Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Randy and I stayed here for Christmas this year, a first since we've been together. Well, we didn't stay in Vancouver itself (I don't think I ever want to spend Christmas in rainy Vancouver!) but we stayed in BC.

We spent Christmas at Big White ski resort near Kelowna with some friends. Unlike the coast that has been dry, dry, dry, Big White has a good snow base and the skiing was great - especially for this time of year. We had some fresh snow on 3 of our 4 ski days. I was really happy to ski for four days in a row (okay, 3.5 days because we had a slow start on Christmas day) without much warm up as well as other considerations.

                     On the slopes at Big White.                   Just before the aliens laser-beamed Randy away.

Skating at the outdoor rink. Well, technically, sitting in a snowbank beside the rink.

We had planned on going on a backcountry ski trip with some friends over New Year's but the lack of snow changed the plan. Most people went surfing instead but Randy and I skied into a hut for one night and came back to Vancouver for New Year's eve. It was so nice to escape the city again and get above the clouds into the sunshine!

In front of the hut at Cerise Creek. What a wonderful view to wake up to!

Our camera wouldn't capture us and the valley below.   The valley below - I should photoshop us into this one!

Happy New Year!!

My thumbs are not green

We don't have good luck with houseplants in our apartment. I'd like to blame it on the physical environment that I cannot change because the only other explanation is that it's me.

Randy bought me a rose plant for Valentine's day two years ago and it was the cutest little plant with small, pink flowers. I tended it with care but noticed one day that it was covered with something that looked like cobwebs. Hmmm. On closer inspection I discovered that it also had aphids. In fact, so did our other house plants. Aphids and I go back a while - back to my days of doing field work for Pioneer. The canola was covered in aphids and as a result so were we. Our sweaty, sunscreen-slathered skin would be covered with them and when it was time to re-apply the sunscreen there was no choice but to smear the little aphid bodies all over your skin. I accepted them in the field, but in my apartment it was another matter. And what's with the cobwebs?

I emailed a green-thumbed friend of mine and she diagnosed spider mites! I mixed up a home remedy in a spray bottle and went to town. It did the trick and the mites and aphids died ... and so did the plants. Maybe I overdid it. Apparently rose plants are very difficult to keep inside so I felt like I did well keeping it almost a year. The ivy on the other hand ...

Here's the rose plant just before things went bad. I guess the mushrooms should have been a sign.

I learned that jade plants are susceptible to root rot if over-watered. Oopsies. I killed it with love.






I also learned that houseplants do not need a holiday outside. But look (on the right) - a new shoot!


I think this is what a cactus looks like when it's trying to run away:

On Valentine's last year Randy asked the florist what type of plant was easy to keep and he came home with a jade plant. Jade plant #2.

 I've been very careful not to over-water it ... and yet it still looks like this now. <sigh>

I refuse to read anything into these experiences about my nurturing abilities. A dog or goat would be much easier to keep. If it was hungry, I'd hear about it. If it was over-fed, it would be obvious before it suddenly started dropping off body parts.

Hopefully the jade plant survives but if not I'll be looking forward to jade plant #3 on Valentine's day. Third time's the charm, right?

Zumba!!

I love zumba. Every time I come back from a class Randy comments that I have a big smile on my face. Zumba is a dance-inspired fitness class, so it's basically just aerobics with more dance moves (but not necessarily more coordination) and fun, mostly Latin dance music. You might do a bit of salsa, then a squat or two, then jump around. Part of what makes the class so great is the instructor - I really like her choice of music and choreography. Of course she makes everything look good, and it feels like you're following along exactly, and then you look in the mirror ... and have a laugh. I have the same issue with zumba that I did with ballet in that from the waist down (well, maybe hips down in this case because there's a fair bit of booty shaking) I'm pretty good but my upper half always just looks like a flailing scarecrow. Example:

My favourite zumba song is a samba remix of A-ha's Take on Me (you can find zumba videos to this song online if you're curious). We also do a fun dance to Shakira's Waka Waka (This Time for Africa). I was recently out in public dancing with some friends and one of the zumba songs came on! I was so disappointed in myself because I couldn't remember our zumba dance and so had to just bop on the dancefloor like everyone else.

