Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Day 67


June 30th

We did not have to get up for PT this morning, but for some reason my body still wanted to. I did not sleep much in the last hour of our night, but since I usually do my own PT, I think I prefer to use the morning for sleep. My goal for parade this morning was to keep my glasses on my face, so I tucked the arms into my head sock and since it was a cool morning, I did not sweat much. All of these factors kept my glasses on my face for the whole parade! Hopefully this works on a hot day too. So about the gross picture on today's display...I smashed my face during the first change music drill of the parade :( My euphonium got caught under my left wing and I had to pull it up to get at my music. When I pulled it up, it flicked up and the bell of my euph hit me in the lip. Between that and my teeth, I cut my lip open and was sucking blood all the way to the hill. I was able to "play" for the rest of the parade, but had to play on the right side of my face and take more breaks than usual. When we got back to the bus, I put my lip into my cup of water and that made the swelling go down. This picture was in my room back at Carleton. I played for all the rehearsals in the afternoon and for some practicing in the evening too. It's like when you twist your ankel, you have to keep walking on it or else it will get stiff and tight. In the evening I wound up buying one of the dresses that I was looking at over the weekend. It was one of the favorite picks of many and myself and I think I have some shoes to match! Now I just have to figure out accessories and hair and I will be all set! Well, tomorrow is going to be a long day so I think I should get to bed.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Day 66

June 29th

I think I overdid it a bit on the PT yesterday. I slept till 10am this morning and spent the morning in bed eating, reading and online. Then I went for lunch two hours later! I spent the afternoon practicing and polishing my boots. After supper I took a nap for an hour and then scooted on my rollerblades to my first dance class! I am taking a 5 class beginner salsa course. It's super fun and Dustin already taught me all the steps/moves that we have learned so far, so today was a nice refresher. Yup, that was my day. Pretty lame boring and sooooo relaxing. My muscles needed it!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Day 65


June 28th

PT this morning was circuit training and a lot of ppl were upset that we had to do PT before a guard mount. Personally I don't even consider it PT at this point, but more like an active wake up routine. Anyways, we had a later timing in the band room and started the morning with a rehearsal of some of the pieces we were going to use on the parade today. Then we went out for our inspection, except B Band got skipped? I napped on the bus ride to the drill hall :) When we got there we had to salute a monument of some sort, I dunno what it is...in the drill hall we had our usual juice time and then we formed up. Here is a video of the mount when we marched off the Hill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdxzJCSEEvE I am marching on the edge which is weird because only tall ppl belong on the edges, so you can spot me quite easily! I was having some issues with the parade glasses they gave us. They are so fragile that anything can bend them. Mine were falling off my face all morning long and I did the "glasses drill" to push them up like 4 times before we even got into our formation on the Hill. After that I gave up and just tried to see as best as I could. The parade was a lot of fun and I knew I sweat a lot, but I have never sweat that much before (except maybe the first day when it was suuuper hot). After the parade, Jeremy and I figured since we were already hot and sweaty that this was the perfect time to go for a run! I think we did 3km, but I'm not sure. We went to the beach and back. Then I took one of the best showers of my life! I'm sure I will have a lot of those this summer lol. The afternoon was a long concert band rehearsal for some gig that is happening in July. I'm pumped to play Festive Overture again! When the work day was done, about 5 of us went to the gym and then to supper. I started practicing power walking for the BFT which is a 13km rucksack march with a total carrying weight of 50lbs. Sounds like fun eh?...not! I pull muscles so easily while power walking, so I figured I better work up to it. In the evening a group of us went out for Cimolai's birthday. That was fun and the walk back along the canal at night was beautiful!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Day 63


June 26th

So today was the day of the Teddy Bear Picnic gig, but it didn't actually happen due to the rain. Luckily enough it stopped raining less than half an hour after the gig was cancelled, so the rest of the day didn't get spoiled. I got a ride downtown with Allison because the streets were still too wet to Rollerblade on. I spent almost 3 hours shopping and didn't buy anything...again, but I have a plan! Oh well, then I scooted back to Carleton on my blades and hit the gym with Jeremy. That was a lot of exercise all at once! After we showered and had supper with ppl, we spent the rest of the evening watching Hell's Kitchen in Jeremy's room. We left the door open and slowly ppl started creeping in and then we had the whole gang plus a few more :) i lost track of how many episodes we watched, but it got so intense...almost like watching a sports game lol. After we ran out of episodes from this season, i did a little euph comparison with one of the guys. I forgot his name but he used to do CG and is now in the Reg Force Band. All together a really fun day!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Day 62


