The parents arrive in town today (put that in on purpose!). I’m looking forward to showing them my life and my world here. I think it’ll be nice for them to see things at the Lake that I talk about. I’m looking forward to doing a few touristy things with them and I can’t wait for them to meet the people who have been more than kind to me ever since I arrived.
But let’s not forget, while they are under my roof, they’ll abide by my rules.
[Actually I should be fair here, my parents never once said that to us growing up…we just knew to abide by their rules. Ok, so it was more rip the piss out of them til they changed them. Like the time my dad decided he didn’t like the word ‘fart’ and told us we couldn’t use it. David had the genius idea of saying ‘art’ instead. Yeah, that ‘rule’ didn’t even last a teatime.]
Friday, March 31, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Catching up
I feel like I haven’t written on here in ages about the day to day mundane life stuff. This week there hasn’t been much news on here, last week was all about Korea, the week before was Korea etc etc. So here’s an update:
- St. Patrick’s weekend was good craic. Nice to celebrate it sans politics, but like home, very much avec alcohol. I also enjoyed knowing that I was pretty much the only true Irish person around all the impostors.
- Worked on Saturday just passed, yet I still feel like I’m not getting done what needs to be done.
- Had snow at the weekend. Yet last weekend I was wearing my flip flops and sunglasses. What’s the deal?! Yesterday it was gorgeous here, 19 degrees!
- Went to Waffle House for lunch on Saturday. Imagine a small Southern greasy spoon diner and you’re there. Yet actually very nice and very cheap. Also some of the finest mullets I have ever seen on women. Seriously, Wal Mart had nothing on these.
- Finally made it for an early walk around the lake on Sunday. Not because I made it out of my bed, more because I didn’t make it to bed in the first place. Don’t think I’ve pulled an all nighter since the legendary Park sleepovers circa 1994. Good Christian girl I am, I still went to church, and not St. Nighty Night’s Church of Bed either, proper church.
- Still scared of the ducks round the lake. Now it’s filling up again and they are back to being on the paths. On Sunday I didn’t see two on a wall beside me. They saw me however and swooped right across my path. I screamed. I was lucky I wasn't served with an ASBO. Bally ducks. (Used this in tribute to Jools’ ‘bally dogs’).
- Went to Greenville on Tuesday night for Engage, a young adults’ thing Jose et al go to. Very good, very funny speaker.
- Discovered that Britney, my 17 year old ear piercer was right. You do need to clean your ears. Left ear oozing pus. Nice.
- Realised I am slipping in little Americans here and there. Most worrying of these is my use of ‘y’all’. Oh dear. But at the same time I like it. I never say ‘yous’ (or try not to – awful grammar). Saying ‘you all’ seems like better grammar and yet also conveys the message than I’m saying ‘you plural’. I did also catch myself on to saying ‘Monday through Friday’ and ‘in town this weekend’. The small glimmer of hope I’m clinging to is that I have yet to drop the –ly on things being really good.
- Been really enjoying listening to Christopher Moyles this week. Very funny.
- Downloaded the new Embrace and The Kooks song. Love them. But still at the top of my play count on iTunes is a country song (Trisha Yearwood – She’s in Love With the Boy). Tina-Sue is still here!
Call off the search
I just came into the office to update my virus protection stuff on my computer and get the free music downloads of iTunes (a personal highlight of Tuesday is when the new songs are released!) and get a few new podcasts and so I thought I would take this opportunity to say it's ok, I am alive and well. Thank you for your concern. I didn't blog for one day, you don't do badly out of me so get over it!
Oh, you are already?! Ok then.
There was no funny or interesting reason for the lack of blog yesterday, I was not in a grump (my previous other reason for a lack of a blog) or away somewhere exciting (Michigan, Seoul, NI). Sad as it is, I was working. The day escaped me and then I had to leave so there was no blog.
Tonight I have taken more work home with me to try and clear the backlog and so if I get the chance I'll maybe fill you in on what I've been up to the last few days.
PS Pam and Nicky are great, they sent me post which I got when I came back from Korea but failed to sing their praises publicly. Thanks girls!
Oh, you are already?! Ok then.
There was no funny or interesting reason for the lack of blog yesterday, I was not in a grump (my previous other reason for a lack of a blog) or away somewhere exciting (Michigan, Seoul, NI). Sad as it is, I was working. The day escaped me and then I had to leave so there was no blog.
Tonight I have taken more work home with me to try and clear the backlog and so if I get the chance I'll maybe fill you in on what I've been up to the last few days.
PS Pam and Nicky are great, they sent me post which I got when I came back from Korea but failed to sing their praises publicly. Thanks girls!
Monday, March 27, 2006
Further away than ever!
Your clocks went forward at the weekend and ours didn't! Sad as I am, I always wondered if they happened at the same time. Now I know.
Today has been hijacked by pointless emails and stupid phonecalls. I got none of the stuff I had planned to do done, or even close to getting done. They didn't actually appear on the radar of getting done. I am ever hopeful that tomorrow will be better. Shame my office looks like an explosion in a paper factory, I'll have to tidy that first. Arse!
Today has been hijacked by pointless emails and stupid phonecalls. I got none of the stuff I had planned to do done, or even close to getting done. They didn't actually appear on the radar of getting done. I am ever hopeful that tomorrow will be better. Shame my office looks like an explosion in a paper factory, I'll have to tidy that first. Arse!
Friday, March 24, 2006
Korea photos (actually)
Perhaps the strangest collection of photos ever compiled:
I had my very first taste of room service. They only brought me chop sticks to eat it with. But I was so hungry I didn’t want to waste time by asking for a knife and fork to be sent up, so I perservered. Why using two sticks to eat your food ever seemed like a good idea is beyond me. Some thing to cut meat with and something to spear it with is so much more sensible.
There was so strike on outside one of the hotels we’re using in July. I really wish I could have understood what was going on, they seemed a bit militant. Lots of clenched fists in the air. And it was arctic so sitting on the ground was a brave move, they’d have to be keen.
Are you kidding me?! There’s not a 7 Eleven in North Carolina but there’s tons in Seoul! No Slurpee machine though, that really would have got me mad!
I’m not entirely sure what a Chan Ba is but I know I don’t want to drink its wee.
Didn’t I break your heart? Seriously, everytime I passed one of these shops I would sing that line. [As Chris Moyles would say ‘target’!]
I was fairly brave when it came to new taste experiences. This is some kind of omelette thing with fried rice, shrimp and various indeterminable foods inside. You can also see a bowl of soup and kimchi, a Korean version of Sauerkraut only hotter and much more gross. Seriously vile stuff but served everywhere to the delight of Koreans and the abject horror of westerners.
They’re greeeeaaaaattt around the the world!
I went to the market one day. Never in my life have I seen so much sellotape. Not even in Wal-Mart.
Yummy!
I always wanted to know where ice dancers got their costumes from.
We went to a traditional Korean meal and dance night thing. These were some of the dancers. Dinner was quite good, once you picked your way through all the octopus and kimchi. The music and dancing is best summed up by Virginia’s comment during one of the pieces ‘it’s amazing what constitutes as music around the world’. No, really, it is.
Ah but sure you love them!
I had my very first taste of room service. They only brought me chop sticks to eat it with. But I was so hungry I didn’t want to waste time by asking for a knife and fork to be sent up, so I perservered. Why using two sticks to eat your food ever seemed like a good idea is beyond me. Some thing to cut meat with and something to spear it with is so much more sensible.
There was so strike on outside one of the hotels we’re using in July. I really wish I could have understood what was going on, they seemed a bit militant. Lots of clenched fists in the air. And it was arctic so sitting on the ground was a brave move, they’d have to be keen.
Are you kidding me?! There’s not a 7 Eleven in North Carolina but there’s tons in Seoul! No Slurpee machine though, that really would have got me mad!
