Sara's World

Sunny Day!!!

2008-10-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems as if fall is trying to make up for our rainy summer weather.... what a gorgeous day! Thea and I are going down to Dallas Rd. today after her nap. She really likes going down to the ocean and watching the waves doing their thing.

It is so nice finally having our place get a little more organized. It feels like it has been forever just fighting with the housework but finally it feels like I'm getting on top of things. There is still stuff to do but it isn't quite as overwhelming now.

I am going to be competing in a bardic competition in early December at a local SCA event. Not sure what I am going to be performing yet but I figure it's time to put my hand back into things. I am also going to try and get some evening Christmas/seasonal gigs so if you know anyone in Victoria who wants a harpist/singer for their party, please get in touch with me!

Here are some more pictures of recent stuff (mostly me and family). It has been wonderful seeing Thea grow. I was thinking of how people keep saying how fast the time goes when you have children. I am thinking that maybe time goes just as fast when you _don't_ have kids but having them around is like carrying a measuring stick with you everywhere. For instance, the difference in me turning 30 this year as opposed to turning 28 two years ago is not that great from a physical or mental developmental standpoint. I expect the difference between Thea turning 1 year old and turning 3 years old will be _significant_. In a way it is kind of nice having that measure. This was the years won't just be passing by unnoticed until one day I look in the mirror and find that I am no longer 30 but am 45 (or however old).

Speaking of my little darling, I must go and give her a cuddle and put her down for her nap. Hope all is well in the wide world today...

Love...

Naughty Blogger!!!

2008-10-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it has been, like, 7 months or something since I last posted... LOTS has happened (most recently, I moved our computers out into our dining nook so that we can use them while Thea is napping in her nursery. Where to start...

Being Thea's mom has been the most rewarding experience of my life. She is a total joy! I am such a lucky mom (and everyone knows it!)
Thea has six teeth right now (four on the top, two on the bottom). She has been eating solid foods for three months (mixed baby cereals, baby food, etc.) We just started her eating "grown-up" foods a few weeks ago (she LOVES eating pasta and it is really cute when she figures out that she can suck a strand of spaghetti up). She REALLY likes broccoli and cheese sauce and grapes for desert.
She and I often go swimming at Gordon Head Rec Center where I have a pass. We also go to the Commonwealth Pool sometimes but it is usually so crowded and when they have lessons we have to leave (which we don't have to do at Gordon Head) so we tend to make the longer trip and go to our favorite pool (Gordon Head).

We haven't been out walking as much as I would like (my own fault for getting too involved in housework and/or lazy to get out). My resolution is to try and go out walking at least three mornings a week (though, I suppose, I should start with just going for ONE walk). Today looks like the day for it. The sun is shining and it is a beautiful windy fall day. As soon as she is up from her morning nap we will go (and maybe swimming after that).

I am starting a part-time job at the new Saje store in Mayfair Mall in a week and a half. I am soooo happy they are finally opening a store in Victoria again (even if only to feed my Saje habit... gotta have it!!!) I will be working there Saturdays and Sundays so any of you who are local come on down and see us! The store is having it's grand opening the weekend of the 24th of October.

Colin is doing very well at work (though I am really happy he has cut back on his late nights recently). He was promoted to assistant manager of the body shop (he is already the asst. man. of the parts dept). I am really hoping that this current economic situation doesn't hit us too badly (though I think the auto industry might get hit pretty hard by the things that are going on. He has been playing a lot of Warcraft lately (which is also okay with me as long as it's in moderation) while taking care of Thea so that I am able to have some time to myself.

Well, I had best make use of my precious free nap time to have a shower and feel human for a little while before I go back to my Mommy Doodies (oops... I mean: Duties) I really hope that you are all doing well. Please feel free to post comments or (gasp) send me an email if you have a moment. I am on Facebook now as well so I can be contacted that way too.

Love to you all!

Weekend trip postponed

2008-01-18T19:56:00.000-08:00

(Our beautiful baby Thea)

Well, Colin and Thea and I were all ready to head up to beautiful Port Alberni today when my mom called to say that my step-dad, Ted, had fallen off a ladder at work and had a box fall on his chest and had to go to the hospital. He is as okay as you can be when something like this happens but we are postponing our trip until Monday...

It's times like this I am really REALLY glad that Colin is off work so we have this kind of flexibility (instead of only being really glad like I usually am). So we will probably have a nice quiet weekend at home.

I took some Doula training this past October as part of my path to becoming a midwife and am now hoping to do some volunteer work with the Cook St. Midwives. It will probably be a little tricky because I will have to figure out childcare after Colin goes back to work but I think it will definitely be worth it!

Having experienced how wonderful it was to have Stephanie (Thea's Fairy Goddess Mother and my best friend) as the Doula for my labour I can hardly wait to get out there and start helping other women through their experiences. The more I think about being involved with labour and birth (and all the other stuff that comes with it), the more it just feels right as a vocation. I have not felt this right about anything in my life other than my husband, my daughter and my music. Maybe having some experiences with actual birth will change my perspective on this but for now it just feels so right. I hope it is! :D

(Thea's best Christmas present)

Well, all the best to you all. Hope that winter isn't getting you down. I saw lots of daffodil shoots the other day when I was out for a walk so hopefully spring is just around the corner. Lots of hugs to you all!

(My sleepy family :)

Thea Arrives!!! :D

2008-01-09T15:48:00.000-08:00

We are overjoyed to announce that at 1:03 pm on December 17, 2007, Thea Willow Myrranda Tate joined our family. She weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz and has been an incredibly healthy and happy baby. We will be starting a blog for her soon that we hope friends and family members will contribute to. We plan to have her blog printed off and bound after her first year so that she will have something to look at when she is older.

Thank you all, so much, for your good wishes, support and all the wonderful presents for Thea. We can't wait for her to meet all of our wonderful friends!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Baby Shower

2007-11-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

On November 17, our good friend, Stephanie and her parents, Bob and Sue Gill, were kind enough to host a WONDERFUL baby shower for Colin and I. It felt so nice to be spoiled by all our friends for the whole afternoon! We played several shower games (how big is the belly, don't say the word "baby", and draw a baby on you head) which led to quite a lot of laughter.

After the games we partook of a lovely potluck lunch (my fav was the sushi and all the chocolate, of course) and then I was put into a rocking chair for about an hour while the various guests came by one and a time and applied henna to my belly (as seen in the photos above).

After the very fun henna experience we opened all of the wonderfully thoughtful gifts that were brought to us by our dear, dear friends. It's funny how overwhelming the outpouring of love has been this year for both Colin and I. First with our wedding and now with baby Thea on the way... well... all we can say is that we appreciate all your love, best wishes, and support SO MUCH... now more than ever!

It is now 12 days until due date (which means any time in the next month or so). We have almost everything together now for our home birth (fingers crossed that we don't need to go to the hospital for any reason). It's just a matter of waiting for Thea to pop out now. It is such an exciting and joyful time waiting to see who this new person will be... we can't wait!

Sprit of Midwifery

2007-11-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

(Some photos taken this weekend for me by my friend Mike Hrycyk... thank you Mike!)

Hi one and all! I had a great time this past weekend at the midwifery conference in Vancouver. It was two days of talks on recent findings, research articles and thesis projects, along with some great informal discussions with midwives from around the country (and some from across borders too) about midwifery as it is, where it is going and how we can help to get it there.

There were a few talks that stand out in my mind especially: One was a research project on 5 years of home birth. The results of that study were quite groundbreaking. They showed that in most areas of labour and delivery, home birth is a safer, better alternative to hospital births (attended either by a midwife OR a GP/obstetrician). This study was important because it will help to pave the way for greater advances in legislation in provinces where midwifery is not yet regulated/funded and for other pro-midwifery endeavors.

Another research project that was very enlightening was one about university students' attitudes towards birth. It was somewhat surprising to see what the results of a UBC-wide survery were (hopefully they will post these findings online and I will be able to link to them for those interested).

There were many other wonderful talks including ones about post-partum obsessive complusive disorder, spirituality in midwifery and others that were completely facinating.

On a personal note, I had a wonderful time meeting so many wonderful, thought-provoking women. I had the great experience of meeting with some of the current UBC midwifery students and getting to talk to them about their experiences and thoughts. As I said, it was a wonderful weekend!

I also had a fantastic time at Mike and Jessica's place. Thank you so much for being great hosts this weekend guys! On Friday night we went to Langley for a birthday party with some of their friends, Cory and Mike, and had a wonderful time eating Chinese food and meeting their fantastic kids!

On Saturday we went out for dinner at the Eatery (my fav sushi place in Vancouver) and had a nice intimate dinner with some friends. It didn't go very late (which is probably for the best given that I was REALLY tired by then). After dinner we headed back to M&J's place and Mike took some really nice photos of my preggers belly. We then watched all of 10 minutes of a movie before passing out on the couch and then heading off to bed.

Sunday morning we made a quick trip to Granville Island (where I had cheese croissant, chocolate eclair and apple strudel for breakfast... mmmm...) and then to the ferry where we arrived just in time to run across to the car loading deck and throw me onto the ferry.

I had an amazing three days but the best part of it was coming home to my island and seeing Colin's smiling, wonderful face waiting for me at the front of the arrivals area. Sigh... maybe it is the newly-wed in me talking but I missed him every minute I was gone and it was the best feeling ever to be back home in his arms again...

Baby and life news

2007-10-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

This was taken at the end of August (after I had my gallbladder removed and was able to eat fatty foods again). My baby belly was just beginning to pop out and ice cream was becoming the most wonderful thing ever invented (as it still is).

My body is feeling mostly good now. My gallbladder is almost healed although when baby Thea starts kicking, that seems to be one of her more favorite places to drum... ouch!

My belly is now ~42" around and growing about 1/2 - 1 inch per week. I have regained my pre-pregnancy and gallbladder weight and added about 10 pounds and from all the ultrasounds and measurements my midwives have been taking, our daughter is very healthy and progressing well for her age.

Physically things are going pretty well. My only complaints are that I have been having MASSIVE amounts of heartburn (yes, yes, I know... we are going to have a hairy baby) and difficulties moving around with a basketball sized critter in my tummy.

Baby preparations are starting to get really exciting now! This weekend Colin and I went up island to visit with my parents on Saturday (and to do chair massage in Courtenay on Sunday). While we were there my parents (and aunt Marilee and uncle Rick in absentia) had a mini baby shower for us. We now have some baby clothes and blankets, a playpen/change table for camping and travelling with, and a stroller/car-seat. The neatest thing that we recieved was a mobile from my aunt and uncle that lights up and swirls sparkles around in a watery sphere that hangs over the crib. VERY nifty (in fact, we may need to get another one for the baby as we might just set the one we have up over our own bed)!

