August 30, 2016

Shannon
I finished The Diviners. My goodness this book was absolutely amazing. I find it hard to even say way, except for that it simple feels like the truth. It totally slayed me.

Suzie

We went to a "free" day at the PNE Exhibition only to find out it was free before 1 pm! We still went although it was incredibly stressful and upsetting that I made that mistake but we made the most out of it. Because it was free earlier, the place was PACKED and we had to do the slow crowd crawl which was brutal! That said, we had some fun treats and got to see these dinosaurs that were actually robots that moved and made sounds. For once, I wasn't terrified! I think I'm making progress...

August 30, 2016

Jamie

I worked really hard yesterday on the site and on a new class that is coming in October. I think I sat in one spot for almost the whole day!  The cats too, but, uh, they don't appear to be working.

Shannon
I've did some vlogging today, for videos I'll release throughout the week and one of which (pictured above) is something I'm a little nervous about but I hope it goes well. I guess I'll see if I end up hitting publish or not on Wednesday, hehe.

Suzie

Wow, didn't take a photo today! I had a call scheduled with Dad and got up late so I didn't have time to go for a walk. A did some Zumba and then did a ton of financial stuff. Then finished the day with watching Homeland which I am really liking now.

August 29, 2016

Jamie

Yay!! I am here. I'm so excited. Yesterday I decided to give myself a break and have Shannon over for Art Day. And even though we were both super-tired we decided to go ahead and  paint, which was such a treat. Like the treat of the muffins that Shannon brought over too! The big launch is on Thursday and a lot is done but there still is so much I am dreaming of and hoping to make shiny and new by then.

Shannon
It was soooo great to have Art Day this weekend! It has been so long and I had a blast hanging out with Jamie and making art. Here's to getting back to painting, and a puffy bird :)

Suzie

We had quite a bit of fun this weekend. First Reg and I went out to Rocky Point for ice cream and then we met up with our friend from Halifax who was visiting on the west coast. We took him for appetizers at our favourite geeky pub (note the Star Trek poster on the wall) and then walked home in the rain. It was quite awesome.

August 27, 2016

Suzie

Another sizzling hot summer day. Walked to the library, got lunch out at A&W (we had no food), went to Kin's and got produce, went to Superstore for groceries and then I passed out. Tomorrow should be much cooler and I sure hope so. This heat is getting to me.

August 26, 2016

Shannon
I'm sure this is a familiar stretch of land to you two! Going to the old hood is always a bit weird, there is a huge store going where Whell & Cullen was and it comes almost to the street! I think they are doing underground parking cuz there was tons of construction. Even if things changes around there, I always do some things the same way including rubbing a bit of this plant in my hand to get that Christmas smell, no matter what time of year. I don't know if the plant is stretching out to say hi, or giving me the finger from breaking off a piece! Oh, if plants could talk....

Suzie

One of our D&D pals has been away a lot this summer so we haven't played much but he's back! My friend had this D&D Mimic dice holder which I totally fell in love with. A Mimic looks like a treasure chest but will bite you if you try and open it. The purple tongue rocks! Didn't do much else but wait for a package that wasn't delivered on another crazy-hot day. It's going to be crazy-hot tomorrow but then we get a break, thank goodness!

August 25, 2016

Shannon
The day started early and went really long. It started with marker Morning Pages, which I'm really appreciating doing in marker. I can't read them at all, but I dont' need to. And wow, they super glide on the page. I swear I should have taken a picture of me looking at HTML because that would be the most representative of the day!!

Suzie

I got to the art studio for an hour or so but didn't stay long. I'm really creatively uninspired these days so I just made a few spice spoons and came home. 

August 24, 2016

Shannon
Picture to be added... having some upload issues! The past few days have a been both normal and unexpected, and I know that because I've been blogging them. It's been great to get back to blogging. I'm feeling strongly about not overthinking it. I download my pictures from the day, look at them and write something. My mantra has been "Pick a picture, tell a story". So far it's working! Thank you both for coming by and hanging out at Planet Shannon!

Suzie

Long day but managed to get out to see Suicide Squad! Movie disappear FAST here and it was cheap night and I knew it might be our last chance to see it and I'm so glad we did. A total hot mess but it was fun and the women were quite powerful in the movie.

