One Year On

So........ 1 year eh?!

It looks so strange to write that. It really doesn't feel as though it can be as long as all that.
So, how do I feel? Well, as I was preparing to leave, people kept asking me how long I intended to stay, and my answer was that I didn't know, but if I gave up and came home within a year I would be very disappointed with myself. And here I am, a year on and I'm sorry, but I am not quite ready to quit!

I feel like I haven't done anything yet (my own fault I know), but that should all change in the next few months - lots of changes coming up - and I can't wait!

Of course I have done things really! Lots of firsts and things I would never have seen or done if I hadn't taken that leap and I have met lots of lovely people so far.
I have been to a real Rodeo, I've crewed a sailboat, 'worked' in a recording studio, road-tripped across America, I am now a hockey fan, I've eaten sushi, I have been to see loads of great shows, I've seen many more wild animals than before, I have seen such beautiful scenery - from mountains to deserts, there has been snow, snow, SNOW!, I have had to face my fear of spiders (with no success!), oh and I have never been prouder to be English!

So 'onwards and upwards'!
Here's to the next year. May it be even more eventful!
;-)

Like I Was Never Away...

So, I have been back from my holiday for two weeks now! Sigh! It feels like I never went away :-( If you want to know what I got up to, have a look on here:

girlsinamerica2009.blogspot.com

It was such a fun trip. The part I most enjoyed, was taking a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon! Very cool!
The third week that I was away, I went to Nova Scotia and spent the week with family and lazed by the river. It was lovely to have time to relax after the hectic road trip! While I was there, my Uncle gave me sailing lessons!


That was very fun! I also went to my cousins studio in Halifax and recorded a narration for a commercial for him. I really enjoyed that, even though it was nerve-racking! He later sent the finished product to me and it was weird, hearing my own voice back!!!

The one thing that I did NOT like was the insect bites that I got :-( I got hundreds, no joke, and even two weeks later they are still evident. I think they might scar :-{

Animals!

I saw an OWL on the way home tonight! I was so excited! I have never seen one in the wild before! I have seen tame ones many times of course.
It was sitting on a telephone wire over my road. I stopped right underneath it and we studied each other for a long time till I was the one who broke eye-contact.
I think it was a Barn Owl, but I cannot be sure as it was dark.


(No, I did NOT take this picture!!!!!!)
I have seen lots of new animals since I have been in Canada now I think about it. An Eagle, Raccoons, Seals, and now an Owl!
Oh, and we can't forget more Rats than I care to think about! The other night I had two charge me! One swerved just as it reached me, but the other dashed straight between my legs!
*shudders*
I'd like to say that they were more afraid of me than I was of them, but I really don't think that that is true!!!

Bournemouth Singalong

This made me laugh! It is certainly not the best random group event I have seen,(Improv-Everywhere are amazing!) but the fact that it was in Bournemouth was rather cool! It was really nice (and a bit surreal!) to see the Square again and Borders and New Look and The Slug And Lettuce and the Balloon!!
At 4.42 there is a group of Glenmoor Girls which made me smile, and at 5.01 there is a guy who says 'This is mental!' I haven't heard that expression in 9 months!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHj_2t1upNM

Summer Nights

I love these lighter evenings :-)
Walking home tonight I could still see the outlines of the mountains against the sky. Beautiful!
I still can't get over how warm it has stayed. When I step out of work at 10pm it is warmer outside than it is inside!

Summer nights have a special smell all of their own, don't you think? It makes me breath deep and smile. Its the smell of heat, cut grass, cigarettes and suncream! Mind you, if I smell bonfires or bbq's the happiness is tinged with sadness - because I want to be there!!!

Opera

I really wanted to see 'Easy Virtue' yesterday, and the only place that was showing it is a cinema in Kits. So I took the bus and went to see it. It was good, I really enjoyed it. Plus Ben Barnes is nice to look at! Then I walked up to Vainer park and had a look at where Bard On The Beach is being held. I almost decided to stay and watch 'Othello', but I know that there may be some people who would like to come with me, so I restrained myself! I sat by the water and read for a bit in the sunshine instead. :-)

On the way to Kits I had passed the Metro Theatre and saw that tonight was the last night for 'Die Fledermaus'. So I decided to go there on the way home. As I always say, I would rather go see something on my own, than miss out just because no-one will go with me. As it turned out, I wasn’t on my own. As I was waiting in the lobby for it to start, in walked a girl I work with! So I sat with her. Very random! Neither of us had been to an opera before, but as soon as they started playing the overture, I realised that I actually knew some of the songs, but had never realised what they were from. Some I had even heard English versions of so even though they sang in German I knew what was going on.
By the time I left the theatre, my tummy was grumbling, so I went and got MaccyD’s - and missed two buses while I waited! When my bus did come, the driver hopped straight off and disappeared into McDonald's! Hmm!

