I redeemed myself for the Crocs thing. I went out and spent a whole lotta money on a pair of John Fluevog shoes (my justification is that they were on sale. And as Sheila pointed out, if I hadn't bought them, I wouldn't have saved $85. Sheila is a wise, wise woman. Who is not allowed to bring me to fabulous shoe stores ever again, at least not without first confiscating my wallet.)



Anyhow, in Victoria now. It is sunny and things are in bloom and I haven't started sneezing yet, so I think I will make this a short post and head outside for a nice little walk (not in my new shoes, sadly. They are ridiculously comfy for dress shoes, but I think I don't want to break them in with a 40 minute walk.) More on Ottawa and the shameful, yet entertaining, behaviour of our elected representatives and various museums and Toronto and Niagara Falls and the CN Tower later.

I never thought this day would come. And yet, here it is, and the unthinkable has happened.

I bought a pair of Crocs.

Stop judging me! I spent every rainy day of last summer staring enviously at Andrew's flip flop Crocs as I ruined my sandals/feet and I just couldn't take it any more. This particular style is not actually visually offensive and they are annoyingly comfortable, and will save my poor feet a lot of wear and tear during typhoons. (Not to mention will help preserve my pretty shoes.)

Fine. I accept your ridicule as the price I wlll have to pay for foot salvation.

Only two days left in Ottawa. Horrifying allergy attacks aside, it's been really nice. Friday was not so great, as I gave up the chance to go to a craft fair in favour of passing out on the couch (allergies), but Saturday was fabulous, as I met up with a friend and consumed much booze and got to eat Mexican food. Sunday was also good. Paul and Laura drove me in to Montreal for some shopping. I still haven't found any spring pants/dresses, which is what I was actually looking for, but I did get a really cute shirt, so yay. Yesterday I walked a million and a half miles to the Museum of Canadian Civilization, only to discover that it is closed on Mondays, which was fun, but dinner with John and his family later that night made up for it.

Today I had planned to go visit Parliament, but there was a large demonstration scheduled, so I passed and hit up a second hand bookstore instead. Then I went and bought the Crocs and seriously, stop judging me. In the afternoon I met up with a friend for tea at a very nice local bakery (fruit tarts are an acceptable lunch, yes?), so tomorrow will be museums and Parliament. I'm not sure if we'll be able to squeeze a board game in there, but I imagine we'll try. Paul and Laura have the most insane collection of board games I've ever seen, and I've never heard of any of them.

Ottawa is a lot warmer than I'd imagined it to be. I may have to invest in some new tshirts. So far I haven't really had a plan and have just been walking all over. The fact that all the streets have names and are parallel is pretty great, I haven't even gotten lost yet. Yesterday I walked for a bit along the Rideau Canal...my brother tells me it is nicer in summer when the water level is higher, which is something of a relief. Right now it's pretty much a ditch. A big, stagnant, Canada Heritage ditch.

Walked up to the Parliament buildings today. Found out later that you can, in fact, just walk in and wander around, which is something to consider for another day, but there is a big shopping mall right by the Parliament, and I kind of got sucked into that. Parliament Schmarliament.

Whoopsie. Just checked in on my chocolate cake and I probably should have made that two cakes, as this one is attempting to overflow the pan. Dang. Oh well, if all else fails, I'm sure it can be salvaged by crumbling it up into bowls, pouring the chocolate frosting (just chocolate, butter, and milk) over it and topping it with ice cream or whipped cream.

Had a very productive Saturday. We went into PG to meet up with my godmother, who came over for Easter. Dad bought a 42 inch LCD tv, and although he hasn't managed to hook up the high def thingamob that came with it, he can watch regular type tv for now, and no one was killed or injured during the installation, which is something of an Easter miracle.

I introduced dad to Australian licorice and Auntie Cec to Lady Grey tea, both of which went over well. Dad is a bit of a licorice snob and loves Finnish licorice the best and was complaining that you can't buy good licorice in BC, at least not up north. So I wandered into the nearest drug store and wandered back out with a package of Aussie licorice and he was pleasantly surprised.

