Montreal Pics

Julie and Patrice in the Metro

Marie Reine Du Monde - Cathedral, Montreal

Tea time at the Queen Elizabeth

Tea time continued....

Pierre's arrival at Chez Martin...Watching Joanne's message - Chez MartinTunisia Photos - Chez Martin
Carlos and Me watching a Pig fly.... Chez Martin

Mt. Tremblant

Mt. Tremblant

Mt. Tremblant
Maple Sugar on a stick!!!!! MMMMMMM - I'm such a tourist

BFF club (minus Virginia) on Rue St. Denis


Julie and Patrice

Linda and Julie, boardwalk

Linda and Patrice - Ste. Catherines...

Montréal Part Deux

So now that I am home from my second Montreal trip in as many weeks I am definately feeling the withdrawl of travel.... It was so bad that I spent a good few minutes standing in front of Martin's house sobbing as I said good-bye to my fav Julie.... Normally I suck at saying goodbye, really I'm quite ridiculous, but lately I've been so good.... not monday night though... I totally lost my composure and thus ended up looking like a complete idiot.


The rest of the weekend though was great.... I arrived on saturday morning, totally exhausted, slept at Martin's house for a few hours then headed out with the BFF crew (minus Virginia) for some shopping and tea at the Queen Elixabeth Hotel.... Basically we dressed up in cute summer dresses, sat in a swanky tea lounge and laughed our way through afternoon tea.... afterwards we ran back to Martin's for the wine and cheese - said a quick hello, headed upstairs to change from tea time dress to party dress (aka jeans and a black tuxedo shirt), then back into the party.

I've never been to a wine and cheese, being that I am not such a fan of wine - so needless to say I wasn't sure what to expect..... What did happen though was Loc took over as host and decided that I was to have a full wine glass at every moment and proceeded to ply me with copious amounts of red wine... this coupled with the fact that my tea time meal wasn't very filling, and I didn't eat very much cheese lead me to feel quite happy throughout the night. End result - Linda realizes that wine tastes yummy.....

Sunday morning the new Mrs. Scorpio Husband (yes, that's right folks - I've been replaced...) woke up super early and thus as she moved about and talked downstairs I inevitably woke up and stumbled my way into the shower... Red Wine the next day isn't as nice as say - oh, I don't know, scotch perhaps..... Anyways - so showered and dressed I made my way down to the breakfast table, slid into place and croaked my good mornings. Being the lovely host that he is Martin brought me some coffee (thank god it was Starbucks and not - what I like to call hie regular Rocket Feul cleverly posing as coffee). The funny bit was that as he placed the steaming cup in front of me he happily and proudly proclaimed "Vive la Québec Libre!" and set down his most prized fleur de lis decorated mug.... gotta love those seperatists....

After my morning coffee, we jumped into the super car and drove off in search of Julie (j'adore Julie) and up north to St. Sauver and Mt. Tremblant... which PS was wicked fun, I even got to partake in a semi cabane au sucre with some maple syrup crystalized on a stick!!! I'm such a tourist! After this we drove back down to Laval, got dressed for dinner and sped off into the night to see his mom and wish her a Happy Birthday... I tried to class it up, wearing my majorica pearl earings, my bejeweled cross and some kiss ass heals with my black wrap dress... funny enough the restaurant wasn't as fancy as I thought but it all turned out alright as Jocelyne (Martin's mom) and I are now BFF... we laughed all night, discussed life and her son, drank more wine (white this time) and made plans for me to visit some again - his Dad and I have a date for a drink of scotch... the cutest part of the evening was however when his 8 year old niece presented me with a lovely scene of me riding a horse, she is just precious....

Monday came too early and we met up with Julie and Patrice for some yummy brunch on Rue St. Denis followed by a lovely walking tour of Ste. Catherine's and the the old town. Julie and I got sunburnt (I now have the image of a cross burned into my chest), but loved every minute of it as we basked in the sun, sipping our iced cappucinos and people watching in the old town.

Dinner was next and then I had to say my goodbyes as I jetted off to the airport... 4 hours later I was at home and sad that I had left Montreal again... this time not sure when I would make it back....

Upon arriving home in cowtown I was greeted at the airport with a smile, a hug, and a beautiful bouquet of flowers to celebrate my 10 1/2 year anniversary... HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CAM!!

So there we go, another trip, another tale.....

Yikes!

Uh, I just logged onto my account to pay some bills and was not so impressed with my bank balance. Last week I had a meal commitment almost everyday - some days I even had 2! then I went shopping at H&M (I had to) - PS, I am also extremely unimpressed with our new H&M, it isn't big enough, the selection friggin' sucks and, and - anyways back to the bank story... plus I have bought several western canadian things to prove my western canadian pride (aka steak, wine, and cheese) on my upcoming trip to Montreal (in 3 days!!) - but yikes, thank god my last raise is retro-active to april.....

