Canadian girl out and aboot

Today I took my bike to get tuned up. It was a really quick job. The mechanic just had to adjust the brake pads, put some air in the tires, put a new bell on the bike and tighten a few things up. Then I rode back home. I would have liked to go for a longer ride, but I'm still catching up on work.


My latest short story submissions were rejected, so I sent another one out today. I really want to write more stories, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. It's somewhat frustrating.

Yesterday I participated in my first dance recital in an unknown number of years. Our piece was a veil dance that was about three minutes long. It was a great experience, as always, because I was born to perform, and I LOVE performing.

However, there were a few things I learned from this performance. For some reason, I can be incredibly modest and almost prudish in some areas. I find this really weird. I write sexy poetry and like to say off-the-cuff things, but sometimes I get really uncomfortable by other people's sexuality or nudity. For example, one time I was talking to my neighbour while she was wearing a towel, and I just felt really uncomfortable the whole time. In another instance, I was in a yoga class with a guy who wasn't wearing a shirt, and I just felt really uncomfortable and wanted him to cover up.

I don't really like wearing bikinis, so I opted for a modest tank top for my belly dance costume. BIG MISTAKE. Once I saw all the women dressed up in the pretty sparkly bras, I was really sorry that I hadn't gone that route. It was actually so empowering to see all the different sizes and shapes of women, sporting their bellies with extra padding, stretch marks, etc, not being ashamed. In my next recital, I'll definitely be rocking the bra and get over my own self consciousness.

The other thing was how incredibly lonely I felt during the performance. The attendance fee was a bit high, so I didn't ask any of my friends to come watch the show. This was a mistake. I felt really lonely and sad afterward as I was watching all my dancer friends hug their moms, boyfriends or family. It kind of sucked. Next time, I might ask a couple friends to attend. I was thinking about it this morning and realized that I would have many, many friends who would attend in a heartbeat if I was giving a reading. It was just the price that stopped me from asking people. Hmmm.

I have been sick for a week now. I really want this cold to end. By Wednesday night, I knew that I would not be recovered by Thursday, so I cancelled my hotel reservation for Thursday night. I had planned to go to Red Deer on Thursday to attend a fruit and vegetable conference called "Berry and Vegetable School."

By sheer coincidence, we had a freak snowstorm and I couldn't have driven to the conference anyway. By Friday, I was a bit stir crazy and I decided to drive down to the conference for the day. I was very happy that I did. I ended up attending four sessions and met a lot of great growers from all over the province.

That night, I drove back and got into town just in time to hang out with two former coworker/friends who are visiting from Grande Prairie. One of them had planned to stay with me, but they're now staying in a hotel about four blocks away. This actually worked out well, as it allows them to be in my 'hood, but I can still manage to catch up on my sleep, which seems to be imperative.

We enjoyed a late dinner at a new Persian restaurant that opened down the street. It's the only Persian restaurant in town and has been getting a lot of good reviews. The food was good, and affordable and the service was excellent. I want to go back and try their Persian tea.

I haven't been doing anything particularly interesting lately.

1. I attended a one day session on canola.
2. I found about 60-70 pages of poems and have been working on them, which is really cool.
3. I seem to have caught some sort of weird chest cold and have been coughing a lot. I slept a lot yesterday, and feel better today.
4. I was finally able to ski again on Friday. I now need to get a lot of physical exercise and feel so much better when I am able to do so.
5. I watched "Gonzo", the life of Hunter S. Thompson, and "New York, New York" yesterday. Parts of "Gonzo" were supremely interesting, while other parts were dull. "New York, New York" is really, really long and sad. I think Liza Minelli is completely weird looking, but I love young DeNiro. I also think Scorsese is a genius. He remains one of my favourite directors, even though I think he could have used an editor for this film.

Farm tech was actually a pleasant experience.

1. It was in Edmonton, so I can go home and work.
2. The demographic was younger, and included more women. People were also more relaxed and laid back.
3. There was less machinery and less "testerone tire kickers" as one of my farmer friends put it.

4. The focus was on technology, sustainability and innovation, which are all areas that I am really interested in.

5. I got to attend lectures done by scientists who explained how research can impact farming. These were pretty informative. My favourite one was on plant language and how you can tell if your plants are nutrient deficient. I went home and checked on my houseplants after this talk.

6. I am feeling a lot more confident and know more people at these events. I have more people to talk to, and sit with during meals. I have more of an understanding of what is happening, and I keep meeting people who introduce me to other people, so I keep learning more.

7. I felt a lot more confident about what I was writing and doing.

So all in all, it was a great success and a good boost for the ego to realize how far I'm come in this field in the past 6 months.

****
Unfortunately, I seem to have caught a cold and so I'm going to be resting a lot this weekend. Boo. :(

I'm watching the Inauguration and trying to do a bit of work. I went to belly dance class last night and am actually quite sore from that. I've been a bit of an exercise freak lately, but it's good. My body feels better, and I can actually fall asleep. Let's see if I can keep it up. Expect a lot of movie talk for the next few posts as I've got a lot to go through.

