Passions

I wrote this a few days ago after Ange over at OSG asked her readers what their passions were, I guess I should post this.

What are YOUR passions in life? If you could nail them down to 5-10 
what would they be? Most importantly are you ACTING on them?  

 * Running - although I am no where near as good or as dedicated as I think I should be. As K says, the head games are not fun and I need a better strategy for getting past them. My next half marathon in Quebec City is less than a month away, and my 10km was suppose to be 2 months away - that one has been postponed due to military stuff but I'll try to do an unofficial one in it's place and see how that goes.

* Nutrition- this is a toughie lately, I've said this a few times but eating at a military mess can be a challenge and when the desert is so close all the time it is difficult to ignore. I at least have a little blender in my room that I can use to make green monsters (ala Jamie), but I am counting down the time to when I have my very own kitchen - yay!

* Travelling - lately I've been back and forth across the country visiting Pete and taking contracts, Victoria, Calgary, Borden, Toronto, New Brunswick, Quebec City. All fun in their own right but I crave international travel. I had to write a bio this morning and it just reminded me how much I used to use my passport and how neglected it has

* Learning - After university I've managed to study continuously. First it was Land Admin at SAIT with KQ, then the military which has kicked it into overdrive. I've even started up the Officer Professional Military Education Courses... 2 almost finished, 4 left to go - and they can be used for university credit later on, and will only help with promotions. I've also been thinking of doing an accounting diploma to round out my Logistics career and these extra courses could help it to become a degree... 

I could only think of 4 big ones but I think they'll do.  

Days when I wish I had an iPhone instead of a Crackberry

This might just be the neatest app I've ever heard of.... well, that and the one that tells you where the nearest Starbucks is.  Damn you Crackberry and your inferior web browsing capabilities!

16

Last tuesday I experienced an epic failure at the gym, I was set to run 16km - not a new thing to my legs - but for the entire time I was running I felt awful.  My legs were tired, my calves were burning, my lungs were unhappy... WTF?! I stumbled off the treadmill with only 7.5km completed... it was crap, I was pissed off and I moped for the rest of the evening.

Fast forward to yesterday.  I had originally planned on running outside, the weather was amazing all week and I was looking forward to the sun shine.  Saturday rolled around and it was cold and windy, so I opted to try the treadmill again.  This time I rocked my 16km.  My legs were awesome until about 13 kms in when they started to get a bit fatigued, and my lungs were great... quite the difference from tuesday I would say!

Today was suppose to be a quick recovery run but I decided some power cardio-burn yoga would be better for my hamstrings - and I was right, it felt wonderful.

This week I have some more 6.5 km runs scheduled and a great big french test on thursday - yikes!  I've had the test on my goals list for ages and I really would like to get an "exempt" (meaning I scored high enough that my bilingual status will be good forever).  However, my french has been,- how you say - non-existant since I graduated so I may not get that E.... oh well, anything would be beneficial from a job standpoint so off I go.

34 days until I leave Borden for Quebec City!!!  Although leaving my cosy private room, my car and the closeness of my awesome in-laws is not ideal,  I will be finally completing my training and getting a promotion - another stripe, and a pay raise!  Hooray!!

Back to studying I go, night.

The return

Way back in University I worked 2 jobs and had a full time class load.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep a lot and was pretty hooked on caffeine... These days I sleep more and only have 1 job, but I still like my caffeine.  


Where was I going with this, oh yeah - Second Cup.  


Because I worked at an Opto office near a large outlet mall type area in Calgary that also had numerous coffee shop options, I would often stop at Second Cup and grab a crème brulée ristretto before heading to my night class - it was delicious and it was my first foray into the world of coffee. But sadly, one day I found out that they had discontinued the creamy cinnamon syrup used in the ristretto :(  and I had to get a new drink.  I was pretty upset when I found out and then switched over to Starbucks because it just seemed easier somehow (not really sure how that makes sense).  Later after we graduated when I lived with Heather, we had a great supply from Starbucks, so I continued to drink their coffee.  Then I moved to Victoria for the military and as there are ZERO second cup stores on the island I remained dedicated to Starbucks.  Now however, I am in Ontario and there are some Second Cup stores but besides the Maple Latte I didn't have a real reason to go.  A few weekends ago I was visiting Pete in Fredericton and we popped into a Second Cup for my coffee (didn't see any Starbucks in the vicinity) and they had a new drink feature - The Cinnamon Spice Latte.  I tried it, and I am amazed at how similar it tastes to my beloved crème brulée ristretto - hooray!


So in short, I have my drink back,  it makes me very happy, and it helps me to get through my crap essays- ughh, I've been struggling with this one all weekend, good thing it isn't due until Tuesday ;)


Short training / weather update - it's been grey and dreary all weekend.  I was suppose to run 16.5 km today but I have a severe dislike for running in the rain so I've decided to change it to a 5 km easy run on the treadmill on base tonight and the 16.5 km tomorrow after work. OK back to the essay :)

Happenings

After a good amount of research P and I decided to take the plunge and sponsor a child through Plan Canada.  He picked South America as our preferred location and I sent in the request.  Now all we have to do is wait 2-4 weeks for the picture and profile of our child and voila- we are foster parents!  I'm amazed it took me this long to sign up,  $35 / month is not a lot of money, and with all the perks we get from being in the military we are quite certain it won't even change my budget.

The neat thing is that now I can write letters in Spanish again.  It's been a while since I actually used my languages, and with my upcoming french profile test ( 12 days from now - yikes!) I guess this marks my return to my languages - thank goodness. 