June 25th

Yay I got to sleep in this morning. I also had to get up at 10 to get ready to go for Dim Sum and it's a good thing I went, cuz I probably would have slept forever! Dim Sum was great! 13 ppl went and we sat at a huge table while the ladies kept putting more and more food in front of us. I have never seen that much Dim Sum consumed before. And the variety was great too! I have a new favorite dessert, it's candied peanuts and sesame seeds in a rice like ball that is rolled in sweet coconut. We even ordered things like chicken feet and tripe. I had part of a foot and rememebered that it's pretty much just skin which I don't like. I didn't have any tripe, because by the time we ordered it I was waaaay too full for more. After lunch 2 more guys got bikes and I rollerbladed back with them. Then most of us had a nap (we really ate a lot) and carried about our day. I did a bit of cleaning and reading. I joined my room and pod mates for a light supper. A lot of ppl were planning on going to the Jazz fest, but for some reason it's just not appealing to me. I like to be free in the summer! So I put on my rollerblades and took the canal downtown. I stopped in Rideau Center to do a but of shopping and I think I need some serious help. Shopping just isn't my thing. I don't know what to look for and how to match up outfits, it took me almost an hour to pick 2 dresses and a skirt/shirt combination! Gah! I also realized the the more expensive stores like LeChateau don't really fit my body type. They are meant for bodies that don't have legs. Needless to say, I didn't buy anything again. I think I will go back tomorrow when I have more time to look around. As the mall was closing I went to the bakery that is on the first floor. I was told that when it is closing time, they sell things for really cheap. I was in line to buy a loaf of bread when the guy said it was buy one get one. Good thing I can fit two loaves of bread in my backpack! Then I took off towards the market to look around. I was hoping the tea store would be open, but it was not. I checked out some of the more upper class areas and the restaurants there. After making my way through the market I went all the way to the mint and a little further. The day that Alexi, Stevenson and I went to the art gallery, we also walked a bit further and found a great view over the Ottawa river. I found that view again at about 9:45 and it was beautiful! I stopped there to sit on the railing and eat some of my fresh Italian Loaf :) I felt like I was in Germany again. The bread was so fresh and I was rollerblading on cobblestone lol. Then I decided it was getting late and started heading towards home with a few scenic detours along the way of course. I found some construction in a park that is happening in preparation for Canada Day and some other beautiful views over the Ottawa River. I eventually made it back to Carleton at 10:45and made some tea. Wow, all that time and I only went 11.6km. The BFT is 13km. That's kinda depressing...guess I'll be going for a lot of walks!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Day 61


June 24th

No PT this morning because we had the China gig, or so we thought. Turns out it was raining too much and only a small group of ppl went for an indoor gig. I did not get to go :( Instead we had a small rehearsal in the morning and that was it. The China ppl came back for lunch and our afternoon guard mounts were cancelled due to weather aswell. So, the ppl on the Teddy Bear Picnic gig did a short rehearsal and that was it! We got off at 2pm! I heard a trumpet piece that one of the trumpet players was playing and found it interesting. He had a book called "Carnival" and it has a bunch of fun things in there including flight of the bumblebee! I found a piece that I would like to use as my third audition piece because I recently re-read an e-mail that said I need 3 contrasting pieces within 20mins. The thing with this third piece is that it is out of print :s so I will be borrowing for the audition. I took a nice long walk this evening. I just needed to get away and have some peace. I went around the lake again and brought my iPod this time. It's so nice to have it here! I decided to extend my walk further south to the dam. This time I was not on my rollerblades, so I could walk on the rocks the way we do at the cottage. i got pretty far and started scaring the ducks a bit. When I got a comfy spot, they started coming closer to me. It was neat to see how one got close and then backed up, then two got close and backed up, then they all swam past. I found a nice flat rock that I could lay down on an look into the water. I saw some minnows and craefish. I also saw what the ducks were eating every time they put their head down. I spent over an hour watching the rapids and the sun setting. Then I walked back to campus and B Band was watching A Bee Movie because we are Bee Band. Ppl were starting to drink already, so I just waited for then to head out. I would really rather not spend money on alcohol here. I'd rather make memories that are more interesting and unique.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Day 60

June 23

Yay, long run this morning. I've decided to challenge myself by doing all the runs with my mouth closed and breathing only through my nose. This was easier than I thought and only required a bit more concentration on staying calm. First thing up this morning was an indoor inspection. Probably to save time because we went straight out to do a short guard mount after that. Then there was a short rehearsal followed by practice for tomorrow's China parade. Then we had lunch and A+C band went out for another practice mount while B band got library duty or time off. I got time off and did the AB ripper X! And took a nap of course. When I sat down to do some reading, my desk started shaking and I looked at my room mate and she yelled "earthquake!" She told everyone to stand in the doorways because apparently the walls are stronger around the doors. She grew up in BC where they had earthquake drills in elementary school. Anywho, the earthquake happened about 50km north of Gatineau. They felt a 5.7 and we had 5.1 on the rictor scale. That was super fun! We were all shaking for a while but then went back to doing nothing. There was one last rehearsal for those who are on the Teddy Bear Picnic gig (I'm on it!) and the day was over. I got my second pair of combat boots and started polishing them. Then Jeremy (Maitland) and Brian (Humps) said it would be best to break them in first because the polish that I put on now will all flake off when the boots crease. So I will wear them after the parade tomorrow. I wound up going for a powerwalk with Jeremy who is a really nice person and I'm glad I am getting to know him. Then the three of us watched some Big Bang Theory and I went to the pool again. This time I met Wherle and some other girls there. That was nice!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Day 59



