It's been a while, and we've been busy

The summer has been really busy for Jason and I. I can't say why I haven't been posting, but I just never feel like working up something quirky to say. Tomorrow we leave on vacation, and I shall try to post as we go along visiting four different states and the District of Columbia as we attend two weddings and meet our new nephew.

We just got back from a weekend in Seattle after a couple conferences I attended. We split a hotel room with our friends Jessica and Dany and spent a day walking all around the city. It was amazing, but not quite like Vancouver. Friday night we had a great time on the Underground Seattle Tour and enjoyed some live jazz. By Saturday evening we were pretty tired, but we managed to hit 3 different bars including an amazing whiskey place. Here are some of our favorite picks.

Jason in front of the Seattle stadium and harbor skyline.

Jessica, Jan, and Emma on the bus after shopping in Fremont.

The Fremont troll - a giant sculpture under one of the freeway overpasses.One of the less than $10 flower bouquets at the Pike Place Market.

The Space Needle

Thirty

It has been coming for a while, but now it is past. I'm thirty and have been for a couple weeks. Jason and I celebrated the big day with a wonderful dinner at Seasons in the Park at Queen Elizabeth Park here in Vancouver. I spent all day at a conference and really enjoyed the time to relax with Jason. Jason's present was a new pair of earrings and matching necklace (right) which I adore and would wear every day if it wouldn't become obvious that I was always wearing the same jewelry.
Jason bought me this fabulous chocolate truffle cake from our local French bakery. It was delicious. Mom and Dad got me a bunch of gifts, not the least of which was a new pair of flip-flops.

My biggest change with turning 30 was getting a new hair-style. One of my co-workers insisted that I make an appointment at her hair salon and finally color my grey hairs as I've been talking about doing since I moved here. I think the results are pretty great!


Now we are looking forward to Jason's birthday in a few weeks!

Aunt Danielle & Uncle Jason

Oh, that sounds weird. Jason's sister Tiffany had Cullen Charles Oxford yesterday, May 13th. Both mom and baby are doing fine down in Florida. We expect them home Sunday, if not Saturday. Cullen was 6lbs 14oz, 20in at birth with all his fingers and toes. He looks like Derek with all the dark hair, but we are eagerly awaiting more pictures from Mimi and Grandpappy before making a final decision. Early front-runner nicknames are "Ozzy" from great-aunt Cindy and "Chuck" from Jason.

Next Week

Our nephew is scheduled to arrive next Thursday, May 13th. We are super excited for Tiffany and Derek to finally meet Cullen. Cross your fingers that all goes well. I am a bit sad that Cullen won't share Megan and I's birthday at the end of the month, but every generation has to be different, I suppose.

Footnotes on the Weekend

Work consumes us, but a couple things to note from the weekend:

1. Comment after visit to the dog park where the dog clearly revealed that he is not fond of water: The hot air in the dog's head will probably keep him afloat, so what's he worried about?

2. We survived two trips to IKEA in the same day and spent less than $200. Winner!

3. It's NHL playoff season. The NHL playoff commercials are amazing. My favorites are the Bobby Orr and Patrick Roy ones.



4. Jason and I now demand to go ice fishing. And we want to catch a big one. Check it out below.

Okay, so I am working on saving the world and have changed my "To Do List"ing to making lists of reasonable lengths. Enjoy some Gus love.

Bad Image Day

I wrote this post last week just before I had to teach, when all my insecurities were rising up at once. I feel better just now, but I still would like to hear what suggestions are out there for looking and feeling better.

Lately I have been having what I call Bad Image Days. My hair is imperfect, my make-up is non-existent, my clothes are out of style, my work performance is adequate, but not spectacular and my body is not bad, but less than ideal. So you know, I have been working on it. Letting my hair grow and thinking about highlighting it. Exercising to have the clothes fit better and feel stronger. Trying not to work every evening at home so that days at least seem more productive. It is not really helping. I always feel like I need to do "MORE" of everything - work, home, exercise, saving the world.

Realizing that some things will not change - as in I will never spend more than 15min doing my hair and make-up in the morning or 30min working out or 10 hours working each day - I'm looking for ideas of small things to build confidence at all these levels. I think I mostly have an attitude problem combined with a perception problem.

Spring Eating

I am posting about eating again. I think this may say something about my psyche...

It's spring, which means it rains less, which means we could wait outside in the sunny warmth for dinner at Vij's. Jason and I are not foodies, nor are we socialites, but we have wanted to eat this Vancouver hot spot for a while. The restaurant is smallish with only about 20 tables and no reservations, so everyone comes early and waits outside to be seated first. We arrived about a half hour before opening and missed the first seating by one table. Not a bad thing as you get free appetizers while you wait.

We had a delicious wine from Argentina with our meals of saag paneer (indian cheese in spinach sauce) with dal (lentils) and beef shortribs. I have to say that dessert of warm dumplings (like donuts) in cardamon sauce with hot chai was the best. We came home and started a movie and both promptly feel asleep with too full bellies. Yum.

