long time

It has been a long time since I have posted anything on this. It was definitely not one of my priorities over the last few months. However, I was reminded by my friend Stephi to update it recently. So, lots has been happening over the last 2 months. I went to the Maroon 5 concert, the Barenaked ladies concert, the Sarah Mclachlan concert, went to see Miss Saigon and also went paragliding. Hmmm...I think that is it though.

The concerts were very cool, I really enjoyed all of them but I must admit that the Sarah one was the best. She is such a gifted musician and you become lost in her music. I sat there mesmorized and at one point had tears in my eyes. She has this ability to convey so much in a simple song.

Miss Saigon was incredible, I knew the story but did not really appreciate it until I actually saw it. There was a audible gasp from me at the end. It was touching and once again made me teary. Yes that seems like a theme for me. I can only imagine how it was like, my parents actually lived through this part of the story and it made me realize just how lucky I am.

Paragliding on the other hand did not make me cry like that but shout and scream in excitement. Paragliding was awesome. I cannot believe how incredibly high up you get to go and how far you can see. I was allowed to steer and it was very very cool. That is until we landed with some cows who were very curious about what I looked like. We jumped out near Agassiz near Chilliwack where I grew up. I miss the "wack" and I was happy I was able to see it.

It has been an incredibly busy few months with me with work and trying to live a very full social life and enjoying the summer in Vancouver. It seems that I am trying to jam pack everything in there before the weather turns wet.

Anyways, I am sure that I have done a ton of other things that I cannot even remember doing.

Ghost....

I have been taking pottery lessons and I absolutely love it. There is something rewarding about transforming a lump of clay into something that is functional. I must admit somedays it is really frustrating to throw a piece on the wheel and get it so that it is not lopsided. However, it is also very therapeutic to work with your hands. Sometimes, I am amazed at how a simple idea can turn out to be this great piece. It has only been a month or so but I am really loving it and could see myself doing this for a long term.

I have always wanted to do this and never really got to doing but am so glad that my friend signed me up.

I will keep you guys posted on the going ons in my pottery world.

So it has been more than a months since I have written.......

A lot has happened in that month. I made a final decision about gradschool. I decided that I am going to defer my admission and go back to school fall of 2006 instead of next fall. My heart just was not excited about it. I think it is the right thing to do. That along with a new possibility at work of taking on some other responsibilities and moving beyond what I am currently doing. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

On a personal note, it has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me. There was some excitement about someone that came back into my life, but in the end my heart was too fragile to deal with it. It seems that I too easily throw my heart out there and expect everyone to accept and to feel the same way about me as I do with them, but that is not always the case. My friend calls it passion but sometimes I think it is stupidity and recklessness. Not everyone is like me.

My uncle passed away 2 weeks ago and it is still very tough for me. We were close and I always felt a connection with him. From the day I was born he has always looked out for me and loved me. He was ill for a while but I was not really aware of it. He died at the age of 66 which I think is way to young. It was especially tough cause it was around the same time that my grandmother passed away 4 years ago, it seems like this is deja vu all over again, with some of the same type of stuff happening again.

Sometimes, I feel like I am so wrapped up in my own life that I neglect to think about my family. They are incredibly important to me and I never ever let them know enough how much they mean to me.

The Verdict is in....



I heard from gradschool last week, the day after I got back from my short trip to San Fran. I was in vacation mode and was quite relaxed and then I check my email and I found out that I have been accepted to the program. I am not sure if I am happy about it or if I wish I was not accepted. It is a bit of a mixed feeling. Not sure what I am going to do at this point. I have been grappling with this decision for almost a week now. Wish there was some simple answer.........

Anyways, SF was fun and I had a great time. The weather was fabulous and I loved the feeling of the city. Definitely laid back and cultural.

What has been going on?


It seems that I am not a very regular blogger anymore....hmmm..not even sure if anyone out there reads my blogs anymore...if you are reading this then send me a message and I will keep posting.

So, what has been going on in this little head of mine and in this life of mine over the last couple of weeks...........well, there is the thing called work which seems to take up most of the week. The job itself has not gotten any better and I still have moments where I want to leave, but there has been a change in the dynamics with the staff and it is actually quite fun to be in the office when everyone is there. We have a comradery and we all go out for walks together. It is nice. I feel less isolated and more willing to deal with work.

