Lucky Me.

I still have an open door to train and perform once I am healed.  Without pressure, and despite my abrupt sabbatical.  The dance director is good to me.

On that pleasant note, here is Hachi trying to keep his eyes open in the car today post-daycare.  Faiiillll.

Let the healing begin.

Some Shedding.

I received a harsh reality check as a result of this past weekend, where I danced all night in heels at a wedding.  I am now not quite able to point my right foot or relevé without pain.  I'm not even walking right.  And it's already Tuesday!  My frustration has led me to realize that I am not healing from my dance injuries at all.  My foot is actually getting worse.  This has resulted in me deciding to leave the Afro Cuban dance team indefinitely.

Now for inspirational quote time:

I don't want to be in pain and I don't want to be injured.

I want to be strong and balanced and frolicking.  There are other ways of doing this aside from dance so I can heal properly.  Enter acro-yoga, Pilates, kettlebells or even just good ol' yoga and bodyweight training.  Things have to change.  I want to be able to rock heels and dress up without physically paying for it later.

As a silver-lining hunter, I still see a positive side to all of this.  I have realized that I will not turn into a crackhead over being away from dance for a while. This frustration must be channeled productively.  And who knows, maybe as I heal I will become a better dancer in the future because of my focus on being injury-free.

It helps that I've been having a good time during my dance sabbatical.  Having a social life and not running on adrenaline all the time is relaxing.  Even my boss noticed that I am calmer nowadays.

And let's not forget a wonderful little energy-consumer of mine:  Hachi.  He's at doggy daycare today while I'm in the office :)  I know he will be happy and spent when I pick him up.  Here's how he looked after his first day at doggy daycare:

He could not even keep his eyes open during the car ride home!  I'm excited to pick the little guy up.

Anyway, I just needed to record that little milestone in my life.  Back to lunch and logic drawings ...

National Dog Day Was Last Week.

The above photo is Hachi's "Happy National Dog Day" Instagram post.  Look at how many Instagram photos I have taken of him already.  I can't help it - I'm a proud dog momma!

So far Hachi

• still doesn't bark much (I'm not complaining!) - could this be Akita blood?
• can sit, lie down, shake hands
• doesn't try to leave with me anymore when I leave for work
• is able to go off-leash at the dog park now

And such a gentle friendly disposition!  He has coaxed smiles out of many fellow dog-owners and random folks we encounter on our walks.  There is something about a rescue dog - I think it's a sense of happy gratitude that emanates from the dog.  This is my first rescue and I am hooked.  It's a win-win situation really.  A dog-owner win: I am reminded not to work too much and to take breaks and enjoy the outdoors everyday.

Another win: being able to explore parts of Edmonton that are dog-friendly.  Remedy Cafe gets a thumbs up for their dog-friendly patio and vegan food.  I checked out the downtown Farmer's Market this weekend and I loved the hustle and bustle of  booths, people and canines.  My lunch currently consists of locally grown potatoes and tomatoes (roasted with balsamic vinegar courtesy of this recipe - yum!). 

I'm enjoying the dog parks in this city as well.  Terwillegar Park was crazy busy this long weekend.  A dog's excitement about just being able to go outside is contagious.  Hachi = spurts of joy about the simplest things.  

Especially when there is so much pain and suffering out there: the Nigerian schoolgirls are still prisoners, hostages, senseless cruelty and killings, poaching of elephants, disappearing First Nations women ... 

It's like Ebola is the only hot-topic misery that wasn't started by stupid humans.

We need to take some notes from our four-legged furry friends.  Aside from the butt-sniffing practices of course.

Mind Farts
-more and more veggie options are popping up around the city!  had a delicious Vietnamese veggie sub at MKT of all places
-mmm ... ginger beer
-i discovered dulse seaweed this weekend.  i used it to make vegan bagoong.  bagoong is one of the few things i miss from my seafood days ... ohhhh that fermented shrimpy fishy taste that i love so much.  dulse may help me out with this craving 

-still can't dance in heels because of the ankle.  but i can't say i've been feeling deprived or sad about it :)  you know that saying "don't put your all of your eggs in one basket?"  i'm like an Easter egg hunt - eggs all over the place
-*finally* read Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere.  even though there are old fashioned attitudes in the novel especially about women (creamy white neck and demure = wifey material), i still got a fascinating look at the Philippines in the 1800s.  man, the Spaniards were such absolute dicks to the native Filipinos.  just horrific.  even poor Mr. Rizal was shot for this exposé :( 

Eid Mubarak!

There is a significant Muslim contingent in the office. Which has resulted in desserts in the lunchroom to celebrate the end of Ramadan - no more fasting!

The evil stomach issues have settled down quite a bit, so my attempts at stress reduction have been fruitful. 

More free time has resulted in being able to care for Hachi and also being able to take the time to think over life in general and what I want to do with things like my womanhood. It's kind of like I just woke up and realized I'm in my thirties.  Even though I feel the same if not more energy compared to my twenties - I just don't do as many careless things. Yay for frontal lobe development!

Pleasantly, Smilingly, Nonapologetically.

So I didn't get a call about my blood and poo samples and after a couple of weeks I went to go see my doctor (turns out you can't just call and get results over the phone).

Nothing.

No parasites (thank the Lord!).  No parasite eggs.  No parasite cysts.  No E.coli.  No salmonella.  No pathogenic bacteria.

Nothing!

My levels are all healthy.

And I'm *still* having stomach episodes.  As recently as a couple of days ago.

Mention of this strange situation to friends has led me to the conclusion that this is very possibly the result of stress.  I know it's not like I'm openly freaking out and getting anxiety attacks or anything, but my stomach is definitely trying to tell me something.  Consciously I feel fine, but my autonomic nervous system debates that.

