Later that night...

Just a short one...
I think I've had my first real day where I am thinking "Vancouver's okay." Or maybe "Vancouver is just alright with me...Vancouver is just alrighttttttttt"
This may have to do with the fact that my parents are now in the same province...right now in Victoria visiting my favourite friends Barbara and James...but I also had a pretty decent day. I woke up around 9:30am, went for a run along the ocean (25 min run then 6 min walk up a crazy steep hill then 20 min run home) and then had this job interview thingy that I wrote about before. Colin got home around 6pm and we headed to Richy's and made veggie burgers and salad and fries, did some work on Logic and then watched a MuchMusic Spotlight on Beyonce (I hadn't heard half of the new songs...I'm old.) Driving home, we listened to the National even though Colin CLAIMS he doesn't like them (I don't believe him, it's impossible) and I looked out the window at the lovely Vancouver skyline. Or I guess maybe it was West Van? I don't know yet -- I'm not great at finding my way around -- but it was really pretty.

So I thought to myself -- Vancouver's alright. I think I might end up liking it here. But it has a lot to do with good music and nice skylines.

There is still one thing that totally sucks though, and will be continual -- when I want to text people past 10pm my time, they are usually asleep. So I end up sending a lot of texts that go unanswered until around 8am my time. I guess I need to make some friends here. But I don't want to!!!! I LOVE MY FRIENDS!!!

MY CATS ARE GOING INSANE!! Monster just full on jumped on my boob. They are tearing around like maniacs!!! Okay THEY are the best thing in the world!!!

I know this post is totally crazy but I wanted to write and assure my friends that I'm okay for now. But also -- I'm really looking forward to showing you all around this city (I'll try and figure it out better before you arrive) so don't be slacking on planning your trips!!!

xox
Laura

Introducing...the den!

Hi folks.

I decided to show you a room in my house. Basically no room in the house is "finished" but this one's as close as it's gonna get for a while. By this, I mean that with other rooms we either still need to paint, or get furniture, or clear out junk. The only things about the den are that Colin's bikes are there cluttering up the place, and the futon will soon be a sofa bed. However, right now the sofa bed is in the living room until our other furniture arrives sometime in January.
So this is the den aka knick knack room. It might end up being my office if I ever need to actually use it (that is, if I ever were to get a job...!) but for now it houses one of my dressers, a small desk and a futon. There is a fireplace in it that we're having inspected sometime next week, but I can't see us using it much. Maybe we'll fill it with big candles instead!




Grumble got mad that I was taking photos and he wasn't in them, so he started bonking his head on chair legs:



In other news, I had a job interview today. It's for a 2 month internship at a place called BroadbandTV. I wasn't interested in it at all but then today I decided I was. The interview went well but who really knows. There were a lot of applicants I think. The dude interviewing me was all sweater and scarf styles, but he was super nice and friendly and made the job sound interesting. Then he told me it was an unpaid internship (the ad had said paid) but that every intern gets a bonus at the end. What that is, I don't know. A pair of socks? An umbrella? A pat on the back? Or some cold hard cash. Anyhow, it would be something to do that wouldn't be too soul-sucking while I apply for other jobs. Also, if the government deems me worthy of Employment Insurance, I can do this internship and not lose my mind while still looking productive to society.

Colin started his new job on Monday and it seems to be going alright. His main complaint is that there's a hockey table game right beside his desk and people keep playing it and it's loud and annoying. Apparently it plays the national anthem and says things like "nice goal!!" I think maybe he's just feeling sad that he hasn't made any friends to invite him to play yet. Anyhow, for me, Monday turned out pretty depressing. I wasn't sure how I would feel, having things go a bit more back to normal with one of us working...it turns out it made me feel like crapola. I tried to occupy myself all day by going grocery shopping and applying for EI and then making Colin a nice dinner...i'm like a housewife! My mom said that when her mom was made to move and leave her friends and job back home, she hated it and was bored and then ended up getting pregnant -- with my mom! Maybe that's what I'll do too. Be a pregnant housewife on EI!! Welcome to Vancouver!!

But Tuesday was better. I got up and went riding, stopped by a shop that I'd dropped off an application for part-time work on Monday, to introduce myself to the owner, then watched the start of the new season of Californication. It's even weirder to watch that show now that I know that David Duchovny is a sex addict. But it's nice to have it back :) I've also been watching the new season of Heroes. I wasn't sure I was going to do it this year, but I started to watch it and I like this season a lot better than Season 2. Speaking of ridiculous TV dramas, there's a 2 hour TV movie called "24: Redemption" on Sunday night. I guess cause they aren't coming back with the new season until January, they wanted to do something to keep viewers hooked. We'll see if it works.

Oh! Also! I keep forgetting to tell you a story. Or maybe I told you and forgot? Anyhow. My parents had a giant rubber tree that they gave me a couple of years ago. I propagated it into a little rubber plant for Michael and Heidi as a housewarming gift when they moved. Then when we took off to Vancouver, we had to leave our plants behind. So I gave the rubber plant to Michael, and he gave me his little guy, and Colin and I put it in the car and took it across the country with us in one of the cup holders! And it survived, even when I ripped a leaf with my seatbelt. Well, today I transplanted it because it wasn't really growing and I figured it needed a bit bigger pot with better drainage. I hope it survives the operation...I tend to kill things when I move them. Anyhow, here's a photo of Mr Rubber Plant v2.1!
Okay now I'm heading to Colin's brother's place to see if I can learn Logic...it's sort of a ProTools type program but more used for music recording and editing and mixing. I don't know much about it but it can't hurt to learn a bit. Failing that, I'll just drink red wine and watch him and Colin mess around with it instead.

BYE FOR NOW!
Throw a snowball for me ;)

It's a holiday here today

I thought I was done crying for the day until that jerk friend Jake Thompson called me all drunk and lovey just a second ago. Whatta guy! I miss that dude so much and can't wait to see him at Christmas.

So it's Tuesday night, I just got back from Carol's house for dinner with her, her boyfriend Alex, Colin's brother Rich, and the two of us. It was a rough start to the day. I stayed in bed past noon with cats sleeping on my legs because it was just easier to stay in my warm cozy bed than to get up and face another day of dreariness. However, my mom was persistent with her phone calls and managed to get me up. Her phone call cheered me up, and then I checked my email and found some more encouraging words from Michael and Heidi. The tears started to flow anew, but more out of thankfulness for having such a great family. Marie called to check up on me and I could barely get out the words to say hello for the first little bit, but then I managed to calm down. Alison sent me internet hugs and we talked a bit about our impending Christmas visit when we'll both be in Oakville for the holidays. Linden called to say that he and Josh would be heading to Whistler in the beginning of December and hoped I would be around. I have such amazing friends. And Colin sat down with me and talked to me about stuff and about how he's trying to be more supportive and that he's sorry that he's been hard to talk to lately. All the tears that flowed between noon and 1pm left me with stinging eyes for the rest of the day and evening, but also left me feeling a little more settled and gave me the ability to settle down a bit. I didn't have any great revalations, to be honest, and I won't say that I'm feeling much more positive about my situation, but hearing about other peoples' experiences gives me a bit of hope that maybe things will work out for me too, sometime.

