Oct. 13, Walk to Okanagon Lake

The weather is supposed to get worse, so I decided check out the lake that's about a mile from the hotel, a half-hour walk at a brisk pace. Had to keep moving to stay warm. I was really glad for the new gloves I bought at Winners. A lot of trees have green leaves here, but they won't last much longer. It was kind of dark and dreary, but I took a few pictures anyway.


On my way back from "Fatboys" for dinner, I ran into a few Progress friends who arrived early like I did, had a few drinks, and made plans for sight-seeing tomorrow. Convention officially started today but only for the Executive, and tomorrow night is the first theme party "Barefoot Cowboys and Cowgirls". Thursday is meetings, seminars, Lunch with keynote speaker, Wine-tasting excursion, Dogie-do dinner & hoedown, then hospitality suite with an "International" theme.

Kelowna, Oct. 11-12

Arrived late Sunday night, got upgraded to Superior room with sittting area and walk-out balcony. Nice view of the foothills. Weather cooler than I expected, but still some green leaves on the trees Glad I brought my light winter jacket. Found a grocery store nearby, filled fridge with pate, cherry tomatoes, grapes, juice, apples - nice healthy snacks. Then there's the chocolate, croissants, cookies in the cupboard. Oh well.

There's a strip mall right beside the hotel, got some really good stuff at Winners. Maybe got a little carried away, but it was all at one-third the original ticket price.

(L>R ) White peasant blouse with black trim, Purple shirt with shirred trim, black knit with lace shounders & back (Top) Leopard print pleated top. Not shown: soft red leather gloves and a beautiful pair of black Max Studio "skinny pants". Most of these items will be put to good use at our convention theme parties.

Greetings. I'm Back.
Mom arrived Monday 22nd, and Aline arrived from Toronto on Saturday. We're enjoying our time together, and I should be able to start posting pictures soon.

Weather's good so far. Finally got my bedding plants in yesterday.

I'm off until July 22nd for a much-needed long vacation to re-charge and get in lots of R&R.

Hope you haven't all given up on me.

Got my laptop back, I really missed it.
Had a wonderful visit with Joe & Berta Saturday, we did the Garlic Festival. Joe even had garlic beer - YUK! Had just enough time to get caught up, then I moved on to the Coast Plaza as I had early morning meetings Monday.
Had to come home from work early Thursday, been getting these wierd migranes, not particularly painful but completely disoriented, confused, and inability to concentrate on my work. My co-worker was worried I was having a mini-stroke, so I had to assure her later that I have already been checked out and diagnosed. I took Friday off sick-day so I will be completely rested for work in the new week.
Shirley and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire Saturday, great movie. I highly recommend it. We are so lucky to be Canadian with all the advantages that we sometimes take for granted.
And thats all for now, folks.

Elephants & Schoolrooms

My friend and fellow Progressian, Carlos Pardo and his wife Cindy, decided to take a trip of a lifetime - an African safari. They happened to visit a school which was no more than 4 walls, a roof, and dirt floor. That was about 5 years ago, and since then they have started a charitable foundation (http://www.bridgethegaptanzania.com/) and make the trek each year to deliver container loads of school supplies for the kids. Their story and pictures made such an impression on us sthat each Progress Club has donated about $500 to the cause. It got me to thinking that I am due for my trip-of-a-lifetime. Wouldn't an African safari be awsome.



So what did this have to do with baby elephants, you might ask? Well, the also visited a refuge for orphaned baby elephants (http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/) and the slide show of the little ones being cared for by dedicated volunteers was so touching. Of course, I had to adopt one. I'll get a picture of him/her that I can post in my office. I did this in memory of Malti who died at the Calgary Zoo last year. Cindy is taking care of the transaction for me, and will bring back personal pictures. I'll post it when available.

I HATE MORNINGS!!!

I'm having a crappy, pissy, frustrating morning. First my clock/radio/CD player doesn't wake me up, so I'm running late. It's wierd, it's been coming on but appears to be set for am instead of fm so there's just a soft hiss. WTF. Rush downstairs to feed cats (a priority in our house) and grab a glass of oj. Run upstairs with juice, place on dresser, spill all over dresser. #%%@. Run back downstairs for more juice, close bedroom door which actually slams - no doubt making Al and LeeAnne jump in their beds since they work late, sleep late. Put on purple hoodie, which I haven't worn more than twice since I bought it last fall at an "Optionel" party for $75, and which is a little too short at the waist, and for which I bought one of those cami things with lace on bottom yesterday... glance in mirror, I look like a wanna-be teenager, but no time to change. Grap purple watch, strap breaks. Ten minutes to jury-rig that. Grab my stuff and out the door, get scarf caught in velcro on briefcase, almost strangle myself. Stop in at Tim's for bagel & cream cheese (I'm lactose sensitive but need the protein) and an extr-large coffee. I have a briefing to the minister due at noon. STOP, Relax, breath, focus. Back to work.

