Sunday, January 20, 2008
Won't you be my neighbor...
Oh Mr Rogers...Although you were slightly creepy in your pastel cardigans and your shoe tying, you taught us some valuable lessons. I think some of my neighbors must have watched your show.
Oh, our neighbors. We have some good neighbors and we have some not so good neighbors. Our not so good neighbors include the people who live above us and either do weights or move furniture at 12:30 am almost every night. There are the neighbors down the hall whose dog barks constantly. Jeff loves working from home :P . We also had a neighbor who would play the same piano song every night, and every night she would screw the song up and bang on the keys.
We also have fabulous neighbors. The people below us are great people. They are the janitors of the building and are the people we have to go to pay rent and they are the relay person between us and the landlord. They are a great family and seem to really like Jeff and I. They look after our place when we are away. Last Christmas, as soon as they heard people walking around above them, they came to make sure it was me and not a shady character.
They know that I am here alone for two months and that Jeff isn't coming back until March. I think they feel badly for me as they keep bringing me food. Last week, they brought me two pieces of lasagna and an interesting roll thing. Today, they brought me a full dinner with salad, spring rolls and shepherd's pie. They even brought me the bottle of salad dressing to use! It is like they know that Jeff does most of the housework and they think I may starve.
I really like these neighbors. I don't think anyone else in the building gets food deliveries. There is, however, one thing that is a notch against them...
...karaoke. They play karaoke party and get stuck on one song and sing it over and over, really loudly. Chelle can contest to this as they got in the summer when she was living here. They were stuck on "all by myself" for quite awhile. As I write this, they are playing. I don't mind it; I think it is kind of funny. Jeff is not as easy going about the karaoke. It is actually funny to watch Jeff get worked into a frenzy when they are karaokeing.
I am thankful that there are still good neighbors out there. I thought the days of knowing your neighbor were over, but maybe not. The fact that they are down there when I am up here alone is comforting.
"Too good to be real, smell of something cooking!" - DMB
Oh, our neighbors. We have some good neighbors and we have some not so good neighbors. Our not so good neighbors include the people who live above us and either do weights or move furniture at 12:30 am almost every night. There are the neighbors down the hall whose dog barks constantly. Jeff loves working from home :P . We also had a neighbor who would play the same piano song every night, and every night she would screw the song up and bang on the keys.
We also have fabulous neighbors. The people below us are great people. They are the janitors of the building and are the people we have to go to pay rent and they are the relay person between us and the landlord. They are a great family and seem to really like Jeff and I. They look after our place when we are away. Last Christmas, as soon as they heard people walking around above them, they came to make sure it was me and not a shady character.
They know that I am here alone for two months and that Jeff isn't coming back until March. I think they feel badly for me as they keep bringing me food. Last week, they brought me two pieces of lasagna and an interesting roll thing. Today, they brought me a full dinner with salad, spring rolls and shepherd's pie. They even brought me the bottle of salad dressing to use! It is like they know that Jeff does most of the housework and they think I may starve.
I really like these neighbors. I don't think anyone else in the building gets food deliveries. There is, however, one thing that is a notch against them...
...karaoke. They play karaoke party and get stuck on one song and sing it over and over, really loudly. Chelle can contest to this as they got in the summer when she was living here. They were stuck on "all by myself" for quite awhile. As I write this, they are playing. I don't mind it; I think it is kind of funny. Jeff is not as easy going about the karaoke. It is actually funny to watch Jeff get worked into a frenzy when they are karaokeing.
I am thankful that there are still good neighbors out there. I thought the days of knowing your neighbor were over, but maybe not. The fact that they are down there when I am up here alone is comforting.
"Too good to be real, smell of something cooking!" - DMB
Friday, January 11, 2008
I wear skorts...
For those of you who don't know, I play squash in the Montreal interclub squash league for McGill. I am not very good, but they needed another woman to fill a position in their D-league. I figured that there would be very few expectations for me to win so I decided to join. I haven't done too poorly this year; my record is currently 3-1.
I had a game this Wednesday and it was a bit different. The scene is this: Monteal's nicest raquet club. It was gorgeous - I have never been a club like this. The change rooms were insane; there were little vanities so that you could reapply your makeup and do your hair, nice plush chairs in which to relax, mouth wash, hairspray and other amenities available. This is not your average university gym. There are a couple of bars and lounges and it was in the cutest building ever. The only problem I had with it was it's dress code: all players must wear all white.
Seriously. In order to play one evening of squash, I had to go out and buy an all white outfit. What regular-sweating person wears white gym clothes. So my quest for finding white gym clothes began. Do you know how hard it is to find white shorts in January? Impossible. I searched 6 stores until I found a white skort. Ya, that is right. I had to wear a skort. A white, somewhat frilly skort. It was quite cute, but I am not really the type of person who plays sports in a dress. It feels too girly for me. Because I am cheap, I leave the tags on the skort. Don't judge me! I am a poor grad student and can't justify spending 30$ on a skort I will wear once, even if I wore it and sweat in it for an hour. Ya, I am disgusting, whatever.
