2008: Weeks 49-52

Despite my valiant efforts to write each week, the time has come to admit defeat and write a few posts to get back up to date. The last weeks of December were rather busy, filled with travel and preparation for travel.

We started the month in London, sending the last 5 nights of our trip in a nice little hotel between Paddington Station and Hyde Park. Despite constant gray skies and drizzle, and extreme tiredness we managed to fit in the Tower of London, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Gallery. We also walked through Hyde Park, visited the Diana memorial fountain, and explored the very eclectic Victoria and Albert Museum. On the social side of things, we caught up with friends at a nice pub in Camden, and toasted our last night of holiday drinking cider with John. Then, after almost 3 months, we were on a plane and back to Canada.

Our 11 days in Merrickville were spent packing and organising, applying for jobs, and of course enjoying a bit of Canadian winter. We had an early white Christmas, and enjoyed walking around the snowy village. And we had a memorable trip into to Ottawa, trying to get around during a transit strike the day after a massive snow fall. Too soon, though, we were back at the airport, this time heading for Sydney.

After way too many hours on a plane (delayed because we had to be de-iced in Vancouver of all places), we finally touched down, and after a short wait for the plane to be be dosed with bug spray, we finally had our feet on the ground. All 4 of our large bags arrived safely, and we were soon through the gate and greeting my family. They were happy to see us of course, but there was better news to come for them - after months of secretly applying for visas and talking about where to live we finally told them that we were planning to stay.

The last week of December was filled with celebrating Christmas and my Dad's birthday and settling in to Australian life. Finally, we saw out the year eating great food and drinking great wine with some very good friends.

Best of 2008
- skiing Banff
- NYC with Lynda
- Elysa and Patrick's wedding
- Algonquin Park
- camping at Castle Mountain
- roadtrip to Vancouver Island
- Radiohead in Vancouver
- Quebec City
- Edinburgh
- Amsterdam
- white Christmas in Merrickville
- sunny Christmas in Sydney

2008: Week 48

We ended our time in Paris with another meal at our local fave Le Volcan, then flew to Luton and caught a bus to Oxford where we spent a few days with Kerry and Anna. Since we've visited before we skipped the main attractions in town and ventured a little further afield to Blenhein Palace, a stately home belonging to the Dukes of Marlborough. It was mind-blowingly massive, with huge gardens and a lake - very interesting, although possibly not worth the massive entrance fee. Highlights were the gardens and family artworks; not so exciting was the modern-but-cheesy exhibition on the history of the house, complete with animated ghosts.

Our timing meant we missed a chance to participate in high table, but we did catch a Scotch tasting and visit several excellent restaurants. We also managed something of a cider tour of the local pubs - it turns out that there are a lot of good ones on offer along with the ubiquitous (and less tasty) Strongbow and Magners.

Best of the week

- A walk along the muddy banks of the Thames, then lunch at The Trout.
- A visit to Blenheim Palace, grand home and birthplace of Winston Churchill.
- A Scotch Whisky tasting at Nuffield College - very refined! And if you ever see a bottle of Ardbeg Uigeadail, I'd recommend you ignore the price and buy it.
- Spending time with friends, old and new.

Worst of the week
- The VERY long walk back from lunch at The Trout (although the problem had less to do with the distance than with the interval between bathrooms...).

2008: Week 47

This was a week filled with museum visits - we bought a 6 day Paris Museum Pass and then tried to fit in as many places as possible. Highlights included the Musée de Moyen Age located in Roman baths just down the street from where we were staying, seeing Monet's massive waterlily rooms at l'Orangerie, and Musée de Arts et Metiers with its eclectic collection of scientific and industrial history. We also saw some small museums including the rather odd sewer museum and some excavations under the forecourt of Notre Dame.

We also ate and drank well. On Thursday we visited a local restaurant that was serving mussels (beautifully cooked in a slightly creamy sauce), and were treated to a free glass of Beaujolais Nouveau. Beaujolais Nouveau is new season wine, released on the 3rd Thursday of November each year, and an occasion (excuse?) for lots of merriment. We arrived at the restaurant quite late, and discovered that the staff had already joined the celebrations!

Best of the week
- Musée d'Orsay, Musée des Plans-reliefs, Musée de Louvre, Sainte Chapelle.
- Good food and wine.
- Lots of walking through interesting neighbourhoods.

Worst of the week
- Visiting the Louvre twice, and still seeing only a tiny fraction of the exhibits.
- French supermarkets and their weird opening hours - doors locked at least 15 min before closing time, and random closures (in this case for a protest march passing by).

2008: Week 46

After just a week in Zurich we packed our bags again, and caught the TGV train to Paris. A quick ride on the metro, up a LOT of stairs, and we were home for the next 2 1/2 weeks.

The next day we wandered our neighbourhood (close to the Luxembourg Garden) and picked up a few food supplies. I was very excited to find passionfruit flavoured Pim's - chocolate and passionfruit, does it get any better? We also visited our local boulangerie to buy pain (lit. bread, a slightly larger version of a baguette) and croissants.

We also managed to fit in a little sight-seeing. On Thursday we went for a very long walk across town, finally ending up in Montmartre to enjoy the view across town from Sacre Coeur. Then on Friday we had a very different view of Paris with a visit to the Catacombes, a series of underground tunnels which house the bones of thousands of Parisians - the bones were moved from cemeteries that had become over-crowded. The tunnels were also used by the Frecnh resistance during WW2. We finished the week with a visit to the flea market at Porte de Vanves, an evening walk along the Seine, and a pleasant afternoon with a good friend who was in town for the day.

Best of the week

- Finally being in a country where I don't have to ask everyone if they speak English.

- Catching up with Laurent.

- Baguettes, pain, croissants, patisseries, good cheap wine ... you get the idea.

Worst of the week

- Needing to exercise self control with all the good food.

- Wishing my French was better. There has been a lot of improvement in the last year, but there is a long way still to go.

2008: Week 45

Sunday was spent cleaning our apartment and taking care of last minute details (like booking train tickets from Zurich to Paris) before leaving our home for the last month and heading to the bus station. A bus from Amsterdam to Zurich is cheap, but fairly inconvenient. The trip ended up taking 15 hours with multiple stops in 4 different countries and a long stop at the Swiss border. But we made it at last and finally made it to my grandmother's apartment. It was weird to be there without her - oddly quiet. Last time I was in Zurich both my grandparents were there along with a few other relatives!

Our week was spent sightseeing, not the frantic kind where you rush from place to place, but more relaxed. We discovered that a number of attractions were closed for the seaon, and some of the smaller museums are no longer free, and didn't seem worth paying for. Actually, pay is exactly what you do in Zurich. Restaurant food is quite expensive, and a coffee and cake at one of the lovely cafés doesn't seem so tempting when you see the price. But not everything is over-priced. We enjoyed warm chestnuts from street vendors and plenty of chocolate!

We climbed the tower of Grossmünster Cathedral for a great view of the city, and visited the Landesmuseum to learn about Swiss history. We also visited the nearby towns of Zug and Schwytz (less than an hour by train, but very different). In Zug we tried their famous Zuger Kirschtorte (lots of cream, nuts, and cherry brandy), while in Schwytz we gazed at the Alps and saw the first contracts of mutual assistance between the states which eventually became Switzerland. The earliest is from 1291!

