shuffle and draw (and cough up the dough)

So, I now own an iPod Shuffle. I sort of won it at a big long stupid pep rally at work. I only answered one question to win a rice cooker and put myself in a draw to participate in the final "weakest link" contest for the Shuffle. I proceeded to be the second strongest link, so I lost the Shuffle. Then, the winning girl said "Ha, I already have an iPod Mini," so I said, "I'll trade you my rice cooker!" and at first we just sort of laughed it off, but later she came over and said, "If it would really make your day, I'll still trade you," so I did and I was happy. People CAN be so nice!

I've also been having very many smiley days at work lately. I like lots of my customers, they feel like friends. Today there was this cute old Chinese man who was buying coffee to bring back to his friend at work, and he asked about two dozen questions to make sure he was getting his friend the most normal thing that everybody else always ordered. Which coffee is the most normal? Should he take cream? Which cream/milk should he bring? Which sugar should he bring? Could he also take a "drawing tube"? (He meant a straw.) Somehow helping this guy wiht every little detail just put a big grin on my face. What a silly yet considerate friend this man was! He was trying really hard.

Also, Aaron has just been SUPER nice to me these days, and it makes me extra happy.

I just noticed yesterday that our bank account has about $400 more in it than it did a few months ago, and this means that we are making more money than we're spending! Unfortunately, someone tried to break into our car (unsuccessfully) but we still have to pay the $300 deductible to get the lock and door fixed. *sigh* I guess the moral of the story is that the Lord provides, but it kind of feels like our success with money was all for naught. But it certainly would have been much more nervewracking if we hadn't saved that $400, so I am very glad for that.

I like this result...

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind. You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

I patted a fish!

My brothers (+1 girlfriend) have gone home, and now my house feels empty. =( But we had lots of fun. We went to the aquarium and saw really cute sea otters, and there was a little fish that wasn't afraid and I patted him. I patted a fish! It made me so happy that I did a little dance and sang a song until Aaron noticed and laughed at me and then it was over. But patting the fish gave me such joy!

Also, we started hiking up a mountain, but we were in a cloud and there was too much snow and our feet were getting wet, so Tobin and Karl played baseball with snowballs and a stick for a bit and then we turned around and went down to the bottom of the mountain and ran around a different park at sea level (where there were no clouds) and we found tidal pools with many many littel crabs. There were so many that when I closed my eyes that night I saw tidal pools crawling with crabs.

We also watched a few movies and played games like Risk, Settlers and the Bean Game. Tobin and Meghan bought some really good pop and gave us wicked-awesome chocolate as a thank you gift. I like Meghan, and it is good that she's going to be my sister-in-law someday. (This is unofficial but obvious information.)

I missed blogging, though. I like telling people about all the neat things I see and do! But guests/brothers are more important. I had a good weekend.

body language

On the weekend, my friend Robi mentioned that he tends to notice people's body language in restaurants. I sometimes try and figure out people's body language in my coffee shop. Today I met with an interesting and slightly disturbing puzzle.

First there was a man in his late 40's or early 50's. His body language was fairly normal: smiling, confident, relaxed, not particularly noteworthy in any way. He was accompanied by a girl whose age was hard to nail down, but she was teenaged-ish. Her body language hit me from across the room. She walked with swinging hips, chest out, chin up, and smiled too much. It had overly feminine results. She was dressed in a white blouse and black skirt, wore lip gloss and a necklace, but had a slightly unfashionable short haircut.

So here's what I can't figure out: Was she aware of her sexual body language? Did she just think she was being grown-up and sophisticated without realising its implications? Was she possibly even "with" the older man? Was she trying to hit on him? What was the nature of their relationship? Was it a job interview that she was trying too hard for? Everything about her behaviour said "I'm sexy and sophisticated and VERY available, hahaha!" but she was also obviously young and trying too hard. Anyway, it totally weirded me out.

a collection of thoughts on Mennonites (part 3)

Who is more ecumenical: the Mennonites who change their name to "Community Bible Church" because they see no need to hold themselves separate from the greater mainstream evangelical Christians, or the Mennonites who keep their name but seek out dalliances with the larger liturgical traditions (such as Roman Catholics and Anglicans)?