In non-baby related life I have been auditing Chemistry and Biology at Camosun College in preparation for entering a bachelors program to become a midwife about 2-3 years from now (depending on finances and how our baby is growing up). I have never been so excited about taking science before and have never done so well! I got the top mark in our Chemistry mid-term last week with a 93% while the class average was in the low 70% area. Biology hasn't been quite as stimulating just because it is such a large amount of information being crammed into too-short lectures with other students who just won't shut up during the lecture... I wonder how long it will be until I snap and start throwing things at them? It has been really great to finally be passionate about a career path that is next to a guaranteed money-maker (midwives are currently funded by MSP in the province of BC and are HUGELY in demand). It is also wonderful to find a career that will allow me to use my intelligence on a daily basis and to interact with people in a way that is both meaningful and compassionate. Colin is also really looking forward to the day when he no longer has to work in the auto industry and has a little time to discover what _his_ passion is.

Another thing I am doing in the next few weeks to learn more about the career of midwifery is to attend the Spirit of Midwifery conference being held in Vancouver from Nov 1-3 (so for those of you in Vancouver who are free the evening of Saturday, Nov 3 for dinner, I would love to hook up!). It is two and a half days of speakers and exhibitors. I am really excited about it from a couple of standpoints... firstly, it will be really neat to attend a conference about childbirth while only five weeks away from giving birth myself... should be some interesting insights. Also I will get the chance to hear all about recent developments and challenges in the field from the experts. I hope to meet a bunch of the faculty and students from the UBC Midwifery program while there as well. I want to find out what they think of the program, what suggestions they have for good volunteer work to help familiarize myself with midwifery, and just to find out what the personalities involved are like.
There will also be instructors from a couple of the Ontario midwifery schools present so I will be able to sound them out about their programs as well.

As it stands Colin and I have decided that Vancouver is our first choice of program (being closest to our families and least disruptive to our lifestyles), Ontario is our second choice (either at McMaster in Hamilton or else at Laurentian in Sudbury - largely due to the MUCH lower cost of living that in Vancouver), and the Seattle Midwifery School is our third choice (only because they do not grant a bachelor's degree and after the program is finished I would have to do almost an entire extra year of PLEA certification which is both costly and time consuming).

One of the biggest benefits of the UBC program is that from the sounds of things they are pretty nice about trying to arrange clinical placements that are convenient for their students. The scariest thing about UBC is that they usually have between 100-150 applicants per year and they only accept 10 of them. I REALLY hope that I am one of those ten the year I apply.

So that's my life in a nutshell right now... lots of school, lots of prep for baby, and lots of prep for midwifery. I am EXCESSIVELY happy with my wonderful husband and am really looking forward to what the next years bring us.

Colin's Device

2007-09-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

Wedding Follow-Up

2007-06-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

Hello all! After much delay I am FINALLY posting this blog entry about our wedding. For pictures please follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14784&l=d8a13&id=577090131

We had a wonderful time on our wedding day and wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone who was able to make it. We really missed those of you who were busy but we understand how busy life can get.

The wedding was held at Dominion Brook Park in Sidney (across from the Panorama Leisure Centre) on Saturday, May 19th 2007. It was a beautiful day full of much strange weather. When I arrived at the park (only 15 minutes late despite what everyone else may say ;) it was raining. By the time I made my way down the hill the rain had stopped and the wind died down a little. The Wiccan priest and priestess started the ceremony with myself and Colin both hidden from view behind a tree.
First the HP (High Priest - not the steak sauce) and the HPS (High Priestess) consecrated our marriage circle, calling on the elements to bless it. While the HPS was pacing out the circle, Maggie (our flower girl) was following her, scattering flowers to mark the circle Then they called forth Colin as the groom and his attendants (Andrea, Andrew, Connie and Ryan). They annointed their foreheads and called them into the circle. Next they called me (as the bride... duh!) and my attendants (Kim, Michael, Stephanie and Tristan) forward and did the same thing with the annointing of the foreheads. The rest is a little blurry in my memory as I all seem to remember is staring into Colin's eyes after I came around the tree and saw him looking INCREDIBLY handsome in his kilt and plaid ensemble.
Next the HP and HPS had us recite our eternally binding vows and had us exchange rings. Then they lit the bride candle (white) and the groom candle (yellow) and had us take these to light the red candle to represent our love. (This was a little tricky with the slightly windy conditions but all the candles stayed lit throughout the ceremony which I figure is a good sign).
The came the braiding of the handfasting cord. The HP and HPS took three cords (white, yellow and red again) and tied a knot in one end. The cords were about 15 feet long and a 1/4 inch wide. The HP held the tied end while the HPS held the red strand, I held the white one and Colin held the yellow one. The HPS told our friends and family that we three would start the braiding of the handfasting cord and that once we had begun it anyone who wanted to could join in by taking one of the strands and doing the over-under-over maypole-style weaving of the cord.
It was really great to see so many of our friends and family participate in this part. The cutest part was when there were three little kids all braiding together.
When the braid was complete the HP and HPS took it and tied three knots in it to symbolize faith, trust, and love. Then they put my right hand in Colin's left and tied them together with the fourth knot symbolizing unity.
They then brought forth the athame (a knife) to represent the God and a chalice (cup of mead) to represent the Goddess and had me hold the athame and Colin hold the chalice while kneeling before me. I then dipped the point of the athame into the chalice and we spoke words talking about the union of the Goddess and the God. Then we each had a sip of the mead and kissed.
The HPS then banished the elements and opened the circle.
THEN we had to sign the wedding register (which is a LOT trickier than normal as my right hand was tied to Colin's left). While we were doing this Stephanie sang "Rise Up my Love" and "Till There was You" which were both absolutely gorgeous.
Then we were finally presented as the newly-wed couple. We had an informal greeting time where everyone came up and offered congratulations to us. It was so heart-warming to see so many of the people we care about gathered in one place to be there with us.
Once people had finished offering congratulations to us we had an informal photography session in the park with Mike and Jessica. We are still waiting on photos from a couple of people but I will post some of the ones we have recieved so far.
The reception was wonderful. It was at the home of John and Marjorie Tate (Colin's parents) and was catered by the "Mom's" (my mom, Nancy and Colin's mom) and their kitchen helpers.

We would like to say some BIIIIG thank yous to people who helped out (and if I have forgotten someone please forgive me... as I say I was a little distracted that day):

Thank you to my Mom and Step-dad, Nancy Quist and Dave Laughlin, for making our wedding party brunch and the Captain's Deck in Sidney a possibility, for bringing down turkey and roast beef and salad and vegetarian chili and other tasty treats for the reception, for making sure I had a beautiful bouquet of flowers and our families had corsages, boutinieres and Maggie, the flower girl, had a lovely wreath for her hair, for finding out information about having a wedding in a park in Sidney and for all the support you offered throughout the process.

Thank you to my Dad, Will Wolff, for saving us from the rain with a couple of well-timed umbrellas and for looking so perfectly dashing as father-of-the-bride.

Thank you to Mom-in-law and Dad-in-law, Marjorie and John Tate, for helping out with SO many details: from which park to have the wedding at, to hosting the reception, paying for the wedding cake, getting that beautiful old car for us to ride to and from the wedding in, and keeping things running smoothly the day of.

Thank you to Joanne (my new sister-in-law) for coming and hanging out during the wedding prep time.

Thank you to Maggie, our wonderful flower girl and her mom, Ruth, for participating in the ceremony and for making the lovely ring pillow (bedecked in MANY ribbons).

Thank you to our attendants: Andrea, Andrew, Connie, Kim, Michael, Ryan, Stephanie and Tristan for keeping us sane, making us pretty, helping with set up and getting us to the right place at the right time.

Thank you to Major Dave Letson and his wife Tad for being our official wedding filmographers and spending so much time after the wedding piecing together a wonderful wedding DVD for us to remember the day by.

Thank you to everyone who helped with details like helping in the kitchen, driving us to and from the ceremony, setting up and tearing down the big pavilions (which we were especially grateful for when the rain occasionally drifted by), to those who took photos and sent them to us: Mrs. Ens, Terry and Robin Lam, Steve, Sarah, and many, many more.
As I mentioned my memories are a little hazy so I will be adding names to this thank you list as I think of it.

And a BIG thank you to everyone who trekked in from far and wide to join us on the best day of our lives (at least until December when our first baby will be born). We had many friends and family come over from the mainland, people came down from up-island, we had people in the wedding party who came from as far away as Red Deer, Alberta and Hawaii (Connie wins longest distance travelled for the wedding). Thank you to for everyone local who showed up (some of whom only found out about the wedding the previous night from me at the Loreena McKennitt concert.

Thank you most of all to my husband Colin: for being so kind and funny and sweet and strong and responsible and wonderful with kids and for loving me so much. I never would have done this without you, my soulmate. I am so proud that I have the chance to tell everyone the only truth that I know:

Colin, you are my everything.

Wedding News!!!

2007-05-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!
Well, our wedding is now two weeks away (and I have yet to _start_ on my dress... sigh... always with the last minute stuff!) ;)
We are just finishing up our "invites" (which are really more like a schedule of events and directions). We will be sending most of them out via e-mail by Sunday evening to those of you who have indicated an interest in coming. Please get in touch with myself or Colin at (250) 294-8598 if you are interested in receiving an invite and haven't by Sunday night (especially if you don't have e-mail and/or would rather have us snail-mail your invite... in which case I will probably need you to send me your address).

We are both SOOO thrilled and happy about having so many of our friends coming to attend the wedding. Thank you so much for all of your wishes and happy thoughts.
As we have mentioned before this is a NO PRESENTS wedding!!! If you really, really, REALLY feel you need to give us something, please feel free to donate to the house fund (but please make out any such donations JUST to Colin Tate for financial reasons). As I have said we are just grateful to all of you for making the trip to see us joined in marriage. Your presence is the best presents you could possibly give us!!! (Heehee... sorry, I had to!)

I hope that everyone is experiencing the best spring ever (as we are)! All the best and I am really looking forward to seeing all of you on Saturday, May 19th at 3:00 in Sidney!

Hugs!

Sara

More good news...

2007-04-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

Well, Colin and I are happy to report that we are pregnant! We found out about a month ago and just wanted to wait and see how things went for the first while before doing a public announcement.

So far it is exciting and a little scary but mostly just really, really a good thing! The morning sickness has really been sucking (the only downside so far). I am going for my first midwife appointment on Wednesday of next week. I am entering my 6th week right now (so that means only 34 weeks to go!!!)

I can't wait to meet this new person! It's all very thrilling!

:)

In praise of my man...

2007-03-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

I realized after posting yesterday that I didn't do _nearly_ enough bragging about how wonderful Colin is in my post.

