The end of 2009

Lake Louise- Banff Canada November 2009

The festivities are over and I'm just sitting here alone on Boxing Day night. Colin has had to work 7 days strait every evening (tomorrow is his 7th) and it hasn't been the most normal Christmas week.

We've been busy in the mornings while Colin is at home, then the evenings are relaxed and uneventful.

But we did get a lot done like getting Brooklyn and Reina to ski school for three consecutive days, having all the Joneses in town over for Christmas Eve lunch, wrapping Christmas presents and introducing the kids to the classic movie Ben-Hur - which they seemed to like.

But mostly I think this year represents a lot of traveling for me. We had the big move from Toronto over the summer. Since we've been here we drove to Utah twice (once for Canadian Thanksgiving in Oct

ober and

once for American Thanksgiving in November). And now no more traveling for a little while so we can save up for a down payment on a house.

Colin really likes his job and the people he works with. We feel like they've treated him very well and he's happy about his final outcome with all his training. I get pieces of his life when he shares stories from time to time like:

*I had to put a catheter in someone's salivary gland today to inject with contrast and get a CT to look for a big mass

*Someone came in with abdominal pain and we had to inform her it was because she was pregnant

*If you want to find the lymph node that is the likely next cancer culprit on a suspiciou

s breast mass patient you have to inject the breast right by the mass and watch where the radioactive particles accumulate

*I read a shoulder MR today that was really tough and everyone was glad to see it go off the list.

*Sometimes when I get home I don't want to talk, I just want to listen, because at work I'm talking and thinking as fast as I can for eight hours strait.

So I'll leave you with some picture of the road trips which typify my sentiments.

(1) Banff National Park

(2) Somewhere in Southern Alberta

(3) Probably Montana

The Canadian Rockies

x

We've been living in Calgary for about 3 weeks now and Colin could hardly wait to get to the mountains. So here are some pictures of what we can drive to in about 1.5 hrs. 

Here the kids are at the top of Sulfur Mountain overlooking th

e town of Banff.  We took an

 8 minute gondola ride up to about 7000ft and then climbed the extra bit to the cosmic ray station.   Of course while we w

ere up there it did snow a little bit- and that's par for the course in August.

The other picture shows 

Two Jack lake and that is where we brought food for a pick nick.  There is a wandering trail around the lake that the kids had lots of fun on and a camp ground on the other side that looked perfect for another time.

What house we're living in in Calgary!

Book your Calgary vacations now.  Here is where you can stay with us on a quiet street in the very South part of Calgary.

157 Chaparral Ravine View SE

Calgary, AB T2X 0A4

We'll be there August 1st 2009.

Pictures from Toronto

We will only be here 3.5 more months.  I can't believe how time gets faster the older you get.

Last Saturday we had a babysitter and Colin and I went to dinner in the "Kensington Market" district at El Torito.  We hadn't made reservations but they had space at the bar- which was fine for us.

The food was so good and we happened to be sitting by the kitchen and the chef kept checking the tables- so I commented on the Andalusian Chick Pea and Spinach soup.  What I really wanted to know was how it was made and he graciously told 

me.  No short cuts.  It takes time to make good food.

Even though we miss our family and the mountains, I've had so much fun here experiencing other cultures and different views.  I'm glad we came.

Kelsey 3months old

This is her true happy face.

Snow Removal

This city is buried in snow.  And temperatures have not reached above freezing for months- so it never melts.  But there are some very creative solutions to remove snow from the narrow streets that suffer.

The "Snow Spitter" is a giant snow blower.  The auger grinds up the snow banks and then spits it into the back of dump truck.

Then the job is finished off by large and small tractors that clear the roads and sidewalks.

It's a nice public service but you pay a premium for it (50% tax bracket).  But the kids sure enjoyed watching.

Reina Quotes

"I want to cut the beans!"

"Yes, I like the salad, except for the leaves."

"Mom, I want to see the spiting truck"

(see snow removal for picture)

Winter break Skate Camp

You want to be good to your kids.  You want them to have fun.  Then why did my kids think I was torturing them when I enrolled them in ice skating camp over the Christmas holidays?  I thought that this would be a great way to learn to skate without going to weekly lessons.

Needless to say after 3-4 hours of skating (for three days)  Brooklyn and Reina had nothing good to say about the experience.  I told them now that they live in Canada they have to learn how to skate.  Everyone does it.

However, I did learn one lesson, "Less is more." especially at Christmas time.