(a collection of thoughts on Mennonites part 1 & part 2)

pink and beyond

In church on Sunday, all the women got a pink carnation for mothers' day. The one I got was the exact same shade of pink as my socks! This was the highlight of my day.

I also saw a pink sunset.

Also, I picked/stole a stalk of tiny pink flowers to put on my fridge. Flower stealing is one of my favourite summer passtimes. I have guidelines about stealing flowers. First, the flower must be reachable from the sidewalk. Second, there must be enough of that type of flower that the ones you pick won't be missed. Third, they have to be quickly pickable so you don't attract attention (eg., roses are too hard to steal subtly, you'd need to use shears). The reason I can put flowers on my fridge is that I have this wicked awesome fridgemagnet that is a little glass test tube that you can put one or two tiny flowers in. It is possibly my favourite bridal shower gift of all.

I also saw pink rhododendrons at Aaron's Oma & Opa's house. At Oma & Opa's I also petted a nice cat and a nice dog. I laughed at the family people playing croquet. I ate grapes. I looked at bugs playing in a ray of sun. I got slightly offended at Aaron's Opa telling me that Mennonites pronounce the word "kielkje" a certain way when I had just said that the Mennonites I was related to said it a different way. I got included in the handing out of Mutti-Oma's costume jewelery even though I'm totally new to the family.

I also saw Mt. Baker again. For those of you who have never been to BC's lower mainland, it's by far the biggest mountain on the horizon. It's an old volcano, and it looks quite impressive. It's a little hard to see from Vancouver (due to whatever the atmosphere might be doing at the moment) but its hard to miss from Oma & Opa's.

It is nice and warm out.

I have 3 jobs I need to apply to before my brothers come to visit me on Thursday! My brothers are easily in my top ten coolest people alive list. One brother is also bringing his awesome girlfriend. We're going to have a full house.

avoiding

Hello all. I've been avoiding my computer lately because I think I have been spending too much time in front of it. To haul my brain out of the internet/blogging obsession that it was heading for, I have read a book (Stephen Lawhead, Elliot!), and I have done much sewing on my never-quite-finished jeans project. The jeans are complete enough to be able to tell that they'll be my favourite pair of pants once they're done. Super-comfy-o-rama!

The fun thing I saw today was evidence of a head-on collision between a toddler, a granola bar and the window. I was tidying up the store and I saw a huge pile of granola crumbs right underneath an extremely smudgy section of the window (none of which was higher than 3 feet). It was highly amusing. I should be on coffee-shop CSI.

yummer summer

Today somebody mowed the grass in front of our apartment, and we all know what that smells like...yummy summer!

I'm getting tired of all the traffic noise outside our bedroom. Here's the proof: Last night I had a dream about low-flying military helicopter exercises. Seriously. The only weird thing is that the helicopters looked a little more like tanks with rotor blades on top instead of like normal military helicopters, but I hardly think that diminishes my point. Tanks and military helicopters are two of the most noisy things I have ever experienced.

When, might you ask, have I experienced tanks? Let me tell you. At age 7 (1989) I lived in Berlin, and my family thought it might be an interesting cultural experience to attend a gigantic military parade on a communist national holiday. On this day I learned that tanks are loud. I remember trying to yell something at my parents, but they couldn't hear me no matter how loud I yelled.

In other news, I'm feeling much better. I can eat things! I even went to work today, but I had to go home after 3 hours because I guess I hadn't practiced standing up for more than 15 minutes at a time yet...I felt like falling over. But I'll be back again tomorow.

alphabet soup (plus graphic details)

Hello all. I'm sick. And bored. So, to avoid thinking too hard and yet still entertaining myself (and you readers?), I will do the Alphabet Soup quiz thinger, because we all love quizzes.