It seems I'm spending more and more time on business trips, and with all the changes in the new provincial budget, there will be a lot more meetings in Edmonton. I didn't leave Calgary until 11:50 on Tuesday, and my meeting in Edmonton was at 3:00. The accident on Deerfoot cost me about 15 minutes, but I made it to the hotel, parked the car, walked the 4 blocks to Commerce Place, and was only 5 minutes late. You do the math... We had a follow-up discussions at Rick's Grill - a really nice upscale restaurant. Great food, nice atmosphere, but expensive.

I decided to sleep in this morning, had a nice buffet breakfast, and headed back for a meeting back in Calgary at 2:30. Meeting was cancelled, so went shopping instead. I'll be working this weekend to finish some projects without interruption, so I felt entitled.

Weather finally Spring-like, Al even rode his Harley to work in Okotoks. There's still a bit of snow and ice in shaded areas, but I think it might be safe to switch to my summer tires. The main roadways have been clear for awhile. Called Mom tonight, she said still lots of snow in Miramichi. She's looking forward to her trip out here in June, and we're excited to have her for the summer.

And that's all for now folks.

March update

I hope Blogger isn't playing an April Fool's trick on me by letting me sign in for an update. I'm doing this from the office during my break, so the previous problems were probably with my laptop.

Some updates:
Mom coming for visit June 22nd (Monday) for an unlimited stay. Her birthday - she'll be 77 years old on the 7th day of the 7th month. I think that means something.
Aline will be coming for a few weeks in July as well.
My nephew Steven may be going to SAIT in the fall, and will be staying with me for the duration.
Both Crystal and Steven are turning 19 this month, their last year as teenagers.

My business travel has gotten quite hectic, last week had meetings in Lethbridge on Tuesday, Edmonton on Friday, and Lethbridge again for their Project Homeless Connect event on Saturday. I had tickets for the Windmill Dinner Theatre at 6PM on Saturday, and had no trouble getting there from Lethbridge. However, when I came out of the theatre to drive to Calgary, we were having another snowstorm. I had to drive 60 KM/Hr all the way and saw a very bad accident north of Okotoks. It was pretty scary.

I've had absolutely no time or energy for housework, so my place is a shambles right now. With work travel, Progress Club, and my social life, I'm not home very much.

Anyway, let's see if this actually gets published.

Just rambling...

I confess, I've been home since I left work at noon on Tuesday. I've been having lots of problems with my GI system, and since I've been home I've been sleeping about 14 hours per day. I'm debating whether I should go to work tomorrow, or just write-off the work week and start over on Monday.

I put in a request last week for vacation time the whole month of July. If it's approved, I'll fly to NB, rent a car, and Mom and I will hit the road. I haven't been to the maritimes in July since forever because I usually include a Progress Club convention in the trip, and they're always in September or October.

Speaking of which, the mini-convention for the Western Region is being held at the Red Deer lodge at the end of May this year, I'll be there for my birthday. The National Convention will be in Kelowna, BC so I'll probably need a week for travel time through the mountains.

Yawn

I've started and half-read a number of books including Lisey's Story by Stephen King, World Without End by Ken Follett, waiting in the wings is The Appeal by Robert Ludlum. People of the Lakes by Gear,and I'm currently two-thirds through Stephenie Meyer's second book in the Twilight Saga: New Moon . I breezed through about a half-dozen Nora Robert/J.D.Robb/Iris Johansen novelettes in the past month. I'm having the same problems concentrating at work, going through my usual and seemingly unavoidable SAD sysptoms for the past 6 weeks or so. I've upped my dosage of Vitamines, expecially "D". I'm really beginning to believe that I should take the month of February off and go to a hot place with lots of sun and surf. There must be some place that won't cost a fortune if I'm willing to cook and clean up after myself.

But I do have a party to go to Saturday night that should be a lot of fun.

It's the Family Day long-weekend, and I've got the house to myself as LeeAnne and Al are house-sitting for a friend. It looked so dreary outside that I didn't even bother to take my pj's off, a good day to stay inside and relax, read and watch movies.

Red Deer was cold and I had trouble finding where I needed to be with their strange street patterns.

I'm glad I got a chance to visit with Edmond and Josephine. They're doing as well as can be expected. Charles was there with his little daughter, Olivia. She's really sweet. And I got to meet Lydia and her husband. They're all taking good care of Jo.

