Español 100 - Lesson 5
I know I should be reviewing the material I learned last night, but I'm not. I should actually be reviewing it before going into each class, but I don't have time. Or should I say I don't make the time? Anyway, last night's class was pretty good. We started Unit 2 which focused on giving more info about yourself, and how to get the same info from other people (¿De dónde es? ¿Cúantos? números veintiuno - sesenta, and the verbs ser & tener).

Highlights:
• I am now the teacher's pet
  
• I think annoying girl (AG) likes guy with accent (GWA), judging by the way she acts towards him
  
• class outing next week after class (we're all going for a beer/drinks)
  
• singing La Bamba at the end of class

Update on car repair
I called the autobody shop yesterday morning to see if the parts came in. They said they'd be in either later that afternoon, or early this morning. So, they scheduled me to bring my car in on Monday morning. Great. I kinda wanted to drop off my car before the weekend, but now I have to wait until Monday. Oh well.

When going to a restaurant/fast food place, how do you know that the person is single or not?
They usually order an item that's always "to-go" because they probably don't want to sit by themselves. [This was an observation made by a co-worker of mine].

Reminder to self
DON'T FORGET TO RENEW YOUR VEHICLE REGISTRATION (WHICH EXPIRES ON FEB 28/03)!! I got this notice long time ago, but of course, I have to leave it to the very end. And I'm sure I'm not the only person who's going to renew their vehicle registration tomorrow. Ugh. Why do I do this to myself?

I need a vacation!
There seems to be too much going on right now. Different stresses in life. Work, family, this whole car thing, expenses, etc. I need some time to relax and pull myself together. I can't wait until I go to Philadelphia.

Speaking of which...
...where did the month of February go? It's already the end of February, and I have no idea where it went and what I did?? I hope summer doesn't go by this fast...

Just because I don't have a vehicle, doesn't mean I'm down and out...
On Saturday night, even though it was really cold, Irma, Irene and I went to the Druid for a girl's night out. We hadn't done that in a while, so it was due. And Irma was good enough to drive (thanks Irms! :-) )

Highlights:
• thinking out loud (really loud)
  
• Kokanee guy
  
• nice shoes guy
  
• beer quality control guy
  
• "you guys are so cute" (2x)
  
• "Do you mind if I dance with you? I don't mean no harm" (3x - like I didn't hear it the first 2x?!)
  
• "You just won a hand shake..."
  
• "Are you there?"
  
• goofing around on the dance floor

Early rise
I woke up at 6:00 am. Yup, 6:00 am!. And I set my alarm for 6:30. I hate that. Anyway, I was out and about by 8:20, looking for estimates on repairs to my car. I went to one autobody shop and they said that the soonest they could get me in was March 17. Plus the price they quoted, nearly made me fall off my chair. Sorry, but I can't wait a month to get my car fixed and I don't want to spend that much. So I went to this other place. The estimate they gave me was a little bit cheaper than the first one, and they'd be able to fix my car sooner. All they had to do was order in the parts, which should be in by Wednesday, at which time I'd drop off my car and use a loaner vehicle while they fix it. Then it'll probably take another 3 or 4 days to get it fixed. As long as I don't have to wait a month, that's fine with me. I'm not too happy about the cost of this whole thing, but I have no choice. I really didn't need this expense this month.

After driving around all morning, I finally made it to the office at 11:00 am. Where did all the time go?

How hard is it to find an autobody shop that's open on the weekend?
You would think that half of the accidents that occur, happen on weekends. Hence, there should be at least one place where I can take my car. Uh, nope. I called several places and they were all closed. And I know they're not open on Sunday for sure, so all I can do now is wait until Monday to take it in. Great. It's times like these when I don't want to drive anymore.

"Is your name Olivia?"
That's what this guy asked me last night. Apparently I looked this girl he went to elementary with? Sorry man. First of all, even if I were Olivia don't you think I'd look a bit different? I mean, I could understand if I resembled someone he went to junior high or high school with, but elementary??

Random Thought
Have you ever wondered if there is someone else out there who resembles you? Or have you been approached by complete strangers and either (i) asked if your name is (fill in the blank) (like what happened to me); or (ii) told that you look like someone they know and are possibly related? I've had this happen to me a couple times. It's one thing if a friend says you look like someone, but to have a complete stranger come up to you and say that is another. I remember when I went to New York 5.5 years ago, I went into Armani Exchange and the sales lady asked if I was related to this girl that she knew because I looked like a friend of her's or something. As far as I know, I don't have any relatives in New York. But that would be weird if I did have relatives in New York and was related to that girl she was talking about.