I’m not entirely sure what a Chan Ba is but I know I don’t want to drink its wee.
Didn’t I break your heart? Seriously, everytime I passed one of these shops I would sing that line. [As Chris Moyles would say ‘target’!]
I was fairly brave when it came to new taste experiences. This is some kind of omelette thing with fried rice, shrimp and various indeterminable foods inside. You can also see a bowl of soup and kimchi, a Korean version of Sauerkraut only hotter and much more gross. Seriously vile stuff but served everywhere to the delight of Koreans and the abject horror of westerners.
They’re greeeeaaaaattt around the the world!
I went to the market one day. Never in my life have I seen so much sellotape. Not even in Wal-Mart.
Yummy!
I always wanted to know where ice dancers got their costumes from.
We went to a traditional Korean meal and dance night thing. These were some of the dancers. Dinner was quite good, once you picked your way through all the octopus and kimchi. The music and dancing is best summed up by Virginia’s comment during one of the pieces ‘it’s amazing what constitutes as music around the world’. No, really, it is.
Ah but sure you love them!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Korea stories (well not really)
Upon reflection I can’t write some of the funniest stories from Seoul here. Not because it is all top secret or anything, but because I don’t think a publicly available website is the place for it. I will happily tell you some of the stories when I next see you. Things you might want to get me talking about are:
- Dodgy dealings
- The trip to a restaurant
- Somebody getting the sack
- Rev. Sleaze and Rev. Rude
- The camera crew
I’m sure that makes it sounds a bit more mysterious and intriguing than it actually was, and when you hear the stories you’ll probably be disappointed so sorry in advance.
So things I can tell you about here? Hmm. Isn’t funny how when put in a them and us kind of situation, the ‘us’ you are part of always draws closer to each other. That was probably the best bit of the trip. Even though I was the youngest on the trip by probably a good twenty years there were loads of laughs when we there. In fairness, most of them were mocking me, but that’s the type of banter I’m used to (I think it's a NI thing).
Some of the things that we laughed about, and are still laughing about now won’t be that funny to you. One of those things you needed to be there for. For example Koreans add the ‘e’ sound to George’s name and call him ‘Georgie’. Yeah, see what I mean?
So the best thing to do in light of stories I can't tell you on here and stories aren't funny on here is to show photos. These will get you started.
This is the church where the conference is being held. Apparently this is the biggest Methodist Church in the world. I’m not in a position to argue, it was HEWGE.
The ground floor seats 5000 people, and the balconies (plural) seat another 5000. There are 100,000 members of the church and we were told some people travel 100 miles to go here. Which brought about the response from Gillian K ‘how many struggling, Methodist or otherwise, churches do they pass on their way?’ Fair point.
The pulpit raises up and automatically rotates during the sermon. Georgie says you don’t even feel it moving, he only noticed when he went to look for Virginia and she wasn’t where he thought she was sitting.
More photies tomorrow.
- Dodgy dealings
- The trip to a restaurant
- Somebody getting the sack
- Rev. Sleaze and Rev. Rude
- The camera crew
I’m sure that makes it sounds a bit more mysterious and intriguing than it actually was, and when you hear the stories you’ll probably be disappointed so sorry in advance.
So things I can tell you about here? Hmm. Isn’t funny how when put in a them and us kind of situation, the ‘us’ you are part of always draws closer to each other. That was probably the best bit of the trip. Even though I was the youngest on the trip by probably a good twenty years there were loads of laughs when we there. In fairness, most of them were mocking me, but that’s the type of banter I’m used to (I think it's a NI thing).
Some of the things that we laughed about, and are still laughing about now won’t be that funny to you. One of those things you needed to be there for. For example Koreans add the ‘e’ sound to George’s name and call him ‘Georgie’. Yeah, see what I mean?
So the best thing to do in light of stories I can't tell you on here and stories aren't funny on here is to show photos. These will get you started.
This is the church where the conference is being held. Apparently this is the biggest Methodist Church in the world. I’m not in a position to argue, it was HEWGE.
The ground floor seats 5000 people, and the balconies (plural) seat another 5000. There are 100,000 members of the church and we were told some people travel 100 miles to go here. Which brought about the response from Gillian K ‘how many struggling, Methodist or otherwise, churches do they pass on their way?’ Fair point.
The pulpit raises up and automatically rotates during the sermon. Georgie says you don’t even feel it moving, he only noticed when he went to look for Virginia and she wasn’t where he thought she was sitting.
More photies tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Travelling to Seoul
Hurray, blogspot has sorted out its issues from yesterday! I'm sure you are all delighted!
So starting at the beginning...I left work at about 4.30pm on Thursday thinking I had loads of time to get packed and all that. But somehow the time disappeared from me (mostly through a lake walk, talking to the parents,a last minute dinner with Maggie, a trip to the Mart of Wal and talking to Megann). At 10.00pm I started my packing. Nothing like the last minute eh?
Roma and Wayne picked me up at 7.00am. It's a time I don’t see too often but thankfully I got up ok. I did have a last minute run to the office to print off my ticket again, it mysteriously disappeared the first time. The lake is quite pretty at that time in the morning and it inspired me to try to see that again some morning. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm ever hopeful I might, at an undisclosed date in the future, struggle out of bed to see it.
It’s about 3 hours to Atlanta (in the South you drop all Ts and pronounce it 'Alana') and I did quite well staying awake for it, well alright, for nearly all of it.
We had rented a SUV. I had two cup holders to myself. That's my sort of car.
The flight to Korea was 15 hours which is a long time to be sitting on a plane seat. Thankfully when I asked for an aisle seat she put me at one with a seat free beside me. But two seats for 15 hours is still a long time. Thankfully myPod made the journey much more tolerable.
Apparently the only thing they ask you in the interview to work as an air stewardess on Korean Air is can you fit in the uniforms. Seriously, they were tiny. I'm not sure this photo shows of the tininess. Not just in height, but their waists were like Dolly Parton's. I mean, I was probably bigger than that when I was colouring in Korean flags.
I bet those scarf things get a bit annoying.
‘Excuse me, my personal TV is broken.’
I liked Korean Air, really I did. But they weren’t into food giving too much. We got on at lunchtime on Friday and we got lunch then. It was a whole nine hours before there was so much as a sniff of more food. We also got sandwiches wrapped in cling film which made them look like someone’s mum had packed too many and they were sharing them out.
Finally we landed and once we got through customs and all that, look what there was!
I’m putting together a fine portfolio of airport fountains. This one had a wall of water falling, one might call it a waterfall. Granted it looks like I took a picture of a wall, but there was water, promise.
More Seoul stories tomorrow I shouldn't wonder. Unless of course blogspot gets all narky again.
So starting at the beginning...I left work at about 4.30pm on Thursday thinking I had loads of time to get packed and all that. But somehow the time disappeared from me (mostly through a lake walk, talking to the parents,a last minute dinner with Maggie, a trip to the Mart of Wal and talking to Megann). At 10.00pm I started my packing. Nothing like the last minute eh?
Roma and Wayne picked me up at 7.00am. It's a time I don’t see too often but thankfully I got up ok. I did have a last minute run to the office to print off my ticket again, it mysteriously disappeared the first time. The lake is quite pretty at that time in the morning and it inspired me to try to see that again some morning. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm ever hopeful I might, at an undisclosed date in the future, struggle out of bed to see it.
It’s about 3 hours to Atlanta (in the South you drop all Ts and pronounce it 'Alana') and I did quite well staying awake for it, well alright, for nearly all of it.
We had rented a SUV. I had two cup holders to myself. That's my sort of car.
The flight to Korea was 15 hours which is a long time to be sitting on a plane seat. Thankfully when I asked for an aisle seat she put me at one with a seat free beside me. But two seats for 15 hours is still a long time. Thankfully myPod made the journey much more tolerable.