I like off the cuff days like that. Plus, I really feel like I am starting to get to know my way around here a lot more, which makes me happy! :-)

Visitors

I have had a busy few weeks! Two weeks ago, some friends from home came and stayed with me for two nights before catching a cruise from here to Alaska. It was lovely to have them and to be able to catch up. It also gave me the opportunity to practice with the bus route for the following week, when Mum and Dad came! The first day they were here, we walked around this area for a bit and then they went to sleep very early! The next day we went downtown and did the Big Bus tour of the city. It was a hop on hop off thing, so we got off at Granville Island and Stanley Park, and walked along the sea wall. I got VERY sunburned that day! The next day we went to Lynn Canyon and went on the suspension bridge and walked a LONG trail. Hiking in flip-flops anyone?!
On Monday we drove up to Whistler. It was sooooo hot up there! The whole week was REALLY hot and beautiful. We stopped at Shannon Falls on the way - which was very pretty - and also at various lookout points along the route.
Tuesday we walked along the dyke and walked around Steveston and had ice-creams! That night we went for dinner at a friends house in Tsawwassen and I had salmon for the first time and it was deeee-li-cious!!!
On Wednesday we met Mum's cousin and had a tour of his popcorn factory before going out for lunch. That was cool!
Hmm..... in one week we managed to do just about everything that I have done in nine months! Note to self: Get Out More!!!

Yee-Haw!!!

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a Rodeo. It was another of the things on my 'list' that turned out to be slightly surreal! Like my first hockey game, it felt like something I should be watching in a film, not seeing with my own eyes!
It's a very strange feeling indeed - but not a bad one!
The over-riding (no pun intended!) feeling that I took away with me was - unfortunately - one of dampness!
It. Rained.
We were sitting outside, and me, being me, did not bring a coat. Within minutes I was soaked to the skin, but thankfully there was no wind so I did not get too cold.
In a futile attempt to keep at least one part of ourselves dry, we put things down on the seats before we sat down. I sat on my bag, one of the people I was with sat on his jumper and the other had some very small envelopes in her bag which she laid on the bench. Not quite sure what this says for our sanity!
Anyway, rain aside, I had a good time. There were competitors on bareback horses and saddled horses, as well as on bulls. (I must admit that I expected the bulls to be beefier.)
Plus, there was a kids competition riding sheep! They cried when they fell off. The children, not the sheep. Then there was barrel racing and the horse that won was called Martha! I got elbowed from both sides when they announced her name!

Then we went to the fair!
No, I did NOT go on any rides! Even though I was offered a $60 bribe by my evil companions, and one of the ride operators told me he would pay for me to go on! Nevertheless, I resisted. Actually, I am just a wimp, but hey, someone has to take the photos!
Walking around we had chips and candy floss, and then we went out for dinner. We were all so thoroughly soggy by this time that we were not sure if they would let us sit in the restaurant! But they did. :-)
It was a fun afternoon, but I was very glad to get back into the warm and have a hot shower! So.... that is another 'first' ticked off. Actually,I had another 'first' that night. I went out to the supermarket in my pajamas! I felt like such a chav!!!!! That was NOT on my list, it has got to be said!!!!

Rain

The rain has returned, and yesterday it POURED.
I got caught in it and within minutes I was soaked to the skin. I didn't mind too much though...... I felt like Audrey Hepburn!!! You know, that scene at the end of 'Breakfast At Tiffanys' where she gets out of the taxi and into the rainstorm?

All I needed was a cat and a kiss...!

;-)

Mmmmmmm

Today was the first day that it felt like summer. I worked the morning shift so I had the afternoon off.....and it was beautiful! Sigh!
I am writing this, sitting outside in the back garden. Ah the joys of laptops! ;-)
I can just about see the mountains through the trees at the bottom of the lawn and planes are swooping past, looking like silver fish, sparkling in the sunshine. My computer is singing songs to me, and I am about to leave to go for a stroll through Steveston and then dinner.
Perfect!

Mind you, I am getting eaten alive by the midges, so maybe I will go inside now!

Crossing Over!

What a lovely weekend!

This weekend was rather busy and felt longer than usual. Probably because I was up before 8am every morning for once!
On Saturday morning, I went across the border. The people I was with both had Nexus cards and decided to use that lane as there was an hour and a half wait otherwise. Sooooooo, that meant that they kicked me out of the car and made me walk across! Huh!
I'm joking, it really wasn't that bad!
It took a while as they were sooooooooo slow in there, but it was fine really. My ride got moved on though while they were waiting for me, as they were parked illegally!

I think that I am going to get a Canadian passport soon though. The guy who I dealt with told me that in June / July or whenever it is that the immigration rules change, if I try to cross on my British one, that's how I will be treated - even though I will have my Canadian citizenship card - which would mean that I would have to fill out an immigration form every time I crossed. Now THAT would be a pain!

Anyway, once that was all sorted, we carried on to Everett (missing some turnings on the way!) and after meeting up with another girl, went out for brunch.
The portions were HUGE!
I knew I was in America then!!!

