Celine Dion, enough said... and yet there's more.

She's funny and classy, and sassy and thoughtful and raw and just down to earth really for real... and amazing, and incredible and wonderful and I would go see her again in a heartbeat!

She said the coliseum was intimate, *raises eyebrow* it has two mezzanine balconies and seats ~4,296... and yet somehow she has made it her home away from home, and it really was kind of intimate *smiles*.

She knocked it out out of the park finishing a couple of her songs in classic Celine fashion, but even knowing that she was going to do it didn't lessen the impact. In fact seeing it in person was even more phenomenal than I could have possibly imagined... until I realized she was singing the guitar solo.

*jaw dropping* whaaaa?!? 

My mind *exploded* and she shattered my perception of an amazing singer into a bzillion sparkling crystalline pieces. 

Yep, that pretty much put her light years above and beyond anyone I've ever heard. In. My. Life.

I ran the full gamut of emotions that evening, she shared pieces of herself in the way that only people who are fully comfortable on stage can, including a little leg from her cocktail dress "for Renee" she confided, and then again a little later "for anyone who wants to look", and she looks amazing! 

We laughed and cried, and I earned even more respect for another artist I admire deeply.  This artist can turn feelings into lyrics, and when Celine needed it most she wrote a song for her. It's called Recovering, and the artist is Pink! If you haven't heard it I recommend taking a listen, but it's worth having some kleenex on standby.  One of the friends we went with kindly shared her make-up wipes and we sniffled together :p

No matter what you think you know about her, if you're the least bit interested and you have the opportunity definitely go see her show live, it's an amazing experience.  She's a very special one of a lifetime kind of person, and I'm so thankful I was able to see her, it's a memory I wont soon forget!

Booyah! *fist pump*

I'm officially allowed to drive again, without someone who has a full license in the car with me... Yep that's right I passed my California drivers test *proud grin*, look out California!!!

There was only one minor burlap sack moment when the receptionist asked for my 84 digit appointment confirmation number and said that she could not look it up... and that they did not have a list of appointments for the day... and that I couldn't do my driven test without it. Wait, what?!?!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

Luckily the automated system sent me an automated confirmation along with the number, it isn't actually 84 digits, but it's all numbers and pretty long, and is hard to write down when you book it over the phone. I know from experience. 

In retrospect it was probably because most of their computer systems were down, and have been for the last day and a half... but just *say* that, and in that case you might as well just take people that say they have an appointment and sort it out later *sigh*

So how did I do?

I got three points off (out of a max of 15)

1 for not over-exaggerating looking behind me when I backed up while he was writing stuff down...

1 for stopping too close to/over the stop line, I don't think I was too far over but he suggested stopping back a little bit.  I disparage this one a little because it seems to be a habit of people around here to stop with more than a car length of space while they check their phones, which doesn't trip the traffic light sensors properly *sigh*

The last one was something to do with driving in my own lane... which I'm pretty sure I know exactly when that happened as we were driving through a small windy back road and I gave the car on the corner a wide berth because I couldn't see if there was someone getting out of it and not paying attention or not... and because that's how we drive in a small town... and because we're just polite like that in Canada ;)

You can take the girl out of the small town, but there are some small town things you can't take outta the girl ;)

Having waited on edge in anticipation for over half an hour despite having an appointment, and experiencing the full gamut of emotions this morning on not quite enough sleep I. am. exhausted. and thankful this is over, and relieved, and a little proud that it wasn't anywhere near as awful as I had feared it might be... almost anti-climactic even, which I am totally okay with *deep exhale*

Also, I'm pretty sure my lucky Superman underpants helped ;)

Adventures in healthcare

So I finally got set up so I can set an appointment to get my healthcare checkups and had to go through the standard questions.  Some of these I routinely struggle with on paper, but of course it was more comical trying to answer them out loud with an audience.

Assistant: Marital Status?

Me: Uh... What are the options?

Her: Married, Single, Divorced... *I glazed over* for some other options that definitely didn't apply...

Me: Siiiingle?

The other assistant laughed and said "You don't sound too sure about that!". I retorted that it was process of elimination and that answer was the closest ;)

Her: Race?

Me: White.

Surprised she looked up quickly, and I conceded... Well I'm not Black, I'm not Hispanic, I'm not Latino or any of the other minority groups, and it's probably under Caucasian... *restraining an eyeroll*

Unfortunately I forgot my friend's awesomest answer to this question: "Race? I am part of the HUMAN Race"

Her: Ethnicity?

Me: *looking truly confused* Canadian?

*laughter erupted and ensued*

Come on, how is that even a valid question anymore?!?! Seriously, I'm part British, Czech, and who knows what else coming out of the middle European countries that are all super close together and invaded each other frequently... and most of the people I know are of unknown mixed ethnicity for similar reasons. 

Even when you think you know, there's that person in the family that traces the tree back and goes "Hey did you guys know, we're part Scandinavian? Apparently four generations ago this guy got stranded when he was hired to invade and they couldn't pay the raiding party, so a bunch of them settled down and took local wives"

Hopefully with the advances that are being made in healthcare they'll figure out a better way to group people together rather than relying what we think we are.

I had a dream the other night...

I was hiking up an old logging road, it was dirty, and dusty and extremely rutted... and it was steeper than it should have been.

Semi-regularly there were plastic silver pins in the road with the NHL stamp on the top, almost like survey markers... I recognized them but couldn't quite place them...

For some reason I had a large backpack, despite which I was making good time and marveled at how effortlessly I threw my bag up a particularly steep section and jumped up after it passing a "runner" who was red, panting and practically crawling up.

Just beyond that there was another steep section, and as I climbed up I saw a lady pushing a cart on her way down and realized that it was the Stanley's cup. I respectfully stepped out of her way, watching in awe as she descended to my level.

She was *the* Cup bearer. She was the one in charge of the Cup while each player took it wherever they wanted for a day.

I asked if I could take a selfie with it, realizing in a panic that I didn't have my phone on me.  She smiled gracefully and assured me that she could take a picture of me with it on her phone, and that she could send it to me.

Somehow I ended up hiking down the mountain with the small group, some hockey player Gonzales that I'd never heard of who for whatever reason was still in a navy blue and burgundy uniform *skeptical look* and was the player of the day. I got to hang out with him and some of his closest friends as they told me about all the other places they'd taken the cup in their 24 hours with it.

It was amazing, it sounded like they'd had a blast and it was incredible to be able to share the evening with them. I woke up feeling as excited as if I'd seen the cup in person ;)

Random note

I don't know how often this happens for the rest of the general population of flyers, but I consistently get at least one "Z" (Zed) in my airline confirmation codes down here. Its like there's a secret flag on my name because I'm Canadian. Despite being down here for more than a year now, my conversation at the check-in desk still goes something like this:

Airline agent: "May I have your confirmation code please?"

me: "K. L. M. X. Y. Zed..."

Airline agent: *looking slightly concerned* "I'm sorry could you repeat that? KLMXY...?"

me: "Sorry, K. L. M. X. Y. *Zee*"

Airline agent: *relieved* "Ah yes, there it is"

I'm not sure what letter they type in when I say Zed, it's not like it sounds like anything else... but shockingly enough it never seems to bring up my reservation.

BCAA, never leave home without it!

I'm slightly ashamed to admit as a Canadian, that I bought a brand new set of chains for our trip to the Grand Canyon and it didn't even cross my mind to bring a window scraper...

Luckily it was a perfect frost, and came off like burnt eggs on one of those fancy new Teflon pans.

Big girl bike

I bought this bike from a co-worker of mine who got it because he figured no-one would want to steal it... (except me apparently) I can't even explain how so super excited I was to find out it was my *favorite* colour blue!

So, I rode to work the other day... all the way, all by myself! 

It took me 45 mins to get there... which isn't bad considering it's a single speed. The ride home though, felt like I was going WAY faster, and indeed I made it back in a mere 41 mins ;)

The best part of being down in the US though is that I biked 14.44 miles... not bad, but when you say it in Canadian... I biked 23.23 kilometers!! Doesn't it just sound way better that way!?!?!

Don't mind me, just living the fantasy

A friend of mine sent me this from some shop down near LA

Now I know everyone loves Canadians (how could you not ;) but I didn't realize there was such a need to *be* Canadian.

If being Canadian is one of your fantasies, we have a set of instructions you can follow.

Hockey night in Canada

I was listening to the Vancouver - Avalanche game which I suppose ended awhile ago now... and I've just realized that it rolled in to a loop of what sounds like practice ice...

It's relatively quiet, although there are voices in the background. Everything echos a little bit, belying the size of the arena they're in. The slap of shots and the *donk* sounds of the puck off the bar or the deeper hollow sound as it hits the boards... sticks *klacking* and my favorite the *skshhhhhht* of skates making shaved ice.

It's strangely soothing. 

If I close my eyes I can almost imagine watching my friend play. Sitting on a flat, well worn bench in the stands... hot Tim's in hand. Its almost cold enough to see your breath, but the game is exciting enough you don't feel it between cheering them on.

If everyone did things, just because they could...

Last night I was coming out of Home Depot, walking across the parking lot when I saw a lady  balancing a large unwieldy item, she paused... and I called out to ask if she needed a hand with it (it really looked a little awkward).  She told me she had it, as she stuffed it into the back seat of a laden down 4-door car.

Then she stopped.

She looked up, and said "Thank you. I don't usually meet such nice people when I'm shopping. You just made my evening."

I walked away wishing her a nice evening too... and realized on the way home that I was so shocked by what she'd said, that I'd forgotten to tell her I'm Canadian.

It breaks my little heart, that when people see someone struggling with something they don't stop and offer to help. If she had accepted my offer, it would have taken less than five minutes out of my evening... but even as it was, we both left the parking lot smiling.

It's fresh out... but not *that* cold

So while I was walking to work in a nice (albeit short sleeved) shirt... there was a lady in front of me in a down *p*arka - yes I want you to emphasize the "p" in Parka.

WITH THE HOOD UP! 

I think I understand where "crazy Canadian" comes from... but for the record, I think you guys are all nuts too ;)

It goes both ways ;)

We overheard this on the radio the other morning on our way into school, and it made me laugh so hard...

"Try as we might, we can't seem to keep Canadian culture from invading ours... Tonight, the Ducks play the Kings in a preseason game in the Honda center!"

Bet you didn't know... that Canadians don't even stand like Americans!?!

Last week, when I was introduced as being Canadian to one of the teachers at the little ninja's school... She said that she had seen me and thought that I didn't look American, that maybe I was European!

I held back the inappropriate response of "only in the bathroom" ;)

See, the joke is this: "If you're Canadian when you go into the bathroom, and American when you come out... what are you while you're in there?"

...

Are you ready? *grins* ... "You're-a-pee'n!"

Buahahahahaha!

Upon further reflection though, she wasn't really that far off, I am part British and part Czech... but totally Canadian ;)

 

Should have brought the machete

Good story's begin with "Once upon a time..." but great adventures begin with...

Me: "Should I bring the machete?"
Mom: "Where's your sense of adventure?!?"

That *should* have tipped me off... I most certainly *should* have known better, and the ensuing 20-30 minute bushwhack should have come as no surprise what-so-ever... including the fleeting moments of being semi-lost. I say semi-lost because given two hours I can probably get to somewhere that I recognize, and then home having spent hours upon hours doing just that as a kid ;)

Buuuut if we hadn't been lost, we wouldn't have found these pretty flowers!!!

Welcome to Canada ;)

Bear *snickers* in mind, that I was the very last one off our flight that landed just after midnight...

Canadian customs guy: "Are you bringing anything back with you?"

Me: "Just a couple of gifts..."

Him: "Like what?"

Me: "Ah... Superman underwear"

Him: "Sweet!"

Me: "Yeah!" :) "and um, I can't think of what else..."

Him: "That's okay, welcome home"

My solar panels need recharging, where are my shorts?!?

I just caught myself driving with the window rolled down because it's the first sunny day we've had in months... okay slight exaggeration, but that's certainly what it *feels* like.

I only noticed because my hands were getting a little chilly... It's 2°Cout, but it feels so amazingly wonderful! (46°F)

Of course it fits on The Fit!

Even if it almost hangs off of *both* ends ;)

Sound the trumpets, cue the fanfare!

Zoom in a bit, um a bit more...

This was the excitement of the day yesterday... as I caught a motion out of the corner of my eye I heard Connie running at mach 1.5 down the hallway, and saw this little scraggle-muffin trucking through the back yard.

Cue the Canadian LMFAO cover band

... Everyday I'm shovelin' shovelin'...

My hand just finished healing the blister I worked up shoveling those hash marks right there!! If you missed the sordid tale, you can read about it here.

Sunday, a day of rest... except for the wicked

You might be Canadian... if as a spectator you've had to shovel the field off *before* watching the kids play football in the snow!!!

See those pretty coloured lines, or even just the green bits... Well we had to shovel 'em off just so they could keep track of the game!

I'm totally not even kidding you, it's one of those expensive futuristic astro-turf fields... so apparently you can't just plow it or snow-blow it because it's made up of rubberized fish turds... and despite all the money they spent on it they forgot to take into account the fact that it snows up here... and the kids still play football.

The Saskquatch and I were directed to shovel the hash-marks clear, so we did.  Up one side of the field... and down the other. All 220 yards of it. Mostly 4 feet wide... until it narrowed down to about a foot and a half for the last 25 yards. Okay, so we were a little played out by then.

It wasn't even 11am and I had already worked off my Timmy's breakfast sandwich! *shakes head* the things I'm voluntold for...

I'll make you a deal... you run on the snow and *I'll* run on the grass...

Who thought this was a good idea?!?!

After a fantastically hard fought game, in which they cut the score in half from the last time they faced off against the Mission Lions, the Yellow-jackets ended the season second in their division. Great job guys!