Birthday Pics

So I finally got my pictures from my birthday - I'll write a synopsis later, but I thought I'd give you something to peek at in the meantime.

Mr. William Cornelius Van Horne - President of CPR
Me and my little sister Amy

Mrs. B and Amy

Me and Amy - such loving sisters

Eleni, Me, My Mom, Mrs. B and Rachel walking through one of the wings

Rachel, Rob, Eleni and I outside and the terrace

My Mom and Amy - crazy girls!

Ladies and Gentleman- I give you my little sister, the Gargoyle

My Mom's Bday in Banff - believe it or not we are in the ladies room...

Me and my Mom also in the Ladies room - Happy Birthday Mom!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

So here it is - one day after mine birthday thus it is Sept 10th and I need to wish Miss Rupinder in London a very happy birthday!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

Thoughts

Nothing humbles you more that your little sister's birthday celebration.

I say this because tonight we celebrated Amy's 24th birthday. It was really quite fun, I got to see all of her friends that she grew up with, and amazingly still keeps in touch with - something that I will admit I am sad to say I do not do. We did however get to talking about what everyone does and how everyone is and it really made me think. Now I know I've done stuff in my lifetime, I really have, but I do feel somewhat sad that more hasn't happened as of yet.

What I am getting at is the fact that she has friends (and so do I come to think of it) that are married, have proper careers, have children, own a home etc... and although I have graduated from university I have neither a child nor a husband, nor do I have a proper career, nor do I own anything in the way of real estate.

I guess the fact that my next birthday is a scant 12 minutes away makes me re-evaluate my life, which is good in a way but it can really get a girl down.

This fact is a bit troubling to me.

YEAH!!!!!!

IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE....

Here is my first picture taken with photo booth - this cool new feature... and yeah I know I look quite sad... but I'm not - I swear - Anyhoo... I'm trying to nap a bit because I have a stupid Casino to go to... aaand how stupid am I - I have a meeting with HMCS Tecumseh tomorrow morning at 8 am and my shift at the casino ends at 2:30am - very very smart of me... meh!

Sad News

My mom called me early this morning to tell me of the passing of a legend.

Luciano Pavarotti died last night of pancreatic cancer. This is sad to me because when I was very young, probably 3 years old, my mom bought a Pavarotti record for me and I would run round and round the coffee table singing at the top of my lungs. Now that must have been funny to see. In any case this is very sad and I will miss him.

Ciao!!

So I'm relaxing in my PJs eating a tortilla pizza and a salad made up of chickpeas, carrots, celery, radishes and balsamic vinegar - yep, time for grocery shopping... anyhoo, I'm sitting here admiring my new windows in my bedroom... very pretty ps... and I've decided that I don't like living alone. I'll explain ....

Last night I was in bed getting quite scared as I could hear random sounds. Now, normally I think of myself as quite the tough -girl.. I mean I've survived a lot, gone through military training, and I've lived on my own in various countries but I am worried about people trying to get me, or perhaps even monsters getting me - weird I know... but I think of things like that. Not to mention that when I housesit I am always alone..... hmmm, I think I miss Heather. Good thing she comes home in a few weeks.

What else to tell you...oh, I'm having a tea party at the Banff Springs on my birthday, sunday the 9th. We are meeting in the lobby at 1:30 so come one come all for High Tea in the Rockies, don't forget your white gloves. I would love to see you all there!

Night!

Overdue

So I missed both of my sister's birthdays... not in real life, but rather in blog life as I neglected to post them a Happy Birthday message... Amy on the 1st and Sarah on the 3rd - so here it is... Happy Birthday to you both!

Otherwise I had quite the busy weekend. Friday night brought a "Little Britain" Marathon... a show that I truly recommend to everyone as it is hilarious. I have Maya to thank for introducing me... Anyways - so marathon with Rachel and Rob friday night - laughed quite a bit....

Saturday brought my real "last" day at job #2 - I know, I know - I caved and went back for a few shifts, but I swear, I am really done this time. After I left my last day I zipped over to the Bowling Alley at Frank Sissons for some high quality work socializing. It was really fun - I didn't make it in time to participate in the bowl-off, but I chatted with everyone and watched the strikes come. Everyone played quite well, and they all seemed to have a good time. After that we went to the casino side and had a wrap up dinner. As we walked into the restuarant (which by the way had about 2 tables occupied) our waitress looked absolutely mortified as we asked to be seated... she even exclaimed "Did you call ahead?!?!?!?"

Sunday of course was my annual trip to Canmore for the Highland Games... really the highlight of my year... Sunday morning was a bit dissapointing as Eleni called me at 5:30 feeling like death, Lani called me saying she hadn't slept hardly at all as her kitty was sick all night anf Rachel was hung over from the pub crawl the night before, plus she also hadn't had very much sleep... so as it turned out I made my trip to the games with some hung over, exhausted girls. As it turned out we did have a fun time - I didn't really get to watch any of the pipe competition, my favourite part, as we were perusing the booths.. but we did get to the Ceilidh this year - also a fun time.... something I haven't been able to attend. Anyhoo, we had a fun time and I think next year will be even better.

Monday was pretty laid back. On the way back into town we stopped a few times at various places between here and there and listened to some random tunes in the car. When I got back home I pretty much chilled all night - watching "The Tudors" and getting my place ready for the windows guys - who ps neglected to show up again... damn them.

Today was back to work - a dentist appointment - no cavities, as per usual, yeah for my teeth!! and then more work - not so much fun - except for lunch of course - I had a nice visit with Miss Jenn and her darling little Isabelle, now that was good times! Friday however, I do get to talk to the Navy - that should be fun...

K, well that's it for me - adios and stay tuned for highland games pics to follow!

Most addictive test in the history of the World

Thanks to Matt... my entire office is now addicted to this test.... After 5 trys I was up to 23.545... but I am determined to beat it... Someone in my office is now at 29 seconds... thanks Matt!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

A heartfelt Happy Birthday to Cam on this, his 27th Birthday.

Happy Birthday to You!!

