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I can't believe it. It's here (at least for those of us lucky enough to live on Vancouver Island). Camping season. Next weekend, because it's Easter, I get a four day weekend and we're grabbing our tent and getting out of here. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and hot (20 degrees!) and I'm thinking Saltspring. There's a great campsite where you can camp next to the ocean, and if it does get rainy, you can always head to a coffee shop, or spend Saturday browsing a farmers market. We can go hiking in one of a million places, and just hang out for a few days. I adore Saltspring, it's one of the coolest places in BC.
Depending on when the family has easter dinner (I heard Monday night) then we'll hang out from Thursday evening until Monday afternoon. I'm thrilled. It's about time. The rain has been starting to get to us, especially Peter, and it's time we took a few days away from it all to just enjoy all the reasons why we love BC. We're praying for good weather, but I'm pretty set on going no matter what. It snowed on us last year in WY and we didn't pack up, and had a great time. Plus it's early enough in the year that no fire bans have set in yet! I cant wait. This is by far, my favorite thing to do with my darling husband and I'm so glad that spring is finally here!
So it seems that I've been remodeling everything a bit lately. Last week I sold some DVD sets that I wasn't watching and Peter hated anyway, and had $80 to spend on anything I wanted. I wanted a new bedroom. When we bought our bedroom set, we picked a fairly neutral colored bedspread so that if I wanted a change I could have one without having to spend hundreds of dollars, and wasting all the nice stuff I already had.
REFERENCE:
This is what my bedroom used to look like:
I felt like I was on trading spaces. "Melanie, you have one afternoon, $80 and a bedroom that matches everything else in your house. It's great, but it needs some "wow" some "spark". Something that sets it apart as a romantic haven, rather than an attachment from your living room". Anyone who has been to my house knows that everything in it is either brown, ivory, red, black, or possibly orange. In every room. So the bedroom was starting to feel a little bland. I've been missing colors like blue or green lately.
I needed new sheets to give the bedroom a new look. And all the sheets we have are presents from others, and are really nice. From doing some price comparison shopping, I realized that the people who bought our sheets spent lots on them. More than I have ever spent of sheets, more money than I have now. We love those people by the way. The cheapest sheet set I found was $40 at WalMart, and they just felt like really thin cardboard. Scratchy. Peter would have none of this. Why in the WORLD would we change a perfectly nice bedroom, put our expensive sheets in a drawer and sleep on scratchy sheets just because they were a different color, and Melanie needed a change?! Besides, she'd be sleeping anyway, who cares what color they are?
After much searching, at a specialty bedding store in the mall (Quilts Etc, for those Nanaimo folk - GO BUY SHEETS) I found a clearance sale. Beautiful silky 300 thread count sheet sets in a variety of colors. They were about the same price as the pillowcases I wanted at Home Outfitters (that store is a racket). They were the right color, I was sold. Now all I needed was accessories to match. I had some lamps in other rooms I could take, I had a picture that had been looking out of place for a while above my dining room table, but my side tables, and my decorative pillow would need to be bought. I bought fabric from a clearance bin at WalMart for the tables, and a new pillow from Home Sense. Voila! It worked, I was exactly on budget, my sheets feel divine, and I actually introduced a new color and a slightly more feminine touch to our bedroom. Take a look! Peter is still getting used to the silky material on the side tables, and the fact that I added a swath of the same material over the closet.He will love it very soon. It just takes him a while to process new information.
I love blue and brown together. For some reason it makes me think of Hawaii, and that makes me think of summer. I love the little rug that I threw in the room, and the way our office lamps look. I love the new look and the fact that it looks different than all the red you see everywhere else in the house. When you walk into the bedroom now, it looks completely different to me. And if you open the drapes to see the ocean outside, it ties together beautifully. I'm very excited, as much about the new look as the great deals I found. So now I've added for your enjoyment, some fun facts about sheets that I never knew before:
-Thread count on sheets means virtually nothing. I bought once, for the low price of $80 US dollars :P 1200 thread count sheets. I was expecting heaven. Literally. The highest thread count I'd ever seen in a store was 800 and that was only once. I was so excited when I crawled into bed that first night. Not so great. I thought maybe they'd been starched in the packaging, so I washed them and loaded them with fabric softener. Twice. Nada. They are our least comfortable sheets. They pill in the dryer, and I have no patience for them. None.
