The End is Near...

Don't worry, this is not a post about the Apocolypse, just a quick entry about my least favourite time of year: the transition of Summer to Autumn.

I do enjoy Autumn: the beautiful colours of the trees, the crisp, clear days; but I always find it hard to say goodbye by to the hot weather and the long days. Lately I have noticed the sun setting much earlier - it is now dark by 8:30 and the slowly changing colour of the leaves, and the first leaves dropping to the ground.

Of course, this is Vancouver, and September is often a beautiful, warm month. So I may still be able to squeeze out a week or two more of summer weather, even though it appears to have disappeared this week.

One thing about the end of this Summer is, that a week after the Vernal Equinox, I am taking off for Hawaii... it will be a shock to the system, however, when I return in mid-October when in Autumn is in full swing.

Count Down

In exactly one month, and one hour I will be taking off in an airplane, destination - Hawaii, for two weeks... Needless to say, I can't wait.

I was completely relaxed after two days in Whistler, imagine what two weeks in Hawaii will do...

Just Another Manic... Sunday?!

Last night Colin and I went to this awesome 80's Party; it was like totally rad. The party was out in White Rock at Tina's boyfriend's (Mark's) house. Even though we didn't know most of the people there, we still had a blast. It's amazing what a little alcohol can do to get you chatting.

And now, after hearing 80's music for hour upon hour last night, the Bangles hit, "Another Manic Monday," is stuck in my head. It has been stuck in my head all day.

I had to go into work today to help out with a barbeque the marketing department was putting on. Despite the rain it went well, but I was at work until 8pm and glad to leave. Nice thing is, because I worked today I won't be going into work tomorrow. So my first five day week, in god knows how long, just became a four day week.

I have no complaints.

So what was so manic about today? Colin locked his keys in the car - twice! He was heading out to help a friend this morning with their new house. I heard my car start up, and saw Colin leaving in my car. This wasn't a big problem, except I had to go into work today and can't drive Colin's car because it is standard, and I haven't learned to drive a standard - yet. By the time I called down on his cell phone he realized he was in my car and got out, but managed to lock the keys inside the car. Ok, the first keys locked in car incident wasn't so bad since all I had to was toss the spare set out the apartment window. The second keys locked in car incident, well that is entirely different...

I had some time to vacuum and generally clean the apartment this morning and sat down around noon to play on the computer. Shortly after twelve I got a call from Colin to say he had locked the keys in the car... again. Because I had to go into work, I quickly jumped in the shower and got ready. I was on my way to Matt and Dana's when I realized I didn't have the keys to Colin's car. Luckily I realized this at 70th & Granville, but I was already rushed, so I wasn't too pleased with myself. I quickly drove home, grabbed ALL the spare keys and made my way, for the second time, over to Matt and Dana's. I gave Colin the keys and hurried to finish getting ready for work.

Now, finally, at 10:00 pm, I am having a less a manic, more relaxing Sunday.

The Martin Gelinas Fan Club

I just checked my email and had a blast from the past. Back in 1994, following the Canucks run to the cup, a couple of girlfriends and myself formed the Martin Gelinas fan club. I don't really remember much of it, but I think we thought he was the hottest Canuck around, or something like that.

Anyways, my friend sent me this...



I don't remember this "membership" document at all, but that is my sig on there, 11 years ago...

One Week

It is hard to believe that I have already been married for one week - time flies, and last week was certainly fun.

Last Friday was an unbelievable, surreal day. I actually managed to have a decent night sleep the night before the wedding. I fell asleep just after midnight and woke up at 6am, 6:30am, 7am and finally got up at 7:30am. I was trying to sleep in until 9am, but my excitement and nerves got the better of me.

I met my bridal party at the hair salon at 10am, and we returned to my house afterwards to have our make-up done and get ready. It was sheer chaos in the house: 7 family members, plus 4 bridesmaids, plus one bride makes one crazy household.

By the afternoon the day was starting to heat up. I was the first one ready and so my mum plunked me down on a stool in the front hall of the house, with my bare feet on the cold marble floor, trying to keep cool. I was all alone. Everyone else had disappeared to finish getting ready.

The photographer showed up just after 3pm and we had some time to take photos before the limo showed up a 4pm. We had booked one of those stretch SUV limos - it was awesome, and came complete with leopard print carpet and throw pillows - very fitting (I used to be a leopard print junkie).

We arrived at the Yacht Club around 4:30 and my bridal party and I immediately headed upstairs to our waiting room. The actual name of the room evades me right now.

During the rehearsal we practiced coming down the staircase, the only way down, or so we thought. It was fine walking down in capris and high heels, but I wasn't sure how I was actually going to get down this thing in my dress, while holding a bouquet.

On the day of the wedding we discovered an elevator. Not as glamorous as coming down the steep, winding staircase, but a hell of a lot more practicle, and giving my penchant for clumsiness, I was completely in favour of taking the elevator.