This just in

What could be better than warm fuzzy socks straight out of the dryer???

Right now - absolutely nothing....

Also - I'm on a bit of a spending spree and desperately want a Palm Tungsten E2.... I won't buy one just yet as I really need to be more of a hermit - but it is so pretty and it will be so useful... I just love being organized

Re-read

So I'm re-reading last night's post.... it doesn't quite make sense....I think I was too excited about the news of Maya..... and because I bought a laptop... and because Eleni bought a laptop.... so - oops... sorry guys...

Fun stuff

Ahh, yes - Monday night, not such a great night normally, but after a lovely weekend, I'm thinking that monday night isn't as bad. Let's recap shall we....

Friday - Denise came over to the Boliver's house...we ate yummy food, talked about various life things and of course - watched a girl movie..., it was Emma this time - a classic for sure and really it was quite fun - I had a good time...

Saturday - the day of the big shower...Lisa's to be specific. My first shower, an interesting time... nice food, nice company, loads of nice gifts and I got to meet some people - girls really that I have never met before - and hang out with Lisa of course... The boys however had a more action packed day than us girls... I think they started with golf, continued with a ride on the Zip line and finished with some time in Banff....I think I need to take a trip on the zip line... and maybe even go paintballing... whose with me???

Sunday - Megan and I got together, finally... it seems like forever since I saw her and it was a lovely time. We walked down to the Plaza theatre and caught the afternoon showing of 2 days in Paris.. an interesting movie with Julei Delpy and Chandler's messed up replacement for Joey (from Friends). Afterwards we got a latte chatted some more and made our way back to my place for some more girl talk. We ended up chatting for hours before I realized that I had to get to the grocery store - I had absolutely nothing in the fridge and as I am a hermit for the month of september I really needed something for lunch.

Today I got to go back to work - yeah... I think I need something more fulfilling... time to talk to the reserves I guess... but anyways - I got to hang with Eleni and buy her a laptop... so much fun....

K, time to sleep, I gotta get up in 7 hours... night!

Oh - oh - oh.. I almost forgot, I just got an email from my dear friend Maya - my old neighbour from France... and as it turns out she will be in calgary for 2 whole hours next week - what could be better I ask you? I haven't seen her for a year and a half - and I am dying to see how she is....just wonderful!!

ok, really - I'm going - goodnight!

One year later....

Ah yes, a year after one of - arguably - the worst days I've ever experienced....Not much has changed, but that is the way it is and I will deal with it as it comes....I just hope it doesn't happen again...I should really stay away from job #2 today... collectively it was the worst offender.

In other news, I got to chill last night with my kitties, and I could help feeling this morning as I drove into town, how nice it was to be staying with the Bolivers as the downtown core was surrounded with a low cloud - just the tops of the high rises were peeking out and it was quite the sight to see.

Oh, and some more anniversary news - on the 21st I had my first anniversary of my full time job - all in all it hasn't been too bad... 2 promotions, 2 raises and now I have a desk at the window... what will the next year bring I wonder?

Back to the Bolivers / New TV Habits

Ah yes, it's back to the Bolviers for me. Just for the weekend this time, but I'm sure it will be fun - it usually is.

The last few days I've been somewhat of a hermit, to my surprise- I finished my The UNIT Episodes, can't wait for the new season, only 1 month left! Watched a bit of JAG (my fav) and the got onto this new show - Army Wives. Catherine Bell is in it (from JAG fame) but it isn't as much fun as The Unit, but it'll do for now. As for the rest of my week - not too much to report. I ironed a lot, washed my floors, cleaned my kitchen, tidied my room. Pretty much the usual.

Oh, I do have something to tell - I was wondering around Indigo one day and I saw a lovely box set of Jane Austin books - for $30 - so I bought them, now I canstart my year of reading the classics and Shakespeare - that I am very excited about....

K, gotta go to work - bye for now.

Happy Birthday Weekend

As you can tell from the balloon, this weekend was my Mom's Birthday. Her actual birthday was in fact saturday but as I was working, we decided to change it over to sunday and take a trip to Banff for the day. Before I launch into that however, why don't I just recap the weekend events first.

Friday - I went for my bloodwork to check my iron levels... I'm sure they should be much higher these days. Then after work I zipepd over to Linens N Things for a set of bed risers, now my bed is huge and I have to jump into it every night, but at least I have some storage space, well more storage space underneath. Then I think I ironed, watched more "The Unit" episodes and made some dinner. Nothing too exciting but it made all the difference. I like being a hermit.

Saturday as I mentioned earlier was work day at job #2, it wasn't too bad, at least I got to see my friends again which was nice. Saturday night I got to steam clean my area rugs - which for those who know me know that this was ny most favourite activity. Lani and I went to town cleaning my various area rugs that were damaged in the flood. In fact we had so much fun with mine that we pulled out one of hers that she had in her closet and then cleaned that one too - good times I tell you, good times! After cleanign was movie night, " Lock, Stock and 2 Smokin' Barrels" was up first - classic, funny, awesome, and "Shaun of the Dead" was up second - truly funny and wickedly british - I recommend them both.

Sunday of course was Banff day with my mom and little sister. We first went to the Banff Springs Hotel - which as it turns out is my most favourite hotel in the world, and yes I've ben to Vegas and all over everywhere and I still like the Springs the best. I think it is because it is basically a castle, and a Scottish castle at that!! It was sad to see however that the tartan wasn't draped everywhere like it used to be. I guess our Americans friends that purchased the Fairmont hotel chains decided that perhaps they didn't care for tartan as much as us Canadians do - what a shame... kinda makes me mad 'cuz I love tartan. Anyways, back to the hotel.... we explored almost every nook and crany and decided that indeed this hotel needs to be where I spend a significant amount of time. The one thing that I was a bit sad over was the fact that my mom (and for this reason I do not know why I am related to her) she did not want to go for High Tea... so instead we relegated ourselves to a small lunch at the deli and walking about and exploring afterwards. After the hotel we zipped out to the town and explored the main street... and of course the Spirit of Christmas. A lovely store indeed if you have ever been.... I used to not be a huge fan of the aforementioned holiday, something about it just never struck me in the way it does others. I've since changed my tune because of one Mr. Cameron as he loves it so much.

