megfowler.com

Well, I did it here. Oh, and here. Oh — here, too.

And I did it already today, but deleted it right before I posted it. Because I? AM AWESOME.

Kids, it’s been a hell of a week.

And when I say a hell of a week, I mean that you should combine all the annoying noises, places, experiences and sensations you can think of in your head… and then multiply it by two.

I’m going to celebrate the ending of this magical week by resting, relaxing, and consuming vast amounts of salted items.

Mmm… salted items.

(Stay tuned for next week, when I post that my body has morphed into something resembling a Havaiana-clad water balloon.)

I think a love list is just what the doctor ordered, yes? And also pressing “Save” every few seconds from now on…

THINGS I LOVE

My total inability to Riverdance
Super Mario
The perfect pillow
My camera phone
Bubble wrap
Seth Rogan
The time I ate a 7-Up Lip Smacker
The upcoming sweater season
Peppermint tea
My coworker who does yoga in cycling shorts
Fantasy Sports
Robaxacet
Mini-trampolines
California in TWO WEEKS
The general furor over the new Canucks jersies… because it means HOCKEY IS BACK
Rainbow sherbet (and it’s not pronounced “SHERRRBERT”, for the love of Pete!)
Trevor Linden
Whoever manages to get me Justin Timberlake tickets before Wednesday
Andrew Ridgeley
Lifesaver popsicles
Sunshine through the clouds
My confusion of the word “wanton” with “wonton”, and how awkward this makes my Chinese takeout orders
Raffi
When the baby upstairs calls me “auntie”. And also? “duck”
Sundresses
Dahlias
Safeco Field
Vitamin B

As always, love it up in the comments, or do one on your blog.

THERE IS SO MUCH TO LOVE.

Don’t hold back.

There, there… I’m back.

Did you miss me?

Oh.

Okay, did you notice I wasn’t writing?

Oh.

Okay, did you have a nice week?

Sigh.

My Love List (why aren’t you all doing Friday Love Lists? GET ON THAT) will be coming soon, but in the meantime, a short burst of questions just to get your juices flowing again…

1. If you could eat anything in the world right now, what would it be?
2. What’s the nickname people call you that you hate the most?
3. If you could head to any city on earth and do three things that were fun, where would you go, and what would you do?
4. What song drives you completely batty?
5. Cheese: God’s gift to the palate, or smelly object of your intolerance?

I’m going to be taking a wee break from blogging until the weekend, due to a giant pile up of responsibilities and situations in my life that will be taking the lion’s share of my time and energy and patience until then.

I mean… the lion’s going to be pissed, but what can you do?

Think nice thoughts of me until then (and send lots of coffee and flowers and carbohydrates.)

Love to all!

Gosh, you’re quiet out there.

Like, super quiet.

I mean, I can see you reading, but you’re all shhhhhh.

Everyone keeps telling me you’re running around doing athletic endeavours in the sunshine or taking a vacation somewhere exotic — anything but reading blogs — but I know better.

You’ve just been at work and reading Perez Hilton — isn’t that right? You’ve been watching Big Brother, haven’t you? And emailing your friends about celebrity jail time? And going to end-of-season sales at T.J. Maxx? And Twittering your every move? And skipping barbeques to play Scrabble on Facebook? And chasing the ice cream man down the street with a 20-dollar bill?

Yeah.

I know you’re not horseback riding on the beach or doing yoga on cliffs or playing frisbee in the lake with your dog.

Let’s just be real here.

I want to know three things:

1. How you’re doing…

and

2. How you spent that summer vacation…

and

3. What you WISH you’d been doing all summer.

Okay! GO!

Yours lovingly and also from indoors,

Meg

I think you had to be there.

This weekend was my dear friend Jennifer’s 30th birthday.

She’s just a wee chick! A lamb! A sassy young thing!

And that’s why all her girls celebrated her in style with a trip up to her family cabin for the night.

Woo!

