Mother's Day, and interesting find and a Geocaching adventure!

The degree of my laziness and lack of motivation shocks me. To get to any of the tasks on my to-do  list is a monumental task. Here and there have been some notable events.

 We celebrated Mother's Day with a daughter-made breakfast and a visit with Nana, who was able to rouse herself from a doze towards the end of the visit. So we at least got a glimpse of her still lovely eyes.

A Fascinating Find

 On my walk down town one day I stopped off in a small park near our neighbourhood to read my book and enjoy the ever-present sunshine. As I was leaving I saw a van parked on the street at the park's entrance. One guy got out and tossed something onto a bench before getting back into the van and driving away. I was pretty weirded out. Drugs? A bomb? I had to know. Upon investigation, it turned out to be a book inside a plastic bag. To my shock it was a bookcrossing book! I had known about bookcrossing for a couple of years but had never really gotten into it because there wasn't much of a community for it in London, Ontario. Super exciting find! An in to a new hobby!

 A search to the Winnipeg section of bookcrossing showed that there's a particularly avid individual responsible for the release of nearly 2000 books into the "wild" of the city. I will try to read this book and set it free to a new location!

 Everywhere the many lilac bushes are starting to bloom and the smell is almost able to get through to my clogged sinuses. I have been put away in bed with the first and only bad cold of this year. I've found it odd that the only colds I've had in the last two years have been soon after arriving in this city. Stress at the change of scenery? Different stuff in the water? Who knows? Colds suck eggs though. You forget how awful they are until they happen and then it feels like you'll be sniffling and achy for ever!

 Finally planted something in my garden beds. Asparagus and onions. It's anyone's guess if they will actually grow. I'm told the next door neighbours have their lawn sprayed for weeds which may explain the pathetic results of my gardening attempt last year. The compost is looking good though. Heavy rains over Saturday have drowned my lettuce and Parsley flats so I fear nothing will ever come of them. But it was fun to attempt. I just have a death-thumb I suppose

 After 4 years of dutiful service, I was finally ready to say goodbye to my brown Sketchers shoes. They've seen me through two years of highschool, class trips to both Chicago and New York, visits to Winnipeg and nearly a year of Katimavik in Quebec and Labrador. So these things have really gotten around. But when they began to give me foot back and knee pain and ripped on the sides, I knew it was time for them to retire. Into the garbage they may go for their final adventure unless I can find some way to recycle or give them away.

 In an effort to say we accomplished something this long weekend, mum and I spent the day at the Fork's Market and tried out Parks Canada's Geocaching challenge. We learned about the Fur Trade and the uses and history of the Forks, the meeting of the rivers Assiniboine and Red in Winnipeg. We learned a few things and I got to show off my GPS skills learned from college.

 It was really a very beautiful day. Most days in this city are clear and sunny and not too hot. Perfect.

 We enjoyed a unique lunch at the market. Bison stew. For the price, it never fails to fill me up to satisfaction. I wish could have avoided all the plastic waste, but it was darn good stuff. You can't go wrong with stew.

 This weekend was Asian Heritage week and we were able to enjoy some dances while we had our afternoon coffee.

I received an email on Saturday from the NHE leader of Lake Superior Provincial Park, one of the places I was hoping to be employed this summer. They requested an interview with me sometime this week for a position to start on the 28th of May. Which is in a week. I was dually excited and freaked out. A week? Such short notice. And what if I wasn't to hear from the Pinery until perhaps the week after? That was my first choice.  And to leave so soon would mean cutting short my visit to Winnipeg and all the things I had hoped to accomplish while here. I can't help but get ahead of myself, I might not even have the job! But it's something that is sitting heavily on my mind. The upside of that job would be that I would be employed for 12 weeks rather than the 8 I was thinking I would get. More money and more time away from things that are very good at getting my money from me (coffee places and thrift stores). The other upside would be that the contract would finish two weeks before September rather than at the very end of August. That would mean time to visit again with mum, time to get ready for college and time to visit with friends and Sweetbean.... Ah conflict!

Wheels acquired!

I think I am in love. With Sweetbean. Well I already knew that and its been going on a while. But there's gonna have to be some space made in my heart for my shiny "new" set of wheels.