After the main street we piled back into my car for the trip home, stopping for dinner and then back to my house to unwind before the work week - which ps, I am not loving... Eleni is out for the week on a trip, so sad.

Now I'm at my desk listening to the run down of the wedding of a former co-worker that was on saturday.. the same co-worker that sat beside me and talked and talked and talked about her wedding all day..... I'm not too impressed so far, hopefully this day gets better....

Should, Should not & HAPPY BIRTHDAY

• Shouldn't : Go to a movie wherein they show copious amounts of scenery on Europe thus making me want to live there forever (damn you Bourne Ultimatum) - really good movie though. Unlike some reviews I thought the slightly shaky camerawork emphasized the action.


• Shouldn't: Plan a night out every evening. Tuesday was the movie night, last night I went to my Aunt's house for dinner, showed off the Tunisia pictures and visited... oodles of fun but I didn't get home until 11 and then of course I somehow occupied myself until midnight and then fell into bed


• Should: Buy flowers every week - I love my roses, they are so lovely. I put about a dozen of pink tipped and a dozen white each in a chinese style vase I bought in China town on sunday - they are so beautiful and the certainly brighten up my desk


• Should: eat toast - I am on another toast kick... I freakin' love it..mmmmm


• Should: Eat more Steak. Steak last night at my Aunt's, Steak tonight at Eleni's....mmmmm steak.


• Should: Clean up my room, it is a clothes strewn mess

• Should: Wish Heather a very happy birthday - not sure if you will see this heather dear... But when you come home in a month we can have a celebration then.

Roses Galore

Today is $5 dozen rose day at the Avenida Grower Direct. I of course, in true Spencer style picked up 6 dozen - 2 for my mom - with which I plan to cover my apartment in flowery goodness. Who wouldn't love dozens of roses decorating their home? Who I ask you WHO?

I might add that I am sure our dear friend Heather must be glad she is on her way to South America - as last time I filled the house with roses she was a bit overwhelmed..... they basically took over my living room.

Yeah for flowers! I can't wait to get home to set them out.

Monday Lists

No time for real posting... just some quick thoughts to put down before I forget.

• The sun is no longer up when I leave for the gym - not impressed
• I need more art in my life, I'm thinking ballet and symphony season tickets - I wonder how expensive that will be
• In keeping with the art movement, I think I should take the nest year and read all the classics - meaning: All Shakepeare's plays, all Jane Austen novels, all Bronte sister's novels etc....
• I love my apartment, it is very homey
• Mean and snarky gym ladies are not my idea of fun at 6am
• I only have 16 days left before september - before I should be joining the reserves - yikes!!
• I will be 26 in less than 1 month - yikes again!!
• I've decided my hair needs to be darker - we'll see how that pans out

That's all for now - time for breakfast.

Out Damn Spot, Out!!

There really is nothing better than relaxing on a sunday evening, drinking a lovely cup of tea, watching some quality programming on the television and getting ready for the work week. To further explain my delight I shall share my weekend plans.

Friday was suppose to be a girls night at the movies. As it happens only Rachel was able to come, which was fantastic in itself - but to make things even better we were able to see Becoming Jane. Now, if you know me, and I sincerely hope you do, you will know that I do enjoy movies of this nature - I am a huge "Period Costume Drama" fan, Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility and the like. Needless to say Rachel and I enjoyed ourselves immensely and the starbucks chat we had afterwards was fantastic.

Saturday was interesting - I worked. Now, I know what you are thinking... didn't she quit job #2, and the answer is yes, indeed I did quit, but I was asked back for a few weekends so I obliged them and thus was stuck working. I did, however have a nice time seeing the girls again. Saturday evening though was something special. Another Job #2 Alumni was in town from London (thats UK not ON) and we had the opportunity to take in a presentation of Shakespeare's MacBeth at the Shakespeare in the Park Festival. It was set in modern day - which I hope you are all putting together that I do not like - but nonetheless was presented well and in a fun and interesting way. The best part of the night though had to have been hanging out with Rupinder - I hadn't seen her since my impromptu trip to Europe last year and this was a well needed catch up session. While we watched the events unfold in a curiously non scottish environment (PS - for those of you wondering what I mean.... MacBeth is a play set in Scotland and the actors did not feel the need to exhibit scottish anything) we dined on a sumptuous picnic of pizza buns, Starbucks Vanilla Frapacinos, babybel cheese and a wonderful veggie tray. Afterwards we made our way (which took quite a while) through the Park back to my place and chatted away until midnight - parting on the promise of dinner before she goes back to the UK. All in all a great evening.

Today was also quite eventful. The day started with Dim Sum with my Dum Sum buddy Ronnalie, at the newly opened Tang Dynasty restaurant. We were so excited to go as the restaurant that used to occupy that location had been closed for renovations some time ago. This trip however was not to be as delicious as hoped for. In fact, the meal was rather disapointing. Despite reservations we were seated in the far corner of the dining room, almost no carts cam by our table and the waitress that we asked to help us did no speak any english. As it happens we were able to eat a few things, which were far below the standard of the previous restaurant. We made our way to the Golden Happiness Bakery in search of something sweet and then back to the cars to head to her house for a movie and later on a wonderful meal of Rouladen and Spitzlei...mmmmmmm.... So we grocery shopped, chopped, pounded, fried, baked and ate our delicious meal while we watched 300 (a truly awesome movie by the way) and then I was on my way home to clean, relax, and ready myself for tomorrow's 5 am wakeup.

So, here I am, finishing this post, feeling rather nostalgic while watching Harry Potter on CBC, making my sandwich and lunch for tomorrow wondering if I will be doing this for my children someday. I hope so.