June 22

Today was the first parade of the season for us. The HEGG parade. I've been told that we are standing for a long time while the Governor General inspects the guards and sometimes the band. This is how the morning went: We got dressed in the morning and were inspected on the parade square in full ceremonials. Then we got onto the bus and were dropped off behind parliament; usually we will get dropped off at the drill hall which is a few blocks away so we can parade onto the hill, but this was more of a standing thing. So we were told to drink lots of water and gatorade.... they ususally have the gatorade soooo strong that it looks like pure syrup and we have to water it down hard core. eeew! ok, on to buisness. I learned that ppl like to play tricks before the parade starts: putting drink cups on ppl's bayonettes, doing stuff to their instruments when they are on the ground etc. luckily the guys I made friends with are like the older brothers I never had and they took care of me!So then we formed up and stood there waiting for the parade to start. It was funny to hear ppl say "man! NOW I have to pee? really?" Goiong to the bathroom is not easy with the tunic on. You basically have to take everything off to go because we are wearing suspenders under to keep the pants up. There was a bit of routine drill that happened before we started marching. Then we were off! I did not make one drill mistake with my feet! I got every mark time, halt and march off the mark time-it was epic! I was nervous because I was standing on the left, so the drum major was on my right = my bell was in the way, but there was a blank file in our row so I got to move in one file towards the center and then I could see a lot better. We did all the parading and got into position for inspection. After playing 2 inspection tunes, the first guard went down. I could see the medics running out with the stretcher and carrying him off. He was pretty tall! Then we played 2-3 more inspection tunes and another guard went down followed by a percussionist. If your bear or tunic is too tight, it makes for a nasty situation and you can just black out. Last year over 11 guards went down! Plus I think it only went up to 20 today and there was a light breeze. There will be more ppl going down when the weather gets hot. Also, don't drink alchohol the night before...not smart, water is good. I think we played 5-6 inspection tunes and then we did the march off. Oh, I forgot to mention that we stood and waited for 20 minutes on the hill before the GG showed up! After the march off we took the group photo with the GG and all the chain of command. Too bad the Halifax ppl missed the photo. When we got back there was a BBQ and we were off for the day. Good thing, because I took a 3 hour nap! wow. I also missed supper because of that, so I made Oatmeal!! Then I polished my boots and went to the pool where I did 60 lengths! Yay!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Day 58

June 21

We played soccer this morning and I attempted to keep my goalie streak going, but I let in a goal. Half of the band had a gig at the war museum this morning and the rest of us got stuck with library duty. Most boring morning ever. I usually don't mind library, but this time I was putting marches back and if a box was not in score order then I had to sort it into score order. The worst one was the Radetzki March. Half of the parts had the instrument cut off or badly smudged. Once I figured out what was what I found a note in the box that said "Please note, there are 2 different arrangements of the Radetzki March". GAH! So when I gathered up all the parts, I had to pick out the ones in Concert Eb first and then the ones in Db. We were allowed to take our own breaks and I took my second one after that box. I went up to my room at 11:20 and when I was going back, ppl were coming up for lunch break! So I hung out with Brian Humphries (aka Humps lol) while we waited for our meal timing. The afternoon started with sizing for tomorrow's picture. It's so funny how the drum major will yell his head off at the guards and then turn around and joke with us! He was yelling at us as a group and the band was snickering at his jokes while the guards seemed too scared to move. He said something like "if you are thinking about making a stupid face or a rude gesture during the unit photo, think again. I know the photographer personally and we will blow your face up poster size, identify your sorry ass and I WILL KILL you! So don't F*%& with me or I will F*%& with you!". Now say that in a scottish accent and a few squeaks in the voice and you got it!...more or less and he did excuse himself for his foul language. Then we went in for a rehearsal followed by out on the parade square for a run through of the HEG Parade tomorrow. That parade will be a lot more standing while playing rather than marching while playing and apparently there will ba a lot of standing and waiting. After running a condensed version of the "show" twice, we were dismissed and I hung out with the guys for the evening. I re-polished my boots while we all hung out watching TV. I'm glad that I'm finding the older crowd and I much prefer them over the 18-20 year olds. "like seriously" lol