-If you take normal everyday WalMart sheets not the really cheap ones that you buy for college or ywam, but the middle of the road ones, and IRON THEM, you will be amazed at how much softer they are. Ironing sheets is an instant way to make them softer, and was proven in blind tests to be much more comfortable than unironed sheets with higher thread counts. You don't even have to iron them every time you wash them, maybe every other, or every third time. They'll stay nice and soft. Who knew? If you are my mother, spend the money on great sheets to begin with and save yourself the complete insanity of ironing sheets. If you are me, and you need the smell of fabric softener, slip a bounce sheet between your comforter and your top sheet. Or three. (I put bounce sheets everywhere, even in pillowcases)
There you have it. A new blog and a new bedroom. Lucky little me.
First, it's amazing that I've got thing thing on my page. Carrie is the coolest. It looks dumb where it is, but maybe she can move it when she makes my new background...
Have a listen, there's a bunch of stuff on here that I love right now, and that I've loved forever and always will...
I'm a little selfish in my musical tastes. I can appreciate something for simply the talent it takes to produce it, but I won't listen to it in the car. Music is all about atmosphere to me, all about what it makes ME feel. I like what I like, and I don't usually apologize for what I don't. This drives Peter a little crazy. Take country for instance. I grew up with it, it's familiar to me, and I like it. I don't care that that isn't cool anymore, if it ever was. I enjoy it, and it makes me smile.
Lots of stuff reminds me of certain times in my life, most of this does actually. Dashboard Confessional for example, though they are the quintessential breakup-with-your-boyfriend/girlfriend-and-sit-in-a-disillusioned-stupor-for-days music, they make me so happy. I was introduced to them in Hawaii, right when I first got there, and everything in my life was beginning again, and we were driving to the beach. The girl driving had just broken up with her boyfriend-poor thing. I don't buy into the "emo" culture (or the word for that matter) but I love Dashboard. Not usually all the copycat bands that followed however. Just Dashboard.
I love fifties music, I love how romantic everything was then. It makes me wish I was born in a different era. I'd love to have seen Nat King Cole in concert, and couldn't care less if I ever saw U2 (though I have my favorite song of theirs on here too).
I love Willie Nelson and I don't care that he's a pothead. He's just got the greatest voice. I love Patsy Cline, because she makes me wish that country were that cool again. I LOATHE this new brand of redneck country that "artists" like Gretchen Wilson and Toby Keith are selling. It's all garbage. You don't have to live in a trailer park to enjoy country music, though it was a good marketing plot on their part I guess. All that untapped fan base with nobody making money from them but Kid Rock and a bunch of bands that don't exist anymore...
I love romantic music: Never Saw Blue Like That by Shawn Colvin, The Luckiest (WONDERFUL SONG) by Ben Folds Five, and Forever by Ben Harper (another pothead I love), which I would have walked up the aisle to had I known the song then.
I have a long standing love affair with songs that make me feel sad and alone. It's like people who enjoy scaring themselves with horror movies I suppose. I love Goo Goo Dolls - which was my first adult rebellion when I moved out of my mom's house. She trashed the "depressing devil music" and I missed it so much, even if I did lie to her and tell her it was Shawn's crap cd. I bought it again, as well as a couple of their other albums and love them all. Matchbox 20 is the same way. "Bright Lights" reminds me of the worst time in my life, and I actually had to stop listening to it for a long time simply because it made me dislike myself so much. Me and Matchbox have since made up, and I'm glad for it.
Then there's all the uplifting music, the worship songs, and things like Jack Johnson and John Mayer. I put "You Raise Me Up" on here simply because the song is great, but the first time I heard it, I was actually watching the music video, and I fell in love with that. Haven't seen it? Take a look! It's with the Cirque de Soliel dancers, and it makes me cry a little. It's amazing.
So there you have it. Some of my favorites. If you hate it, don't worry about it. Hit skip, there's 55 songs on there, you're bound to find something you'll like.
When people ask me where I'm from, I get a confused look on my face. I don't know. I've moved well over 40 times, and I've lived in Canada, the USA and Mexico. "I'm Canadian" I usually say; and though I wouldn't call myself patriotic, I know that I derive a small amount of identity from what my passport says on the front.
What amazes me most about Americans is their incredible misconceptions about Canada. Anyone who hasn't been here, doesn't know much about how we live. I heard it from an American comedian put this way (hugely paraphrased): "It's not like we don't like Canada. Canada is like the huge attic in this great house we live in. One day you wander up there and it's like, 'WOW! There's a lot of great crap up here!"
What amazes me most about Canadians that haven't lived in America is the ridiculous ideas we have about them. We think that everyone in America is just like a stockbroker from New York, and they think we're all fishermen from Newfoundland.