Happenings

Ahhhh, currently I am sitting on my new and much fancier couch - with thanks to Heather's dad and Kevin we are the new owners of a wonderful new couch and loveseat. In fact, they are so comfortable that I can hardly notice the mess surrounding me in my apartment - coming home from house sitting is always a disaster. I seem to accumulate stuff, not so much fun. Anyhoo back to the couches. I've decided that these are the ultimate in comfort as I can sit crosslegged with Heather's laptop on my lap and I could even have a lovely nap on my lovely couch. Too bad that Heather cannot be here to enjoy the lovely new couches as she has departed for her month and a half long trip to South America- Bon Voyage to you, have oodles and oodles of fun!!!

To return to the topic of housesitting, I can say that although I do enjoy puppies - I really do, but in combination with 4 cats and keeping in mind that these dogs are not trained in the least - you can all imagine that I am ecstatic to get home. Not to mention that the aforementioned critters would wake me up at 4:30 with barks after barks after scratches on the door, after whinning - brutal I tell ya brutal. That and the freakin' huge amounts of cat hair everywhere - yuck!!

Tonight I've decided that after I clean up the house a bit - although now that I've mentioned it I'm not sure I can really, I've had to pull out all furniture from the windows as we are awaiting the windowers (as Heather calls them) to arrive and install new windows.. Funny thing though, they are 3 days late so I'm not sure if they will ever arrive. Anyhoo, I should maybe just chill and have a lay-in night - a lazy tv watching, linda only evening.

However, I should give some kuddos to Cam. Yesterday was his call to the bar - a ceremony where he is admitted as a member to the Law Society of Alberta. Basically it is a prestigious day after which he can call himself a proper lawyer. So congratualtions to you Cam - I am really quite proud of that you have accomplished, and I am very happy to have been there to celebrate it with you. Give yourself a huge pat on the back, you deserve it!

Other well wishes go out to Eleni and Katherine for tomorrow as they both have final exams to write - good luck Girls!

K, gotta run and make some dinner - plus Jeopardy is on and we all know how much of a Jeopardy freak I am.

Friday friday...

Because I can't be bothered to write an entire post with puncutation and proper grammar - you get a list... so here goes....

• I am hating house-sitting... although I love dogs, and these ones are cute - they are infuriating..always barking, always whining.. and the cats - the CATS - there are 4 of them.. 'nuff said.... who has alll these animals and constantly leaves them at home thus needed a housesitter????
• I am loving getting up at 5 am every morning for swimming/ the gym
• the pain in my neck is getting to be 'er a pain in the neck - enough already
• The Lethbridge airshow is this weekend and I am depserate to go
• Heather leaves next week for a month and a half and because of the aforementioned house-sitting gig I haven't barely seen her this summer and now she is leaving - not happy about that at all
• Been a bit of a hermit lately, not sure why, but I need to see more friends - I'll resolve to do so after this damn house-sitting gig
• I loved the fact that I got to have dinner with my cousin who I haven't see in about 20 years.. and her husband and her little boy - they are super fun and I had a great time.
• I think I am suffering from lack of travel / excitment in my life... too freakin' bad I have no vacation time available to go anywhere worthwhile
• I am suepr stoked about the Spice Girls coming to Vancouver in Dec - that's right, I said it - I love the Spice Girls and am not afraid to proclaim it to the world.
• Highland Games in Canmore are in a month and I cannot believe the time has flown by so quickly - this year we actually get to stay for the Ceilidh

and finally...

• Cam's Bar call is this wednesday at the Court of Queen's Bench in the pm - I am so excited to go, what a great accomplishment - yeah for Cam!!! Bravo to you and all you've worked for... I am so proud.

Mornings Part Deux

Just arrived at work, fresh from the gym - yep, that's right Eleni and I are super stars now - but last night I had a thought.... As Ronnalie and I sat watching our movie - G.I. Jane - I started to feel quite scared... the last time I went to basic training my friends decided to have a movie night for me, turns out we watched G.I. Jane. Good movie, but if you are about to go through military training it scares you a bit. Granted, I am not going through SEAL training, I'm not sure that I could in fact do that, but I am doing Basic again which means pain, exhaustion, mental breakdown and the like. But here's my big secret - I am quite scared, I scared that



a) I'll get hurt again

b) I won't be mentally tough enough to stand Hell week again

c) I won't be physically ready to endure 9 weeks of hard labour, including swimming - because I don't know how...

and d) Because new situations are hard to deal with - and yes I am aware I put myself through this all the time every time I leave for Europe.



In any case, I know if I don't do it now I'll regret it forever and that is never good.

Mr. Potter

Ah yes, the fifth installment of our beloved Harry and the gang has arrived (in movie form that is). I went last night after hosting a study party chez moi - funny though I left them there as I took in a movie.... I don't think they minded, Eleni and Katherine seemed quite content to watch So You Think You Can Dance - looked like a good one actually....I kind of sad I missed the ending.



Anyhoo, went to see the late show, at the Imax in Chinook (ps - I highly recommend the Imax experience with HP5), and we even got 3D glasses for the last fight scene... very cool!! During the movie though I felt uber sick, stomach pain and the like.... needless to say HP5 wasn't as cool as it certainly could have been as my mind was somewhat preoccupied. Cam even asked me several times if we needed to leave - but in true HP stylle I perservered and got through it - and it was worth it, although I think the movie could have been about an hour longer....

This morning however wasn't nearly as fun as it was suppose to have been. I flaked out the gym with Eleni because I felt like garbage, but ended up feeling worse because I didn't go - tomorrow for sure though, I promise.

Mornings

The last two days my good buddy Eleni and I have been up bright and early (5 am to be exact) to better ourselves... by swimming... now, granted - we can't really swim, well I can't really swim, Eleni is pretty good at it in fact, but needless to say we are not the strongest in the pool.

Now, I've decided that I need to know how to swim - I am sure that there will be a swimming component to my reserve training, so I might as well start - not fun I tell you! I think my big problem is that fact that I cannot for the life of me keep my legs horizontal - they always seem to drop down so I am almost walking on the bottom of the pool with my torso horizontal - funny to picture I am sure. Anyone have some suggestions?

