Birthday and Co

So, it's been a while since I last posted for real!
What's new?
Well, I've had my birthday, I finally wrote my Math test (dunno how well I did), took up conversation via email with a Hopee (special shoutout to him, because he's the reason I'm finally blogging again ... and, of course, Doro, because they both keep nagging me about posting again :) ), failed to advance to the third round in the Dragon's Den competition (not that I really mind, because ... well, :) ) and ... yeah, I think that was the short version?

So, it all started with the birthday dinner. I already blogged about that, but the next day, the next birthday dinner was there - Jenna, Bob, Tanya, Andy and I were at Tanya's parents' house, and there was delicious ... I think it was roast beef? I'm not sure, but it was soooo good...
And there was a birthday cake, but I am so sorry, it had nothing on the cake Tanya made me...

On Monday ... it was pretty uneventful, if I remember correctly. I can't remember anything happening, at least, except for how the Hawks lost to the Canucks (the Canucks, why?! They're like, arch-rivals, so... duh.)
Ooooh, never mind, there was the amazing Canada show where Jenna took part in - How Canada Came to Be it was called, it was Canadian folksongs about the history of Canada - super interesting with nice music, and of course the whole thing was topped off with the National Anthem, which ... yeah, it made me cry.
But you gotta imagine, there were about 600 people (200-300 Students in the show, and they all had parents + grandparents + siblings + other family/friends) and everybody stood up and sang Oh Canada... there is little more beautiful ("Stars and Stripes" after the Boston Tragedy was maybe better, but that was ~20,000 people singing, so I think ours was pretty decent). And like, everybody sings, not just "moves their lips". It's pretty amazing here, if you ask me.
To top the evening off, I skyped with my mother.
And guess how I spent the last couple of minutes as a fifteen year old?
Right, I was folding laundry (seriously, ask my mom). I had just washed my stuff, so it was still dryer-warm and I wanted to fold it before it got creases and the like ;)

I opened two presents that night--one envelope which contained puzzle pieces to form a wonderful picture of Regensburg with the cathedral, and one small package that needed extra explanation (a ankle band with magnets for pain, but it seems to make the pain worse at the moment?)
Morning came way too soon, and after five hours of sleep, I lugged my presents upstairs and unpacked them.

Breakfast was strawberries with whipped cream and a candle in a shout out to my last birthday (I had shown pictures of it, including the strawberries) and I opened my parents' presents.
I got a power balance wristband (they're awesome, even though I can't wear it because of my wrist braces), some perfume (my favourite kind, Puma Animagical), a new wallet (finally; I've only been wishing for one since Christmas, but Lara finally had mercy and helped me out) a crocheted cupcake, a Toews Shirsey (<3 :="" a="" and="" hawks="" hoodie="" p="">I went to school, handed out the cupcakes I had made on Monday, wrote my first Math test (made a stupid mistake -_-), was bored, wrote my second Math test (made more stupid mistakes - okay, only problem was I couldn't operate the graphing calculator :( ), came home, found Bob's presents (self-made fortune cookies & pictures) and ... answered all the birthday wishes - you guys are the best!

Wednesday was my 'actual' birthday - once I'd come home, I dicked around a bit in my room, then we had dinner (my wish! Pasta with sausage!) and then there was cake - and omg, that was delicious, I'm telling you!
Tanya had made peanut butter cake, with lots of peanut butter and some chocolate, and Jenna had made peanut butter-chocolate bars, and it was all around great.

I grabbed the rest of my dessert, relocated to the living room and watched the Hawks crush the Oilers 4-1 :D

It was great.
From Jenna I got a beautiful card, and, if I understood that correctly, she and Bob pooled to give me a special coin (it's a loonie in a Puck with the Flames logo), and while the Flames aren't one of my favourite teams, their logo is pretty.

I also got my first US$ from Andy and Tanya, and lots of chocolate. I'll be taking it to San Francisco, maybe, because there's no way I'm gonna eat it all on my own!

And, which was maybe the best, I got an amazing necklace with a terrific jade maple leaf :)
I'm wearing it on the same chain as the cross I got from my grandmother, and I just love it.

Cici, a friend from school, gave me a beautiful pendant, and an equally nice message, and all in all, my birthday was perfect.

Yesterday, Math managed to be halfway interesting, and the evening was insofar fun, as there is so much to do (Jenna guitar lessons & Bob soccer training) that everybody just grabs their own dinner, and this is so reminiscent of home, that it almost makes my heart ache.
I mean, family dinners are awesome, but I missed that easiness of just 'eat whenever you feel like it' every once in a while, that was so defining during my dancing days.
And always sitting on a table with four other people is very different, and can be taxing at times - especially with the way I am pretty tired at the moment, my senses go into overload and make my life hell :(

Today was the second Dragon's Den Competition, and I have to say: We didn't make it.
They cur from 18 to 8 teams, and ... I'm not even sad?
I didn't expect to advance to the second round; while our video was nice, we didn't put nearly enough thought and work into the rest of it, and our presentation was just cobbled together last minute, it seemed.
But the judges were nice to us, I can't say anything against that!

Since there was no point in returning to school, Cici and I caught the bus to the mall and spent three hours there.
I exchanged another $70  into US$--$68.20 for US$65, just to have some cash--and then we wandered through the mall.
I bought a couple of post stamps, because I'm participating in the 'Postkartenwichteln' in our Forum and gotta send a postcard somewhere for that, and of course I also got a postcard (and so did Cici).
And then we stopped by Aeropostale, because I desperately needed a couple of shorts, and I spent $56 for 3 pairs of trousers--a pair of Bermudas, a pair of Capris and a pair of sweatpants that were reduced from $40 to $9, and the Bermudas and Capris were a buy one get one free. (So I paid $20 for each pair, which isn't bad, imo).
Then we met up with a friend of Cici's and wandered for a bit longer, before grabbing dinner at the food court.
Cici and I took the bus home (she doesn't live so far away from me; we also take the same bus to and from school) and I managed to see the second half of the Hawks' last home game, a 3-1 win over Calgart.

But truly awesome were the Oilers--they won 6-1 over the Minnesota Wild, and had in the middle of the second period 6 goals on 14 shots on goal. It was awesome.
Hallsy n Ebs (Taylor Hall & Jordan Eberle) had both three points (1G, 2A), and everybody's favourite rookie Nail Yakupov had two (2G).
Why couldn't they play like this during the regular season? They didn't make it to the playoffs again, and this is the difference between a successful rebuild like in Chicago and an unsuccessful rebuild.

Chicago drafted two high first round picks--Toews & Kane--and then almost made it to the playoffs in their first season and managed to get to the conference finals in the next one, and they won the Stanley Cup only one year later in 2010 (Toews was drafted third overall in the 2006 entry draft but didn't sign until March 2007, and Kane was drafted first overall in the 2007 entry draft; both had their rookie season in 2007).
Ebs was drafter 22nd overall in 2009, Hallsy first overall in 2010, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins first overall in 2011 (the three of them forming the 'kid line') and Nail Yakupov drafter first overall in 2012.
Yes, they are stacked with young talent, but their team is ... I dunno, too young maybe? They're missing a couple of 'real' veterans; Sam Gagner is one of the most 'veteran' players, and he's younger than Kane! (He's 24 and played with Kane in the OHL, London Knights)
But they were very 'hot n cold' this year, with a 6-0 lead over Chicago (winning, in the end, 6-5), an 8-2 win over Calgary at the beginning of April and now today's 6-1 in, but then also a lot of losses that, frankly, shouldn't have happened.
Well, lets hope they make it next year ;)

I'm kinda loosely following soccer at the moment, just in bursts from what I see on my tumblr dash and hear from other excangies, but these gifs made me laugh (even though it took me a moment to realize that yes, that's German)
This is the best.

What else is there?
Bowey and some other guy form the Prince Albert Raiders blog about their U-18s experience:
Here & here - to be honest, Morrissey, the other guy, writes a lot better than our Rocket boy, but it's super interesting to read!
They're playing the US in the finals tomorrow? Today? Something like this, but they're facing the US after defeating Finland in the Semi Finals :D

Yeah, and see there, finally a blog entry - and it was even long!

What I've gotta do this weekend includes:
Starting packing for SF, going to the International Tai Chi/Qi Gong day at the Rec Centre, writing my children's story--which was due today, but because of my wrists I got a bit more time :) and yeah... I think that's it.

I'm missing the Math exam on exponential functions in Math! Can you hear me complaining?
No? That's because I'm not! And on Monday we're getting our report cards, and Tuesday is a short day, because the grade 12 students have to present their MAPs, which is their career plans for graduation... I wish we did that stuff, but we don't :(

Well, that's it for now.

Love y'all!