As an example of how wonderful he is I shall give you a snapshot of yesterday evening:

Colin came home promptly at 5:35 and we gave each other a BIIIIIIIGGG hug at the door. We then crashed down on the couch and had some good cuddle time before I launched into showing him all the unpacking/organizing I had done during the day and pointed where I had put his stuff to organize later. At this point I decided dinner needed fixing so I started to head to the kitchen when he asked, "Do you want me to organized my stuff or help you with dinner?" (sigh... I LOVE this guy!)
So we went off and fixed dinner together (we made a YUMMY casserole of white cheddar mac and cheese with ham and oriental veggies with garlic, hot pepper and seasoning... soooo tasty!) and then watched a bunch of Buffy together. After that we climbed into bed and snuggled till we fell asleep in each other's arms.
Now, this may all sound pretty average except for the fact that during the dinner making he was helping with food prep, keeping up with all the dishes I was making, and saying sweet, wonderful, silly things to me the whole time. Then during Buffy he started massaging my hands and feet with body butter (and HE was the one on his feet at work all day).
I suppose those are little things but I find that the little things are what make life beautiful, happy and sweet.

Sigh... he treats me so good! :D

Happy life...

2007-03-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

This picture of Colin and I is from right after the Carmina Burnana concert in Port Alberni.

Well, the first of 2 Carmina Burana concerts is done. Colin and I travelled up to Port Alberni on March 3rd both to visit with my parents and for me to sing in (and have the family attend) Carmina Burana with Prima Youth Choir. The concert is going to be put on in Victoria on April 1 (no foolin'!) at the Victoria Conservatory of Music (Pandora at Vancouver). Tickets are $12.00 each.
I am singing two solos in the piece. The first is a short solo with in the "Coeurs d'amors" section of the Carmina and the second is the infamous "Dulcissime" (which is a really REALLY high, very short solo meant to bring down the house).
While I got a lot of positive feedback from the first concert, I couldn't help wishing that I hadn't had to rehearse the entire work right before the concert (as my voice was completely exhausted by the time I had to sing the Dulcissime at the end of the work and ended up being kinda shaky and squeeky). At any rate, live and learn. I am planning on "marking" (a musical term for singing lightly or down an octave) at the next rehearsal that happens right before the concert so that I am better equipped to handle the uber-high D in the piece.
All in all I am realy looking forward to this opportunity to wow Victoria with my new skills.

In other news, the wedding plans are going well. We put our rings into production on Tuesday and the "waxes" should be ready by the end of this week for our approval. After that it should take about three weeks for the rings to be ready (giving us a months grace before the actual wedding). We got our marriage licence last week and are going to go for a Sunday drive in Sidney this week to figure out the exact location for the happy day.

Last weekend we went over to Vancouver to visit with Colin's family and so that I could provide relaxation massage for some clients over there. We also had a fabulous time staying with Mike and Jessica and their wonderful pets. Thanks for providing us with such a wonderful place to stay, you guys!
On the Sunday we had to do a bunch of running around (due to some foiled family plans). However, we were able to get most of the things we wanted to done. We dropped by Granville Island (where I picked up some replacement journals and Colin bought me a BEAUTIFUL moonstone necklace for the wedding). We were also able to stop by the Saje stores at W. 4th at Robson St. to say "hello" to all the wonderful Sajers (I miss you!).
Our trip to the "big" city was successful but it was SOOOOOO nice to come home to the island!
When I was living in Vancouver and so homesick for Victoria I wondered if I wasn't just idealizing it. Having moved back I am happy to report that I absolutely did NOT! :) I love it here on the island. The air is clean, you can look people on the street in the face and smile, and the skies are not cloudy all day...

Well, I will be sending out wedding invites (mostly via e-mail) in the next few weeks. IF YOU DON'T GET ONE AND THINK THAT YOU SHOULD: please get in touch with me. It is most likely an oversight and/or I have misplaced your contact info. Likewise if you are talking to someone and _they_ think they have been missed out in the invite process. Let me know. As I have said before, Colin and I want ALL of our good friends to be there. So unless you hear otherwise (or feel uncomfortable) please PLEASE come out and have a blast at our wedding ritual on May 19th.

See you all there!

Rumours

2007-03-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that while Colin and I are currently _trying_ to have a baby, we are not actually pregnant yet. Please be assured that I WILL be telling everyone and anyone when I am! :)

Today we had good news... we have booked our Wiccan priest and priestess to bless our wedding on the 19th of May. I was a little worried that we had left it too late but, as everything seems to, it has worked out!

I am sooooo excited! I can hardly wait for the next two months to pass (even though there is LOTS to do between now and then).

In other news... my contract with the provincial government has come to an end and I am beginning training next week with Healing Hands Chair Massage here in Victoria. I am hoping to become one of their on-site practitioners as well as one of their trainers (one day). If you know of any offices that would be interested in having chair massage for their employees in the Greater Victoria area, please feel free to get in touch with me (or with Bob Hanley of Healing Hands). It looks like the company is in a growth stage right now.
I am so happy to be getting back into something I love doing for a living!

This week has also been good for CD promotion. Celtic Angel is now available in the following locations in Victoria: Long and McQuade (at Hillside), Triple Spiral Metaphysical Shop (in Fan Tan Alley), and Avalon Books (in Market Square). Please feel free to go in to any of these locations and buy ALL their copies so they need to re-order (Celtic Angel makes an EXCELLENT Mother's Day gift).

Much love to all of you!

February Stress is DONE!!! :)

2007-03-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

I am soooo happy that February is finished! I am now fully moved in (though still getting out of boxes) and we are getting all the wedding preparations underway. For those of you planning on attending (and you are invited unless we say otherwise... or common sense tells you that it would be better you didn't) the wedding will be taking place Saturday, May 19th at approximately 3:00 pm at a public park somewhere (TBA) in Sidney. We kindly request NO PRESENTS. This is mostly due to the fact that we are having enough problems finding places for our things right now... no need to add to the clutter.

If you are feeling a driving need to contribute to our married lives together, we respectfully are asking for donations to our house fund. As we would like to start a family SOON we are probably going to have a major need for more space and as such the gift of funding this project is something we would appreciate no end!

On to the fun stuff though... after the wedding ritual (which will be pagan in nature for those of you who might be sensitive to such things) we will most likely be having a potluck dinner/party at the home of John and Marjorie Tate (Colin's parents) from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm.
We are not sure yet how many they will be comfortable hosting. We may end up needing to limit numbers and I apologize in advance to those of you who may get excluded (but hopefully this won't be an issue).

Thank you to everyone for your congratulations. I am really looking forward to this union between Colin and I and this re-union between old and new friends. For anyone who needs to get in touch with me, please e-mail: sarathediva@yahoo.co.uk

See you all soon!

Big News!!! :)

2007-02-26T09:20:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple pictures... one of me and Colin and one of my engagement ring... who knew being in love could be soooo wonderful?

Well, I know that things have been quiet on my blog lately. This is only an indicator of how crazy my life has been (in both good and bad ways... but mostly good).

Since the end of exam prep I have been contracted to a different ministry and had my contract extended until the end of March (at the earliest). This has been both good and bad for me. On the positive side the money is good and I have been kept very busy, on the not-so-positive side I have not had time to do all the promotion and launching of my cd that I had thought I would. Currently I am taking a few days of stress leave from work due to the OTHER stuff happening in my life right now...

In December I began dating Colin, a good friend of mine who I have known for about 8 years. In all my years of dating I have never felt like this about someone before. Being with him is inspiring me to do everything I have ever dreamed of doing. He has become my love, my support and my best friend almost overnight. The most wonderful, crazy thing is that he feels the same. If ever there was such a thing as soulmates, we are it!

At the beginning of February things in the life of my family started getting hectic and have been wearing down my reserves of optimism a bit. Thank goodness for Colin in my life to help me with everything that is going on right now and for keeping me sane!

My step-dad, Ted, has been needing surgery for two of the vertebrae in his neck for the past several months. He was told the operation would be either at the end of February or the beginning of March. Luckily there was a last minute opening so he was able to go in for the operation at the beginning of February. He is out of the hospital and recovering well now. It looks like he is going to be fine! :)
One of the upshots of his last minute surgery was that my mom (and her four small dogs) needed a place to stay in Victoria for five days while Ted was in the hospital. She was thinking about staying in a hotel but with the per animal rates the cost would have been huge so she needed an alternative.
In stepped Colin to the rescue. He offered his place for her and her dogs to stay in which (after much checking with strata council) she accepted.

Half an hour after my mom and Ted called to tell me about all this (which was two days before they came down to Victoria) my dad called to say that he was in legal trouble (which I cannot go into in detail) and that he needed me to come and help him out. As it turns out, my dad was unable to go back to his apartment so Colin and I had to pack and move _all_ of his stuff (and I will tell you, a bachelor can collect a LOT of stuff living on his on over 40 years) in one weekend.

Colin did most of the heavy lifting and hard stuff and really went above and beyond the call of duty to help with the packing when I just couldn't do it. Again, thank GOD he was there for me! I can only hope that I will be able to do the same for him throughout our lives together.

So at the end of the weekend from hell of moving Colin decided to take me shopping on Sunday afternoon downtown for a ring... we ended up at Turtle Express in Fan Tan Alley where we found the most beautiful opal ring. I absolutely loved it!
We were on our way out to Sidney to have dinner with Colin's parents, Marjorie and John, when Colin said something to the effect of:

"So, this ring is burning a hole in my pocket. I know you are dying to wear it but I am torn. Would you rather that I waited for the perfect moment to ask you, like on a starry night with a full moon, or would you rather we just go somewhere now and do this?" (It was just about twilight and it was a misty, rainy day.)

(Me:) "Well, I think that we should go somewhere and _make_ a perfect moment right now."

At that point we were just driving past Elk Lake on the highway. Colin and I had gone for a really nice walk there during the New Year's weekend so I suggested that we drive around the back of the lake (where there is a boat launch entrance) and do it there.
Colin pulled off the highway and drove us around to the quiet side of the lake.

There was no one around as we pulled into the dirt parking lot near the edge of the lake. We got out of the jeep and wandered along the path down to the grassy verge near the water. As I said, it was a misty, rainy afternoon and as such the ground was muddy and damp.
Colin had his arm around my shoulder as we walked and he asked,
"You didn't want me to do the one-knee thing, did you?" (To which I responded with a vigorous nod and a grin... to which he rolled his eyes.) At this point we were right near the water and I threw my old leather jacket on the ground and said,
"Oops! Well, now that it is on the ground you can use it if you like..." (teehee :)

He was very romantic about the proposal. He said that I am the most wonderful woman he has ever known and that he wanted to be with me for the rest of his life if I would have him. I kept waiting for him to actually ask me a question as he looked deeply into my eyes with his green ones. Eventually there was a long pause and he asked,
"Do you actually want me to ask The Question?" (more vigorous nodding and grinning).

