10 Geeky Things About Me

1. Have a bit of a crush on Grant from Mythbusters . . . sweet, smart, what more could you want?

2. Once, with some classmates, made up a whole world tour to promote Universal Grammar, a linguistics concept we all endorsed at the time: “UG 2003″!!! I’m just relieved we didn’t get t-shirts made like we talked about.

3. At movie stores, I gravitate to the indie/arty/foreign films section because I GENUINELY LOVE THEM.

4. At the age of 26, I am as big a Harry Potter fan as my little sister, who is the APPROPRIATE age for loving H.P.

5. I like to arrange stuff in my fridge based on homogeneous groupings. Like all dairy together . . . breads together . . . sauces and dressing together . . . and this makes me feel elated!

6. My best friend Melissa and I once planned out (and wrote several verses of) an opera about a “castrati” singer who falls in love with a woman but just can’t . . . act on it.

7. I really don’t feel jealous of people with nice cars. But I am hardcore jealous of people who are fluently bilingual.

8. I cried when I heard a commercial for the Innisfail Auction Mart about some upcoming sales they were having. And not because the cows may be sold for eventual slaughtering (although that is pretty sad) but just because the dude in the commercial telling us about the sales was so totally Western, a real tough cowboy, it just impressed me. “Bring in your yearlings and your calves, if you’ve got your papers great, but we don’t need ‘em, we’ll take ‘em either way, we’re gonna weigh them on Sunday and they’ll be heading in to the sale Monday”.

9. I once made cupcakes for a bakesale when I belonged to an undergrad linguistics club called Verbatim, which had phonetic symbols iced onto the top.

10. I prefer James Blunt’s song about “triangles” sung to the tune of “Beautiful” to the actual song “Beautiful”. My favourite line is “It must be your angles that put a smile on my face . . . not to mention the hypoteneuse!”

Why I Wish I Was American

I am proud to be a Canadian. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was proud to cast my vote in the Canadian federal election a few weeks ago. I am proud of our country and our way of life and our values and our national character.

Temporarily, and for one reason only, I wish I was an American.

Because if I was an American, I could vote for Barack Obama.

I hope Americans don’t make a mistake. I hope they vote for Barack Obama and elect him next president of the United States. It would be one of the best decisions they’d ever make.

My endorsement means absolutely nothing, and I know that.

But it’s here all the same.

Filling Out Forms

Why is it so hard to fill out forms?

Lately I’ve been applying to plenty of schools. The myriad of forms I’ve had to fill out has been mind-numbing! They start you off easy: Name, Address, Date of Birth. No problem. Then come the tricky questions. What was your student ID number ten years ago? What is the address of every place you’ve ever worked? Finding names, addresses, and phone numbers of people who could confirm volunteer and work experience in the application was hard enough. Good Grief! I feel like a Private Investigator spending hours of time researching my own background just so I can include it on the form.

There is something intensely satisfying about a completed form, be it online or paper. One of my favourite things to do at work is to fill out forms. I must have some “pencil pusher” genes in me, because hitting the “Submit” button on a form or licking the envelope that contains it in all its completed perfection is as satisfying to me as anything.

Am I nerd? Yes, I most definitely am. That’s why I use a PC. I was thinking today that I’ll never be a hip Apple user. They should get us nerds to unite behind our PC’s and let Apple know we are a serious force!

Catalina Can Walk Now

She can take several steps in a row before she falls down. And she’s desperately trying not to resort to crawling anymore. She just wants to walk.

I can’t believe it! I have no baby anymore, in my opinion. Thank goodness her hair is still soft and fine baby hair. And she still has a fat baby tummy. But everything else is going from baby to toddler faster than I realized. I can’t believe this time last year, she wasn’t even born yet!