What else to tell you all about - oh yeah, currently I am skipping class - as per usual, but I am getting some stuff done around the house, but earlier I was watching the Gilmore Girls Series Finale - soooo sad, well I thought it was sad, I basically cried my way through it. I never really watched it religiously like some of my friends did, but it was a great show, very witty and clever, full of fantastic vocabulary - I think we all know that I love a good vocabulary, and basically it was just plain cute and entertaining! Sadly, their time was over, there was no sappy ending, no crying, no futuristic insight into the happenings throughout the rest of their lives (darn it all !!), but rather - a shot of Rory and Lorelei eating at Lukes before Rory hops her plane to her new job as a campaign reporter. Quite typical of the emotional atmosphere that we have all come to love and expect from our two favourite Gilmore Girls.

That being said, I am still sad, and I still look a bit of a freak - mascara running down my cheeks and all! However, it is time to buck up (that one's for you Cam !!) and get back to cleaning up my life, and my apartment and get going tonight!

So, for now I bid you all adieu - Adieu!

40 things

Forty Things About Yourself

1. Is that your natural hair color?
nope, the red isn't the blond isn't, the dark brown isn't, the other red isn't and even the other red isn't... naturally it is a medium brown

2. Where was your default pic taken?
At the Highland Games in Canmore last fall

3. What's your middle name?
Ivy

4. Your current relationship status?
in a relationship

5. Honestly, does your crush like you back?
pretty sure

6. What is your current mood?
sick

7.What color underwear are you wearing?
gray

8.What makes you happy?
travelling, sleeping, laughing

9. How old do you want to be?
25 is perfect actually

10. If you could go back in time, and change something what would it be?
oh, lots of things, perhaps the whole tearing my achilles tendon thing really sucked, but honestly - no clue, eveything that has happened has lead to happier things in my life, so I'll leave things be.

11. If you MUST be an animal for ONE day- what would you be?
A bird is a very good idea

12. Ever had a near death experience?
no, not yet

13. Something you do a lot?
complain

14. What's the name of the song stuck in your head right now?
lady sovereign - love me or hate me

15. Who did you copy and paste this from?
Ruksana

16. Name someone with the same b-day as you?
Leo Tolstoy, Hugh Grant, Rachel Hunter, Adam Sandler, Michelle Williams

17. When was the last time you cried?
Last month I think

18. Have you ever sung in front of a large audience?
no, thank god

19. If you could have one super power what would it be?
I enjoy flying

20. What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
their eyes

21. What do you usually order from Starbucks?
Grande sugar free vanilla, non fat latte....

22. Whats your biggest secret?
hmmm, I don't think I should tell you.

23. What's your favorite color?
black

24. When was the last time you lied?
today

25. Do you still watch kiddy movies or TV show?
who doesn't love a good Disney Movie?

27. What are you eating or drinking at the moment?
cheese from the cheese store with crackers.....mmmm and a perrier

28. Do you speak any other language?
many

29. What's your favorite smell?
bath and body works lotions, my famous scones baking, fragonard cologne (concierto)

30. If you could describe life in one word what would it be?
Busy

31. When was the last time you gave/received a hug?
today

32. Have you ever been kissed in the rain?
for sure

33. What are you thinking about right now?
that I feel sick and I want something warm to drink

34. What should you be doing?
cleaning my room

35. What was the last thing that made you upset?
oh, that's a secret

36. How often do you pray?
depends

37. Do you like working in the yard?
not at all

38. If you could have any last name in the world, what would you want?
Spencer pretty much rules, but Windsor would be nice

39. Name 5 things in your closet.
clothes, purses, shoes, books, picture frames

40. Do you act different around your crush?
not at all, I'm my usual ridiculous self

MOM

Today's post is of course dedicated to the Moms out there... you guys are fantastic..... and today is just for you!!!

So for you mom - here it is; Love ya lots, you - who are always there for me, always willing to get up at ridiculous times to drive me / pick me up from the airport and especially because you are always super excited for no matter what I decide to do with my life.... namely:

join the military, move to switzerland, change my major, move to montreal, move to france, surprise you by coming home for a week from france, fly to europe for a week, graduate, buy a car, get an apartment (that you found for me!), get a new job, take off to tunisia, take off to montreal, etc etc etc....

Well there we go, but I should mention that I am also wishing a great day to my friends who do double duty as moms...

PS - Cynthia, I hope you guys get to have a great day with little Sam, give her a kiss for me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

I know I'm late posting this, but I did wish the birthday girl a happy birthday much much earlier in the day - I swear!!!

But anyways - I know you're birthday was full of meetings and presentations, and we didn't even get a chance to stop by our new fav store H&M, but I hope your day was great - cuz you're great!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN

HAHA 250 posts!!!! And a trip to Montreal

Well, well, well here we are 250 posts... not too bad in a little over a year.... but anyhoo, I have Montreal stuff to talk about.... here we go, let's give you the run down of the weekend...

