Random Round-Up (The "We Survived" Edition)

The "We" in the title above refers to all of us - you and me and the whole freaking province on ManiSNOWba who just lived through the never-ending winter from hell.  Today is the first day that I let out a grateful sigh of relief because it felt like it just might be over.   There is still a lot of snow in our yard.  And rabbit poop.  Lots of rabbit poop.  Perhaps more rabbit poop than snow.  Damn rabbits.  They chewed up our hedge this winter too.   Death to baby-bunny making rabbits.

I think it's funny that in Manitoba on the first day the mercury rises above, say, 8 degrees - you'd think it was 25 degrees outside.  I saw shorts, tank-tops, flip-flops, higher than normal slurpie consumption, and people having their Happy-Hour brews outside on patios.   "We made it" was the collective echo that was in the air.

I had class Wednesday night at U of W.  Only I didn't.  I arrived 10 minutes before class to find one of my friends standing and waiting for me on the sidewalk on Portage Avenue telling me the campus had been evacuated.  Strange but true.  There was a security threat (some were saying a bomb threat) called in to a different post-secondary institution earlier that day that referenced U of W.  The whole campus was shut down that evening and over night as the combed through the place looking for something suspicious.  Nothing was found.  I guess someone wasn't quite ready to write their final exam that night?

So the Jets are done.  What more can you say?  They fought hard to come back after their losing streak in March, but didn't quite make it.  I had the chance to go to two Jets games this season.  One in which they lost 4-0 to Washington (brutal game) and one in which they won by a huge margin and scored 7 goals.  There may have been a lot of hip bumping (my version of fist pumping with my friend Mary), high-fiving the happy filipino guys behind us, and general shenanigans.  My throat was hoarse that night.  So much fun.  Thoughts on the team?  I like Dustin Byfuglien way more than I thought I would.  He really grew on me during the season.  Evander Kane still has a lot of growing up to do.  Claude Noel gives really great sound-bites after a game.  Here's to next year.  And.... Go Canucks GO!!

I survived birthday party season.  The last of the parties was last weekend... one whole month late.  I'm never doing that again.  Parties should happen as close to the birthday as possible.    That's just how it's meant to be.

Hannah and Mike just pulled up from Hannah's marathon day with her Jazz Band.  They got to be in workshops and rehearsals all day with members of the WSO, then have supper together at The Spaghetti Factory, then attend a WSO concert.  She's a party animal.

Ellie is obsessed with the color "seafoam green".

I can't wait for my first taste of pistachio gelato.  Eating gelato in winter just isn't right.

I'm taking two classes in the spring term - "Family Therapy Plans and Interventions" and "Abuse in the Family".  I'm loving the first one and liking the second.

For my Plans and Interventions class we had to watch the movie "Parenthood" (you know the one ... ensemble cast way back from the early 90's?).   If you haven't seen it, you must.  It is SO good.

We cancelled most of our cable as we aren't watching much TV.  That is a good thing.  I've never been a big TV watcher.  If we watch something now we usually watch something on Netflix.  Since we've completed (THE BEST SHOW EVER CREATED FOR TELEVISION) Breaking Bad, we've begun watching Mad Men.  I can't say I'm hooked yet.  But let's face it - anything that comes on the heels of BB is going to pale in comparison.

I spent two days this week in a training conference on inter-personal violence with a focus on youth and technology.  A friend from my master's program is a detective with the Winnipeg Police Service and offered a spot to me and another friend.   I learned a tonne.    Youth have so much more to contend with than we ever did.

Our house is beginning to show its age.  We have so much that needs doing this summer.  Now we have to prioritize.  I hate spending money on "boring" things like new shingles.

Sasha and Mike are pumped.  They're gearing up for Sasha's first softball season.  Finally something that she is pioneering on her own without following along in footsteps her sisters have laid down for her.

I just finished reading an interesting book - Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gay vs Christian Debate   by Justin Lee.    I highly recommend it.

I'm pumped to crack open Carmen Aguirre's book, Something Fierce, tonight.  I remember hearing Anna Maria Tremonti interview her a few years back when her book first came out and I was mesmerized by her story.  Here's a interview she did with my boyfriend, George Strombolopolis, talking about the book.

Musically speaking, I've been playing Ruth Moody's sophomore solo album, "These Wilder Things" over and over again.  She did an interview and played live on "Q" a few weeks back.   Ruth has the most lovely, pure, ethereal soprano.  A Winnipeg treasure, for certain.

We had a spectacular dinner out with friends last weekend at "The Peasant Cookery" in the Exchange District.  Beautiful space and delicious food.  I think you should go.

I think Samosas and tamarind sauce from Water Lily on Meadowood are crazy-good.  There's something about walking out of the restaurant with the brown paper bag full of hot samosas, watching the greasy marks begin to appear through the bag as you drive home while the outrageously delicious smell fills your van that is unbeatable.

I want to grow A LOT of cilantro this summer.

I am hoping for an epic summer of blue skies and no mosquitoes.

I can hardly believe the school year is nearly over.

I am very tired of making school lunches.  Hanging on for dear life in this department.  Who's with me?

I'm planning to dig our BBQ out of hibernation tomorrow.

Spring gives me hope.