I've also been course loaded on my next course in Quebec City... I'm rather excited to get back to the 400 and the gorgeous atmosphere that is QC... I'll be (hopefully) driving home and staying for a day or two before flying out east and then back home for a week or so afterwards.  P has his course in Shilo in May and then back to Gagetown in september.  We are trying to arrange a stay in Ontario at the cottage for a week or so in August - wish us luck ;)

Due to schedule changes this year we have also decided that 30 April 2011 will - barring any new  training schedule changes - be our wedding date.  I have a shopping trip booked in 2 weeks with an Aunt to the garment district of T.O. for my dress material and if I have enough time in April when I am home I will consult with my dressmaker.  I do have a year to actually plan this thing so I'm taking it slowly.  I have a pretty good idea of how this wedding will pan out and I don't see it taking up much of my time to plan, logistics are my speciality these days after all.

 

I should get back to the books though, I have an essay due on tuesday and I have a lot of work to do.  I'm hanging out at the in-laws' this weekend, I'm on duty next week (including the weekend) so I'm stuck on base, or very close to it - boo!

New Security Threats

My MBFF sent this to me the other day... I shared it around the office, we all laughed, now it's your turn

  NEW SECURITY THREAT LEVELS

 

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorised from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

The Scots raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards" They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the frontline in the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

It's not only the French who are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Americans meanwhile are carrying out pre-emptive strikes, on all of their allies, just in case.

New Zealand has also raised its security levels - from "baaa" to "BAAAA!". Due to continuing defence cutbacks (the air force being a squadron of spotty teenagers flying paper aeroplanes and the navy some toy boats in the Prime Minister's bath), New Zealand only has one more level of escalation, which is "Shit, I hope Australia will come and rescue us".

Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be right, mate". Two more escalation levels remain, "Crikey!', "I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend" and "The barbie is cancelled". So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

Stuck

Last night on my drive back to base I was flipping through the radio stations and caught the tail end of this song... and now it's stuck in my head... Ridiculous!

Today's Motivation

I've been chillin' at the in-laws this weekend... as I said on facebook, it is BLISS being off base... Not that the base isn't a happening place (oh boy it is!) but eating at the mess, hanging in my room, and at the gym doesn't make for a happy Linda. She needs to spread her wings and see some non-military folk every once and a while so off I drive to my in-laws. Life here is SOOO nice... they have real food, and a dog :) and a whole house that I can lounge around in. Plus, they take me on outings to visit the extended in-law family... AWESOME! (I'm being serious, my in-laws - all the extended in-laws included - are amazing and lovely and everything fantastic) YAY!
Anyhoo, I've been able to run around a neighbourhood in the out of doors which is a welcome change to the treadmill at the base gym (although it is nice that I can watch the Olympics while running) . But I digress, the actual reason for this post is because I saw this over on Happy Go Lucky Alex, and it made me laugh... well done!

Favourite Olympic Commercial

Of course this is my favourite, it's about hockey!

GO CANADA GO!!!!

New Toy

See how your neighbourhood ranks...

New Motivation

Is it wrong that I increased the length of my intervals and my speed (fastest ever) so I could do my proper miles and get home in time to watch NCIS????

I just can't help it, these Ontario times are killing me.... who puts a prime-time show on at 8:00?  My whole life I've structured my tv viewing for the 9 o'clock hour... darn you Ontario!

Happy Robbie Burns Day

It makes me sad that I'm not in Calgary to celebrate this today, perhaps somewhere on base they will have something Scottish, if not I guess I'll head on over to the mess and have a nice dram o' Scotch Whiskey

Address To A Haggis 

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,

Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!

Aboon them a' ye tak your place,

Painch, tripe, or thairm:

Weel are ye wordy o' a grace

As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,

Your hurdies like a distant hill,

Your pin wad help to mend a mill

In time o' need,

While thro' your pores the dews distil

Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,

An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,

Trenching your gushing entrails bright,

Like ony ditch;

And then, O what a glorious sight,

Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, 

they stretch an' strive:

Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,

Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve,

Are bent lyke drums;

Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,

"Bethankit!" 'hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout

Or olio that wad staw a sow,

Or fricassee wad mak her spew

Wi' perfect sconner,

Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view

On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him ower his trash,

As feckless as a wither'd rash,

His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,

His nieve a nit;

Thro' bloody flood or field to dash,

O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,

The trembling earth resounds his tread.

Clap in his walie nieve a blade,

He'll mak it whissle;

An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned,

Like taps o' thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,

And dish them out their bill o' fare,

Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware

That jaups in luggies;

But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,

Gie her a haggis!

She's earned it

Shamelessly stolen from akinoluna:


"From the blog Attack of the Toddler!!! which is written by a former female Marine and Iraq veteran - when her Marine husband's coworkers asked if it bothered him that she doesn't work, this is what he said:

"My wife spent five years in the Marine Corps and has spent more time in Iraq than most of the people in this company. She works; when I get home I don't even have to lift a finger, it's all taken care of. So as far as I'm concerned, she can do whatever the fuck she wants, she's earned it."  "


I would be hard- pressed to argue with him... 

Apparently this is the new ad for Fuller Edge Photography as featured in Wedding Bells magazine, and it features my friend Teila and her hubby Brad - they look awesome!

You can also check Teila's photography company out here

Amazing

I'll be thinking of this girl the next time I think about not giving it my all when I run.

Book Club

So I've joined my first real book club.  My new sister-in-law (and mom) and her friends (plus their mom and their mom's friends) met tonight to discuss what we should read.  It actually turned out to be less of a what book to decide on and more so "how literature influenced my life"  We spoke about our first memories of books - a lot of us remembered Beatrix Potter's books as our first, I also remembered a series of books about a clumsy maid named Amelia Bedelia, and those crazy choose your own adventure books that drove my Mom crazy.  We also spoke about our favourites, and our not so favourites.  I mentioned Outlander of course and took turns jotting some notes down as to the next few books that we should be reading.  Jane Austen was tossed about for a while but in the end we settled for "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel.  Indigo lists the description as :


"England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor.  Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.