We hung out in the room for just over an hour. I was totally relaxed and sprawled out on a leather couch, while Thalia's nerves were going crazy. All the girls had to block the windows when Colin and his crew arrived, to prevent me from taking a peek. I had never seen him in a kilt before, so I was looking forward to that.

The only time the nerves hit me was right when I was walking down the aisle. But once I was up the front with Colin, I was fine. I had this big grin on my face throughout the whole ceremony, because I didn't know what else to do.

It was over in a flash.

We were married.

After the ceremony, it was on to photos and then on to the reception.

The rest of the evening was a blast. Our guests commented on how this was the best wedding ever, the most beautiful ceremony ever and so on. I didn't want the night to end, as did a lot of the guests. Unfortunately, we only had the Yacht Club until 1am.

It was a amazing night.

Saturday was a do nothing day, which was perfect. Colin and I went to the Bay to pick up some gifts and then spent the afternoon with his family. Later that night we went to celebrate the 30th birthday of one of his groomsmen.

On Sunday my entire family and Colin's entire family met at my parents' house for brunch and gift opening. We received some amazing gifts, which we haven't really had a chance to look at yet. We will be doing that today.

After the gift opening, Colin and I headed up to Whistler for a couple of days. Monday was hot, so we went to Alta Vista and lay on the beach. Tuesday brought the first rains in 30 days, but it was welcome.

Wednesday was back to work, and the warm weather. But it wasn't the end of the gatherings: On Wednesday night we had dinner with Colin's parents and his aunt and uncle who were leaving the next day to return home to Belfast, via a week in Newfoundland. Thursday it was dinner at my aunt and uncle's as my mum's cousins were returning to England on Friday. Today is one last visit with my dad's family as my aunt, uncle and cousin return to England tomorrow and my dad's cousins go back to England on Tuesday.

I will miss them, and miss everything that has taken place these last couple of weeks, but I am really looking forward to returning my normal, everyday life, which includes going to Curves, which I haven't been to in almost 3 weeks.

Updates and Pics coming soon...

I know I haven't written in about a week, but since the wedding I have been very busy. My first free day will be tomorrow evening, exactly one week after the wedding. So, I promise I will write and post pictures tomorrow evening...

Here is one photo to whet your appetite:

Testing Testing

I typed a blog earlier this morning, talking about my last day as a "single" woman. But it didn't post. I tried again and again to post it, but it hasn't worked.

So here I am typing this tester. I don't have much to say right now, even though it is the night before my wedding, but I am trying think about anything but, to keep my nerves at bay.

I will post this boring, useless, pointless blog, just to check if my blog is working....

Today is the Last Day...

So today is my last day of being "single." I use single in quotation marks, because I really haven't been single in over seven years. Today is the last day that I am someone's girlfriend. Today is the last day where I have the sirname Poole.

Tomorrow I get married. Tomorrow I become someone's wife. Tomorrow I take on the sirname Blackstock. Such a strange thing to think about.

I have a few, small errands I need to complete today and then Devon is picking me up at 2:30 to take me for a manicure and pedicure. Lisa is joining us, and possibly Thalia too.

After that I am going over to my parents to spend the night there.

In all honesty, it doesn't feel like I am getting married tomorrow. To me tomorrow is just another day; I am sure, however, it will all sink in as I walk down the aisle.

Yeah!

Today has brought some good news:

First: The Yacht Club is available this Wednesday evening for the wedding rehearsal. To bring you up to speed, the RVYC has this policy that you cannot book a small event, such as a wedding rehearsal until the Monday before the event. So I had no idea if we were able to actually run through the ceremony in the ceremony location. I was hoping to do the run through at the Yacht Club because I have no clue what state of mind I will be in on Friday, and a run-through at the location will give me peace of mind.

The other good news (which will be viewed as bad news by some)...

The NHL has reinstated Todd Bertuzzi. With that and the signing of Morrison and Naslund, the WestCoast Express rides again.

Busy, Busy, Busy

It hit me Friday afternoon as I was driving home, that I am getting married this Friday. I was wondering when it was going to start sinking in. I was waiting at the lights at 25th & Oak. A stretch limo was stopped beside me. I thought to myself, I am going to be in one of those next week, and I looked at my clock and realized that in exactly one week, at that very point in time I will be in my limo, en route to the Yacht Club.

This past weekend was a lot of fun, and I really got into vacation mode, but I am at work today and tomorrow, so it was hard to get into that frame of mind. I am looking at work this week like a break from everything else that is going on around me.

I left work around 4pm on Friday. It was so hot in my office, and we finally figured out why: Yes, the morning sun does stream into my office, heating up my desk, but that is only first thing in the morning, by late morning the sun has moved and is no longer beating down on me.

But there were still pockets of extreme heat in our office, and even though we have left the air conditioning on, on full blast every night, our office has been getting hotter and hotter and hotter.

