Stonge#2

Hi, my name is: N/A

When I'm nervous:
my stomach goes nuts and I sweat

The last song I listened to was:
Jason Castro- What a day for a daydream

I have a hard time understanding:
nuclear physics.

This Morning:
I worked ...and worked some more. and then watched curling while working.

Last night I was talking to:
no one. I took the night off from all people after spending the week surrounded by people (ben was visiting). i'm not used to it!

Better name for me would be:
stonge

Monday night I'll be:
working..i'm so behind

My heart:
feels good...I finally ran again yesterday

I was born:
at 6:30ish in estevan, SK. I'm not giving away my birthday, you have to earn that knowledge.

Are you scared of growing up old and alone?
both suck. old is inevitable though. As long as I'm not feeble and have good stories.

Ever been kicked out of a bar?
nope, just a mall. i was badass.

Do you prefer indoors or outdoors?
the same as everyone else.

Do you like walking in the rain?
i've certainly gotten used to it living here...(avec umbrella).

Do you like thunderstorms?
hell yeah. too bad we dont get them here.

Are you a vegetarian?
No, but there are lots of vegetarian dishes that are quite good. And i often skip meat for some reason, but i still like it.

Anything you absolutely could eat forever?
ice cream, bananas & peanut butter, and bread with imperial margarine.

What food makes you want to gag?
the thought of liver..never actually tried it. oh and those hardboiled partially formed embryo eggs that people eat in weird places.

What is your favorite dessert?
so very many. i love pies. I had the most incredible mint chocolate creme brulee last week.

Do you want to get married?
common law would be fine too. as long as i get the stupid dress. i distaste being cliche.

Do you smoke cigs?
not a day in my life, except in that dream I had.

Have you kissed somebody in the last 2 weeks?
Yep

Who's the last person that came to your house?
Ben. he left yesterday after a week's visit.

Miss someone?
yep..all my family/friends in other provinces.

How's your ex doing?
I think they are all doing quite well.

Is there someone you want to fight?
Kind of. but I'm working on my rage.

Do you like someone right now?
sure

Song playing?
nada. listening to black guys fighting on tv.

What are you doing tomorrow?
going to the dentist..ugh. going back to school. dreading both a tiny bit. but at least it'll still be sunny.

Do you know what tofu is?
Yes

Have you ever eaten it?
disgusting. just eat a dirty spunge. how the hell do you spell spunge?

Do you want to go back to primary school?
never, not even for a second. well maybe grade 1..Mrs. S was pretty awesome.

Have you ever watched the Britney Spears movie?
you'd have to pay me to admit that.

What are you doing tonight?
probably more working, maybe watching a little 24 or little miss sunshine that i just got.

Who did you ride in a car with last?
laura. easy to remember given that it happens very infrequently! we went up to lighthouse park in west vancouver to go hiking. it was amazing.

Are you tired?
nope, slept lots. not that no sleep = tired anyway. thats a story for another time.

Who will you be with today/tonight?
yay for being by myself!

What color socks do you have on?
white. i dont know how you barefeet people can handle it. gross.

What color is the shirt you are wearing?
maroon

Do you think Barbie is a negative role model for young girls?
yes because she drives a sweet silver corvette.

Does your family own any boats?
my dad used to have one. we'd take it out on pasqua. then he sold it for a lcd big screen. I would have preferred the boat.

Do you have any interesting bruises or scars?
you should see my hands right now. I was playing with my new baby rats, they tore my hands to bits.

Where were you when 9/11 happened?
At home eating breakfast before school I think. watched the second plane hit.

How long does it take you to get ready to go out?
if i'm already showered? 20 min.

The last text you received on your mobile was from?
a funny one from kristina last night about keeping it in her mouth for awhile before she swallows. its an inside joke.

Last movie you watched?
Shaun of the Dead. no wait, it was waterboy. HAHA i love that movie. tackelin fuel. tackelin fuel.

Do you wish at 11:11?
not in a couple years..has a significant meaning for me.

Do you wear contacts or glasses?
neither. though i'm fairly certain I will at some point. stupid academia.

Next vacation you're going on?
the next definite one will be St.Thomas (US virgin islands) in June. i can't freakin wait!! too bad i'll have to listen to talks while I'm there. Before that? perhaps the island or seattle.

Do you have any piercings?
ear holes.

Last person you hugged?
Ben, he left yesterday. he likes to hug.

