Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Hallelujah

38 days, 16 hours, 27 minutes and 21 seconds......until I get to take my annual trip out of our fair land for the warmer winds of the Northern Sahara........thank god.....

PS - This just in....best news I've heard in a long long time, too bad it is about 5 years too late!



{PPS - Even Better news....I forgot to mention my good bud Conroy is back in town - and he plays tonight in his old jersey - maybe he'll bring the green helmet back with him.....}

Monday, January 29, 2007

Monday blues

Well, it's monday and I am back at work - boo-urns. It always seems that I suddenly find myself wondering where in earth my weekend crept off to......but at least this way I am that much close to my trip to Tunisia....which I am a bit apprehensive about. I have no clue what I am doing there and I have no clue who I am going with, so it will be 2 weeks of long hours, speaking a couple different languages and trying to make the most of being on a new continent. But I digress....

The weekend was interesting - friday was awesome - Denise and I watched hours 1-4 of our new BBC miniseries Berkely Square - quite well done. Dinner was also yummy - we dined on Friday night Feasts courtesy of Sunterra Market - and I do believe that we will be repeating this event in a week or so - as we still have hours 5-10 to watch....we're so crazy!

Saturday was new as well - more scotch - yummy Glenfiddich to be precise, I am developing quite a taste for this fancy drink.....Sunday morning though was a bit difficult, note to self - not so much scotch next time.....

Then it was laundry time (something that should happen more often I think) and then it was 10:00 in the evening and I was gearing up for another episode of my Housewives - too bad it was a repeat.....next week though is new....After that I should have gone to bed but opted to stay up and watch 1/2 of a really cool movie I was previously unaware of - The Boondock Saints - for what I saw, it looks really interesting, maybe I can watch the rest tonight. I got to bed about 12:30 and slept peacefully until I had to wake up this morning. And what a chore it was - ughhhh, I am definately feeling the need for some normal amount of sleep - something that hasn't happened since France......

Work today is brutal - to start things out we are behind in our files, I've been chewed out a few times over the phone, chewed out by our receptionist who was having a meltdown, and had to endure "wedding talk" from a girl who came back to the office for a few weeks to help out - she now sits right next to me......really wonderful...as if I didn't have enough to make me want to have a mental breakdown , I now get to listen to her talk about her great fiancé and great wedding in august and how he proposed and how much she loves her ring, blah, blah, blah......

I think it's time for another scotch..scotch o'clock if you will (KQ that one's for you!)


PS - I found this on the St. Andrew's website - recognize anyone?

Friday, January 26, 2007

Where in the World

I had a heck of a time finding a picture for today - this in fact was not my first choice, but it is good nonetheless.......good luck!


Thursday, January 25, 2007

Robbie Burns



In Honour of my very favourite Scottish Poet (and author of our dear New Years Song - Auld Lang Syne), and in celebration of His Birthday...I present to you one of his most beloved poems....

A Red, Red Rose

O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare-thee-weel, my only Luve!
And fare-thee-weel, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' 'twere ten thousand mile!
"Slàinte mhòr agad!" and "Mar sin leibh an dràsda."

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Update

I tried to write a posting at lunch today - it was quite good I thought, unfortunately blogger was down so it was deleted......very sad - but I digress....

Monday was of course my Robbie Burns Dinner at the Drop in Centre downtown. It went very well, Robert (our president) tells me that we served more than 800 people! We are even trying to have it classified as a world record - wish us luck.....This dinner was really great, but sad that that many people needed to come and eat such a yummy meal free of charge.....The meal itself was delicous, roast beef and mashed potatoes with gravy, carrots and turnips and to top it all off was the best Haggis money can buy - from MacEwan Meats on Elbow near Southland....Haggis itself is tasty and not at all gross as most think. Traditionally it is cooked in a stomach (the gross part) but nowadays they use a sausage casing, which of course is not eaten.....so essentially it tastes of stuffing mixed with bits of roast beef in it- yummy!

Yesterday was a brute of a day, stupidity reigned in the morning as I spoke with lender after lender about filling in forms properly - it really isn't that difficult, honestly! The afternoon was more or less okay, I was quite happy when I got to leave, but then of course I had numerous errands to run and that took me most of the evening.