There is another air conditioner in the main office area. The back end of it sticks into our office. It has been on full blast all day and night; blasting cold air into the main office and blasting hot air into ours. So in the battle between cold air and hot air, hot air won, making our office more unbearable each day.

But the secretary isn't here today, so we have turned off the main office air conditioner. I hope it works.

When I arrived home from work on Friday I was so hot there are no words to describe how I felt. Colin was just heading out to go pick up his attendants gifts, so I said I would join him. I drew a cold bath in hopes of cooling off. It worked for all of five minutes. By the time I was dressed and we were out the door and on our way, I was hot again, and feeling dehydrated.

We went to our first destination to pick up the attendants gifts and then headed to Richmond to buy Colin a pair of shoes for the wedding, and pick up his wedding band. I started feeling sick, so we stopped off at a convenience store to pick up some Gatorade. It did the trick. By the time we got to Richmond I was still hot, but no longer feeling sick and dehydrated.

Afterwards we went to Colin's parents for dinner and to visit with his out of town family. We went for a swim in hopes of cooling off. The swim helped, and as it got later into the evening, it began to cool off a little, to a nice, comfortable temperature.

I woke up the next morning far too early for a Saturday, but I was so excited about my family's arrival from England that evening. I took off at around 10:30am for my hair appointment, and then dropped by the florists afterwards to settle that balance. When I got home I was frying again and just sat on the couch, watching TV, trying to cool off.

Colin and I left for the airport at 6:30 and met my mum, dad and Andrew at the Elephant & Castle for a drink and to wait for our family to arrive. When we arrived home we starting talking about the fireworks, and some our family wanted to go see them. So with only 10 minutes to the start of the fireworks, all 10 of us piled into two cars and made a bee-line for Trimble Park and the West Point Grey Academy School grounds.

Yesterday was another busy day. We went over to Colin's parents for breakfast and then popped round to Fraser and Brenda's (old family friends) to pick up their Quaich, which we are borrowing for the wedding ceremony. We visited with Fraser for an hour or so and he shared stories with us about me as a little girl. It is always fascinating to hear different stories from different people, because no one person ever quite remembers everything of one event, but if you talk to different people, you can piece the puzzle together. For instance, I had completely forgotten that my mum and dad, Fraser and Brenda used to take me swimming at UBC and skating at Kerrisdale Arena. I remember going to the UBC pool with my aunt, uncle and cousins, but not with Fraser and Brenda.

That was not the end of my day. I dropped Colin home - he was heading over to a friend's, and I made my way to my parents. There was my family, looking so hard done by, lounging around and in the pool. It was the same scene at Colin's parents house.

Later in the evening we headed to the Cheshire Cheese for dinner. My family traveled all the way from England, and their first meal out, we take them to an English-style pub. Go figure. My aunt, uncle, brother and I all opted for Toad in the Hole (sausage baked into Yorkshire pudding).

After dinner we returned home and watched BritComs on BBC Kids. I could say again they traveled all the way from England and we ended up watching British TV, but British shows are far superior to most North American shows, so no big loss. I got my second taste of My Hero, which I really enjoy. And Blackadder, one of my favourites.

So, here I am at work. Tonight we have a family BBQ; a chance for my mum's relatives and my dad's relatives to meet again or meet for the first time. Tomorrow evening I am going out with some of the Crofton girls. Wednesday I plan to putter around during the day, and Wednesday evening we have the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Thursday Devon, Lisa and I are going to the spa for manicures and pedicures, and then Friday... well I get married. But it doesn't end there - Saturday we aren't really doing anything, which I think will be enjoyable. Sunday we have a brunch and gift opening with the whole family and then we are heading up to Whistler for a couple of days and then, life returns to normal.

End of an Era...

Colin and I celebrated our 7th and final August 1st anniversary. Next year it is back to square one. While we will acknowledge the fact that on August 1, 2006 we will have been together for 8 years, we will be looking 11 days down the road, towards our 1st wedding anniversary.

After celebrating so many anniversaries on August 1st (which often, conveniently fell during the August long weekend) it, in a way, is hard to let go of. So we decided to say goodbye to August 1st in style: on Monday we went to the Flaming June day spa for massages - our first ever, and a good treat right before the wedding. It was so relaxing, I almost fell asleep.

Afterwards we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Quiznos and headed into Richmond to go for a swim and soak in the hot tub at Colin's parents' house. It was a great afternoon. In the evening we made our way to Silvercity (Riverport) to see the Wedding Crashers. If you have not seen this movie yet, I suggest you get to a theatre right now. It is so funny. And, in our case, highly appropriate - I would have no qualms if Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn crashed my wedding...



The BC Day Monday was the perfect end to a fun-filled weekend. On Saturday we went over to Todd and Thalia's house in North Van for dinner and drinks, before heading to the Blarney Stone to celebrate Thalia's birthday.

