This made me laugh!
Haven't you ever wanted to kill someone that sends you all those stupid requests in facebook. Wouldn't it be nice if life was like this!
And don't you love the random fees that ticketmaster charges you? Seriously a "convenience charge" for printing your own tickets. I am saving you mofos paper and staff to pass out the tickets at the on-call desk, how do I need to pay you more money?
Enjoy!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Bermuda Day Weekend
This past weekend was the lovely Bermuda day. We rip off the same weekend as the US' Vetran's Day but make it our own! On Friday night I went to the Princess and had a few drinks and then we headed to my scuba club's annual party and dinner. We know absolutely no one in the scuba club so we thought this would be a good place to start. We ended up meeting this nice couple from Denver that we hung out with all night and I met a couple of the dive instructors.
One of the dive instructor's girlfriend told me how she had been ditched for the half marathon by her training partner. We had a little vent about that (both my partners ditched me in the early stages). Neither of us were the ones that actually wanted to run the race but somehow we both ended up being the only ones that saw it through. She didn't train much so we both had a big conversation about how much the race was going to hurt. She was convinced that the paramedics van would be following her (they traditionally loom behind the last runner) and how embarassing it would be to be seen by so many people (literally thousands come out to watch the race).
The party was pretty good and we ended up eating a ridiculous amount of meat. They had ribs, chicken cooked with cans of ginger beer up their butts, roast beef, pork, etc. The only non-meat items were buns and coleslaw. Oh yah for the vegetarians, someone had gone to the store and bought a vegetarian lasagna. Eat meat or get out! My kind of party! The band was really good too. I had seen them before (apparently there is only one band in Bermuda?) but they had this girl singing for them. She was wicked. A young girl rockin' out with some old school guys. She had the kind of voice that I wish I had and that I think I have when I'm drunk singing karaoke!
On Saturday I went to the beach. Sure enough, it's really nice out and as soon as I arrive to the beach, the entire sky clouds up and it starts to get cold out. The world is on a mission to ensure that I stay as pale as humanly possible. I actually had someone at the scuba party come up to me and say "Hey girl, you need some sun" and I actually currently have tan lines. Seriously, there is no hope!
On Saturday night I went to a bachelorette party. We rented a catamaran and played games on the boat. It was raining and cold and too dark to see anything. I think the boat rental was a nice thought but ended up being a bit of a rip off at $50 a head! The girl who is getting married seemed to enjoy herself despite having tried to change the date of the party at the beginning. We all dressed up in red tank tops and sailor hats and drank alot. We went to Flanagans and the DJ played some bad music. At one point my friend got me to hold a beer for her and then next thing I know I had the bartender yelling at me that I can't bring my own beer into the bar (she had brought that beer from home). I'm like "Dude! I don't even drink beer!" I ended up going home no too late because the music at the Purple Onion really sucked (it was a crappy live band with a drum machine).
Here's me and some friends at the bachelorette party. AHOY!
On Sunday I relaxed all day to get ready for my half marathon on Monday. I ended up finding the girl from the scuba club and sat with her on the ferry over to the start of the race. There were so many damn fit people there. I guess the half-marathon distance is where the out of shape people get weeded out (there are often lots of larger individuals at the 5km races). I found it funny because when I went downtown I saw a whole tonne of overweight people setting up their chairs getting ready to watch the parade (more on that later) and then I got to the race start and I was the out of shape person. And trust me, that is no small feat making me feel out of shape on this island (over 80% of the population is considered clinically overweight).
My warm up consisted of walking from the washroom over to the field and doing some light streching. There were people there that ran aroudn the field for 30 minutes warming up. For god sakes people, we are about to run 13.1 miles so you don't need to do anymore running then necessary! The race itself was pretty good. The first 10 miles of the race is very hilly but there is a nice view and there are people all along that cheer you on. I kept a pretty steady pace of 9 minute miles for the first 10 miles and then all of the sudden, it felt like someone stabbed me in the hip flexors with knives and I could no longer lift my legs (I did a granny shuffle for the last 3 miles). I guess that may have something to do with only training to 10 miles. Next year (if I can forget the pain that occured from this year's race) I will definitely gradually train up to the full distance rather than stop short and hope that adrenaline brings me the last few miles!
The race was well organized and there were tons of water/gatorade stations along the way. Gatorade is a life saver. Every time I drank some, I would get second legs for the next 2 miles (except when it came to those fateful last few miles were I could have taken crack and it wouldn't have helped me at all!) The worse part of the race was that I knew that the finish was close to downtown and you could literally see downtown from about the 7th mile. It never seemed to get any closer. But yay! I am finished. I did the race in 2:13:45. My goal was to run the entire thing (which I did). I must've run my last few miles really slowly because my overall average per mile pace was 10:13 minute miles (down from the 9 minute miles I was runing at the beginning).
Here's me at about 10 miles. This is when my legs began to fail me!
When I finished the race and was limping back to town, everyone that had set up their chairs patted me on the back. I guess it's because the most exercise they'd be getting is from lifting their fried chicken to their mouths from their plates. I was downtown on Sunday night and I saw people setting up chairs and taping their areas (they put duct tape down and write their names on it). They are hardcore. You should have seem some of the tents and set ups people had. They were nicer than my apartment! These people take their Bermuda Day Parade watching seriously. From what I've heard, people can get really bitchy if you put your chairs in someone's space that they had "reserved" the night before by putting down tape. My friend said she saw someone get sworn at and almost get in a fist fight over it last year! All in all the race and Bermuda Day went down well and I will definitely have to beat my time next year. I would really like to train extra hard and get under 2 hours next year. But I will have to be hard core! I have faith though!
One of the dive instructor's girlfriend told me how she had been ditched for the half marathon by her training partner. We had a little vent about that (both my partners ditched me in the early stages). Neither of us were the ones that actually wanted to run the race but somehow we both ended up being the only ones that saw it through. She didn't train much so we both had a big conversation about how much the race was going to hurt. She was convinced that the paramedics van would be following her (they traditionally loom behind the last runner) and how embarassing it would be to be seen by so many people (literally thousands come out to watch the race).
The party was pretty good and we ended up eating a ridiculous amount of meat. They had ribs, chicken cooked with cans of ginger beer up their butts, roast beef, pork, etc. The only non-meat items were buns and coleslaw. Oh yah for the vegetarians, someone had gone to the store and bought a vegetarian lasagna. Eat meat or get out! My kind of party! The band was really good too. I had seen them before (apparently there is only one band in Bermuda?) but they had this girl singing for them. She was wicked. A young girl rockin' out with some old school guys. She had the kind of voice that I wish I had and that I think I have when I'm drunk singing karaoke!
On Saturday I went to the beach. Sure enough, it's really nice out and as soon as I arrive to the beach, the entire sky clouds up and it starts to get cold out. The world is on a mission to ensure that I stay as pale as humanly possible. I actually had someone at the scuba party come up to me and say "Hey girl, you need some sun" and I actually currently have tan lines. Seriously, there is no hope!
On Saturday night I went to a bachelorette party. We rented a catamaran and played games on the boat. It was raining and cold and too dark to see anything. I think the boat rental was a nice thought but ended up being a bit of a rip off at $50 a head! The girl who is getting married seemed to enjoy herself despite having tried to change the date of the party at the beginning. We all dressed up in red tank tops and sailor hats and drank alot. We went to Flanagans and the DJ played some bad music. At one point my friend got me to hold a beer for her and then next thing I know I had the bartender yelling at me that I can't bring my own beer into the bar (she had brought that beer from home). I'm like "Dude! I don't even drink beer!" I ended up going home no too late because the music at the Purple Onion really sucked (it was a crappy live band with a drum machine).
Here's me and some friends at the bachelorette party. AHOY!
On Sunday I relaxed all day to get ready for my half marathon on Monday. I ended up finding the girl from the scuba club and sat with her on the ferry over to the start of the race. There were so many damn fit people there. I guess the half-marathon distance is where the out of shape people get weeded out (there are often lots of larger individuals at the 5km races). I found it funny because when I went downtown I saw a whole tonne of overweight people setting up their chairs getting ready to watch the parade (more on that later) and then I got to the race start and I was the out of shape person. And trust me, that is no small feat making me feel out of shape on this island (over 80% of the population is considered clinically overweight).
My warm up consisted of walking from the washroom over to the field and doing some light streching. There were people there that ran aroudn the field for 30 minutes warming up. For god sakes people, we are about to run 13.1 miles so you don't need to do anymore running then necessary! The race itself was pretty good. The first 10 miles of the race is very hilly but there is a nice view and there are people all along that cheer you on. I kept a pretty steady pace of 9 minute miles for the first 10 miles and then all of the sudden, it felt like someone stabbed me in the hip flexors with knives and I could no longer lift my legs (I did a granny shuffle for the last 3 miles). I guess that may have something to do with only training to 10 miles. Next year (if I can forget the pain that occured from this year's race) I will definitely gradually train up to the full distance rather than stop short and hope that adrenaline brings me the last few miles!
The race was well organized and there were tons of water/gatorade stations along the way. Gatorade is a life saver. Every time I drank some, I would get second legs for the next 2 miles (except when it came to those fateful last few miles were I could have taken crack and it wouldn't have helped me at all!) The worse part of the race was that I knew that the finish was close to downtown and you could literally see downtown from about the 7th mile. It never seemed to get any closer. But yay! I am finished. I did the race in 2:13:45. My goal was to run the entire thing (which I did). I must've run my last few miles really slowly because my overall average per mile pace was 10:13 minute miles (down from the 9 minute miles I was runing at the beginning).
Here's me at about 10 miles. This is when my legs began to fail me!
When I finished the race and was limping back to town, everyone that had set up their chairs patted me on the back. I guess it's because the most exercise they'd be getting is from lifting their fried chicken to their mouths from their plates. I was downtown on Sunday night and I saw people setting up chairs and taping their areas (they put duct tape down and write their names on it). They are hardcore. You should have seem some of the tents and set ups people had. They were nicer than my apartment! These people take their Bermuda Day Parade watching seriously. From what I've heard, people can get really bitchy if you put your chairs in someone's space that they had "reserved" the night before by putting down tape. My friend said she saw someone get sworn at and almost get in a fist fight over it last year! All in all the race and Bermuda Day went down well and I will definitely have to beat my time next year. I would really like to train extra hard and get under 2 hours next year. But I will have to be hard core! I have faith though!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Friday Ramblings!
So the weather has finally taken a turn for the better. It has been generally crappy and muggy out the past few days with a few major rain storms thrown in the middle. But just in time for my half-marathon, it gets nice out. The only day where I would like an overcast day! Seriously what the f powers that be?
Here's a picture of some locals enjoying the lovely weather (read: flooded roads)
I saw something hilarious on the internet today that I have to share. Seriously, what would you think if you got a present in one of these? Love it! I hope everyone (i.e. all 2 people that read this) have a wicked weekend!
Here's a picture of some locals enjoying the lovely weather (read: flooded roads)
I saw something hilarious on the internet today that I have to share. Seriously, what would you think if you got a present in one of these? Love it! I hope everyone (i.e. all 2 people that read this) have a wicked weekend!
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Playing Ketchup
The weekend before last was pretty fun. On Friday night I took it easy and rented "Dan in Real Life". It's a pretty decent movie but a bit slow. I love Steve Carrell though. He makes any movie wonderful.
On Saturday, me, the boyfriend and a couple of friends participated in the End-to-End walk. We only did the middle-to-end portion of the walk though because I figured walking 16 miles was enough. I was fine for about the first 10 miles of the walk but the last 6 were painfull. I thought for sure my hips would be the first things to fail me, but the bottom of my feet was the bodypart that won out. Walking on cement for that long is horrible. But all in all, the weather was really good (overcast - so not too hot) and the walking trail was really nice too. It was a trail that followed along the old railway that used to be in Bermuda (before they had roads). You gotta love the bush here, because it is covered with colourful flowers. The company was good too.
It's funny in this country because the people really get behind every and I mean pretty much every event. I swear almost every local was either in the walk or was along the trail cheering us on. From the old people sitting at their windows in their wheel chairs to the crack-heads that were booted off Railway Trail (there usual haunt) so we could do the walk. I got lots of high fives and cheers. Also, at about every mile or two there were stations that gave out water, cookies, muffins, chocolate bars, gatorade, etc, etc. The stations are what kept me going. I couldn't wait to see what fun treat would be at the next station. And then at the end they gave us a party favour bag complete with chips and nacho cheese dip. Congrats on being healthy and walking half the island, here enjoy you can of fat. So Bermudian! Apparently the turn-out for the half-marathon that I am doing the Monday after next (on Bermuda Day) is supposed to be about 4 times more people. Hopefully all those people will give me the adrenaline I need to finish the race!
On Saturday night we walked down the raod to the local pub to have a couple of drinks to let loose after that massive walk. We were enjoying some lazy drinks when a bunch of 30-40 year old men busted through the door on a pub crawl. They bought up the bar (and offered to buy us drinks for "ruining our night" which they very much didn't). They were hilarious. The future groom ended up throwing up outside the bar and the rest of them ended up running out, into the rain when somoene thought they heard one of the waiters had "called the cops". Then someone finally figured out that no one had called them and they trickled back into the bar, drenched wet because their bus driver had abandoned them. Apparently after that they let loose on downtown Hamilton (as witnessed by my friends that were down there). On Sunday I ended up being lazy as hell and thank goodness because I needed it!
This last weekend was a riot too. On Friday we headed out for Happy Hour at the Princess and I of course drank too much (which you totally cannot help in this country because they poor about 4 oz of booze into each drink). I don't remember much but I had just gotten a new camera and I ended up having alot of pictures of me making out with said purse. I really do love that purse, I wasn't sure how much, but apparently I loved it alot.