So I needed to find a white top to go with my frilly white skort. Thankfully, my friend Stephanie had a white shirt for me. Now, I totally am very thankful for her lending me the shirt, however, I don't think this was a shirt my mother would call white. It was more of an off-white (and there may have been a small purple berry stain on it). It was not the same colour white as my skort. So my white skort, my off-white shirt...what else can I wear? I know! A black sports bra and navy socks. I looked like the most out of place player there.
So I feel like an impostor in my outfit, but it's all about the attitude. I pretend like I belong there. I think I failed. I figure I am going to get my ass kicked. Who pays crazy membership fees to play squash if they aren't going to be super awesome? My opponent arrives and she is really nice but she is totally a hot mom. Maybe late 30s and completely decked out in the cutest white lulu lemon outfit ever. I don't think my body has or will ever look as good as her's...I think Ihate her totally respect her dedication to maintaining her MILF-like body.
The first game she beats me 9-2. I hate losing and I feel that this game is going to be over quickly. But wait...I come back to win the next two games 9-1 and 9-4. Go me! I only have to win one more game and victory is all mine. But it has only been two weeks since Christmas and my Christmas goodies and liquor are still clogging my system - I am not in peak physical condition. I lose the fourth game 9-0. I couldn't move anymore. Now we are tied 2-2 and I am not a good loser. I am determined to win this game and send mommy packing. The game starts - she is up 2-0 before I get the serve back. I tie the game up 2-2 but in the tying point I jump to hit a ball and twist my ankle. Smooth. So now I am a sweaty, out of shape, skort and off-white shirt wearing gimp. Awesome. I walk it off (cause I am tough) and go on to win the game. Victory is mine!
So another win for me! Three more games to go this season. Hopefully the store Winners will take my sweating skort back...
"Hike up your skort a little more, and show your world to me" - DMB
I had a game this Wednesday and it was a bit different. The scene is this: Monteal's nicest raquet club. It was gorgeous - I have never been a club like this. The change rooms were insane; there were little vanities so that you could reapply your makeup and do your hair, nice plush chairs in which to relax, mouth wash, hairspray and other amenities available. This is not your average university gym. There are a couple of bars and lounges and it was in the cutest building ever. The only problem I had with it was it's dress code: all players must wear all white.
Seriously. In order to play one evening of squash, I had to go out and buy an all white outfit. What regular-sweating person wears white gym clothes. So my quest for finding white gym clothes began. Do you know how hard it is to find white shorts in January? Impossible. I searched 6 stores until I found a white skort. Ya, that is right. I had to wear a skort. A white, somewhat frilly skort. It was quite cute, but I am not really the type of person who plays sports in a dress. It feels too girly for me. Because I am cheap, I leave the tags on the skort. Don't judge me! I am a poor grad student and can't justify spending 30$ on a skort I will wear once, even if I wore it and sweat in it for an hour. Ya, I am disgusting, whatever.
So I needed to find a white top to go with my frilly white skort. Thankfully, my friend Stephanie had a white shirt for me. Now, I totally am very thankful for her lending me the shirt, however, I don't think this was a shirt my mother would call white. It was more of an off-white (and there may have been a small purple berry stain on it). It was not the same colour white as my skort. So my white skort, my off-white shirt...what else can I wear? I know! A black sports bra and navy socks. I looked like the most out of place player there.
So I feel like an impostor in my outfit, but it's all about the attitude. I pretend like I belong there. I think I failed. I figure I am going to get my ass kicked. Who pays crazy membership fees to play squash if they aren't going to be super awesome? My opponent arrives and she is really nice but she is totally a hot mom. Maybe late 30s and completely decked out in the cutest white lulu lemon outfit ever. I don't think my body has or will ever look as good as her's...I think I
The first game she beats me 9-2. I hate losing and I feel that this game is going to be over quickly. But wait...I come back to win the next two games 9-1 and 9-4. Go me! I only have to win one more game and victory is all mine. But it has only been two weeks since Christmas and my Christmas goodies and liquor are still clogging my system - I am not in peak physical condition. I lose the fourth game 9-0. I couldn't move anymore. Now we are tied 2-2 and I am not a good loser. I am determined to win this game and send mommy packing. The game starts - she is up 2-0 before I get the serve back. I tie the game up 2-2 but in the tying point I jump to hit a ball and twist my ankle. Smooth. So now I am a sweaty, out of shape, skort and off-white shirt wearing gimp. Awesome. I walk it off (cause I am tough) and go on to win the game. Victory is mine!
So another win for me! Three more games to go this season. Hopefully the store Winners will take my sweating skort back...
"Hike up your skort a little more, and show your world to me" - DMB
Labels: 2008, Montreal, rachel
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