The last time and place you went out to?
Ben and I went to this restaurant called Enigma by my place yesterday. awesome brunch (got a free slice of banana bread even!) but very overpriced. But they have live jazz and blues on sat nights so I plan to go back sometime.

Who/What made you angry today?
nothing to get angry about today.

Do you sing in the shower?
nope, but I do sing to my rats sometimes. it makes the handling process go faster.

Has anyone ever sang or played music for you personally?
yep. it was very sweet.

Do you love anyone?
duh.

Have you ever bungee jumped?
nah, i'd rather sky dive if anything. going headfirst isnt appealing to me.

How many pets do you have?
None at the moment. except for my cactus and my rats. Really thinking hard about a cat...

Where is the weirdest place you have slept?
in a dingy on wascana lake.

What's the closest orange object to you?
my "tofino time" magazine thing on my mantel

What is your natural hair color?
Dark brown

Have you ever been asked out?
Yeah

Where is your default picture taken?
if its the crepe one, then montreal. best crepe I've ever had.

What's your middle name?
Rose

Your current relationship status?
Single

What is your current mood?
Obliterated. no wait, content.

What color underwear are you wearing?
white/pink

If you could go back in time and change something, what would you change?
we'd still have the do-do bird. and t-rexes. just a couple.

If you must be an animal for a day?
you'd think I'd say cat, but cats are quite boring. I'd go with dolphin. but not spinnaker ..he's at the aquarium and thats too damn small for the likes of my swimming.

Ever had a near death experience?
i guess car crash, but it just felt like it was, it wasn't really that close.

Something you do a lot?
Sleep and eat. i'm working on cutting out some of both.

When was the last time you cried?
I'm happy to say its been awhile.

Have you ever sang in front of a large audience?
elementary school choir? i have no idea. i did karakoe a few weeks ago, but i didnt even have to stand in front of ppl..its a nice little cozy room where everyone can sit and face the screen.

If you could have one super power what would it be?
to stop time around me.

What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
overall face, body, voice

What do you usually order from starbucks?
tall non fat chai tea latte, or tall decaf non fat mocha. i dont go much anymore.

What's your biggest secret?
my loatheness for a certain someone. and that I watch AI. not that its really a secret, but i'm a little embarrased to admit it.

Favorite color?
teal. especially with brown.

What are you eating or drinking at the moment?
water and a little sprite. i bought it for mix for people last weekend and nobody drank it so now i have to finish it off.

Do you speak any other language?
french was a failed attempt. spanish I just took for fun. thats the one I'd want to get if any.

What's your favorite smell?
anything fresh from a bakery, coconut, chlorinated pool (especially in a hotel)!

Describe your life in one word:
routine

Have you ever kissed in the rain?
possibly, but doubtful in regina since it never rained

What are you thinking about right now?
that I should probably go do some exercising after this

What should you be doing right now?
what I just said. and working.

Who was the last person that made you upset/angry?
probably you know who. or ben, but just frustrated, cause he can't hear anything.

How often do you pray?
Never.

Do you like working in the yard?
I dont think it would be a favorite past time of mine, unless I had more time. good thing I dont have one right now.

If you could have any last name in the world, what would you want?
stonge

I dont know if this will work but http://sites.gizoogle.com/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com

its the cnn website that's been "gizoogled". who has the time to come up with this stuff?

a bit hungover. stupid free-flowing hard alcohol party. and i dont drink hard alcohol. i also rarely rarely eat mcdonalds and somehow i ended up eating a cheesburger.

i think i'll just stick to commenting.

I just watched one of the best days of tennis ever. In the last 24 hours, I saw:

1)one of the best quality matches ever (Roddick, Kolshrieber) ..winners to unforced errors was like +70 for both of them. ridiculous. (5 sets)
2)one of the scariest matches (Federer, Tipsaravic) - Fed looked like he was going to lose in the 3rd round of a grandslam. he hasnt lost before the semi's since ...2003 at least? (5 sets)
3)and an epic match (Baghdatis, Hewitt) - epic because hewitt was playing on home turf and they always get rowled up and then baghdatis made it to the final 2 years ago and has like 50 crazy loud fans and that match not only went 5 sets, but also was the latest match ever played in grandslam history...ended at like 4:30am after almost 5 hours. (5 sets)

wow. not much is going to beat that. I'm probably the only one who understands all that, but I just wanted to record it because it was crazy.

