friday night
i met tracy and jordan at stanley park yesterday. well actually i met jordan on his favourite street--alberni street. "alberni. ALBEEEERNEEE" he kept repeating to me during our cellular discussion as i approached his locaton "on a road called alberni." "stop saying alberni!" i snapped at him in indian accent as i manuevered through the traffic on a busy road called denman. "i know all about alberni!" jordan was scoping out parking spots for me. he had previously found a free one for me but that was when i was slowling inching down granville towards drake and someone took it. so it was to a metered parking spot on a little road called alberni that i was being directed towards. jordan helped me in my parallel parking too. i was in fact having a tough time with it. sometimes parallel parking comes like an easy-peasy-lemon-squeezie and other times it feels like my first time.
tracy and the kids were waiting at spokes. they had just rented the bikes. when we walked up maria excitedly told me that she wrote me a letter, and that she put it on my present. well my present turned out to be my taxes. returned to me at last. tracy had taped a picture of maria in coloured envelope on the front and maria thought it looked like a present so she had to add a bunch of 'letters' to it.
tracy and i rode tandom and jordan rode a single pulling the girls in a trailor behind. tandoms have sure changed a lot since the days our family used to ride them around stanley park. back then they were red, with big black seats and i don't think there were any gears. and they didn't come with helmets(i first wrote helmut, like the german name. that would be cool if each bike came with a helmut). now adays they're silver with erganomic seats, shocks, complete with gears and helmets. i told tracy she could be in front. we decided to walk the bike across georgia and pull over to the side before attempting our first go at the tandom. it didn't go too badly except that i didn't get my feet on the pedals in time and tracy just started going. it took a few of my squeals and shouts for her to realize that our pedals go together but after that we got progressively better at each start and stop. another challenge was the gears which tracy did not get at first. jordan was trying to instruct her from his bike but we kept going to easier and easier gears when we wanted the harder ones and my knees were fairly bouncing up to my chest, but then she pretty much got the hang of it. it was a beautiful evening and it was cooler by the water and the wind on our faces felt so nice.
just before siwash rock the seawall is closed and we had to take detour b which was 'moderate'. it took us through the park which was cool, because i don't think i've ever gone through the park. on the way inward we passed a lady who stopped to take a picture "she just wants a shot of our bums." i whispered to tracy and then we both thought we should have the camera to take a shot of jordan's bum and whatnot so we got him to stop so we could get it out of the diaper bag. and tracy really did take quite a few shots of jordan's bum. we went past beaver lake which was almost all covered in lilly pads. with the sky, the trees, the lily pads and the water we were almost totally surrounded by blue and green. tracy and i stopped to take pictures. we went over the highway on this steep curvy overpass walkway and when we got to the top of it (we were walking our bikes) jordan insisted that we ride down the steep other side. and so we did. it was neat to go through the park like that. i liked it even if i did have to miss siwash rock.
we came out at 3rd beach and continued along the seawall. when we got to 2nd beach we stopped to look at the prices at the pool (back in our day it was free) and we lost jordan. i saw him fading off into the distance and called tracy over. when we took off we were going down hill again and we pedaled really hard and and as fast as we could because we're cool like that. we never did catch up with him though. at one point my foot flew off the pedal and it circled around and struck me cruelly in the heel, crusing my foot into the pavement. of course it was my sore foot too. it hurt but nothing was really damaged, so after a moment or two of saying owch and ooh and looking at my foot we continued on over the bridge past lost lagoon, under the tunnel, across the street and there was jordan paying for the bikes. we got him to take some shots of us on the bike.
we were to drive our respective cars and meet at 2nd beach, but i stopped at the chevron to get some chips and whatnot to contribute to the bbq. i got two bags of chips, two 1.5 litres of aquafina and two chocolate bars and it came to 16 something! i was a little shocked but the math was right. they showed me the receipt. is it just me or do you think that's a rip off? i don't think it would cost that much at 7 11. oh well getting hosed at gas stations is a way of life now. they may as well up the cost of the junk food too.
i parked on the side of the road by 2nd beach. tracy waved to me from a picnic table across the field and i waved back on my way to the parking metre. it was seven and you only had to pay until 9, but i only had 2 dollars in change and it was two dollars an hour. i decided to live on the edge and only pay for the one hour. take a gamble. maria ran up to me with her towel wrapped around her. when i showed her which car was mine she said "wow, nice car!" poor dirty whinnie appreciated it. i got my stuff out of the trunk and when i came around the side of the car maria told me that she was talking to my car. "what were you saying?" i asked. "i was saying 'hello car.'" "did she say anything back?" i asked "ya! she said hello maria." "she likes you." i told maria and i told her that my car's name was whinnie and that she only talked to kids.
