Perfect In Between

So I was planning on moving to victoria on July 1st, when my accident cut that plan short.

Since then, I've had mixed feelings about the move being put on hold. On the upside, I really enjoy my summers with my friends, and being in Nanaimo for July has been great so far. The downside is the procrastination. I feel like putting something off easily perpetuates itself, and I was afraid that putting off a move would happen a 2nd time. Not today though.

I got the call earlier, and my application for tenancy has been approved in Victoria for Sept 1st. So I'm actually going to do this. I like it.

Until then, I have some things to take care of. I need a job there. Going there without a solid plan provided the glamour behind planning the move, but the reality is weeks away. I need to have a job by Sept 1st. Since I moved July 1st, most of my stuff is still packed, and the move should be basic.

That's that. I feel really great today. I had a tough time struggling with the thought of pushing the moving date back again. I felt like I needed to prove to myself that I can do this. Now a deposit is paid, the unit is ready, and all I have to do is order a moving truck.

July has been as eventful as June was uneventful. After relaxing/healing for most of June, I've unconsciously started to fit 2 months worth of summer into July. I got a prosthetic eye built and put in, however it doesn't fit or look right. My second prosthetic will go in this week. It's a removable prosthetic that I'll need to take out and clean every week. I feel like a new person with my new eye. I haven't been showing it off like crazy because it doesn't look quite right, but inside I'm very excited.

Getting my prosthetic eye is the end of my eye saga. I feel constantly confused still. Mentally, I kept thinking that when a new eye would go in, I'd be able to see again. It's like when you cut your knee: when the bandage comes off and you can't see the cut, everything is normal again and it was like nothing happened. Everything looks normal again. But I still see only half as well. I often wake up wondering why I can't see properly. Every time I put on sunglasses, use binoculars, or look into/through anything, I have to remember why things don't look right.

I remember talking earlier in the year on my blog, discussing my amazing looking spring and summer. Things were turned upside down, but have nonetheless been fantastic. I really enjoyed being best man at Blake's wedding - it was the time of my life, and hopefully Blake's too. The minor parts to my summer - lake/river days, poker nights, hikes and swims - have filled in the gaps of my last month. I met someone who has lived for 10 years in Ontario, and was seeing BC for the 1st time. He said, 'Now I know what it feels like to be Canadian'. I guess people from Ontario see the same Molson Canadian commercials, but don't have the mountains or oceans to relate to. I dunno, it's pretty sweet to spend your summer on Vancouver Island.

I could really go on and on, but I've said enough. The next weeks are going to be similar to the last ones, with some exciting job hunting as well.

Thanks for reading.

'Some men like to hear, to hear the cannonball a' roaring

Me? I like sleeping'

Just Dance

I guess as long as I'm spending so much time on the computer, I could really write a few things on here. I've been on the couch pretty straight time since May 24th when I got home from the hospital, and you better believe I'm going crazy.

After my eye injury I've been laid up at home full time. I spent the first 10 days or so at my parent's house after my eye surgery. I really appreciated everything my parents did for me, but it was nice to get out of there and get back to doing stuff for myself.

I was back 3 or 4 times to the same doctor who did my surgery, and my eye (socket) has healed enough to be without bandages. Which is such a relief. I got myself an eye patch, but after rocking it a few times, I don't think I'll use it. I wear sunglasses when I go out, and that basically keeps me from looking weird. Plus I don't really get out much.

So my healing timeline goes like this. On July 8th I'll go back to Duncan to see the surgeon. He'll decide whether my eye socket has healed enough or not. He'll then put me in touch with the ocularist in Victoria, who'll fabricate and fit me with a new prosthetic eye. To clarify, I can't see through the prosthetic eye, and I won't ever see through my left eye socket. Some people have asked if I'll be getting a transplant, or if I'll be able to see through the prosthetic. NO.

So being cooped up inside is super frustrating at times. I don't have any stamina to do anything for any length of time. The strain of using one eye gives me constant headaches, and tires me out very quickly. Not being able to work sucks, as I just sit at home wondering what the hell else I could be doing.

The one thing that's keeping me entertained/distracted is the world cup. Oh man, every 4 years I get so psyched to watch soccer. Anyway, I was in Vancouver this weekend to watch soccer with Saul, and I was over at Blake's today to watch the Dutch/Danish game. Even after like 4 days of the tournament, I'm so into it. It's nice to get out and hang out with friends over soccer games, but 430am start times are weak.

Anyway, I'll be watching soccer tomorrow. And Wednesday.

Thanks for reading.

'I love this record baby, but I can't see straight anymore'

Float On

How is this for a broken record? “Man it’s been a while since I posted last. So much has happened since”.