I'm just killing some time before I go out to a karakoe thing. I likely wont sing much, I dont really do the singing in public thing, at least not by myself. However, I do enjoy laughing at other's expense. It also gives me the opportunity to play the Wii and rock band beforehand on a 100 inch PROJECTOR SCREEN! its going to be nuts.

What else..the last couple weeks back have been busy. Re-plowing through all the stats for my thesis and was doing a bunch of background work for thesis, review paper, etc etc. Its lots of work, but I'm liking my schedule. Though I've already worked over 50 hours this week and I'll probably work another 5 tomorrow at least, so its a little tiring.

Watched Run Lola Run last night. I didn't realize it was a foreign flick. Pretty good except I was tired and the whole watching basically the same 20 minute scene 3 times over wasn't helping. I really want to see Juno soon ..heard its really good. I guess those movie critics get it right sometimes.

Volleyball started on thursday. We are now in elite and boy did it feel like it that night. We were all super rusty and we just weren't really meshing yet. We do have 2 new ppl on the team so its going to take a bit of work. They also had a beast mind you...an asian beast at that.

I don't know if I'm sad or pissed about kent leaving. Actually I think its a conspiracy by the CFL. They brought him in just to win a grey cup and then got rid of him so that the Riders will go back to not winning for another 20 years because thats what we do and it keeps everything in balance. At any rate, I hope they get someone totally new, I think our other coaches should just stay doin what they've been doing.

mmm..thats about it. bye now.

This is apparently the thing to do this weekend:


1. Where were you one hour ago?
sleeping...oh glorious glorious sleep.

2. Who will be your next kiss?
most likely someone from france. they like to kiss a lot.

3. When is the last time you went to the mall?
sometime at christmas. i went a few times..last minute gifts, etc.

4. Are you wearing socks right now?
surprisingly not. I'm one of those people who loves socks. but i have my slippers on in the mornings.

5. When was the last time you went out of the province?
for christmas. mmm mmm saskatchewan.

6. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?
havnet been out to the movies for months. I meant to go while in regina..don tknow why that didnt happen. last night i watched total recall...i forgot how funny it was.

7.What is the last thing you had to drink?
Bohemian raspberry tea. its so damn good.

8. What are you wearing right now?
sweatpants, t-shirt, and my grandmas hand me down button up cardigan. and no bra. i'm wild.

9. What was your last purchase?
god what havent i bought in the last month. groceries, a heater and rugs for my office, everything and everything.

10. Last food you ate?
english muffin with peanut butter and a banana. my typical weekend breakfast.

11. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
laura? headed over for tacos and total recall.

12. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?
not *this* week. bought some dresses before xmas, some tights etc.

13. Do you have a pet?
not yet...can't wait to get my 2 cats. YES I LOVE CATS and i'm damn proud of it.

14. What's the last sporting event you watched?
canucks hockey probably. can't wait for tennis to start tomorrow!!

15. What is/was your favourite class?
english was my fav class in highschool. undergrad...hmmm...

16. If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?
back in bed...or on holidays again. i can never get enough of those.

17. What is the last thing you purchased online?
would have been tuition except those bastards wont let you do that anymore. probably music off itunes.

18. One thing you hate about yourself?
my memory. sucks ass.

19. What's your favourite soup?
i love soup. anything we had on the cruise back in '98 was awesome. but probably mushroom soup..especially my mom's homemade stuff..its unreal.

20. Do you miss anyone?
yep, lots of people. but thats life and you appreciate each other more when you do see them.

21. Last play you saw?
a christmas carol at globe in regina. wasnt a big fan actually. could have been because i was incredibly tired, but i think I wasnt alone in my lack of enthusiasm.

22. What are your plans for the day?
finishing this. getting some random homework done. going for a long run ..training for 10k sun run again. and then making a good supper and going out tonight.

23. Whose wall is the last you signed?
i could look it up, but i'm lazy.

24. Ever go to camp?
no...never did the actual camp thing. probably would have been fun though. i sure do love camping.

25. Were you an honour roll student in school?
yeah..its kinda my thing i guess. though i missed a couple semesters in undergrad..some cause i wasnt taking 5 classes.

26. What do you know about the future?
its x-rated.

27. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne?
currently not. i have so much body butter to use that I wont be touching perfume for a long time. mmmmm raspberry truffle.