Accident
I hit the railing on the freeway. I was merging onto the freeway and hit some black ice. Before I knew it, I was spinning out of control. Everything happened so fast, but at the same time it was going in slow motion? I did a 540, while the passenger side of my bumper clipped the railing on the freeway took it off. A stripped bumper, a cut lip, and some rattled nerves later, I stopped. There doesn't seem to be too much damage, besides the fact that I don't have a bumper. So now I have to take my car in to get it fixed. Great. This is one expense that I could do without. Oh well. At least the damage wasn't as bad as it could've been. And I'm glad that I'm OK.

Español 100 - Lesson 4
Class wasn't cancelled last night. Thank goodness. I guess the reason class was cancelled last week was because our instructor was sick. But it still would've been nice to have gotten a phone call or something. I asked one of my classmates if they were notified, and apparently the school called them. Nice.

Anyway, this lesson focused on singular/plural possession, conjugation of verbs, and more dialogue. We went through so much material that I don't remember everything we covered. We basically finished the first unit of the lesson plan. Unfortunately, there was no singing this class. =P We did, however, get to play with balloons.

No cavities
I had my semi-annual dental check-up and I have no cavities. Woo hoo! I do have a bit of recession (I really should start using my electric toothbrush), but nothing too bad. One thing that I noticed after I left the dentist's office was that part of my tooth seemed transparent. I never really noticed it before, so I'm not sure if my tooth enamel is wearing off or something?

I'm going to Philadelphia
Yay! I'm finally taking some time off in March (5 days), and visiting Jenn in Philadelphia. I booked my ticket last night, and it's a good thing I did because there was only 1 seat left on the outbound flight to Toronto (according to the interactive seat map). I can't wait to go. I desperately need some time off to clear my head and pull myself together.

Bad case of the giggles
My supervisor and I had a bad case of the giggles this afternoon. I'm not really sure how it all started, but then he kept going on and on that everything just snowballed. We were laughing so much that even "our neighbor" started laughing. Talk about contagious laughter.

Back in the deep freeze
Well, maybe it's not as cold as it could be, but it's cold enough for me. We've gotten even more snow (ugh!), and the wind has picked up a bit. Why can't it be spring yet?

Daredevil
It's been a long time since the "crew" went out to see a Sunday matinee. I met Irma, Irene, Joi and Phoun at the theatre and we saw Daredevil. I thought the movie was OK. Some parts kinda dragged, but overall it was not bad. One thing I did notice while watching the previews is that this year seems to be the year of the superheroes - X-Men 2, The Hulk, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

After the movie, Joi, Phoun and I went to Mikado for sushi. I haven't had sushi for the longest time and I was craving it. It's a good thing we went when we did because we just beat the rush. The only thing that was annoying was this group in one of the rooms. They were so loud that I couldn't hear myself think. I was tempted to close the door just to give them privacy, but whatever.

Highlights:
• "Where's the honey?"
  
• Joi and Phoun are hardcore when it comes to wasabi
  
• "friends don't let friends stay sober"
  
• "friends don't let friends quit smoking"

Happy Birthday Liz!
Well, actually it should be happy belated birthday since her birthday was on Wednesday. But I greeted her then too. Anyway, I went to Liz's new apartment (my first time there) for her birthday get together. A bunch of her friends had gone toboganning, which I was also invited to but didn't go because of my knee (yes, my knee is still screwed up), and then went to her apartment for some munchies. One thing about Liz is that she is so hospitable. And she always has some good food. I somehow ended up sitting at the table, with all this food in front of me. I tried hard to stay away from the not-so-healthy stuff, but that didn't happen. I did balance the not-so-healthy stuff with some fruit and veggies, so really in the end it balances out. Oh, who am I kidding? =P I met most of her friends and they seemed like really nice people. But I felt like the odd one in the group because they all knew each other.

One thing that Liz and I did, which we always do every year, is exchange Christmas presents. A bit late, I know, but somehow our schedules are always conflicting. She got me an alarm clock/radio, which I asked for (we always ask what the other person wants), so I can get rid of the small travel ones I've been using. It's too bad that we don't get to see too much of each other, but at least we keep in touch via phone/email. One thing's for sure, I know I will never lose touch with Liz. We've known each other way too long (since grade 4), to lose contact with each other.

Rejuvenated
I had a 2 hour nap and I'm wide awake. I feel much better now. Now it's off to Liz's birthday party...

