BYOB

That's right. At school today it was BYOB: Bring Your Own Banana. What is this "bring your own banana?" you ask? Well, if one would bring a banana to school and take it to the cafeteria during their spare, the student council would make that individual a free banana split. It was awesome!

So this is actually an update because some of you have been disturbing me and sending me death threats via email about updating. But not really. But what the heck, why not update? Things are going well here. The first three weeks of school have gone very smoothly; I am getting along well with my teachers and classmates, and so far I am doing well academically. I have met some cool people that I hang out with. We played Dutch Blitz over the lunch hour today. Sah-Wheet! While we at banana splits. Double Sah-Wheet! I also went to visit my guidance cousellor, and I switched Gr. 12 Law for Gr. 12 Biology. I decided to see about doing this a few weeks ago for the sake of keeping my University and College options open to me, rather than being stuck because of my sole arts focus. If you want more details about my academics, talk to me, or give me a call.

The martial arts are going well. I have only been able to make two classes during the week, then fighter's class on Sunday nights. Otherwise I have been homeworking or CanadianTireworking. Unfortunately, I am getting no exercise outside of Muay Thai and biking to school every day. Because of my schedule, I do not get in to the gym at all to work out, so I have not continued my membership. I feel incredibly out of shape. I could try to get up earlier every morning, but I honestly don't think that I would be able to pay attention at 1 o'clock in the afternoon had I been awake for the last eight hours. Sometime this year I would love to compete MMA, but I'm not sure when I will pursue that. We shall see.

So everything is going well here. I am busy, but doing well. I just got over the "back to school" cold, but not after passing it to the family. Oh well. Hopefully I'll see everyone soon.

B-to-the-V-to the-D-to-the-B

The Summer

It is September the first here in Manitoba, September the second if you are in Ontario as I write this post. It has been approximately seventy days since I moved here. To be completely honest, I thought this summer would suck and be just generally rotten. Some parts have. However, many parts have been bright, meaningful, and significant. Right now I just want to kind of recap my summer, and spill the highlights with you.

As soon as I got here, I began looking for a martial arts club. On my first night here I found a judo club. It seemed like a solid place with a good teacher and family atmosphere, but I decided that that particular facility and martial art wasn't for me. A few days later, I tried Thai boxing, and hated it. I decided to stick with it, and have been training in that at the local facility over the summer.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by our new neighbors, (whose names I won't drop online) who gave us a great welcome to our new town. They loaned us some basic furniture, because our truck was taking so bloody long to get here, and invited us to their church, where we have been attending most Sundays over the summer. It seems to be a very solid church. The worship is good, and the teaching is excellent & relevant.

I feel that it is worth mentioning my dirt bike accident on Canada Day. There, I have mentioned it.

We had many, many visitors during the month of July. Both sets of grandparents came for my dad's birthday on the ninth, followed by my aunt, uncle, and three of my cousins after them. It was pretty cool to see all my relatives again, as it had been a few years since we (my cousins and myself/my brother) actually had any contact. After my cousins left, some family friends from Ontario flew in. We had a wonderful time visiting them. While they were here, we also had a surprise visit from my old Waterloo friends, who came up and disturbed our new lives for a week. Just kidding. We had a great time with them. We visited St. Vital's, the Forks, (both in Winnipeg,) and Grand Beach. After that, we had yet more company from Waterloo: one of Tom's best friends. He left the same day I did for Ontario.

My visit to Waterloo was probably the biggest highlight of my summer. It was so good to see everyone again. I spent a lot of time with Iara, we had a lot of fun hanging out and visiting old friends. I also spent a decent amount of time with my old guy friends. We went out for breakfast a couple of times, and had a movie night. All in all, it was an amazing and memorable trip.

After getting back from Waterloo, I washed my clothes, re-packed my bags and drove to Weyburn, Saskatchewan with my family for my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. It was a great time. I especially enjoyed being at my aunt and uncle's farmhouse outside of Weyburn.

Weyburn was our final big shindig of the summer. After that, things began to return to normal. I went back to work, and got back into Muay Thai after nearly two weeks away. I am now just biding my time for the remaining days until school begins. (Highlight I forgot: I got new clothes yesterday!! I got: a new pair of jeans, a long sleeved white teeshirt (for a buck thirteen on a clearance rack) and a brown-and-green polo shirt. I'm excited to show them off at school.)

Well, there you have it. My summer, condensed into a blog post. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask. Hope everyone is doing well, and hope to see you all again soon!