Friday morning got up bright and early - 4 am to be exact - repacked a bit, got dressed, dropped by my local starbucks for a lovely coffee, got my butt to the airport, boarded my flight to super fabulous edmonton - yuck! Arrived in edmonton, found out that my connecting flight was 45 minutes delayed - stupid edmonton.... got back on a new flight to Montreal, arrived in Montreal, was picked up in the craziest, coolest, car ever.

No, seriously, it was fantastic - have you ever been in a car that everyone stared at when you drove by? Well, this is what I experienced everytime we went out. Anyways, as we drove home my fake Montreal husband demonstrated the engine capabilites of my new weekend car... so cool!

Upon arriving chez Martin, I took a quick nap as I was super tired, got up, ate a lovely dinner - barbque chicken souvlaki, rice, salad (super yummy vinegrette) - thank you Martin! got ready for our evening plans - said SALUT to super Julie when she arrived - j'adore Julie! Jumped into our sweet ride, and sped off to downtown Montreal. Now, this is the cool part of the weekend.... We went out to a club, I think it was called - electric avenue - but whatever, the name doesn't matter - the part that matters is that the music in this club was purely 80's and 90's... AWESOME!!!! We basically danced the night away, plus SUPER CARLOS came out and we danced just liek he promised... PS - Carlos, you are an awesome dancer!!!!

After dancing for hours, we made our way out of the club, deaf and tired, jumped back into the super car.... drove home, fell into bed around 3:30 / 4 am.... woke up the next day at noon, rolled out of bed, drank Toxic Rocket Fuel coffee.... seriously Martin - your coffee is crazy!! ate yummy eggs and bacon from the barbque - got dressed and headed back out for Linda and Martin's day of fun! (did we all get that reference???) Originally we decided to go to the Universite de Montreal, to check out the old stompin' ground... but we didn't quite back it, instead we stopped off at L'oratoire St. Joseph and then off to the Ile de Notre Dame and around Montreal.... but really, I just enjoyed the looks we got from everyone we passed by in the car.... a real head turner! I really did feel like quite the princess...it was freakin' awesome....

Anyhoo, back at home I had a shower, took a nap, said hello to Julie again - J'adore Julie!! Ate another delicious dinner, this time it was barbque salmon, rice, spinach and salad... quite gourmet I tell you!! watched a hilarious movie about a guy wanting to be an eskimo - what was the name of it again Martin? And headed out again for a party at Audrey's house.... apparently it was a costume party.. dress up like you childhood hero... we did not get that email... thus we were not dressed up, Carlos came as Clark Kent, quite awesome! So we danced, and drank, and danced, and drank and finally got home and into bed at 5 am! Ridiculous I tell you!!!

Woke up the next day at noon - again, not feeling so hot.... couldn't stomach the thought of cooking, so we decided to hit up Macdo - ate our big macs and fries and drove northwards.... arrived in a cute little town, and as Martin was showing me the sights I had a thought... why were we here? When I asked he informed me that we were going to visit his parents! Sweet - my fake inlaws.... me looking super beautiful, hung over, sans proper make-up, without a nice outfit... not that I should be worried about meeting my fake inlaws, but I did have a mini meltdown in my head. In the end it was great, they turned out to be fantastic people, suepr friendly, funny and so sweet, I love my new fake inlaws, and I get to see them again when I go back to Montreal in 2 weeks.... awesome!!!

So, after dinner (what Martin and I could stomach) we raced back to his house, I packed and we raced off to the airport..... and thus ends my weekend of fun! Short, but sweet and great fun! Thank god I'm going back in 2 weeks... can't wait!

PS - thanks for everything Martin!

A post for the sake of posting

I've been commanded to write something.... I guess most of you are annoyed logging into the same old post - so here goes nothin'
I leave for Montreal at 7 am tomorrow (aka I am getting up at 4 am)... sucks I know, but it should be fun - I hope... although I do have a 1 hour layover in good ol' Edmonton - I might try to hold my breath for the hour... don't want to inhale the stench that is Edmonton.....

Once I arrive in Montreal I have a bit of time before I can be picked up at the airport. Not too bad, then at least we get to go party... the rest of the weekend follows suit, parties and whatnot....

Last night however, was a gong show, Eleni and I met up chez moi, exploded my wardrobe all over my bed and room.... had a fashion show, complete with shoes and jewelry and a drive down to Eleni's to find some more accesories.... good times, loads of laughs... apparently I am quite the comic... just kidding !

Today the gong show continued. As our boss is away on vacation we have free reign over the office to be as ridiculous as possible, and we take advantage... laughing and basically being idiots all day long... good times, good times.... we even made it out (Eleni, Crystal and I) to the Mall for a lunchtime shopping spree in the rain.... spent a bit too much, but what are ya goin' do?


