mountains.

Hi:

On a couple of whims, I bought a few herb plants: basil, rosemary, and mint. I had always wanted to grow my own herbs, it always irked me when I would spend a dollar on basil and never finish it all. What a ripoff! I never knew how satisfying it would be to have your own plants.  They were always kind of a whatever thing to me, getting nothing more than a glance or a passing thought. But jeeze, I get happy from just LOOKING at them. I LOVE THESE PLANTS. A friend was telling me how plants were like pets to her and she loved them so much and I was like, yes, plants, nice, next subject. But I completely understand where she is coming from, smelling them, seeing little buds grow, the burst of green, it's all too much. 

I am so proud of this pie! (Recipe here) The meringue! 

Then on Monday, hiked the Chief with a bunch of pals: 

I was so nervous about going up this big ol' mountain. I had done the Grouse Grind last year and had gone into it with little expectations, if anything, to do fine, but oh my god that mountain kicked my ass and I felt like my mind and limits were truly tested that day. I was told that the Chief was somewhat the same in difficulty level as the Grouse Grind, if not harder, and that...was really discomforting. But I am like, man, just do it, what are you going to do anyways on a Monday other than stare at a computer for the entire day, this is a better use of your time and body. 

And it was a good thing I did. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and hanging out on the top of a mountain is cool. 

Then we went to the beach:

(contrary to what you may think from looking at this picture, the water was really cold)

(contrary to the slight grimace on Tom's face, the beach was really nice.)

I am off to Calgary tomorrow for 6 days, and I am very excited. Thanks for seeing me off on a good note Vancouver. 

Talk soon.