I have applied to gradschool, one school and have had a subsequent interview. The interview was rather short and I was nervous, not sure how it went....not sure I care...which is the worse part. Do I really want to go to gradschool??? Hmm...it seems that I am not terribly excited about which says something to me, but at the same time I think it is time to go back to school and population and public health seems to be what I want to do. I should hear back in 3 weeks or so.

What else have I been up to....... the guitar practice is coming really slowly. I am definitely not as musical as I thought I could be. Come one, everyone picks up a guitar and they think, cool now I am a rock star. How wrong we are, my darn mushroom fingers and trying to move them. I am determined though.

I have been chilling on the weekends, trying to get some training in for the sun run, a 10 km run around Vancouver. We are doing as team building exercise. It should be good and I am pretty sure that I will super sore after I do it.

For the first time in a while, I am feeling truly like I am home again. Up until recently I never quite felt like I had settled back into Vancouver. I felt like an outside observer along for the ride. I am feeling a lot better now and am enjoying where I live and appreciative of how close the beach is.

On the family front, my little nephew is getting much bigger now. I had the opportunity to spend an entire day with him and I could not help but love him even more. He discovered cats for the first time and it was a neat experience to see the discovery reflected on his face. At first it was a bit of a scary look, our cats are pretty big and he was frightened of them. I took him over to the cat and took his hand and let him touch the fur, it was funny to see the reaction, it was this mix of confusion and delight of how soft the cats were. By the end of the day he was walking up to them and petting them himself, while he was doing this, he would laugh uncontrollably. When he left he went up to the cats to say good bye. It was absolutely so cute.
I still cannot get over how much I love my nephew Caleb, someone who cannot even talk yet and all he wants to do is eat and sleep.

The joys of being an aunt.

So....I think that is everything that I can think of to write about. I am going on a bit of a roadtrip tomorrow, we are driving down to San Fran. which should be fun. I am looking foward to it.

Sakura


The weather has been incredible in Vancouver lately. We have had lots of sunshine and warm weather, which means that the cherry blossoms (sakura) are in full bloom. The sakura always reminds me of spring in Japan and sitting underneath the blossoms and having a cherry blossom viewing party...hanami. It is a reason to drink, but I think a good reason to enjoy the beautiful flowers. I have been thinking a lot about Japan lately, it seems like it was such a long time ago that I was there. There are days when I think to myself that I was not there, it seemed like forever ago.s

Kaiya,

I have wanted to learn how to play the guitar for a while now, ever since I had the opportunity to hear my friend Barney played. I was inspired by how incredibly cool it sounded. So, 2 weeks ago Jason, King and I went to go check out guitars. I had the intention of only going to look around and not actually buying one. I was playing around with one, when I mentioned that I was having a hard time reaching around the neck. One of the salespersons heard me and mentioned that they had smaller guitars on the other wall, I immediately was drawn to this cool looking blue one and started playing around. I tried some other ones but just could not get over this one. According to my companions, it had a nice sound and was not too bad to play. I was definitely drawn to it and thought, what the heck if I am going to learn to play, than I should invest in something nice.

It took me a less than a day to come up with a name for him. At first I was not sure if he was a he or a she and thought hmmm...should he be a Naoki, a Lola or even Cal...but then it came to me.....Kaiya. Barney and I were having lunch and there was a little boy named Kai sitting beside us and was t0uched by his enthusiasm and gentleness. I thought that this would be the perfect name for my guitar. I have always like the name Kai, but I know someone named Kai and did not want to appear that I had named my guitar after him. I do like him but to name my guitar after him......I think not....so Kaiya was the next best choice.

I have been working hard at getting the fingering right and developping the callouses.....I am determined to go from A7 ot D.......

Post Party

Last Sat. we had a bit of a party for my birthday. A grand time was had by all I think.
We decided that we would create a drinking chart based on the "Char Ratio" of drinks, eg. for every one drink that I had someone had to have two drinks. I must admit it was probably not a very fair ratio but afterall it was my party.