May was a month. I was involved in a family trip to Mexico, and I was involved in a serious accident that’s left me disfigured. Not often that I can bookend a month with such highs and lows.

My brother got married May 12th, a day after his birthday. My family and I stood on the beach next to him as he got married in Nuevo Vallarta. We spent the rest of the week poolside with the 40 friends we’d made, catching rays and drinking in the sun. It was relaxation like I’ve never known. I took full advantage of our all inclusive resort, making my constant rounds to the bar and the buffet.

I ate and drank so much, I probably gained 6-8 pounds - a phenomenal achievement for me.

The trip home from mexico was my cue. Time to get back at it, back to work and back to focusing on the goals I have this spring. I came home still planning to move to Victoria on July 1st.

May long weekend I had a few different plans. My soccer team was going to Saltspring Island for a tournament and a weekend of camping and drinking. My other plan was another camping trip to Sproat lake with a ton of my closest friends. I also could have stayed home to work. I decided on Sproat.

There were like 20 of us at a great camping spot on the lake, and by Saturday we were in full high school reunion mode, and full on binge drinking mode. To give you an idea of the size of our campsite in the woods by the lake, from one end of the site you couldn’t see the tents on the far side. Courtlan had carted in rocks for a firepit, and made an elaborate outhouse. We had generators, stereos, and almost everything that deviates from ‘roughing it’.

I honestly don’t have much camping gear. I remember packing, thinking ‘I need something to entertain myself’. In hindsight I should have expected a campsite of such proportions, with enough games/people to keep me entertained for a week. Anyway, I threw in a few golf clubs with my gear, thinking that maybe I’d hit a few rocks into the lake. How unbelievable that Courtlan also brought a massive bucket of golf balls. I was stoked.

So Saturday. We’re hitting some golf balls, playing bocce, drinking, and having a blast. Some people were being bums by the campfire, and some people went into town to the liquor store. A few of us inflated a massive inflatable toy, and 4 of us went floating on. We weren’t in the line of fire for the golf ball hitting, and a few people kept hitting balls. We were close enough though, 40-50 feet from shore maybe, but off to the side. A nasty slice off a golf club, and we might be at risk.

And that’s exactly what happened. We were floating on the lake with our drinks, doing absolutely nothing. Saul was hitting a few balls, and the next thing I knew, something hit me in the eye. I figured it out right away what happened, because the impact was huge. It had to be a golf ball. I hit the bottom of our inflatable toy, and there was blood everywhere. It’s panic stations. I’m kind of freaking out inside, but I think I reacted pretty well on the outside. Everyone sees me in trouble and there’s no doubt I need to get to a hospital asap. We get to shore, Courtlan puts a bandage on my eye, and we get to the road. At this point I hadn’t tried opening my eye. My hand flew to my face on impact, and it didn’t leave my face until we were at the hospital.

Jer and Saul took me to the hospital in Port Alberni. There were a few other people that came along as well I think. I remember not passing out, and wanting to. The pain was pretty sickening and was deeper than anything else I’ve felt. I imagine if i’d ever broken a bone, the pain might be similar.

The hospital couldn’t do anything, and the only specialist on call was hours away in Cowichan. The only thing I really remember about the Port Alberni hospital was the doctor that shined a light into my eye and asked what I saw. I opened my eye for the first time, and I couldn’t see anything. Now at this point I’m getting worried. I’ve had friends sustain eye injuries, and I know that sometimes you can lose vision and get it back in hours/days. I was really hoping that was the case.

The ambulance ride to cowichan was terrible, and I vomited a bunch on the way. Saul and Jer came along in the ambulance. By this time, Saul had called Jen and my parents, and they were going to meet us in Cowichan.

The specialist in Cowichan met us around 9pm I think. He took a look, and again I saw no light. He told my family (privately?) that it was one of the worst eye injuries he’d ever seen. I caught that part, and immediately started feeling pretty bad about the situation. The doctor told me I would go into surgery the next morning. The surgery would be an ‘exploration’ and if need be, a ‘enucleation’. He straight up told me that my chances of saving my eye were very small. I was really hoping that the impact had broken my nose or orbital, and that my eye was bruised or something. Turns out the impact ruptured my eye, and I can only imagine what the doctor saw that night when he removed my bandage.

That night in Cow hospital was the longest of my life, regardless of the amount of demerol I received. I went into surgery the next day, and my eye was removed after they couldn’t repair any of it. i stayed another day in the hospital, and went home to my parent’s house to stay while I recover.