What bugs me about both places is that everyone thinks everything is the same across the border. "It's not that different, no big deal." They'd be wrong. Living in the US didn't afford me a lot of culture shock, but let me tell you: It's tiring trying to figure out all the time how fast 30 miles an hour is, or how warm 80 degrees Fahrenheit is. It's frustrating to use the currency and to constantly try to figure out how much things cost. Usually I just gave up. I never understood why people walked around with shoes on in my house. Peter deals with this all the time now, just like I did in the States.
Here's what I hate the most though: Today in my own country, I was not at all proud to be a Canadian, or a member of the Commonwealth for that matter. I was ashamed, and I had to apologize to my "arrogant American" husband today for the words of one Canadian, and one British gentleman. They thought it may be okay -in full earshot of him- to badmouth America. A lot. Not everything they said was even true, but that's not the point. If America was a hellhole that should be bombed and all it's inhabitants made to be just like "good smart Canadians (or Brits)" it wouldn't make a difference. They became exactly what they accused "all Americans" of being. Ignorant and prideful. I don't think they did it on purpose, and I don't care if they think it, but they said it, and they offended him. And infuriated me. I know how hard he works to fit in here, not only with a new family that he doesn't know very well, but in a country where he doesn't exactly fit.
When I was in an American church, a well meaning pastor started "poking fun" at Canada for our leniency on gay rights. I was furious, I nearly walked out of church. What if all Canadians don't believe in gay marriage, what if one of them is within earshot, away from her family and many things familiar, trying to fit in and put aside what she understands? Then don't you look like an ass...
I love America. I love Canada. There are things that both countries need to learn from each other. There are things that both countries need to abandon. Unfortunately, both countries are made up of people, and people are, flawed. So next time you're about to bash George Bush or our "downstairs neighbors" in a public place, maybe have a second thought. America is made up of a lot of nice people, and a few ignorant ones that ruin the name for all. So is Canada. They're the leading world power and so they face a lot more scrutiny than we do. That'd be hard. I like knowing I can travel to Europe without having to slap another countries' flag on my backpack. Peter nearly stormed in and asked the British gentleman today why, if Americans are so ignorant and self absorbed, did they save Britian's ass in WWII? Good question. Why, if Canada is so freaking great do we as Canadians allow some of the policies passed to become the country that our children will live in? Another good question.
I don't care which country is better, if George Bush is the anti-christ, or if Canadian are all uneducated lumberjacks. I care about how we treat people.
I'll admit to you, I'm angry. It's happened to me, it's happened to Peter, and it'll happen again. I'm sad that we can't practice tolerance half the time because we're too hung up on what our opinions are. I know I do this all the time, and it's something I truly loathe about myself. Something I'll work a million years on so that maybe one day I can go a year without sticking my foot in my mouth and offending someone.
This post is absolutely NOT for posting your political ideas. Call me a jerk but I'll delete your comments. If you're a fisherman from Newfoundland, I think you're awesome, I couldn't enjoy seafood without you. If you're a stockbroker from New York, I hope you do really well. If you hate George, love him, are British, gay, straight, Christian, atheist, Buddhist, or just someone who thinks it's totally normal to walk into a house without removing your shoes, I hope that I work hard to make you feel like a person, a human being, even if you do things differently, see things differently. Even if I think you're wrong. You are a person created by God, so am I. We inhabit the same planet, and that's good enough for me.
So Vancouver Island is participating in Dining Out For Life, and AIDS/HIV and Hepatitis C fundraiser. If you go out to dinner on March 29 at a participating restaurant, 25% of your bill is donated to AIDS research, treatment and prevention. I checked out the company getting the money, and they sound pretty cool. Plus the Blue Ginger restaurant in Nanaimo is one of the accepted restaurants, and they serve...SUSHI!
I love when communities do stuff like this. There's also a woman giving a dollar for every person who participates, or every restaurant, or something... So if you're looking for a good excuse to eat out, and feel good about it, there you have it. I checked for Saskatchewan, and they're not participating so you'll all have to come out to dinner here with us. What a shame.
Also, the Wesley Street Cafe in Nanaimo is participating and it's fancy and delicious, we went once for a celebration dinner. Check out the site and look at the restaurants, and links to the restaurants sites.
I like the idea of Christians supporting their communities and not just giving money to the church. I know the church is supporting the community, but this gives a bigger sense of ownership. I like finding creative ways to tithe (and creative reasons to eat sushi) so this works for me.
As for the long rant, I'm still too mad. People are selfish, people in general, not aimed specifically at one of you, hoping you pick up the hint, I hate that. Maybe I'll try to write about it later, but the more I think, the madder I get, and that means that post will be very very long. I'll try and condense my anger and get back to ya.