On Saturday I went to my rugby dinner. It was the 50th anniversary of the team this year so the dinner was a black tie affair at a ritzy country-club-like locale. I wore my the bridesmaid's dress from my sister's wedding. I headed out on the back of my boyfriends bike to the dinner but it started to drizzle and I didn't want to ruin my dry-clean only dress so I turned around and went back and thank god I did because I would've gotten drenched! I ended up calling a taxi driver. I live on a road that is a close and the intersecting road that leads up to my close has the same name but is a road instead of a close. So I gave directions to the taxi and told them we are the blue house at the top of the hills. The directions were pretty simple. Basically you turn off of a main road and then turn left and voila, there is our house. So I am waiting for the cab for a long time and then the boyfriend goes out and he sees the taxi driver at the top of the intersection road with the same name in front of a PINK house laying on his horn. So we call the taxi dispatcher back and say we can see the taxi driver and he is on the wrong road. We can hear the taxi driver in the background (because the dispatcher was on a radio with him) and he's saying "I was on the right damn road" and she is telling him that he obviously wasn't because we had seen him on the wrong road. So he gets all pissed off and refuses to pick me up (not quite sure why). So she sends another cab. At this point, I am about 45 minutes late to the dinner. Finally the cab arrives and I finally get there 1 hour late.
I had enough time to gobble down one drink before they closed the open bar and started charging for drinks. Thank god for wine on the table though. The dinner was very good. We started with a scallop with risotto, main course was lamb shanks with these cool-ass scalloped potatoes (they looked like a pastry or something) and then ended with a brownie with vanilla ice cream and pineapple. I really am not good at describing food, so I do it no justice, but I promise you it was really good. Then the speeches started. Up first was our captain who talked about our year (we won everything this year so it was a good year). There was this obnoxious old drunk woman at the back that started vocalizing her disdain for the length of my captain's speech. She was really loud too. It was so rude. One of the girls on our team politely told her it was not necessary but she continued on so finally is escalated to the point that she had to full on tell her to shut up. And then the guys' team captain went up and she did the same thing. So I yelled out "Atleast you aren't sexist!" Lastly, one of the founding members went up who was a very sweet man but he had to be about 90 years old. He had the most boring speech ever that he battled through with the pace of a snail. The old drunken lady was loving that. I went to the bathroom and to get a drink for 15 minutes and came back and he had moved from the 70s to 80s. I think he finally got asked to go sit down. Then the guest speaker went up. He was a player for the Irish National rugby team and was nicknamed the mullet. Pretty funny guy. By this point I was well drunk, so I don't really remember much of that speech. But I made it home safely! So that's all that counts.
This weekend I am planning on going out a bit tonight and taking it easy tomorrow. I am going to do my first scuba dive of the year on Sunday so should be a great time. I will let you know how it goes. Have a great weekend!
On Saturday, me, the boyfriend and a couple of friends participated in the End-to-End walk. We only did the middle-to-end portion of the walk though because I figured walking 16 miles was enough. I was fine for about the first 10 miles of the walk but the last 6 were painfull. I thought for sure my hips would be the first things to fail me, but the bottom of my feet was the bodypart that won out. Walking on cement for that long is horrible. But all in all, the weather was really good (overcast - so not too hot) and the walking trail was really nice too. It was a trail that followed along the old railway that used to be in Bermuda (before they had roads). You gotta love the bush here, because it is covered with colourful flowers. The company was good too.
It's funny in this country because the people really get behind every and I mean pretty much every event. I swear almost every local was either in the walk or was along the trail cheering us on. From the old people sitting at their windows in their wheel chairs to the crack-heads that were booted off Railway Trail (there usual haunt) so we could do the walk. I got lots of high fives and cheers. Also, at about every mile or two there were stations that gave out water, cookies, muffins, chocolate bars, gatorade, etc, etc. The stations are what kept me going. I couldn't wait to see what fun treat would be at the next station. And then at the end they gave us a party favour bag complete with chips and nacho cheese dip. Congrats on being healthy and walking half the island, here enjoy you can of fat. So Bermudian! Apparently the turn-out for the half-marathon that I am doing the Monday after next (on Bermuda Day) is supposed to be about 4 times more people. Hopefully all those people will give me the adrenaline I need to finish the race!
On Saturday night we walked down the raod to the local pub to have a couple of drinks to let loose after that massive walk. We were enjoying some lazy drinks when a bunch of 30-40 year old men busted through the door on a pub crawl. They bought up the bar (and offered to buy us drinks for "ruining our night" which they very much didn't). They were hilarious. The future groom ended up throwing up outside the bar and the rest of them ended up running out, into the rain when somoene thought they heard one of the waiters had "called the cops". Then someone finally figured out that no one had called them and they trickled back into the bar, drenched wet because their bus driver had abandoned them. Apparently after that they let loose on downtown Hamilton (as witnessed by my friends that were down there). On Sunday I ended up being lazy as hell and thank goodness because I needed it!
This last weekend was a riot too. On Friday we headed out for Happy Hour at the Princess and I of course drank too much (which you totally cannot help in this country because they poor about 4 oz of booze into each drink). I don't remember much but I had just gotten a new camera and I ended up having alot of pictures of me making out with said purse. I really do love that purse, I wasn't sure how much, but apparently I loved it alot.
On Saturday I went to my rugby dinner. It was the 50th anniversary of the team this year so the dinner was a black tie affair at a ritzy country-club-like locale. I wore my the bridesmaid's dress from my sister's wedding. I headed out on the back of my boyfriends bike to the dinner but it started to drizzle and I didn't want to ruin my dry-clean only dress so I turned around and went back and thank god I did because I would've gotten drenched! I ended up calling a taxi driver. I live on a road that is a close and the intersecting road that leads up to my close has the same name but is a road instead of a close. So I gave directions to the taxi and told them we are the blue house at the top of the hills. The directions were pretty simple. Basically you turn off of a main road and then turn left and voila, there is our house. So I am waiting for the cab for a long time and then the boyfriend goes out and he sees the taxi driver at the top of the intersection road with the same name in front of a PINK house laying on his horn. So we call the taxi dispatcher back and say we can see the taxi driver and he is on the wrong road. We can hear the taxi driver in the background (because the dispatcher was on a radio with him) and he's saying "I was on the right damn road" and she is telling him that he obviously wasn't because we had seen him on the wrong road. So he gets all pissed off and refuses to pick me up (not quite sure why). So she sends another cab. At this point, I am about 45 minutes late to the dinner. Finally the cab arrives and I finally get there 1 hour late.
I had enough time to gobble down one drink before they closed the open bar and started charging for drinks. Thank god for wine on the table though. The dinner was very good. We started with a scallop with risotto, main course was lamb shanks with these cool-ass scalloped potatoes (they looked like a pastry or something) and then ended with a brownie with vanilla ice cream and pineapple. I really am not good at describing food, so I do it no justice, but I promise you it was really good. Then the speeches started. Up first was our captain who talked about our year (we won everything this year so it was a good year). There was this obnoxious old drunk woman at the back that started vocalizing her disdain for the length of my captain's speech. She was really loud too. It was so rude. One of the girls on our team politely told her it was not necessary but she continued on so finally is escalated to the point that she had to full on tell her to shut up. And then the guys' team captain went up and she did the same thing. So I yelled out "Atleast you aren't sexist!" Lastly, one of the founding members went up who was a very sweet man but he had to be about 90 years old. He had the most boring speech ever that he battled through with the pace of a snail. The old drunken lady was loving that. I went to the bathroom and to get a drink for 15 minutes and came back and he had moved from the 70s to 80s. I think he finally got asked to go sit down. Then the guest speaker went up. He was a player for the Irish National rugby team and was nicknamed the mullet. Pretty funny guy. By this point I was well drunk, so I don't really remember much of that speech. But I made it home safely! So that's all that counts.
This weekend I am planning on going out a bit tonight and taking it easy tomorrow. I am going to do my first scuba dive of the year on Sunday so should be a great time. I will let you know how it goes. Have a great weekend!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Lazy Dayz
I've found that I could seriously sleep the entire weekend away if given the chance. Anytime I get comfortable, on the weekend, I could fall asleep (including sitting up!) This means that I need to force myself to get up and do something. This weekend it was too windy to go to the beach, despite my desperate need for the sun! I was really hoping to get a little colour, but my adversity to the cold prevented me from going. So I basically spent all of Saturday inside! How lame! I am on this beautiful island, and I wasted my time away on the couch. I ended up renting the third season of Lost (so good by the way) and chilling out watching it. The boyfriend was having boys night out and every girl I know here was either off island, had concrete plans or had a visitor, so I also spent the night on the couch. I did take a brief break from being lazy to do my prescribed long-ass run for my half-marathon training, but that is about all the activity this lady saw all day.
I just want to say that Lost is a wicked show. I have no idea where this show is headed but I am definitely around for the ride. Apparently after this season, there are another two seasons. I seriously have no idea where this show is going and don't even know how they could end this show, with all its plots and sub-plots, in a way that is going to satisfy it's viewers. All I know is that I hope it never ends. But I guess something will replace it. I thought I would cry when Six Feet Under and Sex and the City ended, but I found new shows. So I'm sure some program will keep me mesmerised by the glowing of my TV for years to come.
On Sunday, me and the boyfriend went down to St. George. St. George is one of the places that I mentioned in an earlier post, to which locals rarely go (unless they live in that area) because it is not in the center of the island and thus takes to much effort to go to. It's quite pretty but definitely not somewhere where I'd hurry back to. The lack of walking paths in Bermuda is stagerring and I know that it will drive my parents mad when they come to visit me later this year (they are walk-oholics). St. George has a road with some shops on it but no nice long boardwalk or seaside path to warrant going for a walk. The only half-decent walking path in Bermuda is the railway trail, which I will have to walk soon! But I am kind of saving it for a really boring weekend, because it is the only decent walk in the whole country. I am going to have to go home for a week of hiking in the summer next year because this lack of hiking is killing me!
This weekend I am doing the end-to-end walk for charity. This is a massive event where locals walk from either the middle of the island to the end of the island (which is what I am doing) or from one end of the island to the other. I opted for the shorter version because I am training for the half-marathon and know that the end to end walk (40km or 24 miles) would result in my legs feeling like they are going to fall off for a long period of time (likely being a week or so after I am done the walk) and this would put my training behind (because I wouldn't be able to run due to sore legs). So I am walking the condensed version, which is only 24km (14.7 miles). I am sure it will still hurt, but probably not as bad. I will aim to do the full walk next year.
I just want to say that Lost is a wicked show. I have no idea where this show is headed but I am definitely around for the ride. Apparently after this season, there are another two seasons. I seriously have no idea where this show is going and don't even know how they could end this show, with all its plots and sub-plots, in a way that is going to satisfy it's viewers. All I know is that I hope it never ends. But I guess something will replace it. I thought I would cry when Six Feet Under and Sex and the City ended, but I found new shows. So I'm sure some program will keep me mesmerised by the glowing of my TV for years to come.
On Sunday, me and the boyfriend went down to St. George. St. George is one of the places that I mentioned in an earlier post, to which locals rarely go (unless they live in that area) because it is not in the center of the island and thus takes to much effort to go to. It's quite pretty but definitely not somewhere where I'd hurry back to. The lack of walking paths in Bermuda is stagerring and I know that it will drive my parents mad when they come to visit me later this year (they are walk-oholics). St. George has a road with some shops on it but no nice long boardwalk or seaside path to warrant going for a walk. The only half-decent walking path in Bermuda is the railway trail, which I will have to walk soon! But I am kind of saving it for a really boring weekend, because it is the only decent walk in the whole country. I am going to have to go home for a week of hiking in the summer next year because this lack of hiking is killing me!
This weekend I am doing the end-to-end walk for charity. This is a massive event where locals walk from either the middle of the island to the end of the island (which is what I am doing) or from one end of the island to the other. I opted for the shorter version because I am training for the half-marathon and know that the end to end walk (40km or 24 miles) would result in my legs feeling like they are going to fall off for a long period of time (likely being a week or so after I am done the walk) and this would put my training behind (because I wouldn't be able to run due to sore legs). So I am walking the condensed version, which is only 24km (14.7 miles). I am sure it will still hurt, but probably not as bad. I will aim to do the full walk next year.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Does Anybody Read This?
I think I need to work on getting my blog URL out there to my friends. I don't think anyone even reads this. Oh well, atleast it is an online reminder of what I did last weekend. Time flies here on the island and so do memories! If you do read this, say hello!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Contentment
I had a conversation with a friend the other day about relationships and how everyone is looking for something that might very well not exist. People are always looking for their soulmate or "the one". They might exist, but I am guessing it is rarely, if ever, in the form that the seeker is thinking.
When you are with someone, it is natural to wonder if this is it. This is the person you are destined to be with or will someone else come along that is better. My philosphy is that there is always someone hotter, richer, sweeter, or whatever it is you crave than the person you are with but does that mean that person is necessarily better? You have to look into yourself for the answer to this question.
I feel that we will never find "the one" but we can learn to be content with the best one for us. The best one for us may not fit the conventional definition of what we are programmed to look for, but it is someone we get; someone we understand and can be content with.
Life is a series of decisions. The friend was asking if there is something wrong with him because he is always thinking that he wishes he could be with this hot girl or that hot girl, rather than his girlfriend and was asking me if he is destined to be alone forever. I think all of us face temptation but it is what we decide to do with said temptation, that defines the relationships we will be in or those that will cease to exist. If you decide that gratifying yourself with a meaningless one-night stand with a person you find hot (but know nothing of their personalties and how they will get along with them) is worth ruining a relationship with someone you already know is a good person, then DECIDE to do that. But if you think about the consequences of what you are contemplating, than DECIDE to stay in a relationship.
We all need to learn to be content with what we have or decide to do something about it. Just don't say I didn't tell you so.
When you are with someone, it is natural to wonder if this is it. This is the person you are destined to be with or will someone else come along that is better. My philosphy is that there is always someone hotter, richer, sweeter, or whatever it is you crave than the person you are with but does that mean that person is necessarily better? You have to look into yourself for the answer to this question.