Since I’ve been home it’s been a tiring week learning to use only one eye. Processing everything with only one eye, after using two for almost 26 years, is extremely tiring. The first day I had to actually physically open my right eye to see. Now I can see through my right eye all day, but it’s still tiring. The pain from my left eye is almost gone, but the strain of using one eye is giving me wicked headaches.

Now I have to wait for a month or so, then get fitted with a prosthetic eye. With some surviving muscle in my left eye, I’ll be able to get some movement in my prosthetic eye. It won’t be like the movies where I can switch out my eye for cool looking eyes. It’ll be one prosthetic, and it won’t be coming out.

Today I head back to Cowichan to meet the specialist and talk about my coming weeks. I am able to drive and work again soon, but I don’t feel great doing either. Since I got home after my May 22nd accident, I haven’t been doing much. Not eating, or even watching much tv. It’s strange. I think I lost 6-8 pounds last week.

So that’s about it. I’m not moving to victoria until I am more organized, and can work to earn some money. My friends have been really supportive, especially Jen, Saul, and Blake. My three best friends have made sure that I’ve got anything I need. I really think the worst part of my injury is going to be coping with the first month. Once I get my new eye, I think things will be a lot easier than they are right now.

I’d say the biggest change in my vision is that everything is brighter. I have massive blind spots now, and I have to turn my head much more to see things, but the world is goddamn bright on my right eye.

Thanks for reading.

'I feel summer creepin' in, and I'm tired of this town again'

Tik Tok

Here it goes. Three months later.

I've been thinking about updating for a little while, but it's easy to put off.

A lot is going on for me, but not a whole lot seems to have changed. The year is going well for me, and I have a pretty busy spring planned. Recently I was over at the Vancouver Olympics, and it's was a pretty neat experience. I think the Olympics went about as good as possible for me, and for Canada. The hockey bit was really exciting, but it was exciting to see the masses get behind the smaller event medalists.

I'm living in a different place than when I last posted. It was THAT long ago. Jeez. I got a new computer - well it's new to me. It does the job. I mostly need a computer for email and web browsing, so I don't need anything fancy.

I have a few weddings coming up, one this spring, and one in July. I'm actually in the wedding party for both weddings, so I kind of need to do some homework in that regard. One wedding is taking me to Mexico, the other to Vegas. Which kind of excites me! I've never been to either, and I'm stoked.

I'm also planning on moving late this spring, to Victoria. It's been in the works now for a while, and the target is around June. The nice weather we've been having is awesome, but it keeps reminding me that I have to figure out a bunch of stuff so I can move. It's going to be an interesting process, but one I feel is necessary.

In the meantime, I'm kind of puttering around, working away and trying to put away some money for my expensive spring. Coaching is going great, and the season is just about done. I'll probably post some sort of final results thing on here when everything is all done. Currently we're sitting in first at 12-2-1, and we're playing in the 2nd round of the cup tomorrow night. The team I play for is in a different cup draw, and we play our 4th round tomorrow night. Pretty exciting times for me, soccer wise.

Anyway, it was kind of a whirlwind update. I just wanted to get on here and write.

Mike

'Keep movin on'

Aurora

Hey guys,

I've been disappearing from this thing more and more recently. This blog has basically been on life support for the last few months. I think I write better (--> more often) when I'm alone, and without a computer of my own, I'm just never alone when I get online anymore.

Holiday season in full swing, hey? What's different about this december? I'm trying to pinpoint a few things, but things are just a little off. Maybe it's the potential eviction I'm facing, but I don't think it is. Whatever it is, it's not bugging me, things are just a little different.

I had a real opportunity at a new job this week, and it was real exciting to think that I might be able to use my degree. For the first time. But no, that got shut right down. I wouldn't normally have been pissed that they filled the position, but the way the manager (a friend) spoke to me led me to believe I was a lock. Bad beat.

Speaking of locks, I locked up a couple of brags this week - care of my mother. I settled my Mexico plans for next may, thanks to my mother. The next day, today, she bought me a classy looking jacket. My family has never spent this much money on me at one time. Ever. I've always wondered what it must be like to have my family pay for something significant in my life. I always see it happen elsewhere. Now I know.

I'm really enjoying time these days with my soccer team, and my friends. I like the schedule of soccer. I don't always get to enjoy time with friends 3 days a week, but soccer is always goin on. And I'm still really enjoying coaching my team. Since the first 6 weeks of the soccer year, when I was struggling to make the right team, everything has been smooth, enjoyable, and completely successful. I guess that's the only confirmation I can have that I made the right team.