Day 57

June 20th

I rollerbladed to church this morning. It was great! I found out that starting on next Sunday they go to summer hours which means that the service starts at 10am. After lunch I did a whole lot of nothing. Chatted with Dustin, read a bit and took a nap. Then after supper I called dad to wish him a happy Father's Day and then polished boots with Brian, Derek and Jeremy. I really like hanging out with the guys, it's so chill and relaxing. Then Derek and I rollerbladed/biked down the canal all the way downtown! It was so much more enjoyable taking that rout rather than Bank street because we didn't ever have to stop, the path was much smoother than the sidewalk and the view was great. Once we got downtown, we hung out at the back of parliament and watched the sun set a bit. There was a first nations pow-wow happening across the river and it sounded like there were a lot of ppl there. Then we took the other side of the canal back to Carleton. The trip back is mostly downhill and it's so much fun! It only took like 20 minutes to get back. I made more fudge in my room but decided that the white chocolate chips were not the greatest. Then I caught Dustin online again and went to bed after that.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Day 56

June 19th

This wonderful day of leave began with sleeping in and waking up to a home cooked breakfast. I have for this cooking in my room thing down! After doing laundry and working on my kit a bit, Stevenson and I went to Southkeys to hit the Walmart. I bought everything I needed to make fudge :) We also saw a sale at the roots store and I bought two T-shirts. I really like the way they fit and wish that all stores would make their clothes to fit the human body the way roots does. Then we brought our stuff back to Carleton and took the bus to a sketchy neighborhood near china town where Stevenson bought a bike. We were on our way back but got distracted by a street that led to the "lake" part of the canal. We took the paths around the lake and explored a bit. There is a beautiful park and a lot of well taken care of green space around there. We crossed the canal and continued past the University to the beach. The dragon boat races are on this weekend so we checked out the area and watched a few races. After supper back at the University, I made fudge! I made plain with an almond on top, peanut butter (crunchy!) and coconut with amaretto! I put them in Bianca's fridge and hopefully it turned out alright. Then a group of us went out to see Karate Kid. Wow, that was an awesome movie! All together a great day and I'm glad I got to hand out with so many ppl.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Day 55

June 18th

Today was just a big joke. We had PT at 6am, but that wasn't enough time to do anything and meet our 6:45 breakfast timing. So we ran out to the soccer field, stretched and ran back to the shacks! There was no inspection and the first hour of the day was everyone's last chance to make sure they had all their kit. Then there was a 9:30 guard mount. We marched around campus to the simulated parliament hill again. This one went much better than yesterday for me because I was not the center marker. Yesterday I could not see anything because the guy in front of me was about a foot taller. Today I was able to play really loud, but my new challenge is to parade over potholes and on uneven grass and still be able to play. I noticed that I really don't care how much I sweat while on parade. We were dismissed for lunch and then I had the whole afternoon off! I got paid to watch a movie in my room in my underwear and to fall asleep while watching soccer in the common room! It's be cool is every week was like this lol. In the evening a bunch of us went out for Korean dinner and bubble tea. I had a dish that was JUST BBQ seafood. There were still all the side dished and the soup and such, but I couldn't believe that they brought me a dish of just meat! It was soooo good :) The Sergeant bought a bottle of wine for the table. It was a small bottle, just enough for everyone to have a shot. It tasted a bit like mild tequila that you could just drink. I'm pretty sure that one bottle could get a couple pretty tipsy though!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Day 54

June 17th

I couldn't find my room mate this morning and she missed PT. I found out later that she wound up sleeping in another room and the room owner didn't have PT so she also didn't wake up. I was a little worried, but she showed up right before we had to be in the band room for inspection; which was really quick and kinda funny today. After that I got a break in my room for about half an hour, so I took a nap. Then some of us did a guard mount while walking the streets on campus and using a field of grass to represent parliament hill. The guards also joined us for this practice and it was kinda neat to see what they do. The entire spiel takes about an hour. It's amazing how much money is spent on this parade that happens once a day for an hour. All these ppl have to be paid, fed, housed, clothed and be made part of the military (basic training) and so many more side costs...This is one expensive free tourist attraction!! I spent the afternoon in the library and my march pack is just a few songs short of being complete at this point. Yay! Again, we were dismissed early enough for me to go straight to the pool. I like swimming early because I find I am more motivated to go earlier in the day. I am also more awake for the rest of the evening. Also, there are less ppl if you go earlier and I had a whole lane to myself. This allowed me to swim at my pace and I got 52 lengths done in 35 minutes I think? Not all that fast, but definately an improvement on the first week of swimming! I spent the rest of the evening chilling in my room. I finished off the last of the BBQ from home and I watched Austin Powers while rotating the wheels on my rollerblades and cleaning the bearings. All together a very relaxing evening. We are in combats tomorrow, so I didn't have to worry about polishing boots. Good thing too, cuz after doing a guard mount through puddles and in grass, my boots are trashed!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Day 53