So then he did it... He went down on one knee, got out the ring (and had a little trouble with the knot, which we giggled over a bit) and then looked up at me with eyes as green as the mist-shrouded trees around us and said,

"Will you marry me?"

(Which, even now, is bringing tears of joy to my eyes.)

"Yeah." (I couldn't say any more at this point as I was so choked up with tears.) He put the ring on my finger then stood up and gave me a big hug and kiss. We started giggling (and I couldn't stop for about half an hour after that). We toasted each other with Colin's flask of Grand Marnier down by the lake's edge in the mist.

It was SO FREAKING ROMANTIC (heeheeheeheehee)!!! :D

So then we went for dinner with his parents and told them and then I called my parents later and told them. Everyone has been overjoyed for us... though no one more so that we have been.
Wedding plans are in the works. We had originally thought of having a big wedding at a campground but now are thinking we might just have a really small, family-only wedding in May and then have a more informal one at Sealion War (SCA event) in June to which all our friends can come and celebrate with us.

So come one, come all to Sealion War at Camp Bernard in Sooke. It is an SCA event so you will need to wear something approximating medieval clothing. It will be on the Saturday night. It will likely be a potluck feast of some kind and then partying late into the evening. I will post more info as it comes available.

Oh yeah... and this week has been moving week for me. I am now _almost_ moved into Colin (and my) two bedroom condo. It is lovely! It is big and sunny and perfect. I feel like I am living in a fairy tale... Life is wonderful...

My toes are touching the ground...

2007-01-04T21:40:00.000-08:00

...at least. I hope soon to have both feet firmly planted but right now I will take what I can get :)
Today was a fun day at work. Turns out that somewhere along the line a mistake was made in packaging exams so we had to go back and re-do a few skids worth. Ah well, more work is good work.
This particular portion of the job will be ending sometime next week but I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be kept on in another position at a location that is only a 10 minute bike ride (or five minute bus) from my home, as opposed to the current job which is 20 minutes by car or an hour and a half by bus (with nasty transfers). So far I have been very fortunate to have a couple people willing to carpool me. I hope that keeps up when I go back to that location.
I also had a good time at work today because one of my supervisors, with whom I have been experiencing some tension, seemed to suddenly take a shine to me and was really nice all day long. It is really great when that kind of transition happens... it also makes the day go MUCH more quickly.

Time for me to get a good long night's sleep. I hope that all my friends are doing well. Please drop me a line or call if you feel so inclined... I am always overjoyed to hear from my loved ones!

Hugs and sweet dreams to you all!

Things are moving now!

2007-01-02T23:57:00.000-08:00

I have started compiling a list of all the people I can think of who might want Celtic Angel for their very own (or for someone special in their lives). I think this is going to be a looong process. Boy am I ever glad I have unlimited long distance calling for the next couple of months!
Today was a very nice day and has left me thoroughly exhausted. I hope you are all having a great New Year. I would love to hear what people are up to so feel free to post here or e-mail me at: contactme@saraquist.com

Untill then, sweet dreams to you all!

Update

2007-01-01T14:46:00.000-08:00

I hadn't realized that people didn't know yet until someone (I don't know who because they posted an anonymous comment) asked if Derek and I had broken up. Here is my personal update (short version) from the last few months of 2006:

September: Started recording Celtic Angel and doing chair massage at the Robson Street Saje store. Also started teaching music lessons at Selena Chang Music Academy in Coquitlam.

October: Finished recording and continued work on graphics for Celtic Angel. Still doing chair massage and music lessons. Derek and I broke up a few days before our two year anniversary but decided to try to work things out long distance as I realized how important it was for me to move back to Victoria to be near family and old friends. Gave my notice to Selena Chang and to Saje Robson. Started looking for work in Victoria. Ended up getting a job working for West Corp.

November: Moved to Victoria on November 5. Started work a week later at West. Derek came to visit me the first weekend I lived there and I went over to Vancouver the second weekend. We were not able to work things out so we ended our relationship after a couple weeks of me being away.
I worked at West for two weeks before I realized that I was _really_ not suited to it.

December: Spent a couple of weeks looking for work before being offered a temporary/on call position working for BC Mail Plus processing and preparing a variety of provincial government mail. Went to Port Alberni for Christmas and then back to Victoria for work and New Years.
Celtic Angel arrived on December 29th.

Last night: Went to an awesome New Year's party at my friend Kim's house. Great food, great people, great fun.

All in all the last few months of '06 were very unsettling and stressful for me. I am finally beginning to feel like I have my feet on the ground again. I am a LOT happier than I was in Vancouver. I have been spending _tons_ of time with my friends and family. I have been active (I went on a 10 km hike with my friend Colin around Elk Lake on Saturday and then did Pilates with Stephanie on Sunday) and feeling better about myself. I am going to be re-joining Prima Youth Choir (which I was in for five years before I moved) in a week and be singing Carmina Burana in the spring.

I still have no idea what life has in store for me for the next little while but I am feeling a little less anxious about things now than I was a couple of months ago. I am really looking forward to what this year has in store for me.

CELTIC ANGEL - RELEASE

2006-12-28T17:16:00.000-08:00

Today is a day I, and many of my fans, friends and family have been waiting for: CELTIC ANGEL HAS ARRIVED!!!

Anyone who would like to order a copy, please e-mail me at: contactme@saraquist.com

I am going to have sound samples on my website (along with other content) by the end of January.

There will be a press release along with a Celtic Angel release concert in the spring.

Thank you all for being such a big part of this project! I could not have done it without all the words of encouragement and support!

New job and windy weather

2006-12-16T02:34:00.000-08:00

Well, I started my job at the Ministry of Educations exam processing place on Thursday. The job is pretty simple and mostly involves sorting exams by grade and subject and then bundling them and palleting them. The first day was good... a little hard on my body but good non-the-less.
I went in this morning and was only kept there for an hour as the wind last night wreaked havok with the power all over the CRD (capital regional district of Victoria). Our power was out so the warehouse was cold and dark.

So I ended up spending most of today reading and napping. It was _very_ nice. Then I went out with my friend Kim to some people's place and brought Ninja Burger along. We played a game and then headed downtown to catch opening night of Eragon (which was all right if you make no references to the book - the movie is only very loosely based on it). I really loved the special effects (the baby dragon was SOOO cute... I want one!) Then I came home and got my place ready for a massage client tomorrow (my second one since I came here and the first one for chair massage).

I will be doing the chair massage tomorrow morning at 9:30. My client did something to her back and I am hoping to help her with it somewhat. If all goes well I should have another mouth to spread the word for me. I am hoping that between the exam sorting job and working on promoting massage I will keep busy until summer when (hopefully) I will be kept busy with all sorts of music tours and festivals and the like.

I hope that all my friends on the mainland are doing well. If any of you feel like coming to visit, drop me a line. I would love to see you!
I also hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season. Much love to you...

A long time gone...

2006-12-11T23:43:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all! I am finally getting back to the blog after a full and busy summer and fall.

I moved back to Victoria about a month ago and for those of you who do not have my new number yet it is: (250) 889-1842.

I am still getting on my feet over here. I started working at a company that is WAY out of town and when the snow hit my car-pool couldn't drive there. It made me very aware of my lack of transportation and the troubles that it could cause if I continued working there. Plus I wasn't finding the job in the least bit rewarding.

Unemployment has been stressful but I am getting a lot done. I have been practicing harp every day and thinking about plans for the next CD. Celtic Angel is due sometime next week (honestly, it is!) I know there have been a lot of delays but I just got the proofs today and they look good so it should be full steam ahead.

If you are one of those who wants to buy a copy or two (or ten). Please drop me an e-mail at: contactme@saraquist.com

Despite all the trials and tribulations right now I am happier than I have been in over a year. I kept thinking that I was just unhappy because I wasn't living "at home"... turns out I was right. I have been spending time with most of the people that I missed, some I haven't had a chance to see yet but still plan to. As much as things have changed, one thing has not. I still love my friends and they still love me.

Life is good! :)

Saturday monrning...

2006-08-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken by Alain in Sharc Pit (the group I camped with at Pennsic) on the night of the Knowne World Rapier Party (which was hosted for the final time by Sharc this year). The outfit (which I wish was more visible) is one of the two I was working on for the two weeks leading up to Pennsic... More garb pictures will be posted after the labour day weekend when Derek and I will be at September Crown in Ferndale, Washington.

My body is still operating on Eastern Standard time from my Pennsic vacation. I think that is one of the few things in the world that could turn me into a morning person but it seems to have worked!
CD prep work is going VERY well. I was arranging and practicing music in the garden yesterday (I have the best office EVER) and have covered about 80% of my repertoire in terms of arranging. Next week is going to be for smoothing out rough spots with practice and adding any harmonies that I want to learn before the following week when I go to Richmond to record.
I find it really neat that I will be releasing my next album around the same time as Loreena McKennitt (_my_ Canadian idol) will be releasing her new album, An Ancient Muse. She is doing concerts in Spain in the next little while... MAN, do I ever wish I could go there for those concerts. She is going to be holding them in some ancient buildings... it will most likely be INSANELY beautiful.
If you are interested in her recordings go to www.quinlanroad.com
Today Derek and I are going to be going to a matinee of Phantom of the Opera (my _favorite_ musical... though I often get some odd looks when I say that in the "serious" music world - Andrew Lloyd Webber is somewhat frowned upon in those circles). It starts at 2:00. After that we will be going to the Eatery (on Broadway) for my belated birthday dinner with a bunch of friends and then down to the beach for some night swimming. Last year the forest rangers tried to kick us out of the park for having a small beach fire (which we will probably avoid this year) but then relented and let us stay until the fire burned down naturally.
Well, I hope that everyone has as good a weekend as I know I am about to have... Love and hugs to all!

Hi Everyone!

2006-08-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

I am back from my wonderful and amazing time at Pennsic War XXXV. I kept thinking that it couldn't possibly be as fantastic as I remembered and then I went and it was even BETTER. I will be blogging about it later this week when I have some pictures to put up.
The much delayed recording of my new cd, Celtic Angel, will be happening the week after labour day weekend and then off to the duplicators. I will be letting everyone know when I have order forms ready and/or which stores in town will be carrying it. It will make a nice seasonal (Christmas, Chanukka, etc.) present as it should be out by the end of October. I will most likely be having a cd release concert/party as well sometime near Halloween (wearing garb too... should be appropriate).
I am going back to Academie Duello this week. While at Pennsic I got all my armour tested and fought in several melee battles. I am really looking forward to getting my form back.
For those of you SCA type, Derek and I will be attending September Crown in Ferndale, Washington (just half and hour south of the border). We will be picking up my new pavilion there (I got a fantastic deal on it during Pennsic from a friend who is getting a new one soon). If anyone else is going to the event please feel free to camp with us (I think we will be near An Tir Royal since we are getting the pavilion from the royal trailer (they were kind enough to transport it back from Pennsic for me).
Massages will recommence this week as well. I will most likely be doing mid-week massages at the Robson St. Saje store. If you know of any companies that would like to hire me to come in and do massage for their staff please feel free to give them my contact info (contactme@saraquist.com).