I have been hunting for a bike for a couple of weeks now. I'd gone to several bike stores with the intention of purchasing something new. I had prepared myself to spend a bit of money for something half decent, but it was still painful to my frugal sensibilities. So though there was a great bike at one store that I found, I held off, decided to sleep on it.
Super glad I did, because I got a steal on this bike. found it through Kijiji, where bikes seem to have a super fast turnover. If you want it you need to make your move quickly. In a desperate search to avoid having to pay so much I checked Kijiji with low expectations. But there it was, only having been posted a couple of hours before. I emailed, went to take a look at it the next day, and concluded that it was the most comfortable bike I had tried out in my entire search. Now my wallet is empty, but not nearly as much as it would have been.
Which means that I have a bit of scratch to put into installing a rear rack and panniers.
After the transaction, I flew around the neighbourhood squealing with a shit-eating grin on my face. This bike will open up so many opportunities for adventure.
Now it's just about deciding where to start!!

This weekend is set to be absolutely chock full of adventure. Our city is holding its yearly Free Day. People place unwanted things on the curb and treasure hunters collect it. There's nothing I really need other than a desk or a little bookshelf for the comic collection, but the thrill of the hunt and anything involving free stuff is too much to resist.
There will also be a zine fair, which I intend to attend (heh) with much enthusiasm.
Thankfully that is the only event of the day that will take away from my piggy-bank. Zines are really a terrible weakness of mine.
And if those two events aren't exciting enough, the Museum of Manitoba is offering free admission all Saturday. This cheap student says "whoooop!" Free stuff rocks.

P.S. Thanks to the lady who bought the bike for exercise then realized she would never actually put use to it.

Motivation and downer feelings

I learned once a way to motivate myself to do things I didn't really feel like doing. I would consider the ways in which I would benefit in doing it then. I came up with the values in completing the task. This helped immensely with house cleaning and homework. Sometimes there's so much that you want to do, that your brain freezes up like a five-year-old Apple laptop and you can't do a damn thing but sit there. I noticed after my first semester of college that, my motivation levels were tapped dry. I didn't feel like doing work, or seeing people, or volunteering, or being involved in school stuff. I wondered if I was depressed. Maybe I was, but then I felt I was just plain burnt out. Because I have this amazing knack for getting worked up over school stuff. My greatest fear in life is to be considered stupid by other people, and myself. Maybe it's my self I'm more worried about. Doing something wrong or not understanding a concept just makes me think that maybe I've been living in a huge illusion about myself all this time. Insecurities are a bitch.
I've learned to tell those little whispering bastards to shut up. I know I'm an intelligent person on some level, and I know that I am capable of way more than I realize. Inferiority complex from high-school maybe? What a barrel of laughs those four years were. How can you not feel s if you don't have two braincells to keep you warm when so many of your classmates will be sliding easily into careers as Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers and all those occupations that parents wish their kids would succeed in. I never wanted to be any of that though. My ambitions are much more relaxed and vague. Do right by other people. Work at something that impacts peoples lives in a positive way however small. Right Occupation it's called.

But man, things are going really well for me right now. But the little voice in my head that makes critical remarks is saying I'm not doing enough with my time, not working hard enough to find an awesome job, not doing all that I could do. But whatever, just have to take it a day as it comes and fill my time with talking to people and spending time with those I care about and getting out of the house. I'm happiest when I have good people to talk to.

Which confuses me. As an introverted person at heart, I find I have in fact a strong need for human interaction. Loneliness is really the greatest poison. How can you want both at once? Solitude and company?

Lots of sad-sack thoughts signals it's time I got out into the sunshine.

Wish Sweetbean would call. It always brightens my head.

