Cherry Blossoms

Amber on March 30, 2004

It’s that time of the year in Vancouver. The cherry trees and magnolias are in bloom. All over the GVRD streets are lined with pink and white confections. It’s very pretty. My most favourite are the rare ornamental cherry trees that have been grafted together, so that they’re half-and-half.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. The blossoms have been out for a few weeks now, and some of them are starting to fall. Those brave souls who park on the residential streets of Vancouver have cars coated in floral confetti. In suburbia I am safe from such things, but we do see lawns and sidewalks accumulating the discarded flowers.

Tagged With: Seasons

Happy Birthday Christy!

Amber on March 26, 2004

Today Christy turns 23. We celebrated her big day early, with a party last weekend.

Jon tried to call her today to wish her a happy birthday, but she wasn’t home. So, we hope that she’s out having a good time. Because, let’s face it, it’s all downhill from here.

Domesticity

Amber on March 23, 2004

Now that we’re homeowners, Jon and I have completed the final phase of our domestication. We spend weekends gardening, mowing the lawn, and shopping for our home. We argue about whether we’d like some sort of flowering tree in our backyard, or whether full-length bookshelves would go well in our office. For the record, I am pro flowering-tree, Jon is con. Jon is pro full-length bookshelves in the office, I am con. Oh, the drama.

But really, we like this. We like working in the yard, or hanging around the house with the cat. We are happy in domesticated suburbia, with our SUV and our laminate flooring. While our sisters live the wild life in the big city, we enjoy our quieter existence. After all, someone needs to keep places like Art Knapp, Home Depot, and Chapters afloat. We bravely answer the call.

Tagged With: Navel Gazing

The Cat is Looking At Me

Jon on March 18, 2004

I’m sitting here typing away, and the cat is in her usual position of lounging between the keyboard and the monitor, so I can better gaze upon her in all her glory. I think we should both get some sleep soon.

FIRE!

Amber on March 17, 2004

So, I woke up this morning and went in to feed Tilly as usual. Half-asleep, I caught a brief glimpse out the window and thought, “The hill is covered with snow.” And then I thought, “No, it can’t be.” When I took a second look, what I thought was snow was actually a large billowing plume of white smoke, coming from several blocks away. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was clear that a building was on fire.

It turns out that the elementary school, about 3 blocks away from our house, was burning down. According to some reports, about half of the school building was consumed. You can read all about it here. I am planning to drive by after work to check it out. I steered clear of it this morning since the fire trucks were still on the scene, and it’s not on my usual route anyway.

So, there you go. Big things are afoot in Coquitlam this St. Patrick’s Day.

A Week Off

Amber on March 16, 2004

OK, so I don’t have this week off of work. However, it is Spring Break. This means that all Girl Guide activities are on hold, traffic is light, and livin’ is easy. Things are just so much better when I don’t have to battle traffic and scarf down a frozen dinner on my way to yet another meeting. I relish my free evenings when they come.

Jon is off to cover the Canucks tonight, so I have the house to myself. I think I’ll make my trademark spaghetti-and-grated-cheese and watch some TV. Speaking of which, Jon watched Amelie last night, which is a French film, and the title character ate spaghetti-and-grated-cheese for her dinner. So, it turns out that I am rather cultured and refined. Perhaps I should take to calling it spaghetti au fromage, just for effect?

Spring Planting

Amber on March 14, 2004

Yesterday, I planted my garden for real. Up until yesterday, I did some weeding, prepped the soil for Winter, and put in a few plants. Mostly they were plants I already had, or gifts. But yesterday, I planted my garden.

Jon and I went to Art Knapp, and we bought some small flowering shrubs for our front garden. I bought some grasses for ground cover, and a not-too-small forsythia. I also bought a rose bush. I chose the Peace rose, mostly because it is fragrant, and I liked the colouring. But now that I read about it, what an ambitious flower for my little garden! I bought bulbs for Chinese lanterns and some other flowers. But I am most excited about my vegetable seeds, peas and carrots.

This year, I will grow my garden, and smell the flowers. If things go well, I will eat strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. I will dry mint and lavender, and cook vegetables that I grew myself. All because, this Spring, I am home at last.

Tagged With: Gardening

Girl Guide Cookies

Amber on March 12, 2004

Tomorrow, the ever-popular chocolate and vanilla sandwich cookies arrive for pick-up by Guiders. I was able to sample some at the district meeting on Tuesday night, and they have changed slightly from last year. There were some complaints over last year’s cookies, especially the vanilla ones, and I’m happy to report the new recipe is much better. At least, I thought so.

The cookies go on sale on April 2, so you’ll all have to see for yourselves then. In the meantime, I may let you sample a cookie or two, if you ask me nicely. You know, the first time’s always free, just to get you hooked.

Want to know all there is to know about Girl Guide cookies? Look here.

Tagged With: Girl Guides

Monday night

Jon on March 10, 2004

Monday night was not a good night at work. I’m sure you have all seen now what Bertuzzi did. I’ve seen a lot of hockey games in my life, but I haven’t seen anything that bad before. It makes me want to watch more basketball. At least all the violence there takes place with the posse at the nightclub after the game so I don’t have to be a witness to it.

We’ll go back tonight and play another hockey game. What I hope is the league can look at this and decide once and for all if the NHL is going to take their place as one of the premier sports in North America, or just continue to be the version of roller-derby on ice that the larger American audience continues to ignore. We’ll see…

Tagged With: Sports

Wedding Season

Amber on March 8, 2004

So, Jon and I went to his co-worker Danny’s wedding yesterday. Jon and Danny work very closely together at Orca Bay. Danny’s bride, Sophia, was just lovely. The day was beautiful.

This is our first wedding of the year (we have two). We are sort of at that age now, where all of our friends are getting married. We’re such trendsetters.