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!

Christmas 2009

Jason and I overlooking Strait of Georgia at Lighthouse Park

Merry Christmas! My tardy blogging never fails....
My parents visited us this holiday, bringing along fudge, fun, and love. We miss you guys already. Here a few pictures from the past week.

Vancouver from outside the Granville Island Market where we bought Christmas dinner.

The triple present grab - Jason, me and Gus

Gus in his Christmas attire

Days later and we are all plumper!

Naica - Cave of Wonders

So, the month since the last blog post has largely been filled (for me) with planning and preparing and then going on a trip to Naica, Mexico. The big draw of this area is the Penoles copper, lead, and zinc mine which happens to also be home to the Crystal Cave, popularized by a National Geographic documentary a few years ago. The extreme heat of the cavern (>45oC) from nearby volcanic magma intrusion combined with supersaturated mineral waters resulted in the formation of gigantic gypsum, or selenite, crystals in a cave about 1000ft underground. I mean big crystals, 10ft long, 2ft wide. When the cave was blasted into and then drained by miners, it became one of hottest and most spectacular places on Earth.


I went with our lab manager to find viruses in this environment - hot, humid, but water filled. And we did! I have to be honest - I found the entire experience of being part of film production and meeting new people much more satisfying than the research. It was just amazing, and I'll try to write more later in addition to catching up on Thanksgiving and fall news.

I never blog, but I do try to save the world

This last year has brought a lot of change. Including many things influenced by our new "West Coast Green Hippie" lifestyle. Here are 7 things that we have switched to over the past year that save money and the planet.

1. High efficiency compact fluorescent light bulbs in every socket. They are expensive to buy (thanks Mom and Dad), but I have yet to replace one in over 5 years, and I just replaced the last regular bulb in the house last week.

2. Lower thermostat. So no air conditioning = no energy use, no freon, no money spent! They also run these ads here "Blankets. Good for snuggling. Turn down your thermostat this winter." Yeah, we are doing it.

3. Re-usable bags. I am proud to say that I now only use re-usable cloth bags at the grocery store AND the mall! It took a lot of courage to take the bag to the mall and say "Can I just put that in here?" I especially love that I use my Xstrata Copper Mining bag for this. The irony of it kills me. Saves money on contraptions to store plastic bags in - no more bag hutch for us - and many stores charge extra for bags. And I mean no more plastic bags - ever - we use washable plastic containers for lunch, and my last (smallest size) roll of Saran Wrap lasted 13 months.

4. Bake bread. Yes, the bread machine is a gift from heaven. I figure we spend about $1.50 per loaf, which lasts for a week of lunches for two. So yummy, so lacking in preservatives, saves in lots of ways. One unexpected saving is that it makes the house smell fabulous - saves on candles!

5. Mass transit. Although we drive to work (carpool), we use the electric train and the bus almost all other times. Fun. Most days. We can't stand suburban sprawl anymore.

6. No more Coke. Yes, we gave up drinking sodas. It started out as not having them at lunch, and we don't even buy 2L bottles anymore. No more cans, no more cost, fewer inches around my waste... We also re-use the same water bottles for lunch everyday. This has made a huge reduction in our waste stream.

7. Recycle and compost. Aunt Dolly reminded me - we do recycle! We have to separate paper from everything else, but that is it. We also compost everything possible, including some things that probably shouldn't go in. But, oh well, the environment has to figure out a degradation pathway sometime for this stuff. This means we've down-sized our trash can, and we only have to take it out once a week. This might sound disturbing, but when you don't throw any food scraps in, it never smells.