Here are some things I will miss about never having a little baby:

• Being excited to choose a name and picturing how the baby will be before it’s born
• The way they can be wrapped up into such contained little bundles in their baby blankets as newborns
• The funny way they stretch and yawn and make squeaking noises
• How they kick their legs when they are excited because they have no control over them!
• Tiny baby washcloths
• Tiny little onesies
• Tiny little shoes . . . you get the point
• Buying newborn sized diapers
• When strangers stop to coo over your newborn and go on about their own kids when they were newborns
• The baby falling asleep on your chest and breathing in rhythm with you
• LONG naps
• Putting the baby down and not worrying she will move, because she CAN’T
• How much you are needed

Things I will NOT miss:

• Breastfeeding (yeah, OK? That’s just me)
• Not being able to go to sleep when I am tired because the baby is awake!
• Being scared of dropping her in the tub
• Newborn crying jags, when they are just “working out their nervous system” or something, and howl for no reason you can stop
• Carrying a baby carrier everywhere
• Being covered in spit-up
• Poopy diapers
• Scrubbing really, really messy highchairs
• Seventeen loads of laundry per week
• Buying $50 worth of super cute baby clothes and then forgetting to put the baby in them until she is too big!
• Getting my hair pulled all the time by grabby little baby fists
• Other parents asking “How much does your baby weigh?” and saying things like “My, she sure is a chubby baby!” or “Wow, she sure is long and skinny, what a stringbean!” It makes me want to say “Yeah, she’s still ten thousand times more beautiful than you, so there!”

I will miss having a little baby, now that Catalina is pretty much one. But I look forward to the girls getting older, and learning even more about their personalities, having real conversations with them, doing more cool stuff and travelling with them, watching how beautiful they look as they get older, seeing what they love to do and what they don’t.

All that stuff to look forward to!

Summed Up Life

Here are a few things that are going on with me and mine:

• My parents just moved to New Brunswick
• My sister Caitlin and brother-in-law Trevor just moved to New Brunswick
• I miss them all very much
• My friends are all showing the love, though, and stepping in to hang out with us instead!
• My sister Elisa is still living in Lacombe. I am doing a contemporary duet with her next year, and it’s going to rule, thanks to Sufjan Stevens
• I also hope to hang out with her from time to time, but she has to be booked years in advance
• Work is getting busier, ramping up for the school year and the return of the students
• I like my jobs and I work with good people
• Steve heard some stressful news at work, lay-off wise, but it seems like he’ll be OK for the time being
• I have to trust God, NOT money
• Someday I just might make lots of money! But knowing God, I will end up having to give most of it away. That’s OK, because I tend to trust money, not God, and I’m sure He doesn’t appreciate that.
• I am going to apply to the U of M Law School on Friday because I don’t need a statement of intent, even, just grades and LSAT score
• Applying to law schools is going to be expensive . . . why didn’t I save up money for that in particular? Lame saving skills, as per usual
• Catalina has 3 teeth now
• Gabrielle is obsessed with her new Dora the Explorer backpack. She says “Hey, Mom, look at my cool backpack!” whenever she wears it
• I love the Olympics and am happy that we are winning some medals at last, and sad that the Olympics are only every two years, even though that’s what makes them so special
• I am going to go write a blog post for work now!

Friday Love List – 15 minutes before midnight!

I’m still awake 15 minutes before midnight (which is a strange occurrence for me, lamely enough) because Steve is on a BOOZE CRUISE right now.

That’s right. He is on a boat somewhere on Sylvan Lake with his coworkers and . . . booze, I guess. Classy.

I dont’ need to stay awake for him. It’s just that I have never been able to sleep until everybody is home, even as a kid. It’s actually highly annoying.

But anyway! Here is my love list, thanks again for the idea, Meg!

FRIDAY LOVE LIST

Getting excited about the future
Two weeks off from work, starting NOW!
Cold water from the Brita jug
Steam-cleaned carpets that look WAY better than they used to!
Good people who want to do the right thing and try to do the right thing
My brother, Will, in Ottawa, who is MSN-ing right now because he IS a night owl – yay, company!
Leaving telephone messages for people
The Cleaner – for some reason, I tend to always love random new shows like that
Chilly morning-scent, even though it means fall is coming
When little kids wear too-small pyjamas and their tummies stick out under the pyjama top and over the pyjama bottoms
Pillows, blankets, beds
The outline of pine trees against stars
The sound of waves (this is getting a little too much like a Nature Harmony Sounds CD!)
The sound of ROCK n” ROLL
The William and Mary Law School (what a great name! I wish I could afford the tuition there!)
My two skinny sisters – a little love, a little jealousy, actually
My two chubby little girls – baby fat!
So You Think You Can Dance, of course.