I could not believe how dead the Blarney Stone was - I know it was a long weekend and the night of the fireworks, but it was like a ghost town. Anyone who has been there knows that you need to be there no later the 9:00pm if you don't want to line up forever. We arrived at 9:15, found parking across the street, and walked straight in - no line up. It was good thing, however, it was so dead, because it was so bloody hot in there. I was sweating away just sitting at the table - nevermind how I felt after I started dancing - I thought I was never going to cool down.

I decided to wear flip flops. I thought this was a smart idea since my feet usually hurt when I wear some sort of heel to the Blarney Stone. Let me tell you: pseudo-highland dancing and flip flops don't mix. My calves hurt for 3 days afterwards. I could barely walk on Sunday. And no amount of stretching, hell not even the massage helped. The muscles finally loosened up yesterday after my workout, but they are still a little sore today.

The wedding is now, only nine days away! The wedding rehearsal and dinner, is one week from today! All the planning is done, I just have to pick up a few items, but I cannot get my head around the fact I will be getting married next Friday. Things are starting to seem surreal. I will wake up next Saturday morning married, yet my life will be back to status quo. Go figure!

Waiting for the Weekend

I am only a few hours away from a four-day weekend, a jam-packed four-day weekend. For starters, this is really the last, free weekend I have before the wedding: Colin's family arrives from London and Belfast on Thursday, and mine arrive from London on Saturday.

So, how did I score a four-day weekend? Well this Monday is BC Day and tomorrow is my flex Friday. Tonight, after work, my mum is taking me to my final dress fitting, and then we may be going to Oakridge afterwards to do a bit of browsing.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, and then I am heading out to Richmond to buy my friend a birthday present and card and buy an anniversary and wedding card for Colin. Saturday, we are heading to the Blarney Stone for Thalia's birthday. Any other spare time we have this weekend will be spent finishing off last minute things for the wedding.

On Monday, August 1st (BC Day), Colin and I will celebrate a milestone in our relationship. No, the wedding isn't till August 12th, so what on earth am I talking about? This Monday marks our 7 year anniversary. Yes, 7 years ago Colin took me out on his dad's boat, to the middle of English Bay, to watch the fireworks. So every year we make sure we catch at least one night of the fireworks. Considering how busy the next week will be, we decided to go last night, just in case we can't make any other night. But I will come back to that.

From the very start, on August 1st, 1998, I had the first glimpse into what our relationship would become, even though I am just realizing it now: Colin was very adamant that I be at his fraternity house no later than 7pm. Time was important because we had to get down to the Heather Civic Marina and out into the water to get a good spot in English Bay. We learned our first lesson, I am extremely punctual, and at that time Colin wasn't.

I waited for Colin for about half an hour, or what seemed like half an hour, and even when he was ready it was still another 15 minutes or so before his dad showed up.

Over the years, Colin has tried to teach me that I don't always have to be on time or the first one "there". And I have taught Colin there are instances where punctuality is imperative: to this date Colin is doing better than I am.

What I realized that night, and over the last seven years that while we have many, many things in common, there are certain things about us that are extremely opposite, which make us perfectly suited for one another.

You don't think about those things, when you go on a first date, especially when you are only 20 years old. You don't think that this is the person I am going to marry. You think, this is just a date, and we will see where the night takes us. Maybe nowhere. Maybe to a second date and possibly a third.

But that first date was different than all the other first dates I had been on: just before Colin asked me out we had been talking about the fireworks and how he was going out the next evening (Wednesday) to watch them from his dad's boat. I told him how much I loved being on the water, and how I always wanted to watch the fireworks from a boat. On Thursday, he called me (yes actually called when he said he would...) and told me that Saturday we would be going out on his dad's boat to watch the fireworks. I knew then and there that this wasn't your typical first date, and it wasn't: it was the first date that would eventually lead to a marriage... A marriage that will be taking place in 15 days.

So back to last night's fireworks: Colin and I headed over to Tina's mum's house which is located right across the road from Spanish Banks. The nice thing about going over to Tina's house is being able to find a parking spot, except there were a few available on the beach side last night. Tina's friend, Sean joined us, and we made the long trek across the road to the beach (nb: great use of sarcasm).

We found a vacant log, laid out the blanket and Colin and I set up our mammoth double chair set, complete with cupholders. A contraption my parents bought at Costco many years ago to take to Andrew's numerous Rowing regattas.

We hung out, eating candy, watching the sun set, and marveling at Vancouver's beauty. Lisa, Andrew and Gus and Olly (their two wiener dogs) joined us just before the fireworks started. Canada kicked off the Celebration of Light with "Jazz in the Sky." I must say I was somewhat disappointed with Canada's show. Not enough big explosions in my opinion. Perhaps if we had a better view of the barge and saw some of the lower fireworks I may have thought differently.

We have an open invitation to join Tina and crew again this Saturday, but we are heading out to Thalia's birthday that night. If she goes next Wednesday, I am sure I will join her. Next Saturday, we have been invited over to the house of one of my sorority sisters: her parents live in West Van up in the British Properties and have the most amazing view of the city, so we may do that.

