Cheeze whiz adds personality

Lisa and I walked to the park to see Ron Paley and his band play at the Lyric theatre. Just before the footbridge, a guy in a black suit and dark hair that touched his shoulders crossed in front of us. I immediately knew who he was. It was Jeremy, a local talented singer who I first discovered a few years ago at a charity function, where he sang with the Ron Paley Band. He had that look like he could be shy, but his stage presence and voice was amazing.

That first time I saw him I actually walked up to him and started a conversation. He then invited me to come check out his band playing a Halloween party the following weekend at Earls on Main. I got Lisa to come and sit with me while I kept an eye out for him.

He walked by us once. I grabbed her arm and squeaked, "he's here!" Later, we passed in the hall on the way to the washrooms.

"Hey! You came!" he said when he spotted, and OH MY GOD recognized me. I think I said something like, "Yeah! This is great!" Or I hope I said that, I just remember that the night was pretty much a failed opportunity and I was so disappointed with myself.

So it wasn't a total surprise when I saw Jeremy tonight at the park. I didn't realize he was still doing gigs with the jazz band though.

Lisa and I found a spot to set up our chairs. Just as we were getting comfortable, Guess who walks right in front of us? Yeah, nice view.

Some how Lisa and I got to talking about love, boys, and the ones who confuse the hell out of us. I told her the Jeremy story (she had forgotten all about that Halloween night). We ask ourselves how we can go about meeting guys. Jeremy walks by again. Seriously, there's a whole freakin park for him to wander, couldn't he have taken his dark suit and sunglasses around behind us?

I bopped my head along to the music and continued ranting and sympathizing with Lisa about the guy thing--why do they play games? Is he interested? Should I make a move?--waiting all the while for Jeremy to take the stage and do his number. Then, at 8:45, Ron announced that they were supposed to be wrapping up, but oh, he almost forgot about Jeremy! Finally, the moment I didn't know I was waiting for.

All it took was the first few bars and quite honestly, there were some tears in my eyes. He was going to sing, "(Everything I do) I do it for you". I love that song (sorry Nigel, you can take the girl out of the bad music, but you can't take the bad music out of the girl). And he did an awesome job of it.

There's no love - like your love
And no other - could give more love
There's nowhere - unless you're there
All the time - all the way

Oh - you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it - there's nothin' I want more
I would fight for you - I'd lie for you
Walk the wire for you - ya I'd die for you

Bryan Adams (Everything I do) I do it for you

That's love. That's what's worth waiting for. That is what every lousy date and heartbreak is worth enduring for. That's what I want, and I will settle for no less. I would walk down the aisle to that song, I'd make those lyrics my vows. It's Cheeze Whiz, but I like it.

Lisa turned to me and said, "I don't believe in destiny, but if I did, I'd say that Jeremy was yours."

I laughed. I don't think Jeremy, beautiful and talented as he is, is Mr. Destiny. But he did sing my song.

I needed that.

The Lil things

I went to feed Bill and Lil this morning but there was only one hungry little fish to greet me. Lil had died.

And then my bus didn't come.

Zipity do da! Part II

On Saturday afternoon I had plans with a group of friends, including Rob, Vince and Lisa, to visit Manitoba's first zip line park. Having never done anything like it before, I had no idea what to expect. The park is a good two hour drive from the city, located in the Pembina Valley area.

No doubt, many people think that the prairies are nothing but flat grasslands. While we don't have the topography of BC or even Alberta's foothills, Manitoba does have some picturesque areas of higher elevation.

Another thing I love about Manitoba is the hot summers. Saturday was a typical hot summer day, getting up to 29 degrees. While we waited to get our safety checks done after we geared up with harnesses and stylish helmets, we were already feeling the heat.

Hy-Wire Zipline Adventures park consists of five zip lines that circle you back to the start. The cables range in length from 500 to 1400 feet in length. The longest ride takes about 30 seconds. Our guide, Allen, would zip across ahead of us to the other side so he could help bring us in. Another guide stuck with us to hook us on to the cables. On my first ride I nearly took Vince out and I thought I'd miss the landing table altogether. I wish I had a picture of that.

After the first zip we had to hike. Man, did we have to hike. 150m straight up, in 10lbs of gear, in 29 degree heat.

"That's the worst hike you'll have to do," Allen assured us.

Some people took their zipping casually and just enjoyed the ride. Some inverted themselves for a different view. I decided to just enjoy the ride but try to capture some of the scenery with my camera. I got videos from the last two rides, but I don't think they really captured the full awesomeness of it all. I mean, it looks like my feet could nearly touch the ground!



More pictures of zipping here.

After our two hour adventure, we wanted to stop in at a good burger place for some food before heading back. We headed to The Burger Shak in Manitou. Being a sucker for ice cream and clever marketing, I had to order a Broken Heart parfait. I went up to the counter and said, "I'd like a Broken Heart, please." The girl replied, "a small or large?" I went for the big broken heart. Lisa was kind enough to help me out with it, because that's what best friends do. If I really wanted to push this metaphor I could add that I couldn't actually finish my broken heart because near the end it was just too sweet.