After work was more errands and now I am trying to pack, watch tv and write this post all at the same time - boy am I amazing!!! hahaha

Ok, really I'm writing to appease my audience, but I have nothing to say.....

Things I don't like about today

Today was not fun, I won't lie, in fact despite wearing my new cute jeans to work it was so not fun that I am currently at home, sitting in my PJs on the couch skipping class because I am no unimpressed with everything... let me list what led to this conclusion

1. Too many files in the file queue when I got to work, too tired from yesterday's rush to work hard
2. Eyeball feels weird so I had to rush off to Job #2 to have it checked out
   
3. Got back from appointment at Job #2, spent entire lunch hour driving
   
4. Had shouting match on the phone with evil CIBC lender.... and it was HIS mistake!
5. Got the munchies too many times
6. Started to drive home, got call from KQ, decided that didn't want to go to class if I had to sit alone
   
7. Visited Condo office in Kensington, found out that condos are $500,000 - aka waaaay too much for Linda to purchase....
8. Came home, put PJs on, got munchies again, watched crap re-run of JAG, decided that today officially sucks.....
9. Thought to myself, my apartment is a friggin' mess... aaaand I have ironing to do, boo-urns!!!

This post isn't that interesting to read, but sadly it reflects quite accurately my current mood... sorry guys....

Oh, one nice thing about today Eleni made me a super yummy iced greek frappe coffee... thanks chica!

A thought

Tonight, whilst lounging in my new super hot jeans I was watching bits of the Lord of the Rings movie... not sure which one, but one of them, and anyways Liv Tyler is of course in these movies and her appearnace started a train of thought through my brain - let me enlighten you...

1. Saw Liv Tyler
2. Made me think of Steven Tyler
3. Made me think of songs by Aerosmith
4. Made me think of songs by Aerosmith and movies in which Liv Tyler appears
5. Made me think of Armageddon
6. Made me think of scene in said movie in which Space ship and Space station blow up in spectacluar explosion complete with fireballs
7. Made me think that fire requires oxygen to be possible
8. Remembered that there is no - or maybe very very little - oxygen in space

So, maybe I'm ridiculous, but maybe someone who is a little bit more into the space knowhow can clear this up for me.... how on earth (well, I guess how in space....hahaha) can a space station and space ship blow up with explosions and fireballs if there is no oxygen in space?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

To my lovely, cake decorating, glasses adjusting, outlander reading friend Jen.... Happy Birthday to you, hope your day was wonderful!

Shop-o-rama

Yesterday Eleni and I participated, on what I can only describe as a shop-o-rama. After Job #2, we met up at Chinook and walked, and shopped, and walked, and shopped. I am not a big shopper, I think we all know that, but yesterday we did a marathon. I guess because it wasn't mindless shopping but rather we were on a mission. I had to get some new stuff for Montreal, and Eleni and I really had to spend some quality time together.

In the end, we did find everything I needed, including JEANS! Yes, jeans, and I made a new friend for life - Duane at the Gap, love him, found me awesome jeans, and in a size smaller than I thought I would wear...lovely guy that Duane! We also made a stop at Spring (aka Transit) for some adorable black wedge heels, and a cute of the shoulder black shirt from Jacob. We also spent endless amounts of time looking for a damn plum coloured cardigan.... we never did find it, but we did have a good time asking shop people if they had any.... One girl, she was priceless, after we asked, she basically stared at us, tilted her head and asked " ummmm, can you describe it to me???" Quite, the scholar I can assure you..... We did end up with a dark lilac coloured cardigan, after some pretty funny sizing malfunctions (ps, medium, large and extra large all are the same size.... go figure)

Afterwards we fell into our chairs at Moxies, devoured our deliciouse Tandoori Salmon Salad - sooooo yummy - and popped over to the Comesy club to end out Linda and Eleni's day of fun! Comics were alright, the MC was decent, the second guy was pretty weak, but the Headliner made me laugh... the company wasn't half bad either!

When I got home, I played dressup for a while, I won't lie, it was fun... and finally went to bed, only to wake up at 11 am this morning, apparently I was quite tired.

PS - Whilst shopping around in Zara, I ran into a lovely suprise.... Snoop!!!! How awesome... plus she was with her mom and sister....Best shopping day ever, love you oodles snoop!

The Return of Where in the World

Alright friends, here we go.... inspired by my facebook conversations....

I know I know, I got totally sucked in...

SO Facebook, yep, that's the big new thing.... and I totally got sucked into it. I did find oodles of people I went to elementary school with, which was great - it is so nice to see all my old friends... but really, it is quite addicting and I am kinda mad at myself for joining, but at the same time happy... what the hell is wrong with me?

