London continued

Rob's big birthday party was on the Friday, so during the day we keep it low key. We headed out to a place for a nice walk with some nice views of the West Midlands. The hike was on Kinver's Edge, and depsite being a bit chilly, it was a great opportunity to do some photography and enjoy the views of rural England. The hike was a nice 1.5km walk, and it appeared that it was also a nice place to take the dog for a walk. I think Rob and I were the only people without a 4 legged friend!

After the hike we headed into the small village of Kinver and had a drink and a bit to eat. We knew it was going to be awhile since we ate supper, so we had some English pub food, and I had a glass of wine! By the time we got home I was exhausted, and probably still jet legged, so I layed down for a bit of a nap before the party!

The party started at 7, there was a DJ, a bar and about 40 people that showed up. It was a great time and I was finally able to meet all of Rob's friends.

Christmas Baking!!

It has been a few years since I have been home, and available, to help mom in Christmas baking. To be honest, I can't even remember the last time I helped mom!

But this year, not only was I able to help mom, but Laura came over as well!

In a total of 4 hours we baked nanaimo bars, buttertarts, thumbprint cookies, rum balls, and for the first time, sugar cookies!

We had such a great system and would have not been able to get it done in the time we did if any of us were not there. The house smelled so yummy of christmas goodies, and the Christmas tree was up, making it feel more and more like Christmas. For once, Christmas hasn't been overwhelming and I can't wait to spend time with my family this Christmas season! (and eating lots of goodies)

Laura looking sexy in her apron

Mmmmm, buttertarts and my favorite, thumbprint cookies

Yumm, bittersweet chocolate

Look! I'm BAKING!! LOL

and the end result, sugar cookies

14 Countries, and counting

I have officially been to 14 different countries, and can't wait to keep adding!

I am finally home after a quick 10 day trip to England to see Rob and do some touring around.

It was a long trip there, and an even longer trip back. The United Kingdom and Europe were getting record breaking cold temperatures and snow. At one point it got down to the coldest temperature in November in over 100 years!! Airports were shutting down because they couldn't handle the snow, and in Amsterdam when I flew home, every flight was delayed or even cancelled. We were an hour late boarding, but were stuck on the ground for 3 hours. Either waiting for the ground crew to finish up, or waiting to get in line for the de-icing platform in which there were 4 spots, and three de-icers working away on the planes. I was so exhausted from the trip and was starting to get a cold, so I slept as much as I could. I had both seats to myself so I curled up in a little ball and attempted to nap. However, I made it home safe and sound, and can't wait to go back in the summer!!

My first full day in England, we headed to the near-by town of Dudley and went to the Black Country Museum. Rob grew up here, in the heart of the Black Country, and the museum, more like a park, reminded me of Heritage Park. Everyone was dressed as they would in the industrial revolution days, and the park was empty as it was quite cold! Well, apart from the school kids. Rob and I were the only people on canal ride, a massive 40 foot canal boat. My stomach wasn't feeling the best so Rob indulged in old school 'fish and chips', cooked in beef lard, not just oil. We walked into one of the coal mines, which I found out was not an original mine, but rather one build for the museum for us to see what it would be like. There were many shops, some open and some closed due to the weather. Glass making, the hardware shop, the chemist and many houses styled as they would in the 1750's to 1900's. One house was even made totally of cast iron plates, 600 of them to be exact. It wasn't the warmest of houses though!!

Calgary before leaving

The cast iron house

Inside a very "posh" kitchen

The streets

The very empty streets

The empty canal boat!

Brrrrrr

I lived in the arctic for 2 and a half years, and I just don't get used to the cold!! Yesterday we got down to -28 with a wind chill of at least -32, and it is still friggin cold! I was so close to pulling out my massive NorthFace down-filled jacket, but I didn't. I do have my scarf, touque and 2 pairs of mitts though!

And with this cold cold weather, the roads haven't had a chance to get better. There is still ice everywhere, and the residential communities are skating rinks. I still only go 70 on the main roads, and even that is rare. This evening I worked at one of the local hospices and we were allowed to move our cars into the heated underground parking. My car was there for over an hour, and it barely warmed up and there was still snow on parts of my car. Plus, I stopped at Walmart on my way home hoping it was open till midnight, I turned on my internal lights to get my wallet, and when I got out and locked my car, the light didn't turn off. I thought I had left it on when I was looking for my wallet, but no, it was not turning off! Walmart ended up being closed though so I had to drive home with my internal lights on. I thought I was going to have to call my Dad in the morning as my battery would die from having the lights on all night, I even backed into my garage, which was a chore! However, after leaving my car in the garage for about 45 minutes, I checked in on it and the lights had turned off; *sigh of relief!

The forecast is for one more cold cold day, then it is supposed to get warmer, in fact above zero by friday! All I want is it to get warm enough to clear the ice off the roads. In fact, I like the snow, it is so beautiful! But, I won't be here for the warm weather as I head off to England tomorrow. Hopefully when I get back the more decent weather is sticking around and I can get back to enjoying the drive in my beautiful car :)

Winter Wonderland

Winter has arrived in Western Canada over the last 4 days. It all started Monday night, with rain, and as the temperatures dropped, the rain froze and we awoke Tuesday morning with 6 inches of snow, over top a huge layer of ice.