August 23, 2016

Jamie

I couldn't resist these finger puppets when we were at the dollar store. Yesterday, after finishing a long day of hard work, I showed them to Kim and decided each represented someone helping me on this evolution. I'm the cat. Justin's the giraffe. Shannon's.... you guessed it... the monkey and Kim is the elephant - in studio blue, no less! It made us giggle and was a nice way to wrap up.

Shannon
After lots of special activities for quite a long stretch, it's kind of nice to get to some regular things and regular rhythm of time. Today I even posted a "Regular Post" blog post. I also finished up this journal, and it was nice to see it go right to the last page. The journal got me through my birthday (bit one this year) and all of journal club. I wonder what journal I will pick next!

Suzie

No photo from me, I felt terrible! Still so exhausted but didn't realize it until after I did some grocery shopping. Spent most of the day on the couch watching Gilmore Girls so I thought I would share one of my favourite scenes from the binge watch as I fell in and out of consciousness.

August 22, 2016

Shannon
A very full weekend! Help with David and Sylvia's Anniversary Party, and then... the party itself! It was a lot of fun, all around, great to see people , hear great stories and also watch The Tragically Hip concert outside with the wind rushing through like applause after every song. Very powerful all around!

Suzie

This weekend was all about food truck festival in New Westminster on Saturday. I have been in recovery mode since. We managed to put that together with The Hip's concert which was way too much for me but somehow I managed. I wish I had more time to explore the food aspect though but at least I got all the photos of almost all the trucks.

August 20, 2016

Suzie

Reg's eye is acting up again so we had to go see a specialist and decided to beat the heat by going to Oakridge Mall for some frozen yogurt and wow, this place makes Bayview Village look cheap. There's a Rolex store and I think he said a Ferrari dealership too. Funny thing is, all food courts seem to be the same although no one ever went to KFC.

August 19, 2016

Jamie

Even with how hard I am working I am trying to make it to the gym. I am trying to do the opposite of what I normally do - you know, forget that you are a human being in need of sleep and good food and activity and that you don't stop needing those things just because there's a big project at hand. I'm not rocking it but I'm doing better than I have in the past :)

Shannon
I'm testing out my new process for SciFi Fantasy and Weird Fiction exploration that I mentioned on stART this week, and so far it feels pretty solid, although a little more involved than I thought it would be. Here's hoping that continuing to work through and tweak it, I can come up with something that feels good without feeling too involved. I should be able to work through three more reviews, which is so good! I'm really looking forward to doing them (which is much better than the dread-of-backlog-feeling). :)

Suzie

So this is the third home for my lighting equipment. This time in the crafts room. I even put the green screen behind me to see if I could add a backdrop to the video, which is a cookbook review. This is what happens when Reg is working, it's a super hot day and I actually wear makeup. I shoot three videos in a row before it melts off.

August 18, 2016

Jamie

In the midst of working, I heard the whoosh of a big branch falling from the tree in the back. It landed on our eavestroughs and our fence, doing some damage. We had our neighbours over to have a little chat about the tree and what we could do to keep our homes and ourselves safe and sound.

Shannon
I've been struggling with the choice between doing my morning pages or taking a break for my hand, but wow.. . not going them really brings out the grump monster. Today I tried using a marker because it flows easily ...and also the bigger writing mean I was done faster. Not a bad somewhere-in-the-middle choice, but very much feels like an in-between choice.

Suzie

Had to go to the doc and drop of a prescription. While I waited for it I hung out at McD's because our Starbucks is always full. Went through Ricardo magazine which was all about Italian food! Hot day and too busy to go for a long walk so I wrote two posts which was tough on my back but at least I am ahead of schedule for tomorrow and some pre-dinner yoga helped. It's going to get hotter and hotter this weekend too, like over +30C! Ugh...

August 17, 2016

Shannon
I decided to tackle Henry V today. I normally would take notes, but decide to forgo that this time given I'm giving my hands a rest. I think talking about process on stART helped me decide to do it, because a process is there to help...but in this case the process of taking notes has been hindering me from getting to the play. And as this is one I've already seen, I have a general understanding of it. I do find it challenging to do things not always in the same way, but it felt right to shake this one up. And to keep the reading to be pretty much hands free, I read it from my huge Shakespeare omnibus which can stay open flay without having to hold the book. Seems crazy that two little shifts could make me get to something I've been meaning to get to for months.