In other news, I am leaving for Montreal in 1 week.... awesome. I can't wait. I haven't been to Montreal in like 6 years, well that's not true, I was there right before I left for Tunisia, for a few hours.. and I did have great fun, but, this time I get to spend more than a few hours and I have 2.5 days to chill, go (i know, i know, Linda in the clubs - well yes in cities other than Calgary I do go out).... Plus I was promised a dance by Carlos, if I made it back to Montreal, and voila, I'll be there conveniently enough for a friday and a saturday night. So, I'll be getting up bright and early to catch a plane to the east and sipping lattes in my fav Quebec city by friday afternoon....

Tomorrow is KQ's farewell lunch... ordered in from Earls... I'm having the chicken and brie sandwich (w/ apples and fig jam), and I've been looking forward to it for days...

But, back to my smallville I guess

Evolution of Dance

Funny Stuff

A Juice adventure

People who are miserable make me very annoyed. If you are miserable, please do not take it out on me. I am in no way part of your misery, I did not make you create the situation you are in... you did that all by yourself.... If you are wondering exactly what I am talking about, let me tell you.... I popped by my local Jugo Juice to get some wheatgrass juice as the one at Southcentre was out of comission (the juicing machine that is ) and the one at Glenmore Landing was somehow closed for today only, and anyways I asked for a shot of juice and got this, what I can only describe as a death glare... apparently she didn't want to make me some - even though it is her job.... the other lady who worked there (probably the owner) stepped in, smiled at me and politely asked me single or double.... but wow, that was uncalled for.

In any case, I shot my wheatgrass, chased it with some fresh pressed AJ, popped my earphones back in my ears and strode out... now, it's back to cleaning up the apartment, and by apartment I mean my room - it's a bloddy disaster.

BEST NEWS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just got off the phone, got the best news ever. I am officially an Auntie, Auntie Linda I will be called.....

My lovely lovely friend Cynthia and her wonderful husband Aaron just had the first little girl - Samantha..... 4 lbs 7 ounces.......I am so happy it isn't even funny.....

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!

My thoughts and prayers are with you two! Love you both.

You can put it in the win column....

Hot damn - another win tonight, 3-2.... and Kipper is still a hockey god....

Today was pretty decent - before the game I spent a great deal of time at work. KQ was there before I arrived this morning as I had slept in a wee bit.... but I still got there for 8 - worked and laughed and wrote silly emails in the am, ate lunch at my desk, had a conference with KQ in the kitchen and back to work in the pm. As we had such a huge amount of files to KQ and I decided to stay late, but - we thought we might treat ourselves to some lovely Ikea hotdogs before launching into the evening session of work... so off we went. At 4:30 we jumped into her car, cranked the XM radio channel 9 (the 90's) and sped away down the road towards Ikea. Downed our hotdogs and lingonberry pop, took a quick survey for the Ikea people - for whcih we were richly rewarded with coupons for a free cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun at the cafe during our next visit - jumped back in the car groovin' to some more 90's tunes and arrived back at work fresh for another shift of file processing.

The nice thing was that we were able to find a super cool VH1 90's station on the internet and listened to it until 8 when we thought it might be time to header and leave.

Now, it's 11:00 - I'm thinking to myself that it is time I took out the garbage, cleaned the place up a bit and got my butt into bed. I'm notorious for staying up waaay past my bedtime, and tonight is no exception but I thought it was high time I filled you in on the happenings in my life - which you can see are quite minimal. Basically I wake up, slap some makeup on my face, don appropriate work clothes (today happened to be my beloved Freddie jersey) and jump into the car to go to work. I arrive at work, toast my toast, check my email, sip my coffee, and process files. I eat a bit of lunch and work some more... then I leave work, come home - put my jammies on, make dinner, eat dinner, email some more people, talk on the phone, watch a bit of TV and go to bed. Saturday's I switch it up with a visit to job #2 and Sundays consist mainly of sleeping in, laundry, drinking coffee and reading.

Basically biding my time until I can take off again, or do something spectacularly fun like travel or visit with friends. Anyhoo, that's my life for now.... kinda sucks to get back into it all after a vacation - but somehow I think I'll manage, at least while the Flames are in the playoffs.

Ok, I'm beat I gotta go to bed..... night!

Another Birthday Wish

Obviously I am completly losing my mind.... while I was away I did know it was my other friend's birthday (March 15) but as I was in the land of no computers I couldn't do anything about it... so I thought, well a month (plus) late is better than never.....

PS - Good Luck on your exams chica (aka Ronnalie!)

HAPPY (BELATED - OOOOPS!!) BIRTHDAY

So basically I suck, I totally forgot my darling Cynthia's birthday...... I am brutal!!!!!!

Here we go -

Happy Birthday to you, me dear, sweet, ultra prego friend from down south (aka the Hat). I truly regret that I neglected to post a message to you on such an auspicious occasion as your birthday, and thus have decided to attempt to rectify the situation with this grand gesture.

Love you lots, miss you oodles and hope that your day was half as special as you are.....

My new fav pastime... posting pics

I'm off to a bar-b-que of sorts.... margaritas, steaks, garlic bread, and perhaps some wicked awesome arabic music sent to me by the lovely scorpio husband.... (as Eleni is currently in possesion of the Isreali Techno....) Anyhoo without further delay, I give you... more Tunisia....