3 things for 3 days

Easter break is technically 4 days here. We probably took 1 day total off - working at home today and worked until mid-afternoon on Friday.

1. We have taken Hedgehog Dog to the dog park twice in the last week, and both times had great walks with him off his leash. This is a huge improvement to the constant pulling, pushing, cajoling that usually accompanies a walk. He is still very tentative when off his leash - rarely running and walking very slow with a limp. A limp that he does not have the moment we get home. Everyone asks how old he is - just a middle-age guy (5 yr)! He obeys (mostly), and we have really enjoyed the time out with him. He's my first dog that doesn't bolt the moment he's free of the leash.

2. Easter dinner was fabulous. We started with my mom's spaghetti sauce recipe as a base and added fresh mushrooms, fresh Italian sausage, and fresh spaghetti for a wonderful meal. Dinner was completed by two Merlots, one from New Zealand and one from Oregon, to give us something to compare and chat about, and, of course, Cadbury CreamEggs.

3. We have been getting spring storms lately. The most distinguishing characteristic of them is high winds. In Delaware, I think these would qualify as nor'easters. Here, they don't have a term for them, but the winds regularly hit tropical storm to hurricane force. Upon listening to the wind the other night, I commented that I'd like to go into a basement, and we realized that this is the first home we've been in that doesn't have a decent tornado shelter. The Arkansas-Alabama-Tornado Ally gal in me is kind of disturbed.

Wheelchair Curling

The Olympics were amazing, but the Paralympics were better.

Okay, so the crowds were not as big, but they cheered as loudly and were just as excited to be there. Yes, Japanese and Korean fans are crazy. Really crazy, personal experience. Hedgehog Guy and I went to one of the curling sessions with three friends on the first Sunday of competition.

We got to see 4 matches, including the USA and Canada. Curling is very intense, but not exactly action filled. It seems a bit silly - throwing a rock down a sheet of ice. But then you realize the stone must be perfectly tossed and spun to stop where you intend. Then you realize that you can hit other stones with yours and that your incoming momentum and spin determines not only where the other rock goes, but also yours. Then you realize you must do this over and over and over while in a wheelchair, on ice. We tried this in a demo area, I overthrew each time (4 tries), but Hedgehog Guy got the hang of it. Did I mention all the stones, as in all curling stones everywhere, come from the same quarry in Scotland?

Both the USA and Canada came from behind to win their matches in the final end. As I mentioned, very intense. Enjoy a video. The USA is the second team from the bottom - the red - and it is their stone that is followed down the ice.

Yummy

A couple weeks ago, Hedgehog Guy found this great blog entry about turning one chicken into 5+ tasty meals for less than, drum-stick roll please, $25. So we had to try it.

First, Canadian chickens are not as large as the American chickens. Now get your mind out of the gutter and realize that they are also cheaper! To make all the recipes, we bought two chickens (Henriettas I and II), each about 3.25lbs (1.5kgs), each was less than $8.

This translated into twice the yummy roasted chicken goodness. I dressed mine up with fresh sage and thyme on the inside and outside. I even made one on a week night. Despite the terror of cutting out necks and salting naked chickens (I winced and closed my eyes), we had fun snapping a wishbone and now have the fixings for chicken stock in the freezer. We absolutley demolished both chickens - not a scrap left. But it was easy! The roasting means you can de-bone with just a fork.

My favorite leftover was the Seasame Noodles with Chicken. I love rich sauces. Hedgehog Guy votes for the Chicken Picadillo - we had ours over warm kidney beans and lettuce with shredded Monterey Jack cheese on top. Cleaned up three leftovers with that one (chicken, lettuce, cheese). Who knew you could put shredded chicken in the blender and 3 minutes later have ground chicken? We had the Chicken Curry in a Hurry by candlelight during Earth Hour on Saturday with a bottle of wine. Very romantic.

All in all, our two chickens gave us 7 meals for two. And we had big helpings each night because they were so good.

Oh yes, and each leftover recipe only took about 20 minutes to make. A big A+ in my book. Good eating!

Operation blog everyday

It is time to be serious about sharing. My other New Year's resolutions are coming along, but not this one. So, it begins today. Have a little Hedgehog Dog love.

Ice-skating

One of the most enjoyable events during the Olympics was Jason and I 's trip (okay, 15 min on the skytrain) down to the O-zone in Richmond. After wandering a bit, we found the ice-skating rink with cash in hand. For a loonie each, we rented ice-skates and sped around the outdoor trail. Jason was a pro! I was so impressed.

We also took in a bit of a show at the mainstage that night. Have to say that Huxley Workman's interludes between songs were much better than the music at this one.

Lastly, we also glimpsed the famous Heineken House with its infamous 2 to 4 hour waits for entrance. The big orange tent was impressive, as was the line. Rumor had it that it boasted bikes for easy transport for Dutch fans to and from the House and the long-track speed-skating rink in Richmond. All for a brew with hundreds of people you don't know.

We Touched the Stanley Cup!

