Almost overwhelmed...

Over the past few days 'things' have been piling up and yesterday morning I nearly reached the completely overwhelmed level. Whenever I get like this I try to remember that I just need, as my mom used to say, to take things one step at a time. So, I took this attitude with me to parent-teacher conferences last night, which turned out to be quite a success. During the parent-teacher conferences in the fall I met with several parents who just couldn't believe that their son or daughter wasn't a 'B' or an 'A' student. So, armed with examples of their child's actual work, I marched into the gym prepared for war! As it turned out, all I had to do was show the parents my 'evidence' and they seemed to finally 'get it'- much to my relief.

Today I attended an amazing workshop focused on creating my very own Moodle site. The plan is to try to get some monies from PAC to help update our web server in order to run Moodle sites through MRSS. If this moves forward, then the possibilities for my site are endless! One of the teachers from Thomas Haney showed us as an animation of a meandering river turning into an oxbow lake. I'm thrilled at the thought of moving my practice into the Twenty-First Century!

Tonight I'm focused on accomplishing a few more tasks, which will help to alleviate my stress. Tomorrow Stephanie and Brian are coming over for lunch, so that will be a nice break from the heaps of tasks I need to tackle :-)

Valentine's Day!

Last night Scott and I celebrated the day of l'amour by enjoying a wonderful Greek feast. Afterwards we went to Starbucks where we slowly sipped on liquid pleasure. This was surely a much improved Valentine's Day over last year when Scott was out on a 'man date' with a former co-worker and I was babysitting.

Wedding Update:

The wedding is now thirty days away! Scott and I just have a few minor decisions to make and then we are in the clear! (touch wood). It was great to hear this week that my family from Portland will be making the trip up to be with us. It will be especially nice to see Emily as she is all grown up now! Yikes. It feels like yesterday when my mom received her baby pics in the mail. Time is definitely marching forward!

50 days until the wedding!!!!!!!!!

Tickety tock, tickety tock, the day is quickly approaching. In fact, it is only 50 days away! Scott and I are now refocusing our efforts onto some of the smaller tasks that need to be addressed. Tonight we are off to purchase a guest book and will also begin to consider a seating plan.

I'm looking forward to this weekend because we are celebrating Chris' entrance into the 'dirty thirties' on Saturday night at Shabusan Garden downtown. As well, I am so pleased to learn that Kim earned a well deserved promotion at work! For those of you who don't know, Kim is Kelvin's significant other and I've known her for almost a decade! Yikes, I'm getting old. Anyway, she is a dedicated person who is intensely loyal to her friends. I just love her :-)

Aside from all of the above, I hope to get heaps of marking done. I'm also considering re-thinking my approach to my Shakespeare unit. Hopefully I'll have a productive weekend!

Miscellaneous...

Yikes, I haven't blogged in quite some time. It seems incomprehensible that it is already the twentieth of January! Time really does seem to fly for me and I'm beginning to wonder if this is because of my busy schedule, or if this reality may be symptomatic of the aging process :-)

Anyway, I really enjoyed my winter holiday. Although he still had to work, Scott and I took life fairly easy. On New Year's Eve we enjoyed a nice dinner with my family at Milestones and afterwards we had a relaxing hot tub. New Year's Day began with our renewed promise to ourselves to take better care of our bodies and so we went for a run! Since then we have been exercising at least three days a week and have recently begun to notice our increased muscular strength.

The spring semester at SFU began on Monday and I am working hard to muster any motivation that will see me through to the end of April. My two-year program titled 'Teachers as Leaders & Mentors' will come to a close mid-July and I must decide if I wish to extend my studies another year and thus earn a masters degree. I imagine that I will probably plough forward and go for it, but it will be difficult.

We are forging ahead with our wedding plans. Scott and I had our details meeting with the event organizer at Westwood Plateau Golf & C.C. this week and from all appearances we may actually be quite organized. The planning phase is nearly complete and now we can begin to relax and enjoy the next 50+ days until the wedding! Our excitement about the big event is building with each passing day.

Amidst all of the hubbub of activity we had friends over for dinner on Thursday. It was so great to get caught up on the recent happenings in their lives. It was also fun to see all of Paula and Colin's wedding pics!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here are just a few pictures from our Christmas festivities!

As you can see, Santa gave our Katie Cat a bicycle! She excitedly sat on it, unable to understand the peddling system, while showcasing her new Dora pyjamas and robe. Santa was good to us as well as we received many items from our wedding registry :-)

Ctik is on vacation!

