Updates

Okay, I would love to be making daily updates on this blog, but it is all but impossible. It costs $10 per 30 minutes to use Internet in Mexico, or a 3 hour wait in the Sunwing Vacations lineup. Instead, I am going to the gift shop to buy myself a little journal and will keep notes and post photos with my notes when I get home.
I love it here. In my THIRD alternate life, I live here and run a juice place. OUR HOTEL HAS FRESH BEET AND CELERY JUICE!! Juicing has finally come to Mexico! Now they just need to recycle, and all will be perfect.

all-inclusive stories

I have been thinking for a few years about writing a book about surviving all-inclusives. This is my tenth tropical trip in the past five years, and seventh time in the Mayan Riviera, so I starting to feel like I know the ropes a bit. For example, packing. The first time I packed for one of these trips I was an idiot, and I have learned a thing or two. Okay, so before my internet time runs out, here are the essentials: 1. Facecloths. For some reason, you have to be willing to sell a kidney to get clean facecloths every day. This seems to hold true for most properties. I do not know why this is, but now I pack ten. 2. First aid kit. Someone WILL get a weird injury, and you do not want to have to wait in line for bandaids. Whether it is cutting your toes on coral, or doing what I did today, which was slice my hand open on a rusty screw while I was working out on the treadmill, it is a good idea to carry polysporin, bandages, advil, immodium, etc. 3.Books and DVD's and a DVD player. The sun goes down at 5 in the winter. There is only so much you can eat and drink. Then you have to go to your room and see if there is anything interesting on THE English channel. Trust me, take DVD's instead of shoes. 4. Liquid hand soap for the room. I don't know about you, but I hate washing my hands with that nasty bar soap that hotels give you as "an amenity". This time I brought a brand new bottle of Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom hand soap, and life is good.

Okay, I am down to 5 minutes, and still need to post. Will update again, as want to remember my thoughts as they come. TTFN. Wish you were here.

Help! Leave comments please. What would you do?

As I sat in Starbucks today, waiting to wish Amber's fiance "Happy Birthday", I suddenly realized that the people one table over were feircely involved in gossiping about someone. My ears tingled when I heard names and situations that I recognized all too well. The subject of the gossip and conjecture happens to be a very close friend of mine, and the woman doing the gossiping is supposedly a good and long-time friend of theirs. I turned around and confronted the big mouth, who immediately denied that she was talking about the same person, and then went silent for several minutes when I turned away. The problem is, the gossiper is now also a huge LIAR, because there is no way that she was talking about anyone else, other than my friend. The gossiper named names and places. And I recognize her from parties and art openings, though she did not recognize me (must have been the furry hat).

So what I need help with is, what do I do now? I was furious and shaking at the time, and all I could do was indignantly stare this woman down as she left Starbucks. Now I want to know, do I tell my friend about this incident? Would you want to know, or would it be too hurtful and I should keep my mouth shut? Help. If I tell, do I wait until after the holidays? What would you want? I am too upset to make the decision myself, and my first instinct is to out this woman.

A Really F***king Good Friend

My friend whom we shall call *Mark* is a rocker and roller. I completely love him, and here is why:
- He is honest, but not too honest in dressing rooms. For example, he will NOT tell me that something makes me look fat, but he WILL ask me if I would like to try it in another size.
- He always notices when I have had my hair coloured, cut, style, or even washed, and comments on it.
- He understands why I am thrilled when people ask me if I am sick because I look so THIN... ("yes, I am one stomache flu away from my goal weight").
-He can recite several hilarious quotes from pop media on demand and in the perfect social situation so that everyone laughs their ass off.
- He always knows the next great song that is coming up and makes sure we all know it, so that by the time it is climbing the charts we are prepared.
- He makes people who are left out feel included.
- He always knows exactly what to buy you for Christmas or your birthday so that you feel like you have expensive and fashionable taste.
- He always has kind and generous things to say about the people that are driving you to drink.
- He makes everything - even shopping for broccoli - a fun game.
- He knows when to talk, and when not to.
- He doesn't let anyone wallow in despair.
- He has a completely infectious laugh that draws people to him.

Value for Your Dollar

Is it just me, or are we all a little tired of getting...well...shafted. I know this blog is supposed to focus on the positive, so I will try to highlight some things that I think are worth the money spent first.