I took some pictures with my phone. And since I don’t have a camera, they’ll have to do, won’t they?

The adventure began with the trip up on two boats, both of which took us through a rainstorm, some large swells, and a handful of serious wind gusts. Yikes!

Here’s what I could see from the back of the boat:

And here’s Jenn enjoying the ride:

Nice shades, girlfriend.

Now, let me tell you.

Jenn’s cabin? So lovely.

I’ve actually known her husband’s family longer than I’ve known Jenn herself, so I’ve been there quite a few times. But the place recently underwent a renovation and it’s gorgeous. Just like Jenn, of course.

Here’s a few views from the deck:

And here’s a view OF the deck:

Are those chairs not perfect?

We had a great time, believe me. We played ridiculous games, discussed inappropriate things, and ate a LOT of munchies. Whoa, did we eat. My homemade salsa and guacamole, samosas, wings, quiches, potato salad, and MUCH, MUCH MORE.

We also went skinny dipping at midnight (sorry, Dad.)

Now, before I tell you what happened to me, I should tell you that I injured myself earlier in the day by tumbling in the boat. My knee, more specifically.

Because I am a PARAGON OF GRACE.

Anyway, back to moonlight swimming.

The phosphorescence was BEAUTIFUL, the water was cool but lovely, and we all had a great time trying not to wake the neighbours. Unfortunately, when we went to climb out, I realized the ladder was missing all but the top rungs.

Trying to pull myself up with a bad knee was impossible. I simply couldn’t do it. So I tried swinging my leg onto the dock to hoist myself up.

OW.

No dice. I’d pretty much rather have been shot out of a cannon than feel that particular “twinge” of pain again.

So I had to get creative.

Once everyone else was safely out of eye view, I swam over to the rocks, and climbed stealthily (if dragging one’s leg and going “OUCH. OH. CRAP. OUCH. @$#%!” can be considered stealth) up out of the ocean over millions of barnacles and mussels.

OW.

Yeah.

Scratches where there shouldn’t be any.

(I can’t imagine it was pleasant for the barnacles, either.)

Then I realized I couldn’t actually get from the rocks to the boardwalk up to the lower deck of the cabin. I was stranded by a three-foot divide full of heinous-looking brambles.

So I did what any self-respecting naked person would do in the dead of night.

I swung from a tree and flung myself onto the boardwalk railing.

OW.

Thank heavens I only had one bad knee, or I surely would have bounced back to “commune” with the brambles.

Instead, I squeezed in between the railings, terribly impressed at my Jennifer Garner-like agility, and landed with a thump on the boardwalk (with a string of Christmas bulbs wrapped jauntily around my ankle.)

Then all the motion sensor lights came on like I’d tried to escape from Guantanamo Bay.

The jig was up, friends.

And suddenly the towel Laura had left me there seemed so very small.

Sigh.

But.

I dried off, we all laughed, and I could still get around with a limp. Cue more silly games and eating.

There was so much food and fun that by the time Sunday morning rolled around, we were pretty much ready for a whole other day of napping:

But… we had to go home.

That was a good trip, too:

And I looked terribly foxy after a swim the night before, sleeping on wet hair, not showering, skipping the aid of makeup or hairstyling, and riding in a fast boat:

With continued sketchiness once we got on the ferry:

That, my friends? Is Tired Meg.

Super Tired Meg. Tired Meg with Extra Flavour.

Also? I have no apparent neck.

Anyway.

Jennifer, we all love you, and we were so honoured and blessed to be there with you to celebrate this milestone. You’re an incredible woman, an incredible friend, an incredible wife, and an incredible mom.

Honestly, there’s not much Jenn can’t do. I think taking a compliment might be her only skill deficiency.

Ha!

Happy Birthday, you!

And many, many more.

(At the cabin.)

(With us.)

So much fun.

Thanks, Buzz!

Well, I did it here. Oh, and here.

It’s time to go again.

And really, I’m ready to focus on the bright side.

In the last 24 hours, I’ve laid awake in bed stressing about work two nights in a row (AAA!), been attacked by a bee on the bus (NOOO!), set my shirt on fire (WHOOAAAA!), spilled an entire bottle of juice on the ground (EEEEK!), sustained four flip-flop related blisters (what? I WEAR YOU ALL THE TIME!), nailed the back of my head HARD on a cupboard door in my kitchen (I thought my brains would spill out!) and listened to people have sex in my back alley (WE’RE NOT THAT KIND OF ALLEY!)

It’s been a challenging time. To say the least.

So.

Without further adieu (thank you for noticing, Lilie:-)), my list of things that made smile, chuckle, swoon, or crush this week:

Venti Nonfat Americano Misto
SUNSHINE
My new passport
Standing barefoot on green grass
Turquoise Post-Its
This completely insane dog training show on Slice
Hot days, cool nights (That sounds like a Baywatch episode!)
Old hip-hop from the 90’s
Homemade Salsa
Trying to help a baby crawl with a towel
My cell phone ring: Spanish Flea
Interpretive dance at work
Pizza delivery
The word “caboose”
Everyone I know had a birthday except the people that didn’t
iLike Music Challenge Quiz on Facebook (NO, I DON’T KNOW ANY SONGS BY MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE)
Sunsets off my deck
Altoid Gingers
Lettuce that is so loud when you eat it that you feel as though you can only eat salad in front of the tv (turned up really loudly), and even then, you’re killing yourself laughing
Sharpies (not Sharpeis)
Star spinning
My neighbour’s obsession with Dairy Queen
A roommate who kills giant hairy spiders for me
One tiny freelancing job!
My grandmother’s music box
The idea of me in a bathing suit
A postcard that had Vancouver spelled wrong (Vancouber!)
Tainted Love
Fake yoga poses
Childproof medication lids

And you?

What are you loving/laughing at/amused by this week?

Blog it or drop it in the comments here. SPEND YOUR FRIDAY WITH THE LOVE.

Ah, yes.

The bitchy week.

The week where everything goes wrong.

The week of willful ingratitude.

The week of weak.

Do you ever have weeks like this?

I’m pretty sure I’ve been a total prize to be around.

Well… hold on. I don’t think I’ve been all that difficult to be around, but if there were a small community of people living in my brain, they’d have long ago tried to migrate and establish an independent state in my spleen.

Until I vented it, that is.

I’m not sure why I’ve been so negative, other than a particularly rollercoaster-y jag of hormonal activity (along with the odd, unpredictable physical manifestations of the same) and a fair amount of stress in a few areas of my world. But I know nothing I’m going through is all that big a deal, really.

I just can’t seem to get the perspective I need to shake off the frustration.

Which only frustrates me more.

I hate feeling sorry for myself.

I hate indulging that gross part of me that thinks I’ve “got it rough.”

I hate the almost-crying itch in the back of my throat, and I hate that I can’t drown it with coffee.

Most of all, I hate hating anything, because What. Is. The. Point.

It could be so much worse than this.

This Tuesday afternoon, a man jumped 26 stories from a building I can see from my office window. My co-worker actually looked up from a phone call to see him heading for the glass and metal awning that he glanced off before he met the cement.

I’ll never forget the way her voice sounded as she tried to process what she was seeing, just like I’ll never forget the sight of his legs splayed, or the blood, or construction workers pacing with cell phones, endlessly running their hands through their hair, never standing still.

They took his body away and hosed the area off and now you’d never know he’d been there.

You’d never know anything happened at all.

That’s my definition of worse.

I need to wake up to the ease of my own existence.

To change what I can and then move on.

To not allow what hurts me to define me.

And to understand that whatever is happening now, I am nowhere close to falling.

I’ve been thinking about that man’s family ever since.

It’s a perfect change from thinking about myself.

UPDATE: And justice is done. For the record? It’s embarrassing it took this long. But it’s the right thing.

