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What an excellent weekend.

FRIDAY Rosemarie came over and we played two games of Agricola and made moo shu pork (and tofu), including homemade flour wraps, and dairy free peppermint brownies. We stuffed ourselves and Scott drank homeless man beer, haha.

SATURDAY MEP and Paul picked us up in their fancy town car and we took the ferry across to Langdale and then went for lunch at a restaurant with an amazing ocean view in what I thought was Sechelt but according to Google Maps there are TWO Sechelts in BC and neither of them are even close to the restaurant, yet the restaurant address says Sechelt. WHAT?
Anyway it was on the Sunshine coast and it really was sunny. Not a cloud in the sky the whole day.
We checked out a few beaches and piers and skipped rocks and froze our ears off.
Then we checked out Gibsons’ houseboats and sea otters and soaked in more amazing water + mountain views.

We ferried back and then detoured through We$$$T Van and admired the mansions and the sunset views, then did a super fast hike at dusk down to a lighthouse.
After that we came back in to the city and had dinner at…. SUSHI BANG! The waitress actually teased Scott for ordering something different. Yes, she knows us.

We got dropped off and Scott and I watched a movie.
What a big day!!!

SUNDAY I stayed in bed all morning. Finished up the last of my university paperwork, and painted another Settlers painting (only three more to go!). Now I am editing pictures (panorama time!) and soon I will make some notes for my interview on Wednesday.

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My mind is a bit jumbly so I think I’ll just do point form today.

++++++++++++ I got a raise at work!!!

++++++++++++++++++ I got a uni interview at SAIT in Calgary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— they only gave me a week notice! It’s next Wednesday!
+ I still managed to get cheapish flights
+ my boss didn’t seem to mind giving me the day off

That email had perfect timing. I had come from work all anxious and stressed and feeling like a failure because sometimes I feel like I screw everything up in life and then I saw the ‘Congratulations!’ in my inbox. I’ve been really worried lately that I wasn’t even getting considered anywhere and now I feel a bit more optimistic about that, which is good.

++ playing Settlers with new friends was fun. I hope they invite us over again (HINT HINT haha) and I’ll bring baked goods and we can try the expansion pack.
+ we also bought our 4th Groupon this week for a games store so we can buy our own set for cheap.

++ we finally gave Agricola a try and it’s fun. After playing it three times neither of us have any idea how to actually win (even though I won twice and and tied once). It’s not as complex as we thought though and both of us like it.

—- As I mentioned before I am off dairy this week to see if I am lactose intolerant. This makes me very sad. I thought breakfast was going to be difficult but actually I quite enjoyed my english muffin with hummus, and my egg wraps with salsa and avocado. I just learned this week that you can cook ‘scrambled’ eggs in the microwave in 60 seconds. Yes they are kind of spongy, but if I’m mixing them with something else it’s ok.

Dessert is difficult though! Rosemarie is coming over tomorrow and I am in charge of dessert. Brownies (cocoa, egg, oil, water etc.) seems like it could work, but I may have to make them from scratch. And other than that I’ve got no ideas except jello. Doesn’t help that I don’t like coconut or cooked fruit.

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Same old story, the longer I don’t blog the more of an effort it seems like it will be and the more I put it off, proliferating the cycle.

Been busy. Did more overtime last weekend, went to a Chinese New Year parade, a mega shop at Metrotown, hockey game, doctors appointments, visitors, free concerts, and soon Granville Island and playing Settlers with new friends.

Work has been profitable lately. Lots of overtime and I’m getting faster every month so my bonus goes up every time. I guess I will just stay there. I’ve been there for 5 months now and I’ve heard whispers about a 6 month raise.

The Chinese New Year parade was pretty cool. But it was raining and cold and people kept poking us in the eyeballs with umbrellas, so we didn’t stay for the whole thing. Still came home with a pocketful of red envelopes though.

Last Monday we went to a Canucks vs. Sens game with a couple of our friends. We all met up right after work and drank a bit and went to the game. It was a lot of fun, even though the Sens lost. I must have drank a bit too much actually though because I felt really horrible the next day and barely made it to work. Scott’s a real trooper though, he’s been starting work at 6:00 AM this week and still made it.

I really like my new doctor. Yet another reason why I hope I miraculously get into BCIT so I can stay in Vancouver and stay with this lovely doctor. Anyway the news from the last appointment was not so great, he’s narrowed it down to two (crappy) possibilities. I have to go off dairy for a week to see if that helps, starting the day after Valentines I guess. Anyone who knows me know this will be torture for me.

Jarrod and Taylor are staying with us right now. It’s been a mellow visit, which is good. We went to a free outdoor concert last night which was good until our feet turned into muddy icicles. We’re off to Granville Island market in a bit. Yeah I’ve been there twice already, but I like markets!!!

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Woooo only 1.5 more days of work, then a 4.5 day weekend!!

I haven’t been sleeping well lately. The kid upstairs screams for her mom for 20 minutes once per night, and I get hyper-focused on Scott’s breathing sounds, and my brain keeps going a million miles per hour… and I’m up for hours. :(

Looks like we’re going to Whistler mid-January. Two of Scott’s friends from Kansas are going and we are meeting up with them there. He says the last time he saw one of them was 2008 and the other 2004! I just hope it’s not toooo crowded (since we’ll be going on a weekend) and we get enough time on the mountain, because it sure is expensive! Hopefully we can also squeeze in a night session at one of the local hills before then too because I feel rusty and Scott is still very much a beginner!! I’ve been keeping an eye out for coupons.

Last January I made a whole bunch of stupid New Years resolutions. I don’t have the exact list anymore because it was on my ‘craptop’ which is now in the garbage. :/ I really can’t remember them except for “invent teleportation” and “eat a grilled cheese hamburger”. Anyway I did the latter on the weekend and it was glorious.

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After a rather uneventful Saturday (just tv and laptop and a quick trip down Broadway to the Michael’s grand opening (Holy moly it was busy. I got 8 things of acrylic paint for $2, two canvases for $5, a cheapo paintbrush and some varnish for the table (with 50% off coupons))) I decided to check the Craigslist community postings for the first time.

The first posting was about an apple festival at UBC. I thought it was cool, and Scott loves apples. The $2 entrance and $3 to taste 60 varieties of apples convinced us to go. So we got up early Sunday morning and bused to UBC (wow it is far!). It’s a good thing we arrived early because it was very busy and extremely busy by the time we were leaving. Unfortunately we ran out of time in the tasting tent but I reckon we still tried about 40 kinds of apples. Pretty neat. I liked one called Fiesta, and another one I can’t remember the name of. Doh.

We tried the new Ambrosia apples. Scott liked it, but I don’t really care for ultra sweet apples so it wasn’t my thing.

After the tasting we looked around at all the other food booths, and also did a taste survey of three new varieties of apples. We also saw them making cider and a huge room full of every variety of apple that exists (nearly!).

We thought we’d pick up some of the ones Scott liked at the end, but by the time we got to the sales area EVERYTHING WAS SOLD OUT. It was totally barren. Note for next year: Go EARLY on Saturday, and buy your apples immediately!