The very best part to these little escapades though - is - the fact that when I get home after work I can chill on the couch and I won't feel like a blob if I don't do very much... granted, that is if I had a free night to actually chill... last night when I could have become a couch parasite I in fact srubbed my kitchen down, re-arranged my shelves - including the growing mountain of Stabucks Coffee Packages that now inhabits my top shelf... cleaned out the fridge, cleaned up the recycling in my storage room (which I dropped off this morning after swimming), washed the floor, cleaned the bathroom and sorted out my piles of random papers, bills, letters, cards etc etc and flopped into bed at 10:30... wow, I feel so adult - yikes!

Anyhoo, I think it's Tea O'Clock, ta - ta for now!

End of an Era

Yep, it's that time, things have definately changed - in many ways.... Not quite sure that I can handle all of them just yet - but we'll see how it turns out....

Firstly, My last day at Job #2 was saturday - with a follow up farewell dinner at Tandoori Hut in Kensington - thanks again guys, it was fantastic... not just the dinner, but the 3 years.....

Secondly, Harry Potter - As I arrived home from my last time closing up the store, I ripped open the mailbox, joyfully took out the newly printed copy of The last adventures of Mr. Potter... and tore open the package as I entered my apartment.... I finished it late late in the evening and proceeded to go through Potter withdrawl - something I've experienced many times over - not fun at all!

I waaas going to say something about the book, but for those of you who have not finished it yet, I won't spoil it at all - that would just be mean!

As for other changes, well we all know, and we are all unhappy, but life is as such and I shall deal.

The Return

Aha I am back.... yeah, I know I suck, I have been quite lazy this last month. Not sure why, but not to fear, I am back and ready to entertain.

I suppose I should update you a bit, not too much to note, I quite Job #2 finally.... it had been a long time coming - I hadn't been to pleased with my environment, in addition to the fact that every saturday I awoke with a groan and seriously decided calling in sick...not my style to say the least, so I would go in purely to visit with my friends. Sooooo, in true Spencer style I quit, tomorrow being the last day, and have decided to perhaps give the reserves another shot. I mean , if I have been thinking about it every day for 8 years - maybe I should do something about it when I am still young enough and have spare time to kill - as we all know how bored I can get.

I had a great meeting with one of the recruiters at the Harry Hays Building and to be quite honest, I felt so enthused after my chat, now all that is left is to go wild at the gym for a good month and take my tests.. easy as pie!

What else... ummm, well my move to broker team isn't as fun as I thought it would be - I don't really work with anyone my age - save for Katherine, and she is great - but the others are older, always warm, and go out about 15 times a day to smoke... not to mention they use me as a secretary even though I might have more education than all of them combined... but whose keeping score?

Oh, I just remembered......I am completely addicted to a show called The Unit - again in true Spencer style it is military, special forces military, but it also has a family component - the wives... so in order to fuel my addiction I watched the whole first season in about 2 days... I am a freak, but I love it - and I desperately cannot wait until the second comes out (25 september) or the third one starts (also this fall)... In the meantime I am stuck watching the few choice episodes that CBS runs not on their regular night of tuesday, but rather saturday - which really quite messes me up... I am usually home tuesday nights, but almost never home saturday nights.... oh dear, what is a girl to do?

In any case, that will have to hold you all for the time being.... I'm off to clean the house....


Oh, oh, one more thing... my fav little person stopped by on tuesday night for a sleepover - accompanied of course by mom and dad - Cynthia and Aaron... it was great - thanks again for the visit....

Top Ten Reasons to Live in Canada

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA…
1. 2010 Winter Olympics - champagne tastes on a beer belly budget.
2. Vancouver: 1.5 million people and two bridges.
3. The local Whistler hero is a pot-smoking snowboarder.
4. The local wine doesn't taste like malt vinegar.
5. Your $400,000 Vancouver home is just 5 hours from downtown.
6. A university with a nude beach.
7. You can throw a rock and hit three Starbucks locations.
8. Great place for avalanche training.
9. There's always some sort of deforestation protest going on.
10. A drunk driving premier - setting a good example for all British Columbians… a Ralph Klein wannabe.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN ALBERTA…
1. Big Rock between you and B.C.
2. Ottawa who?
3. Tax is 7 percent instead of approximately 200 percent for the rest of the country.
4. The Premier is a fat, alcoholic who is easy to make fun of.
5. Flames vs. Oilers.
6. Stamps vs. Eskies.
7. You can exploit almost any natural resource you can think of.
8. You live in the only province that could actually afford to be it's own country.
9. The Americans below you are all in anti-government militia groups.
10. You can attempt to murder your rich oil tycoon husband and get away with it.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN SASKATCHEWAN…
1. You never run out of wheat.
2.There are no curves or hills on the highway.
3. Cruise control takes on a whole new meaning.
4. Your province is really easy to draw.
5. You never have to worry about roll-back if you have a standard stick shift.
6. It takes you two weeks to walk to your neighbour's house.
7. YOUR Roughriders survived.
8. You can watch the dog run away from home for hours.
9. People will assume you live on a farm.
10. Buying a huge John Deere mower makes sense.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN MANITOBA…
1. You wake up one morning to find you suddenly have beachfront property.
2. Amusing town names like "Flin Flon" and "Winnipeg".
3. All your local bands make it big and move to Toronto.
4. The only province to ever violently rebel against the federal government.
5. Hundreds of huge, horribly frigid lakes.
6. Nothing compares to a wicked Winnipeg winter.
7. You don't need a car - just take the canoe to work.
8. You can be an Easterner or a Westerner depending on your mood.
9. Because of your licence plate, you are still friendly even when you cut someone off.
10. Pass the time watching trucks and barns float by.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN ONTARIO…
1. You live in the center of the universe.
2. Your $400,000 Toronto home is actually a dump.
3. You and you alone decide who will win the federal election.
4. There's no such thing as an Ontario Separatist. Separate from what? You are the centre of the universe.
5. Your grandparents sold booze to the States during Prohibition.
6. Lots of tourists come to Toronto because they mistakenly believe it's a cool city.
7. The only province with hard-core American-style crime.
8. Much Music's Speaker's Corner - rant and rave on national TV for a dollar.
9. Baseball fans park on your front lawn and pee on the side of your house.
10. Mike Harris: basically a sober Ralph Klein.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN QUEBEC…
1. Everybody assumes you're from a different planet.
2. Racism is socially acceptable.
3. The only province to ever kidnap federal politicians.
4. You can take bets with your friends on which English neighbour will move out next.
5. Other provinces basically bribe you to stay in Canada.
6. The FLQ.
7. Your hockey team is made up entirely of French guys who can't skate.
8. The province with the oldest, nastiest hookers.
9. NON-smokers are the outcasts.
10. You can blame all your problems on the "Anglo bastards".