_________________
What we did last BC Day: Windsurfing at Alta Lake, Whistler.

Colin windsurfing

I'm Melting...

I am not one to complain about the heat, especially when summer has taken so long to get going, but my office, first thing in the morning, is unbearable to say the least. I would consider myself lucky, because I have air conditioning, but it doesn't make a difference.

My office faces east, so the sun belts in heating up my desk. I do have blinds, but there is a large square cut out in the bottom right-hand, corner, to make shelf space out of the window sill. So I sit here in the morning, sweating. It's a rather disgusting way to start your day.

I keep my office door pushed to, to trap in the cold air from the air conditioner. It works, eventually - my office will finally cool down (to a somewhat bearable environment) around 4:00pm.

But, as soon as I am away from my office, I relish in the sun's heat, and enjoy every minute of these hot sunny days. (And am praying to the sun gods that it remains like this through August 12th...)

The Ugliest Dog in the World...

Actually I don't think ugly does it justice - even fugly is being too kind...



Someone pointed out that this dog looks like the Crypt Keeper. It had been so long since I had seen an episode of "Tales from the Crypt" I couldn't really make the comparison. But as luck would have it, I saw an add for "Tales from the Crypt" on Space the other day, and this dog is the spitting image of the Crypt Keeper. Creepy.

If you want to find out more about this esthetically-challenged pooch check out this link:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/uglydog.asp

Such A Long Week

I am happy that it's Friday - this week has just dragged for a number of reasons: This is the first, five day week I have worked since mid-June! Yes, due to flex Fridays, stat holidays, illness and other events I have become accustomed to working four day weeks, not five.

On top of that, this is the first week, and first Friday that I have spent entirely in the office. All the other Fridays I have worked, I have spent mostly out of the office shopping for promotions. And the last Friday I worked I was at the Sea Vancouver Festival, so I was outdoors all day. I have to say though, what a waste of time and money the festival was; it places such a black mark on Vancouver's image. Hopefully other events will make people and vendors forget...

The last few weeks at work have been extremely busy; with four day weeks and four day weekends, I have had a lot of catching up to do - but I caught up, and now I don't have any work to do. Well, that's not entirely true. I do have some work, but not enough to last an entire day - maybe a few hours.

But it's Friday. And next week is a four day week, and next weekend is a four day weekend, so I can't really complain, can I?

So on to the other part of my life... the Wedding.

So only three weeks left of planning, thank god! We managed to get through a lot of the details this week, so now we only have a few things left to do. I had a couple of hiccups this past week, but it is all dealt with:

"We have a piper down, we have a piper down..."



Unfortunately, my piper had to cancel, but he did find me a new one, so I still have a piper for my wedding - who happens to be the ex-Pipe Major for the Vancouver Police Pipe Band, so I guess I could do worse. I just hope he doesn't keel over during the ceremony - he joined the Police Pipe Band in 1951! And was the Pipe Major from 1967-1984.

Speaking of keeling over, this is what is preventing me from being able to book a rehearsal time at the Yacht Club; which, by the way, I can't book until the Monday before the wedding! Apparently they can't book small events, just in case a member dies and the Yacht Club is needed for a wake or something along those lines. I am not going to say too much here, as I have already ranted and raved over this "rule", but have come to accept it - so here's the game plan:

We have arranged the rehearsal for the Wednesday (two days before the wedding). Colin's parents are hosting the rehearsal dinner at their house, so if we cannot book the Yacht Club for August 10th, we will do the rehearsal at the Blackstocks. But to ensure everyone knows what they are doing, and where they are supposed to be, Colin and I will recreate the space we will be in. Let me explain: Next week we are going to the club to take measurements of the room and patio where the ceremony will be held. Then using string (or some other substitute), we will outline the size of the patio, the width of the aisle, and the space the guests will be in. So even though most of the wedding party won't know what the space looks like, they will know what to do. I hope...

Just think, only a couple more weeks of me blogging about the wedding [planning]. I'm not sure who is more glad about this: you or me!

I am looking forward to my and Colin's family arriving - I am sure they will be happy to be away from London for a couple of weeks. The first of the family arrives this Sunday, and the rest a week or so before the wedding.

On an entirely different note, I am happy I can finally (and easily) put pictures into my blog!

...And Then It Consumes You

Wow. As of today there are only four weeks until the wedding. There's a scary thought. I am really looking forward to the day, and all the planning coming to an end.

Now, I love to plan things, but when I hit the five week mark (last Friday) the wedding all of a sudden consumed me. All the big planning is done, but there are so many, tiny, nit picky things left to do, and it seems to be interfering with my sanity (or with what's left of it).

The biggest thing is trying to coordinate all these details with the Yacht Club. This shouldn't be a challenge, but it is because the catering coordinator is useless. I am very surprised I have yet to go on a rant about her.

