Catherine

Catherine
Originally uploaded by sinkblue.

Here's my big sister Catherine - she looks pretty happy considering she's about to embark on a 4day/night bus ride across Canada to Montreal.
She's a hell lot of fun - even just hanging around her this past week with her stomach flu was cool - except for the puking part. So imagine how much fun she is when she isn't vile!
She spends most of the year in Victoria getting her bachelors - she graduates in December this year. She and I have our own sense of humor that feeds off each other that I miss most of the year. She gets back from Montreal in June and she'll probably work with special needs youth in planning summer activities - it's going to be a lot of fun!

Me about to Head East to Maple Ridge

About to head East to Maple Ridge,
originally uploaded by sinkblue.

These are the clip-ons I put on before my drive out the program which is going really well - it gets better and better every day.
So why the clip-ons? My eyes started to burn for no reason - it wasn't allergies because I wasn't getting any of the other symptoms.
So I saw my doctor, got some eye drops and I was encouraged to keep my eyesight away from the sunlight. That's hard to do when you're driving East at 8:30 am on these beautiful sunny days. My mother, the resourceful person that she is, found this old pair of clip-ons. They do the job - and I laughed so hard my first drive wearing them I can't give them up! I stopped to let a family cross the street and the little blond girl laughed and pointed at me! I can't wait to wear them to the beach! Thanks Mom!
Like I said, the program is going great - I've met incredible people and we all know eachother so well now - they all have amazing, powerful stories I wish I could share but I signed a privacy agreement.
And I love the drive out to Maple Ridge in the morning - easy going, beautiful skyline - and the opposite traffic is just standing still. Even with feeling over-worked, April has been a really good month for me.

About Calgary - Nate and I

Nate and I,
originally uploaded by sinkblue.

Nate is Meg's friend, I met Meg at Universal Studios with Natasha. When Meg heard that I was flying out to Calgary - she told me to meet up with her friend Nate. Nate and I both enjoy hanging out with people we don't know in anticipation of potientially awkward moments. That, along with sharing a childhood fear of Large Marge from the Pee Wee Herman movie actually made it an enjoyable afternoon. We walked to a drive in hamburger joint, talked to this homeless guy who looked like Johnney Depp, and drank weird flavoured milkshakes. If Nate's friend had been at a tatoo parlour, he and I would've gotten some free tattoos. I had a lot of fun with him.
In parting I gave Nate the ugly painting I shoved under my Fozzy-bear trenchcoat when exiting the Hog and Brew. His plan so far is to put it up in some gallery/cafe with a made up artist name (the name of a local constable) a title and a price.
I had a blast with Nate and hope that he's able to meet up with Meg in South Africa.

Heather

Heather,
originally uploaded by sinkblue.

For those who know what I went through last summer - no one knows better than Heather. She was there for me for the last two weeks of Australia watching out for me, comforting me and taking care of me. I feel like I owe her my life.
Heather is an amazing glass-blower. This winter she won an award for her work in a competition out in Philidelphia - she's currently applying to an artist's co-op in Toronto. She's nervous about her financial future but I feel that her talent will never leave her starving. I'm really proud of her work and how far she's come. A bonus to being her friend and liking her work is that she gave me an amazing bowl she made - orange and blue.
Hanging out with her was like time never passed since I last saw her. And she took me out to the Rockies even though I was too hungover to enjoy it. We made cookies, snuggled like old times and went to the zoo. I had a lot of fun with Heather and can't wait till we meet up again.

Andrew

Andrew
Originally uploaded by sinkblue.

Andrew ran out of his house to greet me at the shuttle - he looked like Jesus in a hoodie - I jumped out to give him a huge hug - I've really missed him since Australia.
I gave him some smoked salmon and off we went to tour downtown Calgary where Andrew found himself lost in trying to find stuff to show me. I kept reminding him that I came to Calgary because I missed him and Heather - not to see Calgary's Granduer.
He showed me his pottery - since it's his final year, he's just having a blast doing what he wants and not caring what his teachers think. He has an apprenticeship set up for him in Saskachewan living on a farm with a famous potter that he's really excited about. I'm really glad he's getting what he wants.
Andrew always hated being called a hippy even though he has hippy tendencies. So why the long hair? It turns out his Mom is fighting cancer and Andrew wanted to make a wig out of his hair for his mother while she goes through kimo.
Andrew, despite first impressions, is a super sweet and caring guy. I know he's terrible to keep in touch with him through email so saying bye to him was hard knowing that. I hope we'll hang again.