Best of the week

- the view from Grossmünster Cathedral

- hot chestnuts

- Schwytz, and the view of the mountains

Worst of the week

- language - Dutch has many words in common with English, but it was much harder to work out what's going on in German. At least the food is labelled in French, so we knew what we were buying .

- difficulty feeling like a local. It's a little hard to explain, but with the language and high prices I felt I was observing, rather than experiencing, life in Zurich.

2008: Week 44

I don't have much time to write this week, but I did manage to post some photographs from the three major excursions of the week, a bike ride to Haarlem, and train journeys to Utrecht and Antwerp. Hope you enjoy them!

Tonight we're off to Zurich - internet access is likely to be rather sporadic for the next few weeks, but my Canadian phone is still working if you need to get in touch.

Bridge in Haarlem

Canal in Utrecht

Antwerp Station

Best of the week
- A bike ride to Haarlem, a beautiful town just 20km from Amsterdam.
- Catching up with Kerry for the first time in a year.
- Canals below street level, and the view from the Domtoren (112m above the street) in Utrecht.
- Drinking multiple flavours of lambic in some great beer cafes.
- Sint-Pauluskerk in Antwerp, a magnificent church which still houses artworks made for it by van Dyck and Rubens.

Worst of the week
- A late train from Belgium, missing the last tram, and the 40 minute walk home on a rather chilly night.
- Getting ready to leave Amsterdam; selling my bike, posting things home, trying to use up all the food we bought.

2008: Week 43

Another week in Amsterdam; we had a few adventures exploring the city and surrounds. First up was a bike ride south of the city where we rode by a rather nice windmill and managed to get a little lost and ride much further than we intended. Fortunately we had brought oliebollen, a newly discovered Dutch delicacy. These fist-sized, deep fried balls of dough sound like they'd be more at home at a State Fair somewhere in the US - the reality tastes much better to me than any funnel cake or beaver tail.

Our next outing was to the Jordaan, where we met a friend who lives in Amsterdam for a walking tour of the area. After a quick stop for coffee and beer at t'Smalle we walked through the streets learning a little more about the history of this part of Amsterdam. Jordaan was once a working class area, but with it's proximity to the centre of the city it has become quite a fashionable place. We visited several lovely hofies, originally built as places for widowed or unmarried women to live, and make a little money by doing laundry. The outside entrance is sometime marked by a sculpture featuring bed sheets; in fact many buildings have sculptures depicting the type of activity found within. These signs allowed a mostly illiterate population to locate spcific house without street signs or numbers.

On Saturday we made our way to the Jaap Eden Ijshal - the skating rink - to see the local hockey team play. The atmosphere was rather different to what we've experienced in Canada. There were probably about 200 spectators, and the level of play wasn't quite up to NHL level. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun. As we left the venue we passed a huge lineup of people who were waiting for the game to end so they could skate - perhaps we should take our skates to the next Sens game and see if they let us on the ice...

Best of the week
- a walk through the Jordaan with someone who actually knows the area.
- my first attempt to cook mussels - a complete success.
- watching the Amsterdam Tigers (ice) hockey team beat Groningen Grizzlies, 7-6 in a shoot out.

Worst of the week
- having to buy 5 stamps when I only needed one (yes, life is hard).
- rain, and being stuck in the house - rbiking in the rain does not sound like fun to me.

2008: Week 42

A much quieter week, the highlight (and only substantial outing) being a bike ride to Marken, about 20km away. Marken was an island until 1957 when it was linked to the mainland via a causeway. Now it is a bit of a tourist trap, luring busloads of people with it's quaint wooden houses and pretty harbour. We avoided the rather expensive cafes clustered around the waterfront and ate chips with sate sauce for lunch.

The route we took passed along a series of canals running through beautiful farmland. There were plenty of cows and sheep, lots of ducks, and the occasional heron patiently watching the canal in search of food. Of course we crossed many bridges, but at one canal we had to catch a "ferry" - for 25c each we made the ~10m crossing on a barge which winched itself across the water using a tow rope.

Best of the week
- Buying fresh flowers at the market and feeling like a local.
- Making it back from Marken (the longest bike ride of my life I think).
- Visiting our local pub, Dopey's Elixer. It's the kind of place you could sit for hours on a rainy afternoon.

Worst of the week
- The pain in my legs after the bike ride - fortunately some stretching and a hot bath brought relief.
- Hail. This was quite a surprise; we were about to take the bikes out when it started raining. Luckily we decided to postpone our outing as the rain was followed by hail falling very fast !

2008: Week 41

The week started fairly slowly as we continued to settle in to Amsterdam. We spent time looking for a second bike (one came with the apartment), watching TV to escape the rain, and exploring our local area. We've also been investigating some of the food and drink items available here. Blackcurrant seems to be a favourite flavour, and we have enjoyed blackcurrant jam, soft drink, and tea (all similar to Ribena, but a little less sweet). Salt and vinegar chips are non-existent, but the barbeque ham flavour is pretty good, while the balsamic flavour was disappointing. Beer is cheap; €10 buys 24x330mL bottles of Grolsch or Heineken in a plastic crate. At the market we can buy cheese of varying age, bbq kippen (miniature chickens; the taste is very similar to Aussie bbq chicken), and fresh herring (you eat it raw with onions and pickles). A new favourite is FEBO, fondly referred to by us as "the food in the wall place". There is a counter where you can buy hot chips and sauce (saté is my favourite), and a wall with many small windows holding various flavours of croquettes. Just drop your coins in the slot, open a door, and you're enjoying your hot snack. It sounds a little gross, but the turnover is high, so the food is fresh and the serve yourself option keeps the queing time to a minimum.

The end of the week was all about being tourists. Between us we had three family members staying in Amsterdam, so we spent several days showing them around town and visiting lots of museums. We saw the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum, took a canal cruise, visited the botanic gardens (and saw giant lily pads, about 1m across), and toured Rembrandt's House. Food-wise, we ate pannenkoeken, croquettes, frittes with sauce and had a wonderful Indonesian dinner.

By Sunday, only Lynda was still in town, and the two of us caught the train to Brussels for the day. It was a whirlwind visit, but we walked around town, admired Grand Place, ate waffles, visited chocolate shops, saw the lace museum, and ate mussels in a cheesy restaurant on rue de Bouchers. A little under three hours on the train and we were back in Amsterdam.

Best of the week
- Catching up with Tina, Jen, and Lynda.
- A day in Brussels with my sister (who even learned a few words in French).
- Buying a bike so we can explore the regions surrounding Amsterdam.

Worst of the week
- Dodgy and over-priced bike dealers; is it just me who finds it odd when someone has already sold the bike advertised but miraculously has another one (worth €300 new) for sale at a bargain price?
- Over-the-top waiters in Brussels - joking about going on a date is funny, offering (repeatedly) a sample massage is just sketchy.