Apparently the only thing they ask you in the interview to work as an air stewardess on Korean Air is can you fit in the uniforms. Seriously, they were tiny. I'm not sure this photo shows of the tininess. Not just in height, but their waists were like Dolly Parton's. I mean, I was probably bigger than that when I was colouring in Korean flags.
I bet those scarf things get a bit annoying.
‘Excuse me, my personal TV is broken.’
I liked Korean Air, really I did. But they weren’t into food giving too much. We got on at lunchtime on Friday and we got lunch then. It was a whole nine hours before there was so much as a sniff of more food. We also got sandwiches wrapped in cling film which made them look like someone’s mum had packed too many and they were sharing them out.
Finally we landed and once we got through customs and all that, look what there was!
I’m putting together a fine portfolio of airport fountains. This one had a wall of water falling, one might call it a waterfall. Granted it looks like I took a picture of a wall, but there was water, promise.
More Seoul stories tomorrow I shouldn't wonder. Unless of course blogspot gets all narky again.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Agh!
Blogspot is being highly irritating at the minute and won't let upload photos, so you'll just have to wait til tomorrow when I have more patience, time and energy to hear about Seoul. Actually the first part is just about travelling to Seoul. I make everything an event to talk about on here, don't I?!
Monday, March 20, 2006
Home again home again
Well I'm back! Did you miss me?! I have loads to tell you from last week but I haven't had time to write about it yet, so until such times as the piles (NB plural) on my desk disappear, the 40 emails have been answered and the 17 voicemail messages returned you can make do with this. It made my day that little bit brighter so I hope you think it's funny too!
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Seoul baby!
Tonight is my last night in Korea, this time. Bring on July! I think my life is going to get a lot more stressful between now and then, there is awful lot of work to do.
I’m sure it will have escaped none of you that tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. I will have the longest Paddy’s Day ever, 38 hours. Our flight leaves at 10.00am, and gets in at 9.30am. We arrive before we leave, how cool is that?!
I imagine I'll write a full account of our time here next week when I’m home but I saw this and thought it was appropriate for tomorrow.
Well I thought it was funny anyway.
Right must go and pack. I love being away, seeing a new part of the world and all that but it’s always nice to be heading home!
I’m sure it will have escaped none of you that tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. I will have the longest Paddy’s Day ever, 38 hours. Our flight leaves at 10.00am, and gets in at 9.30am. We arrive before we leave, how cool is that?!
I imagine I'll write a full account of our time here next week when I’m home but I saw this and thought it was appropriate for tomorrow.
Well I thought it was funny anyway.
Right must go and pack. I love being away, seeing a new part of the world and all that but it’s always nice to be heading home!
Monday, March 13, 2006
Seoul: Colder than Michigan
Who would have thought it was possible that there is a place that is colder than Michigan but Seoul did it. Apparently it’s unusually cold for this time of year but that isn’t much comfort. It snowed today and temperatures are well below zero. Oh I am such a southern girl now!
Things here are…well…interesting. I’m having a laugh through it all so that’s always a good sign. There are loads of things to talk about, I think I’ll be blogging for the next month on this trip. And happily for you there are plenty of photos to show. I’ll make a start with these.
I can’t actually believe I’m in Seoul. Everytime I remember I smile. One of my associated thoughts I have of the South Korean flag is of P4 and I was in Miss Nixon’s class. It was 1988, the Olympics were in Seoul and we had a whole month of special Olympics activities. One of those activities was colouring in the flag. I cannot believe I am here. Colouring in the flag I never would have guessed that one day I would be here.
I went out for an explore this afternoon. I don’t really know what this building is but thought it looked typically oriental.
As do these men. I don’t know why they are dressed like this, I just passed them on the pedestrian crossing. They look like they’ve escaped from an Olympic Opening Ceremony.
Yup, I've a feeling I’m not in Kansas anymore.
PS The time as I publish this is 21.15 on Monday not whatever it says down below, couldn't be bothered to change it. My brain is having a hard time working what time it is everywhere, especially when I am used to being behind everyone. Nine hours back for Ireland and fourteen hours back for EST. Much too much maths there.
Things here are…well…interesting. I’m having a laugh through it all so that’s always a good sign. There are loads of things to talk about, I think I’ll be blogging for the next month on this trip. And happily for you there are plenty of photos to show. I’ll make a start with these.
I can’t actually believe I’m in Seoul. Everytime I remember I smile. One of my associated thoughts I have of the South Korean flag is of P4 and I was in Miss Nixon’s class. It was 1988, the Olympics were in Seoul and we had a whole month of special Olympics activities. One of those activities was colouring in the flag. I cannot believe I am here. Colouring in the flag I never would have guessed that one day I would be here.
I went out for an explore this afternoon. I don’t really know what this building is but thought it looked typically oriental.
As do these men. I don’t know why they are dressed like this, I just passed them on the pedestrian crossing. They look like they’ve escaped from an Olympic Opening Ceremony.
Yup, I've a feeling I’m not in Kansas anymore.
PS The time as I publish this is 21.15 on Monday not whatever it says down below, couldn't be bothered to change it. My brain is having a hard time working what time it is everywhere, especially when I am used to being behind everyone. Nine hours back for Ireland and fourteen hours back for EST. Much too much maths there.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye (well kind of)
Tomorrow we go to Seoul on a recce for the conference. When I first heard about having to go on this trip I was so excited. George told me when we driving from Atlanta after he picked me up from the airport when I first arrived. But now, the day before the trip, I’m not sure I’m that excited.
Well, I am and I’m not. I’m excited to go to a different country in a continent where I’ve never been before, I’m excited I’ll be the first B. to cross the International Date Line and I’m looking forward to experiencing a totally different culture. In term of work, I’m looking forward to seeing where the conference is going to be and getting answers to all the questions we have. But I am not looking forward to the politics.
If you know anything about Korea, you’ll know there is fair bit of politics (if you don’t, think M*A*S*H*). But that’s not the politics to which I refer.
It’s church politics. Why is it with churches there is always politics? I really don’t think that what Jesus had in mind. Church politics is responsible for turning people off the church and sadly all that entails.
So if you pray, please pray for us. Pray for safety as we travel. Pray that we’ll, well more George, will have the words to say. Pray that we’ll deal with situations knowing God’s heart and looking to execute his will, not ours.
South Korea, being an Asian Tiger (knew that International Economics class would come in handy…some time) it is entirely possible that I blog from there, although I highly doubt it’ll be everyday. But no doubt there will be a fair few stories upon my return. Maybe even a photo or two.
As for your dossing time on tinternet during my absence, might I suggest the BBC website, always good stuff there, especially the Magazine and the Neighbours website. Or you could read old blogs, some of my favourites are here, here, here, here and here.
Well, I am and I’m not. I’m excited to go to a different country in a continent where I’ve never been before, I’m excited I’ll be the first B. to cross the International Date Line and I’m looking forward to experiencing a totally different culture. In term of work, I’m looking forward to seeing where the conference is going to be and getting answers to all the questions we have. But I am not looking forward to the politics.
If you know anything about Korea, you’ll know there is fair bit of politics (if you don’t, think M*A*S*H*). But that’s not the politics to which I refer.
It’s church politics. Why is it with churches there is always politics? I really don’t think that what Jesus had in mind. Church politics is responsible for turning people off the church and sadly all that entails.
So if you pray, please pray for us. Pray for safety as we travel. Pray that we’ll, well more George, will have the words to say. Pray that we’ll deal with situations knowing God’s heart and looking to execute his will, not ours.
South Korea, being an Asian Tiger (knew that International Economics class would come in handy…some time) it is entirely possible that I blog from there, although I highly doubt it’ll be everyday. But no doubt there will be a fair few stories upon my return. Maybe even a photo or two.