I have discovered the secret to get her respond to my emails: Re-send the original email, but this time tag it as urgent, write "please respond" in the subject, and close with "a quick response is much appreciated." I shouldn't have to do that - in fact, I hate doing it, but this woman is a flake, to say the least. And to top things off, I can't book a rehearsal date until closer to the wedding (keep in note, I have already organized a date for the rehearsal dinner...). Closer to the wedding? How much closer do you want to get? My schedule and Colin's schedule will be open that week, but we have to let our wedding party know. We hardly expect them to drop everything for us, and I would like to do a run through with the JP present.

My other big issue, which got resolved today, is limos. The second you say the word wedding you can't book less than two consecutive hours. WTF??? All I want it a limo to take me from my house to the Yacht Club, not a far distance. Luckily, Colin found a limo company today that let us book them for one hour to get to the Yacht club. The only catch is that we are getting married on a Friday. If we were getting married on a Saturday that would be an entirely different story - the minimum booking time is four hours. It does not take four, fucking hours to get from Crown and 41st to Point Grey and Dunbar. Hell, it won't take Colin and his crew 4 hours to get from 4 Road and Westminster. Damn, I could go to Whistler and back in that time.

But, enough of that rant. I now have a limo for one hour, and it is one of those SUV ones, so that will be fun.

"Hello, hello, I'm at a place called Vertigo, it's everything I wish I didn't know..."

How fitting is that lyric right now. If wondering where that came from, I am currently listening to Vertigo...

"Just give me what I want, and no one get's hurt..." Yes, sadly, the bridezilla in me is starting to emerge...

But despite the stress and frustration I am feeling, am I also very estatic and excited; because with all the annoying little details, comes the fun: the family, the parties and so on...

I am surprised though I made it this far before having a nervous breakdown...

Next time I blog I will have either made a full recovery or will be strung up in a straight jacket... depends on what gets accomplised this weekend... For my sake and everyone else's let's hope it's the former.

London Calling

Colin had woken up before me on Thursday morning and was in the living room watching CTV News Net, per his morning ritual. The noise from the TV wasn't really disturbing me, but then I heard it - bombs had gone off in the London underground, crippling the city. This did not sound like the usual IRA attack - I flew out of bed in panic. In some ways it felt like 9/11 all over again. I was half asleep hearing this surreal news.

Of course the London bombings have nothing on what happened in New York, but the majority of my family live and work in London. I stood watching the news, having no idea if they were ok, if anyone had been killed or injured. It was a horrible feeling.

Colin was a lot more calm than me (as usual), but he also has family that live and work in London, so he was a bit concerned as well. But good news: we have talked to our relatives and everyone is ok.

On now on to some lighter news:

The Lord taketh away, then the Lord giveth back, and then Lord said "psych", and taketh away again, and then the Lord says, "no, just kidding, I'm serious this time", and giveth back: what the hell I am talking about... I have not suddenly found religion, just talking about my weekend:

This week is the Sea Vancouver Festival, and like many of the other summer events, Planet Bingo has set up a booth. Originally it looked like I may have had to work today (Saturday), and then we found someone to cover the two of us that make up the marketing department, so I was happy. Then that fell through, so I was pissed off and grumpy. But then we found someone else, so I have a full weekend again.

In the grand scheme of things this is nothing, but I do enjoy my full weekends (even though I just had 4 day weekend last weekend and have a 3 day one the next weekend). But I have not done, so far, what I plan to do this weekend: clean up the mess that is my apartment. Sanitarily speaking, it is clean, but when it comes to clutter, well, it looks like a disaster zone. So the plan this weekend is to finally tackle all the crap lying around the apartment so I can see surfaces again.

I have started that? No. Today I got up, went out shopping with my mum and grandma, and now I am writing this blog entry. When I am done here, I am going over to my parents to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening there.

Colin is up in Sechelt this weekend for his stag, and my dad is there too. Andrew is not, because he broke down and decided to do some racing this summer, so he is on the Island for a regatta. I thought it would be fun to do a girls' night, but everyone is busy tonight, so I am going to spend it with my mum and grandparents. Not your typical Saturday night, but I'm not really complaining. There will be so much going on in the next few weeks, having a quiet night tonight won't be such a bad thing.

I calculated in about mid May what free weekends I would have between then and the wedding... I think last week was the first one (since that weekend in May), and this one and next one are low key, and then that's it...

In other news: I finally figured out iTunes and how to upload my music off my discs. I was quite happy with this revelation last night.

So this post's title is fitting: London Calling - obviously it refers to what happened there on Thursday and more subtly (for those who know your music and know me), refers to my uploads to iTunes: except I think the only Clash song I have uploaded so far is Rock the Casbah...

Happy Canada Day!

Happy 138th Birthday Canada!

As usual I had a fun Canada Day! Last year I was in San Antonio - yes, that's right, I celebrated Canada Day Texas style - actually, it was a lot of fun. This year, however, I stayed close to home.