Alphabet Soup

Accent: urban Canadian (ie., the sort that occasionally gets accused of sounding American by rural Canadians)
Booze: fuzzy navels, pear cider, brown cow, and/or fun shots. and port. I wish I had more money to spend on booze.
Chore I Hate: taking out/sorting the recycling.
Dog or Cat: cat, in honour of Aaron's late feline Sasha.
Essential Electronics: computer.
Favorite Cologne: meh.
Gold or Silver: gold
Hometown: Toronto
Insomnia: not so much
Job Title: barista
Kids: none yet. hopefully not soon. but hopefully later.
Living arrangements: with husband in one-bedroom apartment on second floor with lots of windows, hardwood floors, and way too much traffic noise. did I mention the cheap rent? it's such a relief.
Most admirable trait: random enthusiasm?
Number of sexual partners: Aaron.
Overnight hospital stays: as a baby for birth and later for a random super-high fever thing.
Phobias: injuries to the achilles tendon
Quote: "That’s life. It hurts, it’s dirty, and it feels very, very good." - the most insightful thing a very SASy author ever wrote
Religion: Christian (mainly of the Mennonite variety)
Siblings: brother Tobin, brother Karl, sister-in-law Liana, brother-in-law Jesse. (I have a sister now that I'm married!)
Time I wake up: who knows? 9:30? my work schedule is so messed up.
Unusual talent or skill: super-stretchy cheeks? ...I once had the ability to make my retainer vanish from my mouth without anyone noticing, even if they were looking right at me. perhaps this indicates a latent ability for prestidigitation (sleight-of-hand magic)
Vegetable I refuse to eat: olives
Worst habit: procrastination.
X-rays: ribcage at age 7. turns out it was fine, nothing broken.
Yummy foods I make: brownies, scalloped potatoes, greek potatoes. latest discovery: apricot curry rice with pine nuts
Zodiac sign: Aquarius.

P.S. Do you all want to know how sick I am? (If you're not into graphic accounts of illness, please do not read on.) I puked. I puked up my entire dinner over the course of 3 hours. Then I puked up all the water I drank over the next three hours. Then I puked a phlegmy substance the colour of bread. Then I puked a phlegmy substance that was electric yellow. Finally, I puked a phlegmy substance that was a violent shade of green. I have never puked green before, although I'm assured that it's perfectly natural. Then I stopped puking. Now, 30 hours later, I've managed to eat one large cracker, half a serving of applesauce, and a piece of toast. I'm so shaky that I have to lie down every half hour or so. And I'm afraid to eat because my tummy is too burbly and I don't want to puke green EVER again.

doobeedoobeedoo

Today it was very windy, and the wind blew all the flowers off our tree. Now it's just green.

I found out on Friday that my dream job was given to somebody else. Perhaps this had something to do with the grumpy. It's alright though, I can see how the people they hired were better qualified. We were encouraged to apply when the job comes up again in 2 years, so I know we still made a good impression.

I am having a FANTASTIC hair day. I'm talking shampoo-commercial-quality hair. As far as I can tell, I did nothing different than usual, so I don't know how to have a repeat good hair day.

There is a crabby lady at work. She seems to enjoy manufacturing personality conflicts between herself and others. I suspect it's all because she likes to gossip and needs something to bitch about at work. Anyway, crabby lady paid me a nice compliment today, so I'm confident that she likes me and won't be griping about me behind my back. This feels good.

I only have 5 days left of work in the mall food court. The people are great (with the possible exception of crabby lady), but it's so freaking noisy and chaotic in the food court! I can't wait to be back at my own store, mainly because then I might be able to figure out what the crap is going on with my supposed promotion and training to be shift supervisor. I have reason to believe that absolutely nothing is happening on that front and that they just moved me to the mall to maintain the facade that "something is in the works" with my coffee career.

We had dinner with the in-laws today, and it was fun. We got to hear some juicy family gossip. I enjoy learning about my new extended family.

My mother-in-law let me cut some fresh lilacs to take home. Lilacs are our engagment flower (me and Aaron, that is). Now our home will smell pretty.

grumpy (but not sleepy)

Hi everyone. I've been somewhat grumpy of late, and when I'm grumpy I don't like getting all chatty on the compy. But I don't want my blog to be all "good" feelings, so here I am saying I'm grumpy, just for the record. I'll be talkative again soon.