And as anyone can imagine, the drive into work that morning was, well, Hell. And of course I was super nervous about driving as my Mustang is rear wheel drive, and it is the first time I have driven this type, ever, let alone in winter. I woke up early that morning as I knew the commute was going to be long, and boy was I right. An hour and a half it took me to get into work that morning, going at a snails pace the whole way, and not even by choice, but because I had too. The roads were skating rinks and there was SO much traffic, that is just how long it took. It was backed up only a block from my condo.

It snowed for about 3 days straight, so the plowers and sanders have barely been able to keep up. Wednesday morning I had to drive up towards Mouth Royal College, and Deerfoot wasn't too bad, but Glenmore and Crowchild were horrible, lots of ice under a layer of thick snow. I had tons of people passing me but I refuse to let them get to me, and if I don't feel comfortable driving faster, I refuse too. Now, I am not going 10km/hr, I will go up to 50 or 60, but I still have people giving me looks. The way I look at it, if I do go faster, I am more likely to loose control and cause an accident, which I am not willing to risk!

Yesterday it stopped snowing so the commute today was only an hour, and the roads are slightly better, at least the main ones, however I still get extremely nervous especially when the lanes speed up. I feel OK driving in the communities and side roads, as no one is going very fast, and because of the rear wheel I am able to push through the snow and able to correct if I fish-tail while pushing through ice, especially when starting at a set of lights. In fact, coming into McKenzie town is horrible because there is so much ice everywhere, it is very slow going. It can take me up to 20 minutes just to get into or out of McKenzie town, this would normally take less then 2 minutes and I get very frustrated! However, when I can speed up on the main roads, because we have so much black ice, and even random patches of thick ice that you can see, I can feel my car pulling to one side and struggling. If I was front wheel drive, I would be okay, but not as confident (yet) with my rear wheel drive. I can easily see that if I get going too fast and hit an icy patch, my car losing control, fish-tailing and me getting into an accident. This is where I can feel adrenalin rushing through me, my heart rate rising and even my mouth getting very dry! Thankfully once the weather gets better, and the roads are able to clear and dry up, I will feel more confident, but for now, it is what it is!

Below are pictures to what I woke up to Tuesday morning:

Puppies!!!

A few weeks ago when I was alone at my parents house, I dog-sat Hercules for the night while Laura and Dan were out partying. Hercules is still very much a puppy and loves to chew, just like Sarah did, but at least Hercules leaves wires, cords, and Christmas tree lights alone - well, at least I think he will! However, by the next morning I had a toy cemetery. And this is how it went:

The cemetery - out of reach of Herc,

We have the fin-less Shark:

The headless Snowman:

The eyeless Whale:

The nose-less Garfield:

And last but not least, the eyeless AND nose-less caterpillar:

OH, the joys of puppies :)

MY house!

What a busy two weeks it has been! The weekend that I went to Edmonton to see my friends, I had my painter go in my house and basically paint my whole house, minus the basement. When I came home that Sunday, I had to go over and check out the colors and fell in love with it! I feel like it is more mine as I have chosen the colors to my liking, just making it feel more, like MY house. Last week was very busy cleaning, moving and cleaning some more. It is shocking to see how some people can live. There was dirt everywhere, and when I pulled out the oven, well, I have NO idea when it was last cleaned! I was probably the last one to do it, 4 years ago. I had the movers bring in my things so the only thing I had to do was unpack and move things over from my mom's house. I have had to do some shopping and am very scared to look at my Visa bill. I got an awesome deal on a Plasma TV, and have had to restock my kitchen as well as odds and ends. The only other big things I need is a TV stand (currently its on my end table) and 2 bedside tables. Those will be purchased when I get back from England! I had my dad help me hang up all my photos and help with other small things that I couldn't quite do myself, and it is truly start to feel like home :)

I've spent three nights here and apart from it being quiet, it has been great. And I think Sarah is getting used to the fact that this is our home. I feel bad as she is at home for so long during the days, but I leave her to have the whole main level so I think she enjoys that!

I have also started my new job at the Santauri Hospice located at the PLC. Yesterday was my first day and it was fantastic! I am so excited to start this new job and am honored to be apart of the opening of the new Hospice as it is going to be so unique to Hospice and the health region. All the nurses, attendants and staff will be contributing to so much of how the unit will run and I am thrilled to be apart of that. We get to help with the design of our own flowsheets, how things will run on the unit, and even the design and what gets put on the walls! It is such a different type of nursing and I can't wait to be apart of the Santauri hospice team as well as our residents' and their families during this special time of their lives. I will miss the last week of the units orientation and I will miss quite a bit, but I will be able to catch up when I get back and I will learn things as I go along. There is tons of support on the unit and they emphasize so much on working as a team, I don't think I will ever feel alone. Because we are our own entity, we will have our own social worker, spiritual care specialist, volunteers specializing in hospice and even our own dietary aide to deliver meals to our residents. Our educator is also amazing and has a ton of palliative and hospice experience. She is very gung-ho to educate us, and continue educating us during our work experience at Santauri. I don't think that it is going to be an easy job, there will be the ups and downs, but I am eager for the change and the challenge and can't wait to start my first shift at the beginning of December.