Well. Just one of them actually...
Lou's mum is in town for 2 weeks, visiting Vancouver for her first time. Tonight, I will meet her. I am excited, but a little nervous too. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Lou has made a fairly overwhelming impression on my family. They really like her. Not only do I need to impress Lou's mom, she will be my only link back to the rest of the family. Her impression of me will directly reflect that feelings that her dad and two brothers will develop - and being that her brothers are, well, my age, a little caution in accepting their sister's new boyfriend is inevitable.
Tonight, I will take them to Sweet Revenge for desert and tea. Lou liked that place a lot, and figures her mum will enjoy it equally.
Anyway!
With a lot of my time being spent out and about lately, I am finding it hard to keep up with this blogging business (as I touched on previously). I figure it better though to slip on the blogging, and really enjoy my free time. It's a fair trade I would say. The challenges I am presenting to myself sometimes get masked in my day's activities, to the point where I am spending the last few minutes of my day in reflection, trying to recognize those things that were a challenge, and to extract what positive lessons I can from them.
Saturday - I finally got my shit together and began (once again) working towards getting the VW tuned up and road worthy. I got it started at least, so I know it runs. Though, I am still working through some electrical issues... My bigger challenge for the day went as follows: I realized, with Lou's help, that I rarely try new things when it comes to dining out. I frequent the same restaurant's and order the same dish quite often. I stick with what I like. So Saturday night, Lou and I tried something new. 'The Reef' - a Caribbean style place on commercial drive. Not bad. I'm not in a hurry to go back per se, but I'm sure I will make a return at some point. Lou's challenge for the day - try to deal with the spiciness of Caribbean style food. She did pretty good! We are now on a mission to discover a new restaurant to take everyone out to. Matt and Lindsay tend to make most of the discoveries. It's our turn bitches!
Sunday - I accompanied Lou to work on the bus. Though our timing was a little off, and I resorted to calling a cab for part of the trip, we got her there on time... early even! While Lou got started, I made it my mission to get her breakfast. I realized something in doing this. Life has become so fast paced, that we as a society gravitate way too much towards things that are convenient. Things that are quick and 'easy'. I hate this. It's unsettling that there are intersections in Vancouver where 2 out of the 4 street corners are home to a Starbucks. In my hunt for breakfast, I refused to walk the 15 steps to Walmart for a muffin, some green tea, and a banana. Instead, I purchased the fruit and tea from a small asian produce market, clearly family run - the muffin from a small bakery further down the road, and made a stop in search of Vegemite at an Iranian grocery store. The man there was very nice, and told me they did have Vegemite. He was confused. They did not. Bummer. My last stop...Starbucks. I had the girl give me a cup and some hot water, for free, which I then brewed my own tea in, while she watched. Stickin' it to the man!
Monday - during a day of work, it is far too easy to become lost in routine. While my day was productive, it really didn't find me any any new or interesting situations. My challenge, however, was to confront my boss on his shoddy clean up the night before. I let things slide a lot. I prefer to put in the extra work myself, and avoid the confrontation. Today, I let him know that I need it to be more organized and tidy in the morning, or doing my job well becomes much more taxing. He appreciated my honesty, and will do better. Silly Dan Turner.
Tuesday - work, again, was the same. Productive, yet uneventful. Though, I must find a new way to deal with Marco. A good worker, who makes a good effort, but falls a little short. I don't believe that he isn't trying, he just needs more focus. My goal for the week, figure out a new way to energize the guy. I'm growing frustrated of working with him, and it shows in me being a bit of an asshole. I don't like being an asshole, so to the drawing board I go. Also - the post work bike rides have begun again. I took some time off to nurse my quads back to health after running down the chief.
That about brings things back up to speed. This weekend, camping for Tony's stag, and dinner with Lou and her mom. The goals: Build a sweet shelter while camping, and find a great italian place for dinner on sunday. I'll keep you posted on my progress, also, expect pictures. Oh, and the next hike: June 14th, Mt. Cheam. Peak = 2112 meters. 9.5km round trip. STOKED!
