I love surprises!

Giving them... receiving them... being part of them... whatever! :)

Last night myself, Conan, Jen, Mike (Hrycyk) and Jenny (Morrison) had a surprise birthday dinner for Derek (sorry to have left out anyone not in town or sick right now). We had a blast at Cactus Club (down on Broadway at Ash). My goal was to try and send Derek to work with a hangover this morning but it didn't quite work (though he did enjoy _several_ martinis).

In order to get Derek there without letting him know it was his surprise birthday dinner I had to tell him that Mike, and his wife, Jessica, wanted to go for dinner with us to a little place that Mike knew about somewhere near Broadway and Ash.
Derek (being the Derek that he is) came home and started asking: "So what is this place called?" "What kind of food do they serve?" "Where is it?" "How are we going to meet them if you don't know where we are going?" etc. etc.

Now, Derek has told me the story of how, when he was young he _constantly_ peppered his parents with questions about everything (you know, the "Why is the sky blue?" kind of question) and the only response (short of a plausible answer) that the young Derek would accept was, "I don't know." Derek is STILL that delightful info junkie (it really makes him squirm when I don't give him answers right away to his questions so sometimes, just to make trouble, I tease him that way... teehee... I am soooo evil!) At least, having heard this story before (and having personal experience of the same), I am now prepared to answer this sort of question. So my answers were: "I don't know what it's called, Mike knows it." "I don't know what kind of food they serve." "I don't know where it is, other than that it is in the vicinity of Broadway and Ash." "We are meeting Mike and Jessica at the corner of Broadway and Ash and going to the restaurant from there."

So we left the house and got to the meeting place (by which point Derek was glancing around, trying to figure out where the elusive Mike and Jessica were) when I drag him into the Cactus Club (which he kind of smirked/smiled at - it's his favorite restaurant of that type). He didn't figure out that it was _his_ dinner until he saw Conan and Jen sitting in the waiting area and then you could see the light of knowledge as it broke across his face and Jen cheerily waved at him.

Dinner was a LOT of fun and included booth hopping (they didn't have a table big enough for eight but since we were only six they consolidated from two booths (for four each) into one booth for six. We then proceeded to play "spot the Buddist" and "Your team", two mildly cruel (but amusing) games based on people watching and generally making snide comments (ask Mike... they are HIS games).
Food was good, we had hot wings and calamari appies, and then some very tasty dinner (which was also so spicy I ended up stealing Jenny's water thinking it was Derek's and then apologising profusely).
After doing some serious math (splitting the bill up at the end) we all headed home. Derek was one happy clam...

But my night wasn't over yet. When I got home I finished loading my massage table and stuff into the car and drove out to Kits to do a massage for one of my clients' girlfriend. It is great doing late night massage because for once, when you are finished the massage, it is _exactly_ the right time to climb into bed and fall asleep.
It was a really good day. I came home and Derek and I watched the end of an episode of 24 (which we have just started the first season of) and then it was sleepy time.

Today is more preparing for our week away from home. I also need to get my place spic and span so that it is ready for my moms visit next week the day after we get back from Williams Lake. Also I get to do some birthday shopping today which is always fun! I have one more lesson with Russell, my new(ish) student today and then I'm off! Should be another good day!

(Picture at top is of me and Derek at Cloud 9 restaurant in downtown Vancouver where I took him for breakfast on Saturday morning just before my harp recital in North Vancouver. The food was okay... not great... but the view was spectacular and we both had a really good time.)

So It Begins...

This picture is taken from the guest room of Rolston's Retreat, the B&B Derek and I will be staying at this weekend.