Every one of my tropical vacations, for example has been worth every penny. Except for the first one, because of the Class 4 hurricane. Even then, there were chocolate swans, so it wasn't a total wash. That's me down there on the right enjoying the ocean in the Dominican. I never met a warm ocean I didn't like - even Puerto Vallarta had its charms, though the most value for your dollar can be found in two places in Mexico: The Royal in Playa del Carmen, where I stayed in the Presidential Suite that is bigger than my house and had a private pool, and this little shanty restuarant on the "wild side" of Cozumel, where they make delicious fish and bring you drinks in a pineapple that looks like a face - Playa Bonita. I have wished to die there both times.

However, some things that have disappointed me this week are as follows:

1. Had my car detailed at Clearwash. For $160.00 they cleaned it outside, waxed it, and shampooed the interior seats and carpets. They also dust the doors and console. This is a lot of money, but it is cold out, and I really didn't want to do all of this myself, like I normally would in the summer. But for $160.00 do you think that they emptied the ash tray? No. And it didn't occur to me to do it because I don't smoke, but SOMEONE does, and apparently there are old smokes in there, that they just left in there. Hmm. If this service cost more like $80, it would be worth it, but I feel a bit ripped off.

2. Very rarely I go get a mani-pedi at a Vietnamese nail place. Why? Because they do the best job and charge a quarter of salon prices. I used to maintain that it was worth it to get everything done by a pro sometimes, and the polish job usually last WAY longer than it would if I had done it. I went this week to VJ Nails in Avenida - a place I have been many times in the past. That was Wednesday. By Friday afternoon both fingers and toes were chipping, and now they look hideous. Seriously? I have had pedicures that last through chlorine, salt water, sand, SPF spray, tanning spray, and still looked great at the END of a vacation. I'm so annoyed. $55 and the polish lasted two days. AND I got welts on my leg from the salt scrub she used on me a little too vigorously. Cool.

3. I am tired of grocery stores being able to leave expired food on their shelves. It is disgusting and should be against the law. I am usually very careful to check dates of dairy or soy items, but this week I went to buy cookies for my play. I was buying large quanitites, so checked the date on one or two and then filled up my cart. When I got back to school, I found an entire container of 24 cookies that was SEVERAL days past its expiration, so obviously couldn't be handed out at intermission.

I guess we are just living in an era when you have to check, request, demand, or throw a temper tantrum if necessary to get what you are promised in a service or for a product. Check clothes to make sure that they are not coming apart at the seems and about to lose buttons. Check that the food hasn't gone bad that you are about to buy. Have your sister paint your toes. Shampoo your own carpets. Make your own lattes so that the espresso is not expired and the milk scorched, or the syrup left out, etc.

So Happy I Could Die

I think my last post was about my students, too. I can't help it though, I am full of love for my babies! Tonight was closing night of The Canterbury Tales. The whole process has been so much f - u - n. I decided this year to STOP taking everything so seriously. This does not lessen my need to control details or my perfectionism, but somehow it has chilled me out all the same. When I started this blog, I said that it was because I was tired of being tied up in knots all the time, and that I was going to look for the Beautiful, Interesting, and Good in things. Well, with the hardest (and most rewarding) part of the school year behind me, I can honestly say that my new determination for joie de vivre has really taken root. What the kids said tonight was everything that I could wish for. They had fun. They learned. And I will be honest, I LOVE that they say they love me because I love them RIGHT BACK. I have always envied the Christmas bonus of people in the Oil Industry, but what better Christmas bonus could I get than 2 bouquets of winter flowers, Callebaut chocolates (OMG I ate four already), Truffles, and the crowning glory - a hand-drawn card full of love notes from my sweetie pies. It's like the Lady Gaga song. I am so happy I could die. I would like to leave with you with the thoughts I shared with the audience tonight, as my arms were filled with hugs and flowers and tears: The media is always reporting stories of teenagers making bad choices. But for every one of those stories, there are hundreds of stories of kids trying to be good people and make the world a better place. I am so privileged that I get to see evidence of this every day at my job. Thank you for supporting these truly great kids in their efforts.

What a totally awesome day all around.