I got a new suitcase for 75% off, plus an extra 10% if you used the store's credit card, so a $250 suitcase for $75 (includes tax). Of course while we were eyeballing sizes in the store it was hard to tell if the smaller size was the same as the suitcase I currently have, so we got the bigger one and now I'm having second thoughts. I mean, the little one is a bit TOO small for a month long trip, or even two weeks at Christmas, but the problem with the big one is that I will be tempted to fill it right up. On the other hand, mom gave me one of those doohickeys that weigh your suitcase for you, so I can keep an eye on it and not face charges at the airport for overweight luggage. If I can just stay out of the bookstores in Victoria, this shouldn't be a problem. (Kim, maybe you can make up a flier with my picture on it and hand it out to all the bookstores, telling them I am not allowed in?)

We went to church last night and I may have dozed off during the first half. What? They held it in the dark, and it's not like I don't know how the story turns out. When I got home, Janna and her new boy were waiting for me. They'd dropped by earlier and dad told them where I was and that I'd be back soon, and then apparently looked at them, thought "Aha! Young people are tech savvy!", asked them if they knew anything about electronics, and then roped them into helping him set up the tv.

We had a lovely visit (relegated to the basement so the grown-ups could chat in comfort upstairs) complete with champagne. Which reminds me...Janna was trying to hit one of us with the cork, and I still don't know where it went. Later mom described the incident from their point of view, which was "talking talking laughing loud pop silence", and they had to remind themselves that we are in our thirties and they probably didn't need to go storming downstairs to see what had happened.

I should probably go see what is happening with the cake. Happy Easter!

And here I am. The flight over was pretty good, especially considering it was Air Canada. They've changed terminals sometime since I last flew with them, though. My fault for not checking my e-ticket, but I automatically went to Terminal 2. Luckily the people who delivered my luggage were smarter than I was and delivered it to the right terminal, so I only had to haul myself over to Terminal 1. It was the smallest international airplane I've ever been on, and even then it wasn't full. This meant I got the two seats to myself so was able to stretch out. The food was edible (except for breakfast. Why they insist on serving you nasty omelettes is beyond me. Swap that for some more bread and some yogurt and I'll be a happy camper.) The movie selection was very impressive, with lots of newish movies I'd never seen, although I opted for The Princess Bride, because you ALWAYS choose The Princess Bride when it is presented.

Upon landing in Vancouver, it became clear that there was a lot of pollen about, and I didn't stop sneezing until after landing in PG four hours later. Shortly after takeoff, the man sitting behind me offered me a handkerchief. If I hadn't been so tired, I would have stood up and made an announcement assuring my fellow travellers that I was suffering from allergies and was not contagious.

The first thing we did after I collected my luggage was head to Costco, where I bought a giant case of mini-eggs for the school and a workbook for some of our students. Never let it be said that I am not an exemplary employee.

Sadly, I am all kinds of jet-lagged. Usually I just stay up as late as I can and then crash for 12 hours, but not this time. Oh no. I was up at four and didn't manage to get a nap until noon. Then mom woke me up by applying the dog directly to my face, which was remarkably effective.

Now I'm just hanging out at home, being sleepy and not freezing to death and watching my dad play with the dog. I do not think I will ever get tired of hearing him yell "Fly, monkey!" as he hurls her stuffed monkey toy down the hallway for her to chase.

Well, here we are. My next working day is May 11th. Got a few last minute things to do around here (don't I always?) and then it is time for a nice cup of tea and bed. For the first time in a while I don't have to worry about getting to bed on time, since it will be in my best interests to be good and tired by tomorrow evening.