As for your dossing time on tinternet during my absence, might I suggest the BBC website, always good stuff there, especially the Magazine and the Neighbours website. Or you could read old blogs, some of my favourites are here, here, here, here and here.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Pre-mouse this was the most exciting thing of last week
Last week when I was coming back from the Michigan I stopped off at the shops by the airport. I discovered just a few weeks ago that there is in fact an Old Navy in the Asheville area, it was new though so they can be forgiven for not letting me know. I imagine the email was on its way when I saw it for myself. (Old Navy is reason enough to abandon your principles and shop on a Sunday. Well that and the fact it’s about 30 miles away and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back any time soon.)
While I was there I also checked out the other shops. I went into a shop called World Market, which upon first entering was like some sort of supersized Earthworks/Au Natural cross breed. But at the back of the shop there was an international foods section including lots of stuff from home.
It looks just like the Spar doesn’t it? Recently I was given some American Cadburys chocolate. Disappointing doesn’t even begin to cover it. The clue was on the back though, it was made by Hersheys. But World Market’s stuff was made in Britain. I checked!
The best news of all was they also had Thai Sweet Chilli sauce.
While I was there I also checked out the other shops. I went into a shop called World Market, which upon first entering was like some sort of supersized Earthworks/Au Natural cross breed. But at the back of the shop there was an international foods section including lots of stuff from home.
It looks just like the Spar doesn’t it? Recently I was given some American Cadburys chocolate. Disappointing doesn’t even begin to cover it. The clue was on the back though, it was made by Hersheys. But World Market’s stuff was made in Britain. I checked!
The best news of all was they also had Thai Sweet Chilli sauce.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Happy New Day
Should auld acquaintance be forgot. Harry was right, ‘what does this song mean? My whole life I don’t know what this song means.’
Today has gone so quickly. And as usual there are million things I didn't get done that I really should have. There are also a million things that I probably shouldn't have done that I did. But tomorrow is a brand new day. There'll be a brand new sunrise and a brand new chance to do things better than yesterday. I like that. Despite all the attention New Year’s gets it really doesn’t have to be the only chance you get to start over.
I don’t know if you make New Year’s resolutions or not. I don’t officially but kind of did when I came back to the Lake. For instance:
-I try to do dishes on a more regular basis, rather than when everything in the kitchen is dirty.
-I try to read my bible everyday. (Although it could just be 'I try to read my bible' at the rate I go at.)
-I dry my toothbrush after I use it. (Oh I sound so odd now – I’m very OCD about toothbrushes in bathrooms. This was not a problem in NI, I had my own sink. But here I have my own bathroom so it needs to be covered, and in the cabinet. But when you put it away wet, it gets all gross. So now I put it away dry. Better without the explanation right?)
-I write notes in church, bible studies and the like. It helps me focus and helps me remember what was said. I might not ever read them again but that option is at least there.
How am I doing? Hmm. Not so good on some, better on some others. For Lent I decided to walk round the lake everyday. This has the benefit of giving me time to think about God stuff too. I have a little playlist just for it (which reminds me, if you are going to sing out loud as you walk, probably best not to do it with people walking behind you. For the entire song. Oh ya ho)
So maybe you decided to give up something for Lent and have already fallen off the wagon, so to speak. Or maybe there’s something that you should have really given up but for some reason you didn’t. You know, like swearing (can’t think who that would apply to!)
But here’s the thing, there’s no reason to wait to change something. You can use all the excuses you want, but really there is no excuse. You just need to change it. Of course me being a Chirstian, I think that doing things in Him are so much easier than doing it in my own strength. I like even more.
The picture illustrates my point perfectly. It was a fake New Year’s we did on 3rd January. Fooled you!
Monday, March 06, 2006
The most eventful thing about my weekend
It was the weekend, I did stuff, blah blah blah. Everything I did has been overshadowed by Saturday night.
I was making dinner (Thai Green Curry – turned out well, thanks for asking) quite late on Saturday night, about 9.00pm. This was mostly to do with getting up later than even I would like to admit on Saturday…afternoon. So cook, cook, cook. I went to get the rice out of the cupboard, and with my back half turned to the rest of the kitchen (but importantly with one half still towards it) out of the corner of my eye I saw a mouse run across the floor. Let me repeat that, a mouse ran across the floor. Ross, I’d like you tell you that I expressed utter joy at seeing one of God’s creatures share my humble abode with me, but there was definitely a swear word. Or two. Well alright, there were a series of them. (Ross and Mother skip to the next paragraph now.) One phrase that repeated itself had ‘hell’ at the end, in the middle a royal title that wasn’t ‘queen’ and I'm sure you know the letter it started with. But again I tell you a mouse ran across the floor so there was good reason for the obscenities.
You see I don’t like mice. Not one bit. I’m not one of those girls that runs a mile when there is a spider or wasp (coughLynseysplutter). But along with birds on the ground, I am scared of mice. This is as direct result of summer camp. The eve of my 21st birthday was spent listening to a mouse running around our cabin. After a few hours of not being able to sleep because of the noise of it scratching and the fear that it would crawl over me, I eventually caught the beast in a box and put it outside. Megann was of no use whatsoever during the night. Oh she woke up alright. But promptly went back to sleep and leave me to deal with the brute on my own. Next morning I went out to get the box and discovered that its tail was stuck under something so hadn’t moved all night. Worse was to come however.
Megann and looked more carefully around our cabin and began to see all the signs of mouse activity. Most of Megann’s t-shits were chewed, food was eaten and there was mouse poo. But again, worse was to come.
I checked my clothes which were in my case under my bed. I discovered that the mouse from the night before was, in fact, Mummy Mouse. To my absolute horror, inside the case were three little baby mice. I don’t know a lot about mice but these looked fairly new born. They were all pink and, well, foetus like. Megann and I told ourselves as we threw them into the woods they’d survive and that Mummy Mouse would find them. You see, I’m all for nature and what not, but so long as it stays where it belongs. Outside.
I’m fairly adept at keeping an eye out for mice now. Any little speck of dirt I inspect closely (but not too closely) to see if it’s mouse poo. I have never found any evidence of mice in my house until Saturday night when, sadly, there was irrefutable evidence.
So I stood frozen to the ground with the rice in my hand. I looked to see where the mouse had run to. Turns out there’s a hole underneath the cabinet. This is being sealed imminently. But not wanting to ruin a good Thai Green Curry, I kept on cooking, telling myself that the mouse would probably not come out if I made enough noise. I couldn’t settle however so straight after dinner I ran out to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart being Wal-Mart, it presented me with a choice of mouse traps but there were only a few minutes until it closed. So in the situation of having to make a fast choice I chose a variety pack for an all round offensive strike. It had two traditional mouse traps, or ‘snap traps’, four glue traps (which are what they sound like, a layer of glue which the mouse sticks to) and a bait box with bait. When I got it home, the bait box scared me a little. I didn’t want to have to open it to find a mouse inside, so I went with the other six traps, and following the instructions for best placement I really did feel better. I would go to bed and hopefully on Sunday morning I’d come down and see the being dead in one or tother of the traps.
In my list of scenerios however, I did not consider the possibility that the traps would have worked by 12.30am Sunday morning. From the front door you can see through the kitchen. I know now that from there you can also see a mouse stuck in a glue trap trying to break free. More swear words ensued. Minutes passed and I don’t think I moved an inch. What really scared me was that the mouse had moved itself and the trap about a foot from where I had left the trap. I didn’t want it to get out of the glue, but neither did I know how to stop it.
I got my phone and started to scroll down through the names. ‘Who could I call at 12.30am who’d answer and also would be able to tell me what to do? George and Virginia? No too late. Jose? No, in Europe. Maggie? No she’s out and will never hear her phone. Megann! I’ll call Megann!’ No answer. ‘Dammit she’s asleep! (Later she, rightly, pointed out the unusefulness of calling her given her help in my last mouse emergency, or lack thereof) ‘Roma and Wayne? Definitely too late.’ I got to the end of the list and there was only one option left, Will, one of Jose’s friends. I ummed and ahhed a bit over whether I could call essentially a friend of a friend about a mouse trying to get out of a glue trap in the middle of the night. But staring down the barrel of a mouse as it were, I knew I had to.
