't and I had a great day. While walking to the library, one boy even commented "Nice hair, Miss T" (I had it done up in bobby pins, not the usual). That never happens.

So now starts the search for the new work mug. The last one had some good depth, was simplistic but stylish enough to keep me happy, and from Starbucks. The work one's are much too piddily and small and so I'm compelled to bring my own.

A room full of 8 and 9 year olds and I break my own mug...figures.

8 & 9 year-olds and Easter

Well, I definately need to blog about the greatness of last weekend on the Island but I'm running short on time so this is just an inbetween post.

At school, we've been working on an Easter project and there was a rush to get it done today so it can be lamenated, seeing as there's no school on Friday. Due to the nature of the project, I found myself saying a lot of weird things and right at the end I lost it. I exploded in laughter and I couldn't stop. It didn't matter much because the classroom had previously discended into caos.

At the end of the day the children were cutting out pieces to assemble Jesus in a white robe with a purple sash. This included cutting out the body of the robe, 2 sleeves, a purple sash, Jesus' head and vague facial features (beard and mouth), 2 hands and feet, and a neck. Some of the phrases that came out of my mouth were:

-"Where's Jesus' neck?! It looks like he's slouching...Jesus doesn't slouch."
-After one child made a mess out of a sleeve, I had to cut off some length to fix it for him. While I fixed it for him I suggested that "Maybe you should take a little more time to cut out the rest of your stuff...now Jesus has a stubby arm."
-"Jesus' wasn't pigeon-toed...switch the feet around."
-"Could you move the tablet down to his hand? I'm not sure he made things float just for fun."

Hope you were amused. The next blog installment will include all our island adventures. You can read it sometime soon-ish.