Suzie

I am working on a post about gluten-free oats so I made chocolate peanut butter drop ice box cookies. Not easy in this heat but better than turning on the oven!

August 16, 2016

Shannon
BIRD! Thanks to Carol, it's either a Downy or a Hairy Woodpecker. I think it's a Downy. It's amazing, I've never seen this kind before and it just caught my eye out the window. A few moments, a few pics, and it was gone!

Suzie

Monday Reg and I went downtown to the CBC to watch Leah Barley perform for free! Reg met her on set one day and her music is great. Another beautiful summer day in Vancouver.
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August 15, 2016

Jamie

Next weekend David and Sylvia are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary! Shannon and I are helping out with the decor and so yesterday we headed out for a glitter party! There was glue, glitter, washi tape and lots of great conversation. And Portuguese egg tarts! That was the first time I'd ever had one, even though they were a big favourite of Mom's. It was good to have a little bit of creative time amidst all the busy! Shannon also sent me home with a cool idea for working in a colouring book and the fixative needed to make it go. Thanks, Shannon!

Shannon
It took me longer than I expected, but I finally finished watching Psych. I inhaled the majority of the show, but got really resistant to finishing it. Funny when that happens. It was a great lighter watch option for me, kind of like if Burn Notice was a comedy. It was also one where I was happy to get all the nostalgia references from growing up in the 80's, although that did make me feel my age. And I am my age, so maybe it's time to start being okay with that. Anyhow, fun show for sure. Now I'll have to find something else to be my lighter-fare fix.

Suzie

We had a rare weekend of Reg not having any classes or work so we took advantage of it and got out a lot. Sunday we went to Belcarra Park and I tried to take the path to the north side, which we have never done before. It was a pretty good path but suddenly it was all stone and vines and I no longer have real hiking boots and it was almost all up hill so before we got to the lookout point (that's not it in the photo) I said I had to stop and go back. We might have been right near the peak, it was impossible to tell, but my body could go no further. Just as we got back, my knees started to go so it was a good call but sucks. One day I will go back in the morning when it is cool, not bloody hot, with REAL hiking boots and make it to the top.

August 13, 2016

Shannon
A little behind the scenes moment of vlogging. I've just started vlogging my reviews / reactions to the books I'm reading for the SciFi Fantasy and Weird Fiction adventure, and it was get to get a few done. I had trouble deciding on what format / questions / musings to go with and after lots of indecision I just picked a bunch and jumped in. If I need to change it later, that's gonna have to be fine with me because I couldn't wait any longer! I did decide to go with general thoughts, and then more in depth/spoiler thoughts because actual specifics were something I wanted to talk about. I think the spoiler-free habit in me runs so deep that I tried to avoid that for so long. We'll see how this goes!

Suzie

Friday was all about getting stuff done, including picking up a package from Purolator and harvesting our supper pretty multi-coloured carrots that Reg grew from seed. Had some in our salads last night! Food is seriously gorgeous.

August 12, 2016

Jamie

Yesterday the pace was crazy! There were a flurry of workers here and stuff getting done. The most exciting bit was us getting a brand new front door! We both think it is just beautiful. It doesn't let in any light but it also lets in way less noise. We were amazed when we were sitting in the living room yesterday. An added bonus! Our hope is that today the last of the work will be done and we'll be able to start getting to the work of putting the house in order!

Shannon
It's ALL JUDO ALL THE TIME at my place. It only runs the first week, so I gotta get all the judo love in while I can. It was quite the day, and it ended with the beautiful moment after the Gold Metal match between Elmar Gasimov from Azerbajain and Lukas Krpalek from Czech Republic (who won silver and gold, respectively). The combatants always touch hands at the end of the bout, but at the end of this one they actually took a moment to connect out to the crowd (both sides), and it was the most most joyous and respectful post-match moment I've seen. It was a great match, and a wonderful celebration of sport.

Suzie

After a rough day yesterday I came back from a walk, did yoga and then couldn't do anything else. Just too burned out and tired. I managed to make dinner and have been watching a lot of Law & Order SVU thanks to Netflix. Not an easy show to binge watch but I do love Olivia, she is one of my favourite heroes.

August 11, 2016

Shannon
I had a squee! moment when reading The Diviners, when I got a reference made to Roughing it in the Bush, I actually giggled and did a bit of a fist pump. Oh my. I hope I don't become a literary snob, but if I do I guess I will be a Canadian literary snob... if there is such a thing.