The conversation went something like this.
Will: Hello (sounding a bit confused, no doubt about the lateness and randomness of the call)
Tina: Hiya Will (too flustered to even tell him who it was)
Will: Hey Tina (my accent is that obvious then) Whatcha up to?
Tina: Sorry for calling so late, are you still up? You’re obviouly still up. Anyway the thing is I have a mouse emergency (talking way too fast for a southerner this late at night)
Will: You have a what?
Tina: A MOUSE EMERGENCY! (actually thinking ‘dammit boy understand me!’)
Will: Well where is it?
Tina: It’s in a glue trap and it’s trying to get out. Will it get out?
Will: I don’t think so.
Tina: WILL! Don’t tell you don’t think so, tell me you know so!
Will: laughter
Tina: Don’t laugh!!
Will: more laughter
When Will stopped laughing he suggested to me that I should try and kill it with a heavy book or shoe or something. I said I didn’t think I could do that. I mean it wasn’t like the thing was half dead. It was still very much alive, and I could see it. So then he said that I should try to get it outside using a dustpan. Great plan and it worked well, but it was made so much harder when you’re holding a phone. I carefully pushed the trap onto the dustpan with an ice scrapper thing so as not to get my hand too close lest it should bite. I didn’t think to orientate it so that it wasn’t looking directly at me as I carried it outside.
Tina: It’s looking at me!
Will: It’s looking at you?! Well you're an awful lot bigger than it! (clearly wanting to say ‘oh dear goodness, just get on with it woman’)
So job done and the mouse safely outside, I apolgised again, thanked him and hung up. But still I could not rest. I thought it still might unstick itself. Then a stroke of genius hit me. Put a glue trap on top of it. Ha ha! The beast’ll never get out from that.
But just to make sure I stood on it.
Mice don’t suvive that you know. But I checked every time I walked past the front door.
The mouse was clearly bricking it. Much like I was (although not actually you understand).
That’ll be the butt of a former mouse.
So just incase there was any doubt, I am so my mother. Except of course for the swearing.
I was making dinner (Thai Green Curry – turned out well, thanks for asking) quite late on Saturday night, about 9.00pm. This was mostly to do with getting up later than even I would like to admit on Saturday…afternoon. So cook, cook, cook. I went to get the rice out of the cupboard, and with my back half turned to the rest of the kitchen (but importantly with one half still towards it) out of the corner of my eye I saw a mouse run across the floor. Let me repeat that, a mouse ran across the floor. Ross, I’d like you tell you that I expressed utter joy at seeing one of God’s creatures share my humble abode with me, but there was definitely a swear word. Or two. Well alright, there were a series of them. (Ross and Mother skip to the next paragraph now.) One phrase that repeated itself had ‘hell’ at the end, in the middle a royal title that wasn’t ‘queen’ and I'm sure you know the letter it started with. But again I tell you a mouse ran across the floor so there was good reason for the obscenities.
You see I don’t like mice. Not one bit. I’m not one of those girls that runs a mile when there is a spider or wasp (coughLynseysplutter). But along with birds on the ground, I am scared of mice. This is as direct result of summer camp. The eve of my 21st birthday was spent listening to a mouse running around our cabin. After a few hours of not being able to sleep because of the noise of it scratching and the fear that it would crawl over me, I eventually caught the beast in a box and put it outside. Megann was of no use whatsoever during the night. Oh she woke up alright. But promptly went back to sleep and leave me to deal with the brute on my own. Next morning I went out to get the box and discovered that its tail was stuck under something so hadn’t moved all night. Worse was to come however.
Megann and looked more carefully around our cabin and began to see all the signs of mouse activity. Most of Megann’s t-shits were chewed, food was eaten and there was mouse poo. But again, worse was to come.
I checked my clothes which were in my case under my bed. I discovered that the mouse from the night before was, in fact, Mummy Mouse. To my absolute horror, inside the case were three little baby mice. I don’t know a lot about mice but these looked fairly new born. They were all pink and, well, foetus like. Megann and I told ourselves as we threw them into the woods they’d survive and that Mummy Mouse would find them. You see, I’m all for nature and what not, but so long as it stays where it belongs. Outside.
I’m fairly adept at keeping an eye out for mice now. Any little speck of dirt I inspect closely (but not too closely) to see if it’s mouse poo. I have never found any evidence of mice in my house until Saturday night when, sadly, there was irrefutable evidence.
So I stood frozen to the ground with the rice in my hand. I looked to see where the mouse had run to. Turns out there’s a hole underneath the cabinet. This is being sealed imminently. But not wanting to ruin a good Thai Green Curry, I kept on cooking, telling myself that the mouse would probably not come out if I made enough noise. I couldn’t settle however so straight after dinner I ran out to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart being Wal-Mart, it presented me with a choice of mouse traps but there were only a few minutes until it closed. So in the situation of having to make a fast choice I chose a variety pack for an all round offensive strike. It had two traditional mouse traps, or ‘snap traps’, four glue traps (which are what they sound like, a layer of glue which the mouse sticks to) and a bait box with bait. When I got it home, the bait box scared me a little. I didn’t want to have to open it to find a mouse inside, so I went with the other six traps, and following the instructions for best placement I really did feel better. I would go to bed and hopefully on Sunday morning I’d come down and see the being dead in one or tother of the traps.
In my list of scenerios however, I did not consider the possibility that the traps would have worked by 12.30am Sunday morning. From the front door you can see through the kitchen. I know now that from there you can also see a mouse stuck in a glue trap trying to break free. More swear words ensued. Minutes passed and I don’t think I moved an inch. What really scared me was that the mouse had moved itself and the trap about a foot from where I had left the trap. I didn’t want it to get out of the glue, but neither did I know how to stop it.
I got my phone and started to scroll down through the names. ‘Who could I call at 12.30am who’d answer and also would be able to tell me what to do? George and Virginia? No too late. Jose? No, in Europe. Maggie? No she’s out and will never hear her phone. Megann! I’ll call Megann!’ No answer. ‘Dammit she’s asleep! (Later she, rightly, pointed out the unusefulness of calling her given her help in my last mouse emergency, or lack thereof) ‘Roma and Wayne? Definitely too late.’ I got to the end of the list and there was only one option left, Will, one of Jose’s friends. I ummed and ahhed a bit over whether I could call essentially a friend of a friend about a mouse trying to get out of a glue trap in the middle of the night. But staring down the barrel of a mouse as it were, I knew I had to.
The conversation went something like this.
Will: Hello (sounding a bit confused, no doubt about the lateness and randomness of the call)
Tina: Hiya Will (too flustered to even tell him who it was)
Will: Hey Tina (my accent is that obvious then) Whatcha up to?
Tina: Sorry for calling so late, are you still up? You’re obviouly still up. Anyway the thing is I have a mouse emergency (talking way too fast for a southerner this late at night)
Will: You have a what?
Tina: A MOUSE EMERGENCY! (actually thinking ‘dammit boy understand me!’)
Will: Well where is it?
Tina: It’s in a glue trap and it’s trying to get out. Will it get out?
Will: I don’t think so.
Tina: WILL! Don’t tell you don’t think so, tell me you know so!
Will: laughter
Tina: Don’t laugh!!
Will: more laughter
When Will stopped laughing he suggested to me that I should try and kill it with a heavy book or shoe or something. I said I didn’t think I could do that. I mean it wasn’t like the thing was half dead. It was still very much alive, and I could see it. So then he said that I should try to get it outside using a dustpan. Great plan and it worked well, but it was made so much harder when you’re holding a phone. I carefully pushed the trap onto the dustpan with an ice scrapper thing so as not to get my hand too close lest it should bite. I didn’t think to orientate it so that it wasn’t looking directly at me as I carried it outside.