From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage."

In any case, it should be great.  However, I seem to be getting myself deeper and deeper into a reading debt with my military university courses and my current book "The Guns of Normandy".  It's an intriguing account of the canadians in Normandy after D day and one of the artillery sergeants at work brought it to my attention.  With Pete being artillery now it is very fitting that I should be reading this.

Alright, time for bed - good night!

Blue Sky Thinking

It's been 4 years, amazing how quickly time flies by, and yet it seems like it's been such a long time all at once.
I'm thinking of you and your family today Matt.

Delays and more delays

Just a quick note before I start the recap - I read this over at The day to day, semi-normal life of a female marine and couldn't believe my eyes... some people have no idea how ignorant they can come off spouting out their opinions...


Beginning tonight with some bad news - Pete's course has been delayed from next week to May.  This means of course that he'll still be on course in Sept and not finishing until December.  Which then translates into no wedding in the fall and of course no living in the same location until Christmas this year.  Just as I was beginning to plan stuff, well, that's the military life for you.


Other fun news though, looks as though my next course will be offered (we think) at the end of April and in June.  Hopefully I will be able to get on the earlier course, be qualified sooner, get promoted and therefore have a pay raise all by the end of June! Although, with my track record so far who knows what will happen.


I've begun properly training again for my next half marathon - normally I just run every other day, gauging how far I run with how I feel.  I guess doing that doesn't really put forth a real challenge for my body to work with so I'm thinking this will be a good thing to kick my butt off this plateau.  My friend also signed up for the CN Tower stair climb in April, also a good idea for me.  Luckily the stair-climber at the gym has a magical button that lets me pretend like I am climbing a set of landmark buildings (the CN tower is #7 on their list) this keeps me pretty busy on my Cross training days.


Anyways, I'm at the in-laws for the weekend to escape the base a bit and catch up on my reading (history and military courses, pleasure reading, and now a new book club book - yikes!)  So it's off to bed for an early sleep after a real dinner, I love hangin' with the in-laws!

Christmas at the In-laws

Just a quick update on the happenings in my life... Had a fake Christmas at home in Calgary in early December.  It was so quick (4 days) and I feel very much like I gypped everyone from a good long visit but that will have to wait for my next trip home, in april perhaps.  We did however get to visit the Zoo in preparation for the wedding next year.  The zoo itself was amazing, so lovely and fun.  We were set on it until we by chance drove by Heritage Park.  I know it's a bit corny but I love history, and I love traditional so we might have there instead.  When I inquired about which venue we could host the event, due to the number of guests our only option is Gunn's Dairy Barn - so yes, I will be having my wedding in a Barn, complete with a Barn dance..... Somehow I never dreamed of doing that, holding a barn dance, but to be honest - as long as my friends and family are there I don't care where it is.

I also introduced Pete to Peters' Drive - In, which you all know is a Calgary must - needless to say he gobbled up his hamburger and fries and of course the obligatory milkshake (we had egg-nog ).

Back in Ontario we just had 2 trips up to Ottawa - we can't seem to stay away from that place... here's hoping to a posting in Petawawa next year then maybe Ottawa... Friends were seen, wings were eaten at minglewood's, trees were viewed at the Chateau (thanks to K for the suggestion )and all in all we basked in the glory that is Ottawa.

I did have to do one quick week at work between the Alberta / Ontario christmases - it was really quick and easy - a lot of schmoozing, dinners, luncheons, a BMQ (basic training) grad to attend, all cumulating with my last day in green combats (working with recruits means wearing CADPAT combats, but as it is the Navy's Centennial Year I have been directed to wear my Navy combats instead).

Now back at the in-laws for my 2 week christmas break means visiting with my new family, pilates / yoga in the morning, going for evening runs with Pete to see the Christmas lights (yay!) and relaxing - lucky me!

So, Merry Christmas to all, I hope your holiday season is just what you wanted it to be.

Gadgets!

This is awesome... I have so many ridiculous power cables that I continuously lug around with me every time I move (which stands at a record 4 times this year!) 
It is definitely going on my must buy list.

Chairs are dangerous?!?!

I don't know why we needed a study to tell us this.... isn't it just common sense?

Finances

Every morning I am in my office (seems to be less and less these days :) I scroll through my list of blogs I read.  I like to keep up with people back home, and abroad as well a big bunch of people I've never met.  They all write interesting things, stuff that I like to incorporate into my own life.  The list below is from my newest fav - Carrie... on the cheap.  She writes about finances, and as my new career path is taking me down the finance path (yay!) I've really begun to get interested and have decided to pursue my next degree in accounting . finance.  She's listed a financial bucket -list of sorts - I love lists!!  Anyways, I've always kept a list of goals on my computer, financial ones included, but I've posted hers as I think all the points are really quite relevant.  I've added a few of my bits for fun.

• Pay off my home before I turn 40 (next year Pete and I are planning on buying our first home - we both need to be posted first... thank goodness for inexpensive property near Army Bases :)
  
• Open Education Funds for each of my children when they’re born and fully fund their college educations (in cash) (much easier to do in Canada... yay!)
  
• Never finance a car again (this might not be a reality just yet, next year we are going to get  a new car and have a wedding and a house to pay for - we'll just try to pay it off asap)
  
• Have $3 million in my 401K when I retire (401k = RRSP in Canada, luckily we will both have government pensions, but we still have plans on investing for retirement and using our pensions as a last resort.  $3 Mil might be a bit steep for us, but we'll see)
  
• Never pay a cent of credit card interest ever again, or any interest for that matter (except interest on a mortgage) (Good idea!)
  