I hope all is going well out there for all of you...

Almost finished!

2006-07-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

Surprise! This is our new car, Midnight. She is a 2006 Subaru Impreza wagon. We are such proud parents! (teehee)

Well, I will most likely be blogging more again soon. Today is the last day of my two week intensive (and it has been!) massage course. I have been up since 6:00 am this morning (test day jitters I think). It didn't help that last night was humid, humid, HUMID and I had test dreams ALL NIGHT. I have no worries about the actual test portions of the course. Our teacher, Monica has been great at giving feedback throughout the course so that we would all be prepared. She also assured me that there really isn't much worry about me failing. So the next time I blog I will officially be a "certified" relaxation masseuse! :)

I have also been getting geared up for recording. Although I am postponing it (Derek's suggestion so that I don't go insane in the one or two days between when I finish my course and when I was supposed to be recording) I am getting closer and closer to having all my pieces ready for production. So far about half of the songs on Celtic Angel are going to be well known traditional Celtic music and the other half will be comprised of more obscure (but absolutely gorgeous) Celtic songs and even a couple original songs of my own composed in the same style. Should be a very worthy album!

Derek is heading off to Calgary next week with friends Sam and Jen. I originally was going to go (but was waffling a little, which drives Derek INSANE) but have decided that I need some home time more than I need to go to Calgary in July (isn't it 34 degrees there or something crazy like that?). I may very well pack up my massage chair and go to Victoria for the week (I would bring my harp but Derek will be taking our utility vehical for the travel space... which reminds me:

For those of you who haven't heard yet (because we were keeping it a secret from our parents), Derek and I bought a 2006 Subaru Impreza sport wagon (we call her Midnight for her dark blue colour). It had 33 km on it when we drove it off the lot on May 29 (and is now over 2500). We have been really enjoying her. Ahhh... the luxury of air conditioning... and power EVERYTHING... and cargo space... and waterproof-ness... and starting when you put the key in the ignition and turn it! I love my car!

Well, it's off to class for me! Have a beautiful day everyone! I know I will! :)

Long time

2006-07-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Well... things are going as well and as busy as predicted for July. The massage intensive is exactly that... intense! Today was day 7 and we are all starting to get geared up for the final practical exam at the end of the week. Last Friday we went to Roger wireless HQ in Burnaby to give massages to some of their call center staff (and a more appreciative bunch you could not meet)! It was a looooong day of massage. In my world I am used to starting at 11:30 and finishing at around 5:30 or 6:00 with lots of little breaks throughout the day. Friday morning started at 9:00 am in Burnaby (which meant being up at 7:00) and then went through until 5:00 with a one hour break for lunch and an estimated 14 massages done EACH... and I wasn't even getting _paid_ for it! ;) But seriously, it has been a very infomative, very FUN experience. The class is quite the eclectic gathering of people... but more on that later...
I am VEEERY tired and must head to bed. Went out to see Pirates 2 tonight with Derek and my friend Jenny. LOVED IT! I thought it was better than the first one (which is saying something as I found the first one quite good to start with).
Oh! For those of you who haven't heard, I have a new cell phone (a Treo... gotta love it!) and the number is (778) 868-8719. Hope this helps any of you who have been trying to get through to me...

Well... off to dreamland for me... at least for a few hours... I really don't know how Derek and the rest of you folks do this 9-5 thing every day but I salute you!!! :)

I love surprises!

2006-06-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-06-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-06-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-06-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2006-06-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-06-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

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!

Coke... Bad BAD COMPANY!

2006-05-31T12:26:00.000-07:00

My friend Conan had a link to this on his blog... I was both astonished and appalled. If this is even vaguely true I am NEVER buying Coke products again!

http://www.killercoke.org/crimes.htm

Milk... it's good for you...

2006-05-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

This was just waaaay too funny. The guy is really deadpan but I enjoyed it nonetheless...

Bag of Milk Video

On dragons and dragonflies...

2006-05-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

This dragonfly was kind enough to pose for Derek for quite a while the other night and again in the morning... He is very pretty...

As I have mentioned in a previous post we are selling out '81 Chevy Van. I have been amazed at the number of responses we have been getting the posts we have put out there but we have yet to show the van. If you know anyone looking for a van with GREAT camping potential please send them my way.

Well, next week is the big IABC Gold Quill Banquet happening at the Hotel Vancouver and I am going to be harping and singing for it. I am truly excited about this opportunity. I have been organizing my repertoire to best highlight my talents and am really hoping that this will be the next big step in forwarding my music career.
In terms of where I am with things right now: I have picked out the songs that I want to be on my next CD and have made most of them "Folk Hits" (i.e. Greensleeves, Danny Boy, etc.) I will likely throw a couple of original tunes and a couple of more obscure ones on there just to mix things up a little bit. In making my first CD (Aria A cappella) and selling it the one largest contributing factor to whether someone decides to buy it or not seems to be whether they recognize the songs or not (and since most of the songs on that album are relatively obscure I have lost a few sales this way). I guess you have to establish yourself with things people know and are familiar with first before they will buy it strictly based on the "brand name" or talent alone. Feedback on this would be GREATLY appreciated.
Also I have made up a tentative cover for the CD and will be working on a label soon. In terms of recording: as soon as I have arranged the songs to my satisfaction I will be heading to a studio in Richmond to lay down the tracks and get to editing. The tentative release date is still late August/early September.

I love that SCA camping season has begun again. Our next event is in a week and a half and should be fun. It is an annual event called Sealion War between the Baronies of Seagirt (Victoria) and Lions Gate (Vancouver). It is a great group of people to hang out with and an event I look forward to every year. I will post on how it goes.
Of course, I will be sewing this week and next in preparation for the event. It is really nice having Derek to travel to events with. He is a very good inspiration to finally get my act together in terms of SCA organization etc. At the last event we bought a brazier (for $40... a TOTAL steal!) so now we are able to have a fire at our encampment in almost all events (except in the case of a total fire ban). I am trying to figure out the most cost effective way to put together a pavilion so that we have a little more room when spending time at long events (and I DO want to make it to Pennsic this year).

Massage is still going well. I did four days in a row (though the first day I didn't actually have anyone come in for one ): and I am feeling pretty good. My thumbs are a _little_ bit sore but that should pass by the end of today.
I will most likely be doing massage at a Yogathon this weekend on Saturday. I don't know the details yet but I will post more as I know more.

Well, I'm off to have a nice, relaxing day off... cleaning... and practicing harp... and maybe going to rapier tonight... hmmm.... I'm gonna be busy!

:)

Rapier is GOOD!

2006-05-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

I had a great time at Academie Duello last night. The warm-ups were both fun and challenging. I am doing my best to push myself only as far as I can _without_ injuring myself (a mistake I have made a few times previously). I also realized that I really want to become a cadet again. It has been a long mental process getting over blocks that were holding me back. I may not be entirely over those blocks but I am willing to give it a go now. I am really looking forward to my next practice.

The way they teach at Academie is excellent. At other practices I have been at there is (usually) about 1/3 of the time spent on drills and any teaching that might occur in a given week. The remainder of the time ends up being fighting time. It may be that the practices I have been to have changed since I have been away but I must say that I very much appreciate the way they do things at the Academie, with most of the time being devoted to general fitness and strength training (about 1 hour) and learning techniques (about one and a half hours) and then having some free fight time at the end of the class.

I was also very happy that Derek came with me to the practice. In past years of rapier I haven't really understood how important it has been to have my "inspiration" present but it really did help. I can't tell if it is just knowing that he will understand at the end of the day what it was I went through, or just having the sense of joy knowing he is there supporting me. Thank you Derek!

I am really hoping that my friend, Conan, will come out and try it. He has a fascination with weapons in general and I think he would have a really good time. For anyone else interested you might like to check out a workshop happening at the Academie Duello this Friday night. It is an Introduction to Italian Swordplay. They have more information on their website at:
http://www.academieduello.com/

Today truly feels like a day off. Even though I will be doing a lot of housework later on and QUITE a lot of harp practicing I feel energetic and rested. I am ready to do my four days of massage in a row. I will be at the Robson St. Saje tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday and then at the W. 4th Saje Saturday and Sunday (for those of you needing some work done on your backs).

I may also get time to do some sewing. I would really like to get a T-tunic and a few pairs of pants done for Derek by Sealion War (June 9-11 in Aldergrove). Summer is soooo busy! I am already booked through until the end of July with a huge chunk of August taken up by (hopefully) Pennsic.

Well, it's off to the cleaning go I... Yay! :)

Singing lessons...

2006-05-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

One of the grad photos Derek took of me last year...

It has been a while since I had a voice student and I am happy to say that I am now teaching a gentleman who has both talent and (it seems) drive. It is a very refreshing thing to teach someone actually interested in learning and working on the things you have to show them.

I have tonight free and think I might try dropping by the Academie Duello (a western martial arts academy run by my friends Devon and Randy). Getting back into rapier is something I have been only talking about for long enough. It is time to get back into the game. One person commented (when I asked what my motivation should be) that I should go back simply for the love of the game. This seems like very good advice. I will keep everyone posted on how it is going.

I have also been more motivated to sew lately. It seems that there are too few hours in the day for all I am longing to accomplish these days but at least I am having fun being out in the world. It is as if I needed a good long break from school to get myself back into the swing of things in the real world.

On May 25 (two days from now) it will be exactly one year since I graduated from music school. I have learned a lot in that time about business, music, life and love. It is said by some that the ages of man go in seven year cycles. If this is true I am entering the next phase of my life this summer. I can hardly wait to see where it will lead.

I have started harping up a storm again. It is now two weeks until my big gig at the IABC conference downtown at the Hotel Vancouver. I'm both excited and a little nervous. In the past several months I have been spending a fair amount of time talking with different business people about how to get started and succeed. I still don't know how much of what I have learned is applicable to the business of music but the one thing that everyone says that resonates with me is this:

Just Begin!

Sunday Massage Day

2006-05-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

I am off to do chair massage at W. 4th Saje today for anyone interested in coming by and losing some stress...

Shopping with Jessica - yay!