June 16th

This morning we went for a long run. I think i need to give up with the running. It's just never going to get challenging for me, oh well. Then after a regular inspection we were to report to the band room at 9am. This was break #1. I got sent to the library with some ppl to do music paperwork. Then there was a short rehearsal followed by 11:30 dismissal. I ate lunch in my room and took a much needed nap. When I reported to the band room for the regular after lunch time, I was told to come back at 3pm. Back to my room...basically I got paid to spend the day napping! At 3pm I was put back into the library for an hour. B Band had a combined O group meeting and was dismissed right away! I took off for the pool so I could wake up and get out of the groggy state that all the afternoon napping had put me into. Then Alexi and I went to bulk barn and I stocked up on my growing food supply. OH, good news about my parade boots...they are actually polishing on the sides and up into some of the cracks now!!! I have no idea why it magically worked tonight because I don't think I did anything different than before? After that, Amy and I realized that we both like hymns and had a bit of a nerd moment. Seriously, I thought I was like one of the few young ppl who likes hymns. In my efforts to go to bed before midnight, I will cut the blog short for today!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Day 52


June 15th

B Band had no PT this morning which was perfect because there was a room inspection to get ready for. We were to be standing ready at our doors at 8am in our ceremonials so the COs could do their inspection. Well, they didn't wind up coming by our hallway until after 9am. We didn't mind that because we could chat and move around while waiting. After the room inspection I was to go downstairs to get fitted for glasses that are plain enough to wear while on parade. They are plain, thin, black frames that remind me of Harry Potter glasses. After that I ran outside with my bear to catch up with everyone else. We marched out to the parade square and stood there for a uniform inspection. This took another 3 hours to complete bringing the total to 4 hours of inspection for some people. The recruits got called to the front to be inspected first so we could go start our QL3 tests. I only had to stand for 3 hours and that was lame. I feel sorry for C band who had to stand the longest. The recruits wound up getting let off early for lunch after bringing 2 chairs and stands up to the lounges so we could do our exams after lunch. I went first and did fairly well. I was very happy with the sight reading and transposing part. My scales also went better than expected! I made 2 small mistakes in my pieces which were only briefly mispitching a note or two. I was told I pretty much passed, so that's good. The only bummer was that there were 2 ppl playing a brass duet in the background and I knew the song they were playing. This was very distracting and I was a little slower while processing which scale to do and how until they finished playing. I was pleased to be able to do the test on my horn rather than the parade horn. After I did the test, I was part of the group that got the rest of the afternoon off! Other than the lame inspection, this has been the day of napping for me :). The evening was pretty boring. I got my boots done right away and did some reading/napping lol. Then Master Corporal Wong came to my door with Sergeant Joly's mase. My room mate has to clean it with brasso because she was one of the ppl playing the duet during the QL exams and when asked to stop, she argued and continued to play. So now either Amy or I have to deliver this wonderful message to Alison. I put a layer of brasso on it right away to try to make it easier because Alison is out teaching tonight and won't be back till late. Well, I'm off to the pool now....I did 52 X 25m = 1300m! Amy has one of those old air popper mashines and we all made popcorn when I got back!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Day 51

June 14th

This was my actually day of rest while on leave. I slept in till about 7:30 and got myself mostly packed up and ready to go. Then I took a nap just because I wanted to! I love summer vacation lol. I went out to buy some new earphones and was about to go visit Elmwood to say hi to people but I remembered that they would all be in class at that time, so I didn't go. Instead I went to visit ppl at work and pick up pay stubs. We got some retro pay because our contract was finally settled. It's really funny, but when I get back to the care home I will be making $40 more per shift than I am here at CG! This is why I am feeling the need to be really cheap with my money and not go out drinking or for food or whatever. Anywho, Rach and I picked up some subway and spent the afternoon tanning and chatting in her backyard. Then I came home and packed up some of yesterdays food and it was off to the airport. I got back to the dorms at 10:30 Ottawa time and went to practice for our QL3 playing exam tomorrow. The pieces are super easy so that didn't take long! Then I unpaked, prepped for room inspection and went to bed. I feel so refreshed. This was a great weekend!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Day 50

June 13th

What a wonderful day again. It started with a good sleep in which was very much needed. After breakfast I helped mom clean the house and start getting food ready for dinner. The Dycks, Oma+Opa Funk and Dustin came over around 3 for BBQ. It was really nice to spend the day with the family and answer any of their questions. Also, I think I will be taking some of the leftover food back to Ottawa! Oma made Platz and we had super good BBQ veggies. Nina came a bit later because she was doing ambassador duty with Natalie, so I got to say hi to the Remples too! I spent the rest of the evening with Dustin before we said goodbye. He has school and work tomorrow so I won't be seeing him until either I come back for another weekend or he flies out to Ottawa.