In the meantime, I applied to be a dog walker/pet sitter. I hope at least THEY call me back. Today was Rememberance Day, and in BC this means a Stat Holiday. So I was able to not fret about the fact that I wasn't getting any callbacks about jobs, simply because no one was in their office. Tomorrow will be a whole new day of worry. My plan is to go for a run at some point...I didn't get the chance to report that on Saturday, I surpassed the 30 minute mark. I ran for 33 minutes straight...then I realized I had no real clue where I was. I ended up hiking through a forest on a trail for about 20 minutes, then getting to a road where I asked a passerby where the hell I was...then I ran a bit more before going to a community centre to use a phone. There, a man told me that I was only about 12 blocks from home, so I decided to keep running. However, by then my back was starting to hurt and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to walk the next day (which was also the day of my first riding lesson with Shawna) so I took it easy for the rest of the walk. So yeah, tomorrow -- run and then who knows. I may try and go riding but the forecast calls for "drenching rain" so I might nix that plan.

I headed to the barn today around 2pm in light rain, and when I got there, the owner, Joanne, asked me how I was feeling today (she knew I wasn't feeling great from my Facebook, and had offered me some encouraging words on there). I get a good feeling from her -- she seems so down to earth and also she's a tough lady who commands respect. Her horses are all lovely and she's provided me with a great opportunity to ride one of them. So I pulled up to the barn, still in the rain, and went to get Shawna from her stall. She was all perky and cute and I was so happy to see her...and by the time I was ready to tack her up, the rain had stopped! We got in a good ride, though the footing was quite deep in areas, and then I walked her through the forest trail to cool her out. No eagles today, but several hawks flew overhead. Heidi once told me that seeing a hawk means change is afoot, so the fact that I saw a whole lot of them at once might be a sign!

Riding ALWAYS cheers me up, so by the time I left there I was feeling so much better and was ready to face the rest of the day. I'm so glad that I can have that right now...I'm not sure how much worse I'd be doing without it, but it wouldn't be pretty. I'm so thankful for it. Riding is something I will never take for granted, because it is one of the only things that I can truly say that some nights before I get to ride, I am so excited that I can't sleep right away. I've been doing it for nearly twenty years and I still feel this way -- that is a special thing. And I'm pretty sure I can count on Colin to pitch in financially for this, because he sees how sane it keeps me (most of the time). So far I've paid the first month with my own money, but that will run out soon.

Oh, I DO have one solid plan for tomorrow -- buy some rain boots. It's inevitable, and there are a lot of cute ones in stores around here so I'm sure I'll find something good for not too expensive. It's not like I don't have all the time in the world to shop around...

Love you guys.

Coming to terms

I guess that list of emotions that you go through when shit is going wrong in your life sort of applies to a whole gamut of things. Take, for instance, the slow dawning of the realization that I've probably ruined my life. So far today, I've gone through anger, sadness, hostility, hopelessness, stupidity, and a bit of craziness. How is it that I thought it would be a good idea to throw my life away just so that I could experience a new place? How am I supposed to experience anything when I have no money? I mean, sure you can be all granola and say "just go read in a park" or "window shopping is fun!" but it's not quite that simple. First of all, when you feel totally hopeless, it's hard to look on the bright side of anything. When the stock response from every company you drop your resume off to is something along the lines of "it's great to see another woman in this business. Unfortunately, we have no work for you..." it's hard to feel anything but defeated. I was flipping through the Georgia Straight today and saw that Whole Foods is hiring. I will be applying there shortly. Then I made a joke to Colin about how Costco is hiring, and his response? "Well, it's a job!" Wow, thanks for that encouragement. That attitude is really positive when it comes to making me feel like maybe I DO have some better options other than fucking retail. I had a great career doing pretty much exactly what I wanted at home in Toronto, and now I'm probably never going to get anything like that again. Colin's response? "Why don't you go to a career planner and find out of there's something else you might be suited to?" I know what I'm suited to. I just did it for seven years, and then I decided I could find something better by just turning my life upside down, leaving my family and friends and starting from zero again. I've been to school. I have no desire to waste more years of my life trying to find something else to do. I was one of the fortunate ones who knew from a pretty early age what I wanted to do, and even luckier that I went out and did it. What was I thinking?

Anyhow, I know that you are all wonderful people and won't mind getting a lump of coal for Christmas. I'll try and use my abundance of spare time shaping those lumps into cute little animals or something. Maybe I'll go sit in a park and whittle.

Let's end this on a positive note, shall we?
http://cdn1.ustream.tv/swf/4/viewer.45.swf?cid=317016

325 KWV or something

Okay so I know that some of you are having trouble with Skype/iChat.  Or maybe it's me.  It probably is.  But I just want to say DON'T GIVE UP!!!  Once it works, it's great.  My parents and I have been using it almost daily and it's working fantastically.  It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you're over the hump, it's awesome.  Tonight, Monster and Riley got to see each other on Skype!!  I swear they looked into each others' eyes.  Yes.  

So it's Friday...almost.  It's around 11:30pm on Thursday night.  The days are really long right now.  Mostly I attribute that to the fact that 85% of my days are filled with shit.  Trying to find a job, writing cover letters and tweaking resumes, dropping them off to find once again that the studio isn't hiring, spending 2 hours at the insurance office getting set up with BC plates (I didn't have to get the one with the terrible slogan!  I was hoping to just happen to get an awesome plate that spelled a great 3 letter word...but alas.  I think it's 325 KWV or something equally mundane), putting shelves up in the new IKEA wardrobe that is nearly done being put together, shopping for new sinks (which our landlord will pay for an have installed), going to IKEA again, ordering furniture (we ordered a couch and chair from EQ3 and it will take 8-10 weeks), buying and unpacking furniture (a new sofa-bed for all of you, our guests!), throwing out the 3rd bag of garbage this week (it's gutting.  I really hope we will go back to one every two weeks as soon as we finish all this unpacking), getting my car certified so I could be deemed good enough to grace the streets of Vancouver (after paying $600 for new tires as the old ones didn't pass)...really, I could go on.  

Fortunately, this 85% leaves 15% of good stuff.  Seeing Shawna, my new horsie that I'm part-leasing (whom I'm allowed to ride as much as I want and is only a 20 minute drive away), cuddling with my kitties, keeping in touch with friends and family through letter writing and receiving daily emails filled with anything from simply a line to say hello or paragraphs of wonderful updates, spending lots of time with Colin, going to fun halloween parties, having the time to relax a bit and sleep in once in a while without feeling guilty about it (not that I ever feel guilty about sleep!)  

This morning I got up at 9am to go riding but it was pouring rain.  I had a bowl of cereal and read some emails, then decided to go back to bed.  3 hours later, I got up, showered and dressed and went out to a studio then to do the car insurance.  When I got home a while later, it had stopped raining and was getting dark, so I decided that I would bust ass to get to the barn while it was somewhat non-threatening outside.  However, by the time I got there just after 5pm, it was starting to pour again and due to the fact that the light on the ring isn't too strong, I didn't want to attempt to ride around in sloppy footing while being rained on.  Instead, I took a broom, sponge and some Ivory soap that I happened to have in my tack box and set to cleaning out the tack room that I only have to share with one other person.  At my old barn, I had a small box of a locker.  At this place, I have a WHOLE ROOM!!  With some shelves and hooks and stuff!  Sure, there are cobwebs and what look like cocoons in the rafters, but it IS a barn after all.  I brushed Shawna and gave her and the others in her barn (Georgie and her daughter Rose, both Clydesdales, Jenny the rescue Clyde, and Hope, the little paint pony) some carrots and pets.  Hopefully it will be nice tomorrow during the daylight.  I don't have many plans aside from keep trying  to organize the house (shelves to put up, speakers to wire, pictures to arrange and put up, paint touch-ups to finish) so I can be relatively flexible with the barn.  