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NEW BRUNSWICK…
1. You are sandwiched between French morons and drunken Celtic fiddlers.
2. One way or another, the government gets 98 percent of your income.
3. You're poor, but not as poor as the Newfies.
4. When listing the provinces, everyone forgets to mention yours.
5. The economy is based on fish, cows, and ferrying Ontario motorists to Boston.
6. No one ever blames anything on New Brunswick.
7. You have French people, but they don't want to kill you.
8. Everybody has a Grandfather who runs a lighthouse.
9. Just as charming as Maine, but with more unemployed fishermen.
10. You probably live in a small seaside cottage with no television.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NOVA SCOTIA…
1. The only place in North America to get bombed in the war by a moron who set ammunitions ship on fire. (Halifax Explosion).
2.The province is shaped like the male genetalia.
3. Everyone can play the fiddle. The ones who can't, think they can.
4. If someone asks if you're a Newfie, you are allowed to kick their butt.
5. The local hero is an insane, fiddle playing, sexual pervert.
6. The province that produced Rita MacNeil, the world's largest land mammal.
7 You are the "only" reason Anne Murray makes money.
8. You can pretend you have Scottish heritage as an excuse to get drunk and wear a kilt.
9. The economy is based on lobster and fiddle music.
10. Even though it smells like dead sea animals, Halifax is considered Canada's most beautiful city.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE ON PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND…
1. Even though more people live on Vancouver Island, you still got the big kick-ass bridge.
2. You can walk across the province in half an hour.
3. You were probably once an extra on "Road to Avonlea".
4. This is where all those tiny red potatoes come from.
5. The economy is based on fish, potatoes, and CBC TV shows.
6. Tourists arrive, see the "Anne of Green Gables" house, then promptly leave.
7. You can drive across the province in two minutes.
8. It doesn't matter to you if Quebec separates.
9. You don't share a border with the Americans, or with anyone for that matter.
10. You can confuse ships by turning your porch lights on and off at night.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NEWFOUNDLAND…
1. The poorest, drunkest province in Confederation.
2. If Quebec separates, you will float off to sea.
3. In the rare case when someone moves to the Rock, you can make them kiss a dead cod.
4. The economy is based on fish, seafood, and fish-related products.
5. If you do something stupid, you have a built-in excuse.
6. You & only you understand the meaning of Great Big Sea's lyrics.
7. The workday is about two hours long.
8. You are credited with many great inventions, like the solar-powered flashlight and the screen door for submarines.
9. CBC sets time in terms of you being on the half hour.
10. It is socially acceptable to wear your hip waders on your wedding day.

Manners

As you guessed it this post is about manners - I was watching Ellen tonight and she had a manners expert on, and she was great, not to mention that on the Big Breakfast this morning the was a expert to teach men the proper manners that they should have when it comes to ladies....

It brought something to mind that most people, I don't think, do not seem to pay much attention to.

We've all heard of companies putting their execs through a manners course - table manners, meeting manners, general proper ways to behave in public... and I'm sure the ladies out there have heard of the Kate Spade manners book - p.s. it's a great read (KQ you know what I'm talking about)..

But seriously - proper manners are important, very important - let's all remember that shall we....

It's almost over

KQ and I attended our very last lecture of our painfully boring LAND class... and tonight of course was no exception - buuut, in our defense we did in fact stay until the end of the class - something which you all know has been something of a rarity low these last weeks.

After our quick exit a la fin de classe I made my way home - checked facebook - of course and saw a new map application where I could map out my travels / where I used to live and indicate where I wanted to go in the future - so much fun....

Now, I'm looking at the freakin huge pile of laundry that I did last night, thinking that I need to start ironing... and perhaps clean up a bit around here - it's a bit of a mess....

What else to tell you - oh, saw a house for the second time last night - with the mom and the in-laws - still love it... oh, and lunch today with Denise and Eleni at Sushi Ginza - we didn't eat sushi, but it was very yummy.... I really need more time to visit with Denise - less than an hour is not in any way enough.

K, gotta tackle that pile of clothes.... bon soir!

Wednesday

Oops, I knew I was forgetting something about Wednesday last week... I went for a footbath with Lani and Eleni and then we had a great walk around the resevoir..... it was fun, I can't believe I forgot about it - shameful!

In which I recount the week

I've had a bit of an epipany tonight - I've decided that I really do in fact enjoy ironing... It calms me, destresses me - weird I know, but meh - at least this way I'm always presentable, and by presentable I mean not wrinkled, and we all know how much I detest wrinkled clothing...

What else to tell you all.... had a gathering of sorts last night - yummy food, ridiculous friends trivia - I really need to buff up on my friends watching I think - and great times had by all - yeah!

Work has been interesting this week. I moved over to the broker team, went to class with KQ , did something on wednesday that I can't remember just now, Saw 9 different homes on thursday - a few that I really like (I'm becoming more of an adult each day) and then the fete.... today was Job #2 of course - I am not feeling the happy work groove there anymore.... I'll have to think about that one...

After work was fun, met Lenny and Carl at Starbies in Kensington, walked over to the Rocket to pick up the t-shirts for Lenny's B day Pub Crawl (I know, I know - me at a pub crawl..... ) the design will have to grow on me - and now I'm chillin on the couch, just finished ironing, and watching Finding Nemo on tv - he's so cute, reminds me of Lani, well actually Dori reminds me on Lani..... good times!

