This is the song as it was meant to be heard:
Well my 27th year on this chunk of rock has passed, and to tell you the truth, I don't feel any older than I did in my 26th year. However, Bob and Kristin pointed out this was a special birthday - my 3rd raised to the 3rd power birthday. Uncle Dave and Joseph were nice enough to send along a nice eCard, the punchline of which I include below.
Quick post to detail the craziness of this Tuesday. Was the passenger in a T-bone collision (hitting driver side door). After a frantic moment of getting the car to stop (by jamming it into reverse, then finally park), I found out the accident occurred outside the home of a retired paramedic - what a break.
The driver was a coworker, who outside of a nasty gash, was mostly okay. Got to get a few good-natured digs in as I put on my hospital gown in the stall beside her, prior to my 'inspection'. The doctors at Strathroy hospital have very gentle fingers. So far as I know, JLHB will be fine (which is a good thing), the other driver was mostly shaken, and I'm just bruised up a bit. Work followed up within hours with a lovely plant arrangment for PlantMan, so the day ended on a good note. Time to down some ibuprofen, and head to bed early.
We're back in Canada, well rested, well tanned, and well married! There's no better way to sum up the last few weeks, other than, better than we had ever imagined. The weather was amazing, with lots of sun, and nice cool breezes. The ceremony and reception were a blast, and our honeymoon was a blast. We hiked, we ferried, we toured the best the Western Isles of Scotland had to offer.
Now we're back, and it's time to get ready for the upcoming receptions.
It's official - my very first niece was born today - Julia Adison Martin. Weighing in at a hefty 6 lbs and 15 oz. Described as 'beautiful' by some, and 'very very pretty' by others. Photos have been snapped and are being routed here. Mom is doing well, baby is taking it easy tonight.
Well it was a tough slog, but 2.5 years of work finally paid off today - I successfully defended by Master of Science in Biochemistry today. I'd have to describe the defense itself as mostly cordial, perhaps even friendly. Just some minor revisions and it will be out of my hands in another week.
Sat down last night to finish final corrections on my thesis before it goes back to my reviewer for one last look. Of course, this meant redoing all 125 references, table of contents, spelling/grammar - all the little detail stuff that winds up taking so much time for just a small payoff. Law of Diminishing Returns and all that.
So, I threw on the headphones, began dutifully typing away, and the next thing I knew, it was 6:30 in the morning. Dropped the finished package off, and now I get to relax (slightly) for about a week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's not much to fix, so I can hopefully submit by next Friday or the following Monday.
It's been a pretty bleak winter here (I'm refusing to use the 'discontent' cliche here). Between the thesis writing, the lack of a real job/funding, and all the rest of it (oh yeah - planning that whole wedding thing), things have seems pretty crappy as of late. However, today, if I had to call it, is likely the day when things started a slow ascent back to happy times.
Unfortunately, I can't quite publish all the fun-time news yet, but the first bit of good stuff is that I was offered a part-time job at the Home Depot, working in the greenhouse/gardening section. Those of you who know me affectionatly as 'Plant Man', will know that this is a good fit. Also, it's decent chunk of change coming in to help buffer all the wedding expenses. I start work on March 25th.
The other really good thing will have to wait a couple of weeks, but it is good news. Promise.
Today I made the (nearly) yearly trip to St. Thomas for grading to my 5th kyu belt today. Everything went as well as one can expect, considering you sit on a cold cement floor for 45 minutes, jump up and explode through 6 minutes of activity, then follow that up with another hour on the floor before sparring.
Enough with the complaining though, it really is worth it to show your 'peers' and senseis that you've made progess with your karate. It was funny to look back at last year's grading, when I watched the yellow and green belts katas and thought they looked so complicated. Now having learned some of those forms myself, I was thinking the same thing about the purple and brown belts. I like that about karate, no matter how hard or complex something may seem, you find yourself doing it (or at least attempting to) much sooner than you think you will.
Green is a good colour for me, but I'm sure it will get old quick. Here's hoping I can continue making these March grading posts every year for a few more.
Oh where to begin....
Esitimated damage to the old Honda: $3000
Scuffed up lawn and driveway: $25
Rental car during body shop work: $270
A shot of Jenn in action: Priceless.
A little background is in order I suppose. On my way home yesterday, I began to make a turn into my driveway. I turned the same way I always do - signal right, slow down, then move to the right with the car. Yesterday was different though - a white Isuzu Rodeo driver didn't think I was going fast enough before I turned, so he proceeded to try and shoot past me - on the right! He caught me in mid-turn, as you can see from the saucer-shaped passenger door.
But it got better. I was busy yelling expletives as I exited the vehicle, and the other driver began to question MY DRIVING! I then proceeded to explain that the SOLID YELLOW LINE on a RESIDENTIAL STREET indicates that PASSING is not allowed (or something to that effect - my eloquence may have been lacking at that point). I managed to calm down and ask if he had insurance - he did - and by the end of it all we shook hands and agreed it was just a bad day.
So after losing most of the day to the Police Reporting Centre, the body shop, and the car rental place, I'm happy to say that I received a call today from the wonderful people at MelocheMonnex to tell me that I was NOT at fault for the accident, and would not have to pay the deductible (well duh!). So for now, I'm tooling around in style in a Hyundai Elantra (with AC!). So please, keep the Civic in your thoughts over the next few days - I do need it back.
Stumbled upon this today - and it got me thinking. I am a Late Sleeper and damn proud of it. I especially liked the Bill of Rights, and the fact that I can claim my sleeping habits are the result of nature, not nurture. I think that grad school/research is probably one of the few career options for someone who really only wakes up at about 11:00 am. But that's not why I'm doing this. Honest.
Yes this is late to be put up, but I thought it was worth mentioning. On Saturday, March 5th, I obtained my 6th kyu in Shorin-Ryu Karate Do. It was a very long day - 8:00 am sharp in the St. Thomas Dojo. I was the second person called that morning to demonstrate my katas - Pinan Nidan and Pinan Shodan, and then proceeded to sit on my rump for 2 hours while everyone else presented. This is followed by 2 quick sparring matches (using extremely aching legs). I was happy just to be able to go for this grading in such a short period of time (2 months) and have set a personal goal to reach 5th kyu by the end of this year. Ideally, I'd like to achieve my 1st kyu (black belt) by the time I've finished my Ph.D. - you heard it hear first folks.
That's all for now.
This is Tyra. On Monday, July 12th, Jenn and I adopted her! She's a big (65 lbs) 1.5 year-old coonhound/shepherd/?lab? cross, who after only a week has fit in at home. Nikko is not minding her too much, and Bannah.....will come around. She's so full of energy that Jenn and I find ourselves out taking her on 45 minute walks/jogs every night.
After 6.5 years of wanting a dog, I'm so glad to have this one. Now all I need to do is teach her a few tricks...like chaning the TV channel, finding the cordless phone, etc.
A weekend of craziness comes to an end. After all is said and done, I'd have done it all over again in a heartbeat. I'm referring to the wedding of Tim and Wendy, which went off without a hitch on Saturday, July 3rd, 2004.
Jenn did her part as an outstanding bridesmaid, and I provided the merriment (mostly in the form of teasing Tim and the rest of the wedding party) as Master of Ceremonies (the capitals are my own, and yes they're gratuitous).
We managed to fill up Jenn's digital camera with photos when it dawned on me that I haven't added any new photos in over a year. This situation must be remedied, so look for updates coming soon.