• Retire before I turn 60
• Stay physically healthy to avoid high costs of poor health as I age (a job requirement actually)
  
• Never make a loan to a friend or family member; if they are in dire need, give them a gift of money
• Never take out a loan for anything EVER again with the exception of a mortgage
• Always have an Emergency Fund of $10,000 per person in my family (already working on that one - just about there) 
• Max out a Roth IRA every year that you are eligible until you become ineligible (kind of like our TFSAs but without the retirement addition - mine is maxed for this year)

So there we go, finances are fun!  Gotta go for dinner, ciao!

Remembrance Day

 

 

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

Happenings

This week is the first week that Pete was in the field - for those non-military types think of it as crazy hard core camping - Army style.  Basically they are testing his navigation skills whilst experimenting with sleep deprivation.  I think each day they navigate 32 km through the New Brunswick bush, with (I'm told) swamps on top of hills and killer insects.  Although, the swamps should be pretty much frozen, and the bugs should be almost all dead.   They also have to do some night navigation - which I can tell you from experience that it is both slow going and ridiculously difficult, mostly because you can't see and spend the night being wacked in the face with branches and falling over logs and in ditches.  As for being attacked and fighting off enemies, I'm assuming it will be a nightly occurrence.  The instructors love an opportunity to screw over their instructees... poor bastards!

On my end of it (prepare yourself, this is quite sappy) this is probably the longest we've ever gone without speaking to each other.  We tend to talk a few times a day, and text each other somewhere near 20 times... it's hard when you never live in the same province.

Last weekend, I drove up to Ottawa for the weekend.  Jamie was in town for a "field-trip"  She came down a day early and we got to spend the day talking.  It was wonderful to catch up with her again - I haven't seen her since her trip out to Vic last March.  We spent the entire night talking, over sushi, over our favourite dessert and almost all night.  We opted to stay at the Chateau Laurier - after living in military barracks for as long as we have, we deserved the luxury.  The drive was killer though, almost 5 hours each way - I'd do it any day for time with Jamie though.  Meanwhile here in Borden, life is as regular as usual.  I have a few more projects to work on for the head instructor, some more meetings to attend, not much new.   I did just finish a marathon 90 minute Yoga session though... tough stuff! 

Next week is Remembrance Day.  I've been given the option to attend any ceremony I like.  Being that it is the Navy's 100 year Anniversary and we have this "Bring the Navy to the People" theme going, I've decided to attend the ceremony in my in-law's town.  I'm assuming I'll be one of few in uniform but as I was working last year, this year is my first.

The Story of Stuff

A must see... seriously, watch it

CHIA

I popped off base this afternoon to a cute little town nearby called Alliston.  It is quite quaint, it has a lot of useful stores to shop in when I need to make a purchase and most importantly a Bulk Barn!  I first discovered this lovely shoppe in Ottawa, with Alex - we were off to a movie and made a stopoff in Bulk Barn to load up on fun candies... and I was hooked (on the store, not the candy sadly)!

Today I brought my self restraint with me, I only picked up 2 things - almonds and my newest addiction, Chia seeds... I plan on sneaking them into the galley in the mornings so I can add them to my morning oatmeal - yum!  The best part though was the price - I scooped out almost 1/2 lb of chia seeds and paid less than $6!  Unbelievable!

In the news

Why sometimes I think I would have been quite happy if I 

was born, or lived in Sweden... it's amazing what they have 

created.. In a world where (thankfully) people seem to be 

taking notice of our impact on the environment, it's so 

nice to see that a big city, with a climate much like our 

own here in Canada can create such an effective and efficient 

system. Well, that and the fact that Ikea is like a 

wonderland for me.

Bon Voyage

So I've moved cross country - I got the call that I had a contract in Borden on my birthday and had to wrap up my visit home. I had thought it was going to be a year long visit but just as I was getting into the Calgary groove I was moved elsewhere. Everyone that knew where I was headed all gave me the same advice - "Drive there, do not fly, bring your car, for the love of GOD bring your car" Nevermind the 3400 km commute....

It wasn't the worst thing I have ever done, but it tried my patience....
From Calgary to Brandon was about 1100 km. I did this in one day... I figured I could drive for 7 hours to Regina or push it to Brandon and be done almost 1/3 of the trip in the first day. It got a bit tedious with the endless fields, but at least there was more civilization than in western Ontario. The gas was cheaper too... As I progressed through each province I noticed that the speed limit decreased by 10km/hr and the price of gas rose by $.10....
The hotel in Brandon was awesome... they gave a government discount, the bed and linen were divine, they toiletries were from Bath & Body Works and the continental breakfast was fantastic.  I departed Brandon at 6:30 the next morning and headed through Winnipeg to Thunder Bay.  Overall the drive was pretty decent, I lunched in Kenora and continued on to see the sleeping giant.  Thunder Bay was a bit disappointing, the hotel was scary and full of unsavoury characters, the room was grungy and the breakfast was pretty sad - and it was the nicest hotel I could find :( 
Anyways, the next day I headed off to Sault Ste Marie.  The drive was brutal.  There was quite a bit of fog but that wasn't the bad part.  It was the trees!  Normally I'm a big tree person but if that is all you see for 6-7 hours and nothing else you might go a little loopy - luckily it was only like that for one day.
My last day was a quick one, Sault Ste Marie to Pete's parent's house near Newmarket.  The scenery between SSM and Sudbury was a lot like what you see when you get off the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver - how weird!

So there we go, my poor little car has now driven from Calgary to Victoria and back, then all the way out here - next year it will make the return trip and with any luck I'll have someone to keep me company.