Mindfreak

K, so I'm watching this thing - this Mindfreak show on A&E - and he is walking down the side of the building at the Alladin Hotel in Vegas.... seriously, seriously????

WTF??? - is he really doing this stuff?

Also, he walked through glass.. and performed quite the card trick.... I don't know, I want to believe, but really? really?

What do you guys think?

George

Well yesterday I had an appointment about a certain friend I like to call George, or rather a certain friend that I was under the assumption that he existed but, sadly, I am mistaken.....

It all started waay back when I was in Tunisia... everyone got sick, including me, but we all got better - not exactly 100%, but better... anyhoo on my return to Canada I still felt a bit odd, stomach pain, etc etc... so after jokingly blaming my sickness on my newly acquired tunisian parasite friend - George - I finally decided to check it out once and for all...... aaaand low and behold - there is no George - so we're still wondering why I feel like garbage...... however, my test results did show though that I am anemic (ps - that means low on iron for those not in the know)....

Now, I get to take lovely iron pills everyother day - with vitamin c of course..... fantastic!!

In other news, I got another promotion at work - this time to the broker team who are "grooming me" for the law firm later on... not too shabby for a languages major right? At least this time my desk has a window which I can gaze out and dream of better things to do with my time - no, just joking (about the better things to do part, not the window part - that's true!)

Ok my lovelies, I gotta run and finish my damn homework assignment before I start my real job.... yuck! (to the homework, not the job)

Ah Zut

OOPS - I missed posting about Jenn's birthday.... and I had it in my outlook calendar all week long... BRUTAL!!!! anyways -

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JENN - I hope you, the hubby and all the kidlets enjoyed the big day together... Let's do lunch again super soon!!!

Queen of HPLOC no longer....

During one of my team members review our boss described the demeanor of our team as "Gregarious"....hmmmmmm, interesting - so basically he was trying to shut the hell up - but nicely.... thennnn he asked me to come into his office... ahhhhhh.... I thought I was sooooo in trouble - but really my department RULES - we always get so much work done despite the fact that chat incessantly - but meh, I guess it was time to face the music. In any case when I sat down my boss had a smile on his face - so I did too... and what did he have to tell me????

He pulled me into the office to tell me that I was requested to move to the Broker Team - a promotion - because he wants me to move up in the company...wicked!! So as of Monday I am in a different desk, doing different stuff... When I left his office I told my fellow teammates, and I don't think they took it too lightly.... poor team... Buuuut I did tell Eleni that she needs to continue the Linda legacy and beat my processing record... someone has to.

That night I got to come home and chill with Cynthia and Aaron - aaaaand Samantha - they came to spend the night so I could take them to airport this morning - yeah!!!!! All night with my darling little samantha - well, she's isn't really mine, but I want to keep her....

Tonight after work however, I went for another ionic footbath session - it was pretty gross as I hadn't been since october - and then I took care of some more errands - busy night... Oh I definately need to extend my congratulatory remarks to Miss Crystal - newly graduated (convocated, conjugated or congregated ... whatever word tickles your fancy)

CONGRATULATIONS CRYSTAL!!!!

Walk the Walk / Made you say underwear

I've neglected to mention over the past week that Eleni and I are the new queens of charity runs. The weekend previous to last we participated in the Super Cities Walk for MS... a cause that I am sure is near and dear to a lot of people's hearts.... Our team walked the entire 16km... something that no other team seemed to do, so basically we kicked some major butt.. and raised over $1200. That week we suffered through blisters and sore muscles but suited up again on the saturday night for the Underwear Affair for Cancers below the waist.

This time the team had more work people on it - and there was an option for a run, but Eleni and I have already dedicated ourselves to walking for cancer so there we were, kicking some more butt, doing a few more laps around the Prince's Island Park. I think we raised for than $5000 and had oodles of fun..

I wonder what walk we can do next weekend...but in the meantime - Eleni and Crystal and I headed over to Ikea for some much needed shopping therapy. We spent about 2 hours there chillin' sitting on couches, looking at kitchens, eating hotdogs etc etc.. Good times had by all and now it's time to chill chez moi in my pjs.

Tomorrow brings more class - I'm considering not going actually, what else is new? Then wednesday I've got a St. Andrew's meeting and Cynthia and Aaron and Samantha will be in town to chill... life is good.

And we'll call it Linda's Ark

So, my life is finally back to normal.... after my last post I am sure you are all quite intrigued by my mention of a flood and yes indeed it was a flood...... let me explain
Tuesday:
- went to work
- went to school with KQ
- half way through class KQ and I decided that it was BS and we needed to leave asap.... so on the intermission ay 7:30 we made a break for it (we are such deadbeat students) and quickly realized that the sky had opened up above the school.... and our cars we a good 400 m away from the building.... so we got completely drenched as we attempted to get home...
- on the way home I decided that I should stop by my apartment and pick up a red t-shirt to wear the next day (it was D DAY by the way!) - weird thing was that I am housesitting across town and really shouldn't have been at home for another few days, and Heather wasn't due home until Thursday..... but yet fate made me come home....spooky - ooooooooh!!!!
- parked the car in the back as someone was in my parking spot again!
- figured out that my remote key for my car doesn't work in an electrical storm... interesting...
- walked into my apartment, stepped into a puddle, heard lots of water hitting the floor and slowly peered around the corner of my fridge very very scared to find out what on earth was making that noise....
- saw a waterfall of water flowing out of my sink onto my floor..... said a very bad word and ran into the hallway to see what else was occuring in my absense....
- stepped in another puddle, looked in horror as a river flowed out of my storage room and directly into my room (I guess that means that my aparment slopes back into my room - how lovely!)
- ran into all storage room gasped at the tower of water spurting out of the air intake pipe.....
- called my landlord, figured that the damn storm was interfering with the cell networks
- called Cam's parents, yelled into the phone that "OMG, my aparment is flooded - help, I don't know what to do, make it stop, MAKE IT STOP!!!!!"
-called my mom, called Cam screaming the same thing.......
-called Heather, left a funny message in a surpisingly calm voice " Heather, it's Linda, umm, I don't know where you are but bad things are happening, the apartment is flooded, you should come home........"