It's a Beautiful Sunday

It's a beautiful Sunday, and I'm feeling fine. I made myself pancakes this morning, and I'm on my third cup of coffee. I finished another Nora Roberts book last night, pure escapism.

The play at Vertigo was very good "An Inspector Calls", which I hadn't seen before. It's nice to see Vertigo getting back to its roots. I had to bow out of dinner afterward with the girls because I was still suffering the effects of the double cheeseburger from Wendy's Friday afternoon I had skipped lunch at work again because of a particularly complicated (for me) spreadsheet that I was designing. I was starving by 3:00 PM. My digestive system was already upset from the hit-and-miss of meals on the road during the past week. Joe, how did you manage it?

I've decided to set small, attainable goals for myself. No red meat or dairy products (except for my Lactaid milk) for the month of February. Lot's of vegetables, with no added salt. Al's doing a BBQ of pork chops with potato wedges for dinner. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with food. I certainly have enough going on in my life to keep me occupied.

I thought I'd have fun trying to thin out my wardrobe today. I'll take everything out of the closets, dressers, shelves, and pile it on the bed. I'll prepare about a half-dozen boxes (Women's Shelter, Consignment, read-to-wear after weight loss, needs alterations, give to friends). I'll take Before & After pictures to post. I want to start arranging my work outfits into combos (pants, blouse/sweater, jacket) to save time in the mornings.I also have to get rid of at least half of my footwear, jewellery and accessories. You have no idea how much I've accumulated, I don't even think I do for sure.

And on that note, I'd better get started.

Some days I am thinking there is no way I can survive another year of work, and then I hear about another company that is laying off a couple of thousand people.

There are over 4,000 documented homeless people in Calgary alone. Sometime around April, my department is releasing Alberta's 10-year plan to end homelessness. I've been a small part of this document, and while everyone knows that to eliminate the need for homeless shelters completely is unrealistic, the plan will work (with proper funding). It's being reviewed by Treasury right now.

Today, I was called to accompany our Deputy Minister and ADM to one of the family shelters in my portfolio, we just started funding it in the Fall. Last week, they had a new mom with a baby not 48 hours old. Both are doing fine. The hospital actually discharged them with no place to go, so they were taken to the shelter. I'm not sure why social services didn't step in. While I was there, a young woman who looked like a teenager was walking with a baby girl, about 6 months old. The baby smiled at me as I talked to her, it wasn't her baby, she was acting as "auntie" to give the Mom a break. It was so heart-rending.

This weekend, I'm spending time with friends - going to see a play at the Vertigo Mystery Theatre and then out to dinner. Looking forward to it.

Maybe I can make a little bit of difference before I retire.

Back Home

It was a long 3 days of meetings, site visits, lunches, and breakfast meeting. I did get quite a bit accomplished, so it was a productive trip. I stopped in Nanton on the way home and took my friend Winona out for an early dinner. There's a restaurant there called Blu's Bistro that serves really good food. I hadn't seen Winona for a while, so I gave us a chance to get caught up.

The Regional Spring convention for progress club is in Red Deer this year, last weekend in May. Winona and Shirley will be sharing a room and taking in all the festivities. I'll be the only one who has to get up to attend the AGM and sessions while they'll get to sleep in.

It will be good to sleep in my own bed again, with the furballs curled up beside me. Haven't seen LeeAnne or Al yet, they're both working tonight.

New Shoes Afterall

The mismatched footwear was very noticeable in the light of day, so... I found these on sale at the mall in Lethbridge (regularly $100 marked down to $19.99) Leather uppers, rubber soles good for walking on ice, very comfortable.

A Lucie-ism @ Lethbridge Lodge

You always forget something, right?
Well I remembered to wear a right and a left boot, but one is black, and one is brown!
I've had the black ones forever, and liked them so much, I bought the identical pair in brown last year. It's kind of hard to tell in the shadows of the coat closet. I didn't notice until I took them off in the hotel room, even though I was in the office this morning and replaced them with shoes. I figure if it took that long for me to notice, nobody else will clue in, even though I'm here for 3 days. I really don't need another pair of shoes, and don't want to sneak off to the nearest mall to get matching footwear.
They announced 100 KmH winds in Southern Alberta, and they were not kidding. The waves of drifting snow across the highway was almost surreal, like being in another world. I had to slow down, but other than that, didn't really have any problems. My car is very aerodynamic, not like some of those SUV's I passed on the way down.
The wind is so loud here in Lethbridge, and I'm on the 4th floor. Appears this hotel doesn't have room service, but it does have a nice restaurant and the lounge is in a park-like setting with trees, little foot bridges, pool & jacuzzi, etc.
My first meeting isn't until 9:00 AM tomorrow, so I get to sleep in.
Good night, all.