I feel that we will never find "the one" but we can learn to be content with the best one for us. The best one for us may not fit the conventional definition of what we are programmed to look for, but it is someone we get; someone we understand and can be content with.
Life is a series of decisions. The friend was asking if there is something wrong with him because he is always thinking that he wishes he could be with this hot girl or that hot girl, rather than his girlfriend and was asking me if he is destined to be alone forever. I think all of us face temptation but it is what we decide to do with said temptation, that defines the relationships we will be in or those that will cease to exist. If you decide that gratifying yourself with a meaningless one-night stand with a person you find hot (but know nothing of their personalties and how they will get along with them) is worth ruining a relationship with someone you already know is a good person, then DECIDE to do that. But if you think about the consequences of what you are contemplating, than DECIDE to stay in a relationship.
We all need to learn to be content with what we have or decide to do something about it. Just don't say I didn't tell you so.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Blast from the Past
As I did not do anything interesting in the last two days, I thought I would share a memory from my past. I spent a little under a year travelling in Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, New Zeland and Fiji back in 2001-2002. I remember the excitement I experienced when I was about to go on my trip. I spent my last night out at a pub with a bunch of friends. I said all my goodbyes and then I went back with my then boyfriend to his place to spend our last night together.
I remember being really sad and really happy all at once that night. I had started dating that boyfriend at the start of the summer (it was now September) and we had dated for years in the past. In fact, he was the person to whom I lost my virginity. I dated him all through grade 11 and 12 but we broke up for a long time (during which I seriously dated another guy) because we differed in life plans. He was the type that lacked motivation and still worked manual labour jobs despite having been out of high school for 3 years (I had already finished half a degree at that point).
We started dating again knowing that I would be leaving on this year trip and that I did not plan to stay faithful with him during this time. I have no idea what was in this for him but I have a adversity to being alone (ask anyone at home I cannot go more than 3 or 4 months without getting seriously involved with someone) so he kept me not alone. It was a bittersweet summer that we both knew had an expiration date and that night the expiration date was reached.
I knew he wasn't the one for me, especially when I awoke the next morning to news that my flight wouldn't be leaving for another couple of weeks (my flight was set to leave on September 11, 2001) and I was dissapointed rather than elated that I had to stay. If I'd loved him as much as I thought I did I would be happy to have the extra time as I had an entire year to spend abroad, but I was extremely mellon-collie about the whole thing.
I ended up finally being able to leave after 10 days of sitting around as I had quit my job at this point because I was supposed to be out of the country. I tried to keep in touch with the boyfriend for a long time but he grew distant. I was upfront and honest with him about my intentions to enjoy life to the fullest and to be open to meeting men while on my trip, but I believe he was hoping I would miss him so much and come home early. I basically stopped hearing from him when I admitted that I was travelling with a guy. He asked, and I am not one to be dishonest. Upon returning to Canada, I hung out with him a couple of times but I could tell that our relationship was dead. I do not keep in contact with him anymore but I wish him the best.
I remember being really sad and really happy all at once that night. I had started dating that boyfriend at the start of the summer (it was now September) and we had dated for years in the past. In fact, he was the person to whom I lost my virginity. I dated him all through grade 11 and 12 but we broke up for a long time (during which I seriously dated another guy) because we differed in life plans. He was the type that lacked motivation and still worked manual labour jobs despite having been out of high school for 3 years (I had already finished half a degree at that point).
We started dating again knowing that I would be leaving on this year trip and that I did not plan to stay faithful with him during this time. I have no idea what was in this for him but I have a adversity to being alone (ask anyone at home I cannot go more than 3 or 4 months without getting seriously involved with someone) so he kept me not alone. It was a bittersweet summer that we both knew had an expiration date and that night the expiration date was reached.
I knew he wasn't the one for me, especially when I awoke the next morning to news that my flight wouldn't be leaving for another couple of weeks (my flight was set to leave on September 11, 2001) and I was dissapointed rather than elated that I had to stay. If I'd loved him as much as I thought I did I would be happy to have the extra time as I had an entire year to spend abroad, but I was extremely mellon-collie about the whole thing.
I ended up finally being able to leave after 10 days of sitting around as I had quit my job at this point because I was supposed to be out of the country. I tried to keep in touch with the boyfriend for a long time but he grew distant. I was upfront and honest with him about my intentions to enjoy life to the fullest and to be open to meeting men while on my trip, but I believe he was hoping I would miss him so much and come home early. I basically stopped hearing from him when I admitted that I was travelling with a guy. He asked, and I am not one to be dishonest. Upon returning to Canada, I hung out with him a couple of times but I could tell that our relationship was dead. I do not keep in contact with him anymore but I wish him the best.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Weekend Recap
This last weekend was pretty fun. On Friday night we had a few friends over for dinner. The boyfriend made a mountain of ribs (we are still eating them and its Tuesday) and some good ass food. I ended up "making" dessert (which consisted of me throwing a pie in the oven and proceeding to burn it). It was a really fun dinner. We had MTV Jams on in the background and we watched it throughout dinner. They had this show on called YO! RAPS! and it had a ton of brutal 90s rap on it. We discussed the wonders that were parachute pants and flatops.
Then I was just about to head to bed when both mine and the boyfriends cell phones erupted in a series of trills. I answered mine and he answered his and it was our two friends. Little did we know they were standing at our window and wanted to come in to play American Idol on Wii. So alas, we played it. Our one friend was super drunk and he can't sing to save his life. He was singing in a sort of hunched-over position and he ended up splitting a hole in his pants. So when the song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith came up (you know the one from the Armageddon soundtrack) he replaced the words with "I Don't want to Split my Pants". It was hilarious.
We then proceeded to have a competition (i.e. with one person getting knocked out at each round with the Simon-Paula-Randy comments and everything). I heard the boyfriend sing for the first time ever (he is tone deaf to the max). I think that the bad-singing-split-pants friend was so bad it gave the boyfriend some confidence. The boyfriend got knocked out of the first round and then when the second round came, the guy who had split his pants was so shocked when he got knocked out. He looked like someone had told him that they had to amputate his penis or something! It was great! Anyways they finally left and I got to go to bed.
On Saturday morning, I woke up early to go to a hair appointment. My hair is in dire need of a dyeing but alas I will have to wait for another couple of weeks. The hairdresser that I went to was sick that week and couldn't fit me in for another two weeks. She seems a bit nuts. My client told me a story about her a couple of weeks ago. In Bermuda there are tons of stray cats kicking around and they are a menace and have diseases such as cat AIDS (I had no idea there is such a thing). So there is an agency called the Bermuda Feline Assistance Agency which goes around and catches and kills the cats. Kind of mean but I guess what can you do. So they have a few stray cats on this property my client manages and they rip up garbage and stuff and they are dirty, dirty cats. So instead of ignoring them or calling BFAB, this lady started feeding them. Oh well, apparently she is supposed to be wicked at coloring hair!!!! As long as she cleans her hands first!
That night I got all dressed up and went to the Elbow Beach Hotel for our convocation ceremony. I thought it was weird that they included us in the ceremony as I took my exam in Canada but the ceremony would've been very lame if they didn't include the off island graduates as only one Bermudian passed the Chartered Accountancy exam this last year out of the four that wrote the exam. Craziness! I can't believe that more people don't make it through because if you have your CA designation here, you are sitting on a goldmine. But I guess it goes back to the lack of value the youth of Bermuda have for education (read my last post regarding the drop-out rate from high school). I got drunk off of the table wine and then busted a massive move on the dancefloor. I got the DJ to play Soldier Boy (as I always do) and then did the soldier boy dance.
After the convocation dinner and dance, I went to my friends housewarming party and played Rock Band. I sang for a bit and then moved on to the drums. The drums are frickin' hard. Seriously. I was on easy and I was struggling majorly! I think everyone kept their shirts on that night....so that was a first!
Yesterday one of the partners at my firm gave me and the boyfriend tickets to the Bermuda XL Open round 1 tennis match. They were box seats and came with free drinks! So I ended up getting impromptu drunk (which is something I usually avoid like the plague because I can't handle the hangover at work and also it is counterproductive to waking up and going to the gym in the morning). I think I only had like 4 or 5 drinks but they pour them so strong here. I haven't seen any bartender do anything other than free-pour since getting here! I kind of remember having a conversation with my co-workers involving fingers and butt-holes and I remember drunkin calling my sister at her work (Canada is 3 hours earlier in time than Bermuda). I also made the boyfriend make me quasadillas and crackers and cheese when I got home! Needless to say, I didn't make it to the gym this morning and I had a major headache all day! That'll teach me not to drink on a weeknight again anytime soon!
Then I was just about to head to bed when both mine and the boyfriends cell phones erupted in a series of trills. I answered mine and he answered his and it was our two friends. Little did we know they were standing at our window and wanted to come in to play American Idol on Wii. So alas, we played it. Our one friend was super drunk and he can't sing to save his life. He was singing in a sort of hunched-over position and he ended up splitting a hole in his pants. So when the song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith came up (you know the one from the Armageddon soundtrack) he replaced the words with "I Don't want to Split my Pants". It was hilarious.
We then proceeded to have a competition (i.e. with one person getting knocked out at each round with the Simon-Paula-Randy comments and everything). I heard the boyfriend sing for the first time ever (he is tone deaf to the max). I think that the bad-singing-split-pants friend was so bad it gave the boyfriend some confidence. The boyfriend got knocked out of the first round and then when the second round came, the guy who had split his pants was so shocked when he got knocked out. He looked like someone had told him that they had to amputate his penis or something! It was great! Anyways they finally left and I got to go to bed.
On Saturday morning, I woke up early to go to a hair appointment. My hair is in dire need of a dyeing but alas I will have to wait for another couple of weeks. The hairdresser that I went to was sick that week and couldn't fit me in for another two weeks. She seems a bit nuts. My client told me a story about her a couple of weeks ago. In Bermuda there are tons of stray cats kicking around and they are a menace and have diseases such as cat AIDS (I had no idea there is such a thing). So there is an agency called the Bermuda Feline Assistance Agency which goes around and catches and kills the cats. Kind of mean but I guess what can you do. So they have a few stray cats on this property my client manages and they rip up garbage and stuff and they are dirty, dirty cats. So instead of ignoring them or calling BFAB, this lady started feeding them. Oh well, apparently she is supposed to be wicked at coloring hair!!!! As long as she cleans her hands first!
That night I got all dressed up and went to the Elbow Beach Hotel for our convocation ceremony. I thought it was weird that they included us in the ceremony as I took my exam in Canada but the ceremony would've been very lame if they didn't include the off island graduates as only one Bermudian passed the Chartered Accountancy exam this last year out of the four that wrote the exam. Craziness! I can't believe that more people don't make it through because if you have your CA designation here, you are sitting on a goldmine. But I guess it goes back to the lack of value the youth of Bermuda have for education (read my last post regarding the drop-out rate from high school). I got drunk off of the table wine and then busted a massive move on the dancefloor. I got the DJ to play Soldier Boy (as I always do) and then did the soldier boy dance.
After the convocation dinner and dance, I went to my friends housewarming party and played Rock Band. I sang for a bit and then moved on to the drums. The drums are frickin' hard. Seriously. I was on easy and I was struggling majorly! I think everyone kept their shirts on that night....so that was a first!
Yesterday one of the partners at my firm gave me and the boyfriend tickets to the Bermuda XL Open round 1 tennis match. They were box seats and came with free drinks! So I ended up getting impromptu drunk (which is something I usually avoid like the plague because I can't handle the hangover at work and also it is counterproductive to waking up and going to the gym in the morning). I think I only had like 4 or 5 drinks but they pour them so strong here. I haven't seen any bartender do anything other than free-pour since getting here! I kind of remember having a conversation with my co-workers involving fingers and butt-holes and I remember drunkin calling my sister at her work (Canada is 3 hours earlier in time than Bermuda). I also made the boyfriend make me quasadillas and crackers and cheese when I got home! Needless to say, I didn't make it to the gym this morning and I had a major headache all day! That'll teach me not to drink on a weeknight again anytime soon!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
10 Intricacies of the Island
Bermuda is very much the same but very different than Canada. You can get all the modern necessities of home (good cable, internet, etc.) but it costs a bunch more. For example, I pay $130/month for internet that I could get at home for $35.
Some other weird things about the island:
1. Lots of locals like to get their nails done in hideously long acrylics with horrible multi-color designs. Seriously how the hell do they type or work a cash register with those things. They just aren't practical!
2. Grocery stores suck here. All the stores are pretty much like the Asian/Indian corner stores you have at home (you know the ones where they go to Superstore and buy a bunch of shit and sell it back to you for jacked-up prices) except for Lindos. That grocery store is almost like one at home but their produce is horrendous and it keeps pretty much the same hours as a bank.
3. The locals accents sound like a mix of ghetto and British. It is quite funny.
4. Even though this island is only 23 miles long, most people will refuse to go to Sommerset or to St. George which is basically the equivalent of leaving the downtown core in Cowtown. Some cabs sometimes refuse to go to those areas because "they don't have enough gas". I find myself falling into the trap of the locals (sticking near the middle of the island). To see what I am talking about see this map.
5. The high school drop-out rate here is staggering. Apparently about 50% of kids who start high school, won't finish! That's crazy. At home, there are only a few fuck-ups that don't make it through but in Bermuda, the fuck-ups are close to the majority.
6. People, even customer service people, get pissed off if you don't start you question with "Hi, how are you?" before asking for something. I kind of like this about Bermuda. We should start this at home.
7. There is a dude here named Johnny Barnes, that gets up every morning at 4:30am and goes to the main roundabout before downtown Hamilton and waves and yells "Hello" and "I love you" to all the passerbys. He has been doing this, rain or shine, for 67 years. I heard he once checked himself out of the hospital one morning (when he was an inpatient) to go to the roundabout. The city recently gave him a community service award for this and they have built a statue of him. In Cowtown they would just arrest him because they thought he was crazy. He makes me smile every morning and I wouldn't trade him for the world.