Valiant efforts were made by all to keep up and I think that several people actually did. There was live music, cupcakes and lots of friends and new faces to meet and greet. My roommate, Jason even wrote a song about me. I was touched, that was the first time anyone has ever written anything about me...nice stuff, I mean.

The post party clean up was not too bad, thanks to the help of Barney and I was not too hung over. All in all it was a good way to usher in being 27.

Happy Chinese New Year!

A very happy year of the rooster to everyone out there. May this year bring you much prosperity and happiness.

Supposedly, as a Horse the year of the Rooster will bring me good luck and romance in my future. Yippie Skippie...romance...does that mean long term committment or just a random boy?...hmm....what does the Chinese fates have in store for me. We will see. It also suggested that this year will be a good year for a new career or for travel. Both equally inviting to me. Keep your fingers crossed, if I do not meet someone at least I will get to travel or start a new job. Perhaps I could somehow combine all three together.

I had dinner with my family last night. It is tradition that you have New Year's Eve dinner with all your family and everyone has to be there. You are supposed to end off the year together as a family and start the next one together. There are a bunch of other superstitions that my family practices but are not overly zealous about. Stuff about showering and brooms.

I just know it was nice to be fed good food and spend time with my family.

Birthday Boy

Saturday was my nephew, Caleb's first birthday. I cannot believe that he is already a year old. It seemed like it was only a few months ago that he was born. He is absolutely the cutest little guy in the whole wide world and I adore him. He is beginning to walk and recognizes faces. Of course his Aunty Char is one of his favourite faces. He likes to touch your face and will laugh and giggle if you smile at him. He is beginning to take steps on his own and when you tell him, "where is the light, he will look for it".

We had two parties for him, the first was dinner at the Richmond golf and country club for all his family, 60 of his family from both sides. Then on Sunday we had another party for him with all his little friends. It was fun, but I am not sure if he understood what all the hoopla was about. He did have fun though, he laughed and got lots of hugs and kisses.

I feel a special connection to him because we almost share the same birthday. Of course his is a few days earlier than mine but we have a connection nonetheless.

Speaking of birthdays, in a few minutes I will officially be 27, aiya. As a child I could never imagine ever reaching 27. It seemed like an impossibly high number and now I will be 27.

I had visions of myself at a different place at 27, perhaps at a different job, with someone and maybe even married. However, that is okay, I am content with my life, because it extends to beyond a job beyond boys.....that is what I have learnt in my ripe old age.

Progress of Gradschool applications

The gradschool applications are progressing slowly through the haze of what has become the fogginess of my mind....yes my mind is quite foggy, because it has been so long since it has been challenged to think about anything beyond the most simplest of things, including adding and subtracting and making photocopies.

Rest assured though, that I will get them done and have them submitted. No guarantees that I will get in but I am certain that I will have made a valiant effort.

I have a little more than a week to get it done, I am almost there. Reference letters are on the way, 1 pager essay done-needs to be proofread, CV is being composed as we speak. The only thing left to do is to give them money...yes bribe them...or more likely have them take my money to reject me.

Many Frosties

Last week it snowed in Vancouver. It was incredibly beautiful. I hate the cold but I love the snow. Seems strange because the two things are inherently linked, and how can I like one but not the other? Part of the dichotomy of me I guess.

Snow brings out the child in me. I cannot help but laugh and smile as I play in it. You cannot resist making a snowman or throwing some snowballs at your friends. At night while it was snowing I would go for walks and look up at the sky and marvel at all the millions of perfectly formed snowflakes falling to the grown, hoping that it would snow more so I could have a snow day and not have to go to work. I did have to go to work but the snow made it worthwhile I guess. I took a walk on my lunch break to Burnaby Mountain park and saw lots of people sliding down the hill, it was too bad I was in my work clothes or else I would have commandeered a slide and slid down.


The snow is slowly disappearing now. It has been super cold out lately and most of the snow has turned into trecherous ice patches that are determined to get me on my way to the bus in the morning, not so beautiful now but a reminder of what was once all the beautiful snow we had.

Happy New Year!!

It has been a few weeks since my last blog and I just wanted to wish everyone a great 2005, as they say in Japan akemashite omedetou gozaimasu.