P.S. I figured it was safe to post the quote as you've both read the Diviners! I hope I figured right.

Suzie

Another crazy-long day! This time it was going to Kin's for produce, then Superstore for groceries and then to the ophthalmologist. I had time before the appointment to indulge in a decaf iced latte and then found out I have dehydrated eyeballs. My left one has been fuzzy and sore and it was almost completely dehydrated. I have to use drops and a warm eye mask and massage my eyeballs to get the blood moving again. My life is so weird and challenging right now.

August 10, 2016

Shannon
More Olympics, and more Judo watching for me although not from this view. I was able to watch it on the TV because of the app, which was a huge relief because it's so much more comfortable. I wonder if I'll get Olympic'd out at some point.

August 9, 2016

Jamie

One nice thing is that no matter how busy I am, no matter how much each day is the same as I sit in front of the computer and work, the kittens always give moments of cuteness. Scout really likes to play with the blankets while you're trying to make the bed. Clearly it brings out the hunter in him!

Shannon
It's only a few days into The Olympics and I fear I maybe overloading people with my enthusiasm for it! Today I treid to watch a lot more from the couch, so that I could get more rest but so much of what I like is online and not on the regular channel. I will work on that "balance" thing, heh. I (again) watched & enjoyed the judo matches, and also watched women's rugby, and Canada won bronze! The team sports, and any sport were 2 people or teams are facing off, are a bit strange as the person who gets silver, actually lost, so it's the gold winners and bronze winners that are the happiest. One really different thing is that judo has a gold, silver, and 2 bronzes awarded. I don't know why... I'll have to listen to the announcers more carefully tomorrow and see what they say.

Suzie

Hope that this is the last time I end up at UBC. I got my sleep study results and I don't have sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome but I do have a sleeping disorder and there isn't much they can do about it. So bloody frustrated...

August 8, 2016

Shannon
It's safe to say for the next 2 weeks it's going to be all Olympics, all the time at my place. And I don't think I have energy to do anything else, so it kind of works out. It's taken me a bit to figure out what I want to watch and how I want to watch it, but I found myself being drawn again to the Judo competitions. One great thing about it that each day follows a different weight class, and goes from qualifying to medals all in one day. So, the competitors play several games in one day, so you can follow their stories throughout the day. Very exciting.

Suzie

So life goes from zero to crazy in a day. I went to the food fest which was so hard and ended up being disappointing as well as disillusioning in some ways and then the kung fu BBQ which I mostly just rested at because the food fest took everything I had.

August 6, 2016

Shannon
I know I've had people over when the next day the only thing I can drink from in the cupboard is my morning mug.

August 5, 2016

Jamie

This has been the view of me all week and probably for the week to come. Kim and I are working our buns off on the new website. It's amazing. We've created some beautiful icons, infused even more beauty and are working on creating a very welcoming experience. All of this while there's construction going on and tending to frightened cats. The tiles are almost done and they are going to look great. They are much more our style than what was there before. It's an incredibly demanding time but I think through the other side it's going to feel and be so good!

Shannon
Totally didn't take many pictures today. I actually can barely remember that I went earlier. The days are officially starting to blur. Can't wait unti I can rest up and crash and watch tons of Olympics.

Suzie

I had fun putting together this thumbnail graphic for my taste testing video of Oishi's Spicy Prawn Crackers. I am going to keep trying to be more adventurous with cheap treats from the Asian markets here and see what is a success and a failure. This one was definitely a shocking success. I really didn't expect to like them!

August 4, 2016

Shannon
Although it was a pretty full and long day of stuff to do at home, I did manage to squeeze in watching part of the women's soccer game of Canada vs Australia that's was before the opening ceremony but still part of the Olympics. And I can say Olympic fever has BEGUN! We had 2 really great goals, one in the first 30 seconds which was quite the way to start. I wonder what sports I'll end up following this year! Looking forward to seeing what CBC will have available online in addition to the TV broadcasts. A lot of the days start pretty early (7am... eep...), so I might end up just watching whatever is on in the afternoons!!

Suzie

I completed my post on Carnivore Club! I don't think I have ever written 3 posts about a product before ever. It was the gift that kept on giving. All that meat!