8. In Bermuda there are 3 lanes of traffic. 2 oncomings and 1 middle lane which the bikes go down. It is great if you are on a bike though because you can zoom through a long ass line of cars. It is scary to do, especially on Middle Road, because the roads are so tight and they are surrounded by rock walls. Also, people use their horns to say hello to their friends, neighbors, etc rather than alert someone that they are doing something wrong. It takes a little getting used to and sometimes, when I am actually getting honked at due to my inferior driving skills, I don't even realize it.
9. At my work here and in social settings, it is customary, when the whole work goes out for lunch, to split the bills evenly among everyone. Who cares who got the alcoholic beverages or who ordered a steak; it get split right down the middle. I find this weird because in addition to my firm not covering any meals (which is quite a change from the 1-2 eating out meals I would have on my old firm in Cowtown), I have to foot the bill for people who eat a lot more than me. I think the boyfriend likes this because he usually ends up ordering the most expensive beef dish on the whole menu even when he is paying for himself.
10. You can't buy alcohol here after 9pm or on Sundays (unless you go to a restaurant). I guess its because of the large population of religious people on the island. There are also no casinos. There is one gambling establishment that give you 90 cents on the dollar of everything you win (because they have to pay the rest to the government).
Update: I just drove past a bus that said "Barnes Corner" on it. The awesome waving guy even has his own bus route. You go lil dude!
Some other weird things about the island:
1. Lots of locals like to get their nails done in hideously long acrylics with horrible multi-color designs. Seriously how the hell do they type or work a cash register with those things. They just aren't practical!
2. Grocery stores suck here. All the stores are pretty much like the Asian/Indian corner stores you have at home (you know the ones where they go to Superstore and buy a bunch of shit and sell it back to you for jacked-up prices) except for Lindos. That grocery store is almost like one at home but their produce is horrendous and it keeps pretty much the same hours as a bank.
3. The locals accents sound like a mix of ghetto and British. It is quite funny.
4. Even though this island is only 23 miles long, most people will refuse to go to Sommerset or to St. George which is basically the equivalent of leaving the downtown core in Cowtown. Some cabs sometimes refuse to go to those areas because "they don't have enough gas". I find myself falling into the trap of the locals (sticking near the middle of the island). To see what I am talking about see this map.
5. The high school drop-out rate here is staggering. Apparently about 50% of kids who start high school, won't finish! That's crazy. At home, there are only a few fuck-ups that don't make it through but in Bermuda, the fuck-ups are close to the majority.
6. People, even customer service people, get pissed off if you don't start you question with "Hi, how are you?" before asking for something. I kind of like this about Bermuda. We should start this at home.
7. There is a dude here named Johnny Barnes, that gets up every morning at 4:30am and goes to the main roundabout before downtown Hamilton and waves and yells "Hello" and "I love you" to all the passerbys. He has been doing this, rain or shine, for 67 years. I heard he once checked himself out of the hospital one morning (when he was an inpatient) to go to the roundabout. The city recently gave him a community service award for this and they have built a statue of him. In Cowtown they would just arrest him because they thought he was crazy. He makes me smile every morning and I wouldn't trade him for the world.
8. In Bermuda there are 3 lanes of traffic. 2 oncomings and 1 middle lane which the bikes go down. It is great if you are on a bike though because you can zoom through a long ass line of cars. It is scary to do, especially on Middle Road, because the roads are so tight and they are surrounded by rock walls. Also, people use their horns to say hello to their friends, neighbors, etc rather than alert someone that they are doing something wrong. It takes a little getting used to and sometimes, when I am actually getting honked at due to my inferior driving skills, I don't even realize it.
9. At my work here and in social settings, it is customary, when the whole work goes out for lunch, to split the bills evenly among everyone. Who cares who got the alcoholic beverages or who ordered a steak; it get split right down the middle. I find this weird because in addition to my firm not covering any meals (which is quite a change from the 1-2 eating out meals I would have on my old firm in Cowtown), I have to foot the bill for people who eat a lot more than me. I think the boyfriend likes this because he usually ends up ordering the most expensive beef dish on the whole menu even when he is paying for himself.
10. You can't buy alcohol here after 9pm or on Sundays (unless you go to a restaurant). I guess its because of the large population of religious people on the island. There are also no casinos. There is one gambling establishment that give you 90 cents on the dollar of everything you win (because they have to pay the rest to the government).
Update: I just drove past a bus that said "Barnes Corner" on it. The awesome waving guy even has his own bus route. You go lil dude!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Catching Y'all Up on My Life
Well the last couple of weekends has been filled with a lot of Karaoke and Yoga. Yah...good combination! The weekend before last my work had a Karaoke party. Why Karaoke you ask? Well since over half my office is staffed by a bunch a sweetheart Filipinos and Filipinos go with Karaoke like white on rice. I thought Karaoke was more a Japanese thing, but I am informed that it is an all around Asian thing. I wish I was born Asian because as well as having a naturally slimmer body, I would get to hold regular Karaoke-thons at my house!
At the party, no one, and I mean no one, was singing at the beginning. So I ended up singing quite a lot of songs in a row. I am not a particularly amazing singer but I can keep on pitch (so I don't think I quite hurt anyone's ears). I ended up signing a bunch of stupid songs (i.e. Spice Girls Wannabe) but ended with a wonderful rendition of Love Shack with one of the partners at our firm. I was a great time and almost everyone got up by the end of the night to sing. I was kinda pissed off because I didn't even get a pity vote from the boyfriend for best performance. The best performance went to the only person that could actually sing at our firms (one of the Filipino girls). After the party we headed to an Irish pub to spend the last night with the guy who's going away party I had attended the night before. For some reason, all the boys took off their shirts. I usually wouldn't complain.....but you'd know what I was talking about with these guys. Someone needs to introduce them all to wax. "Hi wax....this is my friend BACK HAIR!"
On Saturday night I ended up going to the Folk Club which is held once a month. It's basically an open mic night where anyone can go up and play guitar and sing some songs. I had gone to go see my friends play but showed up too late and had missed them. There were tons of really cute old men singing songs. One even put on an Elvis wig and sunglasses to sing a song. It was a wicked night because they play on an outdoor stage and the drinks were decently priced. I will definitely have to catch the next show.
Last weekend, on Friday, I attended the first happy hour of the summer at the Hamilton Princess. I had heard rumors about how this is the best part of Bermuda...so I of course had to check it out. As large outdoor spaces are at a mint in Bermuda (try to stuff that many people downtown on such a small island) but the Princess has a huge open courtyard that they hold the happy hours at. Happy hours at home usually mean cheap drinks, so it kind of sucked to pay $7 a drink but the atmosphere was wicked. They had a live band, the weather was great and they poured the drinks strong.
I stayed there only for a little while because we headed over to the Irish bar to attend a triple-threat birthday (for 3 of the guys that i hang out with frequently). Again they had a Karaoke machine. The song list for this machine sucked ass! Half the book was filled with country (yo we are in Bermuda not in Cowtown!) and there was nothing past 1999. Since there was a large number of friends there (not just nice Filipinos and some other random work people) so I was a little shier this time. I wanted to find the perfect stupid song to sing as I was not about to test out a song where you need to sing well with this group. I was hoping for Sir Mixalot's Baby's Got Back but had to Settle for Ganstas Paradise. I laid down. I am so white that I am black yo! I also rapped Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby later on. I had a great time that night with much too much drinking. But pretty much everyone turned up!
On Saturday I played in a Rugby tournament. I was hoping to pull off another 5 tries but alas I only got one. The girls seemed to be much more on the ball this time (and I sat off the first half of the first game). After the game we went to the Robin Hood and a couple of drinks (they had sponsored the tourney) and hung out. I found out that the girls from my rugby team do a yearly "tour". I thought that meant that they go down to somewhere and play rugby. I later found out that it is a bonding trip that involved no rugby. We are going to New York for Labour Day weekend. I can't wait. Screw the rugby! I can't wait to go out in New York!
Other than that I have still been keeping up with my training for the half marathon I am running on May 26th. I have never done a half marathon before because of my knee (I have IT Band Syndrome which makes it feel like someone is stabbing my knee with a knife if I run for longer than 30 minutes). But I have been doing a bunch of exercises that I was given by my physiotherapist last year and my knee has been holding up really well. The longest I have run so far is 7 miles. I am only going to run up to about 9 miles before the race because apparently with all the adrenaline you can make it the full 12 miles, therefore you don't need to run the full distance during training. I have about 5 and 1/2 more weeks of training.
I also started two yoga classes. The first class was on the suggestion of a client I have here. It is a type of yoga that I had never heard of called Iyengar Yoga. It is very strict. My experience, in the past, has been with Ashtanga which is strict in the sense of the series of poses you do (they are done in a certain order and are held for a certain amount of breaths) but Iyengar Yoga is strict in how you actually do the poses. So I had to start at the very bottom. I am the most flexible person in my class which is funny because I can't even touch my toes. We use a lot of props (chairs, blocks, blankets, bolsters) in the class so that everyone can do the poses. I think that the props will eventually disappear after we train our muscles to hold the poses themselves. The class is taught by a senior citizen lady with 25 year old boobs. She seriously has a sweet rack! I like it so far. I am an anal type person (not bum sex but I like structure) and this is an anal type yoga. I am also taking a yoga class at the aquarium. It is just the regular type of yoga (a Vinyasa Flow class) but the location is awesome. We do yoga right in the middle of all the giant fish tanks. It's a more challenging class (the Iyengar class is not a very good workout so far because you spend more time watching the teacher and being adjusted, than actually in the poses) and it helps that the instructor is pretty damn hot. I sometimes purposely screw poses up so that he comes and adjusts me! Allegedly he's married (not that I really care).
This weekend we are having some friends over for ribs (the boyfriend cooks some mean ribs), I am getting my hair dyed (I haven't gotten it dyed since I got here! Eeek!) and I am going to my convocation for becoming a Chartered Accountant. Should be a good time!
At the party, no one, and I mean no one, was singing at the beginning. So I ended up singing quite a lot of songs in a row. I am not a particularly amazing singer but I can keep on pitch (so I don't think I quite hurt anyone's ears). I ended up signing a bunch of stupid songs (i.e. Spice Girls Wannabe) but ended with a wonderful rendition of Love Shack with one of the partners at our firm. I was a great time and almost everyone got up by the end of the night to sing. I was kinda pissed off because I didn't even get a pity vote from the boyfriend for best performance. The best performance went to the only person that could actually sing at our firms (one of the Filipino girls). After the party we headed to an Irish pub to spend the last night with the guy who's going away party I had attended the night before. For some reason, all the boys took off their shirts. I usually wouldn't complain.....but you'd know what I was talking about with these guys. Someone needs to introduce them all to wax. "Hi wax....this is my friend BACK HAIR!"
On Saturday night I ended up going to the Folk Club which is held once a month. It's basically an open mic night where anyone can go up and play guitar and sing some songs. I had gone to go see my friends play but showed up too late and had missed them. There were tons of really cute old men singing songs. One even put on an Elvis wig and sunglasses to sing a song. It was a wicked night because they play on an outdoor stage and the drinks were decently priced. I will definitely have to catch the next show.
Last weekend, on Friday, I attended the first happy hour of the summer at the Hamilton Princess. I had heard rumors about how this is the best part of Bermuda...so I of course had to check it out. As large outdoor spaces are at a mint in Bermuda (try to stuff that many people downtown on such a small island) but the Princess has a huge open courtyard that they hold the happy hours at. Happy hours at home usually mean cheap drinks, so it kind of sucked to pay $7 a drink but the atmosphere was wicked. They had a live band, the weather was great and they poured the drinks strong.
I stayed there only for a little while because we headed over to the Irish bar to attend a triple-threat birthday (for 3 of the guys that i hang out with frequently). Again they had a Karaoke machine. The song list for this machine sucked ass! Half the book was filled with country (yo we are in Bermuda not in Cowtown!) and there was nothing past 1999. Since there was a large number of friends there (not just nice Filipinos and some other random work people) so I was a little shier this time. I wanted to find the perfect stupid song to sing as I was not about to test out a song where you need to sing well with this group. I was hoping for Sir Mixalot's Baby's Got Back but had to Settle for Ganstas Paradise. I laid down. I am so white that I am black yo! I also rapped Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby later on. I had a great time that night with much too much drinking. But pretty much everyone turned up!
On Saturday I played in a Rugby tournament. I was hoping to pull off another 5 tries but alas I only got one. The girls seemed to be much more on the ball this time (and I sat off the first half of the first game). After the game we went to the Robin Hood and a couple of drinks (they had sponsored the tourney) and hung out. I found out that the girls from my rugby team do a yearly "tour". I thought that meant that they go down to somewhere and play rugby. I later found out that it is a bonding trip that involved no rugby. We are going to New York for Labour Day weekend. I can't wait. Screw the rugby! I can't wait to go out in New York!
Other than that I have still been keeping up with my training for the half marathon I am running on May 26th. I have never done a half marathon before because of my knee (I have IT Band Syndrome which makes it feel like someone is stabbing my knee with a knife if I run for longer than 30 minutes). But I have been doing a bunch of exercises that I was given by my physiotherapist last year and my knee has been holding up really well. The longest I have run so far is 7 miles. I am only going to run up to about 9 miles before the race because apparently with all the adrenaline you can make it the full 12 miles, therefore you don't need to run the full distance during training. I have about 5 and 1/2 more weeks of training.