Colin's got some friends who live nearby, Angus and Cecilia.  Angus and Colin went to high school together, and he has been dating Cecilia for a few years, so I'd hung out with them the past couple of visits I'd made to Vancouver.  I love those two!  We spent quite a bit of time together last weekend, and they were over last night to sit on our new couch and watch Anchorman (there were four people between two parties on Friday who were dressed as Ron Burgundy so I figured it was worth a viewing!)  We may go see that newest Woody Allen film tomorrow night...I'm a bit skeptical of that film.  Has anyone seen it?  Anyhow I just mention this because it's funny how I don't know what to call them yet, comfortably.  They are my friends, but usually I say "Colin's friend and his girlfriend".  I think it's gotten to the point where I can start calling them "my friends."   But I don't know!  You know?  All I know is they are great and make me feel very at ease living here with them nearby.  

We went out for our first brunch last weekend!  So far we've experienced cheap, yummy sushi, delicious indian food, vegetarian fare at my favourite restaurant, some mediochre pizza and some wonderful pizza, and dinner at White Spot.  But I needed to find a good brunch spot as it's my favourite meal to go out for.  On Friday night, I decided that I would poll strangers at the party about their favourite brunch spot in town.  I only remembered to do this twice, but no one really seemed to be able to pinpoint one.  Maybe it's just not as coveted a ritual here in Vancouver?  However, Cecilia and Angus brought us to Cafe Zen on Sunday morning.  Now, I'm not looking to replace Aunties & Uncles, cause I know it won't happen.  That place is going to be one of those places I'm going to have to visit whenever I'm home for a visit.  But brunch is a yummy ritual!!  So anyhow, Cafe Zen was lovely.  A bit of a wait to get in but the line moved quickly and the waitresses were so friendly, even though it was super busy.  It takes a certain breed of person to be able to deal with hungover people en mass on a Sunday morning.    I had a benny like my favourite dish at Insomnia -- poached eggs on an english muffin with tomato and avocado under delicious hollandaise sauce.  The homefries weren't comparable, but the eggs were perfection.  I'm still gonna look, but this place has potential.  The great thing about looking for new yummy restaurants is the yummy restaurants :)

Okay well I know this post was really rambling and maybe a bit nonsensical, but that's all I got right now.  Here's a photo of some eagles that were hangin out with me at the barn on Tuesday.  

Still no laundry baskets...but new IKEA furniture

I have some photos to showcase in this post. Perhaps I won't write much, just captions of the photos. I will, however, say this: Umberto FAILED the stupid bullshit BC Inspection. He's obviously too good for Vancouver. I have to get a new set of tires, and then I get their stupid sticker so I can get stupid plates. So now on top of the unpacking painting organizing buying furniture agonizing crap that is my life right now, I get to shop for tires. Fortunately, I have a lovely brother and father who were both gracious about giving me advice on what to do. Ultimately, I ended up picking some from Canadian Tire (where I happened to have been earlier and almost lost my shit in). Maybe I can pick a day to go to Canadian Tire AND IKEA in the same day!!! And then I'll slit my wrists! Maybe I can fit in a trip to Wal Mart before I bleed to death.

On a better note, I found a horse that I'm going to try out for a month and see how things work out. She's lovely (though she is a mare, and we all know how ladies can be...) and reminds me a bit of Hijack, though a bit smaller. Still the giant hooves and head and nice soft eyes though. I'm going to take her on some trails on Saturday with a couple others from the barn! Exciting! The barn is totally nothing special, and I'm a bit worried about the lack of a good arena to ride in, but everyone seems SO nice and laid back and casual that I'm totally drawn to it. I emailed the coach that I will be taking lessons with and she said I would just pay as I went, lessons are $30/hour for a private, and we could start whenever. But at the same time, they are laid back but really attentive with their horses upon my initial impression. So wish me luck with that!

Here are some photos! They span the past week.

This is Josh in a sushi restaurant down the street from my house. Sushi in Vancouver is like pizza in most other places -- there is so much of it that it's really cheap. So far I've only been to this one place and it was average to good, but cheap! $1 miso soup!


This is Josh in the Tsawassen ferry terminal. We were on our way to Victoria to stay with lovely friends and then heading to Nanaimo the next morning super early for Josh's conference. We missed the ferry and had to sit there for nearly 3 hours total.


Fortunately, Josh is a card shark and we had some heated games of Gin.

Gratuitous ferry shots


Rosie the wire-haired fox terrier! She is the cutest, most well-behaved dog EVER. She slept snugged up against my bum all night!


While Josh was at the conference all morning and some of the afternoon, I took a walk along the harbour in Nanaimo.

This is a past mayor of Nanaimo. He was nicknamed Black Frank, but I forget anything else. I guess he was a pirate.


This cat followed me for a bit of the way. An older lady stopped and said that she sees that cat often. He was stalking mice, and at one point jumped 3 feet into the air after one!


We went to deep-fried heaven, a place called Pirate Chips. They sell fish & chips but the rest of their menu is vegetarian and involves deep fried goodness with stuff on top. I got chili cheese fries and Josh had nacho fries. They also had deep fried chocolate bars, bananas, ice cream AND deep fried nanaimo bars. I had a non-fried nanaimo bar earlier in the day and it was totally underwhelming, I must say.


The ferry ride home was also full of Gin, with a power nap thrown in at the end. We drove home from Horseshoe Bay in rush hour, so what should have taken 15 min probably took around 40. Did I mention that I hate driving in this city? The next night Josh came out with Colin and I to a couple of bars. Then he had to leave!! Suddenly!! Well, sort of. He was meant to be leaving on the Sunday, but on Saturday I got a text message that he was at the airport and all the flights on Sunday were full so he had to go then. It was bogus, but it wasn't going to tarnish the rad times we'd just had. PLUS, MY CATS WERE ARRIVING THAT AFTERNOON!!!!!!!!

They love their catnip pouches! Colin and I got them (along with a whole lot of other stuff!) at a lovely pet store near our house called Tisol.

Mom and Dad obviously fed Monster well while he was staying with them!! Cute saggy tummy! Actually, to be honest with myself, he totally has had that tummy for ages. This is just an extra flattering shot of him.

I SWEAR ON MY LIFE that is not a Starbucks coffee in my hand.

Our cozy bedroom, which looks totally crooked in this photo but you get the idea somewhat. Stuffed animals reprasent!!

I will showcase the rest of the photos tomorrow. Halloween! Maybe I will take photos of cute children to whom I will be handing out candy. Or maybe I'll just give them rocks.

Where are the laundry baskets?

Hellooooooooooooooo
Today will be another day of organizing. We are getting cable and internet sometime today! (Right now we're stealing it) Then I have to sort out getting BC plates for Umberto. Sigh. I think I have to get the stupid new ones that say "the best place on earth". I'm going to stick a label on before Best saying "Second". Do you think that's against the law? License plate tampering? I guess I'll find out. Then I have to get new insurance, and maybe a parking permit. The streets around our house are pretty sweet cause you can park for free 24 hrs a day except one half of the street in front of our house, where you can buy a permit and then only residents of 2300 block (we're 2322) can park there. I think it's like $10 but really I'm just making that up. So yeah we don't need a permit unless we want to be able to park right in front of the house.