Me, Anjum and Martin at the Museum / Café

Serge and I at the Coliseum (with Guide, Julian and Martin in the background)

Julie, Virginia, Carlos, Martin, Me and Serge in the Salt Deset Chott El Jerid
Me on a Camel!!!!!!

JOYEAUX ANNIVERSAIRE CARLOS

Pictures !!!!

Julie and I chez le medecin.... fun dinner (they served lapin)

Sticky Stylos at the clinic (Patrice, me and France)

Patrice, me and Shainul Calèche #29


Walking to lunch under the Palms

After a long walk in the desert...Patrice and I are cold and quite tired! (in Sticky Calèche)

Julie watching the sun set over the Sahara

Sticky Calèche

Shainul with some lovely lunettes

Day 1 of Clinic

Serge, walking to Clinic

Audrey, walking to Clinic

An update of sorts

Quite the week I've had.... For monday and tuesday I've been feeling the post vacation blues, not to impressed with life in general, but it could of had something to do with the whole crappy weather gray skies phenomenon that swept through Calgary.... In any case, today is about a billion times better, and yesterday for that matter as well.

Monday was nothing too crazy, I was not pleased to be at work, it being easter monday and all. Tuesday was much better. I got a phone call around 11:45 from my darling Ronnalie requesting my presence at lunch... needless to say I leaped at the offer and away I went to the Whitespot.... awesome...... the food itself wasn't my fav, but the company was devine.... After work I had a new Land class to attend (yes, I decided to take the plunge and go for it ) - not too impressed with it though, despite KQ and my best intentions to have positive attitudes about our classes. As it turns out, we learned about legal descriptions - again - and of course learned about parts of a title.... This quite honestly is a bit of a slap in the face. We have seen this in 3 other courses thus far, and working all day on land titles I think that I could have taught that course.... but I digress..... After class I got home, saw that my 6000 pictures arrived from Martin - and therefore proceeded to spend the next 3 hours a) talkign on the phone to Carlos (2 horus) and b) watching all the videos from Tunisia and looking through all the pictures..... AWESOME times.....

PS - Carlos, you rule, I miss you lots and lots!!!

After my marathon phone call I thought it was high time I stop being a deadbeat student (as KQ likes to point out to me every so often) and get to studying (I had a quiz on wednesday for my last LAND 212 class)... So I pulled out the books around midnight and did a quick review session. Boring stuff, but I persevered.

Wednesday brought more lunch plans.... this time it was Denise and Eleni at Broken Plate... the food was amazing.... calamari salad and wicked pits w/ dips - plus of course the obligatory crème brûlée..... ahhhhhh. D and Eleni also laughed hysterically at all my funny tunisian stories, so I was quite pleased..... After work it was off to class for KQ and I.... as it turns out my prof was late, then decided not to teach the last module - because she didn't know the material !!!! and give us our quiz... I did it inrecord time (3 mintues) and took off.... KQ I hear had ot suffer through a full class..... brutal stuff!

Last night I was in full tilt showing off the tunisia photos, more to come tonight I think..... that and of course the FLAMES game....

Oh and PS - I am currently writing this whilst sitting at my desk in my beloved Freddy Brathwaite Jersey surrounded my an office full of people also decked out in their finest Flames garb....

Anyhoo, I shall sign off for now....

GO FLAMES GO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This just in

THE BFF gang again, but still no Virgina..... I need to find a "hand" picture with her.... let's wait until my 6000 pictures arrive on wednesday shall we.....

Happy Easter

So I almost had wicked fun plans for this weekend, sadly they fell through and I ended up working yesterday - not as much fun, but we did have quite the saturday talking and figuring out stuff....

Friday was very bizarre, I had almost the whole day to myself - nowhere to be, nothing to do - and it was spectacular. I slept until 9:45 when I was rudely awakened by a certain someone requesting my presence at breakfast - to which I gladly agreed. I quickly jumped out of bed, pulled myself together in a record 15 mintues and voila I was whisked away to delicious Cora's for some mouth watering crepes...mmmmm !! After that I laid around all day, did some grocery shopping, some pilates, wrote some emails, had a shower, read a book, etc etc....

Saturday I worked, then I came home, went for a giant walk around my old 'hood - stopped by Mac's, bought some peanut M&Ms in preparation for a phone call today (from my good bud Carlos in Montreal) and chilled all night.

Today, slept in - again (I could really get used to this) - fancied myself up, popped by Shopper's to get some easter cards, washed my car, delivered my cards, sat on the patio sunning myself, reading a book and eating the yummiest greek type-ish salad I've ever created......

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I was such a hermit - I've barely answered my phone (sorry guys!) and I've just relaxed all by myself. Best weekend ever. But really, think of the last time you didn't have anywhere to be, or anyone to see..... been a while huh?