I also started two yoga classes. The first class was on the suggestion of a client I have here. It is a type of yoga that I had never heard of called Iyengar Yoga. It is very strict. My experience, in the past, has been with Ashtanga which is strict in the sense of the series of poses you do (they are done in a certain order and are held for a certain amount of breaths) but Iyengar Yoga is strict in how you actually do the poses. So I had to start at the very bottom. I am the most flexible person in my class which is funny because I can't even touch my toes. We use a lot of props (chairs, blocks, blankets, bolsters) in the class so that everyone can do the poses. I think that the props will eventually disappear after we train our muscles to hold the poses themselves. The class is taught by a senior citizen lady with 25 year old boobs. She seriously has a sweet rack! I like it so far. I am an anal type person (not bum sex but I like structure) and this is an anal type yoga. I am also taking a yoga class at the aquarium. It is just the regular type of yoga (a Vinyasa Flow class) but the location is awesome. We do yoga right in the middle of all the giant fish tanks. It's a more challenging class (the Iyengar class is not a very good workout so far because you spend more time watching the teacher and being adjusted, than actually in the poses) and it helps that the instructor is pretty damn hot. I sometimes purposely screw poses up so that he comes and adjusts me! Allegedly he's married (not that I really care).
This weekend we are having some friends over for ribs (the boyfriend cooks some mean ribs), I am getting my hair dyed (I haven't gotten it dyed since I got here! Eeek!) and I am going to my convocation for becoming a Chartered Accountant. Should be a good time!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Beach Party in March! LOVE IT!
Sorry this is a bit late, considering the next weekend is starting very soon, but I thought I should recap my last weekend. Friday was pretty fun. Me and the boyfriend went for a couple of drinks after work and then ended up getting drunk at home just the two of us. Why? Because we can! It was a fun night of randomly dancing and generally being silly. I enjoyed it thorougly.
On Saturday I spent the entire day trying to convince myself to go for a 6 mile run (as was on my half-marathon training schedule) but finally got around to doing it. I ended up getting a nice sunburn on my face and shoulders but at least I got the run in. I have to run 7 miles this weekend which I am definitely not looking forward to at all! On Saturday night we went to a beach party on the property of one of the partners at the accounting firm I work at. I was a going-away party for this really fun guy whom I didn't get to know that well as I have only been on the island for 3 months (one of which he was in Canada for). He's an awesome guy though and I will be sad to see him go, despite the unfamiliarity. The party was awesome. Picture 30 people sitting around a fire on a secluded white sand beach in March!!!! That wouldn't happen at home.
I figured that someone was going to burn themselves at some point during the time (as everyone was grabbing random pieces of wood and even an abandoned Christmas tree and throwing it in the fire) but the accident de la soir was a girl tripping over coral and bustin her knee open. Usually I cannot look at such stuff, but I glanced over, unaware of what was going on (before it was too late) and saw this gal's knee. It was disgusting. I don't want to go into details, but she fell so hard that it looked like someone had taken an axe to her knee. The poor dear had only moved to the island about a week ago so I hope to god her medical insurance had kicked in. I heard she had 23 internal stitches and 3 external ones to seal up the wound. The weird thing is that she was very calm; even when the ambulance came. I hope she is okay now (I didn't really know who she was).
Sunday was pretty lazy but me and a friend caught a Bermuda Film Festival movie called XXY. It was a very controversial subject but a really good movie. I highly recommend it. On Monday and Tuesday I saw another two really good movies called OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and a movie called Young People Fucking. The best movie I saw from the film fest was the Young People Fucking movie. First, it was by a Canadian and next, how can you not like a movie with a title like that. Actually, truth be told, it was a brilliant movie. Basically followed 5 groups of people (I say groups because one is a pair plus one!) through one sexual encounter. Very awkward but a good laugh!
This weekend should be a good time too. Going to go to a Karaoke party with work and for a fancy dinner on Saturday night. The party should be fun, as I work with a bunch of quiet Filipinos who apparently are known to let loose when it comes to Karaoke. Can't wait. Should be amusing to say the least.
On Saturday I spent the entire day trying to convince myself to go for a 6 mile run (as was on my half-marathon training schedule) but finally got around to doing it. I ended up getting a nice sunburn on my face and shoulders but at least I got the run in. I have to run 7 miles this weekend which I am definitely not looking forward to at all! On Saturday night we went to a beach party on the property of one of the partners at the accounting firm I work at. I was a going-away party for this really fun guy whom I didn't get to know that well as I have only been on the island for 3 months (one of which he was in Canada for). He's an awesome guy though and I will be sad to see him go, despite the unfamiliarity. The party was awesome. Picture 30 people sitting around a fire on a secluded white sand beach in March!!!! That wouldn't happen at home.
I figured that someone was going to burn themselves at some point during the time (as everyone was grabbing random pieces of wood and even an abandoned Christmas tree and throwing it in the fire) but the accident de la soir was a girl tripping over coral and bustin her knee open. Usually I cannot look at such stuff, but I glanced over, unaware of what was going on (before it was too late) and saw this gal's knee. It was disgusting. I don't want to go into details, but she fell so hard that it looked like someone had taken an axe to her knee. The poor dear had only moved to the island about a week ago so I hope to god her medical insurance had kicked in. I heard she had 23 internal stitches and 3 external ones to seal up the wound. The weird thing is that she was very calm; even when the ambulance came. I hope she is okay now (I didn't really know who she was).
Sunday was pretty lazy but me and a friend caught a Bermuda Film Festival movie called XXY. It was a very controversial subject but a really good movie. I highly recommend it. On Monday and Tuesday I saw another two really good movies called OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and a movie called Young People Fucking. The best movie I saw from the film fest was the Young People Fucking movie. First, it was by a Canadian and next, how can you not like a movie with a title like that. Actually, truth be told, it was a brilliant movie. Basically followed 5 groups of people (I say groups because one is a pair plus one!) through one sexual encounter. Very awkward but a good laugh!
This weekend should be a good time too. Going to go to a Karaoke party with work and for a fancy dinner on Saturday night. The party should be fun, as I work with a bunch of quiet Filipinos who apparently are known to let loose when it comes to Karaoke. Can't wait. Should be amusing to say the least.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
50 Random Things About Me
1. I crave Cadbury's Chocolate more than I crave sex (don't get me wrong both are flying around my mind on a regular basis!)
2. I have unlimited text messages on my phone but only send about 10 a month (ya waste of money!)
3. I have a nasty habit of picking at my cuticles and the only way I have ever cured it was by getting acrylic tips (hmmm maybe I should do that again)
4. I like the taste of fake banana (think banana shakes made with syrup at Dairy Queen) more than real banana
5. Speaking of Dairy Queen, I worked at the one in my hometown for 6 years (ya I know I am awesome!)
6. I worked in the plumbing department at Home Depot for a spell too
7. I hate being cold at all (I have a heater blowing at my desk at all times)
8. When I am doing most things in life I wish they were over (i.e. I keep checking my watch frequently)
9. The only things that I don't ever wish to hurry up and get done are movies that make me laugh so hard I could pee (Old School, 40 year-old virgin, etc) and hiking
10. I own a scooter and that is how I get around
11. Getting groceries on a scooter is a bitch therefore I miss my Rav4 from home
12. My favorite country on earth is Thailand because I love the food so much
13. I think the best non-authentic thai food is from Thai Express (yes the chain setup that you find in malls in Canada)
14. I have never felt challenged (overall) at any job as of yet (ie I feel as though I could surf the internet for 4 hours and then do a little bit of work and still get praise for doing a good job)
15. I live on an island that is 23 square miles yet I have never driven from one end to the other
16. When I go to the beach I prefer to read and tan and I dislike going in the water
17. I have my advanced diving certificate
18. When I was 20 I was supposed to go to Australia for 1 year and my flight would have left on September 11, 2001 (I ended up going later)
19. My best friend ever is my sister; though she can be judgmental at times, it is often what I need to hear
20. I love my sister's husband (no not like that) and I think that he and my sister are going to have the most beautiful kids ever
21. The best thing I have ever ate in my life is fried macaroni balls from the Macaroni Grill
22. If I could change anything about myself it would be my thighs - I wish they were thinner but damn soccer has turned them into monsters!
23. I picked my bracket for March Madness based on association (for example I picked Wisconsin because I like cheese and I picked Duke because that is the university that Nathan from One Tree Hill wants to go to when he grows up). I am currently in last place in my pool.
24. I only cook 2 things: Enchiladas and Thai Pita Pizzas (yes the boyfriend is a lucky man)
25. I hated red wine up until a year ago (damn J!) and now I hate white wine because red is so good in comparison
26. I hate when I have new mail in my inbox and I have to click on it so that it is no longer highlighted as "not read"
27. I think Facebook is kind of lame now but cannot stop checking it
28. I think my single friends are the most deserving of boyfriends and my friends that are in couples aren't as deserving (this is not as a rule though)
29. I have little stretch marks on my thighs and I don't care!
30. I have a natural weight of between 140 and 145 and I can't seem to weigh more or less no matter how hard I try
31. The thing I miss the most about home are Wendy's Junior Cheesburgers and Tim Horton's French Vanilla
32. My boyfriend's parents own the best ice cream shop on earth and I am tempted to fly home just to go to the store and get some ice cream
33. My boyfriend's parents are the first parents I have actually liked out of all the boyfriends I have ever had (if we ever broke up, I might even miss them more than him!)
34. I lose my big toenail on my right foot atleast once a year due to soccer cleats being too tight (but damn I can kick the ball)
35. The only reason I am good at sports is because I can run fast (I do not have any ball handling skills whatsoever - with my hands or feet)
36. When I was in high school I was in the chorus of the following musicals: Bye Bye Birdie and Pajama Game
37. At the end of grade 10, I was asked to leave the advanced placement program at my school because my personality didn't fit the typical smart person personality (despite the fact I got high grades)
38. I have ADHD and I think it makes me interesting!
39. I haven't found any really close girlfriends yet on the island and that makes me sad (I miss you J, G and S!)
40. Both times I have gone to Vegas I have cried due too incidents involving too much alcohol and too much gambling
41. There are no good clothes shops on the island and that has been the best money saver ever for me (now only if they could shut down e-bay)
42. I hate the taste of non-diet pop. Aspartame is good!
43. I love yoga but I am the most inflexible person on earth (I guess that's what playing sports hardcore for 15 years without ever properly stretching does to you)
44. When I settle down, I want to move back to home my home town, even though, my entire life, I said that I couldn't wait to get out of there
45. I think there is nothing better than watching Law and Order SVU (sexy crimes!)
46. I hate the Stampede (large rodeo that is put on every year in Cowtown)
47. I think cowboys and army guys are the sexiest (I think I am going to love the movie Stop Loss coming out soon)
48. I can think of a list of the top 10 sexiest woman in Hollywood but cannot think of a list of the top 10 sexiest men (am I gay?)
49. I don't really miss not playing soccer (but I miss the tournaments!)
50. I want a puppy but I want to travel so I have to wait for a while before that is going to happen and that makes me sad
2. I have unlimited text messages on my phone but only send about 10 a month (ya waste of money!)
3. I have a nasty habit of picking at my cuticles and the only way I have ever cured it was by getting acrylic tips (hmmm maybe I should do that again)
4. I like the taste of fake banana (think banana shakes made with syrup at Dairy Queen) more than real banana
5. Speaking of Dairy Queen, I worked at the one in my hometown for 6 years (ya I know I am awesome!)
6. I worked in the plumbing department at Home Depot for a spell too
7. I hate being cold at all (I have a heater blowing at my desk at all times)
8. When I am doing most things in life I wish they were over (i.e. I keep checking my watch frequently)
9. The only things that I don't ever wish to hurry up and get done are movies that make me laugh so hard I could pee (Old School, 40 year-old virgin, etc) and hiking
10. I own a scooter and that is how I get around
11. Getting groceries on a scooter is a bitch therefore I miss my Rav4 from home
12. My favorite country on earth is Thailand because I love the food so much
13. I think the best non-authentic thai food is from Thai Express (yes the chain setup that you find in malls in Canada)
14. I have never felt challenged (overall) at any job as of yet (ie I feel as though I could surf the internet for 4 hours and then do a little bit of work and still get praise for doing a good job)
15. I live on an island that is 23 square miles yet I have never driven from one end to the other
16. When I go to the beach I prefer to read and tan and I dislike going in the water
17. I have my advanced diving certificate
18. When I was 20 I was supposed to go to Australia for 1 year and my flight would have left on September 11, 2001 (I ended up going later)
19. My best friend ever is my sister; though she can be judgmental at times, it is often what I need to hear
20. I love my sister's husband (no not like that) and I think that he and my sister are going to have the most beautiful kids ever
21. The best thing I have ever ate in my life is fried macaroni balls from the Macaroni Grill
22. If I could change anything about myself it would be my thighs - I wish they were thinner but damn soccer has turned them into monsters!
23. I picked my bracket for March Madness based on association (for example I picked Wisconsin because I like cheese and I picked Duke because that is the university that Nathan from One Tree Hill wants to go to when he grows up). I am currently in last place in my pool.
24. I only cook 2 things: Enchiladas and Thai Pita Pizzas (yes the boyfriend is a lucky man)
25. I hated red wine up until a year ago (damn J!) and now I hate white wine because red is so good in comparison
26. I hate when I have new mail in my inbox and I have to click on it so that it is no longer highlighted as "not read"
27. I think Facebook is kind of lame now but cannot stop checking it
28. I think my single friends are the most deserving of boyfriends and my friends that are in couples aren't as deserving (this is not as a rule though)
29. I have little stretch marks on my thighs and I don't care!
30. I have a natural weight of between 140 and 145 and I can't seem to weigh more or less no matter how hard I try
31. The thing I miss the most about home are Wendy's Junior Cheesburgers and Tim Horton's French Vanilla
32. My boyfriend's parents own the best ice cream shop on earth and I am tempted to fly home just to go to the store and get some ice cream
33. My boyfriend's parents are the first parents I have actually liked out of all the boyfriends I have ever had (if we ever broke up, I might even miss them more than him!)
