Canadian girl out and aboot

On Friday, I did an extremely yuppie thing and went to buy myself an ergonomic pillow. I am still having problems with my neck and this very expensive sloped pillow seems to be helping. It also seemed to help my sleeping. Let's hope.

I also watched "Blazing Saddles" which I absolutely loved. It reminded me of the current US presidential election. I actually laughed out loud a few times while watching it, which is quite unusual for me.

On Saturday, I finally met [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]. She hasn't been using her lj for some time now, but is still on facebook. Since we live in the same city, we decided to meet up. She's really quite great and we intend to hang out again. We went for coffee and then we walked to a thrift store and to the grocery store. I'm hoping to go watch her play roller derby in the near future.

( Great movies project )

Really, not much is happening. I have not been sleeping again. There were two days of sleep and then insomnia again. Last night it was my own fault. I started an addiction memoir. I've learned the hard way that if I start reading an addiction memoir before I go to bed, I'm likely to stay up late reading it.

It has been very warm here, which is nice. I've been spending a lot of time at home, working. Yesterday I went out to a garden outside of town, to talk to a guy who harvests and collects native seeds.

Today mom is coming to visit for the next few days.

When I woke up this morning, I was a little bummed out. I think it was because it was overcast, and I was lonely. I decided to try a class at the yoga studio down the street. It was perfect! It was very challenging, but I liked the instructor a lot. Afterward, my body felt really good. It's been a long time since I've attended such a satisfying class, and I'll definitely go back.

Then I came home, and wrote my book column for GP INK! My friend/former co-worker Kevin returned a phone call, and he came over and helped me put together my couch, which has been bumming me out for a while. The couch was sitting on the floor in pieces, and I was just waiting for someone to help me put it together. It was a pretty simple operation, but it just needed two people so it could be done properly. As a thank you, I took him out for ice cream.

I was feeling behind on the news but my newspaper subscription kicked in today. I opened the door to find the paper outside, which was a welcome surprise.

I did a story on reflexology last year, and was not particularly sold on the concept. I had my first treatment, and it didn't do much for me. However, I seem to have pinched a nerve in my feet from the 21 km walk. This Monday and Tuesday, I went for walks in my Birkenstocks and ended up limping around. So yesterday, I went down to visit a reflexologist. He told me that if you wear a particular pair of shoes for a long time, you can hurt your feet by switching to ones with different support.

He manipulated my feet, and even managed to soothe my shoulders by massaging one particular section. I got an hour and a half treatment, for about $40. He and I ended up talking for a long time about all sorts of interesting things. I immediately went home and changed my shoes after the treatment, and today, I've been able to walk around with no problem.

So, I'm eating my words today. Reflexology works.

Technically, 21 km is called a half marathon. I do not know if I will ever do a full one. 42 km is a bit much.

Anyway, I got there bright and early at about 7:45 p.m. The weather was nice, overcast, but a bit warm. Right before we started, they asked us not to wear headsets. A lot of people wore their Ipods, but since I use an actual headset, I ended up handing mine over to a radio Dj I know, who put it in his van for the duration of my walk.

The actual walk was good. I went at a steady clip, staying in the middle of the pack for most of the way. There were people there to cheer us on, give us water and make sure that we were going the right way, which is what I was really worried about.

At one point, it started to rain on us, which was quite nice. I just kept right on marching at a steady clip. At one point, the runners started, and so there was more fanfare and cheering. One family was cheering their relative on with airhorns and bells, and managed to add a lot of festivity to the track.

I laughed really hard because one of them tried to encourage their relative by yelling, "There's a sale on at Winners."
(This is probably only funny to you if you know my mother.)

Anyway, I ended up coming in with a time of about 3 hours and 5 minutes to walk 21 km. I actually walked past the finish line as I saw our sports reporter, Woody, who had his big camera out, ready to take pictures of us as we crossed the finish line. To try to prevent him from taking my picture, I gave him the finger and ended up walking by the line. He took a picture of me giving him the finger anyway.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, my chip (a computer bracelet that goes around the ankle to keep track of time) was yanked off my leg before I even noticed it was gone. Someone put a medal around my neck, and I was given a water and congratulated, which was nice.