( The curious case of Benjamin Button )

Before Christmas, I was having many problems sleeping. These problems seemed to fix themselves when I went home. When I returned to Edmonton, I read one book about sleeping and have several more in the library queue. My sleeping habits have been remarkably better.

I've learned some interesting things, such as

1. Vitamin B deficiencies can have a negative impact on sleep. I've been really stocking up on Vitamin B and Vitamin E. If you are lacking in Vitamin E, you could have restless leg syndrome.

2. You can also have sleep issues if you have candidasis or any kind of problems with candida. (I don't, but I thought this was interesting)

3. I find that one of my problems was that I work from home and am on my computer all the time. Now I try not to look at my computer late at night.

4. I try not to talk on the phone late at night either.

5. I listen to music when I get into bed at night and use this as part of my sleep ritual.

6. I try to do deep breathing if I feel anxious before I sleep.

7. I've been exercising more and I think this helps me sleep.

8. If I can't fall asleep in my bed, I move to the couch. The sleep book said it's okay to change environments so you don't respond to the cues from your first environment.

9. I try not to check the clock and freak myself out if I can't fall asleep.

I'll share more of my findings as I continue learning them. Insomnia has been a lifelong issue for me.

I am ready to go back to Edmonton. My brother has this nasty plague and we actually sprayed the entire computer after he was done coughing his gross germs all over it. I really don't want this plague.

I am also feeling the need for my own space and routine. It has been a lovely visit, but I am starting to go a bit stir crazy and want to get home.

I have also been SLEEPING since I got home. We're talking hours of sleep, without any medication. This is fantastic, and I hope it continues when I get back to Edmonton.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I will be able to drive home before Thursday, due to the weather and winter storms. Thursday is still up in the air. I just need to keep on checking the weather reports and forecasts every day.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. It's hard not for me to feel worried about the presidential election. I've been trying to avoid a lot of the coverage, because it makes me feel anxious and powerless.

Work is also really busy this week. Today I attended a beekeeper's convention at the Fantasyland hotel. I listened to a panel on the economic impact of winterkill on beekeeping in Alberta and another overview of what's happened with Alberta bees. Did you know that China is the leading honey producer, followed by Turkey? Did you know that the health research into honey is growing? Yay.

Also, the bee situation in Alberta is getting better. Thank god. Beekeepers are a friendly bunch. I ate lunch with a bunch of nice people and chatted with three researcher who I've met several times over. The lunch was great- lots of fresh fruit and salads, and a choice of salmon or beef. This is quite unusual for farm related meetings. Also, the beekeepers are the only producer group that offers apples as a snack between meetings and at coffee breaks.

After the meeting, I went and walked around the West Edmonton mall, doing a little bit of look/shopping. Then I felt overwhelmed and tired and went home to do a bunch of errands. I arrived home to find out that I have benefits, as I've been at my job and in Edmonton for over three months. It seems like it has just whipped by, which is a good sign. As I've mentioned before, I'm really quite happy with my life right now. It's a great feeling.

Tomorrow I'm at Farmfair and will attend a bunch of cattle related seminars.

I had an actual weekend this weekend, which was pretty damn awesome. I was pretty startled to have two days off, with no farm events, friends visiting or conferences to attend. It ended up being nice and peaceful. I did some writing, and walked downtown to see "Nick and Norah's infinite playlist" which was okay. Michael Cera and Kat Dennings were precious and awesome as the titular characters and the movie made me miss New York, music, bands and kissing boys. However, there were some sexist parts and parts that I would have edited out. I definitely liked the book better.

Did some writing yesterday. I've written two short stories this month, but don't expect that trend to continue into the start of November because of work.

I attended a kick ass yoga class this morning and then came home and floundered as I tried to find myself a hotel in Red Deer so I could attend Agri-trade, which I'm supposed to report on. I will actually be writing a bunch of stories for a wire/web service, which should be a good experience for me. I can't believe I was so slow to find myself a hotel but I just sort of got into gear today. Anyway, after calling about 10 places, I finally managed to snap up the last non-smoking room in the Stanford Inn. I received the tip to try the Stanford from another hotel clerk, who said that it is in a stage location, so most people don't think to call it. I want to send the woman who referred me some flowers or something. I hope she gets good karma.


The eczema on my right hand is really bad. I've resorted to wrapping my hand in saran wrap and lotion before I go to sleep. This seems to help with some of the dryness. I'm also trying to drink more water and am taking flax pills. One thing I've noticed is that even when I have a day that is sad or lonely, it doesn't seem as bad as it has in the past. I am just so much lighter and happier and everything is easier. It is just such a huge relief.

I ran into another GP person in Edmonton. So far, I've run into three people from GP since I moved down here. This time the meeting occurred at the post office.

Tonight I'm going to meet a friend and attend her knitting group. I will not be knitting, but I'm looking forward to meeting some cool ladies.