My archives are back...
... I fixed it. ;-)

Traditional Valentine's Day Dinner
For the past couple of years, Irma, Jo Anne, Christine and I have gone out to dinner on Valentine's Day. It's become a tradition, since the four of us are all single. In the past we've gone to greek restaurants, but this year we thought we'd change it up a bit. Originally, the plan was to go The Creperie but they've been fully booked since two weeks ago. Then we thought about having East Indian food, but not everyone was in the mood for it. So we ended up going to Bul-Go-Gi House (korean restaurant) last night. The food was so good. But we ordered WAY too much. [mental note: try not to order so much food next time].

So what do singles do on Valentine's Day?
Well for us, we go out for dinner and catch up on what's been going on with us. We talk about work, our social calendar (or lack thereof), any other new interests/hobbies that me might have - pretty much anything and everything. The main highlight of the evening was that we set a goal for next Valentine's Day: to have a significant other by next year, and turn our foursome into an 8-person party. OK, no pressure!

Drinks, drinks, drinks
After dinner, Irma, Christine and I went to the usual for a couple drinks. We hung out there for a while and chit-chatted with a few of my co-workers. About an hour and a half later, Christine went home, while me, Irma and a couple of my co-workers headed to The Keg for more drinks.

Highlights:
• laughing too much
  
• Hank? William??... Johnny Cash!
  
• play-by-play action on the people walking by
  
• name that tune
  
• ran into an acquaintance whom I haven't seen for 7 years

We finally called it a night just before midnight. A bit early considering it was a Friday night, but I had to work in the morning. :-(

Early start
I woke up at 6:30 am. Yup, 6:30am! I was supposed to get the day off, but since no one else could work, I had to go in. Ugh. And I had to go in bright and early because I was meeting Shelley and the other girls at 9:30 am to shop for bridesmaids dresses. I made it to the office at 8:30 am and realized I had to be out of there in 45 minutes, since I had to account for the 15 minute drive to the mall. And as much as I wanted the day to go smoothly, of course it didn't. The numbers weren't balancing at first, but then it all worked out. I ended up leaving the office at 9:45 am. Argh (OK, deep breath). I called Shelley to let her know I was running late, so it was all good. I raced down the freeway, picked up my mom, and met up with Shelley and the other bridesmaids at 10:00 am.

Think pink
Pink is one of the colors that Mike and Shelley chose for their wedding. So the plan was to look for pink dresses. How hard could that be? Well, it wasn't as easy as we thought. And it didn't help that the colors that were out were mostly dark (navy, burgundy - aren't these for fall weddings?) I also noticed a lot of red. I'm not sure who would wear red bridesmaids dresses, but whatever. I didn't realize how stressful it is to look for bridesmaids dresses. You have to take into account the right shade of pink (don't want anything too bright), the style (making sure it will suit all the bridesmaids), and the price (there's no sense in paying a lot of money for a dress that you're only going to wear once). But we had a lot of fun trying dresses on. For one of the dresses, we even walked out into the middle of the mall to see what the dress would look like under natural light. Some of the people passing by actually stopped and looked at us. I guess they thought we were modelling or something? After all the dresses we tried on, we managed to narrow it down to three choices. We're going to meet again in a couple of weeks to look for dresses, since some of the store said their shipment of new stuff hasn't arrived yet.

Exhausted
After walking for 3 hours, we called it a day. I grabbed something to eat and did some errands. Now that I'm home, I think I'm going to take a nap.

Where are the rest of my archives?
Even when I go to the archive page to republish them, they're not there. Hmmm, maybe Blogger is experiencing some technical difficulty?

Rootbeer causes heartburn
Well, it does for me anyway. For the longest time, I've avoided carbonated drinks. OK, so perhaps I've had the occasional glass of champagne during New Year's, and maybe a sip of coke or 7-up (or whatever), but besides that, I haven't been drinking anything carbonated. Until tonight. I decided to have rootbeer (since someone drank my juice), and I don't know if it was because it was carbonated, or maybe I drank it too fast or something, but a couple minutes later I was having chest pains. I've never experienced heartburn before, so initially I wasn't sure what was going on. I felt very uncomfortable and it kinda hurt to breathe. I was told that it was heartburn. I'm OK now, but I don't want to experience that again. I'm definitely staying away from carbonated drinks.

Español 100 - Lesson 4 Class Cancelled
I have this routine when I go to Spanish class. First, I park my car in the parkade (and yes, I remembered to take my ticket with me) and park on the second level next to the pedway. Then, I go through the pedway, down a flight of stairs, and to the store to get a drink (either a bottled water or a juice) and a sometimes a snack (depending on whether or not I have a snack with me already). Then I go up the stairs to the third floor to my class (room 6-338), and sit at my regular spot. But when I got to my class, I noticed a yellow piece of paper on the door:

Wed, Jan 12/03
SPAN 0100(552)
5:30 to 8:00 pm
E. Palomino
CLASS CANCELLED

Great. I go all the way downtown for nothing. I spent $3.76 on a drink and snacks, and $1.00 for 45 minutes of parking. It's not the fact that I spent money, but just the time it took for me to go there. Plus, I was really looking forward to the class. Ugh. So instead, I went to...