2006-05-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! Even though I won't be able to make it to Mike and Jessica's wedding I am getting to go and help her pick out her wedding dress today (I managed to make Derek twitch once or twice mentioning that ;). Apparantly the shop doesn't open until noon so we are going to go for a quick breakfast first and then shopping. I am going to bring Derek's camera so I can take LOTS of pictures of the lovely Jessica in many splendiferous dresses.
Later today I am going to pick up my friend Sam and she and I are going to go for a walk/hike until 5:00ish when I am going downtown to pick up Derek so we can drive to Abbotsford to watch a friend's production of Pirates of Penzance. Wowie! It's gonna be a BUSY day!

Massage at Robson Street Saje went really great yesterday. It started out kinda slow but the afternoon got VERY busy. I am thinking that I might show up later and stay later next week since they are open until 7:30 and everyone downtown seems to shop after they get off work.

And a BIG YAY for the onset of tourist season! I love you all and cannot WAIT for you to descend upon our fair city. I find that not only is tourist season a great economic stimulus but I can't help but meet a few really interesting people every year.

Well... it's off to brunch and a wonderful day with friends for me...

Good morning!

2006-05-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Another picture from this weekend. This is the new dress that I was up working on for so long last week. It still needs some tweaking but looked pretty last weekend nonetheless. (I love the parachute factor with the sleeves!)

It's another perfect day outside today! I had been feeling a little lethargic since returning from WA this past weekend (maybe I was recovering from all the heat) and had been contemplating calling up the Robson St. Saje store to see if they wanted to have me come in and do massage sometime this week. I hadn't gotten around to doing that yet when my phone rang and it was Shelagh from Robson calling to ask me if I could cover Sitaj (chair massage) for Wednesday and Thursday. Convenient, yes?
So I got down there and oriented but didn't get a whole lot of clients. The Robsons store has only been open since December and they are still working on building their client base. So after waiting quite a while for someone to come in for a massage I grabbed some lotion and went outside with the intention of giving out hand rubs until someone decided to come in and get a back rub.
As SOON as I got out there a woman and her daughter came up and were looking at the store and their dog was drinking from the water dish outside. I offered a hand massage and the daughter immediately perked up with, "Can I Mom?" After she got a quick one I gave her mom's hand a rub and the daughter launched into, "You should go in and get one Mom, you really should!" I could not have possibly had a better supporter so: Thank you, little girl!
Her mom popped in and had a 15 minute and came out all relaxed and happy. I think I will try the hand massage again today...

Adventures and Misadventures in the USA

2006-05-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

It is safe to say that we had a FABULOUS time this past weekend down in Randle, WA at the 40 Year Celebration (40YC) of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). The weather was gorgeous (though a LITTLE bit cold at night) and the people were great.

Friday:
As they had been asked to, Dorothy and Jessica showed up promptly a little before 8:30 in the morning so that we could get an early start (as I had stressed to both of them). Luckily for me they were expecting that things would be running on SCA time (about an hour or two later than scheduled).
Because I had spent the entire previous day sewing my new garb and driving to Burnaby and then Kitsilano to pick up Jessica and Dorothy's things (not getting home until 9:00 at night) we didn't have time to pack the night before so that was the first order of business.
Dorothy and Jessica were a great help with everything that morning. I did a lot of packing, Derek did a lot of van preparations (checking coolant, loading everything in nice and tight, etc.)
By 10:30 (ONLY two hours late) we were on the road with our music mix in the cd player and Jessica passed out in the back of the van (having worked a twelve hour graveyard shift the night before).
We made rather a lot of stops for pee-breaks, gas and food on the way down and had a TINY detour that involved circumnavigating SeaTac Airport (and taking the road that runs underneath the airstrip... it was quite exciting really). Derek was a little put off by this but we did end up making it to the site (only six or seven hours later than expected) by 8:00 that night.
We were smart about our eating and had stopped in Randle to have a wonderful porkchop dinner just before we arrived on site (so that at the very least we wouldn't be hungry while setting up.
The van was unloaded and tents were set up in RECORD time. By full dark all our tents were happily put up near the river that ran through the site.
Derek and I spent some time chatting and watching the moon rise over on of the surrounding mountains... what a beautiful sight!

Saturday:
Why the biffy trucks insisted on coming to clean them at 7:00 am each day (except for the final day when they came at 10:00) I will never know. That was the first sound I heard that day, followed quickly by the herald (someone who runs around the site announcing things) letting us know when archery, heavy fighting and rapier would be starting.
Morgan (Derek) and I (my SCA name is Aria) got up and were greeted by Christine (Jessica) and Gwynna (Dorothy). Christine told us to check out the Dewdrop Inn and let the owner know we were her friends. So off we went!
The Dewdrop became our favorite hang out all weekend long for a few reasons: BIG reason #1: The uber-breakfast sandwich is the greatest thing ever invented. It is a sausage patty (like in an Egg Muffin thingy), a couple of fried eggs, two strips of bacon and some cheese all sandwiched between two thick slices of french toast (I think I gained about 15 pounds just from eating breakfast there all weekend, but MAN was it tasty!); reason #2: Phillipe. He is the craziest, most wonderful frenchman I have ever met at an event. Despite having had some serious personal stuff going on in the last little while he had a smile on most of the weekend and was always striving to make people happy and to make them laugh; reason #3: It was an AWFULLY fun place to be. There were always people milling about and having a good time. They had bards in and out all weekend and we all had a blast there.
After breakfast Morgan (Derek) and I went for the first (of many) shopping trips. The merchants on site were wonderful. They had anything and everything medieval you could possibly want to buy and then some. Some of the best scores this weekend were: a nice cavalier hat and bracers (armguards) for Derek, a couple of lovely haircombs for me, some gorgeous pearls (for decorating garb) and the greatest thing we got all weekend, a metal brazier that sits three feet off the ground on a tripod. We were especially proud of finding the brazier because we got a smoking deal on it.
Around noon Gwynna and Christine wanted to pop into town to get a little more cash and some water for the heat of the day. It was quite the blessing to walk into an airconditioned store and get slurpees too!
When we got back Morgan and I went to Sushi Sam's (medieval sushi merchant... yet somehow the fish was fresh... hmmm) for lunch. We had a good time playing backgammon while we waited for our order (and man, it was GOOD sushi). While there I was approached by Phillipe (earlier in the day I had offered a barter of back massage for meals at the Dewdrop). It turns out that the owner of the Dewdrop, one Silverstone (or just Stone) by name, was having some back problems and was quite happy at the idea of the exchange.
So I went and got my chair and brought it back to the Dewdrop. I managed to do enough massage for Stone and his staff that Morgan and I were fed for most of the remainder of the weekend. Everybody won! While I was doing that Morgan was shooting at the archery range and having a good time.
In the evening we spent some time wandering around the site after Morgan had a nap while I did some sewing. That night was a site-wide shopping extravaganza (ironically we didn't end up buying anything). After shopping at Midnight Madness, we headed over to the tavern/great hall (which was a great set up, all wood interior with spears and shields on the wall and long dining tables up and down. There was some bellydancing going on and Gwynna looked lovely (and was the best dancer there). Sadly, instead of the usual drum circle happening there was this one old guy who kept putting lousy music into a boom box and then drumming on (what looked like) a snare drum with drumsticks. This is quite unusual (and wrong sounding) because bellydancing calls for a very complex set of rhythms played by hand either on a doumbek, a set of tablas or similar drum set up. Gwynna, sadly, got frustrated and decided to find something better to do for the evening.
When she left Morgan, Christine and myself decided to try and find a bardic circle to sing at. After wandering for a while we found Phillipe who took us to a party happening at The Keep (another camp). They were also doing the circle of guys ogling the bellydancers (really not what we were into at that point) so we decided to head home and get some sleep.

Sunday:
In the morning I asked Morgan to pick up breakfast from the Dewdrop and bring it back as I was finishing off the sleeves for my new bodice. When he arrived back at camp he brought the news that they were not open yet so I made some museli instead and Morgan, Gwynna and I sat around and chatted for a while.
During our nice, quiet breakfast, a gentleman named Ambrose (mka Dain) came by to say hello and give Gwynna and I some absolutely AMAZING chocolates with a coffee cream center (tasted like a coffee crisp times a million on the delicious scale). We invited him to come by for dinner anytime...
Later Morgan, Christine, Gwynna and I decided that we would have a weiner roast to inaugurate the new brazier (and we invite Ambrose to this). The only problem was that none of us wanted to go into town to get the weiners. The problem was solved while I was in the great hall later that day where we were able to buy a box of 30 bratwurst sausages (it cost less to buy 30 than to buy 8... silly, isn't it?) and some buns to go with.
So we were all set for the evening and having a great time in the afternoon playing games of Mancala in the great hall and singing songs and giggling.
At one point Stone came along and asked if any of us wanted to go on a quick trip to Gig Harbour with him. Gwynna seemed up for a road trip (or an hour or two) and agreed. It turns out someone's vehical had broken down and because Stone had a flatbed trailer (and is a really good guy) he was taking their vehical home for them. They didn't get going until very late in the day but all went well and Gwynna had a good time on the trip.
At about 4:00 in the afternoon I went to check on Morgan (who had gone for a nap at about 1:00). When I got back to the tent he was still sleeping and it was stiflingly hot inside. I woke him up and it quickly became apparant that he was suffering from mild heat stroke from having been inside the hot tent for so long.
I took him out of the tent and into the shade and proceeded to slowly rub cool water into his hair and draped a wet towel around his neck, head and shoulders. After about half and hour we managed to cool him down so he only had a mild headache (which we got rid of with Peppermint Halo). Once he was better we went back to the tavern and picked up my chair, and then to the tavern to get the food for the evening.
Once we got back to camp we began to prepare for our feast. I fetched green sticks for roasting the bratwurst, Christine was the fire-maiden and Morgan spent time getting firewood and buckets of water for us.
By 7:00 we had a roaring fire going in our new (and wonderful) brazier. Sadly, Gwynna was out late and didn't end up coming back in time for our little party but we still had a great time.
Ambrose came by with a wonderful salad (which was enjoyed by all) and we also managed to drag out other neighbor, Craig, to our little happy fire. It turned out that everyone there had quite the bardic talents. We all exchanged songs and stories and jokes late into the night.
While we weren't looking a thick, low-lying fog crept around us and isolated our tents from the rest of the event (although by this time a LOT of people had packed up and gone home so the five tents of us and our guests were the only ones for a quarter mile around). We couldn't make out much beyond our circle of tents but above us the stars were clear and bright. There was a big of cloud coming over one of the hills and it was glowing an eerie but beautiful blue from the rising moon behind it.
By the time midnight rolled around I was thoroughly exhausted so I dragged my life-sized hot water bottle (aka Morgan) to our nest in the tent and fell fast asleep.

