Composting woes

On a beautiful, sunny and warm February day in Vancouver, it's easy to start thinking about spring, flowers, cleaning your patio planters and, soon, enough, what plants you're going to grow in there. And what best ingredient to grow healthy plants than compost. Which obviously reminded me that I hadn't looked into how to get a worm compost bin set up at home yet.

During Christmas, dad showed me his worm compost in the basement and even offered to send me home with a handful of critters. Somehow, I wasn't sure how I would pass a container full of worms through security ('cause they would freeze in checked-in luggage) if they won't even let you carry on a sealed bottle of wine. And, after all, how hard can it be to get worms, a plastic bin, and a few instructions on how to keep the creatures happy and chewing away at your food scraps?

A bit hard, if you want to start this immediately.

Today, I called the Vancouver Composting Hotline (I'm not kidding!) to book an appointment for a worm-composting introduction session. For $25, you get the basic kit to get you started (bin, bedding, worms) and a one-hour overview on this method of composting. Pretty good deal, as I've seen sites advertising worms for sale for $35 per pound (really?). Unfortunately, the first available appointment is on April 12. While I'm happy to hear that these sessions are popular, this is still two months away and if I start in April, I won't get any usable compost until July.

So, maybe I'll start asking friends if anyone knows anyone who already has a worm compost and wouldn't mind parting with a few worms to spread the composting love.

Special Valentine

I've had a simply amazing day. I should be heading to bed, as I have an 8 a.m. meeting tomorrow, but I had to write a few words about what was probably the most surprising and lovely Valentine's Day. You'd think that as a single woman, I'd be dreading this day when Hallmark reminds you that you have not found that special person yet. But forget Hallmark, this Valentine's Day was all about affection, friendship, and plain old fun.

On my way out of the condo this morning, I had to turn around and quickly shut down the alarm. Someone had left a bouquet of four yellow roses on my doorstep with a package of dark, heart-shaped chocolates. Even before reading the note, I knew who this was from. The vase gave it away, it was an Avalon milk bottle. This was from someone with whom I share a connection, built on our common interest for sustainability, respect for the environment (I met him at a workshop on CSR reporting back in November) and common love for good food and wine.

I read the card, placed the vase on my dining room table and left for work.

After work, Sarah was meeting me at the office and we were heading to a wine and chocolate tasting. Sarah called me as she was parking, and I met her outside of the building. As she was walking towards me, I saw that she was carrying flowers. I thought "oh, how nice, someone sent her flowers at the office." Well, little did I know that she bought the flowers for me. She said that since she was my date for Valentine's Day, she felt she should bring flowers. Wow.

The wines were from Granite Creek, in the Shuswap region (northern Okanagan) and the chocolates, from Chocoatl in Yaletown. We both enjoyed the white wine, but the reds were not really that exciting. I guess the winery is not getting the really hot and dry weather that gives some wines from Osoyoos such fabulous flavours. The ice wine, on the other hand, was simply fabulous. It felt like butter in the mouth, so smooth and silky. I bought one bottle of Kerner which is similar to a Riesling, and a bottle of ice wine.

Sarah and I then headed out to find a restaurant for dinner. You would think this would be mission impossible, but the second place we visited, Cactus Club, had a table for us. We had a wonderful dinner and talked a lot about travels and Europe.

Sarah gave me a lift home and then, as I was walking up the steps and searching for my keys in my purse, I noticed something else on my doormat: potted red tulips, with dark, heart-shaped chocolates. At this point, I just couldn't believe how the day had just turned so surprising. The potted tulips were from the same person as the roses. I picked up the pot, made my way into the condo, placed Sarah's flowers in water and headed for the shower.I quickly showered and changed, then met another friend for a drink. He had asked where I wanted to go and I told him that a place with live music would be wonderful. He took me to Kino Cafe to watch some life flamenco music and dancing. What a great way to end the evening and what ended up being the very best Valentine's Day.

Year of change

I just paid the tuition for my last semester. I had mixed feelings as I was writing the cheque: excitement because the end of the program is near, discontempt because I have to pay $2,500 for
one class. I tried very hard not to think about my sister who is doing her entire MBA for twice that amount. The Quebec government has always been incredible in promoting post-graduate studies. I don't know that those tuition fees are sustainable anymore (what kind of salaries can they offer teachers?), but there's a big difference between the price of education in Quebec and in BC. As far as the MBA programs are concerned, a sixfold difference.

I have been more attuned to events happening in my life over the past few years. One thing I noticed is that I seem to go through a year of change every three years. I don't have much to justify this for 1999 and prior, but 2002 was definitely a year of change for me. It was the year when I traveled a bit (Mexico with Marc and a first vsit to Vancouver), when I lost my job at Nortel, applied for a job out West, was offered a really interesting position at a start-up in Burnaby and decided to move across the country. 2005 was another year of change: the start-up ran out of money, I contracted for a while and then found a job with my current employer, traveled to Europe, started a few pre-requisite classes for the MBA, went back to being single again.

2008 is already building up to be another year of change: I'll be done with the MBA I started back in Montreal (I did the GMAT and completed three courses at Concordia before leaving for BC), over five years ago. Annie and I are also planning to travel later this year. Are other changes looming? Probably, but part of the fun of these changes is that some are unexpected. The key is to embrace them as they come. Life's too short to be scared of change.

A fun aside: on Thursday, the Chinese New Year, my colleagues and I were chatting about Chinese horoscope and signs. One of my colleagues, who is born the year of the Dog, said his year was going to be really bad, according to this one horoscope he read. Everyone then started looking up their own horoscope for the upcoming year. I was born the year of the Tiger and this one horoscope I found online said that my year was going to be filled with professional and personal changes (good changes for those born in the spring or summer), as well as more travel. You know
me, horoscopes are not my thing, but this was a fun coincidence, don't you think?

Just think about it...

The walk back home from school tonight was miserable. It's raining and cold outside (was snowing earlier), I had an umbrella that wasn't much protection against the windy conditions and one of my shoes sprung a leak, so my foot was frozen. I hadn't had dinner yet and felt really hungry. I was walking at a brisk pace when it hit me: really? Miserable?

Just think about it...

I was walking to a warm, dry and welcoming home. I was walking, alone, at night, in a neighborhood that has always felt perfectly safe. I was walking to a fridge filled with healthy, yummy food. My shoes would eventually dry, and so would my coat. A warm, relaxing shower would melt away the day's stress and fatigue. And because my class finished early tonight, I was minutes away from sitting in bed, in my comfy PJs, with a good book.

I'm pretty sure someone walking towards me would have wondered why I was smiling.