Kickboxing class
The first thing I heard when I walked through the door was, "you're early". Not once; not twice; but 4 times, since I got there an hour before class. Normally I'd go to the gym beforehand, but since it wasn't worth it to go to the gym for half an hour, I went straight to kickboxing. I hadn't been to class for over a week because of my knee (which, by the way, is still bruised up). So it was good to get back into it, except that I couldn't work as hard as I wanted to, simply because of my left knee. I really hope it gets better soon. There's so many other activities that I want to do but can't because I'm afraid of injuring my knee even more.

Philadelphia Update
Jenn left a message for me, letting me know of her finalized schedule. So, it looks like I'm going to Philadelphia for 4 days. Yay! I know it's not that long, but I need a vacation. And if it has to be a mini one, then so be it. I know I'll be able to take some time off during summer, so it's OK.

Hockey game, nicknames, & spelling games
On Friday night, I went to the Keg with a co-worker of mine and his friends to watch the first period of the hockey game between Edmonton and Chicago. After the first period, we picked up Irma and Irene and headed to the Sawmill to watch the rest of the game. Unfortunately, Edmonton lost to Chicago 3-4 :-(

After the game, we hung out for a while, got something to eat and had a few bevvies. Irene seemed to have a bit of trouble eating her nachos, not because it tasted bad, but because of the portion. And she even ordered a small! After I ate my cajun chicken caesar wrap, I helped her out as much as I could (hey, I was hungry =P). Somewhere in the midst of things, we somehow came up with nicknames for everyone:

• Boo Boo Bear (Rick)
  
• Bunny Foo Foo (François)
  
• Lee King Chin (leaking chin - Jay)
  
• Heidi (Irene)
  
• Nala (Irma)
  
• Banana Sophia (me)

And if that weren't enough, we also came up with spelling games:

• s-m-all
  
• s-m-art (we figured Bunny Foo Foo was lacking in this department, hence making him s-t-upid
  
• s-p-ell (again, Bunny Foo Foo didn't get this one)
  
• s-t-umped

It was a fun evening, so much so that my stomach hurt from laughing so much.

Double movie, double your pleasure, double meaning?
After work on Saturday, I vegged for a bit, took a 30-minute power nap, and then met Louise and Mary at the movie theatre. We had planned to see a double feature, and then go out afterwards. Before we got into the theatre, we were a bit worried that we wouldn't be able to see the second movie, because there seemed to be more managers/supervisors working this time. (Hmmm, could they be catching on to what we're doing? - Nah!) The first movie was Just Married. It as a cute movie and I thought it was really funny. After the movie, we took a bathroom break and "casually" walked into Shanghai Knights, which just "happened" to be right across from us. We managed to walk in without anyone noticing, which was good. That was a funny movie as well, and by the time we got out of the theater, our cheeks were sore from laughing.

Highlights:
• fruity deodorant?
  
• "Oh my god"
  
• Mary gets excited easily
  
• almost walking into a pole

After the movies, it was off to downtown to meet Mary's friend's friend, who was showcasing some of his art work at this cyber café. But before we went there, Louise and I dropped our cars off at Mary's place, and took Mary's car to the café. When we got there, there were 2 guys performing (one of whom was the artist guy). We sat in these big comfy chairs, listened to them perform, and had something to eat.

Highlights:
• Mary and I on the same wavelength
  
• almost walked into a parking meter
  
• pole vs. bar
  
• Spiderman song
  
• "before & after" art pictures
  
• pickle vs. banana
  
• Todd can't seem to hear properly (double meaning)
  
• Ugly song ("...and if she says she just wants to be friends, she thinks you're ugly...")

We called it a night around 12:30 am, but didn't really get out of there until about 12:45 am. Go figure.

Random Thought
What are the chances of 2 guys having the same name, both being bald, and both being artists? Well after Saturday night, I'd say the chances are pretty good...

Snowboarding 101 - Make-up Lesson
Since my knee wasn't 100%, I decided not to go snowboarding. I was kinda bummed because I really wanted to go, but the last thing I need to do is really hurt my knee. A part of it is still numb, so I'm wondering if I did some nerve damage? (Obviously, I haven't gone to the doctor yet).