***

It’s no secret that I’m a Trevor Linden fan, just as it’s no secret that my roommate plans to marry him, against all odds.

He’s a natural leader, a mental and emotional anchor for a young team, and a hardworking player who — while he may not generate marquee stats in every game, or any game — shows strength, determination and wisdom on the ice. That’s a rare set of qualities in today’s NHL. He’s old-school, he’s clutch, he’s Captain Vancouver… he’s our Trev.

But that doesn’t seem to be enough for our management right now.

Sure, we all like flashy players who rack up huge point totals, partly because they’re fun to watch, and partly because we need those points to win games. The Canucks haven’t had that kind of star power in a long time, what with the painful demise of Naslund’s enthusiasm, and the relative humility of Luongo and the Sedin twins.

Not that they don’t bring the plays that keep us afloat, but they certainly don’t showboat after every goal — or go from the locker room to the pages of tabloid rags — like 90’s sensation Pavel Bure.

That kind of bandwagon-candy glitz is why many people still say that the Canucks were at their best when Bure was lighting up the ice, but I think the best is truly yet to come with our team.

We’re in a huge development phase: our roster features a group of young players who are still discovering their areas of strength, some (fairly) skilled veterans who could use a serious boost in intensity, and a goalie who is breathtaking on his best days… and still pretty damn reliable on his worst!

If we can harness all that post-teenage energy, light a fire under the older guys, and add a strong dose of discipline and skills development to the mix, I think we’re in a position to make big things happen.

I’ve got faith, at least.

What I don’t have faith in is our Captain.

Markus Naslund was a tremendous disappointment during our playoff run this year, and a relative non-starter in many games this season.

There’s really no other way to say it; the totals weren’t there (at least according to his previous standard), and his leadership was so passive as to seem absent at times. There’s no question that he CAN be a HUGE asset to the Canucks, but we haven’t seen him achieve consistently at that level in a while. I think he could use a wake-up call.

Regardless, I’ve long been a believer in the notion that hockey captains don’t need to be the strongest scorers or the most glamourous performers on their teams.

What they do need is a powerful voice in the locker room and on the bench, a sense of honour and gravity in their play, and the ability to take a diverse group of egos and personalities and skill levels and motivate them in the same direction. If Naslund had those strengths, I’d be more willing to excuse the weak performance in other areas. But it’s simply not there to the extent the we need it now.

So who has it?

Trevor Linden. As yet unsigned.

Our management will continue to add players to fill skill holes in the team, and even inject a bit of flash and drama into the roster to keep the media buzzing. I wouldn’t expect any less; hockey is a business as well as a game, after all, with two bottom lines: stats and ticket sales.

But if they continue to treat one of the best leaders on our team like an old horse who may or may not get another lap around the track, they’re doing a huge disservice to the morale of the organization… not to mention turning a blind eye to the wishes of the fans who pay their salaries every year.

We need someone who can reign in all the inconsistencies we’ve seen on the ice for a couple of years now, and turn our rag-tag group of possibilities into a unified, passionate outfit. I don’t think I’m overestimating Linden’s character when I say that he’s the man for the job.

And I don’t think I’m overestimating the idiocy of the way he’s been dealt with when I call it a slap in the face.

We need to stop angling for the next big thing or the next quick fix, and put some dollars and time into building the mental stability of our team. That’s where we fall apart. We lack the mettle that counts when we’re behind in the third period, or facing a Game Seven. We lack the stuff that makes good players great, and the legacy-building spirit that turns teams into dynasties.

Isn’t that what we want for our Canucks?

So hurry up and sign one of Vancouver’s finest, and — even if you don’t slap a C on that new jersey, because I doubt he’d take it from Nazzy anyway — give him a chance to be our hero for another season.

We have a crucial opportunity to build on our successes and address our major flaws in a meaningful way this year, but it’s going to take someone who gets the bigger picture to take us to that next level.

And take us all the way to the Cup.

We love you, Trev, no matter what happens.