Miscellaneous August Activities

Hi friends,

Summer is pretty great, isn't it? Isn't it! My lovely John and I have been up to loads of things, some of which are:

• Picnics by the beach with wine, bread, and cheese (our three sinful indulgences). 

• Hours long walks with lagers and sunlit patios at the ends of them. (We're breaking in our new hiking boots for Europe.) 
• The Richmond Night Market. We ate okonomiyaki, churros, and blueberry icecream with Oreo crumbs and chocolate sauce.
• The Beaty Museum of Biodiversity at UBC. The main exhibit is the much sought after skeleton of a blue whale.
• Bard on the Beach. We saw "Taming of the Shrew" this year and loved it. I also managed to sneak in a viewing of "Macbeth" with some girlfriends and it gave me goosebumps. 

 "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

Vancouver has treated us well but we're excited to leave her to explore the great cities of the Old World. We fly into Amsterdam September 3. Can you believe it? John is preparing me for Oktoberfest with daily beers. I need to build my tolerance up!

 

  

Running for Bagels

I got up early and ran on Sunday. I ran 21 kilometers. I signed up for the Scotiabank Half Marathon several months ago to motivate myself to run. And run I did...for a while. I fell off the wagon a few times. By the last week before the race, I was getting up at 5:30 in the morning and running every day. It paid off! I ran 21 kilometers and didn't die! Happy Birthday to me! It was such a rewarding experience. There were hundreds of spectators all along the route cheering us until their voices broke. I made friends along the way who kept me motivated (especially for those very difficult last few kilometers). And John was at the finish line smiling and waving and saying how proud he was of me. Then I ate a lot of bagels and bananas and threw up.

Gingerbread Houses - Round Two

Some of my lovely lady friends came over last week for round two of gingerbread house construction.


Gingerbread house village.


Jesi's house.


Kate's house.


Hilary's house.


Becca's house.

House Construction

Our annual family tradition of building gingerbread (a.k.a. graham cracker) houses ensued last night. We listened to Christmas music, constructed (somewhat) sturdy foundations, and covered candy in icing sugar and jammed it onto our little buildings. I chose a different approach this year and focused on details rather than on adding as much candy as possible. Mine is the log cabin.