Call from Philadelphia
My friend Jenn called me from Philadelphia to let me know what her schedule is like in March so I can go visit her. It's not quite finalized, but it looks like I'm going the third weekend in March. I can't wait!

Static toes
I was cleaning (first time in a long time), and as I was wiping down the tv screen, not realizing that the tv was still on (hey, the screen was black, so I figured it was off), I got static shocks in my toes. It was the weirdest feeling. Then I realized it was because the tv was still on. Oops! =P

Trapped in an alley
So I'm driving down a back alley, and as I get toward the end, a truck that's trying to back up to one of the buildings gets stuck. Uh, OK. I figured it wasn't a big problem and that I could just back up and go the other way. Only problem was, there was a big 16-wheeler blocking my way. Picture it, a truck in front of me that's stuck, and a big Tim Horton's rig behind me trying to maneuver his way out of the alley. And there's me, stuck in the middle. A couple workers from Tim Horton's couldn't help but giggle at my predicament. I couldn't help but laugh myself. But what could I do. After about 15 minutes, I managed to get around the truck in front of me and get out. I think I'm gonna have to limit my back alley driving for now. At least until all this snow melts.

Español 100 - Lesson 3
Last night's class focused on giving personal information (i.e. name, surname, nationality, and occupation) through Q&A. We also got into los colores (rojo, azul, verde, etc), los números (cero - veinte), subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc), and adjectives.

Key words/phrases:
• Es usted canadiense?
  
• Es usted caliente? (of course my response to this was "si" =P)
  
• otorrinolaringologo = otorhinolaryngologist

[Sidenotes: Annoying girl is still annoying. And entering the parkade 5 minutes earlier cost me an extra $1, when it's supposedly $1/hr. Does that make sense?]

Update on my knee injury
OK, so maybe "injury" is a bit much, but it's still sore. I am able to walk without limping, but the bruise is still numb. Is that normal?

Don't you hate it when...
...you're walking toward the cashier at any store, in this case Staples, carrying a big box of paper, and 2 guys carrying nothing but a notebook and a couple pens, hurry toward the cashier so that they can get in line before you? AND they don't even have the common courtesy to at least move up a bit so that I can at least set the big box of paper down on the counter! AND to make things worse, because of the fact that they wouldn't move, I decided to go to another cashier so I could set the stupid box of paper down, but on my way to the other till, I tripped over the carpet and fell on my knees, thereby making my knees even worse, since I fell on them enough times over the weekend. OUCH! !@#$!!

My left knee is numb. I don't think this is a good thing...

Snowboarding 101 - Lesson 4
It was a wonderful day to go snowboarding with very nice weather. Irma and I got to the hill an hour before our lesson so that we could warm up. There weren't that many people at first, but then out of nowhere a whole crowd of people just showed up. We warmed up for about 45 minutes, took a 15 minute break, and then met our instructor for our lesson. Since we missed our lesson last week, we went over stuff we did before, and then worked on our turns. For some reason, I find it easier to do the toe-side turn, than the heel-side turn, even though the toe-side turn is supposedly more difficult (according to our instructor)? Go figure.

Highlights:
• how many times will the chair lift stop?
  
• grade 5 kid singing the opera (this kid was way too happy to be in lessons, although it was good that he was so encouraging toward other kids in his group)
  
• Irma did a turn - yay! :-)
  
• I fell on my knees twice! Ugh. And it didn't help that I banged them up the night before while curling. I think my knees are screwed up now...

After the lesson, Irma and I headed home. We were both quite tired, and I wanted to get some sleep. [But that didn't happen]

A new activity?
As I mentioned, I went curling Saturday night. Who'd ever thought that I would go curling. Well, I did. I went with a co-worker of mine, whose friends were putting together this curling thing. And it turned out to be quite fun. But it's harder than it looks. To make an analogy, curling is like a combination between bowling and shuffleboard on ice. Anyway, we drove out to the middle of nowhere (the highway we drove down was like a scene from the Blair Witch Project), where we met up with 30 other people. The way this event worked was that you'd play 3 ends, go for a drink, play 3 ends, go for another drink, play 3 ends, and drink, eat, and drink. And during the games, it was a good thing to have an "aiming drink" (I found those helped a lot =P). Out of the 3 games we played, our team lost all 3 :-( [3-0 in the first, 4-1 in the second, and 2-1 in the third] But I had fun. A couple people thought I had curled before since I had good form? It definitely takes a while to get the hang of it, especially when you're throwing the rock. I think the hardest part of it is the sweeping. You don't notice it until a day after when you're chest and back muscles are sore. Hmmm, could this be another activity I will get myself into? We'll see...