the men in vancouver

i was at the spa this weekend and, as usual, carried on some small talk -- weather, weekend plans, work, family, etc. but then our conversation drifted to the topic of men, the men in our lives, the men who we *want* in our lives, and of course, the men who we wish weren't in our lives hahahaha. it really was an interesting conversation. my esthetician did most of the talking (i'm a really good listener!), and she was talking about how there aren't a lot of good men in vancouver (!).

she moved here about 6 months ago and has made a lot of friends, but she hasn't had a lot of luck in the guy department since she's moved here. you're probably thinking, oh, she must not be very attractive. but really, she's a gorgeous girl, tall, blonde, with a great easy-going personality. oh and all you bachelors out there who want to meet her, let me know and i'll give you her name so you can ask for her when you go for your next manicure! ;)

i thought it was an interesting conversation and i really didn't think much of it -- just an opinion.

but then i was at a wedding reception tonite and i had an opportunity to talk to the bride for a few minutes.. while she had a longer break inbetween all the festivities. we talked about how lucky she was to have found her guy and then she told me that she found it incredibly difficult to find a good guy in vancouver. i was taken aback to hear the same conclusion from two beautiful ladies in the span of 24 hours! are there really no good guys in vancouver left?

so you must be thinking, what do you mean by good? i guess there are many definitions (and if you want to hear mine, just ask me over coffee or something one day :) ), but i'm really curious.. all you bachelorettes out there, what's your take on the men in vancouver?

a good talk

i had a good talk with a friend of mine just the other day. we talked about our jobs, our family, our friends, and our social life. he's got a big target on his back -- attracting women who only want his money -- and we think i have a magnet hidden somewhere on me, attracting all the crazies left, right, and centre :b. although our experiences have been quite different, i seem to be the one who is much more cynical about relationships. i've learned a lot about myself, and what makes a good relationship, and although i've applied a lot of what i've learned, it doesn't seem to make a big difference.

take fighting for example. i've learned how to 'fight fair', what to say and what *not* to say, and even how to say it. but it seems to only work when two people understand how to fight fair and are working toward a common goal. if one person is talking calmly and the other person is moody and yelling at the top of their lungs, how can anything be resolved? taking a break is good but if one person continues to push their point in an aggressive manner, there's no end in sight.

my friend raised an important point -- it helps when both people have the same goals (personally and career-wise), the same values, ideals, the same outlook on life... perhaps thats where i fail -- not having the ability to recognize what the other person's outlook on life is...

real friends

you know who your real friends are when you're in a time of crisis...

scratch scratch

I HATE MOSQUITOS...

i have 6 mosquito bites all around both of my ankles. a week ago i had 3 mosquito bites on my left bum cheek and 2 mosquito bites around my knees. they are so incredibly itchy and its proving to be SO difficuilt to NOT scratch them :(

i have a tube of anti-itch gel on my desk and i'm trying so hard not to scratch the bumps :(

yes i have a bottle of mosquito repellent lotion which i will use from now on but right now i'm just going thru the terrible itch phase :P

my mom used to slap the mosquito bite whenever we wanted to scratch it. never really knew whether or not it helped but i know i didn't feel much of anything after the big SLAP!

down the thompson river

i am so incredibly tired.

a couple of my friends and i drove 3 hours into the interior to conquer the rapids of the thompson river with Kumsheen Rafting this morning at 5am.

DJ JW and i took a wrong turn at Hope but were able to get back on track with no problems whatsoever. On our way to the Kumsheen office, we stopped at a deserted ghostly convenience store / gas station. there were cars around so we knew someone had to be there, but there was not a soul in sight. we quickly hopped into our car and drove off, looking for another place to make a pit stop.

we finally found a quaint little cafe. there was a tall white dude with long hair and a long beard, apparently serving customers and two of his friends (they looked like natives or something) with the same fashionable hairdo :b having a friendly conversation. i thought to myself,

we're either going to be lynched or forced to join their biker gang

:b luckily they were the most friendly people we had talked to all morning and reassured me that we were going the right way on the highway. :D

that eased DJ JW's mind and he quickly fell asleep once we got back onto the highway :b

we got there early :D, checked in my group, handed our waivers in, and proceeded to head to the restaurant for a second breakfast :D at just before 9am, we grabbed our wetsuits, changed into them, and hopped onto the bus. i was on the other bus and was stuck between 3 hot guys from Denmark (!!!). they wanted some sunscreen so i passed it around not knowing if i'd get it back :b

20 minutes later we arrived at the put-in, proceeded to grab our life jackets, helmets, and paddles, then was introduced to our guide, Willis :D -- another hot dude -- too bad he's 19 ;)

the morning was full of beautiful scenary, calm waters, and tame rapids. Willis was knowledgable and told us many stories as we paddled our way down the river. i sat at the bow on the right side and got my first taste of freshwater as we hit a pretty big wave. THE WATER WAS COLD!

after a great lunch, we headed back onto the water. this time i was sitting on the left side in #2 position (closer to the bow). we were going to be heading into large rapids, so we had the 2 largest guys (hahahaha) at the front setting the paddling pace. the rapids were pretty big (level 3 and 4+). we were soaked the entire afternoon. we had one big wave where JW was thrown to the front of the boat collapsing on top of the girl in front of him. i was bumped up in the air a bit -- luckily i had my foot firmly under my foothold.

we also passed by the site of the recent train derailment in Lytton. there are at least 7 cars still sitting on the bottom of the river. on the rockbed, you could see a whole section of black coal and a few containers, mangled and destroyed from the big fall. its definitely something to see if you ever do the full day Thompson raft with Kumsheen. even parts of the bridge above was damaged. reminded me of the train derailment in mississauga on the day of my birthday party when i was little...

in more calmer waters, i swam the tiny waves and got a whole dose of water right up my nose :b and in my mouth. we climbed back into the raft and i was lucky enough to sit right at the front of the raft, with my legs dangling over the bow side, hanging on to the ropes for dear life. we ran into a couple more rapids and i took a couple of big waves face on, for the team! :b THAT was EXHILARATING!

i wore my keens today and THANK GOD I DID... they are THE BEST :D i'll definitely use them for rowing :)

after rafting, we all bussed back to the office, hopped into the welcoming hot tub, laughed at our rafting pictures, and slowly headed home. J kept me awake most of the way down, and i entertained him with my awesome impersonation of the dancing Jackie Cheung hahahaha. i hope i didn't scare him...

its almost 11pm and i just got home 20 minutes ago (had dinner with the big JayDoubleU). I AM POOPED.

i'll definitely raft again. maybe next time i'll go to Golden to raft the Kicking Horse!

free ice cream!

I got a free Klondike Vanilla / Chocolate cone today from Breyers! :) It was SOOOOO good but at the cost of 300 calories...

ugh...