28. Where are your best friends located?
Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC

29. Do you have a tan?
hell no. pasty as a clam.

30. How old do you want to be when you have kids?
early 30's. scarily close.

31. Last person who made you cry?
I got a little teary-eyed watching 24 yesterday. damn people saying goodbye to their loved ones because they're going to die. i'm not usually that emotional.

32. Do you have any piercings?
just ears. i missed the trend.

32. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw?
whats this soda you speak of? I drink pop from a straw yes.

33. How do you like your soda?
pop...fountain with 1/8 ice. and 80% flat.

34. Do you like hot sauce?
hell no.its just not going to happen for me.

35. Next time you'll take a shower?
After my run. hoping the rain lets up soon.

37. What is your mood?
indifferent.

38. Are you someone’s best friend?
I think so.

39. What do you want for Christmas?
nothing now. i got my christmas present for next year..my mom and brent are not going to kenya.

40. What are you doing right now?
this and watching twister.

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Oh! Look! Another one of these damn things!


1. Is your second toe longer than your first?
nope...i have very proportionate toes actually. I like them..exept for the damaged one.

2. Do you have a favourite type of pen?
I really like the inky ones...but they make a big mess.

3. Look at your planner for March 14, what are you doing?
cutting rat skulls open? just a guess.

4. What colour are your toenails?
deep red..from my pedicure. the polish lasts forever from those things.

5. What was the last thing you highlighted?
i dont really do that anymore. unless its highlighted on a word document, then i do that ALL the time.

6. What colour are your bedroom curtains?
i'd have to go look...shows you how much I pay attention in my room.

7. What colour are the seats in your car?
:( no car.

8. Have you ever had a black and white cat?
YES yes i did. Fritz. he was a great cat.

9. What is the last thing you put a stamp on?
it will be a certain someone's bday card. before that...the letter i'm supposed to send to the goverment telling them my new address. suckers still sent my GST cheque here though..HA.

10. Do you know anyone who lives in Wyoming?
nope. I don't think I want to..

11. Why did you withdraw cash from the ATM the last time?
long time ago. stupid bank requires me to go in to take out anything more than $400 so I hardly use it. I just take out a bunch extra when i get my rent every month.

12. Who is the last baby that you held?
no clue. I dont really do babies yet. I'm very awkward when I hold them.

13. Do you know of any twins with rhyming names?
nope. thats just cruel.

14. Do you like cinnamon toothpaste?
no. the only cinnamon thing i like is chai tea lattes.

15. What kind of car were you driving 2 years ago?
92 red chev cavalier.

17. Last time you went to Six Flags?
not an actual six flags...but La Ronde. which is quebec's version of 6 flags. it was great!

18. Do you have any wallpaper in your house?
wall paper is nasty.

19. Closest thing to you that is yellow:
these ugly couches I'm sitting on. cant complain though..they were free.

20. Last person to give you a business card?
Jason McManus..one of the dumbasses that couldnt sort out where our volleyball uniforms went. thank god i got my money back...dumbasses.

21. Who is the last person you wrote a cheque to?
dont really do cheques. i got like 200 in case i needed them, but have only used like 5.

22. Closest framed picture to you?
hahaha my and my brother. its in the pic frame/clock that my crazy landlord lady gave me which was a retirement present from the school board.

23. Last time you had someone cook for you?
mmmm January 4th. homemade burgers. i love my parents cooking.

24. Have you ever applied for welfare?
Nope.

25. How many emails do you have?
1 hotmail, 1 yahoo, 1 interchange ubc, 1 psych ubc, 1 u of r. i guess i use them all to some degree.

26. Last time you received flowers?
dont recall. have gotten them quite a few times, just dont remember the last.

27. Do you think the sanctity of marriage is meant for only a man & woman?
nah. let the gays marry.

28. What is something odd that you do?
just one? I cant think of the oddest..but I do like to carry 2038402384 things at once to only make 1 trip, and then end up dropping things and getting mad, rather than making multiple trips. I cant stop doing it.

29. Do you play air guitar?
i have...but i'm not proud of it.

30. Do you take anything in your coffee?
no coffee? i thought i could do it again, but i was proven wrong.

31. What is your opinion on french toast?
I LOVE IT! had the best stuff at Sophies, this famous diner in van. but it was during the boil water advisory and i ended up getting kinda sick after eating it, but i doubt it was from the water...probably from all that raw egg.

