Busy Week Behind Me

Last week was busy.  Between Family Literacy Day, Chinese New Year, and other things, I was hopping for a fair chunk of the week.

But things were also good.  I was able to spend time working on the artwork for the Summer Reading Game scoreboard.  Last year, I used level 1-1 of Super Library Patron, my take-off of Super Mario Bros.  This year I'm making level 1-2, and have updated the visual design to look less like the original Super Mario Bros., and more like Super Mario Bros 3.  It's been fun so far, and I'm hoping the scoreboard will be a hit like last year's was.

Oh, and Amanda and I went to the hockey game last night. The Storm lost in a shoutout, but we enjoyed ourselves, which is all that really matters!

Sunny Saturday

Amanda and I have been out and about all morning enjoying the sun. We agreed that tomorrow (when it's -13) would be better for laundry.

We took this photo downtown while walking.

New Phone

After three years, I replaced my phone.  While the old one still worked okay, it was running a very old version of Android (Eclair), and I couldn't download much in the way of new apps.  That would've been okay, but I also worried that the apps I did use would be updated to require a newer version of Android.

Anyway, I've been weighing my options for a few months, and it ultimately came down to a three horse race: the HTC One, the Nexus 5, or the iPhone 5s.

The first is getting close to the point its successor will be released.  I really considered the Nexus, but when I heard Google won't be upgrading Galaxy Nexus phones (only two years old) to the newest version of Android, I lost a little bit of interest.

Finally, there was the iPhone.  The iPhone 4, released three years ago, got the iOS7 upgrade, and I've really liked my iPad in the year I've had it.

So I took the plunge.  This is the first official photo of the Kissing Couple of Grande Prairie taken with my iPhone 5s.

Sick Week Wonderings

So, why is it that when you need something the most, you're unable to get it?  I've been sick for three days now.  I know that, more than anything, getting some extra sleep and eating something will help me get better soon.  With that knowledge in hand, I've tried.

Wednesday:  I was home sick, dozed/slept for most of the day (~10-5), but barely managed to eat a small amount of yogurt in the morning, and couldn't even finish a carrot for supper.  Then I woke up around 1:30 in the morning and tossed, turned and dozed while having weird and frustrating fever dreams until nearly 5:00.  If Amanda hadn't gotten up to get me some Tylenol and milk, I'm not sure what would've happened.  But thanks to her, I finally *slept*.

Thursday:  I was home sick again, but was joined by Amanda this time.  I managed some yogurt in the afternoon and ended up just cooking Kraft Dinner and hot dogs for us because it seemed like something both easy to make and easy to eat.  Then I went to bed, where I tossed and turned for a really long time before giving up and taking some melatonin.  (It normally works pretty well for me on sleepless nights, but it tends to give me vivid dreams, and after the weird dreams I had the previous night, I really wasn't eager to take it).  I finally fell asleep, but woke up nearly two hours before our alarms were set to go off, and couldn't fall back asleep.

Tonight:  it's after midnight, I've been up since ~5:00, and I know I need some sleep, but I'm pretty much wide awake.

So, let me reiterate my original question:  why is it that when you need something the most, you're unable to get it?

Remembrance Day Again

I attended the Remembrance Day service this morning.  I did not attend last year, so this was the first time I have gone in Grande Prairie.  Once I was done being cranky at all of the people who showed up late (yet had time to stop at Tim Horton's), I really did get something out of the ceremony.  The prayers were led by a man who noted the importance of Remembrance Day not just for remembering those who fought and gave their youth, health, and life for the freedom we enjoy, but so we don't forget what kind of people we are.

We can nitpick about stupidity and ignorance among the people around us, but ultimately we are people who are kind and hopeful, and who prefer peace to war.  Remembering these traits and aspiring to better ourselves in them is one of the best ways we can also remember who died to defend us.

If Nominated, I Shall Not Serve

I'm a member of the local Children's Literature Roundtable.  The current president's term has ended, and will not serve again.  So at our AGM tonight, the question came up as to who will serve as president.  Nobody volunteered.  When we took a secret ballot to see who everyone thought could serve, it ended up as a three way tie between me and two other people.