Well, it’s past midnight so I guess officially this remains a Saturday Love List. Typical.

I’ll get it next time!

Now You Can Make A Good Hot Drink, Too!

Too cheap to hit up Starbucks every morning?

I hear you. I am too. Luckily, I have found the perfect solution. Cafe et lait.  Here is how I found it and what it is.

I just read a FANTASTIC book. It’s called Look For Me by Edeet Ravel. And it is good. Sometimes I don’t want to read books that relate to things like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the Middle East even if they are very well-written (aaahh, like The Kite Runner!) because they are so upsetting. (I know. I can’t even read about it. Imagine the people living in it . . . ) But I’m SO GLAD I read this book. It just . . . made me wish I was Edeet Ravel so I could write like that!

Get your hands on a copy and read it. I will also be getting my hands on copies of Ten Thousand Lovers and A Wall of Light and reading them, asap. Together, the three books make up a trilogy.

While reading through the book, I found a random gem of a recipe for a hot drink that sounded really good. The main character, Dana, and her husband Daniel used to drink something called cafe et lait before Daniel disappeared. Dana still loyally drinks it while he’s gone. It’s perfect for somebody who likes a fancy Starbucks drink better than plain coffee, but just can’t afford one every day. And doesn’t have a latte frother at home, either.

Cafe et Lait
- Cheap instant coffee
- Cocoa powder
- Hot milk
- Cinnamon
- Honey

See how easy? You put it all together in a big mug, mix it up, and it tastes fantastic. It took me a few tries to get the proportions just right, but once I did . . . mmmm . . .

Good book, good drink. What more could a person want?

Saturday Love List

I just love Meg Fowler’s idea of a Friday love list, but on Fridays, I seem to be too busy feeling like I’ve just been run over by a truck to put one together. I have a feeling that a Friday love list for me might look like this: “Still alive! Made it to Friday! Still alive! Made it to Friday!”

Here are some things I love:

Early morning summer smell (you have to be outside before about 7.30 a.m. to get the true, cucumber-crisp freshness, before it turns into a warm, wilty smell)

Swimming in a lake

This blog. I hope she publishes a book soon!

Chicken fingers, plum sauce.

Two more days, it’ll all be over! (And I’ll tell you what I’m talking about when it’s all over! Because it’s too scary to say out loud!)

My sister and brother-in-law are moving to my town soon! Although it’s a temporary situation, before they move ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTRY!!

My new Dove “Go Fresh” soap. It makes the whole house smell good when you use it, no joke!

President’s Choice/No Name Green Apple Dishsoap - this is another soap that smells RIDICULOUSLY good. And costs RIDICULOUSLY little!

Forgiveness (I needed it this week).

Rereading library books I used to love as a kid. Especially Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain.

Shortening words into one syllable. “Hey, sib. Want to watch a moov?”

People who don’t indulge my self-pitying. Like Steve!

Running on the treadmill at the gym at work.

Babies at weddings, all dressed up (although babies tend to start screaming during the most important parts of the vows, etc. And I could see mine maybe screaming when the minister asks if anyone has a reason why the two should not be married, and creating a bit of a tricky legal situation: “Does the baby wish to speak? Is she trying to communicate something? Do we have to take this seriously?”) Which baby in the picture is mine, you ask? Why, the cutest one, of course.

Where Does Fear Come From?

Why does 2-year old Gabrielle refuse to walk up the stairs without someone behind her? She’s afraid she’s being followed by monsters. Where did she get that idea?

Why does my arm hair stand on end when I look into a mirror in an empty room?