Monday:
Ahhh... to sleep in with no portapotty truck showing up at 7:00 am! We had a luxurious morning, sleeping in, then having breakfast... it was great! Packing up took a while and at the end of it I managed to find a safe place to dunk myself in the swiftly flowing, glacier fed river to cool off (good thing I did too as I didn't get all the spots with sunscreen and might have been REALLY sore today otherwise).
The drive home was fairly uneventful and MUCH faster than on the way down (thank goodness). We only stopped a couple of times and made it back to Canada by 7:30ish (only a six and a half hour drive). Derek and I dropped off Jessica and Dorothy and then went for a shower, sushi and then a blessed sleep at home!

I LOVE SUMMER EVENTS!

Visitors and journeys...

2006-05-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

A picture of (clockwise from top middle) Dorothy (Gwynna), Jessica (Christine), Briga (Sarah), and Mog (Megan) at Daffodil Tourney earlier this year.

I had a really fun couple of days yesterday and the day before. Anthony (from Australia) made it safely to Vancouver Airport (though he had to wait through an hour and a half delay between San Francisco and here) and met me (drinking beer at the pub at arrivals because, really, what else is there to do while waiting for a plane to arrive?).
So we dropped off his things at my place and we picked up Derek then went to the Cactus Club for a late dinner (it was Bellini special's night too... YUM!).
The next day Anthony and I were up early and off to pick up his friend Joe from the ferry. We then proceeded to pop by Saje, get groceries and then head off to Buntzen Lake (I LOVE THAT PLACE!).
The lake was perfection. We had a great picnic lunch down by the water and watched the baby squirrels, goslings, and humans all playing on the beach and near out bench. The sunshine was perfect, there was a light, mild breeze and the mountains rising out of the lake were beckoning.
After lunch we went for a half hour walk to the first lookout point where I dandled my feet in the water (which was VERY cold) and just hang out enjoying the day.
I met a couple of guys there, Jeff and Dave (I think... I am SO bad with names) and their gorgeous Malamute, Gus. It sounds like the lake is going to be a GREAT place to go swimming in late summer (which means I will probably be dragging many of you with me to keep me company).
After the lake we drove back to town and I sent Anthony and Joe off to get settled in their hotel room while I prepared for a BBQ at our place that evening.
We made shishkabobs, bavarian smokies and BBQ chicken... the neighbors MUST have been salivating like CRAZY! It was a wonderful dinner and we had a nice fruit salad for dessert. After dinner Anthony and Joe started back to their hotel room only to return ten minutes later for a song or two and to cover the dinner expenses (thank you very much! :)
It was a really nice evening and left time for Derek and I to get the place in some semblance of order before sleep.

Today is the day of preparations. I still haven't finished sewing (surprise, surprise) but I think I should have enough time to get what I need to done. All four of us (Derek, Dorothy, Jessica and I) can hardly wait for tomorrow (and we are REALLY crossing our fingers for good weather at the site).
The plan is to pick up Jessica's stuff at 3:00, go to Costco to get supplies, pick up Dorothy's stuff at 5:30 or 6:00 then come home and have MORE BBQ shishkabobs (with leftovers - yummy). After sustainance enters my system it will be time to pack Derek's and my things into the van. Tomorrow morning Jessica and Dorothy are going to magically appear at our doorstep at 8:30 and it is off to the event go we! If we leave on time we should be there shortly after noon (barring any hold-ups... of which there won't be any... right?).

Well... it's off to start! Have a great weekend everyone!

Procrastination is EASY!

2006-05-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

Today has been a productive day so far... but not in the ways I had planned for it to be. Why is it that once I plan to do something I then go out of my way to avoid doing it and will fill the time with anything and everything I can?

Well... I suppose I should stop procrastinating (while writing this) and get on with my sewing... :)

Thanks for the comments!

2006-05-09T00:18:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken by Derek last summer while camping in the Shuswap area... beautiful starry night... and a great picture.

I just wanted to say how nice it is to get comments on my blog... I know there are some of you out there stalking me through it and it is really a pleasure to know WHO YOU ARE!!! (teehee)
But seriously, thanks for taking the time to let me know that you love me... I love you too!

I am quite happy with the way tomorrow is going to go... Today I got a LOT of my chores done as planned (thinking that I wouldn't have time to do any of it tomorrow). I just checked my schedule and it turns out that I have the whole day (until 6:00) free to get a bunch of that sewing finished before Thursday (which is good because even though it IS tradition to stay up until 4 am the night before an event with the current sewing project I was hoping to avoid it this time). I also have to send off certain packages to certain wonderful ladies who have been responsible for creating me and my wonderful man (just a hint... mother's day is this weekend).

AND! I am TOTALLY EXCITED about the imminent arrival of my massage chair (which I ordered online from Relax to the Max, the people I am doing my chair massage training course through this summer). It should be arriving in about a week and a half.
It is going to be GREAT! I have been thinking about going out into the community and doing massage in various odd but fun locations... I am hoping that the beach ends up being a good place to go (I mean really... wouldn't THAT be a great place to work for summer?)

Oh yeah! Amongst all my chores and other things today I even had time to lie on the grass in the backyard and read my book with the blue sky above me, the sun shining brightly, the birds in the trees and the wind playing up and down the street... It was WONDERFUL!

RAPIER THEFT!

2006-05-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

To any who live in theVancouver/Lower mainland of B.C:

On Sunday night there was a break in at the Academie Duello (run by my friends, Devon and Randy). A whole lot of rapiers, side-swords (look like short swords) and daggers were stolen along with other miscellanious equipment.

There were a couple of very distinctive items among these including: a rapier with an octopus worked into the hilt and a dagger with a portugese hilt.

If you notice anything suspicious please get in touch with the Vancouver police or with Devon or Randy at the Academie Duello. (e-mail: Director@academieduello.com)

Thanks very much!

SCA preparations

2006-05-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

This is the first of four bodices I have been working on in the past few days.

Today is one of those cleaning/errand/get as much stuff done as I can sort of days.
My friend Anthony is coming from Australia to visit for Tuesday and Wednesday and then I have Thursday to finish all my sewing for the weekend (which is going very well), do all the supplies shopping, pick up Dorothy and her stuff, pick up Jessica and her stuff and potentially go to rapier pratice in New West (though that may have to wait yet another week if I can't get everything else done in time).
So today I am going to tackle as many of these things ahead of time as I can.

My sewing project (bodice and skirt) has been going really well. I spent all of Thursday (before swimming) getting my pattern drafted and laid out. On Friday the plan was to sew the red velvet bodice and the red silk skirt. Then I got to thinking, "Wouldn't it be more efficient to make a BUNCH of bodices all at once now that I have the pattern?"
So most of Friday was spent cutting out the eight copies of the bodice (four of the outter fabric and four copies of lining fabric). I also got mostly finished the first one and am quite pleased with the results (although it isn't quite as fitted as I would like... something to work on with the next couple tries) seen above.
I am also making a T-tunic for Derek (for those of you not familiar with this garment it is like an over long t-shirt with long sleeves). This will be better for him to do archery in. I am also hoping that I have time to whip up a couple pairs of pants for him as all he has right now are some sweat pants and some pj pants (which do work in a pinch but it would be great if he could have matching ensembles).

So I am off to do my massive house cleaning (well... not really massive, just time consuming). Then maybe a little time in the sun would be good... it is a beautiful day after all!

The best laid plans o' mice and men...

2006-05-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

I had a really great time on Thursday with my friend Dorothy. It was beautifully sunny so after spending about three or four hours working on my mock up for the new outfit I am sewing I went and picked up Dorothy. She and I then went out to the UBC outdoor pool and had fun making trouble in the deep end (we both think that it is INCREDIBLY silly that they have that beautiful large pool outside divided only into constant swimming lanes with no area for people just to play in).
After that we headed to Capers to go grocery shopping (which was fun but a LITTLE more exprensive than originally planned for this shopping trip). The plan for the rest of the evening was to try to make it to SCA Rapier practice but by the time I got home and unloaded the practice (which is about a 45 minute drive from my house) had already been going to about 20 minutes (and we would have had to leave early anyways).
Ah well... one of these days... I just hope that I do start getting back into fencing before the summer is gone. Camping events are sooo much fun.

Sewing day...

2006-05-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

For some people that may not sound like the most fun you could have in a day but trust me... in the SCA this is GOOD TIMES! :)

This is a picture of the silk (shiny) for the skirt, lining and possibly sleeves of the outfit. The darker red in the upper left corner is the velvet for the bodice portion of the outfit.

I love that I was able to get the red silk at Little India in Vancouver. They had such good prices. I got this silk for $10.00/Yard and it is 60" wide. I am REALLY looking foward to finally having some garb that will be pretty AND cool for summer events and busking.

Well... it's off to create now! I will post a picture of the project again later.

I'm scared of math...

2006-05-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

Derek looking super hot at his first SCA event ever last year-->

We have two gentlemen coming to our house tonight to talk about financial matters (nothing bad, just helping us figure out some things for future). I (of couse) have been cleaning like a maniac for the past hour and making Derek think that I am loopy... loopier... than normal I mean... Anyhow, now that everything is ready they can come over and I will be happy.

Busking went as well as expected yesterday (it being mid-week and not tourist season yet). I got to have lunch with my friend Mike (the one with the photography exhibit). I also got to chat with other friends from Granville Island who I haven't seen for at least a year. I am still excited about going down there more often. It has been giving me the inspiration I need to start making more garb/costumes.

Today was my first day doing an on-site chair massage session at an office downtown. It was a bit of a whirlwind day. Both myself and Nia (the other practitioner) did 16 massages back to back at ten minutes a piece. I was sooooo tired by the time I got home this afternoon.

* * * * * * *

Just finished the meeting with the guys from the IG and had a lot of fun actually. They were very nice and informative and made the whole numbers planning thing seem a little less scary... I guess math isn't soooo bad. :)

Busking Update - May 2

2006-05-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken by Derek at an art show, last year, jointly produced by my friends: Jeni and Mike. Jeni did the face-painting and Mike did a photography exhibit of those faces.

It is a gorgeous day outside so, as promised, I will be busking at Granville Island today between 12:00 and 2:00. Location is still TBA but if I can find an internet kiosk down there I will specifically post which locations I will be at during certain times. If you don't see any further posts from me, it is safe to assume that I either: a) Couldn't find an internet kiosk down there; or: b) didn't have time to do another post before beginning performing. Either way, just come down and wander the market, if you see a girl singing in a medieval dress that is likely to be me.

Thanks again to those of you who have sent responses in to my questionnaire. For anyone interested in filling one in to help me out they are further down the page in bright green text.

