Just enough stamps! Yay!

I finally got enough stamps and tourist visits in today to make the minimum of 12 venues w/ at least 15 stamps. Yesterday I went to Science World & the IMAX. I saw Deep Sea in 3D, and was pleasantly surprised I didn't yell out as the sharks swam right past my face. It was really interesting actually, though either myself, the people around me or just the theatre smelled slightly unpleasant. I also had those theatre nachos, BIG MISTAKE. BLAACCHHHH! Anyways, today was Dino Town & Fort Langley. Every time I told a friend I was going to Dino Town they said 'Really?'. Dino Town is meant for kids, and the kids had fun. It is not meant for adults at all. Even the workers are all kids really - not child labour but teens. I think it's a great play place for kids, but compared to Science World which is super educational and every display is interactive, it could do a bit better and have something more. I would go again with my friends' kids though, it's entertainment enough watching them run around, and around. Science World also had an amazing Butterfly display...a good chance for me to Geek out. Again though if you don't have kids or child-like adults with you there's not much to do. Fort Langley was cool though, they had a special exhibit of Kwantlen First Nations history which was really interesting, and the staff was very friendly and informative. It reminded me quite a bit of Lower Fort Garry, minus the bannock.

Now I have the week to get into Van & get my pass. One more hurdle, and it's mine. For more info:

www.pc.gc.ca/fortlangley
www.dinotown.com
www.imax.com/vancouver
www.scienceworld.ca

Back to normal

My Mom went home yesterday so this morning all is back to normal - peeing with the door open, no talking, and a little time for the Internet. I was slightly relieved the 2 weeks were over but at the same time I am a little sad and miss her company. Shocking but true. I guess I'm not as in-de-pen-dent as I thought (Hermey the Elf & Rudolph, get it? They are in-de-pen-dent together? Never mind...). This weekend flew by and I did not get a chance to get more stamps for the Tourism Challenge. I don't know now if I can get the 12 in time but will be going to Dino Town on Sunday with my friends and their hilarious children so that should be a blast. I am hoping to visit Fort Langley on a lunch hour and then hit some spots after the Zoo on Saturday. I FINALLY got the new face paints so did some face painting on Saturday. The new paints are great, Palmer's Face Paints. The only problem was the heat, the paint kept drying out. I need to work on my technique again though. I am still a little rusty. My monkey kind of looked like a dog.

I guess I gotta go to work. Till next time.

LOOOONNNNNGGGGGG Weekend

Mom's in town so it has been crazy busy. Not much time for the computer or anything routine. However, I did manage to get some more stamps in the Tourism Challenge. Only 5 more to go now, so I should be able to pull it off. Anyways, the best find was Kilby. I have been there a dozen times but never visited the heritage building. It was great. They have a restaurant and bakery/gift shop. Then you can go into the old General Store, Post Office and Hotel. There are also farm animals for the kids to look at. I would definitely bring other visitors there - just an FYI for any of you planning to head out this way. We also visited Minter Gardens, and I did a quickie tour of the Aquarium with Cousin Janet (It was a challenge finding the feces-eating fish, but luckily other Tourism Challengees helped me out). I am really tired though, and wanting some regular me-time. Thank goodness it was a long weekend. One more week and then back to normal! But, by then it will be full-on overtime at work so I can't say I'm looking forward to it that much.

In case you're interested:
www.kilby.ca
www.mintergardens.com
www.vanaqua.org

STAR TREK & the Tourism Challenge

So, I saw Star Trek on Friday - AMAZING! I kept expecting to be disappointed, bored, but it was all good. It was exciting, the casting was great, there were a lot of little things for die hard Star Trek fans & I am positive I saw a tribble (sp?). I will have to verify the 'tribble' when I go see it again - and I WILL!!! Tracey, you're crazy for not wanting to see this movie.