It's been a little while since I've posted, and not a lot is happening. I'm trying not to screw up too much at my new job...a few days ago the machine in the back said I took $91,000, so that wasn't a lot of fun. It took three days to fix and I had to convince my new boss I didn't shove the cash down my shirt. I really am enjoying the job, and am hoping for lots of hours. Our friends from WY are coming up in a couple of months, and I'm very excited about that. Other than that, it's just been life. Wake up, go to work, come home, eat, do laundry, watch the latest addicting tv show, go to bed. So here's a little look into my neurosis lately as I have nothing more interesting to write about...
I'm a big believer in trying nearly anything. And I am an emotional person who becomes very easily attached to the idea of something. Everyone is a little like this, I think. For example: nobody likes their first sip of coffee. (Except Robyn who downed cups of it ice cold with the cream making those little oily swirls on top at the ripe age of three.) Everyone is surprised at how bitter it is and usually doctors it up, or starts drinking Starbucks Frappaccino's first. They slowly ease their way into it. I find it difficult to believe that a 14 year old guy likes his first sip of beer. But we like the idea of coffee in the morning, and a beer on a hot day with the boys, while you're hammering up drywall or something equally masculine...so we figure out a way to like it. I'm big on this. Most people would say there's something a little fake about this. Not me. If at first you don't succeed, squelch the gag reflex until you love it, or at the very least, are good and addicted. There's plenty of things that I didn't like at first that I can't imagine living without now.
For example:
I love sushi. I don't like plain white rice, I really dislike seaweed, and I don't like fish, and certainly not raw. I don't like much of what they put in there, avacado and other such nonsense. But I ADORED the idea of sushi. It looks so fresh and healthy and it looks so pretty on a plate. You get to eat it with chopsticks, which is a pretty big bonus to me regardless. I once ate wedding cake in Japan with chopsticks, no kidding. I really think it tasted better. Since my first trip to Japan, over six years ago, I've been trying sushi. The first time I nearly threw up. I spat it out and tried to think of anything than the crunch of raw eel between my teeth. A year or so later I tried again. No luck. I've been doing this again and again, for the longest time, and over the past two years have upped it to trying every three months at least. I really wanted to like sushi. About four or five months ago, we went to this sushi place and I ordered noodles (mediocre) and tried a piece of Peter's sushi. It was fantastic. I loved it. All of a sudden, just like that. I swear to you, the other day I ordered sushi with raw tuna and avacado. It was delicious.
Who wouldn't want to drink that? It's beautiful. Because I watched everyone I know drink coffee, I never thought I would be one of those people who honestly wouldn't like it. I of course didn't the first time, but I kept trying and now I'll get a headache if I don't have one. Brilliant. There's an emotional tie to my morning coffee, to coffee related things in the house, mugs and coffee colors that I'm just not willing to part with. The first gift Peter ever got me was a pretty coffee mug. My friend Loren honestly doesn't like coffee. He's a tea man. I think that's silly and he should just try it until he loves it and can't live without it. But he also drinks carrot smoothies.
I used to say, "if it swam, I don't like it" but that was when I was stupid. Peter took me to Bubba Gump's in Kona for my birthday a few years ago, and we ordered this. I actually peeled the legs off those little suckers and ate them. LEGS! They were fantastic and I was shocked. Robyn was once paid sixty bucks to eat a shrimp, which she gagged down and she now loves. Good for her, I say.
Ahh, and my greatest achievement. The first time I drank red wine I was told to describe it (wine tasting training for Olive Garden). I said that it tasted like the remnants of my McDonald's breakfast and nail polish remover and had a lovely dirt finish. I choked a little. Then the guy gave us this vegetable soup and told us to take a bite. It tasted like ground beef and tomatoes, even though there was lots of other stuff in it. He took a shot of wine, dumped it in the soup and told us to try again. The first thing I could taste was veggies. Carrots and celery and onion. I was amazed. Food really does taste better with wine. I didn't care it if tasted like paint thinner. I wanted to love it. So I started with Boone's and then Wild Vines Raspberry Merlot, then blush, white, and then red.
I wonder if I'm really crazy. I actually wonder this a lot. The wine and coffee thing I think a lot of people do, but maybe I'm over the top with seafood, sushi, pumpkin pie (had my first real piece without gagging this thanksgiving, yippee!) avacado, rice, etc... Ahh well. I figure my life must be that much richer (or poorer, wine is pricey) because of my relentless pursuit of things I want to like but don't. I figure there's got to be a good life analogy in here somewhere but I couldn't be bothered right now.