I rode my bike yesterday for the first time since I got here!! Twice! Once to EQ3, where we realized that biking on West Broadway (the main street) is stupid because the traffic lights here change about once every 5 seconds to red. Driving in this city SUCKS but that's another boring story. So on our way home we went via side streets and it was sooooooooooooooo much better. There are very few 4-way stops here, which I'm still getting used to -- it's just ingrained in me to stop at every freaking intersection -- but there are a lot of little roundabouts. And there are a lot more hills here. So far I haven't encountered one that I couldn't make it up, but I've seen them out the car window and it doesn't look pleasant.

Soooooooooo MY KITTIES ARE HERE! Yayyyyyyy allergies, how I missed you! Just kidding, of course it's a small price to pay for these little bundles of furry love. We went to get them on Saturday from the WestJet cargo building, as my parents put them on a plane in Toronto for us to pick up. We'd decided to put them in the same carrier, which some people seemed a bit worried about, but I knew they would just keep each other company and it would be fine. Monster looked pretty traumatised when we got the cage but Grumble was all "what's up guys?" and was ready to come out and see the world right away. We got the carrier to the car and opened the door and they both came out right away -- Monster hid under the seat the whole time and Grumble sat on Colin's lap and looked out the window. Once he decided to be a dashboard ornament and laid up beside the windshield for a bit, but the slope probably made it a bit challenging. Then when we got them home, it was the opposite. Monster was all about exploring, whereas Grumble headed for under the bed and hung out there for hours. They kept us up the first night, but the past two nights has gone back to the normal Grumble spooning with me for the first part of the night, then he gets up and goes somewhere else, and then by the morning he's sleeping on top of me somewhere. Monster wasn't big on the co-sleeping thing before, so I'm not surprised that he's not been sleeping with us yet. We don't know what to do with the litter though...we only literally have one closet at this new place, and that'll be holding a lot of clothing. So far, we've put it in the 2nd bathroom, but that happens to be down with our bedroom, so we've woken up once every night to litter box scratching. Maybe we'll have to build a little cupboard for them or something. I can't find the camera cable right now so I can't upload any of the cute photos I took of them with their halloween catnip pouches.

I can't type much more because I'm sitting on the hardwood floor and my butt is going numb. I could maybe stretch it to the futon, but that's almost worse. We need couches SO BADLY. I think we might have to get a cheap one off Craigslist to tide us over while we wait the 4 weeks or whatever that the order takes to arrive. Not that we've even ordered anything yet, but let's not discuss that.

Two more things though: having a dishwasher is so fantastic. I can't stress it enough!!! It makes cooking more enjoyable, and cleaning up so easy, and I think it might save some relationships out there somewhere. You should all look into it. It's lifechanging. :)

Second: GET SKYPE!!! Seriously!!! And keep it signed in when you're home!!! My mom keeps hers on and yesterday I called her randomly, just like a normal phone call! Jen and Carla and I chatted and I got to see them too! I can give you a tour of my house with the webcam! You can say hi to Monster and Grumble!! And it's all free. FREE. So get yourselves a webcam or headset or whatever, and SIGN UP. You can search for me with my gmail address.

Okay breakfast time.
bye for now :)

Kinda like in the old days

So!
Today was a pretty good day. Last night was our first official night in the new place! And I can't stress enough: Having a dishwasher is awesome. It almost makes moving worth it. Okay not really, but Marie said it would change my life and I believed her, but I didn't realize how right she was. I don't have to wash dishes anymore (for the most part)! It's great. Also last night, I did a load of laundry, which was fine but will be even BETTER now since the dryer got serviced today and should be in total working order again (an upstairs roommate said that it wasn't working properly so we got the landlord to fix it). The downside is that the laundry is shared between the whole house. I'm not sure, but I don't THINK that'll be a huge deal. Our bedroom is beside the laundry room, as opposed to the rest of the house which has to go outside to the door there to get in, so it's really easy to get to the machines, plus they are "industrial" machines which I guess makes them more efficient/faster? I don't know. These will all be things I will figure out over the next little while.

So yes, we've met the 3 people upstairs, but not the mom and her small child downstairs. However we haven't heard a thing from the downstairs at all. One day we thought maybe she was cooking fish sticks, but that was just a guess. The people upstairs all seem totally chill, which is good and bad at first impression. I won't say any more about that, because I'm trying not to be judgmental. Yet. :)

When we first got this place, Colin was worried about it. He had to be convinced that we should take it at all. I didn't understand why until the first day we had possession and we went to check the place out and decide on paint. Suddenly I couldn't see what was so amazing about it...the aesthetics were really great, but there were a few gaping holes in functionality that I hadn't even noticed before. For example, there are no screens on the windows. This means we will have to be really careful about which windows we open and stuff, because of the cats. (Who are arriving SATURDAY at 1:30pm!!!!!) Colin is convinced there is a solution ready-made, because there must be a lot of crazy cat ladies who live in super old houses like ours. I haven't looked into it yet. Fortunately, it's going to be winter here soon so no windows will have to be opened more than a sliver. Wow, I just used the words "fortunately" and "winter" in the same sentence. Anyhow I was concerned, but our boxes arrived on Monday and we unpacked the kitchen that night, then set up the bed last night, and things are starting to take shape. The bedroom is a far cry from our old loft-like bedroom, but instead of light and airy it's cavernous and comfy. This is actually what I've been used to pretty much since I moved out of my parents' house, as I spent years living in basements. It's sort of cool, actually, to get back to basement dwelling. To a point! I'm glad the rest of the house is above-ground. Especially the kitchen. It's a wonderful kitchen so far. So sunny and spacious and full of storage! And did I mention the dishwasher...?

Today was a bit on the slow side, but it turned out that that wasn't in a bad way. We rolled out of bed around 11am and Colin went out to grab food to make breakfast. I had a lukewarm shower (and then emailed the landlord to turn up the water heater) and straightened out the kitchen a bit more. Colin came back singing the praises of our neighbourhood stores and how great a place we live in, and then I realized that I couldn't eat without ketchup (Ian, I hope you're reading this!) so I went out in search of some. The shops in this neighbourhood are SO nice that it was actually hard to find ketchup. There is a market with lovely mostly-local produce that is both organic and non (and the organic isn't much more money at all), and a Greek supermarket with a whole aisle of sauces and oils, and then an actual grocery store (Safeway) within a few blocks. Finally I came home with some, and we dug the dining room table out from amongst the boxes and had some food.

Then, more unpacking. Boring! At one point I got sick of being at the house so I decided I'd go down the road to Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. I picked up Venessa and we headed there. I looked around for a bit and then I realized: I would never shop in these stores back home. Why the hell am I in them now?? There was nothing in them that I actually LIKED (aside from a doormat with an owl on it!). I'm glad I realized that before I spent $50 on a toothbrush holder. So we left, and on the corner of Cypress and Main, I found a forlorn-looking boy sitting on a bench. I pulled up beside him and beckoned for him to come inside, and, lo and behold, it was JOSH SMITH! He hopped in and we headed to the liquor store and then back to my place!!

Man, was it fun seeing Josh. (The best thing is that I'm going to see him again tomorrow and Friday!) It's funny because it's almost so soon that it doesn't feel weird at all...it's like he just dropped by and we've just been too busy to hang out for the past 3 weeks. I hope that it will be like this whenever I see friends (because I know you will ALL be visiting soon, RIGHT?). I don't see why it wouldn't be...why would it be awkward anyway? But I guess you never know...just one of the many things I worry about on a day-to-day basis. Anyhow, Josh, Venessa, Colin and I went to Kitsilano Sushi on the corner of our block (it's so cheap there!) and had some food and booze, and then chilled for a bit on our front porch.