So far here my life has been pretty normal - I get to eat in a galley (oops - it's called a Mess on an army base) again, get to wear a different uniform (Army Cadpat this time, no navy gear for at least 6 months), and get to commute across 3 provinces to visit Pete - pretty normal for my life.  The great thing is that I have some awesome people to work with, I get to learn a lot on the job with my new supervisor and am able to take loads of important courses - Unit Environmental Officer, Resolving Conflict Effectively, First Responders, First Aid Instructor, plus more office based excel courses (exactly what a junior Logistics Officer needs).

Let the planning begin

Last week after the course ended in Quebec, I zipped off to Ontario to visit with Pete and relax a bit. It tuned out to be a whirlwind vacation, driving everywhere, to Ottawa, to the Cottage (twice) to Wonderland, but it was awesome, and I needed it. Our wonderland trip was awesome! We went with his sister and her boyfriend - perfect ride partners! Since Pete is certified roller coaster maniac we had to ride as many as we could. We started with the Vortex and over the course of the day ended with the Behemoth.... if you haven't seen it you have no idea, it's ridiculous.... the has 6 different drops with the first being 230 feet.... yep, that's 23 stories..... and you aren't even in a car, but a chair on a platform.... with a pole restraint.... it could be the scariest thing I've ever done - ever!

After that it was off to Ottawa.... I wish I could live in that city, it is so beautiful...Pete and I always have a wonderful time there and perhaps next year we can move to Petawawa (closest army base to Ottawa)... fingers are crossed. It also holds a special significance for us as we got engaged there, in the park, near the Parliament buildings with our tummies full of sushi and gelato... yum!

The rest of our time was awesome, we went to the cottage for a few days, met up with loads of family and relaxed.... best vacation ever :)

So there we go, the vacation was a success, we are happier than ever and now we have to figure out where the heck we are going to hold this thing - Calgary or Ontario....

Threes

Three names I go by:
Spence, Spencer
Lady Spencer
Linda Lou

Three jobs I have had in my life:
Logistics Officer (CF)
Optician Extraordinaire
Teacher (France)


Three places I have lived:
Calgary
France
Switzerland


Three favourite drinks:
Long Island Iced tea (doubles)
Coffee (fancy or non)
Perrier

Three TV shows that I watch:
Desperate Housewives
The Unit
NCIS (can we see a trend)


Three places I have been:
Turkey
Tunisia
Bulgaria

Three of my favourite foods:
Indian
Sushi
Nana's cranberry pudding

Three things I am looking forward to:
Having a real place to live (ie: no more military barracks, having a kitchen, not living out of a suitcase)
Getting my second bar (sadly, I need a half one first :( )
Traveling, not for work

Weepers

Last night us LOGOs hosted our course weepers event - for those unfamiliar with our weepers tradition it basically involves a group of people hosting a booze fest with a theme at a mess... our theme this year was Jazz & Martini Bar. We were able to book a jazz trio to come for an hour or two and play and we made a menu of different martinis to sample. The whole thing was a huge success. We had HQ people come, almost every officer at the school, and most of the officer students. It was awesome and actually wasn't a really late night as it started at 4 in the afternoon.

The only glitch was the poor bartender. I felt awful for her because there was about 100 people there and the line up for the bar was HUGE. I was in it several times and ended up waiting about 30-45 each time to get my drinks. Also, I'm not sure what language she spoke cause neither English or French really worked. To top it all off, our martinis were awful.... We were trying to drink Cinzano rosso martinis (2 shots Cinzano Rosso and a touch of sprite) but after the first one we coached her through we ended up getting something that would rival Purel (that's right, I mean the hand sanitizer....). Her concoction, from what I can recall, was basically gin, vermouth, lemon juice, an olive, a sugar rimmed glass and a lemon peel... and we had 2 each :( It was so bad, so unbelievably bad...but we persevered and got through the two drinks only to move onto Spiced Rum & Coke.

This morning was a bit tough, thankfully the galley made sure to have enough greasy breakfast bits for all the hungover officers and even made bacon cheeseburgers for lunch - thank god :) After some yoga with our resident yoga expert we all started to feel much better and now we are doing our best to study for our massive test on Wednesday - yay!

PS - it is still raining!!! Unbelievable!

Coffee!

The sun is shinning! After almost 2 weeks of rain I am so happy to see the sun! Sadly I have to spend the majority of the day indoors creating my presentation (topic: Battle of Ortona) but I think I could squeeze in a run later on this afternoon.

Another Calgary kid and I have decided that we need to get across to Levis and pickup a Starbucks asap. We've been craving a decent cup of coffee for 2 weeks now (the coffee at the galley has lovingly been deemed battery acid). Although yesterday's trip to the mall yielded a Timmie's run, Second Cup could also be a good choice for today - and I've heard there is one rather near to our residence on Rue St. Jean.

When I'm finished with the presentation I think I'll upload a few pics from my recent Ghost Tours Of Quebec Tour that 12 of us took on Friday night... it was spectacular and our guide did a phenomenal job on recreating some of the historical events that helped to create Quebec City's sordid past.

Alright, onto my presentation, and maybe a bit of yoga at 11 ;)

Happy Canada Day, or in Quebec, Wednesday

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

Not sure what kind of celebrations are happening around town, I think they have a concert of sorts up on the plains so I'm headed there for some fun. Hope everyone has a great day!

Rain

For some reason I had decided that it wouldn't rain in Quebec City this summer.... Back when I lived in Montreal for the summer I don't remember it raining - ever so I assumed it was the same here. How wrong was I? This is the 3rd day in a row that it has down poured. Yesterday I was caught in the rain on the way home from MEC, today it was in the middle of my run, and the forecast looks the same for the entire week... very uncool Quebec! However, having said that I did enjoy the total soaking, it was actually quite funny. The group of us drenched and laughing hysterically must have been quite the sight. We were all reminiscing about last year in the field and how miserable we all were, cold, wet, stressed... oh the fun!