On the way home we played tourists and stopped to snap some pictures of the windmill farms.
We also jumped into a farmer's field of canola for a few fun shots.

For our last stop we swung by Miami. Didn't you know that Winnipeg is just a short drive away from Miami?

Zipity do da! Part I

First, I will tell you that my bad day on Friday turned itself around. I went to a family barbecue where the guests of honours were a three-year-old boy and his father, visiting from Victoria, BC. I got to play cars and blow bubbles with the little fair-haired impish one. When was the last time you dipped a wand into a bottle of liquid soap? Let me tell you, it was not recently enough. Get yourself down to the dollar store and pick yourself up a bottle of bubbles. You really can blow all your troubles away.

After dinner and playtime I was feeling like the stresses of the day were safely behind me. Vince, home again for two weeks, had called me earlier (which totally caught me by surprise. I didn't recognize his voice on the phone at first, and when I asked who it was he replied, "Brad", which immediately made me think of my last one-date-wonder guy from two weeks ago. A nanosecond after I wondered how the guy got my number, I figured out who it really was.). On a roundabout way home I swung by his place and picked him up, with the plan to go see George's improv show at the Fringe Festival.

I guess usually it's a two-man show, but for some reason we were fortunate enough to be there for a special guest appearance by a third guy. George introduced his third by saying, "and this is our annual one night stand with Ed Cuddy."

I laughed knowing that I'd have to tell my friend that I got my one night stand after all.

George's show was hilarious. As we were leaving, Vince said, "I haven't laughed that hard in a long time". I couldn't remember the last time I laughed like that either, but wow, did it feel good.

We ended off the night with drinks on a patio on Corydon, yet another Winnipeg thing that Vince had never experienced before. I got home late, went to bed late, and woke up early, ready for a zippy adventure.

Once upon a lousy day...

A twenty-something year-old girl nearly had a breakdown. It was just one of those days really, that everyone has, and that looks not so bad when reflected upon from the bottom of a few glasses of alcoholic beverages. Work was overwhelming, she had lost a pearl from her ring, and a transit strike was looming but she was left without a plan B. She was cranky, oh yes indeed. Thank God she has supportive friends.

11:48 AM me: You're having an overwhelming day at work, don't have a plan B for when transit goes on strike next week, and just realized you lost a pearl in your ring. While in the grand scheme of things, this doesn't add up to much more than a rough day, you're looking for some kind of quick relief. What do you do?

11:49 AM he: One-night stand, definitely.

She laughed, and then thought about how much work it would take to find a one-night stand that was A) not scuzzy and B) not clingy on her lunch hour. Impossible.

She met The Girls for lunch outside and clunked her head on the table. Someone had a bag of cherries, a very Jillish thing, and suggested she try shooting the pits for distance. She blew, and frankly, sucked. At 12:30 she announced she was going for a walk. She had an idea that some music therapy would help, and headed for Music Traders, the Village used CD store.

Judy kindly (oh so kindly, given the girl's foul mood) joined her. The girl picked out Collective Soul to sooth her soul, paid, and headed back to the oppressing office.

Upon her return, she smiled at the cupcake on her desk. Someone, not even consciously knowing she was having A Day, had thought of her. That was super nice.

Choosing to spend a few extra minutes obsessing over whether "set up" was one word, two words or hyphenated, she missed her bus home.

Finally, she arrived home, grabbed a beer, popped in the new CD, and told the world about her day. The sun was shining, it was the weekend, and Monday, although she was already dreading it, was a safe distance away.

Like a fish needs a bicycle

More on Bill and Lil. It's day three and they're still swimming. As you may recall, I have past experience with goldfish. My mom gifted me one of our old tanks, but it's rather large for such tiny fish, not to mention that I have no place to set it up right now. However, I knew that those little guys wouldn't last much longer swimming around in that stagnant bowl, so I improvised. I hooked up the filter from the tank and dropped it into the bowl. It's way too big, but already I see the fish look happier. I'm totally going to be one of those mom's who leaves her kids with an open jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread, aren't I?
I do plan to look at getting a proper tank sometime this week.

Do you take this fish

I went to a wedding on Saturday afternoon. The bride was my dad's cousin and it was her second go-around. I was her flower girl for the first wedding, and when I heard that she and her husband were splitting up, I kind of felt like I had some how failed.

I got my chance to make things right this year though when the man who became her new husband asked me to help him with the proposal. He wanted to do a video that would end with the big question, but he had no idea how to put it together. He brought me a collection of digital pictures, we sat down together on a Saturday afternoon and put them together with some captions in Movie Maker. My favourite touch was using Cheap Trick's The Flame as the background music.

The wedding was a close gathering of friends and family in a big back yard, and the reception was under a tent. I think this one will work out.

The centerpiece on each table was a glass bowl filled with water for a tiny goldfish. For having selected the chair with the winning card taped to the underside, I was the lucky new pet owner.

