then by music

happy birthday, dad!!!

you’re the best dad ever. just saying.

last night was the annual christmas open house at harbour dance, where i’ve been taking all my dance classes in vancouver. it was really fun! my hip hop class performed what we’ve been working on and josh, kim, ed, and darren all came out to see what i’ve been up to every monday night.

i feel like i did really well (didn’t forget any steps, actually looked good doing it). the only problem is that during monday night’s class and later rehearsal i pulled something in my back. it’s been getting better all week but still bugging me and when i woke up this morning i could hardly get out of bed. this is actually something that happens every so often ever since the first time i did it when i was 16 and nearly lost my balance rollerskating (yes, rollerskating) during a mcdonald’s (yes, mcdonald’s) employee party at rollerland in calgary. the cool thing about that time was that my back hurt so much that i didn’t go to work the next day. instead, i went out on my very first movie date with my brand new boyfriend (conspiracy theatre at moviedome in case you were wondering). ever since then, though, when i pull this muscle in my back it’s mostly just really annoying. such is life, i suppose.

things have pretty much been ridiculously busy for the last little while, though this weekend i was able to get LOTS of sleep which has helped with both the cold i’ve been fighting for the last few days and my mental state. i’m really looking forward to christmas, 1) because i get to go to calgary for more than a weekend, and 2) my office is completely shutting down from december 24 to january 2, which means i get a free week and a half off. woot! complete office shutdowns are the best kind of time off too, because everyone is off. so there’s no worrying about anyone covering for you or wondering what kind of workload will be waiting for when you get back. everyone’s gone which means no one’s working which means a 100% stress-free holiday. my boss is even being nice enough to let me leave at noon on december 23 so that i’ve got lots of time to get home, retrieve a suitcase, and be able to catch my 5:15pm flight to calgary.

josh will be driving out there on his own later this week, which is something he’s been wanting to do for a while. it will give him the chance to be on his own for a while and when he gets to calgary he’ll have lots of time for catching up with old friends and whatnot without having to worry about any sort of schedule i’d be needing to keep. i wish my own trip could be as leisurely, but alas. it’ll be really fun, though! i’m going to try my best to spend some quality time with a few people i haven’t seen in a while, not to mention copious amounts of time with both josh’s family and kris (my parents won’t actually be around, they’re heading out on a cruise on december 20). and coming home, i think what we’re going to do is drive to lake louise to go snowboarding on december 29, stay somewhere out there for the night and then drive back to vancouver straight from there on december 30, coming home in time to do friend xmas/new year’s eve with everyone here.

dammit, talking about all this makes me wish it was all happening RIGHT NOW. doesn’t help that we actually got a bunch of snow this weekend and it’s looking very wintry here right now. oh wells. for now i just need to pop a couple ibuprofen and get on with my day.

happy birthday, kris!! you rule and stuff!

got back from regina last night with josh following the annual visit to my grandma, uncle, cousins, etc. i really enjoy going out there, they’re all good people and i didn’t see nearly enough of them growing up since grandma lived in lethbridge (much closer) with grandpa before he passed away. i love that i can be friends with my cousins now, too. rob, the youngest, is six years older than me, which was a huge difference when i was a kid and now we don’t even notice. he and his wife, dawn, actually took us out to a halloween party at a friend’s house, which was great fun. i love getting to know all of them now that i can actually relate to them and am not just a little kid underfoot or an awkward teenager.

it’s been a really busy bunch of weeks, but it’s been all good. josh and i got out to a show a week starting three weeks ago with flogging molly at the commodore (i don’t think i’ve ever danced so much at a show, it was one of the most fun i’ve ever been to), neil young and death cab for cutie at gm place (death cab was awesome, better than in pemberton i think, and neil young definitely deserves his legend status. the free upgrade from $50 seats at the very VERY top of the place to $260 seats in the first level didn’t hurt either), and frightened rabbit at the media club last week (they are so freaking good, i can’t get over it. and so genuinely appreciative for the great audience they had, it was an awesome show).

i think november will be quite a bit slower than october was, which will be good, but it’s looking like there will still be enough going on that there’s no way i’ll be getting bored. i’m really looking forward to my trip out to calgary at the end of the month (the second of three trips in three months) and then christmas comes up right after that, which should be a really good time with josh and i heading (back) out to calgary for longer than the standard weekend quick trip.

but right now? this is about what i feel like this early in the morning

kim and i were zombies doing the thriller dance a couple weeks ago! hee!