Basically, at this point in time, I ran around - all ready soaked to the bone from the downpour outside, covered in new yucky back up sewer water spewing from various locales in my house - gathering up everything I could throwing it somewhere higher, cleaning out closets as water soaked everything in sight, answering my phone in a panic as numerous people tried to call and ask if they could help - I'm sorry I yelled at all of you, but I was a bit stressed....

My landlord also showed up, and as he walked through the door and sloshed his way to the hallway, I stood in my hallway, mop in hand and said
"Dean, my apartment is flooded, please do something!"
He helped to clear out the inches of water that took over my room, hallway, bathroom and kitchen....In the end I stopped the water going into my room and Heather's with towels, emptied out a 75L rubbermaid container and tried valiantly to re-direct the water flow into the container, which worked and thankfully the water taped off as the water level reached the rim of the container.

I spent the rest of the night with Cam's parent's, my mom, Cam and my landlord clearing out water... the next day I spent cleaning and disinfecting every surface of my household with bleach water.... and now everything is back to normal, smelling like a swimming pool, but not infested with nasty sewer water and microbes......

I heard at work that my boss informed the office of my predicament by walking into the office and inviting everyone to my hosue as I now have an indoor pool.... yeah!!!! No, really, it could have been a billion times worse. All in all I lost some magazines, some school papers (I luckily saved the yellow death tests from Sanchez.... can't ever loose those!), and my beautiful Ikea rugs..... but really, that is nothing compared to what other people lost....

Quite the fun I tell you.... quite the fun......

Deluge

sorry, I'll post more later... just mopping up from the flood last night chez moi.... not good times.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

A lovely Happy Birthday to Karen (my old neighbour) who took me on a wicked fun joy ride in her new Mustang tonight....

Thanks a million Karen, and hope your birthday was great!!!

Second Guess Thursday

I was on the verge of yet another meltdown at work - bad bad day... and then I received this ecard (ps, you'll have to click on the Second Guess Thursday card) from Crystal.. I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face.... not to mention a whole crowd of people killing themselves laughing... good one Crystal, good one....

Wednesday

oWell, what to say... I guess I should keep you oall up to date on the happenings on in my life... nothing to ground breaking for the beginning of the week....
Monday - worked, we were very busy as we had an absense in team HPLOC.... after work monday I realized that housesitting lady was actually home a day early - and home to my exploded suitcase all over her room with all my crap littering her bathroom vanity counter.... and dirty dishes in the kitchen... not good at all... after my initial shock of receiving the phone call I raced over to clean up my stuff, apologize profusely and run for the hills out of embarresment....

Tuesday was more or less ho-hum... work was work - oh, wait it was exciting... Cam and I had a lunchtime mortgage broker appointment... apparently we can afford more than I thought... nice, I guess.... mortgage debt is good debt right??? Nevertheless I am still scared out of my mind to own property and thus make mortgage payments...Welcome to Adulthood Linda!
After work I skipped class again... it really is completely useless that class....

Wednesday lunch was fun, Eleni and I drove off to pita pit for some yummy lunchtime snacks.... and then off to Chez Ronnalie for Linda & Ronnalie's day of fun... veggies galore and girl movies... awesome!!!

Now I sit here, trying to get up enough energy to clean up my room and perhaps get ready for bed... wish me luck!!!

Weekend Update / I want one....

Me and Mom

What a weekend I had....

Friday after work was officially girls night.... we ate some super yummy Vietnamese (when is it not super yummy I ask you???) and meandered over to the theatre to catch the latest installment of the Pirates Saga.... it was - of course - fan-freakin' - tastic!!! Because really, who doesn't a love a good pirate romance / adventure??? Action was good, script was good, Johhny was very good and Orlando did better in my eyes than normally... Keira was, well, Keira, but she's essential to the story, so I go along with it....

Saturday brought more work, fun work though as I got to chill with Miss JM and of course tell her all sorts of stories (we haven't seen each other for almost 5 weeks)... good times had by all.... and then I got to do some much needed Baby clothes shopping... not for mine (as you may have noticed I myself do not have any babies.... and am of course not expecting one...) but rather it was to fulfill my role as Auntie Linda to the cutest baby ever.... my little sweet bundle of Joy Samantha who lives down yonder in the Hat. Whilst on the phone with Mr. Cameron and shoping I couldn't help but exclaim my delight in the cutest tiniest baby clothes and shoes.... soooo adorable..... After making my purchases, I zipped home to watch some fun Taxi 3 action (loved the sylvester stalone beginning) and to bed I went as I had a big day on sunday....

Sunday morning, woke up at 7:30, threw on some clothes, some makeup, brushed my hair a bit and jumped into the car for a lovely 3 hour drive to the Hat.....

As I made my way south I got a phone call from Miss Rupinder in London (she always calls when I'm outta town... first Montreal and now the Hat... silly girl!!!) and laughed as we tried to make plans to talk while I was in town.... then I noticed something.... as I looked out the window of my car and then back again at the spedometer I thought to myself... " Is it bad that 140 km an hour doens't seem fast???" hmmmm, interesting, perhaps I should slow down a wee bit lest I get a ticket for speeding..... nevertheless I made it door to door, stopping for gas and snacks, in 3 hours... Upon my arrival the aforementioned sweetie was wide awake and ready to snuggle with her Auntie Linda.... soooooo cute,. I am officially in love and think that I need to steal her away for myself...

We spent the afternoon chillin' talking, eating ice cream and cherries and watching our fav Tristan and Isolde.. (I'm such a sucker for a good romance...) Then it was time for me to head back... this time I left at 6:32 and made it back to my apartment at 9:10.. stopping again for gas and snacks... that darn lead foot of mine....

Note that the Ice Cream is bigger than the baby!

Today, I'm back at work, wondering if I can ever get rid of my Tunisian Friend that I've nicknamed George... I'm going for blood tests this week.....

K. that's all I got for now - adios!

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!