Friday, August 19th, 2011

It was cold when I went to work this morning.  I started work at 6:30am and the temperature was a chilling 6 degrees.  I guess the storm last night really cooled things off.  It got up over 21 degrees in the afternoon, though.

I left work at about 3:15pm and headed to the post office to mail the deposit for the moving company that agreed to transport my stuff from Vancouver/Chilliwack to Calgary for $1050.  It's a steal.  While there, I ran into somebody I knew from Causeforce.  It was a strange coincidence.  He doesn't live here anymore, but was just here for a week tying up some loose ends.  He still works for the company but works out of the LA office.  We caught up on a few things, then I came home to have a quick nap.

Nope.  It was so loud that I laid on my bed for an hour trying to sleep.  I was yawning all afternoon, so I knew I was very tired, but nobody could sleep through this kind of noise.

I got up and made some dinner before I was meeting Bryn later for a beer.  Another opportunity to get away from the noise.  I'm sensing a pattern in my blog over the past week.  

Bryn and I went to the Joyce on 4th in Mission.  We stayed until probably 2am or later.  Once we get talking, we can go on for hours - maybe it was mostly me.  Regardless, I miss having Bryn and Melissa time!  He and I have always had such an easy time as friends, and we can really cover the spectrum in terms of conversation topics.

Here's a picture of beer... because why not?  Beer is tasty.

Friday, August 5th, 2011

The strangest thing happened last night.  I had the freaky eye infection thing, and it was causing my head to ache, so I took another one of the Tylenol flu pills.  It took forever to kick in, but I eventually fell asleep.  Then, at 2am, I awoke to extreme pain in my head.  This time it felt like somebody was stabbing my brain with a knife.  It was excruciating.  I thought I'd have to drive to emergency.  I contemplated waking up my sister to tell her that she'd have to drive me to the hospital, but I took another pill and tried to live with the pain until the pill kicked in.  I was sure it wasn't going to kill any pain because this was super intense.... but, after about 30 minutes, I felt a wave of relief wash over me.  I was worried that I'd wake in the morning to the same pain, but when my alarm went off at 6:30am, I had no pain in my head and my eye was completely healed.  So in about a four hour span, I went from experiencing the worst pain I've ever felt, to feeling 100% healthy.  What??
So, Lurline's theory is that I was abducted by aliens and they put a probe in my head, but initially it was in the wrong spot, so they re-abducted me to fix it.
I believe the hand of God reached into my room and healed me.
Others believe that it might have been a sinus infection and the Tylenol flu pill released the pressure and that's why I was suddenly better.
Whatever the real cause, I was happy that it was over!

After work, Lurline, Tristan and I went to Bankview to take a look at another apartment for me.  It was a 2 bedroom in an older building.  I liked it because it was big and had hardwood floors and insuite laundry.  My cat will like it too, I think.  Most importantly, it's not too far from work.  So I called the property management guy and told him I'd like to fill out an application.  Hopefully I'll get it!!  That would be a big relief.

Anyway, I made plans to meet Bryn at KP (Kensington Pub) tonight.  Lurline came with me.  When we got there, Sean and some of his musician friends were there.  So we joined their table and heard some great stories.  It was a lot of fun!  All night, I kept looking at this dog who was keeping watch over our table, so I had to take a photo:

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Went with Dave to go pick up the glass for the table I bought yesterday.  Then, we went home for a bit to do some house cleaning.  Dave worked on the yard again ... it's starting to look so much better!  In the afternoon, Lurline, Dave and I went grocery shopping.  They were expecting some company for a barbecue in the evening.  When we got home, Lurline made potato salad and an Asian salad.  They were both scrumptious.  Lanka, Kieran and Alex arrived for dinner, and they brought some Spolumbo's sausages for the barbecue.  YUM!  We all chowed down and chatted.  I wished I had more room to eat more.  Tristan managed to make a s'more on the barbecue, but it looked like way too much sugar for my liking.  I should've taken a picture of that.  I did manage to take one shot of everybody checking out Dave's landscaping handiwork.  I hope they don't mind that I'm using their pictures in my blog ... probably not the best blog etiquette, but at least everybody looks pretty good!