32. What is your high school's rival mascot?
o'neil......uhh.. cant remember. its good enough i remember we were the trojans. maybe they were the titans?

33. Last person you spoke to from high school?
lots of people..kat, ben, shane, erin, tiff, ETC. we even had a reunion party before xmas with lots of highschool ppl.

34. Last time you used hand sanitizer?
its part of my hand washing routine at work. we have to wash our hands after every time we handle the rats. 1 pump soap, scrub really hard with hot water, 2 more pumps, scrub some more, finish with sanitizer then wipe off with paper towel.

35. Would you like to learn to play the drums?
yes. i tried..and pretty much failed. i have no music genes in me at all...jeff got them all. but it sure is fun.

36. What colour are the blinds in your living room?
i dont know what i'd call that color.

37. What is in your inbox at work?
15 emails that I'm not sure what to do with yet.

38. Last thing you read in the newspaper?
I dont read the newspaper. I tried the globe and mail for a couple weeks but it just piled up and I never got to it. i want to WANT to read it.

39. What was the last pageant you attended?
no clue.

40. What is the last place you bought pizza from?
i havent bought pizza for awhile. we get it for free during out prefrontal cortex journal club every wednesday. and we got houston pizza on my birthday..mmm. still the 2nd best.

41. Have you ever worn a crown?
a tiara..for halloween when i went as miss south carolina.

42. What is the last thing you stapled?
i TRIED to staple something yesterday but the damn stapler broke. you just can't go super cheap with staplers.

43. Did you ever drink clear Pepsi?
I don't think I did. what did it taste like?

44. Are you ticklish?
Yes ..in weird places. no comment.

45. Last time you saw fireworks?
the fireworks competition in the summer..sitting on the beach on the ocean.

46. Last time you had a Krispy Kreme doughnut?
never. i always wondered what the big deal was too.

47. Who is the last person that left you a message & you actually returned their call?
laura? but i returned the call before i even heard the message.

49. Do you have a black dog?
nope. i would like to say never will. kat sure does though..anthus is pretty cute.

50. Do you have any pickles in your fridge?
Yep. i went 23 years without liking pickles and then BAM! i like pickles.

51. Are you an aunt or uncle?
nope...hopefully wont be for at least a few years. they arent ready yet!!

52. Who has the prettiest eyes that you know of?
i remember bryan young had great eyes..super cool blue. i like really dark eyes too.

53. Last time you saw a semi truck?
the last one i remember was the one stuck in front of us on the way back from whistler who needed to get a fuel truck brought in because it ran out of gas waiting in the 10 hour line.

55. Do you own a little black dress?
i finally bought a black dress..and i dont know if i'll have a chance to wear it in the next year. its a little bit too fancy for a regular occasion.

I was going to do a humungo post about all the crap that I did during christmas break back in good ol regina. But that just doesn't sound like a lot of fun right now. Basically every little bit of it was awesome. Highlights included: 2 hours of bitchin wallyball, tons of guitar hero with the girls, new years in windthorst, tennis, and lots of visiting with family and friends. Oh and my dad's wedding. Me and jeff actually produced a damn good speech that got lots of laughs. and kept it short because nobody likes long speeches..especially me.

Fast forward to now. Back at school today. Was making the little metal tubes things that go into my rat brains during surgery. So we gotta grind down the metal on each side to make it the right size. So I totally go and shove my hand into the grinding wheel and rip some skin off my finger. I always manage to never hurt myself *that* badly, just enough so that its annoying and bleedy. Can't wait to see whats up next.

Despite trying for the past year and half, I finally decided that now was going to be the time I fix up the crap shoot that is my office. I'm going to be working in there a lot over the next few months as I write my thesis and the other 2 papers I've got on the go, and its current state is atrocious. well its not that bad, but i definetly never want to work in there. So i went to the tiny little home depot by my house and got a space heater (much needed) and some improved lighting and a couple rugs to put around my area. I also finally printed a bunch of pictures from my computer so I put those up and I cut all the pics out of of my saskatchewan calendar and put them up. Now all we need is to move some shelves around and put up some curtains and maybe some fake plants. real ones would die instantly it'll finally be a tolerable place to work. i also bought a de-humidifier. basically a sack of stuff over a plastic bin. i hope it works!!