Anyways, our first week of course has been really interesting. I never did take accounting in high school or university so this is my first go at it. It doesn't seem too difficult (knock on wood!) but it can be tricky and requires some studying so thank goodness this weekend is a rainy disaster and I have an excuse not to want to be outside. Tonight though we are breaking the study-a-thon for the new Transformers movie - yay!

Running here has also been challenge - the humidity this week was much different than Victoria's levels.... well that and the fact that we are all masochists here in the Navy and enjoy things like what I call the stairs of death, the city's longest staircase, 398 steps of hell. This picture only shows a very small fraction of it, it kicks my butt every time I try it but a group of us on course have resolved to integrate it into our runs at least 4 times a week. Plus, when you arrive at the top you are greeted with such a spectacular view of the St. Lawrence, and of course you are standing on the Plains of Abraham so that isn't too bad either!

Tomorrow is the Défi des escaliers de Québec, a 15km run which hits every staircase in the old town, including my personal fav to the left.... my knee is a bit weird these days so I am not going to run it in the race but I've got the course map so I'll get going on it when I feel my knee can take the 2600 stairs!

Alright, I should get back to the accounting, à bientôt

Roomies

I arrived in QC yesterday with a handful of course mates that I met in the Toronto airport. It was a quick flight over here followed by a huge logistical organization blitz trying to get as many van taxis as we could to transport our menagerie of luggage to the Naval Complex - Good thing that's all of our specialties! After we all got our room assignments - no one had the other as a roommate sadly, which of course meant my roomie from last years BOTC (Munroe) was in a room two down from me. I unpacked my huge suitcases and was pleased to see almost everything in the suit bag was quite wrinkle free - thank god for that!

Dinner was at a pub in the old towne, the atmosphere was fantastic, the food was great, and I remembered why I love Quebec so much. My room itself is awesome, great views of the marina on the St. Lawrence, a nice bed, alcove for my desk, free internet courtesy of someone across the street in the condo complex, and a HUGE armoir! The boy's rooms are pretty ghetto (we joke that they live in the projects) but all the girls have offered an open invitation to visit anytime so hopefully they won't have to spend too much time in their rooms.

This morning Miss Monroe and I found a grocery store and dollar store to kit up with laundry detergent, hangers and a few snacks for our night time munchies and had a leisurely walk around the lower old towne. Afterwards we headed to the gym for a run cause it was threatening to rain and then off to lunch it was. I've heard horror stories from this galley - stuff like: The vegetarian option (quiche) had bacon in it, sometimes the only meal choice is Poutine or Pogos (corndogs). However the salad bar is pretty big and has protein options that work when the hot food is awful. The only complaint though is the desert bar... the Navy has a horrendous reputation for being desert gluttons and I see why - it is huge and has the yummiest looking deserts I've ever seen on a military base. I managed to escape lunch without desert and even got an afternoon stair climbing session in which I interpreted to mean I could have a small rice krispy square at dinner, this in going to be a once a week occurrence I've decided.

My roomie showed up an hour before dinner and I was excited to see she was uber positive and so nice. She is three months pregnant and gets to wear the cute prego uniforms to class, plus she is french so I can practice my french to my heart's content. This is handy because I made a goal for 2009 to take the forces french exam and get exempt on all the sections so I can add some umph to my personnel file. Everyone that is on this course so far is just wonderful - I am so excited to learn my actual trade and hang out with them all summer!

After dinner a large group of us zipped out to the Body Expo - an exposition where cadavers are show in various stages - muscles exposed, bones, nerves, tendons etc... it was very interesting and slightly weird but the fetus section really hit most of us quite hard.

Now, I'm just getting all my kit ready for tomorrow, the my high heels are laid out and shinned up, the skirt is pressed, my shirt is hanging up complete with rank insignia and name tag, and the sweater has been delinted... I love being in the military!

Road Trip

So I made it home in one piece from Victoria. Luckily, I managed to catch the first ferry off the island at 7 am and did my best to navigate through the mess that is Vancouver - what a huge city! Then it was onto the interior and through the mountains. I think I would have made pretty good time if it hadn't been for the minivans and tractor trailers meandering along at 70km/hr..... Nevertheless it was a nice drive, I had a great book on tape (or rather CD) to keep my mind busy and the weather was perfect - not too hot, not too cold, and no rain. The best part though was the fact that I only filled the car up in Victoria on the way to the ferry, and again in Salmon Arm, which translates to about 600km for 40L of gas. Apparently my car is pretty decent on gas and I couldn't be happier. The sad news is however that I am only in Calgary for 3 days...I leave again on Saturday. This time flying out so my car stays behind. Hopefully there is a drugstore near the residence in Quebec City otherwise this could be a taxi propelled summer.

Food for thought

Why Are Humans Different From All Other Apes? It’s the Cooking, Stupid

By DWIGHT GARNER

Published: May 26, 2009

Human beings are not obviously equipped to be nature’s gladiators. We have no claws, no armor. That we eat meat seems surprising, because we are not made for chewing it uncooked in the wild. Our jaws are weak; our teeth are blunt; our mouths are small. That thing below our noses? It truly is a pie hole.

I found this article and thought it was interesting... (the title is the link)

Ode to Vic

As of today I have pretty much 2 weeks left here in Vic. I'm not really working too much - with the exception of this very last night shift right now - basically my out-routine and packing, oh the packing... I recall slightly mentioning before that I wanted to be as minimalist as possible and clearly this has not panned out very well. Currently I have filled 3 large Rubbermaid tupperware type containers and still have some to pack in my suitcase for the car. Ugh, I'm trying to reason out what to keep from my wardrobe - am I going to have an office type job where a uniform isn't required? Not sure..... most likely not, but I do have to dress up to eat meals at the mess so keeping them is justified. I do think though that all my non clothing items should really be thinned out a bit, that will be tomorrow's chore.