Tomorrow, Josh and I are going to head to Vancouver Island! He's actually here for a work conference in Nanaimo, and has "hired" me to drive him there and back, courtesy of his company. The conference is really early on Friday, so rather than get up at 4am for the 6:30am ferry, we're heading there tomorrow, late afternoon, driving to Victoria, and then hanging out with/staying with the Ellsworth's for the night (my parents' bestest friends and my favouritest friends), and THEN heading to Nanaimo. It will be a whirlwind trip, but it'll be fun for sure. As I said before, it's still interesting for me to drive around and see places. Though that enjoyment is waning from day to day. But that's another blog post. :)

T minus 62 hours until cat pickup.

The dining room is Cranberry

I finished the dining room, after 4 days between Colin and I of painting it. We've gone through a journey with this room so far...first we thought it was hideous after the first coat, and decided it was the colour of Hooker Lipstick. Then by the second coat we decided it was more Classy Lady Lipstick colour. Now the third coat is done, and it's a solid Cranberry. I can live with that! It'll be interesting getting furniture to somehow "match" it.

So I've had a pretty hard day. Now, I'm not very smart but I'm starting to see a pattern: Last time I remember crying this much was 2 weeks ago on my brother's birthday. Today? My dad's birthday. I can't WAIT for November 2nd, my mom's birthday. But at least it means that I'm guaranteed to get to talk to at least 2 family members at a time in one day!! Today was extra-special: I got to see Monster and Grumble on the webcam!! I like to believe that I saw Grumble's ears prick up when he heard my garbled Skype voice that not even most humans can decipher, it seems. I CAN'T WAIT TO GET THEM!! My mom is going to look into shipping them THIS WEEK!!!! Oh man. It'll be amazing when I go greet them at the airport. I can't WAIT to see their carrier approaching me on the Oversized Luggage carousel! I've decided not to drug them because it's too risky -- I've never done it before and don't know how they'd react, and I think they are tough enough that they can endure one day of stress and misery. Actually, reading that sounds horrible. Maybe I should just drug them?? Maybe I should ask Colin's cousin and her husband, who are both vets.

I don't really feel like describing my day in detail and describing why it was horrible, because if you look at it totally from an outsider's perspective, it sounds great: I got up, went for a hike around this little harbour town called Deep Cove with Marley the dog and Colin, then I talked to my family and saw my kitties, then I went to the new house and painted for a few hours, then I went out for dinner with some nice friends of Colin's, and now I'm here, and I might do some colouring. But overall, everything seems SO HARD right now. Getting through every hour is really hard, and I feel like everything I'm looking forward to is a one-time event and then I'll have to find something ELSE to look forward to. Does this make sense? I guess I mean it'll be short times of happiness spread between many long times of sadness. But those happy times are going to be INTENSELY good! Seeing my kitties! Finding a new horse to ride! Seeing my parents in a month! Coming home for Christmas in 2 months! So I'm thankful for that, truly.

Anyhow in this time of inertia, I've made a vow: I will become a GREAT Mario Kart player. I will strive to at least come in SECOND to Nick and/or Tom. More than once! Toadette and I, we will go far.

xo

And the painting begins...

So today, I felt well enough to go out into the world again! Unfortunately for Colin, he did not fare so well. I just MIGHT have given him my little stomach bug. Oopsie. Lucky for him, no puking has taken place. Just lots of sleep.

I left for our place in Kits around 11am, by the guidance of my trusty GPS. It took me smack into the middle of downtown. Hmmm this wasn't the way that Colin usually went. But right now I'm still in good spirits when I get stuck in traffic for the most part because it's usually new and interesting to see where I am and what's around me and gives me the time to take mental notes for later.

After swinging by the paint store to pick up some stuff and the paint we'd decided to start with, I headed to the house. I set up the iPod speakers, hit shuffle and off I went. Quickly, I realized that I was missing some key things...like a screwdriver to take off the electrical outlet covers, newspaper to cover the floor, and a bucket in which to wash the brush after I finished. But all of that was sort of not a big deal, so I just made do with what I had. Which was a lot of grey paint. We're starting with the middle room, which is the biggest and most challenging because it has panelling, a shelf thingy, and then a normal wall surface. This photo will probably explain that better:

The plan is to do it dark red on the bottom and light grey on the top. Right now, as you can see, it's a pea soup green. Apparently red is a really challenging colour to paint (go figure...) and so we needed to cover the green with a primer. However, the grey for the top works just the same, so that's what I'm using. I spent some time putting tape around all of the edges because I'm not exactly steady of hand, plus it gives me more leeway to be sloppy! Because of the different sizes from the panels, that involved more than just a strip of tape along the top and bottom. Rather, it involved about 30 different strips placed along each surface. It's always the prep that sucks the most, isn't it. Then I set about doing the top and bottom of each section. In about 2 and a half hours, I had finished one coat on half of the bottom. Yep, I have a long way to go. But after seeing those first results, I'm confident that it will be worth it.

Halfway through, I took a break and strolled up to W. Broadway, which is the main street near our house (one block away). I walked up to Shopper's (hooray, a Shopper's right nearby! Millions of dollars to be spent at that drug store in the coming months I'm sure...) and bought one of the things I'd decided I needed for a successful paint job -- paper towels to wipe up all my spills. The street has a lot of nice little shops and boutiques, a cozy yet spacious looking coffee/pub/food place called Calhoun's, lots of sushi, the aforementioned cupcakery, and a whole lot of other food places I can't wait to discover when I can eat again without feeling like puking. There's also a 2nd run cinema right around the corner but it doesn't look too promising...right now it's playing Wanted and two Brendan Fraser movies, and the upcoming sched didn't look too much better. But sometimes you just wanna go see crap, and if it's cheap, who cares, right? After a trip to the dollar store, I had a hot chocolate (in hindsight, not the smartest choice considering it's pretty much chocolate and dairy) at Minerva's Greek Emporium and listened to some Greek call in show that was on the radio yet showing on the TV? while reading The Georgia Straight, which is Vancouver's free Arts and Entertainment weekly. In it, I discovered two exciting upcoming events: The UBC Apple Festival, and that the Notwist are playing next week! It will be my first Vancouver concert. They're playing at the Commodore Ballroom, which sounds impressive? We'll see. Venessa says that I should take everything in Toronto and divide it by 10 and that'll be the size of what it is here. Not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to gigs!

So after my hot choco, I headed back to the house and resumed my painting. I decided I'd finish the first coat on that bottom half before going home, even though that would most likely have me leaving right during rush hour. Again, not a big deal to me right now because it's interesting to experience what a Vancouver rush hour is like. I heard the upstairs neighbours quite a bit...they like to slam doors it would seem. Good thing we decided against putting our bedroom in the front room right beside the entranceway. I'll meet them at some point...I think they are around my age or a bit younger. I looked around at my day's work and was pretty content. I look forward to returning tomorrow! It was also a really nice, much needed afternoon to myself where I could just explore and work at my own pace.

This evening I got to play Mario Kart with Michael, and briefly Aimee and Jen. I guess Rogers wasn't being very cooperative cause Andrew couldn't join up, and no one else came so maybe that was why? Michael and I also chatted on Skype while we played, so it was super fun. It'd be good to get a Skype conference/MK game going sometime with lots of people! Aimee -- get on that, would you? :)

Okay. Bed time I guess...still feeling a little off-kilter from my days of illness, so I shouldn't push it. Night night!