when we got to the picnic table i had to open my 'present' and then maria and i went to the park. she walked right up to these older girls playing under the jungle gym and was very interested in them until they had to go. then she went down the slide and then we went on the swings. she wanted an underduck. so i gave her one and pushed her. as i pushed her i said what i always say. "hey don't come back here! go away!" and pushed her again. she giggled and kept wanting me to say that. i think that someone said that to me pushing me on the swings. maybe it was mom. then we did twirlies. i didn't know it but tracy was trying to take our picture just when i said "let's go get a drink!".
jordan and tracy had homemade salsa and guac., lime tortillas, pop, veggies and dip and smokies. there was also corn on the cob but by that time i was too full. tracy and jane were the only ones to eat it. jane was wandering around the grass with my keys while we ate. then at one point tracy asked what jane was doing. i knew she was at the head of the table and i thought she probably still had my keys so i looked under the table and i was like "oh she's playing with a knife." she had a sharp paring knife in her fist. kids are so fast.
we all totally stuffed ourselves. then we packed up our stuff, put it in the cars and went down to the beach. we sat on a log and looked at the setting sun. maria set about straight away collecting shells for me. it was her sole purpose the whole time we were at the beach. she also brought back a peach pit, a rock, a block of wood and two small pieces of drift wood. she found a bucket for me to put them all in and it filled the bucket to the top. meanwhile jane took after tracy and did not like to even touch the sand. jordan put her on his shoulders and walked up and down the beach with her. one time when we were all sitting on the log, actually i was sitting on the sand against the log, we noticed these asian people playing this game in the water. it had to do with jung ken po and it was so funny to watch. every time you lost you had to take a step further into the water and every time someone would lose everyone would yell "ARRRRRRRRRRRH!". we're going to play it at the family reunion.
after the sun set we left and there was no way maria was going to let me leave the bucket of shells behind. so i had to carry it with me all the way to the car and then i hid it behind a tree.
when i got home i undid my uncomfy system of support but then while talking to heather realized that she had motorcycle diaries which i've wanted to see, so i walked over there, chatted with her for a bit. there were 3 little boys visiting in the apartment above her and their noise was driving her crazy. "it's past ten oh clock!" she exclamed on the repeat occassions of thumps, bumps, yells and 'pitter patter of little feet' while pointing to the ceiling in frustration. i put on my sympathy smile but said little besides offering her elicia's bed who's gone for the weekend.
it was 11 by the time i started watching the movie. it was good. the friend talked so fast that i had to rewind for the subtitles quite a few times. i liked the friend. sometime during the end of the movie when i was fighting the sleep big time, i also became aware of the yucky feathery feeling followed by a sharp twinge. mosquitos coming through the open sliding glass door. little jerks. how dare they bite me.
i slept with the fan on me.
tracy and the kids were waiting at spokes. they had just rented the bikes. when we walked up maria excitedly told me that she wrote me a letter, and that she put it on my present. well my present turned out to be my taxes. returned to me at last. tracy had taped a picture of maria in coloured envelope on the front and maria thought it looked like a present so she had to add a bunch of 'letters' to it.
tracy and i rode tandom and jordan rode a single pulling the girls in a trailor behind. tandoms have sure changed a lot since the days our family used to ride them around stanley park. back then they were red, with big black seats and i don't think there were any gears. and they didn't come with helmets(i first wrote helmut, like the german name. that would be cool if each bike came with a helmut). now adays they're silver with erganomic seats, shocks, complete with gears and helmets. i told tracy she could be in front. we decided to walk the bike across georgia and pull over to the side before attempting our first go at the tandom. it didn't go too badly except that i didn't get my feet on the pedals in time and tracy just started going. it took a few of my squeals and shouts for her to realize that our pedals go together but after that we got progressively better at each start and stop. another challenge was the gears which tracy did not get at first. jordan was trying to instruct her from his bike but we kept going to easier and easier gears when we wanted the harder ones and my knees were fairly bouncing up to my chest, but then she pretty much got the hang of it. it was a beautiful evening and it was cooler by the water and the wind on our faces felt so nice.
just before siwash rock the seawall is closed and we had to take detour b which was 'moderate'. it took us through the park which was cool, because i don't think i've ever gone through the park. on the way inward we passed a lady who stopped to take a picture "she just wants a shot of our bums." i whispered to tracy and then we both thought we should have the camera to take a shot of jordan's bum and whatnot so we got him to stop so we could get it out of the diaper bag. and tracy really did take quite a few shots of jordan's bum. we went past beaver lake which was almost all covered in lilly pads. with the sky, the trees, the lily pads and the water we were almost totally surrounded by blue and green. tracy and i stopped to take pictures. we went over the highway on this steep curvy overpass walkway and when we got to the top of it (we were walking our bikes) jordan insisted that we ride down the steep other side. and so we did. it was neat to go through the park like that. i liked it even if i did have to miss siwash rock.
