Scooper came over on Monday night to help me put up some shelves. Things were going great until the wall around one of the shelf mounts in the bathroom collapsed. Now I have a gaping hole in the middle of the wall. Guess its time for a little patch work and paint in the bathroom. I should have known things would turn even uglier when Scooper joked about watching out for the shelves in my bedroom when I was sleeping. Sure enough, last night one started to collapse. Ughhhh!

Went to a silent auction last night in support of Minerva Foundation. Two hair cuts, a massage, movie passes and a dinner gift certificate later I am broke but well prepped to discover the city. I am desperate for a haircut so I figured they were worth the investment. Somehow I also came home with a pound of coffee but I think I'm missing some Alfred Sung perfume which was bundled with one of the haircuts.

Had a good laugh reading LA's post over at Victims of Circumstance yesterday. Ahh that was a fun trip. Another classic moment was the cashier's comment when I paid the ticket, it was along the lines of "Come to Georgia on vacation, leave on probation!"

I know I'm still in the honeymoon phase but really, I can't imagine living anywhere else after just a month and a bit in Vancouver.

Friday night NB and I went for a good hour and a half walk to look for Cherry Blossoms. I've taken some pictures however the party camera just doesn't do them the justice they deserve. I'm particularly infatuated with the bright pink blossoms. The picture below is at the school house right around the corner from my place. The positioning of the trees against the red brick of the school is quite striking.


Saturday I went snowboarding in Whistler with Scooper and a few of his friends. The conditions were great and made even better when the sun broke through the clouds early afternoon. The picture below is of Scooper on a run which is great for both families and bears. That's what the sign says at least. I beg to differ, if its a good run for bears, it may not be so great for families. Speaking of bears, watched Grizzly Man on Friday night...twisted. Will write a comment on it when I have some more time to process the movie. We finished off boarding with beers out on the patio at Creekside and a little buzzed shopping by Scooper and I in the Ski-Can store. Good deals!

Spent most of Sunday trying to walk normally as the old calves were a wee bit sore from boarding. Got a quick trip into Granville Market for some fresh soups and my fruits & veggies. Finished the day off with a good run which really helped the calves loosen up.

It was a bonus that the Oscars were over at 8PM PT. I still had time for a bath and a little CSI before bedtime.

Off to Whistler tomorrow to do some snowboarding with Scooper. I figured it was time I invested in a helmet so I've just picked one up at Comor Sports, more about the helmet later.

Shopping for the helmet got me to thinking, about some of the contradictions I make when it comes to my personal safety. I would never, ever drive without my seatbelt and I always wear my helmet biking. But when it comes to paddling I hate to wear my lifejacket. I know I should and I do if the conditions are challenging but I hate to. Ang and I got taught a good lesson in the summer when we were up training in Bala one weekend. We thought that we were both strong enough swimmers and close enough at all times to shore that we could swim in if there was a problem but you just can't underestimate mother nature's strength. We encountered some really rough water going around an island and kept tipping. After a while we started to struggle with swimming through the rough water and collecting all of our lost gear and then righting the boat. We were never in danger of drowning but it certainly taught me that the conditions can turn on you and you might not be as safe as you initially thought. So..I'm going to really make an effort to wear my lifejacket going forward. Probably smart seeing as I'm in a whole new environment here and don't know what I'm in for.

Here's the helmet. Nothing special, kept with black so it goes with whatever outfit I'm wearing (kidding). All I need now is to replace my disco goggles but I'm in no hurry as I kind of like them :)

Niki + Hills = Evil

Woo hoo, I paddled outrigger last night. It was beautiful out and really cool to see all the lights on the ski hills at Grouse and Cypress as I paddled out to Second Beach. Nothing like jumping into an OC-2 for a 90 minute paddle when you haven't been on the water for about 5 months. I couldn't even make it through the Gilmore Girls last night I was so wiped out. Arms are a wee bit tired today, could barely raise them to wash the hair this morning.

It's a sad thing when one gets angry with their Jeopardy desk calendar about how an answer was stated. I seriously thought I was robbed of a correct response this morning. Today's answer was: "Not red or white, the platelets, the smallest of these cells in the body, are important in the process of clotting". Anyone care to venture a guess?