Day 49

June 12th

Tee Hee! I woke up at 7:15 and took the dog for a real run. Really I should have slept till like 9, but I was wide awake after 5 hours of sleep. I finished cleaning my room and put all my military clothing in the basement. After a nice breakfast with the family which included REAL OATMEAL!!I took a shower and got ready to go surprise the pants off Dustin! Haha I was so excited I'm surprised I was able to drive safely. His sister Chelsea let me in so I wouldn't have to ring the doorbell. I decided right then that I wanted to go up to his room to wake him up. His mom was telling him earlier in the week to take Friday off work to get all his homework done because they had an expensive surprise for him that would take up all his time on the weekend and it was in his best intrest to be available. We were talking on msn earlier in the week and I suggested that he take his moms advice and then he thought I knew what was going on. When I woke him up, his reaction was "I knew you were in on this!" followed by lots of hugs and kisses! We spent the day together starting with brunch with chelsea, took sam for a walk at birds hill, visited at my house for a snack, woke up Sarah (who was also surprised to see me!) then at his house for dinner (where we found out that his parents know my Tante Andrea and Onkel Rudy!) then off to a party with his friends and then my friends (who also didn't know I was home). phew! What a long and wonderful day!

Day 48

June 11th

This morning we did a "long run" which was another powerwalk in running style. We had the regular rehearsal and parade square hour in the morning and got let off for a 2 hour lunch break! In the afternoon we stood on the parade square and played a bunch of slow and quick marches while the gruards practiced marching to the music. It was really funny to watch because they had no sense of rhythm. Our bannd was a little smaller today because all of the halifax people had the day off. We were let off early in the afternoon and I was super excited because I was going home in a few hours!! Here's the deal though, Dustin and the rest of my friends don't know that I'm coming home :P I'm planning on surprising them all on Saturday. Ryan and I went to dinner and could just not contain our excitement. We took the O-train and a bus to the airport and waited. Ryan's plane left an hour before mine so I wound up doing laps while running through different scenarios of how I could surprise Dustin in my head. I was deciding between calling him from his kitchen or just waking him up myself. Finally it was time to get on the plane. I slept on both flight and was lucky enough to have all the seats in my section to myself! Mom, Dad, Nina, Tanto Lo and Onkel Nick all came to greet me at the airport. I was super happy to see them all and Nina gave me a candy apple from Rocky Mountain candy shop. I don't think I have held that much sugar in my hand for months! Anywho, we got home and I unpacked everything and cleaned up my room which has turned into a storage room...thanks mom, and finally went to bed shortly after 2am.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Day 47

June 10th

I sucessfully completed another ruck march! Other than today being like any other day, we did have a final fitting of our tunics. I have mine hanging in my closet now. I bought some real Oatmeal tonight and a memory foam matress. Alexi came over and waxed my legs which was quite the adventure. I look like a lady again! Now i just have to wait for the little red spots to go away. I got so carried away with polishing boots that I polished both of my dress shoes from heel to toe! I don't know what has gotten into me, but I suddenly find polishing very relaxing.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Day 46


June 9

We played ultimate frisbee again this morning. I didn't have to go to inspection this morning because I got to go get a new bear! Yay, now I have a pretty one that fits!! I missed the morning rehearsal which was concert band music. Not too dissapointed about that because it's all just standards. I got back just in time for the parade hour! I am feeling really good about playing on the march, as long as I know the music lol. In the evening I took a wonderful rollerblade adventure up and down bank street. This is one of the streets that leads to downtown. Eventually I want to go all the way to the byward market and get some more specialty tea. I am wondering if taking the canal would be faster? Bank street has a lot of intersections that really slow me down. Also, the ppl are really dumb and don't move to the side at all. I checked out some stores that I found interesting every time we took the bus down Bank. One highlight is the bagel store. They sell the Montreal Bagles that dad really likes and I will totally be bringing some home for him! I bought myself a cranberry lemon one for anytime I would like to stay in my room for breakfast :) Since that trip was over an hour, I decided that the exercise would replace my swimming plans and I spent the rest of the evening relaxing. I found out today that I have a bicep in my left arm! Darn euphonium can get heavy after parading with it for 3 days! I'm going to be sore by the end of the week!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Day 45


June 8th

Well I finally did it. Today was the first day that I overslept! It was only for like 20 mins because one of the guys in my section came and knocked at our door and woke us up. See I actually like PT so it's not like I was trying to sleep through it. I don't know why I have been needing so much sleep lately. Oh well, PT was fun. We had to run up a hill while our partner held some sort of position and waited for us to finish. By the 4th time we had to run up the hill it wasn't fun anymore lol. This morning we had another ceremony due to a fallen soldier. After that we had the usual rehearsal and drill time. I found that I was able to play more today! We usually get about an hour for lunch, so I took the opportunity to do my laundry during that time. What a great idea! By the time lunch was almost over I just ahd to put it in the dryer and then pick it up after an afternoon of rehearsal! After our usual March rehearsal we did a Concert band rehearsal. This was the first time we played things like "First Suite in Eb" and "English Folk Song Suit". I had a super productive evening. Got ready for tomorrows room inspection, polished boots, ironed shirts, practiced scales for my QL3 which is apparently next week, and went to the gym. I just heard that all my going swimming has inspired my mom to start swimming again. GO MOM! I gave Oma Funk a phone call this evening because dad said she wasn't feeling all that great. Hopefully I was able to lift her mood a bit.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Day 44