Today and tomorrow I am going to be doing last minute clean-up before leaving for Kelowna and Williams Lake for the next week. I expect I will also be doing my best to run around outside as much as possible in this GORGEOUS weather! :)

I can hardly wait to leave town for the week. Derek says that the weather in Williams Lake will most likely be HOT HOT HOT! I only hope that I don't come home looking like a lobster. :) We are going to be staying at a bed and breakfast while in Williams Lake (which I am SO going to enjoy). The place we have booked looks lovely (from the online pictures). It is a lake-view room in a house up on a hill. The B&B has a recreation room and a hot tub outside. Should be nice star-gazing out there.
I am also going to enjoy spending time with Derek's extended family. Coming from a small family myself I find it a strange process being in a room with a bunch of people whose main point of commonality is blood. In my experience, the largest family event I have had (with my immediate and extended family) was early Christmases with my mom, my stepdad (Ted), my dad, my aunt Marilee and my uncle Rick. That was it! Six people in all! And _most_ of the time the holidays/special events involved just my mom, Ted and I.
Now I am going to family gatherings where relatives have to wrack their brains at times to remember peoples names (let alone HOW they are related). It is both a daunting experience and a fun one. I get a little shy just because I don't know how people at these events interact. In a way I treat it like a gig (which... actually in this case it will also be), after I play music I generally mingle and meet people and chat. I guess the only difference is that because it is Derek's family I really want them to have a good feeling for me and so I spend a lot of time just hoping that I don't offend them (which is easy to do in a large gathering of diverse personalities).
But one of the most reassuring things I have found about Derek's family is that they are nothing if not open, welcoming and friendly. I know in my heart that this weekend will be thoroughly enjoyable but I am still a little nervous.

But on to other things... in addition to this weekends festivities for Derek's grandparents, it is also Derek's 26th birthday on Sunday. I expect that we will probably try to have some kind of gathering once we get back from our journeys to celebrate Derek's b-day in Vancouver with friends and I will get in touch with people when we have an idea of what the plan is.

I have been pondering the past few days and am going to throw this question out there:
What are some of the best ways of showing someone that you love them? A few thoughts that I have come up with (some with Derek's help) are:

Going out of your way to do something/help do something for another person that you wouldn't normally do.
Telling the person how you feel about them.
Creating/doing something inspired by that person to express how much they mean to you.
Taking time out of your schedule just to be with that person.

Please feel free to add to this list. I am still thinking about it but want to hear what others think too.

My mom is going to be visiting next week and I am _quite_ happy about that. It is funny but even though visiting them is no more difficult or expensive now than it was when I lived on the island, I just don't make it over to visit very often any more. I suppose that is a growing up kind of thing. Nonetheless, it makes visits with my mom, Ted and my dad more special for the distance and travel involved (on either side).

I can hardly wait for my massage course to begin in two weeks. It is going to be a great time and I am SO looking forward to learning some new techniques. I keep thinking that I would like to go back to school (if my parents are reading this they are probably groaning right now) to study to become an RMT (registered massage therapist). There are a few obstacles I would need to overcome in order to achieve this and a few reasons why I hesitate to attack those. The first and foremost reason for me _not_ to follow that path is my music... I specifically went to music school and have been limiting my "real life job" opportunities because I want to focus on pushing my music career forward and do not want to take away from that focus by spending years of my life away from that aspect of my life. The time and money are the major stumbling blocks for acutally getting the training. The RMT program in BC is a minimum three year program and costs in the vicinity of $30,000. If I had not already done so much schooling (and gone so far into debt with it) I might feel a little safer doing that, however...
One of the other reasons for my questioning whether or not it is a good idea is tht fact that right now I am earning almost as much as an RMT without having the training and the debt involved. There is also a VERY high incidence of burn-out from the intensity of the RMT program (and having known both teachers and students of various schools I am fairly certain this is NOT just a rumour).
But I do love doing massage. I think that I will give it another year of thought. Derek and I have discussed the possibility of him finding a job in Victoria and us moving there sometime in the next two years or so (and Victoria now has a massage school that I could go to). In the meantime, I will market my cd, play gigs, do chair and table massage in my down time and just generally enjoy my life and the fact that I have two career paths that I love and a loving partner who is supportive of them (even if they are not insanely lucrative YET).

