I forgot how much it suuuuucks to fly to England. 8.5 hours this time and at 1.5 hours in I’m all Oh My God we’re not even close to Halfway There : HURRY UUUUUP! Luckily though I slept for a while, which is rather a coup for me. Usually I don’t sleep on transit.
Please note the little boxes of raisins that came with my lunch.
I’m going to miss a few places in Victoria while I’m out of the country. The Thrifty foods by my house. The dance studio. The library. I don’t go to the library very often (I go to the downtown branch) but I was there the other day returning a book before I left so I didn’t have to pay a fine and I appreciated how nice it is to be in a familiar place.
I was at my neighbourhood Thrifty foods this morning to pick up some candied ginger and again, I looked around, and noted that I wouldn’t be visiting for a few weeks and I was pleased to be breaking my routine for a little while. But I’ll get back to it soon, and then I’ll be pleased to get back to it.
I’ve spent the late afternoon today at the Vancouver airport. We arrived 4.5 hours early for our flight. This is entirely due to us taking the ferry over: always take an earlier ferry, just in case.
I’m traveling with 3 other smart women, so that’s why my pronoun might occasionally switch.
I’m about to board my first plane: one to London, then the second to Madrid. I’m going to nest in and have a cozy overnight flight. I have a Chatelaine magazine to read and Melatonin. Good night.
My review of the great gatsby (the movie): read the book. It takes the same amount of time. It’s quite pretty, though, the movie. Maybe have it playing in the background of a twenties-themed party.
In related news, I seem to be watching a lot of movies that are either set in the 20s or 30s or were made then. People wore hats. Also: surprised to find that there are more than just musicals from this era. Imagine. But I still like the musicals best. Also: Katherine Hepburn. Here she is knitting.
Guess what I’m allergic to now. Palmolive orange-flavoured dish soap. Not to touch it or anything, just the smell. Although I don’t know if maybe it’s a sensitivity and not an allergy? It gives me a headache. Here are some other common products that give me a headache:
1. Hair wax. I first noticed this while at the theatre watching Spiderman 3. At first I thought it was the movie giving me a headache, but then it didn’t go away. Then I washed my hair and the headache went away immediately. Stupid allergy. Hair wax makes my hair look “cool” instead of “dorky.”
2. Underarm deoderant that comes in any smell but plain. Which is sad because underarm deoderant was the only smell I really ever liked wearing. Probably because unlike purfume or lotions, underarm deoderant gets hidden away.
3. Palmolive dish soap.
Yesterday I had the song “Smoke gets in your eyes” stuck in my head. The problem is that I don’t know the tune to the song OR any other lyrics. I only half-believe that it’s really a song at all. I’m not too sure how I got it in my head in the first place. Perhaps there was smoke in my eyes? That might have been from walking along Douglas St. where there is always a smoker walking in front of me, puffing away. The words should have been “Smoke gets in you lungs” I guess. Lately, the puffers have been large groups of Asian youths, walking in a huddle that encompases the width of the sidewalk so that I can’t get around them. My solution is to walk slow and let them walk away from me.
This morning I woke up with a song that doesn’t yet exist stuck in my head. It may have been from a dream. It’s called… ok I can’t remember the words to it now. Something about having a bad home. Yesterday I woke up to a song that was a combination of “Get Happy” and the Feeling Groovy song. That was a good song that I can’t really remember, either.
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of me working at the place I do. Quite an accomplishment if I do say so myself. The day also marks 4 years with government. Don’t know what to think about that. Been getting paid the whole time, so that’s good.
In other news, 46 days until Spain.
I looked outside 15 minutes ago. Sunny. I stuck my arm aut the window 10 minutes ago to check the temperatre. Not too cold, not raining: I won’t wear my raincoat. I step outside 3 minutes later and it starts to pour. And there’s wind, too. It winds and rains for just long enough for me to reach the bus shelter, realize that with the wind, it’s not providing much of a “shelter”, and then the bus comes. Now that I’m on the bus, it’s sunny again. Welcome to Victoria, Lindsie. You’ve been here four years straight now, but I thought I would remind you I can still make you my bitch.
I seem to be spending my Xmas holidays shopping. And knitting. Not at the same time. My knitting pattern had a stitch in it I’d never tried before, and I forgot that I should actually ty those out on a testing thing before attempting on the item I am making. Thus, yesterday was a day of anti-progress. But better a few hours of anti-progress than carting around a hat that I never wear because there are knobs all over it (where there aren’t meant to be knobs, I mean, like, not in the pattern.)
2011 by Lindsie
January.
Nothing. I don’t remember. No wait. I started a new job. Did I report on this last year? I started a new position with Liquor Licensing (BC Gov) on Jan 4, 2011, the same date I started with them in 2008. It was a pleasant reunion with everyone (there was hugs!) and I’ve had a good year working there. It’s nice to have a permanant job*.
*For now**
**Mum doesn’t like it when I add that part. Hehehe.
February.
Nothing. February sucks.
March.
My birthday. Everyone celebrate!
April.