Today was not too bad, tea o'clock came often, but cheesie o'clock was nowhere to be seen, which was just fine with me. SPINII was down all afternoon so we basically did clean up and filed - easy stuff - and because we were feeling so lethargic KQ and I decided to skip class tonight - currently I am sitting in my jammies, watching another episode of Pilot Guides (the Arab world) and eating some dinner. Tomorrow our class is going to be the worst ever, we are going over the aforementioned SPIN II (Alberta Land Titles website accessed by KQ and I about 50 times a day) and learning about how to look up land titles....I think we may explain to our crazy prof that we could in fact teach the class, and therefore are of no need of a tutorial....let's hope we can get out of it!

Tomorrow is also Robbie Burns day - officially, so watch for a positing featuring the work of the Greatest Scot Poet...perhaps I shall weat a kilt in honnor of such an auspicious day!

Newsflash....I just heard that Walker Texas Ranger Season 2 is now available on DVD.....

Monday, January 22, 2007

What in the World

Courtesy of KQ.....



For our What in the World promotion today I have a special guest for you to meet.



May I introduce Bachelor #1...



Bachelor # 1 is a North American Scorpio, he enjoys long walks along swampy terrain, munching on salads and sports a 3 foot long crest on his head.



Who am I?



KQ's rules apply here as she is the judge of your answers.......check your spelling, and for goodness sakes make sure you give either his common name or scientific name!

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Christmas in January?

Quite the weekend I tell you.....After my Friday evening in homage to my good bud Robbie I had a great coffee date with Megs, we drank our starbucks, perused the shops - Honey B's to be exact, which by the way is my new favourite store (after Ikea and H&M of course), and purchased my secret santa gifts for Saturday evening. It was so nice not to work on a saturday, I actually got to take advantage of the fact that I live in a great neighbourhood. Afterwards I packed up and headed out to the mountains.

I haven't been to Kananaskis since I was a kid, but I don't think it changed much - it is still beautiful, and the air is just wonderful - the mountians are fantastic. The hotel is also quite nice, our rooms were great - really large, and the dinner, host bar, and brunch the next day weren't half bad either.

I tried to play the part of fabulous person staying in a posh hotel, I arrived with my rolling lugage and Harrods bag, hair pulled up decked out with a lovely wide black headband, dressed in black H&M pants, a black cashmere turtleneck and black sunglasses....very celebrity in hiding I'm told. In any case I did enjoy myself.......the company was great, although I did have to sit with patronizing IT guy from Toronto, but my other tablemates certainly made up for the fact. My secret santa gift turned out to be a bottle of wine, lovely but I don't drink wine, I drink scotch...so I will have to change my tastes I suppose....Cam's gift was chocolate pens that you use to draw sexy messages on someone.....quite the gifts!

I can't believe my weekend is over already, but at least tomorrow I have another Robbie Burns dinner, this time at the Drop In Centre, drums, complete with pipes and drums - I can't wait....

Saturday, January 20, 2007

WO and Officer's Mess

Well tonight was the Warrant Officer's and Officer's Mess Robbie Burns Dinner - I am not sure if that is the actual name for the dinner but in any case it was the Highlanders Regiment that put on a dinner in honnor of our favourite scottish poet - Robbie Burns!

The evening was really lovely, except for the fact that I looked like the living dead. At one point I excused myself to the ladies room only to discover that my face was the colour of my living room curtains (ps - they are quite white) and my eyes after done them quite dark, also looked quite interesting - perhaps it was just the lighting, or perhaps I am truly the whitest non-albino this side of the himalayas and am desperately in need of some sun - I think I should discontiue the use of sunscreen on a daily basis, it just isn't the look I am going for these days......

But I digress, back to the evening. I showed up, in my 3 inch heels, my fancy floor length black chiffon gown and tartan sash, magically ran into Jen and was introduced to my tablemates for the evening - might I add that our table was very fabulously located. The evening progressed, men in kilts paraded around - and I might amend that previous statement with the phrase " in uniform" that's right ladies - men in kilts, in regimental uniform. It made me long to go back into the military - screw the achilles tendon - I think I belong there.....anyways..... dinner was delicious - haggis even! and the entertainment was out of this world. I have never, ever heard pipers and drummers like that before, it gave me chills and goosebumps! Plus, all the scotch I drank seemed to lull me into happiness as I gazed around at the kilts, and listened to the aforementioned drums and pipers. I have said it once and I will say it again....there is nothing better than a man in a kilt - and if you happen to have a lovely glass of scotch in hand - all the better!