June 7th

Today we went for a "run" again. I really didn't mind this time because I was thinking of the full week we have ahead of us. To prevent myself from being angered by the Oatmeal, I went with the yogurt and cereal choice this morning :P. Really the whole day was quite pleasant. The weather was great during inspection and while we were on the parade square all day. We started wearing our bears during drill today. I really don't mind the way mine feels but apparently it is too small. It should be sitting lower on my head. The best part about today was that we did the full guard mount 3 times with 2 bands only. This way one band got to sit out and watch each time. I thought the wheels looked the coolest! Also, it was nice to hear the ensemble from the front rather than the inside. I'm feeling a bit better about my drill now. We've done it all so many times that I know exactly what is coming and I make less mistakes. Today the only drill mistake I made was anticipating the halt when we were in mark time. oops. I also feel like my dressing is getting better and I can play a bit more. So the plan for tonight was to go over all the marches we have done so far just to make sure I am playing them correctly followed by some boot shining and the usual gym/swim. Ha! that was the plan lol. I started practicing and did some scales etc but I was falling asleep. So I set my alarm for a 30min nap thinking I would feel better after that. Well I slept through my alarm and didn't wake up till 9pm when Amy was calling me to go swimming! So much for practicing and going to the gym. Swimming was really good. I did 50 lengths of the pool alternating between breast stroke and 3-stroke front crawl. I was really pleased that I could to the 3-stroke the whole time. Now I will have to build myself up to doing more than 4 lengths in a row. Maybe I will do 3-5 next time!

Day 43


June 6
Today I actually got up for breakfast even though I have food in my room. Baaaad choice. I decided to give the “hot cereal” one last chance and took 2 bowls; one to eat with brown sugar and one to eat with cinnamon and raisins. FAIL! Gah, I need to just make my own oatmeal and then go down for fruit and eggs because the stuff they serve isn’t even oatmeal. The cereal pieces look like little round turds floating in too much hot water! This is not Oatmeal! Ok, I’m good for now. I did go to church again this morning and it was great. I wish I had my bible here so I could re-read the scripture for the day. After the service there was some coffee, tea and juice for whatever reason…I must have missed something…whatever, it was a great opportunity for me to talk to some of the members of the congregation. There was a really nice lady who introduced me to a few more ppl and then I got talking with a girl my age that had only been in Ottawa for a year. She gave me a few tips on what to see in the city and such. For example; apparently all museums are free on Thursdays! I will have to look into that because that could be really handy when Dustin comes! Oh, and after that I played the piano and there was a little girl who wanted to play too. She was so cute and polite when I asked if she wanted to play! She played a sonatina that I recognized and then got off the bench. Sooo cute! The she was like “you can keep playing. I liked your song. It was beautiful.” My heart just melted when I heard that! So I said thanks and kept playing Mendelssohn. I made an epic raincoat from a large plastic bag because it was raining on the way home. I got back just I time for lunch. After lunch I practiced and chilled for a bit before going to the gym. Then I practiced more after supper and that was pretty much my day. The only thing I didn’t do was buy REAL Oatmeal!! Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Day 42


June 5th

Wow, I'm starting to feel like the days are just slipping away! I slept in and had breakfast in bed which was wonderful. I chatted with Dustin again (we seem to be making up time from last week lol).Then after a quick shower and more food I was off to Downtown with Stevenson and Bae. We picked up some free tickets to get an indoor tour of Parliament. There was a bit of a wait before the next tour so we went to the mall. I am getting frustrated with buying clothes, especially shirts. I find nice things that are a good color for me and then they are just too big. I found a super nice tube top at Dynamite but I was swimming in an XS! Like a bit of swimming in a tube top is nice, but this was baaad. Then other stores make the shirts fit in some places but waaay to big in others. I really don't want the world to know what color my bra of the day is! Oh well, welcome to my usual shopping frustrations. Then it was time to go for the tour. We were able to see everything that was open to the public. There is also a crazy amount of security that happens there. They have a set up at the beginning like an airport, and then there are security guards all over the interior. I took some pretty cool pictures and my favorite place was by far the Library. Soooo beautiful! After the tour the boys went back on the bus and I rollerbladed back to Campus. I stopped in a few stores along the way to look around of course. With all the stopping it was still less than an hour. Although I noticed that if I ever go towards downtown on rollerblades, it will be all up hill! When I finally got back, I missed supper by 5 mins. Oh well, I have plenty of good food in my room! I had salmon and an orange and PB+J, yummy! Oh and of course...tea :) After practicing a bit two other girls and I attempted to go for a run, but one of them was having pain in her lower leg. She was really upset by it too. I can understand the frustration, I felt really useless when I was having that pain in my left foot during BMQ. All I needed was insoles and then it was better! I wonder what she might need? After that I looked up the bus v.s. the walking route to church tomorrow and I think I will bus it there and then rollerblade back and see how long it takes. If it's a nice route then I might just rollerblade every Sunday!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Day 41