Why do I continue having panic attacks on planes when I am told over and over flying is safer than driving, but use my lead foot with abandon on the highway without so much as a shiver?

Why do you scream when you are startled, even when your brain knows a split-second before you scream that whatever startled you is harmless? (I actually know the answer to that, thanks to a pscyhology class I’ve taken! The physiological reaction to something is just that much faster than the mental analysis of a fear-inducing situation).

Why is deep water such a freaky concept? Is it fear of the unknown? Would it be better if it was clear and you could see ALL THE WAY DOWN? (Eek! No!)

Why am I always worried about how other people feel, to the extent of making my own self look or feel bad in order to spare others?

Why am I afraid to disagree with people or why do I find it so hard to stick up for what I honestly believe a lot of the time?

Why do elephants fear mice? Because they do – Mythbusters proved it! 

 Why do I avoid going out in thunderstorms because of the lightning but don’t avoid going out on sunny days without sunscreen, when my risk for getting skin cancer is WAY higher than my risk for being hit by lightning?

Why am I still afraid of admitting a mistake I’ve made when I’ve made so many mistakes that dealing with them should be second nature by now?

Nightmare Gym Class Flashback

Today I did something called “Circuit Training” in the gym on my lunch hour. It actually turned out to be more of a “Circus Training” experience, I’m not going to lie.

What it made me realize (besides the fact that I’m really, really, really out of shape) is that I’m never going to be one of those people at the gym who looks cool. See, all around me were people looking cool. I don’t just mean wearing lululemon workout clothes, New Balance sneakers, and ipods.

I mean people who were lifting weights of such magnitude that they required a spotter. Or people doing push-ups off an exercise ball with clean, controlled precision. Or running on a treadmill with a brisk, confident stride.

I even saw some people there in groups, “encouraging” each other. It was funny, because I saw two guys, and then a few minutes later two women. Here’s how that looked:

Encourager Guy, yelling at buddy lifting weights: “Come on! You’ve got more to do! Don’t slow down! What are you doing? You’ve got way more to do, man!”

Encourager Girl, yelling at friend doing pushups on an exercise ball: “Way to go, Amy! You can do it! You’ve got two more! You’re doing so great! Way to go!”

Gender differences at the gym.

Then, there was me. I don’t even know if you can assign a gender role to me at the gym. Probably the closest you can come is to say ”Looks like a slightly rotten tomato.” You know – red, damp, mushy, wilting.

The best part was the flashback to gym class back in the day. The lady leading the circuit training had the same haircut and glasses as my gym teacher did in Grade 10. And the same voice. Here is what she said to me on several different occasions:

(Alison on the rowing machine):
Gym Lady: “Alison, you’ve got to go faster than that! Come on!”
Alison: “I had a feeling I should be going faster.” Speeding up.
Gym Lady: “You call that faster?”

(Alison on the treadmill)
Gym Lady: Walks up, pushes “speed” button one million times, grins evilly, walks away.

(Alison doing the “Dead Bug” move with a yoga ball):
Gym Lady:”OK, one arm goes back and one leg down almost to the floor. Opposite arms and legs.”
Alison: “OK, like this.”
Gym Lady: “I said OPPOSITE arms and legs!”

(Alison doing Tricep Dips):
Gym Lady: “Here’s what you’re going to do.”
Alison: watching intently, “Oh, OK”
Gym Lady: “Hey! You can do it WHILE I TALK!”

(Alison on the recumbent bike)
Gym Lady: “What’s the resistance set at?”
Alison: breathless shrug
Gym Lady: “Oooh, good. I like to see it up that high.”
Alison: turns down resistance when gym lady walks away.

(Alison doing bicep curls)
Gym Lady: “Perfect.”
Alison: “Whaaa?”

The best part was, I had to meet a stately English professor in the library as soon as I finished the class. I’m pretty sure my hair was still sweaty and my skin was still flushed to a Christmas-y red.

Alison: “Excuse my appearance. I was at the gym.”
Stately English Professor: (Sounding slightly horrified): “Oh, my!”
Alison: “Yeah.”