This week I have to re-analyze my career plans - the next LAND class starts this week - finish up my other LAND class, and go for lunch with D, Eleni and of course the great KQ, and wait for the highly anticipated 6000 pictures of Tunisia that Martin has put together and express posted to me....but in 40 days I pop off to Montreal to attend a lovely wine and cheese that my aforementioned Montreal (Scorpio) Hubby has organized for the Tunisian group - I can hardly wait. I miss all you guys, you are wicked fun! Maybe I can plan a trip out there before that, 40 days is kinda a long ways away - right?

Virgin?!?!

Not much to write about these days... I am back housesitting, one less cat here (RIP Cas)- kinda sad, but it makes my life a whole lot easier. But living out of a suitcase for another 2 weeks really doesn't interest me that much, although I can even walk to work I am so close.... Perhaps I shall, get more active and all that jazz you hear about so often.

Tonight KQ and I had our second to last LAND 212 class. I left when we started doing our in class activity - the boredom was killing me.

Work is work. We finally got caught up to the huge backlog of files, thank god! I have started to question the whole Land thing.... I can't see myself doing it, not a good thing seeing how I have already taken 3 courses..... I should really analyze that situation a bit more, the next class is set to start next week I think.

Easter is this weekend, I almost had wicked fun plans, sadly they got the kybosh......but just think only 44 more days till Montreal! YEAH! I am missing so many of my new friends there, and my husband of course! Plus the new H & M will have opened already in Calgary so I can go on my trip looking like a super star! Awesome!

Oh, driving home today I thought of another funny Tunsian story to tell you......

Martin, Julie and I were all shopping in the souk in some random city (I can't quite recall the name just now) and we wondered into a jewellry shop. Me being me, I asked to look at all the pretty rings (as I was continuing our silly marriage joke with my hubbby).

Whilst trying a few on I was also modelling them for my shopping partners and we got to chatting about birthstones (I must have been trying on something with a blue stone in it....) and I mentioned mine was sapphire... blah blah blah... next thing we started talking about horoscopes - I asked Julie and Martin what there signs were - Julie is a Leo and Martin is a scorpio.

Now keep in mind this whole conversation is going on in french and the french speaking shop keeper is standing right next to me... therefore Julie is a "lion" and Martin is a "Scorpion"... and as I divulged my sign, I instantly regretted it.... I said " Je suis vierge" which could translate into... you guessed it - Virgin.... to which the shop keeper immediatley perked up - "Ah, oui.... BON!" aka - "Wow, great!"

Damn it! Although I meant it more in the way of Virgo, the damage was already done.

Feliz Cumpleaños et Joyeaux Anniversaire Crystal

Happy 24th Birthday Chica!!!!!

Best damn email ever.....

Cheers KQ Cheers

PS - so is everyone up for a 90's themed BSD bash chez moi?

PPS - BSD (aka means Bermuda Shorts Day for all you non U of C alumni) and it happens on Friday April 13th

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBBIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I HOPE THIS YEAR IS SUPER AWESOME FOR YOU

Lucy, you got some splainin' to do....

Dear reader;
I owe you an apology. Last friday I negligently failed to fulfill my posting duties. I cannot imagine the grief and hardship this must have caused; it won't happen again. Yours Sincerely,
Linda

So it seems that I should be explaining how it came to be that I acquired 2 husbands on my travels.... funny story I tell ya.....

We had various diners at various locales in Nefta, restaurants, people's homes etc... this evening just so happen to be at this "restaurant type place" in the palm oasis... they organized some kind of entertainment before dinner....however, after the entertainment we had to split up into smaller groups to sit at tables of 4.... my table had Virginia and Anjum plus one extra free place - it was taken by my new tunisian father in law...

During our conversation he asked if I was married, not thinking (silly Linda) I said "nope......." then under my breath "damn it...." as his face lit up.....He then decided that I should meet his youngest son (he's 23), in fact he will send him to the clinic the next day so I can give him some glasses.... uh oh, not good I thought myself - baaaaad situation......but I tried to smile nicely and through my clenched teeth.... oh, yeah good idea...Anyhoo the night went on, I tried to get away from this guy, he tried to chat with me... in the end we left and I said bye bye to this guy (I thought)

The next day during our clinic one of the doctors found me with the message that I had a visitor - wonderful, what the hell am I to do now.... so I went,just to say Hi... after beign pulled through a maze of corridors I was greeted by the smiling face of a 23 year old Tunisian guy. So I did the only thing that a nice polite canadian girl would do - shook his hand and said "nice to meet you". After that, it was a bit awkward as I waited for the doctor to escort me back but instead me asked..."are you going to give him an exam?" Shit, I wasn't rid of him yet.... so I took him back to our clinic and left him (after everyonewe passed laughed at my unfortunate stuation) in the line up to see the doctors and returned to my duties. A while later he showed up in the line up for glasses and I shoved Serge towards him as I explained - "he's yours, there's no way in hell I'm helping him...." What a great guy Serge is, he did it...however my next patient was seated next to him and was then subject to the grining and nodding of his aunt, one of our nurses..... not good at all.....As he was leaving I said a nice polite goodbye and showed him the door - story over, I thought...