Nothing. Oh! Except I moved at the end of the month, so I spent most of April worrying about that and packing. Fun story: on April 29 I decided that I Would Watch The Royal Wedding (as this is something that Lindsie is meant to do, having memories of the other royal wedding that happened in 1981). In order to stay up that late- the thing started at 2 in the morning or something,-I needed to keep myself occupied. As I was about to move, the kitchen needed that end-of-occupancy clean out, so I watched the wedding coverage while scrubbing out my fridge and pulling out the stove. I made it all shiney. My landlord was super impressed, and also amused with my Royal Wedding Story.
May.
Dance recitals. I was in two this year, since I was doing classes with two studios. Fun and all but I’m only at one studio this year so hopefully only one recital. This year I did tap with the teacher I had in Duncan (Nanna!) at a new school. We danced to Michael Jackson. That show was at Victoria Event Centre, where they serve alcohol. Note: performing at a place where they serve booze the whole time makes for a fun show, especially if you are late in the line-up. The other show was at the Royal, which isn’t as intimate as the other place, but has a really nice backstage area. Mum and dad came and watched, and my friend Susan, as I did some flamenco and ballet. Good show. We went for dinner afterwards.
June.
Nothing. Actually I think in June I went to Vancouver to see Wicked. That was with my friend Julie, who is my musical theatre friend. We both bought t-shirts even though neither of us meant to. P.S. I love musicals. They make me cry and want to sing along and I love them.
July.
I watched the whole of West Wing and Knitted. Summer! Also, my friends Amber and Mia visited. In our second annual summer fun time, we did fancy dinner, and took double decker busses, and went Craigdarrough castle. We also ate cupcakes.
Aug.
Some summer dance workshops. Some moping around. Went to work. Benefitted amply from the wealth of my dad’s garden. (Speaking of which, did you know you can buy green beans at the grocery store? Both fresh AND in cans. *Why Would Anyone Do This*? Doesn’t your dad grow way too many and make you take them?)
September.
Whined a lot.
October.
This wasn’t that long ago. I should remember. I got sick around Thanksgiving, which was also exactly when I took my vacation time. I didn’t have any big plans or anything, but I was Quite Annoyed. All year my health has been really good. My doctor suggested, though, that I’m now just catching everything I hadn’t caught yet. I’ve also figured out my asthma so that it’s under contol. I puff a puffer twice a day, with an “emergency” inhaler for when I need it, most importantly, just before my dance classes. Breathing Lindsie is happy Lindsie.
November.
Seriously. I bought flamenco shoes. I don’t have a couch yet, but I do have flamenco shoes. Priorities. I realize that this letter is rather dance-centric, but I think about it a lot. That and how I’m going to feed myself around all my dance classes. Two of my favorite things are dance and eating. Another favorite thing is watching TV but that’s not really something one writes about in their Christmas letter. However, I’m only writing this right now because there’s nothing on to watch.
December.
Hasn’t really happened yet. So far so good. I just vacuumed a bit. I’m trying to make my house clean and tidy before putting up Xmas decorations.
January, 2012.
This hasn’t happened yet, either, but I want to keep going….
February 2012.
I’m going to Spain to take some flamenco workshops. I’m also going to drink sherry, and do other Spain things. Spain has never been on my radar of somewhere to visit so I don’t know what to expect!
It’s two days before Xmas so I’m bussing around town looking for obscure soy-based products. This is an annual tradition. Or semi annual. I don’t remember if it was last year or the year before when I was taking a tour of Victoria’s supermarkets looking for soy nog. I have two things of that in my fridge today. Now it’s cheese as no one seems to stock the cheddar flavoured stuff in the brand that I like. I lie a bit since the Thrifty’s located within a five- minute walk of my house stocks the right brand of cheddar but that stuff uses a different recipe that doesn’t melt. So I shouldn’t really complain about having the go on a jaunt since I’m being particular, but I’ve tried this cheese that doesn’t melt and it just goes hard. The recipe I usually get melts, as in, gets soft and goey when on top of pizza and also blends smooth into cheese sauce (opposed to making a gross, clumpy mess). So please sympathize with my dilemma.
I’m on my way to Country Grocer now. This is only because Oxford Foods in Cook St Village was out of both mozza and cheddar and they are usually my source for both. I’m a little excited now as I am a big fan of Country Grocer. When I lived in Duncan there was one located between my parent’s house and the dance studio and I would stop there for goodies- Country Grocer had a good habit of not using dairy in their baked goods, so I could partake in apple turnovers and such. And now my list is longer, too: rice and yogurt. Oranges, maybe. A donut.
Did you know I still have a LiveJournal account? I didn’t! It was where my online diction was kept from 2005-2007 or sortof then. I pulled it all into wordpress (here) at a later time. The biography I have written there goes thusly:
“Was consistency expected? I hope not, for I have already failed. Shoot: Violins are playing and I forgot my sheet music. Biography followed by various punctuation. I only write this here because the main page is for specific things, like overcoming chiche. Yeah? “I have an elaborate system of little pieces of paper ripped off the edges of newspapers and subscription cards. When I say “system” I mean “chaos”” Remember when you were in grade 12 choir and could sing either on key and quiet or off key and loud? You wish every day that you went with the latter, don’t you?
(Update, 2007: EVERYTHING IS THE SAME.)”
I’m going to try to delete this account. I wonder if I remember the password?
Edit: Yes, I do remember the password. Account deleted!
i'll try to be better. i promise 