Media Blackout--over

I'm not sure if anyone will even read this since it hasn't been touched in ages AND was flagged as a spam blog for a while?! I've been laid up with a stomach virus for the past 3 days, and it's pretty much knocked me off my feet and put a huge damper in everything. We had plans to start the organization of the house/painting/furniture shopping, but all I've been able to do is puke, sleep and moan. Anyhow, today I went to the doctor, and as expected, nothing can be done pharmaceutically to ease my pain. It's pretty pathetic -- I can barely walk up a flight of stairs right now without sitting down, as I haven't been able to eat for 3 days.

As I write, I have a border collie alternately chewing on my wrist and his stuffed squeaky dinosaur. His name is Marley, he's 6 months old and just got his balls chopped off last week. So far, this hasn't made him any less rangy. But he's such a cutie!! But man, he makes me rethink the idea of having a dog. It's one thing for Carol, who is retired and has lots of time to deal with his craziness, but when we (hopefully) have jobs and lives, I don't know that there will be room for a dog just yet.

So yeah, we don't have jobs yet. I guess the economy pretty much sucks right now and the jobless rate is just climbing and climbing. For some reason I'm not worried yet, though I have times of total stress that come and go. Colin is a whole different story though. He once told me about when he went to the physiotherapist and they asked him his stress rating between 1-10 and he answered 1. So it's been really strange and a bit scary having him so stressed out right now.

Living at his mom's place is really comfortable, but that's not necessarily a good thing. It is hard to be productive in the suburbs. And all the driving we've been doing to get downtown and back is like a knife twisting in my heart. I can't wait to get our bikes! Our stuff is being delivered on Monday, to our new house! We've signed a lease on an old heritage house in a part of Vancouver called Kitsilano, which is very near the beach. You can google map it! 2322 Balaclava Street. Our neighbourhood seems INCREDIBLE! We're one block from tons of shops and restaurants and bars and a cupcake shop. Seriously, Vancouver seems to have a whole lot of cupcake shops...not that I'm complaining, but it's a bit strange. However, because of this stupid stomach virus, I can't even look at a cupcake right now without gagging. Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to moving into the place and actually starting our lives out properly. Today we went and got some paint. Dan Oke, please fly to Vancouver and paint our apartment. It's so frigging overwhelming! Anyhow so far we haven't fought much at all about the colours, which is amazing considering our vastly different tastes. The hardest part about the new place is that it's totally WEIRD. The two front rooms are lovely and big, with a fireplace and stained glass. The kitchen is sunny and big. But then there's the problem of bedrooms. There are two small rooms that we will use for bedrooms, but they are oddly shaped and it's going to take some creativity to get the place in working order. But the kitchen! There's a DISHWASHER!! There are 2 bathrooms, one full and one powder room. I'm not sure how this will work out...I mean, I don't MIND cleaning the bathroom, but having two might not be as great as it sounds. The shower is big, but there's no tub. The sinks are both European old-style, meaning they have a separate hot and cold faucet. But it's an old house with a LOT of character, so it'll be fun once the overwhelming bit is over.

And the best part of moving into the new place -- getting the kitties!! Though I'm a little reluctant to take them away from their surrogate mommy (my real mommy) as she's been having a hard time lately. She had a routine surgery that didn't go as it should have and has been having a lot of complications from it. So the boys have been keeping her company, cuddling and purring and being their cute selves. Although I've been hearing that Grumble's been working pretty hard to get outside recently. I'm really nervous about putting them on a plane as cargo. Anyone who has a story about a pet they know of or have had who has gone on a plane, please tell me some good things! I'm going to order some of this stuff: http://www.rescueremedy.com/pets/ for sure. Maybe I'll get some for my own separation anxiety as well.

I booked my flight home for Christmas!! December 21st I will be in Oakville. And I'll be in Toronto for New Years Eve!! My flight back to Vancouver leaves on Jan 3rd. I can't wait to see everyone. I'm feeling so disconnected from everyone. I know that I just got here and stuff, but that's only a good reason for so long. Even if it takes months for things to settle down, that doesn't mean that I don't have 5 minutes for a phone call or an email. (psst and that goes for everyone else too heehee). I know we're all busy, but just a quick hello makes everything so much better.

Due to this virus, the horse trials have had to be put on hold. I found a lovely 4 year old Thoroughbred X called Pirate at one of the seemingly rare places with an indoor arena, and was meant to try him last night, but was obviously too ill. So that'll hopefully be okay to wait until Tuesday. Another lady offered me her Draft/QH X who has just started over fences. but in her email she said if I had a little bit of redneck in me, I'd fit right in, so I'm a little worried about THAT. Plus, they have no indoor :) And then there's another girl who offered me her young TB who "overjumps and gets rushy" at fences and she won't jump him but is confident that someone with more experience could. Thanks, but I can think of better things to do than visiting the emergency room routinely.

So anyhow. I'm going to attempt to eat some food now! You can't imagine what an event this is. WISH ME LUCK!

Day 8 - We're on our way "home"

Lake Louise, AB to Vancouver, B.C.
3950km-4780km
Buck 65 - Situation
M. Ward - Post-war
The Rosebuds - Night of the Furies (this one didn't last long...it's pretty terrible, as it turns out)
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day audiobook
This American Life podcasts
Portishead - Third
Mates of State - My Solo Project
Broadcast - Tender Buttons
Final Fantasy - Has A Good Home


So the morning started out with an argument, but fortunately neither of us tend to pout for too long after we fight, so soon enough we were smiling again. Aside from the fact that I was chilled to the bone, I was in a better mood. We were able to sneak into the Lake Louise trailer camp showers, and I've never been so happy to shower in a public washroom. The initial plan had been to go for a hike around the area before heading out on the final stretch of highway, but it was raining and freezing still, so we just started to drive. The view was totally breathtaking. The cold and rain had contributed to huge puffs of mist around all the mountains, and the drive through the mountains WAS really nice. But I saw NOTHING!! Actually that isn't technically true -- I think I saw a bighorn sheep, but Colin maintains that it was a fake. I'm not convinced, but I still feel ripped off!! I guess all the animals were hiding in their cozy caves away from the rain and cold. I think I preferred the Northern Ontario driving, but that doesn't mean I'm turning my nose up at mountains. We stopped at a few lookouts, and once I was SURE I was going to spot a beaver, but no. Umberto hit the 100,000km mark! What a great car.

My dad said to me that Kamloops was sort of desert-like, and I couldn't picture that, but it's true. The mountains are all brown and nearly barren of trees, and there are short bushes and sparse trees along the side of the highway. Again, I'm so amazed at the vast difference between provinces and even cities within the provinces. Maybe once I am able to upload this and add photos, I will do a cross-country selection of photos just to show the wide diversity.

The weather cleared up for a couple hundred kms, but as we drive through Kamloops, the clouds have gathered into a threatening sign of things to come. Hopefully not, but that's what I've been led to believe by basically every single soul that I've told about my move. I guess I'll be getting a whole lot of use out of the umbrella that Robin got us, which says "Shit...it's raining." Sigh. As I type this, the sky has opened up and our wipers are going at full force. What a welcome.