Tina: It’s looking at me!
Will: It’s looking at you?! Well you're an awful lot bigger than it! (clearly wanting to say ‘oh dear goodness, just get on with it woman’)
So job done and the mouse safely outside, I apolgised again, thanked him and hung up. But still I could not rest. I thought it still might unstick itself. Then a stroke of genius hit me. Put a glue trap on top of it. Ha ha! The beast’ll never get out from that.
But just to make sure I stood on it.
Mice don’t suvive that you know. But I checked every time I walked past the front door.
The mouse was clearly bricking it. Much like I was (although not actually you understand).
That’ll be the butt of a former mouse.
So just incase there was any doubt, I am so my mother. Except of course for the swearing.
Friday, March 03, 2006
When your worst fears come true
Maggie was right, the lake has been drained. Gutted.
This is my favourite part of the lake. Really doesn’t look so pretty now though.
Do you normally wear a life jacket to walk through a puddle?
All I can say is thank goodness the lake run was completed well before they drained it, otherwise there might have been a Stewards’ Inquiry as to whether I actually ran round the lake.
This is my favourite part of the lake. Really doesn’t look so pretty now though.
Do you normally wear a life jacket to walk through a puddle?
All I can say is thank goodness the lake run was completed well before they drained it, otherwise there might have been a Stewards’ Inquiry as to whether I actually ran round the lake.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Michigan: Part 2 (turns out it's not shorter than Part 1)
picute n. hybrid name for pictures of cute children
Ok so it might have been a typo by Megann, but it works well. Here are the picutes of Clark and Amelia.
Oh I’m so maternal. Actually after Amelia’s initial reservations of me, we got on extremely well.
Clark and my dad would get on very well. Clark knows an awful lot about trains for a nearly 4 year old. Megann is reading him a Thomas the Tank Engine story before his nap and judging from the super yawn it’s working.
Saturday
On Saturday morning Megann got up to study for a test on Monday morning. I knew there were advantages of not being a student anymore. When I got up we watched the rest of the film that we had fallen asleep to the night before, Chasing Liberty and then Sliding Doors. We also played Farkle, it’s a dice game. It came from ICYC in Jordanstown and then Megann and I played it loads when we travelled in 2002. Since ICYC I’ve never really played it with anyone else, nobody else seems to take to it the way we did! Megann was kicking my butt, but I rallied a bit, but she still won. Just in case you are interested.
For lunch we had left over Chinese. Two men would be lucky to have us! Megann’s mum, Tina was coming over to go out, but first of all showed me my tax forms that she’d filled out for me. Being a proper grown up sucks! (Until you discover that you might get your tax back)
We went ice skating in downtown Detroit. Yes, I realise saying ‘downtown’ before a town/city name is horrendously American but it really is a good way to describe it. I suppose we’d say Detroit city centre or something, anyway you get the idea. The rink was outside and needed no refrigeration to help with the freezing process. Brr.
Megann and Tina had their own skates, the pretty white ones. I always wanted a pair of pretty white ice skates, but alas I had to make do with the hired blue ones. One day I’ll get my own pretty white ice skates.
Our finishing pose for the short programme in the cabin-mate pairs. Sadly there are no photos of the actual routine.
All that hard work ice skating meant we had to stop hot chocolate. This is Megann and Tina (not me obviously!)
After ice skating we went to the Fisher Building, a beautiful old building in Detroit. It is lovely, pure class and a relic of aul dacency. After dinner, in a cool restaurant (I had ‘Londontown Fish and Chips’, no really that’s what was on the menu) we went back to the apartment and played a Nintendo game with Megann’s friends Chris and Sarah.
We never have a Nintendo growing up. Sega Mega Drive II the Park’s video console of choice. We all had one and many a summer, Hallowe’en, Christmas and Easter holiday was spent playing Sonic, Micro Machines, Streets of Rage (which brought about the infamous quote in the Park ‘I know how to get the bitches!’ Oh two swear words in as many days!), California Games, Ecco the Dolphin amongst others. How sad is this, we would even pair up and one person would have the controller while the other shouted instructions. The twist was the person with controller would have a duvet thrown over them. Blindfolds were for wusses.
Anyway, one of mine and David’s favourite things to do was to let my dad have a go. This was nothing to do with being generous with our toy, but everything to do with laughing at how crap he was. Seriously, you need to understand how crap my dad is with computers. He’s an intelligent man, he really is, but computers, especially computer games! Forget it!
But right here, right now, I’d like to apologise to Father. On Saturday night I got a little insight to his world. I had not a notion what I was doing. We were playing Mario Party for those of you who know it. It’s kind of like a board game on the computer, with a board that you move round and each round of turns bring up a new challenge, with witty titles. The other three had played them before and so each title that came up there would be a cry of ‘I hate this one!’ or ‘This is my favourite!’ I had not a clue and while the others would try and help me telling me to hit the grumbos or whatever they were didn’t really help me a whole lot. So sorry Dad. Telling you to run, collect the rings and jump into the lollipop thing in Sonic 2 probably wasn’t the help you were looking for either. But it was a good night all the same, even though I lost.
On Sunday there wasn’t much time for anything other than breakfast at Megann’s grandma’s. Tina made us waffles. Mmmn mmmn. On our way to the airport we stopped at a Seven Eleven. I suppose it’s a bit like Centra only better, better for one simple reason. Slurpees. If you have never had a Slurpee I think you should buy a ticket to America right now just to experience it. Imagine a nicer, better, bigger Slush Puppy but in proper flavours, like Pepsi, Cherry Coke, Mountain Dew, Diet Coke etc. At camp there were many reasons to volunteer for the shopping trip for food for cook outs. Chief amongst them in my mind was the stop at the Seven Eleven. There are no Seven Eleven in my area of North Carolina so it was important we got as many in as possible to the weekend.
All too soon we were at the airport. I said my goodbyes to Megann and Tina. I still had my Slurpee going through security at the airport. I am such a classy traveller. Some people have their double latte tall mochachinos going through security. Not me, I have a Coke Slurpee. It turns out there’s a good reason why you don’t see more people with Slurpees going through security at airports, the x-ray machine ate my straw.
I sat by this fountain and finished my Slurpee. I think I am all too easily impressed with fountains, especially airport fountains. This one was tres cool.
I love airports. I love everything about them. Except maybe the uncomfortable moulded plastic seats that are all too common. But I especially love moving walkways. Who remembers the one at the International, ‘please push you trolley over the ramp’?!
I will never understand people who don’t use moving walkways like these fools. ‘Hello? Yes excuse me, you seem seem to be carrying a heavy laptop and trundling a suitcase and walking at the same time. Do you know this walkway moves and will make that much easier for you? You can even walk on a moving walkway, you nearly appear to be walking like a 50km Olympic walker when you do that, it’s fun. But just be careful at the end that you don’t do head first into the passenger infront of you as you adjust to walking on boring normal ground again.’
So that was it, I was back on a plane to North Carolina. Going home isn’t half as exciting as going somewhere. And to make matters worse the stewardess gave me the customary glass of Pepsi, not the full can.
Ok so it might have been a typo by Megann, but it works well. Here are the picutes of Clark and Amelia.
Oh I’m so maternal. Actually after Amelia’s initial reservations of me, we got on extremely well.
Clark and my dad would get on very well. Clark knows an awful lot about trains for a nearly 4 year old. Megann is reading him a Thomas the Tank Engine story before his nap and judging from the super yawn it’s working.