2007 was an interesting year. I can tell 2008 will be better. For no other reason than my attitude. I know its cliche to say you want to be a better person and then most ppl dont do it, but I tend to be pretty good at setting my mind to something and doing it so we'll see what happens. It may not change my luck, but it will change my perception.

well thats enough randomness for now. back to some episodes of 24, sewing my shirt up and figuring out what I need to do this week. The fun begins!! literally!

Having another pre-birthday celebration tonight. Cake and a movie at Kristen's (another of the birthdays but her's is post).I'm actually quite proud of the cake I made. Its a double layer chocolate zuchinni cake with chocolate butter icing. I added chocolate chips to the cake batter too to make it a bit more fudgey. Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks, but I know the icing is good so that should make up for any less than great cake taste if thats the case.

Friday was the actual 3 way birthday party but we didnt have cake, thus why we're having it tonight. It was an 80's theme (not my idea, I just went with it). I borrowed a costume from laura and was an 80's office lady or secretary. I actually got quite a few compliments on it so it went over well. I bushed up my hair as much as possible. Backcombing my bangs didn't quite work like I thought so I just kept messing it up. The blue pumps didn't last long though. I brought out the straw method for my beer which worked quite well. Stan and Gemma (his wife) showed up too and gemma was a riot. A 30 year old irish girl in a little green prom dress dancing like crazy to bon jovi. she loves it. she took all the pictures and they're all on facebook. Thankfully she didn't tag me in too many...*shudder*.

Well the semester is all finished up. I just have to invigilate an exam tomorrow at 3:30 and then we have our lab christmas party at Stan's tomorrow night. That should be fun. Its a big crowd cause we're intermingingly labs. And then Tuesday I'm flying back home. This was definetly an intersting semester. Started off both nerve-racking (teaching) and fun (lots of great outings in sept). Then october was regular busy but really good (aleks). And then november things kind of came crashing down a bit. Though the Riders kept my spirits up hugeley. And then december has come and gone so fast. I'm so glad I started the teaching thing...I really liked a lot of my students and it was just really good. Especially the hands on stuff in the lab. Its way better to interact with them than just stand there and lecture. I hope to do it again because I have all the material ready so it wouldnt be nearly as much work as this go around!

I have to say, I'm really looking forward to coming home. Not that I'm not always looking forward to it, but I just need to get out of here for awhile. Things were going really well a couple months ago, but the end of the semester is always just blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I just need to recharge because I have a lot of important stuff to do starting in january and I want to be gung-ho about it. Should get a nice combo of rest and seeing everyone as I'm staying for a good 18 days or something like that. I probably shouldnt be away that long, but I don't care. My sanity is more important.

Wishing everybody a great holiday!! I can't wait to enjoy mine :)

sorry sam, i meant to comment on your stuff but i was gone all weekend and stupid busy 3 days before that. we'll have a good chat soon.

Anyway. its late and im somewhat cranky. I'll start with the cons so I can finish with the pros.

Cons:
1) Having an off and on sore gland/cough for the past 3 weeks and it developing into some sort of half assed pissy cold the weekend I go away to whistler. i seriously think i'm allergic to vancouver.
2) Standing in line for whistler pass for 1 hour
3) finally getting up the top of the mountain and jenn's skis dont fit so waiting to get it fixed
4) being on a mountain in -20 + wind weather..definetly the coldest i've boarded in ever
5) sitting down to do up my bindings for the first run and snapping off part of my binding because they are frozen and having to get them fixed
6) getting hyped up to get going down the hill...only to snap off 2 more straps on my bindings and having to get them fixed. i believe this is when the swearing occurred.
7) only getting to start boarding at 12pm (to 3pm)
8) falling...hard. a couple times i winded myself.
9) being terribly terribly sore the next day. feels like whiplash.
10) after going for breakfast in squamish on sunday...deciding to drive through the snow storm currently occurring (which i am glad for in the end). Cue insane day. First we had to go about 10-20k the entire way if not less. It was probably the worst snowstorm i've ever driven in. Then we're about 2/3 the way home and we start hearing weird reports on the radio about ppl not having snow tires or chains and not being able to get up the hills and one guy actually stalling traffic to put on chains (keep in mind we're in a bug that has no winter tires haha). We run into super backed up traffic. Cue the next 5 hours that we sat on the highway and only moved about 2k in total. Luckily we were just fed, had all our warm winter stuff from skiing/boarding, and had enough gas in the tank. Did have to resort to peeing outside for the first time in probably 15 years. Kept weird reports from the radio/other people about some cop only letting 1 car up the hill at a time and needing a tow truck and yelling at ppl and giving them tickets for not having snow tires in vancouver to an accidnet involving a semi blocking traffic to a 15 car pile up. we still don't really know what happened...only that it stalled us for 5 hours. Luckily it was only around 0 degrees for most of it so we werent too cold. We went through all the classic stages...disbelief, concern, anger (WTF stage), bitterness, acceptance, and back to anger a couple times. and lots of swearing.
11) finally getting home after 10 hours on the road (normally takes 2.5 hours!!) and finding that your place is freezing because the furnace broke for the 2nd time in 2 weeks. on the weekend when nobody can fix it. in addition to the water heater breaking last week.