Then, we picked another passenger and went on to Seattle. It was a gorgeous day and we wandered through Pike Place looking at all the stalls, street entertainers and taking photos. There was a pasta stall that sold every flavour of pasta imaginable, including chocolate flavour, which we tried and I found that it was actually rather nice! There were tons of flower stalls as well. It was like Boscombe market on a Saturday, but ten times the size, and without all the horrid clothes stalls and knock-off watch sellers! We also stopped at the 'World Famous Pike Place Fish Market' and watched them throw huge fish to-and-fro to each other across the room!
We saw a hula-hooping, harmonica playing guitarist, some wanna-be breakdancers and Elvis. (I always knew he was alive!)
We stopped outside the first Starbucks in America - we didn't go inside, as it was packed - and did a bit of shopping, before heading back to Everett.
We had dinner and then attempted to watch 'Rachel Getting Married'. We didn't get far! It was the worst film I have seen in a long time!

On Sunday we went to Marysville, and the weather was still beautiful! It actually got quite hot in the afternoon. It made me long for summer to arrive. :-)

That night we watched 'Juno'. A much better film choice! I really enjoyed it, plus it was filmed in Vancouver and it was fun to try to spot where all the different places were.

I have now talked to both of my sisters via Skype, which was nice. So if anyone else wants to talk to me.....................

Fixed!

Hip, Hip, Hurrah!!!!

My computer is fixed! Thank you soooooooooo much to Jonathan! :-)
It was very weird not to be able to use it for over a month and I am very excited to have it back and to know that it will not do weird random things that surprise and upset me.
No more walking for an hour to get to the library, just to check Facebook! Ha!

I still don't really know what was wrong with the thing in the first place. I guess that it just got a TON of viruses and finally gave up the ghost. To cut a long story short it was decided in the end, that the only way to save it was to wipe the whole thing and start again. Which was very scary. But it worked, and now I am happy. :-)

Its odd though. As I am not really very computer literate (you would never have guessed, I know), I never bothered to update any of my servers or anything, so now it all looks different (Mozilla, MSN etc) and it almost feels like I have a whole new computer! Cool!

Books & Films

As some of you may know, if I see a film advertised, or hear about one, and I discover that it was originally a book, I have to find that book and read it before I watch the film. I don't like to be told how something should be, I would much rather make up my own mind about it first and then see the way another person would describe / portray it. Others may prefer to do things the other way around, I suppose, but each to their own I guess!

Anyway, I have had my work cut out for me in the last few months. I have heard about loads of films that are coming out / have already come out that this applies to. (None of which I have read before, which is an amazing thing in and of itself!)

Firstly, there was 'Twilight', and now I am devouring the whole series. Then there was 'Dorian Gray' and 'The Time Travellers Wife', the first of which was quite hard going and the second, I haven't even started yet as I have so many others on the go at the moment.

Then there was 'Inkheart' and I am looking for the others in the trilogy now, and finally, there is 'Coraline'.

This one is a very short book - I read the whole thing at work yesterday! - and it would probably have made more of an impact on me had I been somewhat younger. Still, it is a good yarn, and the back cover made me smile. On it are recommendations by three of my favourite authors. They were as follows;

"I think this book will nudge 'Alice In Wonderland' out of it's niche at last. It is the most splendidly original, weird and frightening book I have read, and yet full of things children will love"
Diana Wynne Jones

"This book will send a shiver down your spine, out through your shoes and into a taxi to the airport. It has the delicate horror of the finest fairy tales, and it is a masterpiece. And you will never think of buttons in quite the same way again."
Terry Pratchett

"This book tells a fascinating and disturbing story that frightened me nearly to death. Unless you want to find yourself hiding underneath your bed, with your thumb in your mouth, trembling with fear and making terrible noises, I suggest that you step very slowly away from this book and go find another source of amusement, such as investigating an unsolved crime or making a small animal out of yarn."
Lemony Snicket

Ok, it didn't scare me quite that much, but anyway............................................!

The scariest story that I ever read was the one about the girl who always wore a black velvet ribbon around her neck. She never took it off, even though the boy who lived next door kept asking her to. Eventually they grew up, married each other and grew old. On her death bed, the old lady asked her husband if he still wanted to know why she never took the ribbon off. He said 'Yes', and so she asked him to untie it for her. He did..........................................and her head fell off.

*shudder* That one gave me nightmares for weeks!!!

It Is The Small Things In Life

That matter, I have discovered.
Like, according to the cashier at Best Buy, the fact that I have an 'X' in my post code is 'Very Cool'.
Really. I had no idea.

Happy New Year!

Well, 2009. It's like we are living in the future. Or something!

I was thinking the other day (yeah, I know, that could be dangerous!) that I really should not listen to my Ipod as I walk to work. It can become a bit embarrassing.
You see, I have on there, some of the rehearsal recordings from our Ensemble shows and if any of them come up on the shuffle, they have the unfortunate effect of making me laugh!
Out loud.
In broad daylight.
On my own.

Oh dear.

I love Neil's WONDERFUL note in 'They Both Reached For The Gun', the 'Elephant Love Medley' with the Scouse accents at the beginning, 'Phantom' with Stu's '2 3 4 1', and the moment in the middle of 'Hallelujah' when the waiter fell over the champagne bucket!

I miss you guys!