Saturday
On Saturday morning Megann got up to study for a test on Monday morning. I knew there were advantages of not being a student anymore. When I got up we watched the rest of the film that we had fallen asleep to the night before, Chasing Liberty and then Sliding Doors. We also played Farkle, it’s a dice game. It came from ICYC in Jordanstown and then Megann and I played it loads when we travelled in 2002. Since ICYC I’ve never really played it with anyone else, nobody else seems to take to it the way we did! Megann was kicking my butt, but I rallied a bit, but she still won. Just in case you are interested.
For lunch we had left over Chinese. Two men would be lucky to have us! Megann’s mum, Tina was coming over to go out, but first of all showed me my tax forms that she’d filled out for me. Being a proper grown up sucks! (Until you discover that you might get your tax back)
We went ice skating in downtown Detroit. Yes, I realise saying ‘downtown’ before a town/city name is horrendously American but it really is a good way to describe it. I suppose we’d say Detroit city centre or something, anyway you get the idea. The rink was outside and needed no refrigeration to help with the freezing process. Brr.
Megann and Tina had their own skates, the pretty white ones. I always wanted a pair of pretty white ice skates, but alas I had to make do with the hired blue ones. One day I’ll get my own pretty white ice skates.
Our finishing pose for the short programme in the cabin-mate pairs. Sadly there are no photos of the actual routine.
All that hard work ice skating meant we had to stop hot chocolate. This is Megann and Tina (not me obviously!)
After ice skating we went to the Fisher Building, a beautiful old building in Detroit. It is lovely, pure class and a relic of aul dacency. After dinner, in a cool restaurant (I had ‘Londontown Fish and Chips’, no really that’s what was on the menu) we went back to the apartment and played a Nintendo game with Megann’s friends Chris and Sarah.
We never have a Nintendo growing up. Sega Mega Drive II the Park’s video console of choice. We all had one and many a summer, Hallowe’en, Christmas and Easter holiday was spent playing Sonic, Micro Machines, Streets of Rage (which brought about the infamous quote in the Park ‘I know how to get the bitches!’ Oh two swear words in as many days!), California Games, Ecco the Dolphin amongst others. How sad is this, we would even pair up and one person would have the controller while the other shouted instructions. The twist was the person with controller would have a duvet thrown over them. Blindfolds were for wusses.
Anyway, one of mine and David’s favourite things to do was to let my dad have a go. This was nothing to do with being generous with our toy, but everything to do with laughing at how crap he was. Seriously, you need to understand how crap my dad is with computers. He’s an intelligent man, he really is, but computers, especially computer games! Forget it!
But right here, right now, I’d like to apologise to Father. On Saturday night I got a little insight to his world. I had not a notion what I was doing. We were playing Mario Party for those of you who know it. It’s kind of like a board game on the computer, with a board that you move round and each round of turns bring up a new challenge, with witty titles. The other three had played them before and so each title that came up there would be a cry of ‘I hate this one!’ or ‘This is my favourite!’ I had not a clue and while the others would try and help me telling me to hit the grumbos or whatever they were didn’t really help me a whole lot. So sorry Dad. Telling you to run, collect the rings and jump into the lollipop thing in Sonic 2 probably wasn’t the help you were looking for either. But it was a good night all the same, even though I lost.
On Sunday there wasn’t much time for anything other than breakfast at Megann’s grandma’s. Tina made us waffles. Mmmn mmmn. On our way to the airport we stopped at a Seven Eleven. I suppose it’s a bit like Centra only better, better for one simple reason. Slurpees. If you have never had a Slurpee I think you should buy a ticket to America right now just to experience it. Imagine a nicer, better, bigger Slush Puppy but in proper flavours, like Pepsi, Cherry Coke, Mountain Dew, Diet Coke etc. At camp there were many reasons to volunteer for the shopping trip for food for cook outs. Chief amongst them in my mind was the stop at the Seven Eleven. There are no Seven Eleven in my area of North Carolina so it was important we got as many in as possible to the weekend.
All too soon we were at the airport. I said my goodbyes to Megann and Tina. I still had my Slurpee going through security at the airport. I am such a classy traveller. Some people have their double latte tall mochachinos going through security. Not me, I have a Coke Slurpee. It turns out there’s a good reason why you don’t see more people with Slurpees going through security at airports, the x-ray machine ate my straw.
I sat by this fountain and finished my Slurpee. I think I am all too easily impressed with fountains, especially airport fountains. This one was tres cool.
I love airports. I love everything about them. Except maybe the uncomfortable moulded plastic seats that are all too common. But I especially love moving walkways. Who remembers the one at the International, ‘please push you trolley over the ramp’?!
I will never understand people who don’t use moving walkways like these fools. ‘Hello? Yes excuse me, you seem seem to be carrying a heavy laptop and trundling a suitcase and walking at the same time. Do you know this walkway moves and will make that much easier for you? You can even walk on a moving walkway, you nearly appear to be walking like a 50km Olympic walker when you do that, it’s fun. But just be careful at the end that you don’t do head first into the passenger infront of you as you adjust to walking on boring normal ground again.’
So that was it, I was back on a plane to North Carolina. Going home isn’t half as exciting as going somewhere. And to make matters worse the stewardess gave me the customary glass of Pepsi, not the full can.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Michigan: Part 1 (finally!)
[As I write this is it is currently 23 degrees outside. That’s Celsius. It’s probably 23 Fahrenheit in Michigan. I discovered this weekend that I don't like really cold weather.]
Thursday
I woke up half an hour later than I should have. Things you should know about me by now, I am usually late and I hate waking up in the morning. So although I wasn’t surprised I was already running late, I was relieved that I still had enough time to get myself to the airport. I’ve never taken myself to the airport before so that in itself was quite exciting. Fact number 72 about me is that I’m not good at making decisions. This had the knock on effect of me having a huge suitcase for a four day trip. I couldn’t decide what to pack, I like having options, so instead of picking between two t-shirts (or indeed four) I took both (them all).
Anyway I got to the airport, parked the car in the apparently one remaining car park space which took 10 minutes to find. It was conveniently located at the furthest corner from the airport. Asheville airport is not the kind of size that requires a shuttle bus so I trundled my supersized case to the terminal. I checked in without problem and made my way to the security. The security staff were perhaps the friendliest I have ever come across and at the other end when I was putting on my shoes again one of made sure I knew where I was going.
‘Northwest to Detroit? Do you know the way?’
I thought I did well to muster all the strength within me and not say:
'To Detroit? I think actually flying the plane might be a more immediate problem than finding Detroit from the skies!’
Instead I got out:
‘To the gate?’
So not only is Asheville airport the kind of size that it does not require a shuttle bus, but it is also the size of airport when you really have to wonder why they bothered to number the gates. Left and right would have done. Hence my surprise that the security man was asking me did I know where to go. Think a smaller version of City and you’re there. Actually, although I’ve never been there, probably more along the lines of Eglinton. Although Asheville does have its very own Subway (sandwich shop, definitely no need for an underground system) and I’d bet good money Eglinton does not have that.
I’ve always liked Northwest as an airline. I think it must be from Autumn Soul Tour and our 23 flights in three weeks with them. I think we all knew the safety procedure blurb off by heart ‘please place your own mask on before helping that of a child’. Although I knew the iPod purchase was going to happen, I took along my CD player for one last hurrah, so I sat back and listened to music and read. When the stewardess came with drinks I was delighted to receive a full size can of Pepsi! Yes!
Megann’s dad picked me up from the airport. I haven’t seen him since 2002 after TOM and I was a bit worried I wouldn’t recognise him. I discovered on the drive out to Megann’s that he too was worried he wouldn’t recognise me. Megann told him to look out for a tall girl. He said, and I quote ‘you were the tallest girl in airport, your head was nearly hitting the ceiling so I knew it was you’!
Megann was babysitting so I helped her. Clark(e?) and Amelia are perhaps the cutest children ever! Clark(e?) was just a baby when I was last there, and Amelia was but a twinkle in her daddy’s eye. I have photos of them, but I don’t want to put them on because of child protection and all that. But here’s one that should be ok.