Things are well at the new pad and I have gotten used to living away from the fam. again, and let me say it is lovely. I now have two cats which never cease to shed all over and fill my dark clothes with enough hair to construct a new cat.

Work is work, and I am plugging along. I am currently trying to keep all my options open. I am also attempting to complete my grad school application but it is not going as well as I thought it would be, perhaps there is a part of me that does not want to go to gradschool...not sure why exactly. Perhaps it is the fear of ending up with another degree and not being able to find a job again, or the fact that I will not have any income while I pursue this thing that I am not really sure about.

I am working on trying to come out of my transistion period and try to pursue something that I will be passionate about.

Season's Greetings

Another Christmas has come and gone. Time seems to go by so fast, it seems like it was only yesterday when I had just gotten home from Japan and was happy to be celebrating Christmas again with my family. I loved the travelling and seeing the world, but Christmas was always one of the hardest times for me because I was not with my family. I feel like I missed out on two years of family time.

Christmas was and always will be one of my favourite holidays. As a child it was because of the gifts and the excitement of the holidays but now that I am a little more grown up it is about spending time with my family. It is one of the several holidays that all my cousins, aunts, uncles, and extended family all come together. As much as my family drives me nuts but underneath of it all, I love spending time with them....keeping in mind that I can only put up with 24 hours at the most.

This year was not different, we had Christmas at my sister, Christine's house. We had it on Boxing day due to the in-law scheduling with my sister's families. This year was particulary good because it was my nephew's first Christmas. It was quite exciting for everyone else but him. I think he enjoyed being picked up by everyone more than the presents.

I hope that everyone had a fabulous Christmasx and that it was filled with much joy and happines.

Moving sucks...

Finally, we have settled in to our new place. Moving activities actually ended up taking two days and it was a bit stressful, who knew I had so much stuff. I thought that after I got back from Japan that most of my stuff would be not needed, but low and behold I had more stuff stored away from my uni days. Crazy, loads and loads of rubbermaid containers of books and course materials.

Anyways, it took longer than the several hours that I had anticipated to unpack and settle in. I was not pleased that it took so long. Work was also super busy and my roommate was away in Dallas so that left about an hour at the end of the work day to come home before bed to unpack.

Fortunately, with a little alcohol to help the cleaning I was able to clean everything up for the party that through precisely a week after moving in.
The party was fun, we had loads of alcohol and live music. Surprisingly, we crammed a lot of people into our small place.

The awesome thing was that on Sunday I went to my sisters to make cookies and when I got back, the place was cleaned. Almost by magic it was great.

So that in a nutshell has been the last two weeks of life in my new hood.

BRRRRR....Cold....

Last Friday it snowed up at SFU. SFU is about 600 feet above sea level and it was raining down in Vancouver but snowing great big wet clumps of wet snow. It seems that Christmas is upon us and in 5 short weeks it will be here.

Christmas has and will always be my favourite time of year. It is not about the presents and gifts but because my family spends the day together. When I mean family, it is all my aunts, uncles, and cousins and it is a big dinner and fun and games.

Sayonara to the Ghetto hello to cute boys...

As some of you are aware, over the last 5 months I have been half-heartedly looking for the perfect place to live, sans parents away from what I call the ghetto. It is not really a ghetto, quite a nice neighborhood but not for me. Initially, I was adamant about living on my own, my Japan experience told me that I liked it but after looking at several places and the rent that accompanied it I decided that I could not afford to live on my own and thus found a roommate. He was initially a friend of a friend, and at that time a brother in law of another friend, and has now become my friend and I am delighted to say, my new roommate.

I am ecstatic to report that I found a place to live and we will be moving in there Dec. 1st. It is located in Kitsilano, the young hip, trendy part of town, cause we all know that epitimizes who I am. It is located at 6th and Stephens in an old heritage house with stained glass windows a deck and a big backyard. I am very excited about all of this and looking forward to having my own space again. Of course according to the blog below the place for me to meet cute boys and such.

As always hotel Charlene is once again open for business and y'all are always invited to come over and visit

Where you lives dictates your potential to meet boys....

Read the article below, even more reason for me to move away from my affectionate ghetto into the elusive Kits area......