"His name is Bill," one of my favourite relatives informed me. Someone decided I couldn't leave with just one fish, so they yanked one of the bowls from the head table. I named the second fish Lil, although I think she's bigger than Bill. Hopefully all will go well so that the Christmas cards from The Little House on the Prairie will be signed with love from Jill, Bill and Lil.

All in a day's work on vacation

I took today off work and did my best at trying out this "vacation at home" thing. A big storm rolled in around 3 am and woke me up. My power was out. I noticed this only when things started coming back on flashing and beeping. Because I didn't have to worry about getting up for work, I decided to get out of bed and sit in the living room to watch the skies light up. It reminded me of storms up at the lake--so loud and close sounding, the rain coming down in sheets and pounding against the window. It was a perfect summer storm.

It was a good thing I didn't have to go to work. With my clock radio alarm screwed up because of the power failure I probably would have slept in. I woke up first at 7 am, in time to hear the bus I usually take go by. I then returned to slumber and didn't rise again until nine. I succeeded in achieving luxury number one of a day off, sleeping in.

Once up and dressed, I decided to go for a walk in the park. I packed a bag with a book, my camera, a snack (I didn't eat breakfast) and some money for a coffee break. I considered my umbrella, but felt it would be unnecessary added weight. So I left it behind.

On the way home from a lovely walk, which included some time spent playing with a chocolate lab puppy, I stopped at Sunstone Coffee for a latte. I took a spot at the counter in front of the window and grabbed an old issue of Fortune to read as I sipped my small bowl of coffee. I did not think of work for one moment. I did not call my mother. I was doing very well.

I looked out the window and noticed some very dark clouds moving in from the south. Knowing I was still about 20 minutes from home, I downed the last few sips and headed out. Clearly, a real vacationing woman would not have worried about the impending rain. She instead would have ordered another latte and waited for the showers to pass. But I had only brought enough change for one beverage and didn't want to overstay my welcome in the nearly empty coffee shop. Yes, I still have some work to do on being carefree.

As I was nearly home, the skies opened up and it started to pour big, fat rain drops. With no umbrella in my well-packed bag, I couldn't really do much else other than laugh and think of how much I like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

When the skies cleared up in the afternoon, I sat outside on my front step with a book and a beer. I finished off the day with attending the football game with my sister, Lisa and Chris. We lost. Terribly. But it didn't bother me much; I was on vacation.

Key in the door plus many more

After the blog post I forgot all about the significance of the day. I got caught up in an online conversation with Adam and then before I knew it, it was time to head out to Lisa's.

I got home around 10, changed out of my clothes and grabbed Mac to check life in the online world. I went into the kitchen to put away the fresh figs I bought at the farmer's market and I noticed two bottles of wine and a red rose on the ledge. Then I remembered the day again. My parents had dropped by to leave me a little something in honour of the anniversary. I grabbed the bottle of wine I had put in the fridge, the J wine, and I cracked it open.

I went online hoping to find a friend to have a virtual toast with, but no one was around. Bummer. So I poured the wine, and toasted with Jeff. (Kasia did leave a note for me here though, so I felt that she was here in spirit some how). It felt a little sad, but I guess it's another tribute to my independent party status. I phoned my parents' house and my mom answered. She pointed out that she told Dad to pick out wines of the 2007 vintage, in honour of the special year. If anyone should be here with me, really, it's them.

Vince logged on and I jumped on him. "Drink with me!" I said.

"I have no booze...I can drink water."

"That's fine, just put it in a glass so we can clink."

I swear, those last 365 days just flew by, and yet so much has happened. This was such a huge step for me. Then I think about how I got here and it seems like it's been a journey five times longer.

Well, I've just poured myself another generous glass of my J pinot gris. Wherever or whenever you are reading this, I hope you can raise a glass or a shoe and give me a little nod. Join the party at the Little House on the Prairie.

Love you all.

One year baby!

I was looking at some e-mails today trying to figure out how long I've been working on that website project. The first e-mail was sent on July 5, 2007. Wow, I could hardly believe we've been working on this thing for a year now. Tidal wanted to schedule a meeting with Head One but she told them she wanted to wait a few days as I was away. Away? Why was I away last year in early July? I looked up the dates on a calendar and it finally hit me. I was taking possession of my house.

Last July 3, I became a homeowner, jillstory fans. It has been a year of sacrificing shoes for utilities and groceries, finding new joys in cooking and yard work, adventures in dating and learning to enjoy my own company.

Kat was the first person I told when I realized what day it was.

"You should do something to celebrate, like take it out for dinner," she suggested, as an appropriate way to celebrate a first anniversary.

"Oh, but I'm actually going to my friend's place for dinner tonight." It's Thursday and Lisa's turn to cook. "I'm stepping out on my own house! Maybe I'll bring home some dessert."

Kat laughed. "If it involves whip cream and strawberries, I don't want to know."

I do have that bottle of J wine I've been saving. Maybe today would be a good occasion to open it up.