Colin and I spent the afternoon at the 60th Annual Steveston Salmon Festival. It was a huge, fun Canada Day celebration. I have to say Steveston is a well kept secret of great Canadian patriotism. As we drove down Moncton Street (and other streets in Steveston), we noticed that most of the homes were all decorated with Red, White and the Maple Leaf. Moncton Street was one, giant Canadian block party. I am sure you see scenes like that throughout the country, but it is not so common in Vancouver, so it was a very welcome site. I felt like we had uncovered some wonderful secret.

We returned home after a somewhat overcast, and chilly (but enjoyable) time in Steveston and turned our attention to the wedding... Can you believe that six weeks from tonight I will be a married woman? I can't. In fact, it really hasn't hit me yet that I am getting married... I will probably have that epiphany after a few months of marriage.

I guess it hasn't sunk in that I am getting married, because, in a way, I already am. Colin and I are veterans: what the heck does that mean? It means we have been together for seven years (living together for 2 of those years) and already feel like a married couple. I am looking forward to getting married - it means our lives returning to some sort of normalcy. This whole engagement period has been like an interruption to the regularly scheduled program. A welcome interruption, but an interruption nonetheless.

But we are into the wedding festivities now. I had my first of two showers last weekend, which was a lot fun. Colin is going away for his stag next weekend, and I have my second shower two weeks from now. And then the family arrives from the UK; and then we get married; and then we get away to Whistler for a few days and start our lives as husband and wife and then it's off to Hawaii in October for a honeymoon...

Now back to Canada Day, and my four day weekend. Four day weekend? How did I score a four day weekend (considering I am not American)? I am sure from reading past blogs you have heard about my flex fridays - well today happens to be my flex Friday, but it also happens to be Canada's birthday, so everyone has a day off. Doesn't seem fair that those whose flex friday isn't today should have 3 long weekends in a row - so in order to compensate for that, I get to take an extra day this weekend. So I am not going into work on Monday.

I also luck out and have a four day weekend for BC Day - this year BC Day falls on Monday, August 1st (which also happens to be our 7 year anniversary); the previous friday is my flex day - the same thing happens for the Thanksgiving long weekend; however I will be in Hawaii, so it won't really matter - it just means extra vacation days... my life is rough, isn't? You want to smack me right now don't you :p.

Things are good right now.


Fun Canadian Fact: Pamela Anderson is a Centennial Baby - she was born July 1st, 1967.

It All Catches Up

The last couple of weeks have been amazing and crazy, and all this running around, trying to do a billion things at once has made me sick.

I didn't want to miss work so soon, having just started about a month ago, but I know me, and when I get sick, I need to take a day off to get better, otherwise I will just get worse: I woke up Monday morning with a swollen and soar throat, but other than that, felt ok. Yesterday my throat felt worse, and I felt a bit feverish.

What should you not do when you have a soar throat? Call Bingo. I work in the marketing department, why the heck was I playing the role of caller? The marketing team (which consists of me and the marketing manager) have been setting up booths at local events to attract new customers. This past weekend we were at the Dragon Boat Festival (I went Saturday, and she went on Sunday). Yesterday was Aboriginal Day: we headed out to Trout Lake and set up a booth and ran mini bingo, the winner receiving Planet Bingo merchandise.

I thought being outside, in the fresh air, would help, but by the time I got home I was wrecked. I didn't end up calling most of the games, because my throat couldn't handle it and by the evening I was achy and feverish. I decided to see how I was when I woke up this morning, but I am still not feeling 100%, better than last night, but I decided to stay home because I know that is the only way I will make a quick recovery, and with my wild wedding weekend coming up I need all the energy I can get (I will explain in a moment).

So What of Whistler....

Remember I went to Whistler a couple of weekends ago? A trip away with Colin and our friends - well it didn't exactly end up as I anticipated, but that wasn't such a bad thing. For six weeks the wool had been pulled over my eyes and an intricate web of secrets had been created to keep the fact from me that the weekend in Whistler was my stagette...

Poor Colin had to take me being mad at him for not wanting to miss martial arts so I could leave Vancouver after work - he was never coming up in the first place. He offered to have someone else take me up and meet me there later... little did I know that Devon was planning on taking me up the whole time.

Vicky and Anita were late leaving Vancouver so Devon had to stall getting me up to Whistler. First, we didn't leave my office till almost 6pm. I wanted to head out before 5:30pm as there are only 3 people in on my Fridays I have to work and they were gone by 5pm, so I was itching to leave work.

I thought I had it all figured out by Lions Bay, however: I had taken my car to work so I could go out and shop for prizes for upcoming promotions. Around lunch time I returned home and Colin dropped me back at work. I had lots of luggage to bring up with me (as I usually do - you think with all the traveling I do, I would have learned the fine art of packing lightly...) and I didn't want to take it all to work, so I asked Colin to bring it up later - he said he couldn't. Now that was odd. So by the time we hit Lions Bay I started to think about Colin's strange behaviour and then it hit me - he wasn't coming this weekend. But by Squamish I had changed my mind back...