I was trying to explain to Randy after my last class just what I like about it so much and he thought that it's like being a little girl again - free to jump around. I challenge you to put some fun music on and jump around with your arms in the air and not have a smile on your face!

Some goat time!

I got to spend some quality time with goats on our holiday! We visited the Blue Heron French Cheese Company in Tillamook, Oregon where I was excited to discover that they keep goats and sheep! I patiently waited until all the little kids had had enough, then I had the goats to myself. I knew just where this guy wanted to be scratched:

He also wanted food so I bought a little feed bag for $1. They're clever goats and they know how the system works: one distracted me while another one made a grab for the feed bag. My reflexes are quicker than a 5-year olds so I was able to foil the plan - the bag ripped but the feed didn't spill. I rewarded them with a big handful.

We had another animal encounter while camping on the coast. I had left my wet bathing suit on the picnic table overnight and I woke up to discover this:

A dirty suit. I admit I had the fleeting thought that someone (not naming names) might have dropped it on the ground and picked it up without wiping it off. But then I had a closer look and saw this:

 

A raccoon print. (It doesn't show up very well in the photo.) It must have been looking for food scraps on the table and just happened to prance all over my suit. I also got to pet a sea lion!

 

And now I'm back in our apartment in the city where the only other living things are the occasional spider and the house plants we have yet to kill.

I love my wetsuit!! And the coast guard.

My first coastal windsurfing experience turned into a bit of an adventure!

------------Spoiler alert! -----------------
I was never in grave danger and it all ended happily.
----------------------------------------------

We sailed for one day in Hood River, OR, as per usual, then went to Oceanside on the coast for some wave sailing. It was a struggle getting into position to launch but once I was set I made it out through the beach break in one go. I was having fun sailing out in the rollers for a while but the current and wind were taking me gradually down the beach. However, I was staying close to Randy and the other windsurfer on the water. Then I had a bad reach. The wind had picked up and my sail was now too big and the wind was gusty and turbulent. Instead of pushing me nicely along the wind now kept stopping me up and I lost a lot of ground in one reach. I wanted to come back to shore but the thought of making it back through the shore break when I could barely sail was a wee bit terrifying. I tried to go for it a couple times but ended up back in the water. I thought of ditching the sail and riding the board in on my stomach but figured if I was going to ditch the sail anyway I might as well try to get in with it. (Breaking waves are dangerous for the gear because the mast can get skewered into the ground and break, ripping the sail in the process.)

Randy had now walked down the beach to where I was and was watching my progress. Hmmm, "progress" probably isn't the best word to use. He could only see me when my sail was in the air because of the waves. Then a big wave broke on me and I let go of the gear in the turbulence. Just for a second. It ended up not too far from me and I tried swimming to it but the waves kept pushing it farther and farther away. I couldn't swim very efficiently with my life jacket on but didn't exactly want to take it off ... so after several minutes of chasing the gear I decided I should just head for shore.

By this time Randy hadn't seen my sail in a while (and either had I for that matter) and he became really concerned and called 911. Meanwhile I was bobbing along, swimming to shore. I had a thick wetsuit with hood and booties and a lifejacket so I was warm enough, it was just slow swimming in all that getup and the strong current was pulling me down the beach into a bay. After a while I saw emergency vehicles go by with their sirens on in the direction of the beach I had set sail from. I thought, "Oh crap, I hope that's not for me." And I kept swimming. There were people on shore who were keeping pace with my drifting down the beach so I thought I was in sight. I came to a sand bar at one point and could run towards shore in waist deep water between waves, then was in deeper water again. I was so close to shore at this point but progress towards shore was very slow because of the current at the entrance to the bay. A couple jet skis sped past me but I couldn't see if they were coast guard or not. They didn't seem to notice me; I thought of waving to them but was so close to shore at this point and I didn't want to bother them if they were just touring around or coast guard off to save a drowning person.