Side note: My neighbours have the most gorgeous Christmas tree. The lights are the colour of the sea on the "calm bathtub" side of Cozumel.

My Students

I love to put pictures in my blogs, but I can't post pictures of students. So whatever. I do have to say though, that tonight I am struck by how awesome my life is, and one of the many reasons is because of my students. Now, I know I complain about teaching all the time. Without a doubt, days and weeks go past when I think about my 97% in Chem 30 and wonder what the hell I am doing teaching high school drama in the first place. When I am getting Botox for example, I watch what Dr. V does for a living, making literally hundreds of dollars an hour, and I get a little wistful about his huge mansion, hottub for 20, endless vacations, etc. I know these details because he tells me. BTW, I haven't had Botox since April. Why? Because I can't afford it. Why? Because I am a TEACHER.

All that is forgotten though during weeks like this one. We had our last rehearsals for The Canterbury Tales this week. I can't explain the total fulfillment of creating a little piece of art with 29 kids, that we are all proud of and are now ready to share with anyone who will listen. It is such a poignant and singular experience, that you have to do it to understand it.

Almost at the other end of the teaching spectrum for me is my cute ESL class. While I work with the best and brightest on the show, and enjoy that experience, I am simultaneously struggling to offer a rewarding program to 19 sweet little ESL kids. This is HARD work. I constantly feel inadequate, boring, and uninspired when trying to come up with activities and lessons that will engage and interest them without intimidating them to death. This semester I think that they sense this. They seem to be rooting for us all to succeed together, come hell or high water. Today I had students who have BARELY SPOKEN all semester, stand up in front of the class and present puppet shows with puppets that they handmade this week. I almost cried - I clapped like a lunatic instead. It adds another flavour of delicious fulfillment to watch the progress of these sweeties.

And not to leave out Drama 30 - they are like my own children, deeply rooted to part of my soul. Even the bad ass ones. And I am not a sugary teacher, so I rarely verbalize these things to my students. I am actually kind of strict and demanding. But I hope and believe that they sense how much I value them and quietly, deperately long for their happiness and success.

Sigh. It's a good job. And I think hot tubs are kind of gross.

THANKS!!

Thank you Gayle and Karly for the food and love, and everyone who sent love or came to the funeral, or just blew me kisses, BTW. It DOES matter and it DOES help.

No more Grandparents

Suddenly we have had a flurry of deaths in our families. Grandma Olson passed on November 1 at 95 years old. Not from old age - from lung fibrosis - even though she never smoked. I am so damn sick and bloody tired of losing people. But I have to say that she knew who was waiting for her. Am I screwing up by never having babies???????????????

Engagement + Shooting Range =

Fun. Okay. It may not be what you first think of when you think of getting engaged. But the day Amber and Joe did, the four of us went shootin'. Yeeha!

If you haven't been to Canmore lately...

...here is what you are missing. This is ACTUALLY from this month.

GAGA

Wow...I am a BAD blogger so far. Can you tell what teaching is like? The minute it was time to go back to work, the blogging CEASED. Trying to get started again. Here are the pics from the Lady Gaga concert Matthew and I went to in Edmonton right at the end of August. It was SOOO much fun and we LOVE the downtown Edmonton Westin. Swanky.

Black Eyed Peas - Fergalicious - Committed

Matt loves the Black Eyed Peas, so off we toddled last night to the concert. We rarely go to concerts, so this was kind of exciting. We had dinner with Ambi and Joe first and then they (blessedly) drove us downtown. We actually had somehow managed to procure decent seats and thank goodness that Matt has been making me listen to the CD's since last fall, because it was fun to know all (or almost all) of the songs.

Not sure if this turned me into an overnight fan, but I did enjoy Fergie a lot. I don't really know enough about rap to appreciate the guys' rap skills, and some of the songs that seem more like they are being shouted than sung make me wonder how on earth these people got so famous (oh, the wonders of marketing). Fergie's got a powerful set of pipes though, and all-in-all it was just good, clean fun. Lots of junior high aged kids with their moms, which I think is so cute. The little girl two seats down from me was crying, for goodness sake. The whole show was surprisingly positive, despite some of their song lyrics which would make you believe otherwise. They instructed the audience to make the world a better place, never give up on their dreams, as long as those dreams contribute to the world rather than destroying it or anyone. I was surprised. No gangsta.