2008: Week 40

From Carlisle we took a bus to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. The original plan had been to take the Hadrian's Wall tourist bus, but at the tourist office we were told it was a small bus, and since we would also have had to wait three hours for a connection we decided to take a regular bus. Bad move, the regular bus was slow, still required a connection (which we missed), and didn't give us even a glimpse of the wall. We'll know better next time. Actually, next time we'll probably try a driving holiday, it seems to be the most efficient way to see many of the smaller places we missed this trip.

We finally arrived at Newcastle and made our way to our hostel which turned out to be excellent. Newcastle is of course famous for the Tyne bridge, built around the same time as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and another six bridges which span the Tyne. You can easily see all seven at the same time. Some highlights in Newcastle were a trip to Tynemouth, where we saw a beautiful old castle above the beach, Laing Art Gallery, with a small but excellent collection of local artists, and a trip across the Tyne to Gateshead where my paternal grandmother was born.

An adventurous travel option came next - we caught the overnight ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam. This was quite a journey, with spectacular views as we sailed down the Tyne and on to the North Sea, then lots of waves throughout the night. We were very pleased that we decided to take the budget option and carry our own food as the on-board prices were horrendous (would you pay 5 pounds for a one cup plunger of coffee?). Breakfast was a sad affair though, without even a cup of tea.

We finally landed in Amsterdam (Ijmuiden to be precise), and after a short bus trip we arrived in the heart of Amsterdam. Out accomodation for the first night was a little unconventional, in a houseboat set up as a hostel. I have to admit that I'm not convinced this was a great idea. It was certainly different, but the room was even tinier than I expected, and the gangplang leading on-board was not really ideal for carrying luggage. I was not sorry to leave the next day when we moved to our long term accomodation in the lively area of De Pijp. We have mostly rested since then, with a few outings to buy food and explore the local area. The weather has been poor, but I've enjoyed spending a lot of time at home reading and relaxing after many weeks of travel.

Best of the week
- Visiting Gateshead and getting a feel for the place my great-grandparents lived, then boarding a ship and sailing away (after spending just one night on the ferry, I cannot imagine what it would have been like to sail to Australia). How would you feel as the boat left the place you were born and carried you to an unknown land half a world away?
- Segedunum Roman Fort and Hadrian's Wall. Both only visible after excavation work, but amazing all the same.
- Finally arriving in our Amsterdam apartment, home for the next few weeks.

Worst of the week
- The space between the top and bottom bunk in our houseboat cabin. Much too little head-room for my liking!
- Discovering that the supermarket runs out of bread on Saturday afternoon, and having to wait for Monday for more of the good stuff. Fortunately we could buy the bake at home variety to go with our soup, but I've already developed a habit of eating fantastic dark bread spread with blackcurrant jam - the last few slices have been rationed out today.

2008: Week 39

A quick and scenic flight from Dublin, and we were in Edinburgh. And what a change! The accomodation helped - after 4 days in a hotel we had a serviced apartment and quite a bit more space. But the real change was the city. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but Edinburgh has a magic I just didn't feel in Dublin (or Glasgow). The first evening we went for a long walk around the castle, which sits on a massive rock in the centre of town. It's a spectacular sight, an ancient walled castle sitting on top of sheer granite cliffs. The next two days were spent exploring museums, visiting St Giles cathedral, walking in Holyrood Park, and visiting the castle.

Next up was Glasgow, a short bus trip away. Lyn and her friend met us at the bus station and joined us for lunch and a visit to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It was a quick visit for them; after an hour or so the bright young things ran off to do some shopping, leaving the old folks browsing the museum. Our second day was spent around St Mungo's cathedral visiting Provand's Lordship (the oldest house in town), the Museum of Religious Life and Art, and the cathedral itself.

We finished the week in Carlisle, a town just over the border into England. It was a quick visit, but we managed a stop at the cathedral and Tullie's House Museum, where we learned about the history of the region from roman times onwards (Carlisle is at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall). We also learned about the Border Reivers, families who lived in the lawless border region between Scotland and England and waged war on one another for 300 years. I was amused to note that Matt's family (on both sides it seems) were among the reivers.

Best of the week
- Edinburgh - the atmosphere, the castle, the contrast to Dublin
- National Gallery of Scotland
- Hanging out with Lynda and Yvonne in Glasgow
- Tullie House Museum in Carlisle

Worst of the week
- Discovering that the clothes dryer in our Edinburgh apartment didn't work - the night before we had to leave!
- Dragging my suitcase for what seemed like tens of kilometres. A backpack is looking like a great investment right now.

2008: Week 38

Just a short post this week, as I'm using a shared computer at the hotel and I don't want to keep the next person waiting.

On Wednesday evening we left Ottawa, arriving in Dublin on Thursday morning. Since then we've spent our time exploring the city and also learning a little about suburban life in Dublin as our hotel is about 45 minutes from the downtown core by tram. Dublin is an interesting city, but not one I think I'd like to live in. It's old, and there are lots of lovely old buildings, but the vibe is not particularly lively. The suburban sprawl was quite a surprise, especially the strip mall I saw on the way to the hotel. Perhaps if Quebec is the most European city in North America, Dublin is the most North American style city in Europe (at least in my experience).

Best of the week
- The Book of Kells and the Trinity College Library
- The Guinness Storehouse
- The Brazen Head Bar (oldest in Dublin)

Worst of the week
- Jetlag!!!
- My grandfather is unwell :(

2008: Week 37

The last week before we head to Europe, and where did we go? Quebec City, the most European city in all of north america! And what a city - such a contrast to Calgary! We camped on the outskirts of town, just a 10 minute drive to the old city where we spent a day exploring the streets and walking on the city walls. That's right, Quebec is a walled city! You can see one of the gates in the photo above.

Highlights included amazing house-made croissants in the cafe where we ate lunch, two shops devoted to selling medieval costumes and accessories, and seeing a woman walking her dog in a pram. I highly recommend a visit if you're in eastern Canada.

The other highlight of the week came on Sunday morning when Lynda called to say she was in Ottawa for a few hours. We were able to change our plans for the day and rescued her from a few hours of boredom at the airport. The time was mostly spent in the car (Matt's parents live about an hour from the airport), but it was still good to spend time together and catch up on the last few months.

Best of the week
- A completely unplanned afternoon with Lynda after her travel was re-routed through Ottawa.
- Quebec City. Gorgeous architecture, great food, and ils parlent français.
- Catching up with friends in downtown Ottawa on Saturday night.

Worst of the week
- The traffic as we tried to drive through Montreal. Unbelievable!
- The last minute rush to get ready for our trip.

2008: Week 36

Most of this week has been devoted to travel as we drove the 3600km from Calgary back to Ottawa. Monday we headed out and made it as far as Moosomin in eastern Saskatchawan. There's not much to see on the way, just mile after mile of flat prairies. Tuesday we drove right through Manitoba (more prairies) and ended up in Thunder Bay, a fairly large town on the western end of Lake Superior. Flat fields gave way to forests and lakes - a nice change, but those winding roads really slow you down! Wednesday was basically spent driving along the shore of Lake Superior. It's a rather spectacular drive, the lake is the largest of the great lakes and has waves that wouldn't be out of place on the ocean. We stopped at a particularly wild beach where the waves were crashing onto piles of logs washed on to the shore, and the sand was replaced by round stones larger than my hand.

Wednesday night we stayed at possibly the cheapest motel on the planet in Sudbury. It was clean though, and a welcome relief after we tried to stop an hour or so earlier and found every motel in town full (it was a paper mill town, and the motels were full of people doing maintenance). Thusday dawned with just 600km left, and we made it to Matt's parent's place in time for dinner. I cannot exaggerate the relief I felt on Friday morning when we didn't get up and drive again.

The last few days have been fairly relaxed, swimming (the first time I've used my bathing suit in Canada) and sorting through boxes to go into storage for a while. This coming week we're planning a short trip to Quebec City, and then the next week we're off to Europe!

Best of the week
- Arriving at Matt's parent's place and getting out of the car.
- Discovering that it's still summer in Ottawa. Real summer, not the sad Calgary excuse for a summer where 30C is an unusually sweltering day.
- Submitting corrections to a long drawn out paper that has been accepted subject to revisions.
- Realising that I can't think of more than one worst for the week, and adding an extra best instead.

Worst of the week
- Four straight days in the car. Canada is a BIG country, and there's not that much to see between Calgary and Ottawa.

2008: Week 35

It's been a while since the last post! With a lack of internet access (I was forced to pay for an hour in Starbucks - but I didn't drink their coffee), and Blogger not talking to my hosting service for a while, suddenly 3 weeks have passed!

After finishing work on August 15th, Matt and I headed to Vancouver to visit his sister, see Radiohead, and then go camping with friends at Tofino, a beach town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Then it was back to Calgary to pack up our stuff, because tomorrow we head off to Ottawa for the next step of our adventure.

Best of the (last 3) weeks
- The end of work for a while.
- Radiohead (despite the rain at an outdoor concert).
- Finally driving from Calgary to Vancouver and seeing the much-talked-about BC interior.
- The sunset seen from the ferry between Vancouver Island and the mainland.
- Beer on a sunny patio in White Rock.
- The long-awaited arrival of Ethan - congratulations!

Worst of the (last 3) weeks
- Camping in the rain.
- Packing up a wet tent.
- Packing up a tent in the rain when it's 6C! What happened to summer?
- Leaving friends in Calgary.

2008: Week 33 & 34

You'll have to wait just a little longer for an update - I'm on vacation and will be mostly offline until the end of the week. See you then!

2008: Week 32

Another week, another box. Well, that's how life feels right now. We have just one week left at work, then another two weeks before we leave Calgary for good. Work is the final rush of getting as much done as possible, and making sure someone else can finish off what I can't. Home is all about posting furniture on Craigslist and Freecycle, emptying out cupboards, and trying to work out how to fit in all those Calgary things I kept putting off (zoo, art gallery, science centre, various restaurants).

I'm also spending quite some time thinking about how to maintain my online life while we are in Europe. Dragging the computer around is a real pain, although I have to confess that the prospect of several months without my baby causes me quite some angst. Internet cafes are fine, but require a chunk of time to be worthwhile. I'm considering an iPod touch as a compromise - they have wifi capability, and enough applications for most of what I need. Any opinions out there? Of course I may just be looking for an excuse to buy a new toy....

Best of the week
- A warm clear evening on Friday for our farewell to Calgary party.
- Matt's birthday.
- Lots of cooking to clear out the pantry.
Worst of the week
- Our drawn out packing - the price of organisation is weeks of empty shelves and boxes.
- Being ruthless with my kitchen gear. I'd love to keep it all, but it's just not practical :(

2008: Week 31

This has been quite a productive week. I spent a day going over my response to paper reviewers, and I'm hoping to have everything ready to go in a week or so. Things at work are winding up, and I'm making good progress on my list of things to get done before I leave.

At home we are trying to sort through everything and only take what is really needed. It seems that no matter how much I try not to accumulate unnecessary stuff, I still end up buying lots of things I don't need (or maybe even want - so many things fail the "do I love this enough to warrant shipping it across the country?" test). It's also apparent how much unnecessary packaging we accept as normal. Honestly, do we really need one of those big plastic cases for every DVD?

The worst of the sorting is the books. I love my book collection, and it's hard to be objective about which to keep and which to pass on for someone else's reading pleasure. The cost of shipping brings some perspective - maybe I'll actually get a library card in the next place!

Best of the week
- Finally working out how to create icons with transparent backgrounds. In fact I was so excited I was jumping up and down looking at my handiwork. Yes folks, I am a nerd.
- Success re-probing a very old western blot (from May 2002!). I know this makes no sense to most of you, but it's probably the difference between the paper being accepted and rejected.
- Slow but steady progress sorting and packing.
- Moving as an excuse to creatively use up everything in the pantry.

Worst of the week
- Reading the unfolding story of the poor young man killed on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba.

2008: Week 30

Another week...another week. It was a routine week for the most part, with few stories to tell. Work is quiet, and the summer weather makes concentration difficult - who wants to be stuck in the lab when it's sunny?

The weekend was spent camping in Banff National Park. We stayed at Castle Mountain (my favourite campground) and managed 3 short hikes. Rather less than what we planned, but whatever... July is peak flower season and I saw some new species and some old favourites.

I also enjoyed seeing the effect of fire on the landscape, and comparing it to the rapid regeneration I've seen after bushfires in Australia. We spent time in 2 fire-ravaged areas, one burnt in 1993 (a controlled burn), and the second in 2003 (wildfire!). The area burnt 5 years ago is still a barren field of sticks - the only green comes from fireweed. In a few weeks the green will turn to bright pink as the fireweed comes into flower. The area burnt 15 years ago has regenerated a little more - there are now small pine trees around 1-2m tall starting to take over. Despite the slow recovery, fire is important to the alpine environment, allowing small leafy plants to flourish and provide food for many of the animals who live here.

Best of the week
- Going out for lunch - 3 days in a row!
- Hiking in July, peak wildflower season
- Looking forward to up-coming adventures (details soon!)

Worst of the week
- The poor health of a friend :(
- 4 years today

2008: Week 29

Why do the weeks pass so slowly and the weekends so fast? This week has been one of frustration, trying to track down some documents I signed when I first started my job. Unlike Cornell where I used to work, the U of C do not treat post-docs as regular staff members. Instead, we are trust employees, contracted privately to the Professor who recruited us. We have University email accounts and library access, but we don't qualify for things like retirement plans. We do get extended health benefits (a bit like private health insurance in Australia), but it is administered by an external company. So I spent quite some time this week calling and emailing my way through the maze of uninformed helpfulness - "You're a trust employee? I'm sorry, I don't know who you need to contact, but try calling X (then Y, then Z etc.) and they should know". Aaaggghhhhh!!!!!

Outside of work, a large amount of my time has been devoted to cleaning. The time has finally come to leave our house, and I'm trying to be as organised as possible and move only the things I really need. The piles for recycling and Vinnies grow daily, and I'm constantly amazed at how much I've accumulated in the last few years, and how many of the things I "needed" at the time were just a waste of cash. Hopefully this exercise will not only lead to an efficient move, but also to some better purchasing decisions in the future.

Best of the week
- Being offered a hard-boiled organic egg (he had 2 to spare) by a guy I'm pretty sure was homeless. He spent the next 5 minutes telling me about his philosophy of passing gifts along and generally being generous with whatever he has. Amazing!
- Warm sunny weather, flowers, dragonflies everywhere (lots of black and blue ones this year).
- Confirmation that a few decisions I've made concerning work were right (more to come later).
- The arrival of some cool stuff from MOO - check them out if you need custom postcards, business cards etc.

Worst of the week
- Dealing with the bureaucratic black hole that is the institution where I work.
- A flooded basement due to a defective hot water tank. Fortunately the only lasting damage is to the landlord's pocket (well, not so fortunate for him, especially since he soon wants to knock down the house and build his dream home).

2008: Week 27

The first few days back in Canada were a calm change from my visit home. Tuesday was Canada Day, but I was tired, and Matt needed to work, so the only festivities for us were watching the fireworks from our balcony. On Wednesday I finally returned to work, and of course nothing had changed. Summer at the University is very quiet - I think about half my colleagues are on vacation. Even my boss has disappeared for a month!

On Thursday afternoon I left early, and we headed out of Calgary to Waterton Lakes National Park for the weekend. Waterton is at the very southern corner of Alberta, and the park is continuous with Glacier National Park in Montana and Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park in British Columbia. The weather was a little odd - mostly sunny, but we did experience a brief (and intense) storm which knocked the tent around quite a lot!

Other highlights of the weekend were spotting a grizzly bear, a moose, and plenty of squirrels, chipmunks and deer. The wildflowers were at their peak, so I took lots of pictures, and managed to spot several species I'd never seen before. And finally, on our way home we visited the buffalo paddock, a rather bizarre part of the park where a herd of "wild" bison live in a large fenced-off area. We were able to get up quite close (staying in the car of course!).

Best of the week
- Camping and exploring Waterton Lakes National Park
- Discovering that the tent is much more weather-proof than I thought!
- Coming home to Matt.

Worst of the week
- Back to reality at work.
- Discovering the dog got into my room (and in the garbage) while we were camping.

2008: Weeks 25 & 26

Did I mention that June was going to be busy? After my French exam on the 16th it was time to start preparing for the next adventure, a very brief trip home to Sydney. It was my first visit in 18 months, so I was very excited, but also trying to keep things low key and avoid over-scheduling.

I flew a different route to usual. Air Canada have recently started flying direct from Vancouver to Sydney, so I decided to try them out, and I'm pleased I did. The 777s flying the route are brand new, and the personal TV screens certainly made the trip less boring. Avoiding US customs was great, but Vancouver airport is in rather a mess as they expand for the Olympics.

The time at home flew by as always. I opted to spend a lot of time with my parents and grandparents, and I had a number of bits and pieces to take care of, so there wasn't as much time to catch up with friends as on other visits. I'm planning a longer visit soon, so hopefully I can catch up with more friends then.

This morning I arrived back in Calgary to a heat wave - it was 28C in the house, and about the same outside. Fortunately an afternoon thunderstorm cooled things down a little. Now I just have to finish unpacking, recover from jetlag, and steel myself to go back to work on Wednesday.

Best of the week(s)
- The first glimpse of land out the plane window, then flying over Sydney Harbour.
- Spending (way too little) time with friends and family.
- Passionfruit, haloumi cheese, lamb cutlets, and the red wine I've been storing for years.
- Good coffee. Everywhere!
- Feeling confident after my french exam!

Worst of the week(s)
- Sydney airport and the last glimpse of land out the plane window.
- Too many friends, not enough time.
- Leaving Matt behind in Calgary.

2008: Week 24

June is a busy month for me this year. With our trip east for Elysa and Patrick's wedding, and an upcoming trip to the south, I only have 9 days at work in the whole month. I had hoped they would be 9 productive days, but it's not really working out that way.

On the good side, I finally received the reviewers comments for a paper I submitted in April, and the manuscript has been accepted subject to some changes. I'm reasonably confident that I can make most of the changes, and argue articulately why we don't need to do the rest, so hopefully I will be able to cross it off my to do list in the near future. On the less good side, my cold continued to linger, and I ended up going to see my Dr who was very sympathetic and prescribed some medication which seems to be helping. After 5 days, I still have a blocked ear, but I have enough energy to do more than lie on the couch watching daytime TV. Of course it's hard to get lab work done while moping at home in your pyjamas, but at least the things I'm working on right now can be put in the fridge and finished later.

Best of the week
- Finding time and motivation for some gardening - hanging flower baskets for the front and side patios, basil, tarragon, sage, and strawberries for my kitchen garden, and flower pots for the upstairs patio.
- Studying for my French exam (tomorrow!), and feeling pretty confident that it will go well.
- Having my sister in the same country :)

Worst of the week
- Still sick. The cold turned into sinusitis - hopefully the antibiotics will work fast.
- Missing half the work week because I was sick (or is that a good thing?). Cancelling our planned camping weekend because I was sick.

2008: Week 23

I apologise in advance for any spelling or grammatical errors in this post - I was out of bed at 3.30am Calgary time (5.30am in Ottawa) so that we could make our flight home. I'm tired!

We had a very relaxing week spent with Matt's parents, who live just outside Ottawa. I read a lot, sat in the sun, and played with the dog. We also spent 3 days in Algonquin Park, about 2 hours drive away, where we spotted plenty of interesting plants and animals, and did battle with black flies and mosquitoes. I have a LOT of scars, but I think I killed more than bit me.

There will be lots of photos on Flickr in the next few days, keep an eye out...

Best of the week
- Seeing a beaver (well, we think it was a beaver, swimming far away in a beaver pond)
- Seeing (4) moose.
- Relaxing!!!!

Worst of the week
- Itchy itchy insect bites.
- A cold that just won't go away

2008: Week 22

Most of the last week was spent preparing for a trip east to attend the wedding of my good friends Elysa and Patrick. We flew to Ottawa on Friday evening, then drove to New Jersey on Saturday. Luckily the wedding was at a very civilised 7pm, so we had plenty of time to make the 7 hour drive and relax a little before the ceremony.

The wedding itself was lovely - my first American wedding, and my first Jewish wedding. The ceremony had a good mix of traditional elements and plenty of focus on what Elysa and Patrick were promising to each other. The reception was quite the party, with beautiful food (perfectly cooked steak for 100 or so people is quite impressive), amazing flowers, and a fabulous band. I'll post some photos once we get home (I forgot to bring the right cable).

Best of the week
- Elysa and Patrick's wedding - Congratulations!
- Finding the perfect outfit for the wedding
- Flying far far away from work

Worst of the week
- A rather bad cold :(
- Driving past Ithaca

2008: Week 21

This was a four day work week - hooray!! Work was rather chaotic, and I didn't end up finding a lot of time to try out everything I learned at my conference last week. Instead, I spent a lot of time cleaning and reorganising our supplies, and teaching fluorescent microscopy to a few of my colleagues.

The highlight of the weekend included a keg and toga party to celebrate a friend's acceptance to medical school (no, I am not posting photos of myself in a bed sheet), a successful shopping trip to buy a frock for the wedding we're going to next week, and a Coronation Street marathon (5 episodes in a row).

Best of the week
- Spring! Lots of green and pink everywhere.
- The end of another series of French classes. I've now completed the first 9 levels at the Alliance Française. Only another 6 to go... In June I will be taking a formal exam (DELF A1). I could probably manage the A2 level, but I've never taken language exams before, so I want to start with a level I know I can pass.
- Finally starting to recover from a nagging infection I've been battling for weeks.

Worst of the week
- Rain, rain, rain. Luckily my orange umbrella with pink polka dots brightens up the grayest of days.
- Realising that I'll have to take up the hem on that fabulous new dress by Thursday night. It's rather complicated trying to pin it to the right length without help.

2008: Week 20

Busy, busy, busy is the best the description for the last week. On Tuesday I flew to Seattle to meet with some collaborators at the Institute for Systems Biology, and to attend a NW user-group meeting for our high throughput microscope. Unfortunately, work has been so crazy that I left with an un-started power point presentation for the talk I was scheduled to give on Thursday. I'm usually not that much of a procrastinator, but this time I was up VERY late the night before putting together my slides. Aaaggghhhh!!!

I flew back to Calgary on Thursday night so that we could get away early on Friday for our first camping trip of the season. After a few dramas with closed campsites, and very long check-in lines we finally had our spot and set up the tent. The rest of the weekend was rather laid-back, with only one hike, on an easy trail. At the top of the trail was an additional loop trail through a canyon, which we decided to try. After a fairly scary walk along the snow-covered creek-side track we came to a bridge, crossed over, and saw ... a bear! Well, Matt saw a bear (he was ahead of me), and we immediately turned around and clambered back over the ice. So there's no photo, but we made it home without an unpleasant incident.

Blogger is having trouble posting photos right now, so I'll post some weekend pictures tomorrow.

Best of the week
- Catching up with giant tropical penguin for coffee and a Gravity Pope fix.
- Getting away from Calgary for a weekend in Banff National Park.
- A long weekend! Happy Birthday Queen Victoria!

Worst of the week
- A magical mystery bus tour of Seattle trying to find a power adapter for my computer (note to self: check all computer equipment before leaving home). Eventually I managed to find the Apple store.
- Busy, busy, busy: stress, stress, stress.

2008: Week 19

Sorry for the late posting - life has been a little crazy! I'm in Seattle right now for a conference, so it will be a short post, but at least I've written something. Better late than never!

Best of the week
- Pink buds
- 3 girls in Grade 8 visiting the lab
- Visiting a craft store - such a cliché, but I'd forgotten how much I enjoy browsing and thinking about crazy craft projects

Worst of the week
- Driving home in a "wintry mix" - rain + sleet + snow
- Too much to do, not enough time.

2008: Week 18

The snow has cleared for now, and after several rakings (one for snow, one for leaves) the backyard is ready for some sporting action. Bocce is the game of the moment, although the badminton net (still up from last year) adds some interest! We now have a house rule to cover what happens when the bocce ball hits the badminton net and rebounds back toward the players.

Today I spent a little time clearing weeds from our small garden, and trying to remove the dead stems from last year without damaging the new shoots. I spotted a tiny tulip flower forming on one of our plants, and there are pink buds on one of the backyard bushes - next week I may actually be able to write about flowers!

Best of the week
- Snaring the last 2 loaves of apple and flax sourdough at Urban Baker.
- A boring visit to the radiologist - so nice to be told "nothing to see here, you can go home".
- Victory over the boys in our backyard bocce game.

Worst of the week
- The Canadian tax deadline - my tax return seems to get more complicated every year :(
- I love my job...really...

2008: Week 17

This had been a particularly uneventful week. After working several weekends in a row I've finally managed to get my experimental work under control. By under control I mean that I've collected so many samples for analysis that I can't start anything new. That means I don't need to keep cells growing, so I have much more control over my time. It's also the end of the academic year, so many of my regular meetings are coming to an end. Hooray!

This week I will be working on my program for Operation Minerva, a job shadowing day for girls in Grade 9. I have 3 girls coming to spend the day with me on May 8th. I'm also preparing a talk for a conference on May 14-15, and I have to work through lots of frozen samples, so it will be a busy few weeks ahead.

Best of the week
- A sunny weekend without snow (or work)!
- Thai dinner on Wednesday.
- Finally submitting a long-overdue paper.

Worst of the week
- The looming deadline for filing my Canadian tax.
- Feeling that I'm working and living in a holding pattern.

2008: Week 16

OK, so we were a little premature putting the patio furniture outside last weekend :) There were a few calls to try bocce in the snow, but no one was really that keen. Matt and I did brave the cold and wind today and went for a short walk. The wind had made some really interesting patterns and textures in the snow, very similar to patterns I've seen in sand at the beach. Most surprising was a patch of very smooth, flat snow which proved to have a hard outer surface over soft snow. Something I've often seen on the beach, but never before in the snow.

Best of the week
- John Butler Trio on Tuesday night.
- An email from a former adviser saying "no more changes, submit the paper"!
- A new session at French, already improved from last time.

Worst of the week
- Feeling tired and unwell.
- Finding the last few details so I can submit that paper.

2008: Week 15

Change is in the air here in Calgary. Spring is asserting itself, and winter retreats, although with great reluctance. This week I saw my first crocus and hyacinth for the season, and noticed tulip shoots reaching for the light. Then on Thursday morning we had a foot of snow fall in just 4 hours, the largest snowfall by far this year. The weekend was glorious, with temperatures as high as 20C; we had our first BBQ on the patio tonight. The coming week will be cooler, with temperatures predicted to resemble the mild winters of my hometown.

My jonquils are flowering, the freesia bulbs I bought are in pots, and the steel bucket I found at an estate sale a few weeks ago now holds the herbs we will enjoy all summer. But for the time being, the heat which feeds these plants comes from a sunny spot in front of the fireplace. It will be several weeks before they can be confidently moved to the light and warmth of the outside world.

Best of the week
- Wading through fresh snow on the way to work, barely resisting the temptation to make snow angels.
- Venturing outside in a T-shirt, skirt, and bare legs.
- Finally taking the plunge and upgrading to Leopard.

Worst of the week
- Working several weekends in a row, and remembering how easy it is to stray into workaholic territory.
- Golf on TV. I'm way too hyperactive to want a day on the couch doing nothing.

2008: Week 14

This week seemed long. The weather has turned a little colder again, and despite the appearance of tulip shoots in many of the gardens I pass each day, it feels that spring will never arrive. Don't be fooled by the photos though, they were taken at the Sunshine ski resort, high in the Rockies. The ski season will continue until the end of May - hopefully Calgary will be green again by then!

I have been enjoying two books this week - A Lineage of Grace and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana. The first was a Birthday gift from a very dear friend - well chosen and well timed once again - and I'm enjoying it very much. The second is Anne Rice's follow up to a novel she wrote after her returning to the Christian faith of her youth. I admire her integrity in writing about what is significant to her, even though it is a quite a change from her earlier work! She spends some time exploring what it meant in a practical sense for Jesus to find places of solitude - very relevant given my never-quiet household.

Best of the week
- A new recipe for Cranberry and Zucchini muffins - I'll take a picture next time and post the recipe on eatdrinkcook.
- A lovely day skiing at Sunshine.
- Ottawa [just] scraped in to the NHL playoffs.

Worst of the week
- Lab work on Saturday and Sunday because my cells decided that Friday was the perfect day to be ready for an experiment.
- More strange interactions at work - do I somehow attract weird behaviour?

Me, skiing at Sunshine

2008: Week 13

We're now a quarter of the way through 2008! A quiet week here, with few interesting events. Monday was a normal work day, although I discovered the hard way that it's not a normal work day for the post office :( Calgary has very few real post offices - they are mostly outlets inside Shoppers Drug Mart, a chain of stores somewhat similar to Priceline in Australia. The stores are often open 24 hours, although the post office counter has more limited hours.

Our weekend adventures involved trawling garage sales and a visit to a different supermarket. The garage sales were pretty poor overall, although I managed to pick up a retro metal bucket I will use to grow herbs on the balcony when it finally warms up. The supermarket exploration was a revelation. Since moving away from Ithaca I have really missed Wegmans, the greatest supermarket ever. The new downtown Coop in Calgary is not as good, but it does stock a better range than our local store, and has a good selection of prepared salads for lazy days.

Oh, and did I mention we had 10cm of snow last night?

Best of the week
- Watching the French film Angel A.
- A longer than usual conversation with my parents.
- Finally finding a French exercise book with answers!

Worst of the week
- Waiting for Spring.
- Feeling restless.

2008: Week 12

In the lead up to Easter, I've really enjoyed reading Fiona's posts anticipating Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I've often found Easter to be a strange time of year - we celebrate one of the key aspects of our faith, yet without external cues like we see at Christmas, the lead up seems almost non-existent. At least that's my experience. Today we celebrated with hot cross buns, chocolate eggs from my family, and roast lamb.

There were a few notable events this week. Things have been quite odd work-wise, with some unexpected politics, and an even less expected breach of confidence. I'm working through some old issues, and thinking quite hard about how my professional future might look. On the home front, one of my house mates moved out this weekend, so we are now a household of 4. Not a bad thing, but I expect the dynamic of the house will change, for better or worse.

Best of the week
- Hot cross buns with no peel (and no icing)
- Chocolate, delivered (thanks Mum, Dad, Michael, Lynda)
- Access to a much-needed machine at work, and success in using it

Worst of the week
- People playing games, and wondering if I'm the pawn
- Aftermath of the farewell party...

2008: Week 11

Another week has flown by! I was quite busy, with an extra French class scheduled and lots of things to get done at work. Then my work computer started doing strange things, which prompted a complete backup and upgrade of the operating system. Add to that a half day on Friday and the week gets a little crazy.

Friday was a half day because I volunteered as a judge at the Science Fair. My team of 4 people had 5 projects to evaluate, all done by 5th and 6th graders. We interviewed each child by ourselves, then decided together on a final mark to determine if they made the second round of judging. The projects were really impressive! Most of the kids had a really good understanding of the question they were trying to answer, what they had learned from their experiments, and what they might do better next time. I might be out of a job in a few years!

Best of the week
- Ethiopian lunch with work friends
- cool science projects from primary age kids at the Calgary Youth Science Fair
- home made ravioli that did not explode

Worst of the week
- french class 3 nights in a row (OK, so we skipped the 3rd one)
- snow again - at least it melts fast in March.

2008: Week 10

A quiet week at last! French was cancelled on Tuesday, so we had an unexpected night off (although we will make it up this week with 3 nights in a row!). On Thursday night we went out for Indian after our class, and that is really the majority of the week. Some unexpected developments at work, but it remains to be seen if there will be any long term effects.

The weekend was warm and sunny, so I went for a walk on Saturday. Despite a week of above-zero temperatures the river is still half frozen, with the ice extending quite a bit above and below the surface. The seasons are turning though; the birds are coming back, and people are out and about once again. Sadly we will probably wait another month or two for the plants to declare that Spring is really here.

Best of the week
- Visiting a different Calgary market and finding cheap (good) cheese.
- An extra hour of daylight in the evening.
- Successful brioche baking experiment.

Worst of the week
- Losing an hour for daylight saving.
- 3 dead mice in our kitchen (although that may be a good thing in the long run).

2008: Week 9

Another busy week, this time juggling spending time with Lynda and putting in an appearance at work. Lyn and I managed to do quite a few fun things, and I even made some progress at work, so not a bad week overall.

Wednesday I took the day off to take Lyn skiing/boarding at Sunshine. It wasn't the perfect day weather-wise, but it was reasonably warm, and by staying on the lower slopes we avoided the worst of the visibility problems. Lyn has picked up snowboarding really fast, and even took on the challenge of the ski out at the end of the day - not intrinsically difficult, but an ~6km run on tired legs with lots of people can be hard.

On Thursday we had breakfast at Diner Deluxe, after a walk in the freshly fallen snow. Yum! Then on Friday it was a visit to the Farmers Market, some last minute shopping, and an Alberta beef dinner before Lyn's Saturday morning flight to NZ. On Saturday afternoon Matt and I spent several hours indulging his new collecting hobby, and on Sunday I was up early for a pasta making class. Monday might even be relaxing in comparison!

Best of the week
- skiing with my baby sister
- making explosion-proof ravioli
- lots of birthday treats

Worst of the week
- putting Lyn on the plane back to NZ/Aus
- juggling work with the fun stuff

2008: Week 8

Last Tuesday I flew to NYC to meet Lynda. We had a great time - dinner at L'Ecole, a visit to the Met, coffee at Gimme! (the new Manhattan branch is just 2 weeks old!), and front row seats at Rent. On Thursday we met Elysa for lunch and tea before rushing to get our plane to Wilmington, NC. Finding a cab to take us to LaGuardia at 4pm turned out to be quite a challenge, but eventually a cab driver took pity on us and agreed to take 2 girls, 3 bags and a snowboard to the airport.

Andrew met us in Wilmington, where we stayed with him, Fiona and Lucy in their new house. The warm weather was a nice change, although the torrential rain on Friday was almost as bad as driving in snow. We spent the day touring Dawson's Creek locations, then enjoyed a home cooked meal and a game of monopoly. Saturday we had breakfast then headed to Wrightsville beach for a birthday paddle. The water was freezing, but I still had to dip my toes. Then on to a tour of the movies studios, some shopping, and birthday dinner for Fiona and I. On Sunday we went to church, then had roast lamb for lunch before heading to the airport for a rather adventurous trip back to Calgary. It was a good trip, and I really enjoyed spending time with Andrew, Fiona, and Lucy, but it is nice to be home.

Best of the week
- NYC, a visit to Gimme! Manhattan, and lunch with Elysa.
- The beach on my birthday, followed by an awesome dinner with Andrew, Fiona, Lucy, and Lynda
- Waking up in my own bed

Worst of the week
- Insufficient time to sneak in a visit to Ithaca
- 3 flights, 3 times through security, lost luggage, jetlag

2008: Week 7

Sorry for the late post - it's a long weekend here and my days are a little messed up. We had a good weekend - we spent 2 days doing chores and relaxing, and today we skied at Sunshine. It was the perfect day; warm, calm, and sunny. I'm aching now, and rushing to get ready for tomorrow, but it was worth it.