So, it appears the best way to turn me into a productive person is to move someone else into my apartment. For the past week, I've been getting up at nine on the dot (which is earlyish for me, especially when going to bed at two) and actually doing stuff in the morning instead of just having leisurely breakfasts in front of the computer. It's kind of like what I imagine being taken over by an alien would feel like, and I do not expect it to last. It's also lending an extra weird dimension to my last night. On the one hand, I do not have to worry if I got rid of all the perishables in the fridge, but on the other, what am I supposed to do with my laundry? I've packed up my dirty clothes and stashed them away (here's hoping I remember them in a month), but towels and sheets? I'm pretty sure it's ok to leave those out, but still. "Hi! Welcome to your new apartment! Here are some dirty sheets for you to wash! Have fun figuring out the washing machine!"

Yesterday Masami and Stu had a sushi party at their house. Despite having been there a few times before, I managed to get spectacularly lost. Essentially what I need to do is take a right turn and then follow the road until I get to the residential area, but I took one turn too early. Normally the best thing to do would be to just retrace my steps, but I figured that since I needed to have the air force compound on my right side, and it was on my left side, and because I could SEE the buildings I would normally pass on the other side, that it would be ok to just keep going and do a loop around it and approach their house from the other side. Alas, Japanese streets do not work like that. I still have no idea what happened, but after I rode around the corner and the air force compound was, in fact, on the right side of me, it suddenly disappeared and the next thing I knew I was at the bottom of a hill with forest on one side of me and a giant parking lot on the other. Because this is Japan, there was a guy at the entrance to the parking lot, waving the occasional car in, and I was able to ask him for directions back to the main road (right, right, straight). I eventually emerged more than halfway downtown and was able to find my way from there.

After all that, I felt justified in stuffing my face with sushi and doing nothing more strenuous than holding the baby (Liam had friends over, so he was happily occupied).

And now it's time to do some of those last minute things I mentioned. See you in Canada, kids.

I'm cleaning! I'm cleaning! I'm...ok, technically I'm sitting at the computer with a beer, but stuff has been cleaned! And more stuff has been shoved into boxes, but whatever. Apparently all it takes to get me to commit to a total overhaul of my apartment is having some random stranger move in for a month. I'm definitely going to have to have Pauline and Tomoko over sometime in early May so they can appreciate how much tatami is currently visible. Because let's face it, this state of affairs is not going to last long once I get back.

Miguel made a very compelling case for bringing my computer with me, namely that I might return to find it gone and his clunky Toshiba in its place. The internal debate continues.

I can safely say that after four days of watching me in action, Miguel is no closer to waltzing in next week and shooting off a bunch of lessons without breaking a sweat. I mean, I think it's all perfectly clear and obvious what to do, but I may be biased. I think he'll be fine once he actually gets to teach, though. It's a lot easier to figure out when you're doing it.

The best part is watching how the kids react to him. I've already had a couple of classes where I breezily told him that these kids are little chatterboxes, only to be faced with unrecognizable meek little lambs, which really screwed up my lesson plan pacing. Thanks, kids.

Yesterday he made a little girl cry by answering "No, I don't" to her question of "Do you like rabbits?" We're not sure if she thought she somehow made a mistake because he didn't answer yes, or she was embarrassed at asking a question that got a negative answer, or she just thought he was a big mean bunny-hating monster. Today when we arrived at the kindy, one of my four year olds rushed up and gave him a hug without waiting for an introduction, but an hour and a half later she had to be coaxed sobbing into the classroom. Maybe she heard about the rabbit thing in the interim?

Huh. I did a test run of my packing, just to see where I was at, and my clothes? Rolled up and in vacuum bags? Take up less than half of the suitcase. The rest is all Kit Kat bars and assorted presents.

You realize what this means: I am going to have SO MUCH room for shopping.

I wish my gym had allowed me to stop payment for a month. Not only would it save me 9000 yen, it would also eliminate the packing vs gym debate going on in my head. Gym is going to win, I think, and I know I'll be grateful for yoga come Monday, but still.

What was I thinking, letting someone live in my apartment? Oh, it's clean enough, it's just the getting things organized and put away that is going to defeat me. I suspect that by Monday I will just give up and start randomly tossing things in a box to be stashed in the closet.