34. I lose my big toenail on my right foot atleast once a year due to soccer cleats being too tight (but damn I can kick the ball)
35. The only reason I am good at sports is because I can run fast (I do not have any ball handling skills whatsoever - with my hands or feet)
36. When I was in high school I was in the chorus of the following musicals: Bye Bye Birdie and Pajama Game
37. At the end of grade 10, I was asked to leave the advanced placement program at my school because my personality didn't fit the typical smart person personality (despite the fact I got high grades)
38. I have ADHD and I think it makes me interesting!
39. I haven't found any really close girlfriends yet on the island and that makes me sad (I miss you J, G and S!)
40. Both times I have gone to Vegas I have cried due too incidents involving too much alcohol and too much gambling
41. There are no good clothes shops on the island and that has been the best money saver ever for me (now only if they could shut down e-bay)
42. I hate the taste of non-diet pop. Aspartame is good!
43. I love yoga but I am the most inflexible person on earth (I guess that's what playing sports hardcore for 15 years without ever properly stretching does to you)
44. When I settle down, I want to move back to home my home town, even though, my entire life, I said that I couldn't wait to get out of there
45. I think there is nothing better than watching Law and Order SVU (sexy crimes!)
46. I hate the Stampede (large rodeo that is put on every year in Cowtown)
47. I think cowboys and army guys are the sexiest (I think I am going to love the movie Stop Loss coming out soon)
48. I can think of a list of the top 10 sexiest woman in Hollywood but cannot think of a list of the top 10 sexiest men (am I gay?)
49. I don't really miss not playing soccer (but I miss the tournaments!)
50. I want a puppy but I want to travel so I have to wait for a while before that is going to happen and that makes me sad
Monday, March 24, 2008
Chocolate Eggs are the Devil!
I had a really good Easter weekend (my first official holiday on the island). I discovered the world's most wonderful thing: Galaxy Mini Eggs. What do you get when you cross the best year-round chocolate bar with the best holiday treat? Well you get sweet, sweet heaven! Love it!
On Friday I went on a booze cruise. It was a fundraiser for my rugby team. The boat we were on was pretty small. We had originally booked a 500-person boat but the rental company decided to perform maintenance on the boat and informed us about a week before the cruise. So we had to halt sales of tickets immediately. The boat we were on was supposed to fit about 220 people but we had sold 250 tickets. So ya....it was a tight squeeze. Me and some of my Canadian friends spent the first half of the cruise on the front of the boat until it got wayyyyyy too windy. We then moved it inside for a bit and then onto the roof of the boat. I was drinking swizzles (rum with fruit punch - but you can only taste the fruit punch) for the first half of the night (they came out of giant orange gatorade coolers) until it was suggested that I switch to something else because apparently the swizzles are like crack and will turn on you and before you know it, you will puking off the side of the boat.
I successfully did not puke off the side of the boat. I stuck mostly to rum and diet coke's. Even though they were poured half and half, I still managed to keep track of how many I had drank by stacking all my cups. Once I finished a drink, I stacked the next drink in the last drink's plastic cup. That way I wouldn't lose track. Yes...I know genius! Highlights of the cruise included playing "Boob or Bum". "Boob or "Bum" is a game I created by taking pictures of my butt crack and my cleavage (very close up so all you can see is the slit) and getting people to guess which is which. This was the best round ever. I have never had my butt crack look more like boob cleavage. Everyone guessed wrong! Also, there were these people on the boat that were playing "Dentist Chair" and they would keep grabbin people and shoving them in a chair and then throwing a combination of straight vodka and rum down their gullets. I was naive enough to go "What's up with this chair?" and proceeded to get restrained into the chair and had said alcohol poured down my throat! Bastards.
Here is me getting "chaired".
On Friday I went to Horshoe Bay to fly kites. Man flying $5 kites are a bitch. On Thursday, I grabbed the last kite available (Yu-Gi-Oh themed) to fly on Friday. It is a tradition on the island to fly kites on Good Friday. Other traditions include eating fish cakes on hot cross buns (yuck). I did not partake in the latter. It was a pretty nice day out. It was sunny with a bit of a breeze. Saw just about everyone I knew at the beach and finally got the kite in the air after almost losing it on the boyfriend (man that was frustrating!) On Friday night me and the boyfriend went out for supper to Blu (restaurant on Bellmont Golf Course). It was really good. I had the lamb and he had the prime rib. I felt very cheap though because we were using these coupons we had that we purchased earlier on in the month were you get 3 full meals for $130 (appetizer + entre + dessert) and we kept having to ask which meals were included in the deal. The waitress tried the best she could not to roll her eyes. Well we would've ordered two entrees and one appetizer if we hadn't had the coupon so she should be happy to get the extra added tip (they automatically add 15% gratuity to all meals here on the island). The meal was really good but there was this obnoxious British girl that was half way across the restaurant who spoke so loud that it would have been offensive even if she had been sitting across from me at the volume I heard (being half way across the restaurant).
Here is me trying to fly a kite.
Here is the beautiful beach I can get to in a 20 minute drive.
On Saturday I played in the Easter Seven's Tournament. As I am the new girl on the team, I usually only get to play about 5 minutes in each game. Because a couple of the players that are never off the field were either off-island or were playing on the tackle team that weekend, I got to play the entire time. And let me tell you. I did well! I ended up getting 2 tries in the first game and 3 in the 2nd. I had the most tries out of anyone in the tournament (on any of the teams). Hopefully I will have proven that I deserve to start now and will get a bit more playing time! I watched the end of the tackle rugby game between the island team and the team that was down from NYC and we got rocked badly. Oh well....girls playing tackle on the island is a new concept and they have no one to practice against all year. After the games we went out to the bar for the after-party. It was pretty fun but only the tackle girls were out and none of my tag team.
This is my beautiful team.
On Sunday it pissed down rain. So I spent the whole day inside (bar going to the gym to run 6 miles on the treadmill - staying on track with my half-marathon training schedule!) I watched a couple of movies (Karate Kid and Duplex). And then ate a wonderful Easter dinner cooked by the boyfriend. He is a wicked cook. I also baked some cookies....because I really needed more fat after ingesting enough chocolate eggs to feed a small village for a month. I hope everyone had a wicked Easter weekend. Back to work today! Next weekend should be fun as it a going away party for a guy that is friends with practically everyone on the island. He will be dearly missed!
On Friday I went on a booze cruise. It was a fundraiser for my rugby team. The boat we were on was pretty small. We had originally booked a 500-person boat but the rental company decided to perform maintenance on the boat and informed us about a week before the cruise. So we had to halt sales of tickets immediately. The boat we were on was supposed to fit about 220 people but we had sold 250 tickets. So ya....it was a tight squeeze. Me and some of my Canadian friends spent the first half of the cruise on the front of the boat until it got wayyyyyy too windy. We then moved it inside for a bit and then onto the roof of the boat. I was drinking swizzles (rum with fruit punch - but you can only taste the fruit punch) for the first half of the night (they came out of giant orange gatorade coolers) until it was suggested that I switch to something else because apparently the swizzles are like crack and will turn on you and before you know it, you will puking off the side of the boat.
I successfully did not puke off the side of the boat. I stuck mostly to rum and diet coke's. Even though they were poured half and half, I still managed to keep track of how many I had drank by stacking all my cups. Once I finished a drink, I stacked the next drink in the last drink's plastic cup. That way I wouldn't lose track. Yes...I know genius! Highlights of the cruise included playing "Boob or Bum". "Boob or "Bum" is a game I created by taking pictures of my butt crack and my cleavage (very close up so all you can see is the slit) and getting people to guess which is which. This was the best round ever. I have never had my butt crack look more like boob cleavage. Everyone guessed wrong! Also, there were these people on the boat that were playing "Dentist Chair" and they would keep grabbin people and shoving them in a chair and then throwing a combination of straight vodka and rum down their gullets. I was naive enough to go "What's up with this chair?" and proceeded to get restrained into the chair and had said alcohol poured down my throat! Bastards.
Here is me getting "chaired".
On Friday I went to Horshoe Bay to fly kites. Man flying $5 kites are a bitch. On Thursday, I grabbed the last kite available (Yu-Gi-Oh themed) to fly on Friday. It is a tradition on the island to fly kites on Good Friday. Other traditions include eating fish cakes on hot cross buns (yuck). I did not partake in the latter. It was a pretty nice day out. It was sunny with a bit of a breeze. Saw just about everyone I knew at the beach and finally got the kite in the air after almost losing it on the boyfriend (man that was frustrating!) On Friday night me and the boyfriend went out for supper to Blu (restaurant on Bellmont Golf Course). It was really good. I had the lamb and he had the prime rib. I felt very cheap though because we were using these coupons we had that we purchased earlier on in the month were you get 3 full meals for $130 (appetizer + entre + dessert) and we kept having to ask which meals were included in the deal. The waitress tried the best she could not to roll her eyes. Well we would've ordered two entrees and one appetizer if we hadn't had the coupon so she should be happy to get the extra added tip (they automatically add 15% gratuity to all meals here on the island). The meal was really good but there was this obnoxious British girl that was half way across the restaurant who spoke so loud that it would have been offensive even if she had been sitting across from me at the volume I heard (being half way across the restaurant).
Here is me trying to fly a kite.
Here is the beautiful beach I can get to in a 20 minute drive.
On Saturday I played in the Easter Seven's Tournament. As I am the new girl on the team, I usually only get to play about 5 minutes in each game. Because a couple of the players that are never off the field were either off-island or were playing on the tackle team that weekend, I got to play the entire time. And let me tell you. I did well! I ended up getting 2 tries in the first game and 3 in the 2nd. I had the most tries out of anyone in the tournament (on any of the teams). Hopefully I will have proven that I deserve to start now and will get a bit more playing time! I watched the end of the tackle rugby game between the island team and the team that was down from NYC and we got rocked badly. Oh well....girls playing tackle on the island is a new concept and they have no one to practice against all year. After the games we went out to the bar for the after-party. It was pretty fun but only the tackle girls were out and none of my tag team.
This is my beautiful team.
On Sunday it pissed down rain. So I spent the whole day inside (bar going to the gym to run 6 miles on the treadmill - staying on track with my half-marathon training schedule!) I watched a couple of movies (Karate Kid and Duplex). And then ate a wonderful Easter dinner cooked by the boyfriend. He is a wicked cook. I also baked some cookies....because I really needed more fat after ingesting enough chocolate eggs to feed a small village for a month. I hope everyone had a wicked Easter weekend. Back to work today! Next weekend should be fun as it a going away party for a guy that is friends with practically everyone on the island. He will be dearly missed!
Monday, February 25, 2008
My Damn Arm is Falling Off
Well I have had the weekend from hell. So on Friday me and the boyfriend got in a small fight over a stupid prank he pulled on me that I thought went too far. So needless to say, Friday night, I wanted to go get my drink on, sans the boyfriend. So me and a couple of guys from work drank in the boardroom for a while. I was supposed to meet the boyfriend at the bar for somebody's going away party whom I didn't know (yes I will miss them dearly?) at 7pm. But I got caught up in drinking and chatting in boardroom that I didn't show up to the pub until about 9pm. The boyfriend had gone home as he knew only one person there (the rest of the people he knew were with me drinking in the board room). At about 2pm that afternoon I started to experience a sharp pain in my elbow. The scariest thing about it, is that I had not banged my elbow on anything, so I found it really strange considering it hurt so bad.
The next morning, I awoke to a very red and swollen elbow. It was so bad that I forced the boyfriend, who, bless his soul, even though he was mad at me for being a no-show at the pub the night before, drove all the way to work to get my helmet out of my bike and then drove back to our place to pick me up and take me to the hospital. When I got to the hospital, it wasn't that busy because Bermudians are kind of lazy and can't get their asses out of bed until about 11am on a Saturday morning.
My hot-ass arm. It only got worse from this point. Note the circle drawn around the swelling. It about doubled in size from this picture at its worst point!
So I saw a doctor and he said I had an infection and that I needed to go on antibiotics. Usually you get the infection through a cut or bug bite, but strangely I had no such item on the end of my elbow (where the swelling was). So the doctor geared me up with a sling (because it hurt so bad to straighten my arm) and a prescription for antibiotic pills. I think the boyfriend was having sympathy pains because he had a bug bite on his arm that seem to be swelling (though at a much less alarming rate) as well. The nurse also drew a circle around my arm with a pen and told me to come back if the redness and swelling extended out of the circle (as that meant that the oral antibiotics were not doing their job and they would have to put me on IV antibiotics). My arm ended up swelling more so I went back to the hospital and the nurse pretty much laughed at me and told me to come back only if it was swollen significantly outside of the line (it was only about an inch outside the line at this point). She then sent me packing, slightly embarrassed.
On Saturday night we had some friends over and we ate ribs (an amazing feat for me considering I only had one functioning arm) and played Mario Party 8 on Wii (fun game that you'd think guys would be better due to the overwhelming amount of vigorous arm shaking involved). I ended up being able to eat all my ribs and I ended up schooling the boyfriend and our guests at the Wii game! Pretty good for a gimp! I felt so bad for ditching the boyfriend the night before and since the boyfriend was being so nice (he had to make all the food and clean up as I was useless with one arm) I let him go out that night with our guests to another party. Apparently it was the 2nd annual Fryalation party (these people threw the same party last year) where they fry up anything and everything and consume it. Considering the lack of activity I would be experiencing until my arm healed, and the lack of alcohol I was able to drink due to its potential to render my antibiotics ineffective, I was more than happy to give it a miss. I would normally offer to DD but I couldn't operate a bike with one arm.
The next day I woke up and my arm had swollen a bit more but I wanted it to be significantly more swollen before I returned to the hospital and dealt with that evil nurse again. On Sunday afternoon, the "Canadians in Bermuda" club was holding their annual bowling event. Since bowling is about the only sport I could do with one arm, I did not cancel (as many people suggest I did). I scored the lowest on our team in the first two games but I beat the most competitive person in the third game. I think I did decent considering my balance was thrown off by having my left arm in a sling. I named myself Tit, my friend Ass, and the boyfriend Poo.