An hour later, we've got blue skies and fluffy clouds again. This is the way that I have sort of told myself that Vancouver will be -- rain for a bit, and then sun, or at least grey skies without sun. Seriously though, everytime I've been to BC the weather has been lovely and the rain comes in short stints. Granted, it's mostly been in the summer or springtime, but I'm sticking to the memory of being in Vancouver in February with only my spring jacket and a hoodie on. I might need to get Linh to send me an Adult Parka from Vietnam, but we'll see. First I need to find a job to commute to, then I will figure out HOW I will get there.

Venessa called me a few minutes ago and said she was so excited for me to get there and that she'd be there if things were hard or crazy, and would take me out with her friends, who are awesome. It was so nice to hear. I know that Colin's family is so happy he's coming home, and they are wonderful and caring and lovely, but I think it's only natural to worry about being the girlfriend tagging along, at least for the first while. Stuff will be different -- I know that. For example, the barn for me was always somewhere to go where I didn't have to be social and though I absolutely loved almost everyone I met and knew at my barn, it was so nice to have that place to go and be alone with only Jack. Now, I will be using the barn as a way to potentially meet people and make friends. That's obviously not a bad thing, but it's different. I will just have to adapt so that I can find another way to find that serenity. Maybe it will be through running...with Carol's doggie, Marley...right Marie? I know you're going to kick my ass the next time I see you if I'm not keeping up with my running. I mean, I know that riding won't be totally destroyed by social aspirations or anything, but I will just have different short-term goals in that realm of my life. It's going to take a while to feel comfortable with pretty much anything.

Hey! Guess what, it's raining again. I can't believe I just typed that...I've been so sick of people saying that to me about BC. Anyhow, it's been raining really hard, and the wind has been ridiculous, and I've been sitting in the passenger seat so stressed out that I've actually covered my eyes a couple of times. And just when I thought we'd gotten through the worst of it, we encountered completely dead stopped traffic on the highway, and watched as truck and car one after another did U-turns on the highway through the grass median. Colin didn't want to sit there and wait, so instead we also did a U turn and drove back through the pouring rain and driving wind to get to an alternate road to take us past the roadblock. God forbid the drive be easy for the last 3 hours or anything.

And now...after 3 hours of a hell drive, which fortunately I wasn't actually behind the wheel for and tried to watch episodes of Greek rather than concentrate on the death roads, we are here, in North Vancouver, at Colin's mom Carol's house. PHEW. Her dog is ADORABLE. She's wonderful. It's going to be hard living at someone else's house with little room for our clothes and other things, but all I'm thinking about right now is sleeping in a proper bed and having tomorrow to be somewhat lazy and get ready for the weeks ahead.

I'll put this post up now so you all know we've arrived safe and sound, but again, I'm too exhausted to get photos up right now and the cable is in the car, and I'm in this bed in my pjs and am about to pass out.

xo for now.

Day 7 - L'ennui

Airdrie, AB to Banff, AB
3628km - 3940km
Elliott Smith - New Moon
This American Life podcasts
Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out

Today was not a terribly good day. I cried a lot, and was really grumpy. We pulled into the parking lot of Mountain Equipment Co-op and when Colin asked me why I was in such a bad mood, I burst out crying and said I didn't know. Being his wonderful self, he tried to comfort me, but then uttered the phrase that really set me off: he said that tomorrow, we'd be home. I lost it, wailing that it wasn't home and that I was scared and worried and upset. I don't know why yesterday was such a bad day for me. Maybe I was just feeling the results of 7 days of driving, where all I feel that I'd been doing was driving, sleeping, eating, and talking to strangers about anything from how I wanted my tea, to how they needed to get out of the motel room because I was naked. My mom suggested that maybe it was because it was Michael's birthday and I wasn't there to celebrate with the family. This seemed pretty feasible. Whatever it was, I didn't make life very pleasant for Colin, I don't think. Michael and my dad both told me that these next 2 days would be the nicest driving of the trip, and that I was going to see mountain goats and bighorn sheep and bears and eagles on the side of the highway. This made me feel better, and I knew that part of my bad mood also had to do with wanting to get out of the city (Calgary). Nothing against Calgary, it's just that when you don't know a city, all you really get to see of it while passing through is fast food joints, malls and super centres.

So we left MEC with two down sleeping bags and some more camping stuff, as the plan was to camp when we got to Banff. It was nice and warm out, which I heard was a vast difference from back home, where my mom claimed to be wearing 8 layers of clothes. I actually had to change into a tank top because I was baking. Then we headed to Spruce Meadows! I tried to perk up, thinking about going to visit a place I've dreamt about going to for years. It worked, a little bit...but the place was nearly deserted as no events were on, the tack shop was closed, the rings were all cleared, and we saw a total of 8 horses, 7 of them in their stalls. Not that I'm complaining about that part...I got to pet the noses of beautiful Hanoverian 3 year olds, and see some of the new jumps being built. I think that my horsie peeps and I need to plan a trip to Spruce Meadows for a big event next year! I heard that there were 60,000 people there 3 weeks ago for the Masters. It sounds unbelievable and so exciting. Who's in?? Nikki, I'm looking at you!!

Then, it was off to the mountains. We got into Banff National Park around 2pm and walked around downtown for a bit. It was pretty ridiculously touristy, and I really had no interest in it. It's just a little obscene. I could imagine that the lodges and inns in town were easily hundreds of $$ per night, and the downtown was a mecca of Gap, Lululemon and McDonalds. Okay I'm being a little harsh here, but this was my impression, heavy influenced by my grumpiness.

We discovered that there were only 2 campgrounds open at this time of year. You weren't allowed to have fires at one of them, and it was right in town, so we weren't too keen on this one. (Truth be told, I wasn't too keen on the idea of camping at all, considering that the sun was still up and I was cold in a sweater). The other was at a place called Mosquito Lake, around 40km from town. This place apparently wasn't manned by any staff, and had no shower facilities. Normally, I don't care about showering when camping, but when you're going to be sitting in your own camp filth for the whole next day in the car, I wasn't too keen. But Colin convinced me that we could stay the night at the campsite and then head to Lake Louise and use the showers at the trailer camp there. Nothing could convince me that camping was a good idea, but I knew Colin wanted to do it, and I'm not a TOTAL whiny bitchy princess, so I went along with it. However, before heading to the campsite, we went to the Banff Upper Hot Springs. This was where I started to relax a little bit, as I was looking forward to going to the hot spring. I read about it being good for relaxation, so just the idea of this set me more at ease. It was definitely nice -- like a big hot tub at 39 celcius. However, they've modernized it to the point that it is just literally a big swimming pool, with a vinyl bottom and benches built along the edges, metal ladders, and a lifeguard. I guess when it comes to tourists and water that they are going to immerse themselves in, it's an easier bet that if you make it look modern and totally safe, more people will buy into it. But that aside, it was still lovely and relaxing.

So now, it was on to the campsite. As we got out of the town of Banff, it began to rain. Then it got dark. The drive wasn't nearly as harrowing as a few days ago to Dryden, but I just felt my heart sinking lower and lower. Here I am, trying to be brave and optimistic, when all I feel like doing is pouting and stomping my feet. Colin was obviously aware of the fact that the conditions weren't exactly optimal for my enjoying this thing that he's really trying to get me into (camping) and was saying that if the weather got really bad, I could just go in the tent and he would cook my dinner and bring it to me, and that he would set everything up etc etc. I appreciated it, though I'm sure he didn't get that impression.