So I had to slice off something in my life - the salsa team.  It made the most sense, considering my ankle is not getting better and gets quite angry at high-heeled shoes these days.  Even just normal dress-up non-dancing ones.  Not okay.  Salsa dancing is wonderful, but even more so is being pain-free and stomach-strong.  At least I had a blast at the Las Vegas Salsa Congress with them.  My last congress as part of that team.

It's quite the change, but it will allow other things into my life.  I can still be physical without jumping around in heels.  Pilates, kettlebells, yoga of many forms ... I'll never run out.  Plus I'm still going to stay with the Afro-Cuban team (barefoot activity = strong feet). It's all gotta be trial and error.  And if my body keeps acting up, then I'll just have to re-evaluate my life and slice off more "stress" and add in more "happy."

Like finally going to the magical Okanagan for a best friend's baby shower (just moments before this pic, I was spewing my guts out at the beach washroom - eep).  Kudos to my lipstick for staying on.

Wineries are so soothing.  Why didn't I do them more when I used to live in the Okanagan?  I've never bought so much wine at once.  I'm really digging the fruit ("fruit" meaning non-grape) wines - I bought crab apple (white) and cherry (red) along with the more traditional stuff.

Or enjoying more social non-dance events like the first ever Diner en Blanc in Edmonton.  With my beautiful harem. 

  It rained like mad, but we survived the wet chill and enjoyed all the elegance.

And of course, hanging with Hachi :)

And being able to work late without having to rush to practices.
And just having the time to dream and think.

R.I.P. flight MH17 passengers :(

Soy Filipina.

Mexican ruins?  Yes please!  Chichen Itza is amazing.

As a Canadian, it's kind of silly that it took me this long to finally visit a country that really isn't that far. Thanks to a wedding invite, I was finally able to go.

Just like Puerto Rico, Cuba and even Miami, locals initially thought I was a Spanish speaker.  My go-to reply: "Soy Filipina.  Sorry!"

I unfortunately also may have brought back some type of bug with me.  Been having on and off stomach problems for over a whole month now :(  And I never get stomach problems this bad (or this long), especially after going vegan!  Had to go give some -ahem- samples to be tested.  A gross but very fascinating thing to do (t'was my first time).

A volatile stomach coupled with dance injury has made it a tad frustrating to keep up with my full schedule. I wonder if this is a sign for me to slow my roll a bit.

Another sign - I impulsively adopted a dog.  He kind of fell into my lap.  My coworker found him while camping (strangely enough, I was supposed to be on this camping trip but was performing at the International Saskatoon Congress instead).  A beautiful black dog came out of nowhere and started following the camping group.  My coworker tried nearby campers to see if anyone owned the dog, but no luck.  Tried contacting nearby shelters - no luck.  Tried posting online notices - no luck. Meanwhile, I kept tabs on the story of the abandoned forest dog.

A vet checkup revealed that the dog needs neutering and pulling of some damaged teeth.  After a couple of weeks of fostering, my coworker concluded that despite being a forest dog, the black dog is very friendly and gentle.  He does not chew on furniture or shoes.  He does not bark (hello, condo living!).  He is pretty much house trained aside from the handful of times he likes to mark his territory (neutering should fix this).

Upon finding out the dog would be taken to the SPCA if no one wanted him, I don't know what happened to me.  It was a little like watching myself in a movie.  Something in me woke up, and I couldn't stop myself from taking my sister to meet the black dog.  No turning back there.  Of course we fell in love with the sweetest mix of rottweiler, border collie and german shepherd.   Took him home that very night!

Say hi to Hachi, my first rescue dog :)

A bundle of love that still doesn't bark but does strange stray dog things like
-ignore chew toys and rawhide treats
-ignore dog beds
-be absolutely petrified of baths
-bolt for rabbits and cats (nope, not ready for off-leash yet!)

I'm away for work in Vancouver and I'm so grateful that I have willing hands to help take care of Hachi.

Oh dear. The stomach is acting up again. On the bright side, I'm enjoying this magical place of beach and mountains and made it through a long day of work without stomach episodes.  Let's hope tomorrow is similar!  I never know when a stomach episode is gonna hit nowadays.

Vancouver is so very beautiful.  I can totally see myself walking Hachi by the beach or taking a future mini-me to the aquarium (heck, I'm still a kid at the aquarium).  Or just relaxing with fresh juice at a 24-hour vegetarian restaurant.  I love that there's still so much to do even after working late.  And the weather has been amazing these past couple of days!

Now to go weather the storm in my stomach.  Hopefully a comfy hotel bed and ginger ale do the trick.        

Enough.

Shameful, but I only read up on the Nigerian schoolgirl mass kidnapping just now. NEARLY A MONTH AFTER. If it was a wealthier, whiter country you can bet the media wouldn't have been this delayed.  It's sad but true ... and I believe things will change but it just seems so damn slow compared to other things like smartphone releases.

The anger I feel at tragedies like this makes me think of when I first started reading Anne Rice's vampire books when I was a preteen.  There is this one vampire, the oldest and the root of all vampires.  Akasha.  She is an ancient Egyptian queen who awakes from her deep sleep into modern day life.  Upon seeing how messed up and chauvinistic the world still is, she goes a bit berserk and starts her master plan to kill off the majority of the world's human men and make up a matriarchal new world order.  Think Dexter, but a beautiful Egyptian neofeminist version on steroids.  The modern vampires of course try to stop her and keep her from this massacring half of the world.

It would be badass if Akasha was unleashed on the Boko Haram. Just saying.