I'm on vacation!!!!! Yeah!!!! To celebrate, Scott and I took to the town. We started our evening in Gastown, had a drink at a pub, and then headed to the Blarney Stone to hear a live band and to cut some tile! The highlight of the night, which will seem baffling to most, was when the band played one of my favourite songs of all time, Loch Lomond. This song takes me back to many a céilidh.

On Saturday we headed into Vancouver again so that Scott could do some surveying and I could shop! After that we bought food for our Christmas Eve get together at our house and then headed to Rogers Video where we rented An Inconvenient Truth. This documentary unveils the truth about how humans are systematically and very successfully increasing the size of our ecological footprint. The problem is that politicians and business people have been madly trying to avoid this issue because, as Al Gore stated, once they acknowledge the issue, addressing it will become a moral imperative. Scott and I were alarmed at the statistics presented during this piece and sat in shock at the fact that Gore actually lost the presidential election to a intellectual simpleton by the name of George Bush. Listening to Al Gore present intelligent, reasoned, and compassionate dialogue really highlighted the difference between the two men, and forces us to wonder how the world would be different today had the Florida re-count been allowed to proceed. We highly recommend renting this documentary and sharing its message with anyone who will listen.

Our Annual Christmas Pot Luck Dinner!

Mr. and Mrs. Mackey were the kind hosts of this year's annual Christmas pot luck dinner! It was fun to finally see their newly renovated townhouse. They've done a really fantastic job picking out paint colours and decor items. I especially loved their choice of flooring.

During the course of the evening we got caught up on all of the happenings of our lives, enjoyed yummy food, and reflected on the changes since last year's pot luck. Katarina was born this year, and Chris and Cindy will be parents shortly into the new year :-) I can't wait to meet their little boy.

My wish is that we can continue to stay connected and enjoy our Christmas pot luck dinner for many more years to come!

Thanks for being such great friends everyone!

Christmas at Ctik's...

Over the weekend Scott and I were busy decorating our home, drinking egg nog, as well as buying and wrapping Christmas gifts.

After several placements were considered, we decided that the tree should be positioned just before the entrance to the kitchen. Once we finished adding our decorative touches, I sat back and wondered why it is that I have a tree in my living room! It is an interesting tradition that I have never questioned and I undertake this ritual with delight every December. I'm especially excited to have our Katie Cat come over and see all of our decorations!

Ctik takes to the town!

On Friday night Scott and I ventured into the big city and went shopping! We managed to pick out a few Christmas gifts for our loved ones; we may have also broken several rules as we managed to pick out a few gifts for ourselves. Shhhh... my mom would be so upset to hear about such self-indulgence before the big day :-) After our escapades at Pacific Centre we went to the Chef & Carpenter for dinner with Scott's family. Twelve of us were treated to delicious food that was prepared by our chef, Denis :-)

The rest of our weekend was spent lounging about and enjoying each other's company. This morning was especially wonderful as we sipped piping hot coffee and stared outside as snow blanketed the earth.

Mary & Sam celebrate 60 years of marital bliss!

We travelled over to Sechelt to celebrate my auntie Mary and uncle Sam's 60th wedding anniver- sary! Their family put on a truly special afternoon at a small restaurant overlooking the Strait of Georgia. Members of the wedding party were in attendance, including their flower girl! It was especially heart warming to see uncle Sam holding his great grandson, Rylan, while great grandaughter, Ava, was standing beside auntie Mary :-)

Scott and I managed to take a walk along the beach and enjoyed the fresh air at this beautiful locale.

Katie enjoyed staring at the water, and continually commented on the water on each Langdale ferry trip. She loves baths, water, rain, anything wet. Perhaps we have a future swimmer?

Nous allons à Paris!

The tickets to Paris are officially booked! Yeah!!!! For years I have wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower, the Palace of Versailles, the Louve... I can't believe that I am actually going to do it! I'm just thrilled.

We will be leaving at 11:00 am on the Sunday after the wedding (March 18th). Our return home is slated for the following Sunday on the 25th of March, so we will have plenty of time to visit all of the amazing sights and cafes that Paris has to offer!

Has anyone got any advice for us? Things to do and see?

140 days to go...

Well, the wedding plans are coming along very nicely (touch wood!). In fact, we have confirmed the date, location, Reverend, dresses (Jeanette's, Kate's, as well as mine) and the photographer. Further, we have picked, ordered, and received the wedding invitations, and we have selected our wedding bands!!!!! Last night we registered at The Bay and had a tough time selecting from all of the beautiful Denby collections. We decided on a very elegant, yet simple line entitled 'Linen'. We have also decided on an idea for our wedding favours and they are well on their way to completion. Lastly, 'Black & Lee' has offered to provide the tuxedos for free. This fun surprise was orchestrated by Scott's dad who has the connection.