Now I am sitting in my living room, in my gown and sash, randomnly typing away at a blog post I will most likely cringe at tomorrow and thinking I should header to bed.....tomorrow is coffee with Megs, shopping for secret santa gifts, picking up my car from my mother's (I couldn't drive due to the scotch), packing and a drive to kananaskis for another party - ughhhh, sounds very busy.......k, I gotta go to bed,
Slainte!

Friday, January 19, 2007

Where in the World

Here we go again..... A Historical one if you will......for Cynthia - but I need the exact location - not just the country or city.....
When it was first built.... and how it appears today.....

PS - stay tuned for Monday - KQ has decided to host a What in the World to stump you all......


Thursday, January 18, 2007

Huh, it's been a while

I just realized that I haven't posted since monday - not very good of me, is it? In any case, I've had an interesting week. Lunch today with Denise and KQ, yummy yummy fig jam with brie and baked apple......I should "do lunch" more often I think....Tonight I had class #2 - aka the easiest class ever. Tonight we discussed geological formations, according to a formations chart - self explanatory I think. But the funniest thing ever was the point in the class when KQ broke out the dinosaur info.....Our prof was going on about time periods such as Quaternary (which KQ had to help out with the pronunciation) and the "Era" on the chart ie: Cretacious, Jurasic etc.... she continued with an example about the movie Jurasic Park and how it was inproperly named. She even went as far as saying that there were no dinosaurs during that time period - to which KQ had to interupt and set her straight...and then she told the class about how there really isn't a dinosaur called a Brontosaurus as that was a falsity and has since been corrected. It was the best thing I had even seen. She was in her prime! Way to go KQ - that's why we love you, and your dinosaur knowledge!!!! I laughed myself silly!

Afterwards we were given a handout about the SPINII Alberta Land Titles website which KQ and I broke out into hysterics as we normally use SPIN about 50 times a day to find titles - needless to say we are going to have a very boring class next week.....

Tomorrow brings Where in the World - and something new....."What in the World - dedicated to our very own KQ" As well as a Scottish Ball in homage to Robbie Burns and a Christmas Party in Kananaskis for Job #1......So for now I am finishing off Pilot Guides (the Arab Peninsula), starting Ugly Betty and waiting for Grey's - it's a TV night for me!

PS - a special note to Matt, we are all thinking of you and your family.......

Monday, January 15, 2007

Sweet Mother of God II

You guys know me so well!!!!! I have been bombarded with phone calls and emails about my favourite clothing store opening it's doors in Calgary in the spring 2007.......

Thanks guys!

I had heard that they were coming - but I thought I would have to wait until 2008... previously I have had to shop in other cities, Montreal, Toronto, Europe to get my H & M fix, I have even taken to bribing people to go shopping for me when they travel - Cam, Heather, Wendy......Now, the only mystery is just where in the city the store is going to go.....

Normally H &M is a multi - leveled store... in fact I have never seen a store occupying just one floor, and since Calgary is home to the largest Ikea in the world (my favourite home store) one might assume that the H & M would be similarly structured....but we all know what happens when one assumes things........ In any case I have heard speculation about Market Mall (which I hope is false), Chinook (equally as crappy in my opinion) Signal Hill (close to job #2) and my old stomping grounds Southcentre (close to job #1)....If you hear of any gossip (dates, confirmed location etc) let me know so I can plan accordingly,

Anyhoo, I am ecstatic and I am biding my time until I can shop at my leisure, although I do have an upcoming trip to Montreal in a couple months so I am not quite sure what to do - Montreal has sales tax and we luckily do not, we'll just have to see how patient I am I suppose.

Other than the big H&M news I had been having a horrid day - I was wearing ill fitting (obviously not H&M) pants, a wrinkly shirt, and I forgot to wear mascara so needless to say I had no real eyeballs to speak of.... I don't know what I was thinking when I left the house this morning, most likely not about my appearance. Now however I am at home, eating Jane's chicken and an avocado, watching Lawrence of Arabia on TCM -a classic I have yet to acutally finish watching - so I think I shall get some tea and snuggle into my plaid blanket and lounge on my chaise couch....

Night!

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Sweet Mother of God!

