Over on my project blog darklight.ca I listed my 20 goals for 2020 and while I like them all I want to add some fun things that don’t really have a deadline and aren’t necessarily things that ‘need’ to get done. Rather they are things that if time and money allow (and sometimes even if they don’t allow) I will do them just for the joy, fun, and creativity they will bring into my life.

Travel seems to be on every bucket list I have read and mine is no exception. Last summer I traveled to Costa Rica with my son and while Costa Rica wasn’t specifically on my list, traveling to another country outside of Canada and the US with my son was. This year I will be heading to Panama with my daughter and a friend of mine. Some places I would truly love to go are Scotland and England to research my ancestors and visit family, Japan for the history and architecture, Croatia for the national parks, and Greece for the beauty, mythology, and architecture too. There are other places I’d like to visit but those are my top five at the moment. Next year it looks like I may go to California with my daughter and her friend as they go to Coachella and I visit the sites in the area. I also want to go on a road trip to visit the House on the Rock near Spring Green Wisconsin and see other sites along the way.

So aside from travel I want to go parasailing, finish writing a YA book, go back to school for free when I am 65 (if it is still free then), learn how to build things like a deck and pergola, and learn a new language.

I think it’s important to put these things in writing and to look at them repeatedly or they are more likely to fall by the wayside and never get done. There are lots of other things but I will save that for making my board which I will share when it is done.

Until next time… Sometimes the biggest regrets are for the things you didn’t do rather than those you did.

~ Crimson

Car ride conversations between mother and son…

Crimson: “Dear Pizza…(dramatic pause)…The End.”

Son: “What, no plot or character development?! What the heck is going on?”

Friend 1: …I’m in and really looking forward to this, as long as we try to do it low cost…

Friend 2: Okay, this is great … what is the maximum you’d like to pay for your portion of the room?

Crimson: I would like to pay 20 pence, 1 squirrel, and the laughter of a child.

Friend 2: Crimson you’re ridiculous 😉  So is $75 or less including taxes reasonable for all?

Crimson: Good for me. The squirrel will be disappointed, but maybe next time.

I decided to postpone the Peru trip until the following year since financially and workwise it just wasn’t going to work out. At least I have Myrtle Beach and Florida to look forward to in the future. Yay!

Oh yeah, and a whole year more for me and D to learn Spanish. I am sure she will be just as thrilled as me…lol.

Hola!

D and I went to our first Spanish class in preparation for our trip to Peru in June. We are going with a group of students from the university I attended and will be doing community development work there with the local population. I am really, really looking forward to it and think it will be a great experience for D who is currently in grade six.

I have a terrible memory so hopefully I will remember or learn enough Spanish to be able to communicate in a basic fashion and not accidentally tell someone they are the bastard offspring of a three legged, demented goat with tertiary syphillis.

Well, unless they are of course… but what are the odds?

My trip is on for Brazil next August and my passport is in the mail. Of course I am still terrified of flying so I will have to take vast amounts of gravol or something to make me sleep through the flight and my demise should that be the case. I really should stop watching ‘Lost’ since has heightened my paranoia about flying to the nth degree.

On a positive note however I have raised $130 is sponsorship so far with 8 months left to go. Woohoo!

Work has been an endless parade of meetings but I like it because I get mileage for travelling and it makes the day go much faster.

Tonight I am taking my mother to an illusionist/majick show, should be fun!

My trip to Ottawa and Montreal was great. In Gatineau the C-bomb word was dropped on me because some lunatic on a bike drove out into traffic and I swerved to miss him rather than slam on my brakes and get rear ended to let him cross. So bike-guy yells at me to learn how to f’ing drive and calls me the infamous C word. Such charm.

I forced my friend to go visit the parliament buildings but we both ended up having a good time and took lots of pictures. We took a walk along the back of the buildings along the river, part of which was cordoned off by police and ambulance. Not sure what was going on there.

I had directions to Montreal from Ottawa but we decided to just follow whatever signs said ‘Montreal, this way’ and went through about two dozen tiny towns along the way. Not one had a Tim Hortons. What is up with that!?!?! Finally we came to a big enough town for me to get my fix although somehow when I ordered a cammomile tea I got a coffee. Cammomile tea pretty much translates into cammomile tea in French so I can’t figure out that one. I guess my English is as bad as my French.

It rained the entire time we were in Montreal but we made the best of it an visited Old Montreal to walk on the cobblestone roads. Yes, we have lofty goals when travelling. ;OP

I lost $100 at the casino but I did buy a stunning gothic dress that will be quite lovely with my latex demon wings for Halloween.

Next year we are hoping to get a big group of us and go to New York City for a few days. Someday, someday, I will get to go abroad. I am still waiting to hear back about Brazil.

L8r.

I participated in a trivia competition at Rochester University this weekend and had a good time. While our team didn’t place well, individually I finished around the middle of all of the competitors which makes me quite ecstatic. I don’t do so well at the academic questions, I am more of a pop culture and random useless facts kind of person. Being a Canadian team we were at a bit of a disadvantage as the mojority of the bonus questions we got were about American politics, geography, and literature. I simply do not know what river flows through what state and ends in what lake. Yikes!

In some very interesting news, I am looking into a program called ‘Solidarity Experiences Abroad’ where I might be going to Brazil for two weeks next August. In the program you do a lot of volunteer work in the health sector for the underprivledged. It fits in well with what I am taking at University (Community Health). I just need to check on some safety issues before I decide whether to go or not.

School is going well so far, I am just getting burnt out already since I work full time and then go to school three nights a week on top of having two kids and a few clubs/volunteer organizations I am involved with.

I gave up the Improv club since I didn’t like the direction the new president was taking it. She is a nice girl and very talented, she is just inexperienced at what it means to be on an executive. I ended up feeling like it was becoming a dictatorship rather than a democratic process. Oh well, as long as the membership is happy with the changes, then that is what matters. I will also have to give up on the gaming club and anime club as I just don’t have time.

Well, that about sums up my little life for the week. Next week it is off to Ottawa and Montreal!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited! My friend and I are going to Ottawa and Montreal during our vacation in October. I love architecture and famous landmarks. We want to walk the cobblestone streets. Ya, strange desire, but hey that’s us. I got a new 8.0 megapixel SLR camera and hope to take some great pics!!!

I have started writing some fanfiction but will be posting it at fanfiction.net rather than on my web site. My first one is dedicated to Owen and is a Smallville fanfic entitled “Emissary”.

Don’t smoke ’em even if you got ’em!

By the way, as you can certainly tell, I made it back alive from my trip to Quebec. I wasn’t as nervous on the flight as I thought I would be but then again I took a double dose of stuff for anxiety and conked out…lol.