I've been selected to recruit and coach an all star team for my league, which will play against an all star team from another league. It's kinda cool to get chosen for that, and I'm in the midst of selecting the team right now. It's weird choosing players from teams I don't like. Fraternizing with the enemy almost. I can handle it. Every one of the 10 teams will have a player on the all star team I've decided. There's no rules or anything like that, the process is pretty open ended. I'll run one practice in victoria in the new year with the team, then play the all star game on January 9th. Apparently it isn't a volunteer position, and I'll be getting paid. Sick.

In the next few weeks I'm pretty busy. Work is consistent, soccer will start to taper a little, and I'll have plenty of family related obligations to fill/enjoy. The one guarantee is that I'll be well fed all month. I love that.

Tiger Tiger Woods y'all.

'The more I see, the less I like

Is it over yet?'

Stranger Things Have Happened

It's movember. Gross. Yet it's for a good cause. Growing a mustache to raise awareness of prostate cancer. Stranger things have happened I suppose.

Making for a good segue, my brother is coming to town tomorrow. He had a ridic mustache last year. It'll be nice to see him. I haven't seen him since July, and I haven't seen his son or fiancee since the spring. Yeah, way too long.

I'll be spending most of my weekend in Victoria. I've been in victoria the last 3 weeks, and the hour and a half drive is pretty easy at this point. My U21 team has been playing on the road in Vic for the past 3 weeks, and we have 2 more weeks there to go. They've been playing well. We're unbeaten at 5-0, and atop the league standings. One of the parents started a fan website for the team. You can check it out here.

COD:MW2 is coming out in 3 days. For all you non gamers who are out of the loop, that's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The hype is pretty huge for this thing. Not just with me. The youtube community watched the trailer more than any other video a few days ago. You can see the trailer here. I've been really excited to get this game since I heard it was coming out, like a year ago. On tuesday it comes out, and I'll be out there getting it hopefully.

I have this stupid sickness that has been steadily growing for a few weeks. It's reached it's worst point in the last few days. I wish I could just get good and sick, and get it over with. At least that would be better than feeling without energy for a week, then getting a nasal cold for a week, then a sore throat, and so on. It hasn't stopped me from working, coaching, or anything like that.

I'm in the process of booking my may trip to mexico for my brother's wedding. I'll kind of be relieved when it's all booked and taken care of, then I can relax about it. It's going to be an amazing experience, although I'm keeping pretty low key about it. I've never been to an exotic place before, and I'm not going to let expectations ruin anything for me. I'm sure it'll be a blasty blast, and I AM going to get pumped up for the fact that my bro is getting married. Good times with rings.

Other than this weekend with soccer and my brother coming to town, not much is new or remotely exciting.

Christmas is lurking. Really?

'Here's the hitch, your horse is leaving'

Storm In A Teacup

Woo crazy month.

I had kind of a hectic month. First off, I no longer have a computer. I got home one morning and it wouldn't turn on. After troubleshooting a bit, I took it in, only to find out that the cpu, motherboard, power supply, and video card were all shot. Woot. So no computer for me.

Second, my roommate's neglect for her dog - which created a semi-crisis in july - nearly got us all evicted a few weeks back. After we had the damage fixed, we were told we were allowed to stay - for how long? It was kind of an interesting process. It was the second landlord incident I've had in the 5 years I've lived on my own. The first was another fun little miscommunication back in 2005 - 1. we secure a house months in advance; 2. we prepare to move in; 3. landlord pulls out a day before, leaving me and saul stranded for a week.

The landlord process doesn't bother me. The fact that my current landlord cannot communicate properly with me is another issue. He doesn't speak english well at all. The problems that stem from that alone are pretty self explanatory.

The whole month wasn't hectic. Not having a computer may actually be a small blessing in disguise. A new years resolution of mine was to cut down on my screen time, and while a newly acquired tech device may set me back (the fabled PVR), not having a computer is giving me way more time to do other things.

Soccer is totally my life right now. I am in the coaching zone right now, and I stay awake at night trying to figure ways to make my perfect team more perfect. After 3 games (a very small season sample), we're perfect, and in first place.

I've also been playing a bunch, which is very therapeutic. Coaching all week, all I crave sometimes is to step in and play. Watching my team play, without lacing up cleats myself, may be one of the hardest parts of me taking up coaching. Anyway, a couple United teams have been using me for a few games. I've still got it!

Stream of consciousness, that a month off from blogging will create: Old buddies are back in town, and fall should be pretty fun with them. My parents are less than impressed with how I've been treating them, which is very similar to the way they treat me. I miss my brother more than I ever have, as he has almost become the new voice of reason in my family. I need to work more. I need a roommate. I need to take a snapshot of how I feel about coaching right now, as the feeling won't/can't last, and I'll be searching for it later.

See you in a month?

'Another loose cannon gone bipolar'