Someone jumped in a kayak and came out to meet me but by the time he got to me I was able to touch the ground so just walked in. He seemed disappointed that I didn't need a tow. Then there was a bit of a commotion on the beach and people told me that there was a windsurfer missing in Oceanside. I told them that it might be me. There was no cell reception so we went into a little store to use the phone and I talked to the coast guard and confirmed that I was okay. A guy who lived in Oceanside offered to drive me back (he had been kiting earlier but had stopped because the wind was so unusual. He does polar expeditions! http://www.polarcircles.com/) and a few minutes later we pulled into the parking lot where Randy was waiting with a bunch of emergency workers. I knew he was so worried about me that he wouldn't care that I didn't know where all the windsurfing gear was!

The other good news is that the nice guy in the kayak (friend of the guy who drove me back) found my gear bobbing along in the bay! It was pretty far out so he apparently asked the coast guard people to get it with their jet ski. It was waiting for us beside the boat ramp in the bay. I guess they can add that to our bill?!

My only injury was this. I'll let you guess what body part this is.


We're going to get radios before my next coastal sail!

In the next blog: a goat encounter!

Goatmilkinggirl is a master of science

I successfully defended my master's thesis! Sadly my master's is not in goat milking; it's in biomechanics. <sigh> At the defense I gave a 20-minute presentation and then audience members had the opportunity to ask questions before the examiners began their questioning. Randy raised his hand. My supervisor said afterwards that he had never seen a spouse ask a question before. I was able to answer the question; we are still married.

As well as writing and defending my thesis, I thought it would be fun to sew a dress to wear to my defense. I admit now that it turned into a slightly bigger project than I had thought it would be... but I finished the dress with several days to spare. During the project the kitchen table looked like this for several weeks and so we ate on the couch:

Here I am, post-defense, enjoying a well-earned beer in my dress in the sunshine. The pattern is from a local pattern-maker and seamstress and it's called the Cambie dress after the Cambie street that we live on.


Enjoying a beer in front of our building.

My Cambie dress.



















After finishing the dress I sewed book bags as thank you gifts for my supervisor and another researcher who was incredibly helpful. I used lining fabric with little whales on it because they both study whales (unfortunately the straps hide them in the photo). The bags have a subtle geekiness - the dividing line between the two fabrics is the shape of the curve on one of the plots in my thesis.

Masculine version (whale lining is there, just not visible).

Book bag with whale lining.

The inspiration for the bag design.

 

And then I promised Randy no more projects for the rest of the summer. Well, maybe just a little one; he won't even notice.

 

My biking mojo

I've got my biking mojo back! I had lost it for a while but I've got it back now.

When I first starting mountain biking in Vancouver I had to really push myself. The trails seemed full of big, slippery roots waiting to stop my front tire while I sailed over the handlebars and rocks with drops to certain death on the other side. Yes, I exaggerate. I don't do anything extreme I'm just a bit of a chicken.

I had been steadily improving over the years and then I met Randy, who was not a mountain biker at the time (but he was a skier so was acceptable). After he got a mountain bike I went back to the more beginner-ish trails with him and settled happily into my comfort zone.  But I noticed that there were certain things he could do, seemingly naturally, that I had had to learn. When I commented on this he said, "Didn't you jump your bike off the curb when you were a kid?" No, I did not. That might have upset my basket or dislodged my streamers.

Randy steadily improved and quickly passed me in ability, except for the uphill technical parts - I still had him there. Granted my bike is lighter and made more for climbing than his, but let's not over-analyze the situation.

Then last year I lost my mojo. I stopped riding over things I'd been riding for years. I took it easy before our wedding because I didn't want to be hobbling down the aisle on crutches and after the wedding I just never got it back. I was getting worse while Randy was getting better; he even had me on the uphills. He must have stolen my mojo!

At the beginning of this year it was still gone but there was the Maui trip to think about. It would have been a shame to get injured just before the trip.

Now it's finally back!

I had been starting to wonder if my mojo was gone because I'm approaching (just approaching, not quite there yet) that age where I consider more thoroughly the consequences of my actions and start to take things easy. No, can't be that. It's much better to blame it on Randy.