Here is my patriotic outfit. I have a Canadian flag on my back and note my awesome hair and makeup (yep can't do much with only one functioning arm!)
Here is my sweet ass bowling form. I sling really throws you off balance!
When I returned home I got the boyfriend to inspect the arm, and alas, the redness and swelling had almost doubled in size since the nurse had drawn the circle, so I finally accepted the fact that it may be time to return to the hospital to get hooked up with some IV goodness. When I got there, the nurse concurred that I needed to get an IV. So he put the IV in the most inconvenient place ever (in the crease of my arm) and he put it in my right arm (which basically rendered both arms useless now instead of just the one). Life is hard when you can't straighten either arm! Let me tell you! I ended up bleeding all over the bed and then the nurse didn't even clean it up (he just took the paper off the bed) before sending me home. I hope to god they cleaned that bed before the next patient came along. I was also informed that I would have to come to the hospital 3 times a day (every 8 hours) for IV injections of antibiotics. Also, that I would have to wait, in emergency, each time to get the injections. I don't know if you have ever had the privilege of waiting in an emergency room for a long period of time, but the prospect of having to do so 3 times a day for the next few days was a grim one.
I decided to take the first couple of days off of work. I wanted to go to work, but the boyfriend insisted that I stay home and rest my arm. I guess it made sense considering I would be useless without the use of my arms. So right now I am sitting at home, bored out of my tree, waiting for the boyfriend to come home from work. i have about 200 channels on my TV, but I swear to god nothing is on! But hoorah, I have to go wait in the emergency waiting room for god knows how many hours another two times today. At least that will fill my time!
The next morning, I awoke to a very red and swollen elbow. It was so bad that I forced the boyfriend, who, bless his soul, even though he was mad at me for being a no-show at the pub the night before, drove all the way to work to get my helmet out of my bike and then drove back to our place to pick me up and take me to the hospital. When I got to the hospital, it wasn't that busy because Bermudians are kind of lazy and can't get their asses out of bed until about 11am on a Saturday morning.
My hot-ass arm. It only got worse from this point. Note the circle drawn around the swelling. It about doubled in size from this picture at its worst point!
So I saw a doctor and he said I had an infection and that I needed to go on antibiotics. Usually you get the infection through a cut or bug bite, but strangely I had no such item on the end of my elbow (where the swelling was). So the doctor geared me up with a sling (because it hurt so bad to straighten my arm) and a prescription for antibiotic pills. I think the boyfriend was having sympathy pains because he had a bug bite on his arm that seem to be swelling (though at a much less alarming rate) as well. The nurse also drew a circle around my arm with a pen and told me to come back if the redness and swelling extended out of the circle (as that meant that the oral antibiotics were not doing their job and they would have to put me on IV antibiotics). My arm ended up swelling more so I went back to the hospital and the nurse pretty much laughed at me and told me to come back only if it was swollen significantly outside of the line (it was only about an inch outside the line at this point). She then sent me packing, slightly embarrassed.
On Saturday night we had some friends over and we ate ribs (an amazing feat for me considering I only had one functioning arm) and played Mario Party 8 on Wii (fun game that you'd think guys would be better due to the overwhelming amount of vigorous arm shaking involved). I ended up being able to eat all my ribs and I ended up schooling the boyfriend and our guests at the Wii game! Pretty good for a gimp! I felt so bad for ditching the boyfriend the night before and since the boyfriend was being so nice (he had to make all the food and clean up as I was useless with one arm) I let him go out that night with our guests to another party. Apparently it was the 2nd annual Fryalation party (these people threw the same party last year) where they fry up anything and everything and consume it. Considering the lack of activity I would be experiencing until my arm healed, and the lack of alcohol I was able to drink due to its potential to render my antibiotics ineffective, I was more than happy to give it a miss. I would normally offer to DD but I couldn't operate a bike with one arm.
The next day I woke up and my arm had swollen a bit more but I wanted it to be significantly more swollen before I returned to the hospital and dealt with that evil nurse again. On Sunday afternoon, the "Canadians in Bermuda" club was holding their annual bowling event. Since bowling is about the only sport I could do with one arm, I did not cancel (as many people suggest I did). I scored the lowest on our team in the first two games but I beat the most competitive person in the third game. I think I did decent considering my balance was thrown off by having my left arm in a sling. I named myself Tit, my friend Ass, and the boyfriend Poo.
Here is my patriotic outfit. I have a Canadian flag on my back and note my awesome hair and makeup (yep can't do much with only one functioning arm!)
Here is my sweet ass bowling form. I sling really throws you off balance!
When I returned home I got the boyfriend to inspect the arm, and alas, the redness and swelling had almost doubled in size since the nurse had drawn the circle, so I finally accepted the fact that it may be time to return to the hospital to get hooked up with some IV goodness. When I got there, the nurse concurred that I needed to get an IV. So he put the IV in the most inconvenient place ever (in the crease of my arm) and he put it in my right arm (which basically rendered both arms useless now instead of just the one). Life is hard when you can't straighten either arm! Let me tell you! I ended up bleeding all over the bed and then the nurse didn't even clean it up (he just took the paper off the bed) before sending me home. I hope to god they cleaned that bed before the next patient came along. I was also informed that I would have to come to the hospital 3 times a day (every 8 hours) for IV injections of antibiotics. Also, that I would have to wait, in emergency, each time to get the injections. I don't know if you have ever had the privilege of waiting in an emergency room for a long period of time, but the prospect of having to do so 3 times a day for the next few days was a grim one.
I decided to take the first couple of days off of work. I wanted to go to work, but the boyfriend insisted that I stay home and rest my arm. I guess it made sense considering I would be useless without the use of my arms. So right now I am sitting at home, bored out of my tree, waiting for the boyfriend to come home from work. i have about 200 channels on my TV, but I swear to god nothing is on! But hoorah, I have to go wait in the emergency waiting room for god knows how many hours another two times today. At least that will fill my time!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Fight Night!
Sorry, I have been gone for a while because I had an unfortunate mishap with my arm (I will explain more in my next post) and I have been generally busy enjoying life here in Bermuda. So to recap the Fight Night Weekend: Friday I just laid low in order to save my energy for Saturday night (Fight Night!) and watched some TV. On Saturday morning, I went to go pickup a sofa-bed from a lady across town but the movers didn't show up. So we gave them a call, and they said they had forgotten about us. So they finally showed up about an hour and a half late. Well it was the first nice weekend day since we moved to the island, so the boyfriend went and got some coolers and chocolate and we sat on the couch, on this lady's lawn (she had to take her daughter to a birthday party) and basked in the sun. The movers finally showed up and we went and picked up our BBQ as well (I love that frickin' thing and have used it every night since I got it!)
On Saturday afternoon we headed to a friends house to go to a pool party. It wasn't all that warm out, so the pool was more a centrepiece to our party than a functional part of it. A couple of people jumped in but I left that to the brave. Also, after finally getting my hair straight (which is a feat and a half in this humid weather) I did not want to destroy said hair with a swim. We drank (alot) and had some BBQ. One thing I noted is that beef in Bermuda is wayyyyyy worse than beef in Cowtown. They are not exaggerating when they go on about Grade A Alberta beef being of much higher quality than beef from anywhere else. It's edible, but nothing to write home about. All the usual suspects were at this party (including the Naked Guy). Highlights included drinking Magaritas out of a Margarita maker that was acquired by the host of the party from the local hardware store in an effort to use up his $15,000 credit he won in a draw before he leaves the island (at the end of April); Naked Guy wrapping himself up in only wrapping paper after a lull in the party on the insistence of his drunk wife, who screamed "PARTY BOY! NOW!" in a plight to entertain off-island guests that were staying with them; Naked boy and two others showing up in their matching hideous Hawaiian shirts; Naked boy and company jumping on the bed demonstrating the sexual norms of having a three-way with same-sexes; the Boyfriend and another person using a wrapping paper tube to "Get all Dominatrix"; etc.
After the afternoon party, we headed, in cabs, downtown to attend the legendary Fight Night. Fight Night is a fundraiser held by one of the rugby teams on the island where anyone can train (with the local boxing outfit) as long as the get in the ring and fight on Fight Night. So basically, a bunch of locals (ie amateurs) fighting each other. Good fun though and an excuse to get ridiculously drunk. Drinks were only $4 each and they poured them with about 75% alcohol and 30% mix. Needless to say everyone got way too drunk, and a night that should have lasted into the wee hours of the morning, ended, for most, after the event.
The fighting was fun but it ended up being only a background to the drinking schenanigens for me and my crew. I somehow got convinced to play in the rugby game on the following morning (which I knew I would be ridiculously hung-over for and unprepared as I had only had one training session prior to the game). I ended up having to go home early because the boyfriend (who was way past drunk) locked himself out of the house and insisted that I had punched him in the face because he had a chipped tooth. I went back to my place and explained to him that I had accidentally bumped him and his teeth smashed together (thus chipping his teeth).
My other friend decided (at 11pm) that he should sleep it off in the office (which is a 5 minute walk from where the event was held) but was dangerously drunk, so Naked Guy decided to follow him to the office to make sure he was safe. Right by the office, there is a 24 hour gas station and when he approached the office, 5 suspicious looking characters followed him up the ramp to our front door but Naked guy called out to him to make sure he was okay and the suspicious characters ran off (god knows what they were up to). Naked boy came home to a very drunk wife who proceeded to tell him to get the hell out, drove his bike to the office (as he had guests on the couch) to get some shut-eye. The other guy that was sleeping at the office, awoke at 6am and decided he needed to get home. Him and Naked Guy both have the exact same scooter so he somehow grabbed Naked Guys helmet and tried to start his bike with his own key (which obviously didn't work). He then got in a cab with Naked Guys helmet (it is still unclear to me why he took his helmet). Naked guy awoke with no helmet and had to walk home (there are crazy steep fees to pay if you are caught driving without a helmet here).
On Sunday I played in my first flag rugby game but had no clue what I am doing. I know the basic rules of rugby and the movements/plays that should be occurring from my short foray in the tackle rugby world back at home, but had no idea what to do with the flags once I pulled someone's off or had mine removed. I left the game more confused than I had came but I have straightened it out since in training. We won the game 11 to 0. My team rocks and I am glad I chose the first place team (well Google chose it as it was the first team to show up when I searched for "Women's rugby in Bermuda")
On Saturday afternoon we headed to a friends house to go to a pool party. It wasn't all that warm out, so the pool was more a centrepiece to our party than a functional part of it. A couple of people jumped in but I left that to the brave. Also, after finally getting my hair straight (which is a feat and a half in this humid weather) I did not want to destroy said hair with a swim. We drank (alot) and had some BBQ. One thing I noted is that beef in Bermuda is wayyyyyy worse than beef in Cowtown. They are not exaggerating when they go on about Grade A Alberta beef being of much higher quality than beef from anywhere else. It's edible, but nothing to write home about. All the usual suspects were at this party (including the Naked Guy). Highlights included drinking Magaritas out of a Margarita maker that was acquired by the host of the party from the local hardware store in an effort to use up his $15,000 credit he won in a draw before he leaves the island (at the end of April); Naked Guy wrapping himself up in only wrapping paper after a lull in the party on the insistence of his drunk wife, who screamed "PARTY BOY! NOW!" in a plight to entertain off-island guests that were staying with them; Naked boy and two others showing up in their matching hideous Hawaiian shirts; Naked boy and company jumping on the bed demonstrating the sexual norms of having a three-way with same-sexes; the Boyfriend and another person using a wrapping paper tube to "Get all Dominatrix"; etc.
After the afternoon party, we headed, in cabs, downtown to attend the legendary Fight Night. Fight Night is a fundraiser held by one of the rugby teams on the island where anyone can train (with the local boxing outfit) as long as the get in the ring and fight on Fight Night. So basically, a bunch of locals (ie amateurs) fighting each other. Good fun though and an excuse to get ridiculously drunk. Drinks were only $4 each and they poured them with about 75% alcohol and 30% mix. Needless to say everyone got way too drunk, and a night that should have lasted into the wee hours of the morning, ended, for most, after the event.
The fighting was fun but it ended up being only a background to the drinking schenanigens for me and my crew. I somehow got convinced to play in the rugby game on the following morning (which I knew I would be ridiculously hung-over for and unprepared as I had only had one training session prior to the game). I ended up having to go home early because the boyfriend (who was way past drunk) locked himself out of the house and insisted that I had punched him in the face because he had a chipped tooth. I went back to my place and explained to him that I had accidentally bumped him and his teeth smashed together (thus chipping his teeth).
My other friend decided (at 11pm) that he should sleep it off in the office (which is a 5 minute walk from where the event was held) but was dangerously drunk, so Naked Guy decided to follow him to the office to make sure he was safe. Right by the office, there is a 24 hour gas station and when he approached the office, 5 suspicious looking characters followed him up the ramp to our front door but Naked guy called out to him to make sure he was okay and the suspicious characters ran off (god knows what they were up to). Naked boy came home to a very drunk wife who proceeded to tell him to get the hell out, drove his bike to the office (as he had guests on the couch) to get some shut-eye. The other guy that was sleeping at the office, awoke at 6am and decided he needed to get home. Him and Naked Guy both have the exact same scooter so he somehow grabbed Naked Guys helmet and tried to start his bike with his own key (which obviously didn't work). He then got in a cab with Naked Guys helmet (it is still unclear to me why he took his helmet). Naked guy awoke with no helmet and had to walk home (there are crazy steep fees to pay if you are caught driving without a helmet here).
On Sunday I played in my first flag rugby game but had no clue what I am doing. I know the basic rules of rugby and the movements/plays that should be occurring from my short foray in the tackle rugby world back at home, but had no idea what to do with the flags once I pulled someone's off or had mine removed. I left the game more confused than I had came but I have straightened it out since in training. We won the game 11 to 0. My team rocks and I am glad I chose the first place team (well Google chose it as it was the first team to show up when I searched for "Women's rugby in Bermuda")
Friday, February 15, 2008
TGIF/RIP NIU Students
After a rather unventful week at work filled with client's ignoring my emails and taking off and leaving in the middle of working at their site when they won't be around for the next week, it is finally Friday! Thank goodness. I am bored as hell and can't wait to enjoy this fun filled weekend (Fight Night!)