Although I've never really been a 'wedding person', I'm surprised at how excited I am getting about the 'big day'. Every day I discover new reasons why I love Scott; he's just such a quality person and I enjoy being in his company.

Dinner at Ctik & Scott's house...

Thanks to Tracy, Cindy, Kim, Jeanette, Kate, Andrew, Kelvin, Tosh, and Chris for coming over to our house for dinner in celebration of our engagement. We ate great food, chatted, and had a cut-throat game of no-stakes poker :-)

Kim even made us a cake from scratch! It was an incredibly sweet gesture.




"Let them eat cake!"






To my delight Kate was very well behaved as she played with her Dora figurines, and filled Tosh's boots with Smarties!

It was also exciting to see Cindy's expanding baby belly! She said that she can now feel the baby and is going for her next ultra-sound next month. I can't wait to see the 3D pics!

Ctik takes the plunge...

Well, it's official, we're engaged! Scott proposed after a scrumptious dinner at Jameson's in Newport Village on September 29th. I think that he's a wonderful person and I feel grateful to have met him. Besides, he'll make a great first husband (just kidding, mom!).

We have tentatively booked the Gallery Room at Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club for Saturday, March 17th, 2007. This is the first day of my Spring Break, so we'll have the following week to go somewhere and relax :-)

Details to follow...

CTIK takes to the water...

On the Sunday before Labour Day a friend of mine and her boyfriend took Scott and I out on their boat. We set sail from Rocky Point and maneuvered around the Belcarra area. We met up with other friends, who rented a canoe for the afternoon. We feasted on salmon, brie and crackers, and many other wonderful treats. My friend and Scott were both very courageous as they braved the cold water (as well as sea critters and beasts) and water-skied. They both did a fantastic job and got a great workout at the same time.

Thanks for a great time guys!

Congratulations Paula & Colin Kaburia!

On Sunday, August 27th, Scott, Jeanette, and I (Andrew was working) attended Paula's wedding! As you can see, Paula looked absolutely fantastic. Just before Paula walked down the aisle, she was welcomed into the Kaburia family by the Kenyan women who sang and trilled outside of the church; this created a truly spectacular atmosphere. After the ceremony, Paula and Colin were led out of the church by even more singing and trilling! I simply loved it!

The reception was held at Newlands in Langley where we were treated to touching speeches, multi-cultural entertainment, and a waist-line expanding array of foods from which to choose :-) We all had a wonderful time and were happy that Paula included us in this special day.

Feasting on Thai Food...

Special thanks to Sherrie and Richard for treating Scott and I to a wonderful meal at a local Thai restaurant. We ate a wonderful assortment of dishes until I ended up in a full food coma and realized that it, indeed, was time to pack it in. The trough was cleared and its contents packaged, so that we may continue our feasting tomorrow morning :-)

CTIK takes to the wilderness...

Although it was deemed impossible by a few, I did, in fact, survive the wilderness! Some co-workers, their significant others, Scott, and I trekked (okay, drove :0) to a beautiful lake and set up our camp. Highlights include the company of Scott (as always), a swim in the lake, and a beautiful walk to a river where we looked at rocks (including many lava rocks), immersed our hands in clay, and drank what hopefully is really clean glacial water. Although the weather posed as a challenge to my fun, the sun seemed to peak through the clouds at the exact moment that we walked out of the forest and onto the river bed. For a brief moment, time seemed to stand still; it was a truly magical moment that I simply will not forget.

Roasting the Carcass!

Scott and I just returned from the interior where we participated in his family's pig roast. It was held at the most beautiful locale which consists of a large expanse of land and a cute house situated atop a hill overlooking magnificent scenery. His aunt and uncle were kind hosts who made me feel very welcome. In fact, the same holds true for his other family members who were all very warm and welcoming towards me.

On the first day we went to his other uncle's cottage at Lake Okanagan. We swam for a bit and then went back to the house to prepare for the roasting of the carcass. I managed to maintain my focus and not freak out at the fact that this poor pig was dumped on a table, merely waiting for the fire!!!! The crazy part is that when Scott and I went to find us 'some pig', one of the ears had already been taken!!!!! Yikes!

Special Note: Scott is actually about 10 inches taller than me, so I may appear tall in this pic, but it, unfortunately, isn't reality :-)

I've Moved!

Well, I'm finally beginning my new life in my new home and I couldn't be happier! Gosh, when I think back to Christmas, I never imagined that my life could get back on the rails. It's amazing what great friends and family can do for you. Thanks to all of you for listening to my incessant complaining, ramblings, and fits of crying.