As for missing things here, despite the fact that I live in the ghetto side of the city (and on base) it's been really great. I've been able to visit a lot of friends from BOTC, even the reservist guys from BOTC made it out before I left, and now I get to see the rest of them in Quebec City. Not too bad, plus Pete has been here since January and even though we share essentially a hotel room and work shift work with very random sleeping schedules, we haven't even begun to get on each other's nerves.

I will really miss being so close to a lot of my navy friends. They really made the year here and I am sad to say adios for the time being. I will also miss the yummy sushi here, I don't think I even made it to all the restuarants, and of course my car, I will miss having my car, although the gas prices here are getting pretty awful ($1.07!) I think one of the only things I will miss about my job here is the view. My office has a great view of the harbour and all the warships, very large and cool looking warships... and on a night like tonight where the sun is just setting and everything has a warm glow it is quite beautiful!

For the drive home we had originally decided to depart on the Saturday, overnight in Vancouver (all you can eat Sushi and Korean BBQ) and then again in Kelowna and then onto Calgary for a few days before we both head east. However, Pete has surgery scheduled for the 10th, and won't be out of hospital until the 14th or so, plus now the poor guy can't fly home from Calgary but has to train it from Edmonton..... Yep, almost 3 days on the train - yikes! Well this way his lung won't collapse again and he can have all sorts of crazy fun in Gagetown throwing grenades, and shelling stuff without worry.

Anyhoo, I should get back to the harbour and my paperwork. Night!

Tree hugger?

Being that I am in the new "Green Navy" and living in BC for the past year I feel a bit more in tune with environmentally friendly practices. Not to say that I wasn't like this in Calgary, I recycled as much as I could, but it is nice to read something like this... bravo Alberta, Green looks good on you.

On a completely unrelated note, I ran my first 1/2 marathon today. A month ago I ran my first 10 km therefore this was quite the leap. Originally I made a 2 hours 45 minute goal for myself and I am happy to report I made it in 2 hours, 30 minutes., give or take a few mins. It was awful, the two hills in the last km almost killed me but I did it and now feel a lot more motivated to run the 15km staircase challenge in Quebec City in a month, and even more so for the half marathon in September. Pete also kicked butt... he ran 1 hour 49 min, and on a newly repaired collapsed lung which prevented him form actually training for this thing... he is amazing and I'm uber proud of him - Good Job Pete!

I'm pretty sure, inspired by dooce also ran a race this weekend, and Heather has a sprint triathalon next weekend... so well done / good luck to the them!

Survey fun on a sunday night

4 goals I have in the next 5 years:
1. Make Lieutenant(Navy)
2. Own a house
3. Run a marathon
4. Become uber organized

4 places I will visit someday:
1. Scotland - to walk the Great Glen Way and research my roots
2. Russia - to see the history
3. India
4. Vietnam

2 interesting places I've been
1. Sahara Dessert
2. Turkey


4 of my favorite foods:
1. Indian anything
2. Afternoon Tea
3. Veggie Platters
4. Christmas Pudding (ala Nana)

4 jobs I've had:
1. Aupair - most spoiled and misbehaved children I've ever met
2. Optometric Assistant - it helped me get to Africa and paid
  for university
3. Teacher - grade 10 boys are awful
4. Anti-terrorism Officer of the Watch

2 places I've lived:
1. France
2. Montreal

2 places I'd like to live:
1. Ottawa
2. Anywhere else in Europe

4 things I'd do with my spare time, if I had any:
1. Learn another language - Arabic I think
2. Read more history books
3. Learn how to swim (or rather learn how to swim properly)
4. Perfect the art of conversation

Running

So since I last posted I've been getting into my running, mostly because Pete has encouraged me to sign up for races. Also because, for the moment, I live in Victoria and can run outside most days of the year.

I managed to get through the Times Colonist 10km run - after a night shift no less - which did make me feel pretty happy. Although running with 11,000 other people was awful, and all those people who started before me and walked from the beginning were frustrating to navigate around, I did feel like the run went well.
Fast forward a month and I am running my first 1/2 marathon. Not sure if this was the smartest move, having only a month of extra training in between the two but I have come up with a plan. I originally was going to run it as a 10km and then walk run the rest until I was finished, however now I think I'll do a 2km run then 1 km walk and see how that goes. Pete is also running this one, not beside me, but he will be on the route roughly around the same time. He is running on a newly repaired collapsed lung but I have no doubt he will be just fine, he lives for this stuff.

I have another race in the fall to train for which I assume I will be more prepared for. Plus I am spending the summer in Quebec City and one of my classmates has decided that we are going to be running this exciting race..... so who knows I might just do well.

How Many

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 books from this list. Copy the list into your own note. Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.Delete 'x' from any you have not read.