Today we wandered downtown on the last Olympic weekend to visit the country pavilions. We only made it to four before the rain hit. We waited in line the longest for the Canada Pavilion inside LiveCity Downtown. But it was worth it. We got to touch and have our picture taken with the Stanley Cup! & real Mounties!

USA 13, Russia 0

Yesterday was our big Olympic experience - we went to the USA vs. Russia women's ice hockey preliminary game. Maybe the most amazing thing - we walked over to the venue, UBC's Thunderbird Arena, after working in the morning. Yup, microscope counting viruses in the morning, Olympic hockey in the afternoon.

Here we are walking up to the arena after the security line (we arrived an hour early and spent 20 minutes in the line up). There is a bit of crazy camera in the middle before a cute pic.

Our seats were really great. We were able to see the entire ice as well as the Russian goal for two periods. We had some Canadians behind and to the left of us and Russian fans to the right. Everyone had a flag or a jersey for one country or another. It was pretty awe-inspiring. We both had US flags and sweatshirts on. Here are the pre-game warm-ups. Russia is in red, USA is in white.

The US team was in control the entire game. Here is the first goal! We were soooo excited when they scored, and scored, and scored some more.

We ended up cheering for Russia. Everyone was cheering for them by half-way through the 2nd period. You just couldn't not want them to do something, anything. Any time Russia touched the puck everyone started yelling. I do not feel bad for being a bit of a traitor. To me, that is true sportmanship, rooting for the other team when they need inspiration. I must say that we didn't ever participate in the "Go Russia Go" chants, and I always waved my American flag when clapping for Russia.

Jason made it on TV! Follow this link and around 1:30:00 you can see him on the big screen TVs above the ice. While I was in the loo the cameraman zoomed in on him. Such a cutie!!!

Olympic Torch Relay

I can't believe I have not posted yet about the Olympics. They are here, finally, at long last, in case you had not noticed. I can hardly work from the desire to watch them on TV or wander around the pavilions downtown. We have a lot to post about, but have to start at the beginning.

Last Thursday, the day before the opening ceremonies, the Olympic torch relay ran by UBC. That's right, Jason could have watched from his office window. The Olypmic Torch came by our WORK!

We went out to the newly constructed green space across from the Student Union Building in the center of campus and stood in the rain for about a half hour before the torch came by. The crowd was probably around 500 students and faculty, some with family. We had some trouble finding some friends, and I was getting a bit crabby standing in the mud.

But then we finally saw the torch. The flame appears about 30 seconds into the video below.

It was amazing. I still get a bit teary-eyed thinking about it. How to express seeing this symbol of peace, unity, and sports in person?

The runner was a bit jumpy with the torch, but now I realize that he was just so EXCITED. We were all so excited, still are.

Big News!

The Olympics are coming! No, no not yet!

We are moving (again)! No, not yet!

We are getting a nephew! Yes, that's it!

"Getting" one, like it comes from the pound or something, you say? No! It comes from Tiffany and Derek, Jason's sister and her husband!

We are so excited to welcome the newest "Hedgehog", Cullen Charles Oxford, in early May 2010. Hopefully Tiffany won't mind a couple belly and ultrasound pics of her and the new baby.

Vancouver Aquarium

We finally made it out to the Vancouver aquarium in Stanley Park three weeks ago Sunday. We had a great time wandering around all of the exhibits. We even made the dolphin show, the otter feeding time, the frog feeding time, and the shark feeding time. And did I mention we saw a sloth actually moving!? Jason was particularly impressed by the feel of sea anemone tentacles in the touch tide-pool while my favorites were the sea otters, of course. Even saw a Hedgehog Amphipod. It was great way to spend a semi-rainy afternoon. We wandered into downtown on the way home and had crepes at that place we had passed a million times but never stopped at. Bananas and dark chocolate, mmmm. Here are a few videos from our visit.
First, Jason at the entryway



Watch out for Canadian eelpouts and giant sea anemones!


Jason is a walrus?

New Year Resolutions

Happy New Year from us! We have started off strong in 2010 with all of our favorite college football teams winning and the first work week of the year almost over. My New Year's resolutions are:

1. Get back on the diet. It is not really a diet in the sense of weight loss, but a diet in the sense of eating fresh fruit and veggies, homemade dinners, breads, and desserts, and less meat peppered with fewer yummy dinners-out. We're starting off by trying not to eat meat for the next 30 days. We are on day 4 and counting! Hedgehog Guy says the mystery meat on the sandwich at the luncheon today does not count. We really don't know what that was...

2. Exercise more. The bridge over the Fraser River is right there. Why can't I just go run over it? Motivation needed. So, that sounds like a reason to go shopping for a new "goal" outfit?

3. Plan a vacation. Preferably our vacation. A real one. Desperately needed. Some place that takes dogs.

4. Share more. Share more homebrew beer and recipes. Share more pictures and stories on the blog. Share more fun with family and friends. Our sharing starts with sharing Hedgehog Dog's ultra-cuteness with you.

Happy New Year!