Pros:
1) staying in sweet ass condo room and having great meals and drinks
2) not being quite as bad at boarding as I expected after a 2 year hiatus
3) having a fairly cute aussie guy fix my bindings...twice!
4) not breaking any bones!! ;)
5) playing hilarious pictionary. DONE! OKAY! CHINA HAT!
6) sleeping in and going for a nice breakfast in squamish on sunday
7) getting to hang out with my only sask friend one last time before he moves back to saskatoon...john is awesome!

and last but certainly not least. and it makes up for the fact that there are 11 cons...
THE RIDERS WON THE GREY CUP LAST WEEK!!!!

In the middle of a Rider crowd..



well there isn't really much of a crowd there in that picture. but there was!! I had the best time just standing out front of the building waiting for dezz to show up. it was really nice out and I just walked around, hi-fiving all the rider fans, meeting people from all over. Talked to an older woman who's always been a rider fan even though she's always lived in alberta!! Stood and talked with a couple rider fans from regina and a bc lions fan for quite awhile. laughing at all the get-ups and weird happenings...such as someone leaving a coffee pot with ice in it in the middle of nowhere and people pushing it around with their feet but nobody would pick it up. A bunch of black guys walked by and gave me hi-fives and I think they must have been family of the Riders because I actually thought they were riders but they wouldnt be wandering around outside. Saw tons of good costumes but didn't want to be a creep and take pics of ppl without them knowing. Although thats totally what some old man did! He took a picture of me and then came up and showed me and the ppl i was standing with the picture and then laughed and walked away. CREEP!

On the way to the game, I took the bus and these lions fans got on. The one guy came and sat with me and took a picture and we talked to whole way there. He didn't even heckle me too much. I love how friendly everyone is that watches football!!

Once dezz got there, we went inside and it was just as good! We were in a decent section..kinda by the endzone but still good. And enough rider fans around that I wasn't bombarded! There was another creep beside us though that kept looking at us and talking to us. But I played along to be nice. Then he decides to give me a free beer in the 2nd quarter?? I took it, figuring he's probably just a lonely older man, not a real creep who'd roofie me. And i was right. Later on, he bought us both waters because dezz doesnt drink!! We didnt tell him we already had waters in our bag ;)

It was so great to go to the game with someone who was a good sport and had a good time! She isnt huge into football, but she dressed up and cheered for the lions so it was awesome! It was seriously one of the best times I've had in vancouver. I still can't believe we actually won and are going to the cup with a good chance to win! I can't wait for sunday!!!!!!!!!!

After the game we celebrated by going for dessert which was also amazingly delicious. And then I went home and watched the canucks win and then watched federer win the last tennis tourney. WHAT A GREAT DAY!!

Here's a couple more pics..the rest are on facebook. I do realize how stupid I look with my facepaint but I couldnt tell that in the mirror. oh well.

GOING TO THE GAME!
ohhhhhhhhhhh baby.

Back from the notorious Society for Neuroscience. I've been hearing all about it for the past year so I finally got to taste it myself. Details to follow. Pictures are on facebook.

I first wanted to mention that I finally defrosted my freezer which has probably been needing it for the last 6 months or so. I was using a blow dryer and just letting it sit in there hoping it wouldnt spark a fire. I though it was going to take forever, but after about an hour or so, I was able to pull off these giant blocks of ice. When I say giant, I do mean giant. It had managed to form ice all underneath the dinky freezer box and inbetween the box and the rest of the fridge making it a bitch to pull out...chunks of ice flying everywhere. Its now all slowly melting in the sink...I really should take a picture of it. My laziness captured on film.