[ ] 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
[] 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
[ ] 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
[X] 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
[x] 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
[] 6 The Bible
[ ] 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
[X] 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
[ ] 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
[ X] 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
[] 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
[ ]12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
[ ] 13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
[ ] 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
[ ] 15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
[] 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
[ ] 17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
[ X] 18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinge
[ X] 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
[ ] 20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
[ ] 21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
[x] 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
[ ] 23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
[ ] 24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
[] 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
[ ] 26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
[ ] 27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
[X ] 28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
[X] 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
[x] 30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
[ ] 31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
[ ] 32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
[x] 33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
[ ] 34 Emma - Jane Austen
[ ] 35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
[x] 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
[ ] 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
[ ] 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
[] 39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
[X] 40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
[x] 41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
[x] 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
[ ] 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
[ ] 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
[ ] 45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
[X ] 46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
[ ] 47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
[ ] 48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
[X] 49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
[ ] 50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
[ ] 51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
[ ] 52 Dune - Frank Herbert
[ ] 53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
[ ] 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
[ ] 55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
[ ] 56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
[]57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
[ ] 58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
[] 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
[ ] 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
[ X] 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
[ ] 62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
[ ] 63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
[ ] 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
[x] 65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
[ ] 66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
[ ] 67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
[X] 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
[ ] 69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
[ ] 70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
[ ] 71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
[ ] 72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
[X ] 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
[x] 74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
[ ] 75 Ulysses - James Joyce
[ ] 76 The Inferno - Dante
[ ] 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
[ ] 78 Germinal - Emile Zola
[ ] 79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
[ ] 80 Possession - AS Byatt
[x] 81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
[ ] 82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
[ ] 83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
[ ] 84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
[ ] 85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
[ X] 86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
[X] 87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
[ ] 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
[] 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
[ ] 90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
[X] 91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
[ X] 92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery - In three languages!
[ ] 93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
[ ] 94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
[ ] 95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
[] 96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
[x] 97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
[X] 98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
[X] 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
[ ] 100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo


Uh oh, I only got 30 - better get reading!

500

Wow, so I completely failed to notice that my last post was actually my 500th. Quite the milestone, and I'm amazed that I didn't know it. Anyways, onto something else... I found these stats on the net, they are a few years old but I am certain that things haven't changed that drastically since their publication. I've always had a weird preoccupation with population rates and these rates come as a bit of a surprise to me, and I'm not sure why.

The latest data from the Population Reference Bureau shows that
there are twenty countries in the world with negative or zero
natural population growth.  This is unprecedented in history!
This negative or zero natural population growth means that these
countries have more deaths than births or an even number of
deaths and births; this figure does not include the impacts of
immigration or emigration. Even including immigration over
emigration, only one of the twenty countries (Austria) is expected
to grow between 2006 and 2050.  The country with the highest
decrease in the natural birth rate is Ukraine, with a natural
decrease of 0.8% each year. Ukraine is expected to lose 28% of
their population between now and 2050 (from 46.8 million now to
33.4 million in 2050). Russia and Belarus follow close behind at
a 0.6% natural decrease and Russia will lose 22% of their
population by 2050 - that is a loss of more than 30 million people
(from 142.3 million today to 110.3 million in 2050).  Japan is the
only non-European country in the list and it has a 0% natural birth
increase and is expected to lose 21% of its population by 2050
(shrinking from 127.8 million to a mere 100.6 million in 2050).
The streets of Tokyo won't be as crowded in a few decades as they
are today! Here's the list of the countries with negative natural
increase or zero negative increase in population... Ukraine: 0.8%
natural decrease annually; 28% total population decrease by 2050

Russia: -0.6%; -22%
Belarus -0.6%; -12%
Bulgaria -0.5%; -34%
Latvia -0.5%; -23%
Lithuania -0.4%; -15%
Hungary -0.3%; -11%
Romania -0.2%; -29%
Estonia -0.2%; -23%
Moldova -0.2%; -21%
Croatia -0.2%; -14%
Germany -0.2%; -9%
Czech Republic -0.1%; -8%
Japan 0%; -21%
Poland 0%; -17%
Slovakia 0%; -12%
Austria 0%; 8% increase
Italy 0%; -5%
Slovenia 0%; -5%
Greece 0%; -4%

It's been a while....

Yikes, so I guess I haven't been as diligent in my blogging as I would have liked to think but I am here now so lets get on with it shall we?

Happenings in the last few months have been sparse I work, I go to the gym, I eat meals, I visit with people... it's a nice way to live. But seriously, I'm not sure that I am really explaining how much I do enjoy it. When I do go to work (and I say that because military life affords quite a bit of vacation time, and paid vacation at that!) I get to deal with all sorts of problems and people and really get into the thick of it. My training has been so useful, and I do know that if I ever do leave the military, or put it to the side temporarily I can always use the experiences in civie street as they say.

In other ways it can be a bit tough living away, but they do try to help out with perks like extra money to help offset the cost of a plane ticket home - sadly as Calgary is so close my offset money is only $270 so it doesn't quite cover a ticket home at Christmas. This year my Christmas will actually be in Jan, and only for a week, but at least its something.

Last week the course catalogue came out for the reserves and it looks as though my LOG course will be in Quebec City 8 Jun - 31 July. This is great news as I can probably extend my contract here in Victoria to the end of April, or May, whatever I feel is necessary and then look for something in Sept or Aug... I love that the reserves lets me pick and choose what I do next. I might have the opportunity to come back to Victoria to help out with the Olympics in Feb 2010, or find a contract in Ottawa, or really wherever Pete and I end up. Just now its a toss up between the RCMP and the Ottawa Police... I might be persuaded to pick Ottawa Police but in reality the RCMP has phenomenal potential to be a great career and I can find military work almost anywhere in the country, plus I have a few more courses to go on and some French training and University courses to complete before promotions so anything will do really.

Pete was able to come out and visit for a week after his course in Quebec City. He left Thursday morning bound for Toronto and luckily the snow wasn't too bad at that point. It did get much worse though as the weekend came. Funny thing is that the island did get a lot of snow.. almost 3 feet in a week and for crazy islanders it was far too much. I was even having trouble driving as I did not bring my snow tires with me and my car is very little so i slid around a bit and had to dig it out a few times. Pete is due back next Monday, just in time for New Years and hopefully the snow will have melted a tad. We are due for some above zero temps for the next week so I am sure that the island will return to it's green state.

Well, I suppose I shall leave it at that for the time being. I will do my best to report back in a few days with any new happenings. In the meantime, stay warm and play nice in the snow!