I was feeling rather ill so I didn't go to lunch, but went back to the hotel and went to bed... my roomy Patrice showed up a while later and as we chatted about the day I had several visitors banging on my door.... Carlos and Martin..... who then informed me that I was not to leave my room, as my new father in law and this 23 year old kid were stationed near the pool quizzing everyone that passed where I was ..... hmmmmm, really not good - it seems I had a small problem. In any case I appointed the two aforementioned (for you KQ) guys as my personal bodyguards.... Time for dinner, I got ready and met the gang in the hotel lobby - however I was greeted with a room full of snickering people, the reason for the laughter was my father in law was sitting at the back of the lobby waiting for me... and for dinner - he was invited to our soiree by someone.... he then got up and greeted me with presents - presents that after I refused a few times I had to accept, and that I am currently wearing.....

Dinner that night was without incident but the next day I think my father in law showed up at the clinic, I was too busy to see him, but I was told he was there -

don't go just yet, the story gets worse.....

That day after clinic we had to switch to the hotel across the street, but we still had use of the other hotel pool - which we all did as it was gorgeous... so we were all basking in the tunisian sun and a group of us decided to go move our stuff over to the next hotel. Upon our return to the pool I was greeted with a message from Joanne and a few people sitting poolside....


After everyone stopped laughing hysterically at me, Patrice pipes up..."I'll trade you for a white camel" - more laughter, I'm almost in tears, and very displeased with everyone....but Carlos and Virginia at least feel my pain... and after getting out of the pool and seeing my note Martin says to me... "Hm, well do you want to marry me - then you don't have to marry him!" then he yells over to Pierre (a catholic priest) "Hey Pierre, can you marry us?" Perfect, problem solved! After my "poolside wedding" and beautiful black henna sesison we had a tea reception at a local cafe where Carlos gave an inspiring speech to the bride and groom.... more laughter with fake "refresh tears" running down our faces.

We return to the hotel for dinner, and interesting conversation with a professor (where I learned a women's place is here, her husband is here (higher up on the chain) followed by God (the highest)....). To this enlightening tidbit of knowledge I glare across the table at my new husband, who returns with a huge smile... and which turns into a joke all week long.. he reminding me of my "place" and me reminding him that there was a mistake and that he was the lowest and I was the highest..hahaha, it was really quite funny, but I guess you had to be there.

Next day we had to move to the Auberge (a disgusting little hole where we slept for one nasty night) and as I was running down the stairs to get into a caleche, I passed
Mohammed (my stalker / Tunisian husband) going up the stairs into the hotel...luckily for me he didn't see me and I ran as fast as I could to find someone to latch onto to protect me... I got away and back to the Auberge where Patrice, Julie, Virginia and I were then kidnapped and deformed (see the picture below with my "beautiful traditional henna design"). After a harrowing escape and Uupon our triumphant return to the auberge, Joanne intercepts me again... I have another message for you Linda... Mohamed found me at the hotel, and her words I swear "he begged me to find you, and get you to call him...and he even asked me to ask your friends to get you to call..." oh shit..... this is getting dangerous.....

In the end I had no more confrontations, but I refused to go into town that night and as I was in an out of the way hole in the wall I was sure that he couldn't find me.... now let's all hope that no one I gave my actual contact details to at the hospital feels is necessary to furnish the said details to my "tunisian husband / father in law"

In any case Martin and I jokingly spent the next week calling each other "chéri", hilarious......

Okay, that's enough writing for now... I'll try to think of other funny stories to share.... in the meantime we can all laugh about my misfortunes......

Copy Cat

So megs did it, I thought I would too..... not too too imressed with the results, maybe I'll try again with a new photo



new photo - different celebrities.... what gives?
I think I like #2 better.......

And yet some more....

Me, Virginia, Anjum (and if you look just to the left you can see the nose of My Tunisian Father in Law - very very long story......stay tuned for the shortened version....)

Walking to lunch under the palms - Martin, Audre, Patrice, Shainul, Me, Serge, Julian

Sylvain, Melanie, Sylvie, Claude

Luc, France, Lucie

Shainul, Nameera, Anjum, Sylvain, Melanie

Pierre, Hector

Julian, Annie, Audre

BFF club - Patrice, Me, Julie - after being kidnapped and decorated with "traditional / beautiful" henna.....ahem - don't I seem happy!

Much nicer, and cooler, black henna (aka ink) done poolside on my wedding day (hahaha)


Spot the "tunisian" copy

Another Happy Customer! (Ps - I look exhausted, I think this was our last clinic day - patient #3000)