Back to san diego. Left last friday..pretty uneventful trip there. Though we did wait at the gate next to where all the Cancucks were boarding their flight to colorado. So we saw them all walk up one by one in their fancy suits. My friend dezz was freaking out cause she loves them so much, but was too chicken to go ask for an autograph or picture. Luongo looked weird with his hair all slicked back. I prefer it shaggy...greasy and shaggy is what an italian should be.

So cue 8:30ish and we get in to san diego. Get to our hotel..The Embassy Suites..an awesome hotel. Big suite rooms, deluxe buffet breakfast every morning (and I do mean deluxe), and the big kicker that stan wanted it for...free happy hour drinks from 5:30-7:30 every night. Thats my boss...he loves his booze. So the first night we went walking around..the main downtown area is called the Gaslamp area. Very obvious once you get there...its dead all around it and then suddenly your surrounded by ppl, bars, and restaurants. Ended up at a mexican restaurant (very fitting). Made the mistake of ordering a margarita that didnt list the price....$11 dollars later!! My burrito was only 8 bucks. A drink should never ever be more than your food.

The next day was the best weather we had...bright and sunny and probably 15-20 degrees ish. You could tell there was a little smoke in the air, but nothing major. Although jenn blew some black crap out of her nose on the first day.
Went to the convention centre...it really was as big as they said it was. Holds 30,000+ people. It was a lot of people. Constantly maneuvering around them. It was pretty neat though. So much nerdiness in the air.
I think we did the happy hour thing and then got supper somewhere..can't seem to remember. OH yeah...hawaiin food. I still can't spell that. Again expensive...18 bucks for a wok rice bowl or something I got. I just wanted to make sure I had pineapple. Mmmmm pineapple. It was carmelized too! Then we headed to some pub called Henry's. I got questioned about my ID and luckily had my passport or he wouldnt have let me in. SO GAY. ITS 12 freakin places you have to remember...just have to have HEARD of. god. anyway. the bar wasnt that great..pretty much like any other bar in every other city.

Sunday was a huge day at the conference..lots of posters to check out, went to a talk about cognitive decline in alzheimer's disease, etc. Then we had a "social" in which ppl of different areas get together and drink. This was after our happy hour of course...luckily the line for drinks was so long that i didnt get wasted at 5:30. We got horribly lost and only made it for the last 20 minutes..I was hoping to meet some of the big guns, but they werent there. Then we had our annual Lab dinner...went to this italian place. OH GOD was the food good. Super quality pasta i tell you. Felt sickly full after..but a good sick.

Monday was a lame day at the conference so we decided to hit the zoo in the afternoon! See pictures on facebook. It was awesome..probably the highlight of the trip. Orangutans are awesome..so people like. The one female was being such a jokster...rolling around and dancing and sticking her tongue out. hilarious. didnt get enough pictures of them.
Monday night I think was the night we had a hotel room party for a prof that just got tenure (one of stan's friends). He brought his super cute kids. they adopted a little black boy and girl and the boy was so funny. He was 4 years old but he was basically hitting on me (with a little help of one of the post-docs we know. it was quite hilarious...asked for my cell # and everything! Guess i can't complain that i'm not getting hit on!

Tuesday was the busy day…checking out posters in the morning, then it was my poster session in the afternoon. I’d been warned about what it was going to be like for the past year, so I wasn’t that surprised at the amount of ppl that came by..I was actually expecting more. And I talked for the entire 4 hours straight! Definetly lost my voice a bit and still trying to get it back. But it was really good..met some awesome people, got some ideas, and nobody was an asshole! That’s always a plus. I was super tired and sore after it was all done so we all went back to the hotel for the happy hour and then stan had a party in his room with ppl from all over the world.

So some highlights othe than the zoo included: retardedly cheap booze in the grocery store by our hotel (Ralph’s), riding the Escelevator (yes it combines them), gharderelli ice cream and chocolates, realizing I really like swiss cheese, getting flagged and thoroughly searched at the san diego airport.

Thursday was back to reality. I am trying to catch up in my biology class (which I’m surprisingly doing quite well in) so I have to get back to creating a webpage about platypuses and sharks. Met a roger federer sound-alike last night at a birthday party. Really is swiss. Kinda looked like him too. I think I like swiss german…not as meany.

SO PUMPED FOR THE RIDER GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh baby.

That’s it.