So I am sure we are all aware of my most favouritist celebrity couple ever moving to the States... I am refering to Posh and Becks of course! Becks with his cheek bones and I do love Posh, I love her style, her wackyness, I even loved her in Spice World....I know, I know, but I can't help it - I'm a spice girls fanatic! Anyhoo, I was informed of this wonderous happening by Horatio (not his real name) at work - to which I replied with a huge smile on my face - Really???? Awesome!!!

So now I get to look forward to more Posh in the our news......even though I am sure I will still be buying my fav brit mag - OK!

What else to tell you guys???? Oh, went shopping with Rae on sat night, we ended up in Falconridge at Bahtia Cloth House - bought some lovely skirts for Tunisia and A cute Indian top....and then ate ourselves silly at the Bombay Sweet House...mmmmmmmm.... and then hit up shoppers for another spree - quite fun indeed! I got home, watched my fav scots redecorating some hideous home in scotland and then went to bed, only to be woken up at 1:45 by a Miss KQ landing on me - she arrived home from the bar with Heather's keys and wanted to share her french fries with me - thus the wake up call...we laughed ourselves silly and then promptly fell asleep....

Today I cleaned my house, ate a yummy breakfast, chatted with Heather's friend...watched my scot boys again, drank oodles of tea.....rearranged my storage room, watched the Pats's game - GO PATS!- and cooked a fabulous dinner for Cam, Heather and I - quite yummy! So now everyone has gone home - or to work and I just finished watching my good bud Nigella - she makes such amazing stuff... I think that will be my next cookbook purchase, that and Jamie Oliver I think - what is with me and Brits? I swear I was born on the wrong continent......

Anyways, I gotta jet, I must shower and then watch my housewives at 10 - night!

Friday, January 12, 2007

Where in the World?

Okay, here we go again, it isn 't too hard. I'll let everyone guess and then I'll post the correct answer some time tonight..... No clues this time

So impatient

I have no clue why but I am wicked imatient tonight.....I was fine at work, I thought I was doing quite well, as a matter of fact the day flew by very quickly. KQ and I went to school after work and all I could think is that this is a huge freakin' waste of my time.

I know the DLS like the back of my hand, I could have taught that section...but I had to sit through it and wait 2.5 hours while she blathered on and on about legal descriptions and the people in the class didn't see to get it - why? I have no clue, it is very easy, but then again I've been doing this everyday since August... I guess I need to calm down a bit and give people a chance to learn, but really - shouldn't they be reading the text before they get to class? I guess that is why you do not need a university degree to get into the course. I will try to be more patient, I really will, but I wish that I could have just been at home in my pjs drinking tea and chillin' on the couch......at least Grey's is new tonight!

Oh, and enough already with the damn cold weather!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Confederation Helvetia

Well today is somewhat of a special anniversary for me....it is been exactly 7 years since I set out on my own to conquer the country known as Switzerland. It was quite intense my visit jaunt out to the continent....but I am very glad that I did go and feed my obsession with European adventure. So thanks to all who came to that airport party with me those 7 years ago, I am still amazed that I was delayed those 6 long hours.....in any case I got there.

Oh, and making her debut on the blogging world is my new "niece"

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

No more Italian for us!

I cannot wait a moment longer to tell you all about my dinner experience last night. Megan and I were goin to go to La Viena (across the street) but sadly they were not open on Mondays, so we decided to go to La Breza in Bridgeland. Not a good idea...the meal was quite nice, I really enjoyed it, and even had a lovely leftover lunch today, but the unexpected dinner company was really quite exceptional, but in a bad way....

First we got a bit lost because I switched the street and avenue, but after a few phone calls and a dilema of where to seat us in the near empty restaurant we sat down an d ordered drinks. Everything was going well, we were perusing the menu and chatting away when a very crazy man took a fancy to us and decided to engage us in some wacky conversation about this cold weather phenomenon we have here in Calgary called winter, and about the menu, fun stuff!

Further into the evening we were brought free brushetta complete with him offering us the basket of bread - two times - we therefore spent the balance of the night trying to blend into the wall so our friend didn't come back for some more - although he did tell us several times that we were pretty and thanked us for coming in.


Funny thing is that the last time Megs and I - and Heather went out for dinner we had a very similar experience at a different italian restaurant....note to self, stop going Italian and perhaps we can avoid the crazy men...At least the dinner table company was lovely!

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

It's a Girl!

AHHHHHHHHH, this is a very good week thus far!!!!!! I just got a call from my good bud Mrs. Cynthia in the Hat, aaaaand they are having a girl!!!!! I am so excited, now I get to buy all sorts of cute little plaid dresses, shoes, and various other wicked fun stuff!!!!

