Today seemed fairly short, which was good and bad. Good because it felt like the day went by quickly and that I did a lot. Bad because it’s the weekend and who ever wants the weekend to go by quickly?

I got my stitches removed at the dentist, it was a very quick procedure (maybe ~3 minutes!) but I had to wait about 15 minutes for the dentist to be done with his other patient before getting to me. But luckily, it wasn’t too long before he was done just snipping and pulling the stitches out before telling me that I was good to go and that all I had to do was continue to rinse with salt water for about another week or two and then it should be fine. Still doing pretty okay in terms of chewing, but still nothing too solid because I can’t use my back molars too much yet (no pain in general, but if I accidentally clamp down on food over the healed incision sites, it’s a world of pain for me).

Also visited the other medical professional that I’ve visited so far in the last few weeks (in just under 3 weeks, I’ve visited the dentist 3 times, optometrist 2 times and family doctor once), my optometrist. But no big deal, I was just picking up my new glasses and he was telling me to walk in a straight line and making sure that the lenses were centred correctly for my eyes. Nice thing is that this time I got a new case! Last time, I got my glasses at a place that didn’t give me a case when I got my new glasses, which was disappointing because I always need somewhere to put my old pair. But because my prescription didn’t change (I got new ones because my old ones had a few scratches that were making it a *bit* blurry), I can still use both pairs and I’m planning on doing that (the old pair comes with magnetic clip-on sunglasses attachment, the new ones don’t).

My sisters and I went to the thrift store…. I went with the full intention of only looking through the books, toys and glassware (looking for Pyrex prints in good condition – I found one that was in the print that I wanted, but it was so scratched up that it was just not worth it). I ended up going through racks of sweaters, in hopes of finding something good to take apart for the yarn (didn’t find anything nice that wasn’t acrylic) and I ended up with a new hoodie. My sisters both thought it was the most busy-looking hoodie that they’ve ever seen, but I like it. I’ll take a photo of it after it gets cleaned in the wash, but it’s green and the print all over it is of sketches and doodles. I’m quite infatuated with the print. Photos to follow soon! It’s a bit big on me, but it’s a hoodie so I don’t care too much.

My parents commented on the fact that I’ve gone to so many medical professionals lately… And to be fair, it is the most I’ve ever gone to see doctors in such a short period of time. I mean, I went to the dentist three times in under 3 weeks (twice for teeth extraction, once for final removal of stitches!) but it’s just so many. The receptionist totally knows me by face and name now. She looked up and just went “Michelle! How are you today?” without even looking down to see the schedule list or asking me who I was. Gah… Clearly, I go to the dentist too often. When I went back to the optometrist today because both of my sisters had appointments, there was nothing to indicate to him that I was supposed to even be there (no appointment made, since I was just picking up my new glasses) and he goes “Hey Michelle, here to pick up your glasses?” <- That coming from a man that I see once every two years. Or maybe I’m just amazed that they can remember my name because I can barely remember the names of people that I’m supposed to know. Just the other day, I called one of my TAs by the wrong name and I see her 4 times a week! That might be it.

Questions for you:

1. Do you ever go shopping in thrift stores? (If yes, what sort of things do you look for?)
2. Do you wear glasses or contacts? If no, do you need them?
3. If you were stranded on a deserted island and someone came along and offered you one of two desserts (coconut cream pie or chocolate cream pie), which would you choose and why?

My answers:

1. Yup. I look for doll clothes/accessories (sometimes get lucky with things that fit Blythe), Pyrex (especially in prints that I want) and clothes (sweaters for the yarn, clothes for myself).
2. I wear glasses. I’ve considered contacts, but insurance wouldn’t cover all of it ($200 for 2 years).
3. Coconut cream pie. Because I had a small slice of both tonight (lol) and I liked that one better.

Yesterday I headed out to Vancouver with my two sisters. D really wanted to go to the Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion and when we arrived, there were two line-ups. We weren’t aware of this at first, so we lined up in the first line that we say (which snaked around the entire block and rounded a corner). This line was for viewing the Olympic medals, as well as getting to touch them, and the rest of the pavilion.

That line up was an estimated 7.5 hours – just for viewing the medals, on top of everything else!

We switched to the second line up, as that was 45 minutes to an hour wait (we waited for an hour and maybe 20 minutes). During this wait, J stayed in the line while D and I walked across the street to get food from Subway – solid food! I’m so happy, haha.

This was the insane lineup. On the right was the ’shorter’ line for the pavilion, sans medals. On the left is the massive lineup (7.5 hours!) to see and touch the medals (wearing gloves!) as well as the rest of the pavilion.

Super insane lines for the Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion.

I got to see some really beautiful coins – there are so many. I also learned that the Royal Canadian Mint has made currency for over half of the world’s countries, including the United States of America at one point. Plus, the mint runs 24/7, making new coins all the time. I thought this was really cool. All the ‘limited run’ coins are made in Ottawa (they only produce ~8,000 coins per day), while the general minting occurs in Winnipeg, Manitoba (and they produce a lot).

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Relatives are here from the States and they’re staying at a friend’s house. I was the one who made reservations at the restaurant for lunch, made sure everyone knew where they were going and also planned to be the one who would take public transit out to ‘pick them up’ (so to speak) and then take public transit to where the restaurant is (because of road closures). My aunt arbitrarily decides to call my dad up and inform him that she’s asked her son/my cousin to be the one who picked up the relatives. Fine, whatever, I didn’t really care that much. Of course, then she proceeds to call several more times, asking where the relatives were staying and then what their contact number was. Which, to be perfectly honest, you’d think if she was asking someone to do something, she would have been able to provided that information already. Guess not.

Oh, but what really takes the cake, and I’m guessing the reason why I’m writing about this, is that she informed my dad that it was “inappropriate” for him to suggest that I go and pick up the relatives (I volunteered to do it, I know the public transit system well) because “Michelle’s a girl! Do you know what can happen to girls?!“.

Seriously? You’re going to pull that card?

(By the way, my cousin (who’s picking up the relatives) is also going by public transit and actually called me to ask me how to get there by public transit.)

I got pissed with this comment since I a) take public transit at least 10 times a week, b) know the area a lot better than someone who doesn’t work/live/do anything in that area, and c) I am legally an adult and of the age of majority. Also, saying that just because I’m a girl that I can’t do something but her son, who cannot navigate the city for his life, can is the most ignorant and sexist statement ever.

I’m glad that I’m getting to see my relatives later today (yay!) but it honestly makes no sense to (at the last minute) change who’s doing what when her son has to pay for transit fare (I have a bus pass), her son cannot navigate the city (at all… I had to talk him through it while looking at a map… three times) and the relatives are expecting me.

Inappropriate my ass.