We turn into the campsite, and see a fire burning, which is a good sign. In bear country, when they are getting ready to hibernate, it's not really a fun idea to be on your own in the middle of nowhere with bear warnings posted and written down in brochures for the park. We chose a site, and Colin started to set up. We hadn't gotten any wood aside from one easy-burn log from Safeway, because the guy at the information centre had said, when we asked about getting wood, that there would be some at the campground. It was still raining lightly but constantly, and there was no wood to be found on the ground. Especially in the pitch black, guided only by a small LED flashlight. Even if I hadn't felt totally guilty and unhappy about ripping branches off nearby trees, they were so wet that they wouldn't have even broken off, much less burned. We were able to get the easy-burn log going in a half-assed manor, and set about cooking our veggie dogs and asparagus. The ground was wet and muddy, and the picnic table was too soggy to sit on -- I laid out a garbage bag, but this quickly got wet also. The hot dogs were yummy and the asparagus was pretty much perfect, but I still wasn't terribly satisfied -- not hunger-wise, just in general. This wasn't a case of "the more effort required to cook the food, the better it tastes." It was just a pain in the ass, cold, wet and dirty. By that point, I was wearing flannel pajama pants and sweatpants, a hoodie and a jacket, and a toque. But I was so cold and soggy that as soon as the food had been consumed, I headed for the tent. The sleeping bags were cozy, by we still had a leaky air mattress, so the knowledge of its imminent deflation didn't make me excited for the coming night's sleep. After a night of total discomfort, we were out of there. Colin was not impressed with me after the first thing I said in the morning was "I'm glad I never have to do this again."

AND ALL WE SAW WERE FAT RAVENS. NOTHING ELSE.

Days 5 & 6 - To VagCity and beyond

Brandon, MB to Regina, SK, to Calgary, AB

2460km-2840km-
Radical Face - Ghost
Stein the Selector - Booyakacha!
Greek - episode 5
Wolf Parade - At Mt Zoomer
Stein the Selector - Cats=Poo
The Verve - Forth
This American Life podcasts
Sigur Ros album
Sound Opinions podcast


I'm combining the past 2 days because, honestly, they haven't been too exciting. Yesterday we spent the whole day in Brandon, visiting Colin's relatives. We stayed with his grandma, and his uncle Jack was visiting as well. He was in town getting his truck fixed, which had been hit by a deer. No, he didn't hit a deer. It hit the side of him! Then, I'm not sure how close to that incident, he hit a loon. He got off at the next rest stop to discover a dead loon lodged into his front grill. Lovely.

While we were in Brandon, we visited the town centre mall, the hospital (where his grandfather is), Smitty's Family Restaurant, and a white-person Chinese Buffet. Mom and Dad, Canadian chinese food just isn't the same without you.

We headed out around 8pm, the destination being Regina, SK for the night. The drive was long, flat, straight and boring. But fast! The speed limit on the Trans Canada around here is 110km. I think it should be 130km like it is in France, but oh well. We actually called 3 hotels before we could find a vacancy.

We decided to stay in a seedy motel for fun, the Inntowner. It wasn't terribly fun, as it turned out, but it was a cheap room for the night. With a rusty sink, a bathroom door missing a handle, and floor to ceiling floral curtains, it was sure a charmer! In the morning, we were getting ready and housekeeping barged in when I had only a towel on. A few minutes later, as I w

as getting dressed and had nothing on at all, some strange guy that I can only assume works for the motel as he had a key, barged in again. Fortunately I think I managed to hide behind the bathroom separating wall quick enough. There's a sign on the building that says it's about to become part of a chain called the Knights Inn. Usually I think it sucks when independant businesses are bought out by chains, but this time I'm glad and I hope those people all lose their jobs. Obviously they are not fit for the hospitality industry.

After yet another breakfast of eggs and homefries at a local diner (this one was called Mr. Breakfast and sorta felt like the camp cafeteria) we set out for Calgary. Holy crap, is it hot in the prairie today. It amazes me the aesthetic and meteorological differences between each province we've been through so far. (With our recent passing into Alberta, I've now had the honour of being in every province in Canada!) Thunder Bay was so cold that I saw a girl in a parka and was jealous. Manitoba was sunny and warm and I was able to dry some freshly laundered sweaters in a matter of hours outside. Saskatchewan has been baking hot, and the gigantic prairie sky has been free of clouds all day. It's killing our gas mileage, since we were forced to turn the a/c on today. The ground sure is flat here. And mostly golden in colour. The hay fields have all been harvested, and so it's just been miles and miles of fields of cows, horses and what I think are salt ponds. 

We've just basically been driving and driving and driving, with one stop made in Swift Current to the Safeway, as I was dying for fruit. We got some grapes and bananas, and Colin got a Safeway soda called Dr. Skipper. 

I love rip-offs! It reminded me of the Hapitos that they had in Indonesia.

(this one's for you, Carly Spencer!)

The vast fields can be pretty smelly. Either it's dry manure smell, or the smell of burning. Perhaps burning poo smell. We drove through a lot of clouds of smoke last night. I don't know if it makes sense that the farmers burn their fields once everything's been harvested so they can start with a clean slate next year? I really have no idea. It makes me wish I could turn off my sense of smell whenever I need to!

After 6 days of travel, our car is still in great shape. We have managed to keep everything packed in a pretty organized fashion, and can still see out all 6 windows. We have a totally ridiculous yet awesome set up going. We bought a power converter for the lighter to plug in whatever we needed to charge, be it the laptop, the camera battery, the two iPods, the portable speakers, the two cellphones, the radar detector, or the GPS. We actually stopped by a Canadian Tire in Sault Ste Marie to buy an expander thing so we could plug 3 lighter chargers in at once. This way, we can daisy-chain the GPS and iPod to the laptop and have everything hooked up at once. Before we left, we downloaded a bunch of movies and tv shows. So far we haven't really touched those except during the long prairie drive last night and today. We also brought the Sennheiser headphones for that extra listening enjoyment. Back to nature? Nooooooo thank you!

I will definitely want to give Umberto a good bath when we reach our destination, or maybe even pay someone to do it for me! I discovered the other day that my parents had taken back their garage door opener. I know that this makes sense, but for a minute there I was upset! I've always had an opener for my parents' garage, and this was just another reminder that Umberto will never make it back to Ontario. Once we reach BC, I think I have 90 days before I have to have a BC license plate put on.

In Calgary, we will visit and possibly crash at Colin's cousin's house. I met her and her boyfriend at the wedding this summer as well and I really liked them. They are both vets and have worked with large and small animals. So you know what this means!!!! Animals to cuddle!! I asked Tara if we could come to her work and cuddle random pets, but she'll be done work before we arrive in town. Boo. It would also be great to get a tour of Spruce Meadows, but that might have to wait until the next time we're in Calgary. We'll see...as with the majority of this trip, we'll take things as they come, and go from there.  

Animal Corner!!

Tonight was a gooooooooooooooood night.  We are staying with Colin's cousin just outside Calgary and she and her boyfriend are both vets.  So they have 3 cats and a dog!  One's a ginger Maine Coon!  With a lion cut!!  Adorable.  He's got a bit of a snot problem though.  Another is a Bengal cat and he's apparently a lunatic, and then there's one they just recently took in who starts to purr so loudly as soon as you cuddle her.  Unfortunately, the Bengal wants to kill her, so she has to be separated from the others.  We also saw lots of cows, a mini pony farm and a lot of horses.  All from the car, on the highway, but still.  I said awwww a lot.  Here are photos!!