As for the Tourism Challenge, I have till the end of May to visit a select group of tourist destinations in the area and if I can get at least 15 stamps from 12 places (some places give you 2 stamps) then I can get a free pass for 11 months to all of these places. Some of them don't charge anyways but despite living here for 9 years (holy crap!) I still have not gone to the Aquarium or Science World, and a bunch of other places so this is a good opportunity. I get a free pass in and can bring a guest so even if I don't get all the stamps I can still enjoy visiting all these places I have wanted to for FREE. As usual I procrastinated with starting, though I have been legitimately busy, so I stopped at Xa:ytem (there's a bunch of symbols in there too but I don't know the keyboard shortcuts, sorry!) on the way home from the Zoo on Saturday and that was really interesting. I highly recommend stopping there if you're ever in Mission. It's easy to see everything in about a half hour but they have an interesting display of the artifacts found on site and then you can go into the re-built pit houses which is really cool. I have to say I wouldn't mind living in there, as long as I can still have my computer hooked up, and a fridge. There is also a glacial erratic on the site that the Coast Salish people believe is from one of their origin myths and is their elders turned to stone because they did not teach their people the written language and their great spirit (sorry I can't remember the name) was angry & wanted to punish them. I also went to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, amazing collection of totem poles, house posts, and potlatch 'dishes' (gigantic serving bowls the size of a grocery carts...) and more. They also happened to have a photographic exhibition on Samoan traditional tattooing. Now, I saw the Polynesian tattoo episode on Miami Ink so I really want to do that if I ever visit Hawaii BUT this style is with the same tools (which is painful and by the photos takes 3 or 4 people to hold people down while they're getting them) and is all over the thighs, butt and lower back. It's amazing but I think I would pass out or barf or something. Maybe if I could do it over several months, but all in one shot? Wow! Then I went to the UBC Botanical Garden, which was really nice. It's a lovely walk and they have quite a few trees and plants I had never seen before. You can also go on this tour up a metal walkway into the trees which I didn't have time for so I would like to go back and try that. And, I also stopped at Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park. I have been to a few Conservatories like it so it's not really much different. They did have quite a few parrots and other unusual birds and the Park itself was beautiful so I would take a visitor to see it but I don't know if I would pay for it. Though if you have never been to anything like that I would recommend going at least once.

http://www.xaytem.ca/
http://www.moa.ubc.ca/
http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/
vancouver.ca/parks/bloedel

Hal vs. Cute Rat

Last night Hal went out and when I was ready to go to sleep I went to let him back in but he was in the middle of a stand off with a cute rat. This is the healthy country rat I saw a long time ago or maybe it's a mole or something. It was definitely bigger than a mouse. Anyways, the creature was up on top of the suet feeder hanger and Hal was staring intently at it. I tried to call to Hal to get his attention but he wouldn't take his eyes off it. I felt bad for the creature - clearly it just went up for it's usual nighttime snack and then realized it was being stalked. It kept looking at me, pleading for help. After a couple of minutes I gave up, turned the light off outside and read for a bit. I thought the creature might try to make a run for it but when I went back nothing had changed. So, after some calling to Hal I finally grabbed some treats and was finally able to distract him and get him in the house. It was a bit tense there. Hal really has the instincts even though he grew up as a house cat. I don't want to deny him his catly ways, I just can't encourage it either.

Sunday morning

For the second Sunday in a row I didn't sleep in. I stayed in bed till after 6:30 today but that's as far as I could get. It has however been a nice morning and I was even moderately productive. Hal is in front of the patio window, he was there every day this week, and is napping. I guess he just does not want to miss anything. I have been taking care of my neighbour's diabetic cat this week. It's been quite an interesting experience. I had a rocky start since I've never done anything like that before but I feel like I've become quite proficient at it now. Not much else to report really. My Mom will be visiting in about a week so I need to get my butt in gear and clean up and I need to stock up on Mom-friendly snacks this week. Oh, and tonight I'm going to see the new Wolverine movie. I'll let you know how it is. Bye.

Provincial referendum

In a few weeks we will be voting in a new provincial government, or keeping the old one most likely. Part of the ballot is being used for a referendum on electoral reform. This is the same referendum in the last provincial election - a switch in the representation and voting system to the 'Single Transferable Vote'. I voted yes last time and will vote yes again simply because I think it will give voters more say in where their vote goes and ideally a better representation overall. Sure, there may be problems and it is more complicated but to me it makes a lot more sense. As a tree-hugger in a sea of conservatives my vote is worthless. However, my main reason in going political on ya'll is to just bring this to your attention and let you make the decision.

The nay-sayers:

http://nostv.org/

The yay-sayers:

www.bc-stv.ca

Either way, make a decision and vote!