There are research companies who claim they can predict with great accuracy what kind of peanut butter you eat, the type of car you drive, how often you mow your lawn and even your underwear preference just by looking at your address. How? According to Simon Simek, a Columbia University Lecturer and President of Simek/Gomes a strategic marketing consulting firm, "people with similar interests tend to cluster together geographically." In other words, people who are like you do things like you do, buy the things that you buy and live in places that are similar to where you live. It makes sense, doesn't it? Think about your city. Don't certain neighborhoods denote their residents' personalities or lifestyles? Young and hip, broke but cool, just broke, family-oriented, or retiree haven? Simek says, "The kinds of choices people make on how they live their lives, how they spend weekends, what they like to eat, and what they like to do will dictate where they live." He claims that where we live is a choice we make based in our psychographics - sort of a personality soup combining our lifestyle, aspirations, social background, personality, education and experiences. It stands to reason then, that if you want to meet someone who has similar interests and values, who enjoys doing the things you enjoy doing, the first place you should look is where you live. Simek adds, "people with similar psychographics by nature are attracted to the same types of areas or neighborhoods." What's more, is that once a neighborhood starts getting a certain reputation (artsy, highbrow, trendy) even more people of that particular group will be attracted. According to Simek, "there's a comfort level established with that - you want to be around people who are similar to yourself." So, although you may be searching high and low for the guy or girl of your dreams, you might want to at least start your search in your own back yard. I'm a strong believer in looking for love close to home - I met my own sweetie at a restaurant right next door to my apartment. There are other advantages to dating people from your own neighborhood. In big cities like LA and New York, it makes sense to stick to your own turf, otherwise you'll end up spending half the night stuck in a cab or worse, in bumper-to-bumper on the freeway. Not having any luck in your neighborhood? Take a look at where you live. If you're not happy with your current digs, Simek suggests that you start searching for dates in areas where you wish you could live. That way, you'll be meeting people with similar aspirations. In fact, the next time you're searching for cuties on Lavalife, try searching by geography (postal code) rather than your usual criteria, whatever that may be (height, weight, income, love of small animals.) You might just find that what you're looking for is a lot closer than you think. Hey, it's worth a try, right? If nothing else, at least you can start your new romance knowing the two of you probably have the same taste in peanut butter.

Lisa Daily is the author of Stop Getting Dumped!

New Running Shoes

I know it seems silly to write about shoes, but alas I love shoes. As evidence by the number and diversity of shoes I own. Shoes, more shoes some sandals thrown in there for good measure.
I bought new Asics Gel 1090 running shoes over the weekend, my new balance were just not cutting it anymore. My visits to the gym have been sporadic at best this fall but I am hoping that cause I bought new shoes then that would be incentive for me to go more. Let me say that I tried out my shoes yesterday on the treadmill and they were lovely. My running was not so lovely but the shoes were great. I have a bit of knee pain and tight shins but I can safely say that it would have been much worst had I not had the new shoes. Let's face it, my body is falling apart and I welcome the day where I could have bionic knees and other various bionic parts. Super hearing, Super eyesight....being able to fly....

P.S. I forgot to extol the virtues of my new boots too, they are "very Char" as my friend put it.

Fall News...

Fall is definately upon us here in Vancouver, it has been raining for the last 2 weeks off and on. When I groggily wake up and crawl out of bed it is still dark out. Then when I do make it up to work after fighting for a seat on the bus with all these fresh faced doe eyed first years, who are looking a bit haggard this week (mid-terms), I look out of my window to see fog and rain. Welcome to Simon Fraser University, home of concrete and rain. Luckily, today is a sunny day and it has almost made me forget about the previous weeks rain, just as the right moment before I go mental from the greyness of it all.

Lately I have taken up knitting again. My friend wanted to learn how to knit so I taught her what little I know and now we have created a Wed. get together called "stitch and bitch". I am in the process of making socks and will probably start on some toques (hats) for my nephew soon. He has outgrown the one I made for him last winter. Let me know if you need a scarf or a new toque, it will keep my busy on the cold winter nights in Vancouver.

I know I appear to be an old lady with my knitting and gossiping but alas, it is a hobby and keeps me out of trouble.