It is interesting how complimentary music and massage are. When I think about it, the music I most love to perform tends to be relaxing and (I would like to think) healing in a way. The same is true for massage. I am beginning to think that what a person chooses to do as a career (if it is one that they love) is not so much chosen for the specific JOB (i.e. computer programming, medicine, art, etc.) but rather is chosen because the job allows the person to indulge in expressing his or her passions through their work (and in some cases allows a person to leave a legacy behind). And I suppose if that is the case then a mid-life crisis is not so much a change of careers (unless the jobs are diametrically opposed) as a morphing of one's passions. Hmmm... I'll have to hang onto that reasoning as a jusification for my mid-life crisis when I get there... or am I already in the middle of it? More to think about I guess...

Well, I think that is enough rambling from me for now. I hope that everyone has a great week. I will post when I get home next week and let all know how my weekend went. :)

Back by popular demand...

A picture taken by Derek at Sealion War a couple of weeks ago while I was harping in a field for some friends...

I would like to say that I haven't been blogging because I am too busy but that wouldn't be _entirely_ true. There has been a lot going on lately but I think I just needed a break from the blog... happily I am back!

Exciting times are coming up in my life... my Relax to the Max 2 week intensive chair massage training course is coming up and I am currently prepping for that by going through the manual and doing a fair amount of homework.

After the massage course is finished I have a day off and then (dadadadaaaaa....) I am going to be recording my new cd (so if you are one of those people who would like to pre-order please get in touch with me so I can put your name on the list). I will be recording at Amo Audio with Adam Biggs in Richmond. I went to check out the facilities and found them to be quite wonderful. My friend, Andrew Chan (harpist extrodinaire) has done some recording with Adam (clips are on the Amo website) and highly recommends him. I am hoping to get the recording done and put to bed by the end of August so I can send it (along with my artwork and layout) away for replication and hopefully be getting my order back sometime at the beginning of September (a good time to start thinking about Christmas presents for people). The album is titled "Celtic Angel" and will be available from my website as well as from local independent music stores in Vancouver and (hopefully) I will be talking to some larger distributors and finding out about getting it into some of the major music stores. I will let you know when I find out which locations Celtic Angel will be available in.
This album will be a compilation of (*gasp*) well known celtic folk music as well as some from England and a few original tunes of my own.

My personal life is getting hectically busy too... but I am looking forward to everything I have coming up.
Next week Derek and I will be leaving for a five day "family" vacation... that is to say: we are going to Kelowna to spend Wednesday through Friday with his parents (Brian and Cindy) and sister (Katie) and potentially some aunts, uncles and cousins. Then on Friday we are all setting off as a caravan to visit Derek's grandparents (Sig and Christine), in Williams Lake, who are having their 50th wedding anniversary... BIG congratulations to them! :) It is _also_ Sig's 75th Birthday (he doesn't look a day over 50) and Derek's 26th birthday. I am bringing my harp up to play during the reception for a while and bringing the massage chair up to help some of the (almost) "in-laws" feel better.

Derek and I will be coming back to town on Monday and have a few days at home before we head off the next Friday night to the island for my 10 year high school reunion (I know _everyone_ probably says this but... WOW! How time flies!) I can't wait to see old friends. Having gone to a private boarding school was a really interesting experience but one of the saddest parts about it was that, at the end, all of your friends return to their homes all over the world and the chances of seeing them again are a LOT slimmer that usual with old school friends.

Then when we get back home I begin my massage course and then the recording. Once I am done recording I have about four days free and then Derek, our friend Sam, and I will be heading out to Calgary for about four or five days before we come back to BC to go camping with friends in the Shuswap area for the August long weekend.
I hear that the camping trip is always a blast. The f00f group (I will let Derek explain the name) goes to an old logging site (which you are allowed to camp in) and grabs the whole thing for the group (which is usually pretty large). The campsite is right on a private lake and surrounded by nothing but wilderness for miles... my kind of weekend!

Upon returning home from the f00f camping trip I am planning to head to Pennsylvania for Pennsic War XXXIV (driving there with... someone... I haven't figured that part out yet) which is an SCA event lasting a week and a half which on average has something like 12,000 people attending every year. I am still not sure how I am going to get enough $ together to get there (as I will be spending most of July doing massage course and recording) so i am just _hoping_ that something miraculous will fall into place by then.

When I get back from Pennsic I will have a couple of weeks of summer left (and should be pretty rested by then) so I will be taking my massage chair down to Kitsilano Beach and trying to make a little money while the weather is still nice. I will also be starting to seriously market myself for doing corporate chair massage (as I will be able to get insurance for that once I am done the Relax to the Max course) and start heavily promoting my CD release (for which I will most likely try to have a CD release evening (concert, party, something similar).

So that's my summer in a nutshell. Somehow, I have managed to book myself _almost_ all the way through until September (when Derek and I will be going to Hovander Park in Bellingham for September Crown - SCA event - during the labour day long weekend). How plans change! Back in March I was planning on spending most of summer hanging out in Victoria with friends... ah well... c'est la vie!


(killer kitty cute story... reminds me of our cat, Pukah):
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/06/09/cat-bear.html

Music music music...

I meant to post this a couple of days ago but Blogger was down so you get it now...

I am happy to announce that my gig Monday night was a success! Thank you to those of you who offered encouragement... every little bit helped.
The event started at 6:30 pm and was held in the Pacific Ballroom of the Hotel Vancouver (a GORGEOUS room) by IABC. After some initial confusion as to where they should put me (they wanted to set me up in one spot for an hour and then move me to another spot for another hour) they put me up on the stage of the ballroom under the proscenium arch with a spotlight on me and hooked me into the sound system.
I think that the sound guys loved me more than anyone else! ;) When they saw that I brought with me a full mini system and all they had to do was provide me with power and a single cable to hook into their system they were _ecstatic_.
The idea then was that the doors of the ballroom would be opened and the people in the outer areas having the champagne reception would hear the music trickling out through the door. Unfortunately the acoustic didn't cooperate. But that was actually a bonus for me. It gave me a little more time to get used to the room and settle down any nerves and/or jitters I had going on.
At 7:30 people began to filter into the room from the outer area. At that point I began playing and singing. It was like most other gigs in one aspect, the music was mostly for wallpaper... that is to say that I am sure the crowd enjoyed it but they still went on talking, carousing and having fun (which was, after all, the point of the event).
The spotlight was actually a nice feature as I couldn't see past the first row of people and so had very little stage fright. The lighting was great (for once) and I only made mistakes when I decided to be daring and try something I was not ABSOLUTELY sure that I had down.
Sadly I did not get a chance to mingle and give out any business cards. It was too bad really, with so many business people in one place I had hoped to take advantage of the opportunity and make some contacts. Oh well, I will ask the organizer to provide my info to anyone interested.
After I was finished there was a hilarious operatic skit about an Italian, a Frenchman, and an American that featured three tenors (or The Three Waiters as they called themselves) with superb voices. After they finished I whipped up on stage with the help of one of the (very good looking) housemen and got my sound equipment and harp up in about 5 minutes. I made it home safely and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Yesterday I got a call from a gentleman who wants me to play harp for a university graduation party in Shaunessy this Friday night for an hour and a half (is it ALWAYS feast or famine for musicians?) and wants a selection of Irish music (hmmm... I wonder if I know enough Irish music to fill the time... ummm.... YES). I am looking foward to having another gig so quickly but it is going to be one BUSY night!

Sealion war is this weekend so Derek and I will be heading to Aldergrove after I am finished my gig (at 8:00 pm) and going out to the site to set up. I can't wait for the event. I love the joint Vancouver-Victoria events as I get to see lots of people from Victoria I do not usually get to see. Sadly my friend Hugh won't be coming to the event (which is a little silly since he is currently staying with Derek and I and will be going home on Friday) as he was sick last week and needs to head home before the event to catch up on work and get some R&R this weekend.
I guess we will just have to get along without him this weekend :(