YEAH!!!!!!!!

Monday, January 8, 2007

Holy smokes!

Good things happen at the end of the day..... Thats my new theory.

My boss pulled me into his office this afternoon to tell me that I got another promotion! Wicked! How nice is that, pretty nice I think. So I'm off to dinner with Megs to celebrate that among other things.

Adios!

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Once again...

I don't know why I do this to myself.....I book my weekend so full of stuff that I can hardly rest, but honestly who am I kidding?????? I LOVE it, and I would never change it. I have had such a lovely weekend.

Not only did I have a some drinks and a wicked games night with Trav and Andrea (fresh from Kiwi land) where I did my best to kick the boys' butts on Scene it (we ended freakin' tying with the buggers.....) but after work yesterday (where I sipped my wonderfully delicious Cinnamon Dolce Latte courtesy of Mr. McFebruary) I had a great visit with my wonderful friends Rachel and Colleen (fresh from Montreal) last night over some yummy starbucks, but today I have a movie with Mrs. Ronnalie, and tomorrow I have further dinner plans with my buddy Megs.....of the blog fame. Right now however I am in the midst of a complete apartment cleanup as it is a bloddy mess and I am sick of having such a disorganzied life....I should have made that another resolution.....PS - Miss KQ I loved your comment, you never fail to make me smile! Anyhoo, back to it, I've got How NOT to decorate (gotta love those scots, they do such lovely work) on the tele (brit talk for television) but I am still in my PJs and sleep socks, frantically putting together shelves, re setting up my computer, unpacking my suitcase, taking down the Christmas decorations and the like. Phew, I am tired just thinking of it all.......

Well, I suppose that is it for the time being, to those of you who have to go back to school tomorrow, I feel for you, I really do......Good Luck!

Friday, January 5, 2007

GOLDEN HAT TRICK






CANADA BEATS RUSSIA FOR THEIR THIRD STRAIGHT GOLD MEDAL IN THE WORLD JUNIORS TOURNAMENT!!!!

Where in the World

Today's Where in the World comes courtesy of our friend Cam - otherwise known as "B"....this one is very tricky....and the only clue that I am giving is that is very fitting for today that he chose this picture!

Good Luck! HAHAHAHA (insert evil laugh here!)


Thursday, January 4, 2007

Hi ho Hi ho, it's off to school I go....

So last night Miss KQ and I headed up to SAIT for our second class in the series of 6 Land Admin stuff - this one is called Mineral Lease Documentation (fun stuff!).....it went quite well, my prof (or teacher, whatever term you enjoy most) is really lovely, she isn't really at all boring to listen to, and she actually explains things to you - quite the difference from the U of C profs that I am so used to - this one seems like like she cares if we pass - amazing I tell you!

Yesterday I was shot in each the arm - with needles, one with Typhoid and one with Hep A/B, that and the tetanus and diptheria 2 weeks ago I am basically teeming with disease as I ready myself for Tunisia (T-64 DAYS). Oh, and also I booked my flights to Montreal and found out that I am flying Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca and then onto Tunis, then a 7 hour long car / bus trip to Nefta. I think I will be quite tired after all of that. I am quite sad though that I won't be setting foot on the continent of Europe this year.

What else to report? I still hate my car, work is work, housesitting is almost finished, and I am really looking forward to gettting home, and cleaning, and not living out of a suitcase....although this house is very nice, and I do love the Bolivers, I need my stuff and some different clothes.....

Oh, before I forget, tomorrow is Where in the World, and there is a small surprise, so watch for it and put your thinking caps on... I have a feeling that this is going to be quite difficult.

Monday, January 1, 2007

Resolution time

Everyone seems to have the same sort of resolutions each year, none of them seem to pan out, so although I secretly have the norm on my list here are some more that I will actually endeavour to keep. Here goes nothin'
  1. Smile more, and mean it, aka be happier - and this I will make an active effort to do so!
  2. Have better posture - I used to have wicked awesome ballet dancer posture, somehow over the years it as suffered a wee bit, it's not really that bad, I'm not a sloucher by any means, but it could use some improvement.
  3. Get more sleep
  4. Cook more at home - I have amazing cookbooks and I should freakin' use them
  5. Stop procrastinating
There we go, that's all for now.