We all shook our heads no.

In a previous meeting when the subject had come up and someone tried to convince me to put my name forward, I reminded her that I only attend about half of the meetings.  I would attend more, but the best meeting day for most members of the group is actually a lousy day for me to attend.  If the meeting is held at the Library and it's a quick meeting, things work out okay.  But if the meeting is elsewhere, or it runs long, or is a potluck meeting, it doesn't work out so well.

Another major part of things is that I see things very differently the the rest of the group in some respects.  We gave a presentation at the local library conference in September.  During the preparation for the presentation, one member said she felt we were all set.  At that point, I had no idea what the content or the structure of the presentation would be, no idea what my part in it was supposed to be, and (if I'm being honest) no idea why anyone would want to come to it...  I know my opinion differs a fair bit from the group on a few other things too.

In short, the group needs a president whose feelings about it dovetail to some extent with what the group already is.  A contrary opinion is handy now and then, but it's not okay for the head of the group.  That's how these sorts of things ultimately fall apart.

First Food

Amanda and I ate at Opa for the very first time this afternoon. We were out at Future Shop, and when we walked by Opa, Amanda tugged me toward it.  I wasn't sure, but we were both getting hungry and we've eaten at Mucho Burrito and Subway many times.

It was great!  Their pitas were amazing, my Caesar salad was pretty good, and even their French fries were good.  Needless to say, Amanda and I will go there again.  Now the only problem is that we've added another option when we go to food courts, and it might make our decisions more difficult! :-)

Storm is Coming

Amanda and I went to a Grande Prairie Storm game together tonight.  Our team lost, but we had a lot of fun... And took a photo together!

Awakened by a *Thump*

So, the dream world has gotten the better of me once again.  I woke up mid-fall as I was running away.  My foot slipped out from under me, and I fell hard on the floor.  It felt like I had burnt off the entire surface of my knee with the ensuing carpet burn.  All because of a stupid dream.  I woke Amanda up, and made her pretty annoyed with me, all because of a stupid dream.

I know Amanda feels bad for me when I have a dream that scares or startles me that much.  But I can also hear the tone of her voice when she asks me what happened.  To be fair, she was startled out of a sound sleep once again to hear me sleepwalking and reacting to a dream.  I probably yelled, and definitely made a loud thump when I hit the floor.

Anyway, I'm going to stay awake for a while and let her get back to sleep.  Hopefully in an hour or so, I'll be able to as well...

Nostalgia

Amanda and I just spent the last two and a half hours talking.  Most of it was spent talking about the not-so-fun points earlier in our lives -- about bad jobs, bad apartments, and times we weren't doing so great financially.  Each of us have had some times that felt pretty miserable, but it was sort of fun to reminisce about them together.  We told stories about old roommates and incidents between us and them, and remembered our first apartments and all of their shortcomings.

When we decided it was probably bedtime, I fired up my iMac to see if I had photos on there from my first apartment.  I did, but I also had something better:  a video I had taken.  I took the video to send it to my brother, and it was a walk through of the apartment along with my commentary.  It was great.  Amanda and I both laughed about the dorky way I acted in the video, and commented about how badly stuff was arranged in the apartment, and had a great time doing it.

At the time I lived there though, I knew the apartment was a temporary stop.  I never fully unpacked, and spent a fair amount of time worrying about money because the rent was high and my landlord's claim that the smaller, cheaper apartment he rented out would become available soon was not panning out.  I was in a new job, where I felt like I wasn't contributing much and couldn't find things to keep busy with.  In short, in many ways I wasn't very happy there.  But it sure put a smile on my face to look back on it and see how far I've come in five years.

Maybe tomorrow after I'm done at the Library, Amanda and I will make a similar video of our current apartment.  Maybe in five years we'll sit together at my computer, watch it, and smile about how young we were, how little we knew, and how much things have changed.