I survived my first week as "Acting Director" without any blood-letting, barely. Needless to say, I didn't get any of my own work done. When I got home today, I was so tired that I fell into bed and slept soundly for 2 hours. Then I got up and fixed myself a big plate of fish & chips (what diet?) and am watching a Hillary Swank movie on TV (Raise Your Voice) which is pretty good.
Today was interesting. Our illustrious Premier was present at the Drop-in Centre for the announcement of a $7 Million affordable housing project. I've never been in a room with that many polititians before. I was glad we didn't have to do it outside. A few days ago I was driving downtown with the sunroof open, and today was about -30 degrees with the wind chill.
Next week I'll be in Lethbridge for 3 days, and although it will be crammed with meetings, I'm going to try to enjoy some time away from the office. Hopefully I won't have to spend more than a few hours in the eveninbg organizing and recording my notes on the lap-top. I got upgraded to an executive room at the Lethbridge Lodge with high-speed internet and work area. I'm thinking a "new release" movie in my room after a lavender-scented bubble bath, and room service. All that travelling has to come with some perks.

Nothing exciting, Just stuff

Ithought I'd better update before the cyber-gremlins snuck in and locked me out again.
Next week, I'm doing my first stint as "Acting Director" while my boss is away having some minor surgery. I was getting complacent since I had been able to avoid it so long. There's a fine line between having no interest in getting into management, and staying in the game. I just don't want to be responsible for anybody's work but my own.
I had my brush with the flu bug last week, but at least I didn't get the nasty cold Al had, and passed on to Lee Anne. I think they both wore themselves out when the kids were here. They had a really good time, and want to come back.
I've already fallen off the wagon at the gym, allegedly because of the flu. You know, I think there's a special place in Purgatory for fitness trainers, those sweet young things in their cutsey size 3 matching outfits, assuring me it will get easier. (Is that mean?)
While the East is shivering in unspeakable cold, we're getting balmy +10 weather while there's still tons of snow on the ground. What a mess. Calgary only plows the main roads because, historically chinooks have melted most of the snow away from the side roads. My back alley is in the shade so it's melting slowly.
I haven't decided yet if I'm going to a fellow progressian's 60th birthday party tonight, it's way the hell out in Bearspaw. Feels like a lazy weekend which is fine by me.

Hallelujah

One of my all-time favorite songs is Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. I don't profess to fully understand the lyrics (what's your take on it?) I knew it was popular, but I had no idea how many artists had recorded it. I wanted to post my favorite versions, but "it" won't let me. Check out YouTube. The best music video, of course, is by Cohen himself, See if you can find it: Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah. Next best: K.D. Lang version. I also like the Bon Jovi version and the HALLELUJAH, (Shrek Song) which features the World Idol - Kurt Nilsen. Funny-looking guy, but boy, can he sing!

"After you've listened to Kurt Nilsen, click on "Lost Highway" which he does with Willie Nelson. Great video showing the ravages of addictions. I wonder why they featured Willie in this one?

Maybe some day I'll learn how to post the link directly onto my blog.

Later.

Back to work

The week at work has been pretty hectic, as expected. Drove down to Lethbridge today in ice-fog so thick, the visibility was reduced to about 3 car-lengths. You know, I've always thought driving for hours and hours is so boring, and sometimes I get sleepy. Having said that, I'm thinking maybe today was not a good time for me to test out my new hobby - learning Spanish while driving. Trying to concentrate on the road, and interacting with the CD (which by the way is supposed to be used in conjunction with a workbook which obviously is not an option while driving) gave me a headache. Anyway, I think I learned a bit.
I don't know why I find it so hard to concentrate on just one thing at a time, I even read 3 books at once. I have to have the radio on in my office, and I'm usually munching on something while working on the computer. It's like I have to use all 5 senses at once. Now it seems I never watch TV without working on my laptop. Then again, is there anything left on TV that requires anyone's full attention? I know, I'm rambling - too much coffee today.
I'm trying to curve the impulse to check on my office e-mail tonight because that would be counter to my resolution "Balance 2009".
I went back to Spa Lady yesterday. God, I'm so out of shape. I have to start all over again with the lowest weights and resistance levels. Oh well, it's a start.
And that's all for tonight.

p.s. I bought gas for 68.9 cents/litre in Claresholm, and it is now at 77.9 in Calgary.

Family Vacation pics