Massage went REALLY good this weekend (though I was ready for a rest by the end of yesterday). I had a lot of really fun customers and the sun was shining into the window for the great majority of the weekend. I am really looking forward to getting my own chair so I can go and do massage at various locations this summer. It is really wonderful being able to have so many different careers going at the same time... it DEFINITELY keeps things interesting!

2006-04-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

Another massage day was wonderful for me and my customers. I did crazy amounts of massage again and have another day of it tomorrow. My hand is holding up well. I have discovered that if I run it under very cold water when it starts hurting that helps.
I am thinking about getting my own massage chair to take to office sites, festivals, etc. It is a really great way to earn money in wonderful environments.
In other news... sadly, the website isn't happening yet. I didn't get finished the content in time and Derek had other things to do today. Hopefully it will be up sometime this week... Sorry for those of you who were looking forward to it. Soon my pets, soon.
I think I'm going to get a reasonably early night tonight. Hope all is well in your world. Sweet dreams!

2006-04-30T09:24:00.000-07:00

(Picture of Derek's camping van)

Ahhh... So far, a morning with no chaos! It is a beautiful, sunny day and I am looking forward to day 2 of 4 of chair massage today. Yesterday was REALLY busy at the store. I did three and a half hours of chair massage over a five hour period (which seems spaced out but really isn't). I had a great time with all of my customers and used good techniques so that my thumb is only mildly aching this morning (which it has been doing every morning anyways).

Both vehicals are up and happily running and giving us noooo problems. Derek is probably going to be cleaning the van up today (and we might be selling it so if you know anyone dying to buy a sweet looking brown with tan stripes '81 Chevy Van decked out with a convertable couch/bed built into the back, installed inverter and lights, with brown velvet interior and a really sweet set of speakers let me know - picture above). I have been bemoaning the fact that I don't like driving the van in the city (too big and hard to park). Derek loves the van but is beginning to realize that if he ever wants to drive his cute little Miata again he will need to distract me with a vehical I am more likely to drive.

For better or worse, the updated (more useful) website should be live tonight with CONTENT of all things! (gasp) Feedback on it is GREATLY appreciated! As soon as I get some new recordings done with voice and harp I will be adding clips both to the website and to my blogspot profile (seeing as the ones up now are from 2000 and my voice and style have changed a fair amount after six years, three spent studying opera and classical repertoire).
If the weather is good on Tuesday keep a look out for my busking times here on my blog if you are interested in coming down to see me.

Enjoy the gorgeous day! :)

2006-04-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who laughed at my post from last night about me draining the car battery...
Derek and I decided we would get up early this morning and take our '81 Chevy van over to jump start the car (we also have a small portable jump-starter). So I get ready for work while Derek waits for me. I finally say that I am ready and he goes out to start the van... and the van's battery is dead... GAHHH!
And the really funny thing is that I can't do anything but laugh about the situation. I really like the concept of karma. I interpret it in reverse though... anytime something bad happens I assume it means that something great is coming up (and it usually is).
Anyhow... gotta run... looks like the van just ain't gonna start this morning...

2006-04-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

<--(Fuzzy Picture of me, on the left, in my pretty green fighting garb about three or four years ago). I have been thinking about getting back into rapier again lately. For about six years I studied swordfighting the the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) and then went back to university (which, or course, sucked up all my time). Having been away from the sword for the past four years I am WOEFULLY out of practice. I really want to go back to it but every time I start again I get over-excited and tend to overdo it physically so that I can barely sit down the next day from muscle ache. The other thing I need to deal with is finding a goal. For the longest time I was striving to become a "White Scarf" in the SCA (basically an order that recognises its members as excellent in the field of rapier combat as well as being contributors in other ways such as: teaching, research, etc.). Now I am unsure what my goals with rapier are. Do I want to be able to beat 50% of all the people I fight? Do I want to be able to teach? Do I want to be someone who institutes new methods and resurrects old ones? I will ponder this for a while. Any thoughts you may have had about motivation would be appreciated. Have a great day!

2006-04-29T00:13:00.000-07:00

Sigh... I am so silly! I have given Derek a hard time for leaving the headlights on in the van and draining the battery before and now it is time to eat my words. Not only did I leave the headlights on, but I did so with a vehical that has FLIP UP headlights (not that easy to ignore). Anyhow... we are going to go jump start the car in the morning... in the meantime... I feel kinda dumb. :P

2006-04-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

Today being the gorgeous day that it is I am going to be running around outside catching up on those millions of little chores that have been building up. Should be great to get out in the sunshine. I thought it would be nice to take my harp outside and take a picture to show what a lovely day it is!--->

I will be going down to Granville Island and picking up my busking license today so that by next week I will be out there singing my heart out once more. Again, for anyone interested in coming out to see me busk next week I will be posting the place and (approximate) time of performance HERE in the morning before I head out.

Good news about my website... at long last it should be up and running after this weekend (with CONTENT and everything... if I get it all done today that is... :) Many MANY thanks to Derek for ALL his help in doing that crazy computer stuff that needs doing!!! If anyone has any material (photos, comments, etc.) that they would like posted on the website there will either be a link for that or else you can e-mail me directly at: contactme@saraquist.com

After last weekend (doing chair massage with BAD technique) I ended up with an inflamed tendon (at least that is what I think it is) running the length of my forearm and into my thumb. It has been very frustrating not being able to practice harp this week. It is still quite stiff but I am hoping the doctor will be able to help me fix it up (especially because I will be doing four days of massage in the next week). But I think I have learned my lesson about which parts of my hand I should NOT be using excessively now. With any luck there won't be a recurrance of this injury.

My next CD will be coming out sometime in August or September (if all goes well) and should be available for everyone waaaaay before the Christmas/holiday season. The title is going to be Celtic Angel and I have yet to figure out where it will be available but it will DEFINITELY be available for online ordering and (most likely) purchasable download (not sure which site I am going to sell through yet though).

For those of you who haven't yet had the opportunity please feel free to fill out the marketing questionnaire in the previous post... the information will REALLY will help me with speedy production of my new CD. Thank you to those who have already filled it out and sent it back to me.

I hope that everyone is getting a chance to enjoy some sunshine today... I know I will be! :)

2006-04-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know I am starting my own production company right now aimed at producing my own folk/celtic music (and, in time, music of other young musicians). To that end I have created a marketing questionnaire to find out more about the people who listen to my music and what they want to hear on my next album. If you would like to take the time to fill this out I would be ever so thankful (just copy and paste the questionnaire text into an e-mail, enter your answers and then send it to me). Feel free to answer only what you feel comfortable answering. At the end of the questionnaire please e-mail me at: contactme@saraquist.com As a "thank you" for filling this out and helping me, I will send you an electronic "buy one, get one free" coupon for my next CD with a unique id number that will be tracked. Please be assured that any and ALL information you send to me will be held in strictest confidentiality and will not be shared, sold or in any other way distributed to anyone else. Thank you for helping me out with this.
For sound samples and further information please visit my website at: www.saraquist.com
PERSONAL INFORMATION (for marketing purposes only)
Name:
Address:
Phone number:
E-mail:
May we contact you with updates periodically?
Age Range: 0-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+
Highest Level of Education Completed: Elementary, High School, Post-Secondary
Occupation:
Salary Range: $0 - $24 999, $25 000 - $49 999, $50 000 - $99 999, $100 000+
What are your hobbies and interests?
Would you like to be on our e-mailing list? (If so please be sure to include your e-mail address)
GENERAL INFORMATION
How did you find out about Sara and/or her music?
Which radio stations do you listen to (and what type of station is it; i.e. Pop/Rock, Classical, Talk, etc)?
What is your favorite genre(s) of music? (i.e. Jazz, Folk/Roots, Classical, etc.)
What are your top 5 favorite songs in that/those genre(s):
What are your top 5 favorite songs of all time?
Who is your favorite musical group/performer?
How many CDs/downloads/etc. did you purchase in the last year?
Which format(s) do you prefer your music in? (i.e. CD, MP3, etc.)
Do you prefer to download music by the song or by the album?
Where do you want to be able to purchase Sara's music from?
What 3 songs do you want to hear on Sara's next album?
Do you have any further comments or suggestions?

2006-04-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

A picture of my big baby harp...

2006-04-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

In two weeks I will be travelling with Derek, Dorothy and Jessica down to Washington for the 40th anniversary of the SCA. It will be the first camping event of the summer and should be absolutely beautiful. The event site is at: http://www.40yearcelebration.com/
for those interested.
If any of you have not yet met Derek I have added a picture of him and I here (taken last year).
I have been having the urge to start working on some new SCA garb/costumes for gigs lately (I think it is some kind of strange spring fever) and think that the next new outfit will likely be a red velvet bodice and red silk skirt (which I originally planned to make for a Valentine's Day gig but will look nice at pretty much any time of year).
A friend of mine has been in the hospital for the past several days and when I visited seemed to be recovering well from an emergency operation. Nonetheless, it is still hard to see a friend having to go through that sort of thing. I only hope that he is up and about again as soon as possible. I am so greatful that the problem was caught in time and that he is doing well again.
As of next week I will be going down to Granville Island to start busking again on sunny days when I am in town and not doing chair massage. I am very excited to be going back to performing in this way again. Somehow it is very freeing to just be in a place making beautiful music for those who appreciate it.
Thank you to all of you who have been supporting my music career all this time. I don't think I will ever be able to tell you how much the words of encouragement and experience have helped me ESPECIALLY in the last year or two. More than that I have to thank you for believing in me all this time.

Big thanks to all my family, friends and fans wherever you may be!

Lots of love...

2006-04-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

For any of you who are currently having aches and pains in your back and neck, I will be doing chair massage at Saje on W. 4th (between Vine and Yew) in Kitsilano this Saturday, Sunday and Monday (April 29, 30 and May 1). The price is $1.00 per minute and you may become highly addicted. For those of you who do, my normal day at the W. 4th store is Sundays.

2006-04-26T12:52:00.000-07:00

As a first time Blogger I am just getting the feel for this but I think that it will be a good way for friends, family and fans to keep up with what I happening in my life.
I have been working in an aromatherapy store for the past several months as Assistant Manager and have finally decided to re-focus my energies back on my music. In the time I was working there I also had the opportunity to start doing chair massage and discovered that I really enjoyed it (especially as a "bread and butter" activity while I am being a "starving artist").
Derek and I have been mostly hanging out at home lately but made a trip to visit his family in Kelowna for Easter. We have plans to travel to Williams Lake this summer for a big family gathering and to get far from the madding crowds.
I will be starting up busking again this summer at Granville Island and in Victoria when I am over there so anyone who wants to find out when I will be at a location, stay tuned to this Blog and I will post where and when I will be daily.
My website is still under construction but closer than every before to being useful. For those interested the link is: http://www.saraquist.com

2006-04-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

Sexy new blog photo: