So then I thought I'd mosaic the coffee table

I kept having visions about painting or mosaicing the coffee table. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because it was plain and boring, like the rest of our Ikea furniture. Thankfully, I spent my childhood watching home improvement shows like Interior Motives and Trading Spaces, so things like grouting tile and painting walls are just tacit knowledge.

So I bought some stones, drew out a rough pattern, and went for it.

I did a pretty good job of guessing how many tiles of each color I needed. I was almost done setting the tiles when I ran out. So close but so far.

So I got more and finished:

I didn't take pictures of the grout application phase because I assumed all my loyal readers have watched a million craft shows in their lives, too. Perhaps this was a bad assumption. I also had to buy a border to go around the edges, so I got some steel edge pieces from the hardware store. Then I had to saw them to fit around the table, which made me really sore. I'm not so strong anymore. I put the grout on after attaching the steel edges with epoxy.

Ta da! All Done:

Turned out pretty well, I think. Back to school tomorrow.

Canadians lie and they are not our friends, oh and Travelocity sucks

*note: this post is a gross generalization and not meant to reflect all Canadians

Erin and I went to Vancouver for the weekend, and we learned some things about Canadians.

1. Canadians lie.

A. I booked a room at the last minute through Travelocity because I guess I hadn't learned my lesson that I shouldn't use such agencies to book my travel accommodations. I've had issues in the past when things went wrong and I couldn't change or cancel a reservation, but none were quite like this. I booked a room on Travelocity, but shortly after, I realized that I got the wrong type of room. I clicked "change reservation" and went through the steps to switch the room type, but instead of switching it, Travelocity booked a second room. I canceled the first one and since Travelocity said it was canceled, I figured it wouldn't be a big deal and I'd work it out when I got to the hotel.

We arrived at the hotel, and the receptionist said that we had 2 rooms and that she had to charge us for both because they hadn't gotten confirmation from Travelocity that the 2nd room was canceled. We called Travelocity, and they said it was canceled, and the hotel even talked to Travelocity on the phone, but the hotel still needed written confirmation that the reservation was canceled. It was cute when the hotel manager referred to the random Indian lady who answered the phone as our "travel agent." Anyway, our first "travel agent" didn't send this written confirmation, so we had to call again and go through the whole process a second time (waiting on hold for 10 mins, explaining the complicated story, etc). Finally our second "travel agent" sent the hotel a confirmation, but I think the hotel had a conspiracy against us. Maybe they even threw the first confirmation away. (Ok, this one isn't such good support but more so a reason for why you shouldn't use Travelocity if there is a slight chance that you will have to change anything)

B. The concierge (read: guy standing next to the shelf of pamphlets and newspapers) said that the paralympics was over and that the closing ceremonies were the next day. Good thing we didn't listen to him because in fact the sledge hockey gold medal match was the next day! We went and cheered on the USA to victory. (Note: paralympic sledge hockey tickets are over $50 each! I guess it's for a good cause, though).

C. The complimentary water bottle in our hotel room was definitely refilled. The seal came off with the cap, the water level was much higher than the other bottle, and it smelled/tasted really bad.

D. The aquarium advertised sea otters that clap their hands and wave at you, but this one was sleeping. Liars!

2. Canadians don't like us. Most of them rooted for Japan in sledge hockey. This surprised me a little bit because I would have rooted for Canada. People were handing out Japanese flags, but no USA flags. Betrayed by our own neighbor!

Torture

beautiful weather + spring break (lots of free time) + injured hip (for almost a whole year) = torture.

April will mark one year since my hip really started hurting. That means it has been almost an entire year since I've been able to go outside and just enjoy riding my bike. Or hike. Or even exercise, really. There was that one bout in October, but that was my attempt at faking it and muscling my way through the pain. It didn't work.

I am trying to be patient and hopeful, but it is starting to get difficult. I am running out of things to do! There are only so many interesting crafting projects. I started working on Fall From Grace: Part 2, but I lost my motivation, partly because I am not too excited about the plot, and partly because I decided to use Flash, and I really don't like using Flash. But based on the plot, I need to use Flash because it requires frame-by-frame animation. Blahhh.

I'd like to think that my hip is on the mend and that I'll be better soon, but any time I try to swim or ride my bike, it gets worse. I also still have that weird posterior pain that hasn't really been accounted for and has gotten more noticeable as I've increased my activity level. I'd like to think that it is improving because it feels like the muscles are activating in the right patterns, but I'm just not sure because it still hurts most of the time.

So there has been a lot of waiting and wondering and speculating. I am ready for something else, but there isn't much I can do to speed up the process.

Finally Moving Forward

This week, I finally started to feel like I am moving forward. For the last few months, I've been pushing full gas through this grad program, pushing pushing pushing, trying to get somewhere, and I was too busy and scared to stop for a moment and think about where I actually am.

Last week, I realized that I was still having trouble letting go of last year. The start of the racing season stirred up feelings of disappointment and resentment because I am most likely going to miss the whole thing. In addition, I have a new job at Cycle U helping with their triathlon club, and I had a bit of trouble adjusting to this, also because I'm currently a broken athlete.

But, this experience has been really good. It is forcing me to push beyond the psychological discomfort into a new realm of acceptance. I'm also learning what it means to be an ambassador to the sports of cycling and triathlon. I've noticed that the general bike racing scene in Seattle is really negative. It feels like people are waiting for others to fail, and when someone does well, it's not based on talent or skill, but rather "he got lucky" or "well she won, but she's sketchy and didn't do any work." Why can't we genuinely congratulate others?

Cycle U and the triathlon community are reminding me that sport is not about us vs. them, but rather, it's about sharing experiences and knowledge to help the whole community grow. It's been interesting to compare people with very similar athletic experiences who explain and utilize their experiences in completely different ways. Some athletes present their experiences like they are trying to prove something about themselves, but others use their experiences as examples to help others overcome obstacles and achieve goals in the sport. I think it's a matter of accepting your athletic achievements and coming to terms with the shortcomings.

Anyway, I've decided that I do not want to be the disgruntled, negative person who wants others to fail. I've struggled with letting go of last year because I know that I was misconstrued in this regard. I genuinely want others to do well, regardless of what team they are on or who coaches them. Thus, I am committed to being a resource in any way that I can be. People can say what they want about me, but I will just keep pushing to be the resource that I know I can be.

I learned a lot last year, and I am finally healing.