Then I sat with my fellow walkers and discussed the race while eating some fruit. My editor said that her husband had shown up to the finish line with flowers for her, to which I replied, "That's really sweet, but at this point, I think I would have really liked a big bag of chips."

Fortunately, everyone thought that was quite funny.
I also won a draw and ended up getting a three month pass to the gym. I intend to take full advantage of their yoga classes.

It also turns out that I won a silver medal, as I placed second in my age category. (I don't really think there were many people in my age category, but it's still cool) I haven't seen it yet, because I had gone home by that time. My editor accepted it for me, and it's at the office.

****
My legs are sore, and I have three blisters on my feet. I've spent the rest of the day reading and watching movies. Tomorrow I'll be doing my chores. All in all, I had a fantastic time, and I'd definitely do it again.

I learned the hard way that I should not take melatonin. Melatonin can be used as a sleep aid, but it doesn't really help me. In addition to this, it also gives me a migraine the next day.


I've also learned that reading can be hazardous to your skin. I noticed that I was getting zits on one side of my face. After some careful consideration, I realized that this exact area is where I put my hand when I'm holding up my head to read.

Since I've stopped doing this, my skin has improved.

I am going hiking to Eaton Falls this Sunday. Eaton Falls is near Grande Cache, which is in the Rocky Mountains, about an hour and a half away from Grande Prairie. I have no idea why I didn't drive into the mountains or explore that area last summer.

I can't even remember the last time I went hiking. I strongly suspect it was back in 2003, when Dad and I went to Grey Owl's cabin.

1. I got my tax return and a freelance cheque yesterday. Plans include paying down some debt and a new bike!

2. Ian and I got Corb Lund tickets through work. Since we had four, we were able to offer two to my friend James so that he can attend. Apparently he loves Corb, so this is all good.

3. I went to a practice for Power of the Land last niht. We are taking the show on tour and will be presenting it in Dawson Creek this weekend. I am very excited and happy that we are able to take this show on the road.

4. My mom is awesome. My second guitar will soon be joining me up here. It's been living in Saskatoon with the parentals for the past few years. Mom looked at the case and noticed that it was severely cracked and broken. Since she is the best mother in the world, she went out and bought a new case. She also bought me some new Chinese bowls and dried tamarind, since I have become obsessed with it ever since I came back from the Philippines and haven't really seen any here.


Bad-
I slept like absolute crap. I woke up numerous times and just want to go back to bed.

I'm in a weird limbo sort of space. I think I had my little freak out last week, and am now feeling a lot calmer. I just finished the third draft of my freelance article and am going out to get a haircut, and then go do all the laundry that needs to get done before I go.

Tomorrow, there will be more packing, ironing and laundry.

We have received our itineraries for the trip.

APparently, we don't even stay in Manila for the first day. We are getting picked up at the airport and then will travel directly to Batangas City, which means three hours in a van. We'll probably all smell rosey-fresh until we get to our guest houses.

We will be visiting a communal farm, a veggie coop, an office desk chair coop (that should be weird) a deep sea fishing coop, a rice mill, a volcano lake, a coop where everyone is physically disabled, a sugar mill, swim in the ocean, go rafting, and have lots of visiting with coop members, their families, school workers etc. I hope this means that I get to meet a lot of Filipino kids because I love children and taking pics of children.

Squee! (and eep)

Yesterday I did a schwackload of errands, then went to see Sweeney Todd, which I wanted to like much more than I actually did. I loved the aesthetic and the general mood of it and thought the acting was great. I just didn't really get into the story.

After this, I stayed up late reading Motley Crue's "The dirt", which was a huge mistake. When I finally tried to go to sleep, all I could see when I closed my eyes was big hair, debauchery, murder and mayhem. I advise you not to combine these two cultural products.

I went ice skating today for the first time in five years. I plan to go again soon.

I have been coughing for the past two days and really want to stop. I don't feel sick, but I have to cough and my throat is itchy. Ugh.

( What I've been reading lately )