Yesterday was a REALLY fun day. I taught a voice lesson around 1:00 and then headed over to Dorothy's to drop off her camping stuff (which we won't be able to transport now that we do not have the van) and some other things that she has agreed to take to the site with her. Then she and I went to Aphrodite's for some AMAZING organic lunch... I was VERY naughty and had an open face melt with spinach, roma tomatoes and brie on top of a multigrain bread baked with garlic in it... SOOOOO yummy!
She and I then went to a Greek deli and I finally bought myself some Rose water (it is a really nice way to flavor drinking water and I think I will bring it to the event this weekend). I also picked up some Orange Blossom (Neroli) water which is also quite good (I hadn't tried it before yesterday). As Dorothy pointed out I seem to be obsessed with eating and drinking flowers... we decided it was just the bohemian thing to do.
We then went back to her place and lounged around for a few hours waiting for Derek to get off work and meet us at East is East for dinner (really good middle-eastern food). Dinner was fantastic (though the service was a little slow due to understaffing and the fact that a party of 12 showed up only slightly after we did). We had time to pop into a second hand book store that Derek and I like before dinner and he was able to get some books to complete series that he was working on. :)
By 8:30 we were finished, just in time to get called by Hugh (who we were expecting) saying he was heading into town from the ferry. Derek, Dorothy and I headed home and met up with Hugh and then spent most of the evening sharing amusing video clips from the internet.
Hugh gave Dorothy a ride home (as she LOVES motorcycle riding) and then came back. Hugh and I had time (well... I actually just kept him up late) to chat which was nice as he is going to be very busy while he is here.

Today is going to be an organization/running errands day. I figure if I get everything together today and tomorrow then Friday should go smoothly enough. I was thinking about doing some sewing but I think I might just leave it alone this week. The garb I made for the last event might get a little attention just so it is a little more fitted but nothing else.
I am going out to Academie Duello tonight (as is my friend Conan... I think) and am going to try and authorize so that I can fight this weekend at the War if I chose to.

I hope all is well out there in the rest of the world. I am always interested in seeing what my friends, family and fans are up to so if you have a blog or livejournal, please post a comment here so I can take a look. :)

Bye for now!

YAY!!! SOLD THE VAN!!!

Those of you who know me will be aware that the Big Brown Van and I have not always gotten along. Well, today we finally sold it. I must add that a moment of silence should be observed for the passing (from our lives anyways) of a vehical that never _actually_ quit on us. Sic transit gloria automobile...

Naughty Blogger!

I have been off blog for at least a few days... What's going on in this world???!!! Well, for starters I registered for Pennsic XXXV yesterday and am REALLY REALLY excited to finally be going back this year. It has been four years since I was last there and every year that I haven't gone it has been excruciating to miss. While there I am also going to be participating in the Known Worlde Choir singing early music from several different composers. I am pretty psyched. It is going to be six days in a row of rehearsing two hour a day and then a concert at the end of it (by which time we shoud all be VERY good).

I went to Academie Duello rapier practice on Wednesday night (and am still aching all over) and had another great night of practicing. I think that next week Conan will be joining us at practice. He is very excited about having ordered a Hanwei practice rapier.
I am going to try doing one practice a week for the next two weeks and then see if I can step it up to two practices a week. I am trying to do the smart thing and get back into things SLOWLY so that I am not so frightened to do it (like the last couple of times when I put myself into serious agony trying to do too much, too fast). So far this has been working pretty well because if I go to a practice mid-week then by the beginning of the following week my body has forgotten the pain and is ready for more.

Tomorrow is the Yogathon at the Plaza of Nations and Saje is setting up a booth there. I will be doing massage from 10:30 until 5:30 and then going to an appreciation party for Janie More (one of the co-presidents of Saje). I have been SO social lately... it's great!

Monday is my BIG GIG at the Hotel Vancouver and I have been practicing with my amplifier all week trying to set my levels. I don't know how much good this will do as I have no idea how the acoustic of the room is going to sound. I am going to show up about 45 minutes early so I have plenty of time to set up, tune and warm up and then check all my tech stuff before the show begins.


I have today off so I think I am going to go get a tune-up (massage) so that I can get through the maddness that is going to be tomorrow and then my regularily scheduled Sunday mayhem at West 4th Saje.

I love you all!