Clark(e?)’s cute feet. Little toes!
When we were done there we went out to Megann’s apartment. It was just a quick stop as we had some serious shopping to get done.
First stop: Catching Fireflies . A lovely, magical shop where a lot of money could easily be spent.
We then went to the Navy of Old where I bought a few tops. Well, it’d be rude not to!
Third stop: The Mall with the Apple Store. As I was trying to decide between the 60gb and 30gb, a very helpful assistant came over and upon seeing me holding the two sizes said ‘the 60 will hold twice as much as the 30’. For the second time that day I held by tongue. I wanted to say ‘No shit Sherlock! Tell me, do you have to go through special training to work here?!’ but instead nodded. She turned away allowing Megann and I to laugh at her.
So I bought an iPod but you already know that. You also know that I got my ears pierced. I don’t really know why I suddenly decided to get them done but I doubt I would have without Megann’s enthusiasm. I was quite glad of her, she helped Britany, the 17 year old who was doing it make sure the marks were straight. Before me there was a little 8 year old girl getting hers done. She cried a little bit afterwards. I did not. Ha!
Friday
Michigan, being in the Artic circle, meant it was cold enough for skiing. Yay! So Friday morning, Megann, Yo (Megann’s room mate) and I headed to the slopes for day’s skiing. We were actually some of the few who were skiing, it seemed everyone was snowboarding. Having mastered skiing, it really is a wonder to me why anyone would want to start again and fall their way down a mountain.
Falls on the slopes: 0! Yes!
Falls resulting from the chair lift: 2 (including one major incident where the chair lift had to be stopped. Oh die!)
The first fall can be blamed on Megann. She stuck out her poles as we were getting off, leaving me nowhere else to go but the ground. But the 'incident'? Somehow I managed to get myself ahead of Megann and Yo and had a chair lift coming ever closer behind me. Indecision was my big mistake, I tried to get back to them but couldn’t. But neither could I actually get on the chair lift. I had dropped one of my poles which further added to the confusion. The attendant guy apparently thought was on the chair lift and so didn’t stop the lift. That is until I was further up the hill, lying on the ground to avoid getting hit by the chair as it swung overhead. He then thought it best to stop it. Thanks mate! He asked why I didn’t stay on the chair? Em…how about because I wasn’t actually on the chair lift? It wasn’t like I sat on the lift, and then decided to get off again! Needless to say I did not rush back to that particular chair lift.
On Friday night, the two old ladies that we were, sat in and watched videos with a Chinese takeaway. Yummy.
I'll stop here and tell you about Saturday and Sunday tomorrow. Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be shorter!
Thursday
I woke up half an hour later than I should have. Things you should know about me by now, I am usually late and I hate waking up in the morning. So although I wasn’t surprised I was already running late, I was relieved that I still had enough time to get myself to the airport. I’ve never taken myself to the airport before so that in itself was quite exciting. Fact number 72 about me is that I’m not good at making decisions. This had the knock on effect of me having a huge suitcase for a four day trip. I couldn’t decide what to pack, I like having options, so instead of picking between two t-shirts (or indeed four) I took both (them all).
Anyway I got to the airport, parked the car in the apparently one remaining car park space which took 10 minutes to find. It was conveniently located at the furthest corner from the airport. Asheville airport is not the kind of size that requires a shuttle bus so I trundled my supersized case to the terminal. I checked in without problem and made my way to the security. The security staff were perhaps the friendliest I have ever come across and at the other end when I was putting on my shoes again one of made sure I knew where I was going.
‘Northwest to Detroit? Do you know the way?’
I thought I did well to muster all the strength within me and not say:
'To Detroit? I think actually flying the plane might be a more immediate problem than finding Detroit from the skies!’
Instead I got out:
‘To the gate?’
So not only is Asheville airport the kind of size that it does not require a shuttle bus, but it is also the size of airport when you really have to wonder why they bothered to number the gates. Left and right would have done. Hence my surprise that the security man was asking me did I know where to go. Think a smaller version of City and you’re there. Actually, although I’ve never been there, probably more along the lines of Eglinton. Although Asheville does have its very own Subway (sandwich shop, definitely no need for an underground system) and I’d bet good money Eglinton does not have that.
I’ve always liked Northwest as an airline. I think it must be from Autumn Soul Tour and our 23 flights in three weeks with them. I think we all knew the safety procedure blurb off by heart ‘please place your own mask on before helping that of a child’. Although I knew the iPod purchase was going to happen, I took along my CD player for one last hurrah, so I sat back and listened to music and read. When the stewardess came with drinks I was delighted to receive a full size can of Pepsi! Yes!
Megann’s dad picked me up from the airport. I haven’t seen him since 2002 after TOM and I was a bit worried I wouldn’t recognise him. I discovered on the drive out to Megann’s that he too was worried he wouldn’t recognise me. Megann told him to look out for a tall girl. He said, and I quote ‘you were the tallest girl in airport, your head was nearly hitting the ceiling so I knew it was you’!
Megann was babysitting so I helped her. Clark(e?) and Amelia are perhaps the cutest children ever! Clark(e?) was just a baby when I was last there, and Amelia was but a twinkle in her daddy’s eye. I have photos of them, but I don’t want to put them on because of child protection and all that. But here’s one that should be ok.
Clark(e?)’s cute feet. Little toes!
When we were done there we went out to Megann’s apartment. It was just a quick stop as we had some serious shopping to get done.
First stop: Catching Fireflies . A lovely, magical shop where a lot of money could easily be spent.
We then went to the Navy of Old where I bought a few tops. Well, it’d be rude not to!
Third stop: The Mall with the Apple Store. As I was trying to decide between the 60gb and 30gb, a very helpful assistant came over and upon seeing me holding the two sizes said ‘the 60 will hold twice as much as the 30’. For the second time that day I held by tongue. I wanted to say ‘No shit Sherlock! Tell me, do you have to go through special training to work here?!’ but instead nodded. She turned away allowing Megann and I to laugh at her.
So I bought an iPod but you already know that. You also know that I got my ears pierced. I don’t really know why I suddenly decided to get them done but I doubt I would have without Megann’s enthusiasm. I was quite glad of her, she helped Britany, the 17 year old who was doing it make sure the marks were straight. Before me there was a little 8 year old girl getting hers done. She cried a little bit afterwards. I did not. Ha!
Friday
Michigan, being in the Artic circle, meant it was cold enough for skiing. Yay! So Friday morning, Megann, Yo (Megann’s room mate) and I headed to the slopes for day’s skiing. We were actually some of the few who were skiing, it seemed everyone was snowboarding. Having mastered skiing, it really is a wonder to me why anyone would want to start again and fall their way down a mountain.
Falls on the slopes: 0! Yes!
Falls resulting from the chair lift: 2 (including one major incident where the chair lift had to be stopped. Oh die!)
The first fall can be blamed on Megann. She stuck out her poles as we were getting off, leaving me nowhere else to go but the ground. But the 'incident'? Somehow I managed to get myself ahead of Megann and Yo and had a chair lift coming ever closer behind me. Indecision was my big mistake, I tried to get back to them but couldn’t. But neither could I actually get on the chair lift. I had dropped one of my poles which further added to the confusion. The attendant guy apparently thought was on the chair lift and so didn’t stop the lift. That is until I was further up the hill, lying on the ground to avoid getting hit by the chair as it swung overhead. He then thought it best to stop it. Thanks mate! He asked why I didn’t stay on the chair? Em…how about because I wasn’t actually on the chair lift? It wasn’t like I sat on the lift, and then decided to get off again! Needless to say I did not rush back to that particular chair lift.
On Friday night, the two old ladies that we were, sat in and watched videos with a Chinese takeaway. Yummy.
I'll stop here and tell you about Saturday and Sunday tomorrow. Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be shorter!
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