June 4th

Wow, laziest day ever! I slept in hard core and then went to the store to buy food. I am slowly understanding why people don't like the cafeteria food here. I did a bit of cleaning and practicing and more sleeping lol. Started getting ready for my QL3 and QL4 qualification by doing some scales. I got the music yesterday so I think I will start looking at that tomorrow. Even though it looks really easy, I don't want to make a fool of myself. I really like the people here and I've found a good group of people that I can be myself around. It's really a great feeling knowing that you don't have to be part of the drinking crowd to have a good time! I'm really not used to having this much time off in life and although I am enjoying the lazy days, I almost don't know what to do with myself anymore. Honestly I think my mind and body just needed this day off. I haven't had this in years and there may be a few more days like this in the summer! It's wierd to only be respondible for yourself and I'm realizing how much of my time at home is spent for others. SHMC Blaeserchor, I miss you!

Day 40


June 3rd

Today we had our first PT ruck march and I survived! I think it was bacause we did it in PT gear and not in combats. I feel confident enought to start adding more weight to my ruck sack now. We spent the morning getting fitted for our ceremonials again. Mine needed some alterations with the buttons and I asked that the back be opened up so I can breath. It looks pretty cool when it's all put together, and then the gave me a red aporin. The low brass has to wear this so that the instrument doesn't rub on the tunic and make marks. I really don't mind the idea because it will also prevent me from getting caught on all the buttons in front! In the afternoon it was raining, so we spent some time doing march drill without our instruments. I found this very helpful. Also the clarinets learned their rain drill = put a plastic bag over it and keep marching! After our final rehearsal of the day we got our summer schedule! It's looking pretty good. Now we are on leave for a long weekend! I went for a walk with Stacy who just arrived yesterday and then I was off to the gym. The trombones were having a drinking party downtown so I was surprised to see other ppl from the band at the gym. I really enjoy going and I think I will have to get a gym pass when I get back home. I spent the evening talking to Dustin who had a little breather from all his midterm school work. One of my pod mates (4 of us share a bathroom) came in to chat with me last night. She said I was ajusting well to the lifestyle and the freedom. She also gave me some tips on how to stay on everyone's good side lol. That was some nice girl talk and she recognized that I was a Christian. Pretty cool! Her and another girl actually do bible studies about every second day here and she invited me to join. I think I will take her up on that offer and I will be inviting Stevenson and Donegan to join!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Day 39


June 2nd

(This picture is from the civilization museum)
We didn't have to get up for PT this morning...yay!! I actually found that I was just as tired in the morning even with the extra hour of sleep. We had our first room inspection and even though it was really easy I'm still not a fan. I could find everything before and now I am missing things! B band had a really easy morning because we didn't even have to go out on the parade square for the first period. The rest of the day was: morning sectional, afternoon parade square and sectional. There are so many breaks in the day that this takes until 4pm to complete. We also got our bears back from cleaning and grooming today. Mine looks much better than before! When we were in our section meetings we learned how to put our ceremonial belts together. I had to stay longer with a bunch of the skinny ppl who had to put their belts together differently so they would fit. The rest of the evening was pretty slack. I skipped supper because it was at 4:30 and I was nowhere near hungry then. So I had some of my own food! Things are pretty routine right now and I rememeber being told that this is "drill week" or 2 weeks. I wonder when our days will be shorter?

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Day 38


June 1st

Hello June! Our PT this morning was Ultimate frisbee!! I have not played that since high school and learned that I can catch anything, but I can't throw a frisbee to save my life. We had a presentation from the COs followed by sectionals for most of the morning. I have learned how to sit with my eyes closed in a semi-sleeping state while still paying enough attention to know what's going on. In sectionals we started playing the slow marches that we have to memorize. It's going really well especially since I'm the only new member in the tuba/euph section. So I just have to catch up on my own time and rehearsals go really well. After lunch we did some of those slow marches out on the parade square and practiced going from slow march to fast march. We also did wheels today! I feel much better about marching today than yesterday. I actually know what is coming when I see the signals. Now the trick is to see and hear them all the time! Some ppl suggested to me that I just do the drill and not worry so much about the playing for now. I will do that next time! After that we reviewed our slow marches again. Before our day ended we checked out our bears and gave them a quick brush through. I spent the evening preparing for tomorrows room inspection, practicing and going to the gym.