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

I saw the sunshine again, today ... wow!  Gotta enjoy every moment that you get a glimpse of the sunshine here on the West Coast.

I spent the morning getting some stuff done around the house, then went over to see my bestie at her Aunt's house downtown.  Lisa had a lot of relatives there, and they were busy with some cleaning and organizing, but we had barbecued hamburgers for lunch and, of course, great company.  I stayed for a couple of hours to visit, then headed home.  Lisa and I had a chance to catch up before I leave for Calgary this week.  I'll miss her so much!

Mom and Dad were at a barbecue most of the afternoon and early evening.  When they got home, we all had a relaxing evening at home.  Dad is off on his holidays, so we're going to the U.S. tomorrow to spend some money while our dollar is so high.

Saturday, July 2nd, 2011

Party!!!  What a party it was!  We had 44 amazing party-goers attend, and the weather was picture perfect.  The food was superb, and everybody seemed to have an awesome time.  I'm so thankful to have such great friends and relatives, but without my parents - the gracious hosts - these parties wouldn't happen... so thanks to them both for their generosity!!

There were so many pictures to choose from that I couldn't just pick one - therefore, I made a collage, and still missed some great shots.  Regardless, this shows some of the Karaoke and daytime fun.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any shots later into the night because there was just so much going on that I couldn't be bothered to be a photographer.

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

A warm 26 degrees today in Calgary!  Talia and I went downtown into the Mission district and had lunch and a drink at Purple Perk - one of my favorite coffee shops in Calgary.  Then, we drove around a bit - Talia doesn't get to go downtown very much, so I think she was enjoying the people watching.  We ended up at Eau Claire and looked around some of the shops.  I bought a ring from Tibet for $4.00.  I'd be losing money if I didn't buy it, as Lisa would say.  We had a few hours to kill, so we took a walk around Prince's Island Park and it was absolutely gorgeous - green, lush and full of activity.  We decided to head over to Fionn MacCool's and have a drink.  So, the two of us had some bonding time and talked about everything. A little later, Debra and Bryn showed up.  Then, the band arrived.  We listened to Sean and Rodger do some songs that I know and love.  Finally, Lurline got dropped off by Dave to drive Talia and I home - we'd been drinking so needed a driver.  After a great night with friends and fantastic music, I said good-bye and headed home.  What a brilliant day and night!!!

Here's me with one of my best friends in the world, Bryn:

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Woke to another sunshiny day - three days in a row!  Wow!  Headed out to Vancouver at about noon to meet up with Lisa.  We decided that we couldn't play tennis, since we only had one racket, so we went to have a beer (or two) at The Local on the patio.  We got a little sunburnt, despite wearing sunscreen.  Then, we headed to the Ward's house to catch game three of the playoffs.  What a disappointing game that was!  Boston wins 8-1 ... So, we thought we'd get one more quick drink at the Five Point to see what the mood was like.  There weren't a lot of people left in there, and there definitely wasn't celebration in the air.  This pic is of Lisa and I on the patio at The Local:

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

What a night of excitement ... drove out to Vancouver to meet up with Lisa before heading to the local Five Point pub to watch game 5 of the Canucks/Sharks series.  Brad, Iona and Cecilia all showed up, and the pub was on fire with energy as the Canucks tied it up with mere seconds left in the 3rd period.  Finally, into double overtime, Bieksa buries the puck from the blue line to take the win!  The pub erupted into cheers and suddenly everybody in the bar were our new best friends.  On to the Stanley Cup finals! Here's Lisa and I midway through the game ... in this photo, we were still waiting for the Canucks to tie it up:

Saturday, May 14th, 2011

One of my long time friends celebrated her 40th birthday party on Saturday.  It was so much fun to spend time with some friends I haven't seen in close to 20 years.  Had some hilarious moments with old friends and new!  We danced and drank and ate ... what an incredibly fun time!  Forty isn't so bad.

This is my friend, Brenda - it was her party and she looked fabulous: