Changes

Work, work. My Monday-Friday of late has been filled with landscaping. It's hard work, and my muscles are starting to feel tired. It's good in that, by the end of the summer, I should be in good shape. I've bought some protein powder so that I can have protein shakes to help me build some muscle mass. I've already made some improvement:
At work, I've also been driving bobcats, loaders (the big machines with shovels), dumptrucks and such, shoveling rocks and dirt, laying grass, planting trees, fixing cement curbs, and more to come, apparently. My boss is leaving the company soon too, and wants me to replace him, so it looks like I may be a crew chief within a month or two as well.

On a more personal front, things are also good. I met an old friend at the Edmonton airport during her layover between flights, and we talked about life. She is such a free spirit ... now moving to Iqaluit from Toronto to work as a journalist. I think the older I get and the more people I meet, the more I realize how much possibility and diversity there is. With each step into new territory, we change ourselves while also changing our environment. Nothing is stable, nothing is complete, and the more we see and do, the deeper we see into life. That star in our minds and in our eyes is fed, and we move forward, inwards. I love my friends ... all of them. It seems that we (the friends of my age) are also getting older ... moving into our own. Perhaps for the first time, taking responsibility for our lives and creating our own little worlds: having serious relationships and thinking of children, our future and our world. It is a weird, but happy, feeling.

Also, as an early birthday present, Ali bought me a keyboard!! Beauty! I can now play piano and compose! She is so wonderful ... she has such a beautiful mind and heart! I hope you can all meet her some day.

Epic

These last few days have been momentous!

Saturday, we had a party and my brother (who lives in Fort St. John) came down to see me which was really nice: I haven't seen him in ages!

We had a barbecue, and a fire and had some friends over, it was great.
That night we had one odd encounter and one act of anarchism. We realized early on that we didn't have enough wood for the fire. After searching the block, we decided to steal from corporate america by removing the palates being used as blockades for the drive-in at dirty bird (aka KFC) it was beautiful!

We were also digging gardens. The back garden went really well, and the dirt looks amazing, I can't wait to plant!!
We dug out oval-shaped gardens in the front for flowers, and were asked by a pair of inebriated adolescents whether we were digging a grave. We told them that, yes, we were, and that our cat had recently died, may he rest in peace. They told us they were very sorry for our loss, so we took two pieces of the broken dirty-bird palate and some candles and prayed in front of the flower garden. It was great. Certain unnamed members of our party then sang the american anthem in front of the "grave" ... may they now rest in peace ...
I also started working as a landscaper this Monday ... what a hard shift, from brainwork all day to body work all day ... I feel exhausted. On my first day, the hiring agency couldn't find my resume, or the wage we had agreed on, and I was told on the spot that I had to travel South, outside of the city limits (probably 20 km away). "Oh, you don't have wheels?" They asked, which had not been (like many things, I was to find out) discussed over the phone when I was hired. Thankfully my brother was in town, and was able to drive me there on my first day. It was a disorganized morning, one in which I wasn't really sure that I would get a ride back home or whether I would be able to commute with anyone to and from work until my brother had left. It's all good now, and I'll be making $15/hr and working about 10 hour days for the next four months. I was told today, that I might end up being a crew chief as I seem "responsible", life is good!

Ali still loves her job at the library too ... life is good!

The worst is over!

Two 3 hour tests today!! I've been eating flash cards and mathematics all weekend ... and now it's done!
Only one more test on Thursday, then I'm done the semester!! I can't wait ... biking, reading, practicing, jamming, learning German ...

Ali had her first day on the job this week, and she's really enjoying it - a good paying office job in a field she loves - Library Administration! She's really excited.

I was turned down for the research gig that I was looking forward to because the researcher didn't get the grants she wanted, and couldn't afford to hire me, but I got a call back the other day on a landscaping job that pays $15 to start, and hopefully, I will be able to do some research this fall with a lady in the Nutrition department.

So it's been a really good day ... we went out for dinner and were happy, watching the sun move towards setting.

Couldn't ask for more.