Rock the Boat

I can't deny that I do miss rowing. Although I know I am better off without it, a large part of my last three years has been dominated by it. So it's not a surprise that many of the emails i have kept over the last two years involved rowing. Yup, I'm currently sorting through 2 years of emails that I have not dealt with (printed, saved, whatever). Here's a link to an article from one of my regattas as coach and coxie:
http://www.mississauga.com/sports/article/78045--don-hosts-regatta
We were the crew that was supposed to win.

I Just Wanna Dance

Second semester last year I signed up for Jazz - Level 2 at UVic on Monday nights. I attended maybe 3 classes before my fractured rib overtook my body. This time, Tuesday nights, it's contemporary ballet. I have not taken ballet itself since I was four. Apparently I hated it and cried at every class, so I really can't ever blame my parents for not allowing me to be involved when I was a youngin'.
I have a weekly date also on Tuesdays with Sarah to knit. I made a mistake today that I know I will never repeat. Forgetting to wind up my skein. Usually I always buy ones already wound, but today I walked out of the store with an unwound one. And when I went to knit, I ended up unknotting for an hour. And the works not done yet. If only I had stayed an extra 5 minutes in the store. If only I had remembered in the first place.

Saying NO

I've decided to slowly reveal my New Year's Resolutions as I manage to accomplish them, so here is one of them: Learn how to say no. You don't even have to know me well to understand that I am the type of person who has something to do on the hour every hour, over-commits, and spreads herself too thin. It's my over-achieving nature that has started to bite back. So today I actually gave up my only shift at work so that I can have more of a regular schedule with room for studying. And gave up the hip hop Live yoga class (with LuLuLemon giveaways!) that my boss was hosting. I even passed up going to see Zombieland for only $2.50 at UVic Cinecentre (by myself, because I just don't care anymore). All because it's time to prioritize and set myself up for success for this semester.
What I should not have done today though was not go to church in order to get all this organizing (which currently is getting through all the emails I've not attended to over 09 and earlier even), because I just ended up napping anyway. Oh yeah, that's another resolution. No more napping, except for weekends. Check :)

Rainy Weather

(My apologies that there may not be pictures to supplement my posts for a week or so, because my xD does not fit into the sD slot on this new netbook).
It rains in Victoria. It does not take one long to figure this out once you've lived here for a bit if you don't already know this when moving here. Yesterday was by far the best of the rainy days of the week. It got progressively heavier as the day progressed. I started the day by breaking my 12.99 umbrella which I would have had for the year and a half. Black birds on white background. I ended my day with a new 9.99 umbrella (white polka dots on black background), so now time will only tell how long this one can last. I was glad for the heavy rain, as my mother has said in the past that a storm is a good indication for someone who has died on their funeral day. So I know that Kuya Jon received all the proper rights he would have desired over in Ottawa.

Onset of Cravings

I officially started my volunteer work in the Behavioural Medicine Lab today. I enter study participant's food descriptions (from a three-day food log) into this program called Food Processor. I noticed my progressive desire to eat throughout the two hours, and by the time my Business Law class that I attended afterwards ended I had eaten both my oatmeal bar and my chicken sandwich. Now all I have had left to get me through the next two hours is a miniscule box of raisins (which I have not eaten yet somehow).
Food has always been an issue for me. I can never will my body to stop demanding something at least every two hours, which conflicts with being a student going from class to class or writing a three hour exam (the later the most daunting of scenarios).
Food will become even more of an issue now that I have committed firmly to making appearances (and actually working out) at the gym. Somehow I have become the fifth member of a gym posse consisting of four other rather grown men. Should be fun.

Balmy Weather

I've decided to remove my msn message to all of : it's pretty much summer over here. I upset a good friend from Guelph and decided my work was done. It's like the second I stepped off of the plane onto B.C. soil and breathed in the fresh B.C. air that my cold symptoms began to clear. I haven't worn my Thermaloft North Face parka since. Today I finished off my Tuesday without a toque or a jacket (just my vest). So compared to the -16C I left behind in Ontario, the average 7C here truly is like summer, at least on the island.
Perhaps I may transition into a night owl in terms of managing my studies. I'll try out this in bed before 11/11:30, up by 5/5:30 - go for at least 6 hours a day, and no naps. No naps. At least during the school week. Okay. Maybe at least during Mon. and Tues. when classes run pretty well all day, although pretty nicely (if you choose to look at it that way) spaced out.
I think I've accepted that it really is not feasible for me to return home for family and personal affairs this weekend. So I will stop looking at flights home and focus on how to be a good person from afar. I'm starting to embrace what I did have with my lost loved one while he was here, as opposed to what I can no longer have and what will be missed.

Kicking off 2010

4 days into the New Year and I've already done a substantial amount of travelling. A flight from Toronto to Calgary to Comox on the 1st followed by a ferry ride from Comox to Powell River to visit with my cousin and the bird. Still craving my number 13 meal from the Thai Dal Zone (isn't that a clever name? I was impressed.) that I forgot to bring home with me - I always take home leftovers these days. On the 3rd, another ferry ride from Powell River to Comox, then the train from Courtenay to Victoria. My first trip on a train (The GoTrain in Hamilton and T.O., and whetever they would have called it in Germany do not count) so I was excited for this scenic tour of the island - that lasted for two hours, when the sun went down and then I took advantage of the opportunity to sleep. I think it helped to defeat most of my cold, although the cough did make me almost vomit again on my walk to the bus with Rob this morning, and did force me to leave mass on campus for a bit this afternoon.
It seems that most of my blogging will be done while eating dinner (at least until I get too messy with my food, which I usually am not). I purchased a rather healthy meal today - veggie chili in a bread bown with rice (the healthy kind from the looks of it) and fresh garden salad (yes, there is dressing). If I choose to stay healthy with my meal choices as a New Years Resolution, which I probably will torture myself with, my choices will be limited, but I know I'll feel awesome (at least that is the hope). I may have to make one exception and just limit the intake of sweet potato fries though...becuase I love them, and they are better than regular fries. The reason for eating out is the long day that every Monday will be with class at 10am and my final class ending at 9:30pm. Hopefully I will not have to purchase every week as I am a starving student - I just have only been back in Vic for less than a day and need to find the best option for purchasing fresh fruit and veggies for myself. Right now I have 20 dollars of food to live on for the week.
Which is nothing compared to the 288 I spent on textbooks today (and there may be one more to purchase) and the 620US I will somehow have to come up with for my in country expenses for Honduras. Such is life. And I hope to do a better job of living it this year.