Bike Quest! To overtake Coffee Quest

To say I'd like a bicycle would be putting it mildly. I NEED WHEELS!! I want a bike so badly that I dream about them. I watch people biking on the street and Grand-theft-auto 4 type ideas surface in my head.
I had hoped to find something for oh, max, $200. Welcome to the land of reality, if thats all you're prepared to shell out, you best be shufflin ass to Walmart or hope something good and not stollen winds up on Kijiji. Having had bad experiences with used bikes, and without the skills or tools to work on a fixer-upper, I began the hunt for something brand-spanking new. (My wallet is crying and I don't even have a bike yet) I sought out a couple of places with good reviews and set out with a week-long plan of assault. First stop, St. James-Assiniboia region (Portage west of Osborne) On the way, I ended up at a couple of places I hadn't heard about. Saw a very nice shiny red Raleigh hybrid. I wished that I knew what to look for in terms of quality in a bicycle. My main concern was price. After three places in a day and many many bikes taken for test rides, I came to a sad conclusion. If I wanted something of any quality, that would be worth fixing, or wouldn't need constant fixing, I would have to up my budget. So Monday left me with a couple of bikes in mind, the only thing stopping me from a purchase was the bulky manliness of a Giant Revel mountain bike. I'm not a prim girl or anything but it was just such an ostentatious thing. Something similar. The Giant was a decent price for sure.
This morning I checked out a place that was closer to home (walkable) and offered life-time of free tune-ups if you purchased your bike from their store. They carried different makes of bicycles so it was good to see some different brands. They sold primarily Specialized and Trek cycles. Tried riding a few and came to the more solid conclusion that mountain bikes are more for me. Hybrids seemed the practical logical choice, but after taking one out with front suspension and everything, I could feel every bump and jitter in my whole upper body. Nope. Maybe that style of bike is something that you have to get used to, but what if you don't?
I wasn't particularly thrilled with the service I received at this place, they were kind of all egotistical assholes, but I found a bike I actually really liked. So do you get the more expensive bike you like and just swallow the sub-par customer service? Or do you get the cheaper but slightly lesser quality bike from the people who didn't try to get you on the most expensive bike or make you feel weird for asking to sleep on it.
Sigh. I wish I had someone bike-savvy to help me out with this.

So prettyyyy.

A Wander in the Park

I've heard a lot of people say that while  there are people that will leave Winnipeg, they will usually come back eventually.That has definitely been true in my mum's case. And it has been in mine too since going away to college. To those who've never been, or don't know much about Winnipeg (most if not all in Southern Ontario, seriously it's more than snow and flatness :P), it can be hard to see how much is going on here. And even if Winnipeg is the city you call home, you have to do a little homework to find all the hidden gems the city has to offer. So when I returned from college in Ontario, I was caught by all the events scheduled and reminded of the cities strong arts community. This place is great!

What I was really able to appreciate this weekend was the beauty of Assiniboine park, a massive place, where there's a zoo, an English and sculpture garden, museums, a skating pond, and a giant stage where the Royal Winnipeg Ballet does demonstrations in the summer time.

 After a visit to Nana's, we wandered around the park. We checked out the new Nature park built for children. It looked fun. Only it was a bit weird that they had boarded up one of the slides. Kids were using it anyway.

 Pretty flower I wish I knew the name of

 Unfortunately, the museum was closed for an event that day ( a wedding I think). Got a look at the menu for the restaurant in there. Real swanky stuff. The fanciest food I've ever seen (even more so than La Cachet with Sweetbean in Niagara on the Lake)

 The English garden was beautiful, even though the flowers haven't been put in yet.

 Sculptures of bears by Leo Mol. This guy really liked bears apparently (There were at least six more sculptures)

 Sat and had our coffee. As if I needed a second one at 3 p.m.

 Mystery plant. So delicate and pretty.

 John Diefenbaker

 The Mr. A.Y. Jackson. Didn't realize who it was because they had spelled out his name in full. That throws you when you're used to initials

 Angry Moses

 The last time I visited this garden the gallery was closed too. One day, we will know what lies within! That and the gallery in the Pavillion!

 Sun dials are so cool! This one was an hour behind by my watch. Or my watch was an hour ahead.

Rummaged around in my sock drawer and found this thing. It brought me back to the horrible time when my thumb got infected, and I had to do a lot of waiting in various hospital waiting rooms before finally being admitted into a community IV program for 5 days of antibiotics. Glad that's done! All my cuts will be disinfected to within an inch of their lives now.