we came out at 3rd beach and continued along the seawall. when we got to 2nd beach we stopped to look at the prices at the pool (back in our day it was free) and we lost jordan. i saw him fading off into the distance and called tracy over. when we took off we were going down hill again and we pedaled really hard and and as fast as we could because we're cool like that. we never did catch up with him though. at one point my foot flew off the pedal and it circled around and struck me cruelly in the heel, crusing my foot into the pavement. of course it was my sore foot too. it hurt but nothing was really damaged, so after a moment or two of saying owch and ooh and looking at my foot we continued on over the bridge past lost lagoon, under the tunnel, across the street and there was jordan paying for the bikes. we got him to take some shots of us on the bike.
we were to drive our respective cars and meet at 2nd beach, but i stopped at the chevron to get some chips and whatnot to contribute to the bbq. i got two bags of chips, two 1.5 litres of aquafina and two chocolate bars and it came to 16 something! i was a little shocked but the math was right. they showed me the receipt. is it just me or do you think that's a rip off? i don't think it would cost that much at 7 11. oh well getting hosed at gas stations is a way of life now. they may as well up the cost of the junk food too.
i parked on the side of the road by 2nd beach. tracy waved to me from a picnic table across the field and i waved back on my way to the parking metre. it was seven and you only had to pay until 9, but i only had 2 dollars in change and it was two dollars an hour. i decided to live on the edge and only pay for the one hour. take a gamble. maria ran up to me with her towel wrapped around her. when i showed her which car was mine she said "wow, nice car!" poor dirty whinnie appreciated it. i got my stuff out of the trunk and when i came around the side of the car maria told me that she was talking to my car. "what were you saying?" i asked. "i was saying 'hello car.'" "did she say anything back?" i asked "ya! she said hello maria." "she likes you." i told maria and i told her that my car's name was whinnie and that she only talked to kids.
when we got to the picnic table i had to open my 'present' and then maria and i went to the park. she walked right up to these older girls playing under the jungle gym and was very interested in them until they had to go. then she went down the slide and then we went on the swings. she wanted an underduck. so i gave her one and pushed her. as i pushed her i said what i always say. "hey don't come back here! go away!" and pushed her again. she giggled and kept wanting me to say that. i think that someone said that to me pushing me on the swings. maybe it was mom. then we did twirlies. i didn't know it but tracy was trying to take our picture just when i said "let's go get a drink!".
jordan and tracy had homemade salsa and guac., lime tortillas, pop, veggies and dip and smokies. there was also corn on the cob but by that time i was too full. tracy and jane were the only ones to eat it. jane was wandering around the grass with my keys while we ate. then at one point tracy asked what jane was doing. i knew she was at the head of the table and i thought she probably still had my keys so i looked under the table and i was like "oh she's playing with a knife." she had a sharp paring knife in her fist. kids are so fast.
we all totally stuffed ourselves. then we packed up our stuff, put it in the cars and went down to the beach. we sat on a log and looked at the setting sun. maria set about straight away collecting shells for me. it was her sole purpose the whole time we were at the beach. she also brought back a peach pit, a rock, a block of wood and two small pieces of drift wood. she found a bucket for me to put them all in and it filled the bucket to the top. meanwhile jane took after tracy and did not like to even touch the sand. jordan put her on his shoulders and walked up and down the beach with her. one time when we were all sitting on the log, actually i was sitting on the sand against the log, we noticed these asian people playing this game in the water. it had to do with jung ken po and it was so funny to watch. every time you lost you had to take a step further into the water and every time someone would lose everyone would yell "ARRRRRRRRRRRH!". we're going to play it at the family reunion.
after the sun set we left and there was no way maria was going to let me leave the bucket of shells behind. so i had to carry it with me all the way to the car and then i hid it behind a tree.
when i got home i undid my uncomfy system of support but then while talking to heather realized that she had motorcycle diaries which i've wanted to see, so i walked over there, chatted with her for a bit. there were 3 little boys visiting in the apartment above her and their noise was driving her crazy. "it's past ten oh clock!" she exclamed on the repeat occassions of thumps, bumps, yells and 'pitter patter of little feet' while pointing to the ceiling in frustration. i put on my sympathy smile but said little besides offering her elicia's bed who's gone for the weekend.
it was 11 by the time i started watching the movie. it was good. the friend talked so fast that i had to rewind for the subtitles quite a few times. i liked the friend. sometime during the end of the movie when i was fighting the sleep big time, i also became aware of the yucky feathery feeling followed by a sharp twinge. mosquitos coming through the open sliding glass door. little jerks. how dare they bite me.
i slept with the fan on me.
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