Valentine's Day was rather unventful. The boyfriend bought me the best of the roses leftover at 10am on Valentine's Day and I showed it to the girl whose boyfriend also works in the office who had received a dozen roses and two giant balloons. She laughed. Meh, don't really care because Valentine's Day is for suckers! Good on you for not getting too far into the spirit of it boyfriend! I ended up getting some Indian Food and watching Resident Evil and drinking wine. I bought myself three bottles of wine because I have always wanted to be one of those people that had multiple bottles of wine that require the use of a wine rack.
"Oh thanks for coming over Foxworth (yes my classy friend's name is Foxworth). What would you like to drink? I have a nice Pinot Noir or a Merlot?"
Unfortunately, alcohol never lasts more than about 24 hours in our house. We buy the amount of alcohol we are likely to drink, then we drink it. I know...classy!
Well I heard about the Northern Illinois University Shooting. That freakin' sucks! And it was in a geology class. There you are, bored out of your damn mind, taking "Rocks for Jocks" (which is what we affectionately referred to geology as at home as every degree is forced to take one science elective to get the degree), and someone comes in guns ablazin'. He didn't even go to the school anymore. Why is he not shooting up some workplace that was pissing him off, instead of these poor kids at school, with their whole lives ahead of them? The vast majority that died were 20 years old! They can't even legally drink! That's just lame. The worst thing that ever happened at my university is that someone once put poop in the projector (yes seriously poop). The guy was apparently off his meds or something. Yo buddy......they were obviously working. And the damn coward shot himself afterwards. Why not just shoot yourself and cut out the middlemen (the victims). Not enough press? Shoot yourself in a public place, but leave everyone else out of it. I wish these people at least had a stance they were fighting for...but I guess we will never know. Well my thoughts and prayers go out to the people who's family members and friends were effected by this shooting. I am so sorry that it had to happen to you guys!
Valentine's Day was rather unventful. The boyfriend bought me the best of the roses leftover at 10am on Valentine's Day and I showed it to the girl whose boyfriend also works in the office who had received a dozen roses and two giant balloons. She laughed. Meh, don't really care because Valentine's Day is for suckers! Good on you for not getting too far into the spirit of it boyfriend! I ended up getting some Indian Food and watching Resident Evil and drinking wine. I bought myself three bottles of wine because I have always wanted to be one of those people that had multiple bottles of wine that require the use of a wine rack.
"Oh thanks for coming over Foxworth (yes my classy friend's name is Foxworth). What would you like to drink? I have a nice Pinot Noir or a Merlot?"
Unfortunately, alcohol never lasts more than about 24 hours in our house. We buy the amount of alcohol we are likely to drink, then we drink it. I know...classy!
Well I heard about the Northern Illinois University Shooting. That freakin' sucks! And it was in a geology class. There you are, bored out of your damn mind, taking "Rocks for Jocks" (which is what we affectionately referred to geology as at home as every degree is forced to take one science elective to get the degree), and someone comes in guns ablazin'. He didn't even go to the school anymore. Why is he not shooting up some workplace that was pissing him off, instead of these poor kids at school, with their whole lives ahead of them? The vast majority that died were 20 years old! They can't even legally drink! That's just lame. The worst thing that ever happened at my university is that someone once put poop in the projector (yes seriously poop). The guy was apparently off his meds or something. Yo buddy......they were obviously working. And the damn coward shot himself afterwards. Why not just shoot yourself and cut out the middlemen (the victims). Not enough press? Shoot yourself in a public place, but leave everyone else out of it. I wish these people at least had a stance they were fighting for...but I guess we will never know. Well my thoughts and prayers go out to the people who's family members and friends were effected by this shooting. I am so sorry that it had to happen to you guys!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Dreaded V-Day
So here comes another Valentine's Day. The stupidest holiday of the year. Where, for some reason, men are supposed to spend tons of money on their girlfriend's just so they won't get bitched at and so they won't look like the lamest one out of their friend's when their girlfriends get talking to each other about how the night went down. How easy is it for them to buy the same old shit on the same day each year? Not that hard. Now give me a boy that will buy me flowers or a sweet gift on a day other than the obligatory Valentines, birthday or Christmas, then we can talk about romance. But, being told by a calendar when to be extra nice.....lame! That is why I like to keep things low-key on Valentines day. Just an excuse to get something different to eat and to watch a movie that I want to see (just for once!)
Well I went to rugby last night and had a really good time. The girls are really nice and touch rugby (sorry to those that play full-contact and would baulk at the thought of the pusiness of tag rugby) is much, much better. I loved rugby when I played and I thought that I might have the ability, once in my life, to be good at something, but I hated the tackling (especially in practices) because it freakin' hurts! I am sort of a jack at all trades but a master at none when it comes to sports. My speed and aggressiveness is welcome in any team sport and considered useful but my lack of ball handling, frisbee throwing, etc. has prevented me from ever being MVP at any time. Maybe touch rugby will be my sport. We shall see? Too bad the season is close to over and I will have to wait until next year to find out. In the meanwhile, I will train with these girls and get ready to kick some butt next year.
Well, going home soon to have the low-key Valentine's Day date. I will update y'all tomorrow on how it went down! Have a happy V-Day!
Well I went to rugby last night and had a really good time. The girls are really nice and touch rugby (sorry to those that play full-contact and would baulk at the thought of the pusiness of tag rugby) is much, much better. I loved rugby when I played and I thought that I might have the ability, once in my life, to be good at something, but I hated the tackling (especially in practices) because it freakin' hurts! I am sort of a jack at all trades but a master at none when it comes to sports. My speed and aggressiveness is welcome in any team sport and considered useful but my lack of ball handling, frisbee throwing, etc. has prevented me from ever being MVP at any time. Maybe touch rugby will be my sport. We shall see? Too bad the season is close to over and I will have to wait until next year to find out. In the meanwhile, I will train with these girls and get ready to kick some butt next year.
Well, going home soon to have the low-key Valentine's Day date. I will update y'all tomorrow on how it went down! Have a happy V-Day!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Hump Day! Hump Day! Everyone Loves Hump Day!
Well it is my favorite day of the week.....Wednesday. Too far into the week to bitch that the weekend is never going to come but just far enough away from the weekend that it is annoying! Last night we went to our friend's house for his birthday. Many people showed up and I totally blew my Body for Life diet. I ate a butt-load of Cool Ranch Doritos (those things are better than crack to me), a bunch of cookies and some cake. Meh....I am not that fat anyways.
The boyfriend: "Cowtowngal is just on the Body for Life diet because she likes to eat alot. Instead of just having three meals a day, she gets to eat six."
Me: "Yes but they are six smaller sized meals."
The boyfriend: "Well it kind of defeats the purpose when you eat snacks of chocolate and cookies in between each of the small meals."
Me: "Touche!"
Ya I might have to revisit this whole Body for Life thing. It's good because I don't feel hungry throughout the day, but I can't keep my damn hands of chocolate!
So today I got a bill for electricity for 14 days and it is over $570. There is no friggin' way that I used $570 of electricity in 14 days. There is supposed to be a $200 deposit in there but still...$370 in 14 days is crazy. Our friends run their A/C and dehumidifier all day and night long and have a larger place than ours and their electricity bill is only, at the most, $200 for the whole month. This bill did not even include the power used by our dehumidifier as we only got it the other day! I hope there is a mistake or I will go completely broke just turning on lights and the tv!
Tonight I am going to my first rugby practice. Unfortunately the Rugby season in Bermuda is winding up (it is their last game on Sunday) but they invited me to come out anyways. I love that it is touch rugby. I loved the concept of rugby, but hated coming home bruised to shit each night after some 300 pd orangutan bowled me over. Granted it is hard for the bigger ones to catch you, but some of them can move surprisingly fast! They also play sevens, which is a really good game if you are quick. They didn't call me "Speedy" on my soccer team for nothing!
I don't have big plans for Valentine's day. My perfect Valentine's day would be:
1. Get a card with a nice sweet message written in it
2. Get some takeout food
3. Rent a movie
4. Cuddle on the couch
5. Get laid and have it take more than 10 minutes
Is that too much to ask?
The boyfriend: "Cowtowngal is just on the Body for Life diet because she likes to eat alot. Instead of just having three meals a day, she gets to eat six."
Me: "Yes but they are six smaller sized meals."
The boyfriend: "Well it kind of defeats the purpose when you eat snacks of chocolate and cookies in between each of the small meals."
Me: "Touche!"
Ya I might have to revisit this whole Body for Life thing. It's good because I don't feel hungry throughout the day, but I can't keep my damn hands of chocolate!
So today I got a bill for electricity for 14 days and it is over $570. There is no friggin' way that I used $570 of electricity in 14 days. There is supposed to be a $200 deposit in there but still...$370 in 14 days is crazy. Our friends run their A/C and dehumidifier all day and night long and have a larger place than ours and their electricity bill is only, at the most, $200 for the whole month. This bill did not even include the power used by our dehumidifier as we only got it the other day! I hope there is a mistake or I will go completely broke just turning on lights and the tv!
Tonight I am going to my first rugby practice. Unfortunately the Rugby season in Bermuda is winding up (it is their last game on Sunday) but they invited me to come out anyways. I love that it is touch rugby. I loved the concept of rugby, but hated coming home bruised to shit each night after some 300 pd orangutan bowled me over. Granted it is hard for the bigger ones to catch you, but some of them can move surprisingly fast! They also play sevens, which is a really good game if you are quick. They didn't call me "Speedy" on my soccer team for nothing!
I don't have big plans for Valentine's day. My perfect Valentine's day would be:
1. Get a card with a nice sweet message written in it
2. Get some takeout food
3. Rent a movie
4. Cuddle on the couch
5. Get laid and have it take more than 10 minutes
Is that too much to ask?
Monday, February 11, 2008
Laid-Back Weekend in Paradise
So this weekend was a pretty uneventful but relaxing weekend. And still no luck with the being sunny on a weekend front. Damn mother nature! On Friday night we got some Indian food and rented a couple of movies and just laid low because on Saturday we wanted to hit some yard sales in the morning. Yes, I said yard sales. I am not 60 years old, but I don't mind using used kitchen shit and I am kind of cheap....so that equals going to yard sales. It is nuts how much stuff people can sell here second hand. You can sell seriously anything. I saw someone selling some plastic throw-away cups that they didn't use and a used Swiffer Wetjet, etc. This country is nuts but everything is really expensive new because of the 25% tax they tack on to imports. I also ended up buying a dehumidifier. That thing is frickin wicked! I could finally sweep my floor because there wasn't a thing layer of mist over everything (my god sweeping a wet floor is probably one of the more frustrating things I have ever done) and my towel finally dried from using the week before (don't worry I shower at the gym from Monday to Friday).
On Saturday night we had a couple of friends over and we drank and played Mario Party on Wii. I love the Wii. The Wii is the best invention ever! I think I play a little too much, but whatever! Mario Party is pretty damn fun. We borrowed it from a manager at work and have played it tons since. I came home from Ultimate on Sunday to find the boyfriend playing a Mario Party a la uno. We are obsessed. Well I needed something to fill the void after Guitar Hero started to get old!
On Sunday I played Ultimate and had pretty crappy games the first two games but the last game I did well. I ended up spiking the frisbee away from two guys and scored a point and an assist. I love ultimate. I hate going but once I get there, it's a blast. Apparently they play touch women's rugby here. That is really good and I am going to look into it because I was pretty decent at rugby the one year I played but I hated being bruised from head to toe from the tackling. This weekend should be more fun because it is "Fight Night" where they turn this car park into a giant boxing ring and local Rugby players fight. Also, I hear the drinks they serve are pretty strong....sure to be a perfect recipe for some good stories!
One last thing before I go! The Grammy's were last night and I totally didn't watch them but I was surprised about the outcome when I looked at the results this morning. Amy Winehouse cleaned house this year. That must be embarassing for everyone involved as they just got beat by a girl who's lucky if she walks out of the house without her pants on her head and her shirt as pants. Hopefully this will snap her out of her bad place and motivate her to clean up her act. She is a wicked singer and I hope she eventually puts out another album. And congrats to Kanye for finally get rap album of the year. He can stop whining now!
On Saturday night we had a couple of friends over and we drank and played Mario Party on Wii. I love the Wii. The Wii is the best invention ever! I think I play a little too much, but whatever! Mario Party is pretty damn fun. We borrowed it from a manager at work and have played it tons since. I came home from Ultimate on Sunday to find the boyfriend playing a Mario Party a la uno. We are obsessed. Well I needed something to fill the void after Guitar Hero started to get old!
On Sunday I played Ultimate and had pretty crappy games the first two games but the last game I did well. I ended up spiking the frisbee away from two guys and scored a point and an assist. I love ultimate. I hate going but once I get there, it's a blast. Apparently they play touch women's rugby here. That is really good and I am going to look into it because I was pretty decent at rugby the one year I played but I hated being bruised from head to toe from the tackling. This weekend should be more fun because it is "Fight Night" where they turn this car park into a giant boxing ring and local Rugby players fight. Also, I hear the drinks they serve are pretty strong....sure to be a perfect recipe for some good stories!
One last thing before I go! The Grammy's were last night and I totally didn't watch them but I was surprised about the outcome when I looked at the results this morning. Amy Winehouse cleaned house this year. That must be embarassing for everyone involved as they just got beat by a girl who's lucky if she walks out of the house without her pants on her head and her shirt as pants. Hopefully this will snap her out of her bad place and motivate her to clean up her act. She is a wicked singer and I hope she eventually puts out another album. And congrats to Kanye for finally get rap album of the year. He can stop whining now!
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