It took 4 hours - 4 bloody hours - to get to Whistler. Devon had to stall at all cost, and I guess, lucky for her, some idiot had been speeding southbound down the Sea to Sky, crashing into a guard rail, which stopped traffic for about 30 minutes.

When we arrived in Squamish we first went to the liquor store: we were actually IDd and Devon had left her's in the car. The women eventually let us buy our alcohol, but then Devon ran back into the store to show her license - one thing to buy time. Usually I go to Taco Bell or Timmy Ho's for a quick bite to eat, but Devon suggested we go for a sit down meal at White Spot.

We took our time at dinner and Devon even asked me about bingo to buy more time, but half way through the conversation I realized how stupid it was and suggested we leave, but she had to make a pit stop first. She was in the bathroom for 10 minutes - when she finally came out, she said that some woman has been throwing up and she was helping her - she was actually on the phone with Lisa, who was already up in Whistler. Then it took forever to get out of Squamish: First, Devon needed to fill up her car, eventhough there was enough gas in it to get to Whistler and back to Squamish. Second, we had to pick up ice, which, for the life of me, couldn't understand why: Lisa's cabin is in Creekside, about a 30 second drive from the Husky station. Of course it was all part of an elaborate plan to stall me. We finally left Squamish, but we forgot the ice; Devon wanted to turn around, but I insisted that we keep on going.

On the last leg up to Whistler, Devon began to drive very slowly and let a tonne of cars pass us, including ones that were way behind us that would not have been incovenienced by our slow driving. Then I saw Anita's car drive by. How did I know it was Anita's? I can't imagine there are too many blue jettas out there with a fuzzy worm coiled around the rearview mirror - but luckily this didn't spoil the surprise. By this point I was back to thinking it was going to be a regular weekend in Whistler and that it was pure coincidence Anita happened to be heading that way too - luckily I didn't see Vicky in the car with her.

For one last stall, we ended picking up ice from the Husky and finally made it to the cabin by 9:30pm. When we walked in the door, I was met with my surprise - Lisa, Thalia, Vicky and Anita - it was my stagette weekend.

That night we drank and painted our nails (a good girls' night) and on Saturday Anna, Tracie and Kerri joined us for an "Amazing Race" in Whistler that Lisa and Devon had put together. It was awesome. That night we headed to Garf's for some partying and to see me do some crazy stagette stuff, all within reason, though. I wasn't too wild about the "penis" crown, but donned it for a little while, but Anita was more than willing to wear it for most of the night (I believe she wore it on her stagette).

All in all it was good weekend, but I was exhausted by the end. I did eventually catch up on my sleep, but I guess the new job and being busy with the wedding finally took its toll.

The Weekend Ahead
So, I mentioned that this upcoming weekend is my wild wedding weekend: what on earth does that mean? This friday I will be attending Thalia and Todd's reception. They were married in Greece in May, but are holding a reception here for local family and friends, many who could not make it to Greece (including myself). On Saturday, we are attending a wedding of one of Colin's fraternity brothers. And on Sunday I am attending the first of two wedding showers. This one is for my family and Colin's family (females only), thrown by my aunt and cousin. I believe the one with my friends is taking place July 23.

Hopefully it won't be such a long break between now and my next blog entry, but we shall see.

Time

Well, I am officially jumping on the bandwagon for more hours in the day: Since I've started my new job, I've barely sat down. Now, if you know me, you know this is a good thing, and it has been unbelievable to see how much energy I really have. But with less time in the day, things have become more rushed, and I haven't been able to do some of the smaller things, like writing my blog.

This week has been as crazy as last week, but I feel less tired and run down after work: On Monday I was in the door and out to go to Curves, and then decided to go to Safeways afterwards to pick up some ingrediants for a taco salad, so by the time I got home and made dinner and sat down it was 8pm. Tuesday was also a scramble: went to Curves, then headed out to Metrotown, as it is the only mall open late on Tuesdays. Colin and I went to Thomas Cook travel, but they weren't that helpful - looks like we've gathered all the required info needed to book a honeymoon in Hawaii or New Zealand.

Then yesterday, my boss called a meeting at the end of the day - so I didn't leave work until 5:45pm - usually not a problem, but in order to keep up going to Curves three times a week, I absolutely had to go last night. Only problem is, they are only open to 7pm (at least the Marpole Curves is) and the latest you can start you workout is 6:30. I got in the door around 6:15 - amazingly, I didn't speed and was back out again, just in time.

Last night was far too rushed - I love to be busy, but I hate being rushed.

So why can't I go to Curves today, tomorrow or Saturday? Today I have a dress fitting, and tomorrow I am heading up to Whistler for the weekend... hopefully a relaxing one...