I had a little chat with a security staffer (Saddledome employee). I asked him which crowds are the worst for events and he said by far "metal". He also said that people his age (mid 50's +) are by far the worst behaved at events. To quote, "They are accustomed to smoking whatever they want, wherever they want, and drinking as much as they want wherever they want, from the 70's. They don't like to be told different, either. Younger generations don't think that way at concerts. They do what they are asked." Interesting since everyone always blames teenagers for everything.

We came straight home and bought tickets to Lady Gaga in Edmonton on Thursday night. As this is someone I am more prone to listen to than BEP's, I am STOKED. I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I just read the Vanity Fair with Gaga on the cover. I can't wait for the outfits and insanity, though I don't suppose her touring show will contain pianos that are part of her outfit, but I can dream...

Lastly, I borrowed Elizabeth Gilbert's newer book from the library. As a huge fan of Eat, Pray, Love (no, I haven't seen the movie) I have been wary of "Committed" as I feared I would not like it as much. I get why it won't be the mega-hit that EPL is, but it is really good. I recommend it to anyone who is married, divorced, thinking about getting married, or thinking about getting divorced, or anyone that ever was married or divorced, or anyone who says that they will never get married or divorced. Basically anyone. It is less inner journey like EPL, and more historical and cultural information that I find absolutely and totally fascinating.

Radium, BC

A couple of weeks ago we loaded up the dog and headed out camping. We did not have a clear idea of where we wanted to go, but we totally scored. I have not been to Radium in years, but it is marvelous. We camped in the National Park at Redstreak Campgound. They charge for fires, but the 8 bucks a day includes ALL THE FIREWOOD YOU CAN BURN. This is significant because hauling firewood is not fun and can be expensive for us urbanites who don't have trees to hew down. Which remindes me of a redonkulously funny quote from Glee to the real estate agent: It's always been my dream to cut down my own Christmas tree. How many Christmas trees will we have in our yard?
Anyhow, our campsite had a gorgeous view of the town, it is close to the hot springs so we went to the hot springs every morning, it had showers (miracle), and was only a 15 minute drive from Invemere. Now apparently if you are disgustingly wealthy and have money to burn, you move to Invemere. There are literally palaces ringing the lake. Several people have private docks with MULTIPLE boats, wave runners, and one that I can only describe as a speedy-looking yacht. I would like to become close personal friends with the people who own the castle that four of the mega-structures around it could have fit into. I would love to go and stay with them each summer. If anyone knows them, please pass on my name to them. I don't eat much and I could easily get lost in that fortress of theirs, so they wouldn't even know I was there.
If you are in Radium and looking for a healthy lunch (because for some reason all the restaurants serve schnitzel exclusively), go to the Prestige Inn. Their restaurant has a "house" salad that is to die for. It is inexpensive, huge and full of delicious ingredients, more like a chef's salad. Also, for breakfast the Melting Pot is delicious AND has gluten-free bread.
Also I plan to go back to that area in the summer to go to Fernie. That place has exploded with small town charm and BC tree-lover lifestyle that I love. There is an organic cafe that is outta sight.

In Search of Summer

I have been looking for summer for weeks now. To my American and Australian and Mexican freidns who live in places where it is warm: attention must be paid. Do you know how hard it is to find summer in Canada sometimes? And I do not understand it because when we were kids it seemed like summer was hot.

The weird thing is that the time we spent on the coast this year was some of the best weather we have seen. Calgary has been rainy or cold almost every day. The mosquitos are out of control.

Now anyone who knows me, knows that there are two things I hate: Cold and Mosquitos.

We tried to go to Moyie with Mom and Ethan. It seems like a nice place, but the day we got there, in rolls a storm and rain.

I swear to you that I am attracting this crap weather wherever I go. It has been happening for years now. I should go to the Kalahari. I'll make it rain in torrents. I have rain karma. Now some people might see this as a good thing, but not me.

If you are lucky enough to live somewhere that you can get to sunshine fast or inexpensively, declare your gratitude today! Personally over the past seven years I have spent...5 digits or so trying to snatch a few weeks of sunshine. I am off to go sun-hunting again. "Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, Please shine down on me!"