And what's happening tomorrow you ask? I'm off to New York and North Carolina to hang out with family for the rest of the week. So there won't be (m)any posts this week, but I'll be back next week with all the stories.

Best of the week
- Perfect skiing weather
- Unexpected chocolates :)
- Finishing the French session with good results in written comprehension and writing (my listening skills still need lots of improvement)

Worst of the week
- Work dramas ... again
- Forgetting the camera on a perfect ski day and having to use my camera phone

2008: Week 6

Matt was given some tickets to see a few Davis Cup matches this weekend, so on Friday afternoon we met at his office and made the chilly 10 minute walk to the venue. We watched 2 singles matches in the Canada vs/ Mexico men's series - both won by Canada in straight sets. The result is a little misleading, as both matches were pretty close. The whole experience was rather odd - I tend to associate tennis with warm weather, so it was strange to be watching in the middle of winter.

Saturday was "Hockey Day in Canada". Last year our household spent the day watching hockey on TV and playing hockey on the rink across the street. It was much colder this year, so there was less playing, and perhaps less watching too. I did watch the Ottawa game - after a few recent losses they gave Montreal a 6-1 pounding. Just as it should be :)

Best of the week
- Going out for dinner after French - it's lovely not having to run home and cook.
- Locally made lavender and mint bath soak - heavenly!
- A new tradition at work - afternoon tea, every day at 4pm, with biscuits!

Worst of the week
- Exhaustion, knowing it probably means I'm getting sick, wondering when the cold symptoms will start.
- Discovering that you shouldn't buy flowers when you have to walk 20min in the cold - the cut ends were almost solid when I arrived home!

2008: Week 5

Another fairly non eventful week, with lots of time spent inside reading. Today we spent hours in front of the TV watching the Superbowl and eating junk food. Guacamole, corn chips, salsa, jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks, and mini pizza - I feel ill just thinking about it. I've watched enough American football over the years to actually have some understanding of the game, and even though I still laugh at the padded lycra pants and the thrown down penalty flags, I can follow what's going on most of the time. Sadly we miss the best of the Superbowl experience in Canada - the broadcast is famous for it's advertising, but we get mostly Canadian stuff edited on top. Nevermind, everyone can enjoy them online here.

Best of the week
- A moderately successful attempt at baking bread.
- Later sunset, which makes walking home an option again.
- NY winning the Superbowl and ending Tom Brady's winning streak (I don't care how good he is on the field, I just can't respect the man).

Worst of the week
- Feeling trapped inside for days at a time.
- Waiting for reagents and machinery to get anything productive done at work.

2008: Week 4

It turns out that the chilly weather I wrote about last week was just the beginning of the cold - tonight as I write the temperature is -27.3C with the wind chill bringing us down to -43C. To give you some idea of the sudden temperature changes in Calgary, yesterday we had a high of 3.9C.

This week has been a strange mix of quiet and noisy. Matt spent most of the week in Toronto, so I had lots of time to myself (which I spent going to French classes, cleaning, and reading). However our house has been even crazier than normal. Our household of 5 swelled to 7 as we had two friends staying while looking for places to live in Calgary. Even after more than a year it's quite a shock to go from living alone to living here.

Best of the week

- Making progress on a book I've been reading for months.
- The satisfaction of completing tasks that I've been putting off for a while (vacuuming, writing).
- Long phone calls to Australia.

Worst of the week

- Listening to a lecture in French, and being reminded how far there is to go before I understand everything.
- Facing the prospect of heading to work when the thermometer is reading -32.2C.

2008: Week 3

This week Calgary plunged into a more typical winter weather pattern - cold and more cold! My thermometer reads -20.5C as I write this, and there is quite a bit of snow outside. For now, the snow brings the challenge of driving on compacted snow and working out how to melt the frozen slush that has accumulated behind the wheels. I can hear the tyres scraping on it every time I turn. The real fun begins in a few days when the weather warms up enough to melt the snow. It takes quite a while to melt completely, so there is a cycle of melting and re-freezing overnight to give a road surface similar to a skating rink.

Other events of note include 2 restaurant dinners - Italian on Friday for a work function, and Ethiopian tonight with work friends. The Ethiopian was very good. It's a small local place, not very fancy, but around half the patrons appeared to be African, and food was excellent and reasonably priced. The Italian was good, but not as good as you'd expect for a $35 main dish. I don't think I'd be spending my own money there.

Best of the week
- New recipes - cannelloni and BBQ pork soup - which both turned out well. Filling the cannelloni was particularly fun.
- Varied teaching style in our French class with a substitute teacher who gave some very helpful critiques of our speaking skills.
- Sending off a second long-overdue paper to my PhD supervisor.
- Views of the snow covered Rocky Mountains on clear mornings.

Worst of the week
- Cold gray days. Calgary is usually sunny even when it's freezing - gray days are much harder to endure.
- Being far away from most of my good friends :(

2008: Week 2

As promised, installment #2 in my new regular blog schedule :)

This week has been busy, although not particularly remarkable. Work is rapidly settling into the usual rhythms, and that pulls the rest of life back into the normal pattern too. There were a few anomalies this week, most notably having four sets of fingerprints taken for immigration. Quite the experience!

On Saturday we ventured to the far south of Calgary to check out an antiques mall and flea market. There were lots of interesting bits and pieces, including some beautiful Royal Doulton cup and saucer sets I would love to have. Sadly $70/set is way more than I'm willing to pay. I have started collecting old mismatched fancy china, but for now I have just two green and pink plates which cost $4 each. Oh, and the four crystal liqueur glasses, a steal at 25c each at an estate sale.

Best of the week
- Warm weather (8C today) and sunny skies.
- Finding the boots I've been wanting to buy reduced 50% and in my size.
- Walking locally and coming home with fresh sourdough and Chinese roasted pork, all within 15min from home.
- Pooling food with my house mates to have a "family" dinner on Saturday night.
- The Sens beating the Red Wings!

Worst of the week
- Returning to work.
- Having a cold (but at least it's not flu).

2008: Week 1

Happy New Year everyone! In an effort to post more regularly in 2008, I'm aiming to write at least every Sunday with the best and worst of the week. Anyone want to put money on how long I'll keep it up?

We spent the Christmas break with Matt's family, just outside Ottawa. It was a really relaxing break - lots of sleep, a few movies, a hockey game, and food, food, food. We also managed to take a few walks in the snow, where I discovered one more reason to brush the snow off your car EVERY time it snows...

Work responsibilities brought us back to Calgary on the 30th, so New Years was a quiet affair at home with some friends. The fireworks were rather pathetic, but the company was good, and we had a lot of fun jamming in the basement and critiquing Bono's air guitar skills (check out Rattle and Hum).

Best of the week
- aMSN, a Messenger clone which provides webcam compatibility for Macs. Anyone want to video chat?
- the first ski day of the year. It was windy, and it snowed all day, but we had fun anyway.
- working from home for 2 days. SO productive. Unfortunately not practical for actual experiments :(

Worst of the week
-knowing I have to go back to normal work tomorrow.