Far too long

For some reason, this blog has become stale. Stagnant. Standstill-ish. I haven't been writing, but that's probably because there hasn't been a whole lot going on. I do have a few little nuggets to report though:


1. Something big happened at work. Most of you will know what it is, but for the sake of this blog and my ability to continue writing here, I'll leave it at that.

2. I went to the Okanagan for a weekend.

3. I went to Vancouver for a little get away

4. I moved.

5. I am busting my ass at work because it's so damn busy.

6. I am going to start training for a 10k this weekend.

7. I am impatiently waiting for golf season to start.

8. I am making good progress on my New Years resolution, but nothing I've done is for the sole reason of making good on this annual promise.

9. I am looking forward to the busy months ahead.

10. I am hoping that the stock market turns around before I need any of the cash I've invested!

That, my friends, pretty much sums up the latest happenings. Because my trip to Vancouver is top of mind, I'll fill you in on what went down.


Thursday I left the blue skies of Fort McMurray for the dreary cloud cover of Vancouver. I wasn't impressed, but then again, I wasn't there for the weather!

I was shocked at how easily I was able to navigate through the airport, pick up my suitcase and find the shuttle bus to the Enterprise office where I picked up my super stylin' Kia Rio (blah!). The nice gentlemen at the rental car place equipped me with a map (on which they had drawn the route I needed to take to get to where I needed to go) and I was on my way. It seemed simple when they explained the route to me, but unfortunately, within 10 minutes I had faltered. I was lost. I knew it because the avenues started going down, when I really thought they needed to be going up. It only took me about 15 minutes to turn myself around and get my little Kia heading in the right direction. From there, I only made one more wrong turn (which I navigated by pulling a u-turn in what I'm sure was a non-u-turn area) before I arrived at my final destination: Buxton Street, Burnaby, B.C., the home of my fantastic friend Kathy and her equally-awesome boyfriend, Derek.

Thursday evening marked another milestone in my foray into the world of ethnic food. Derek picked us up some Thai food at a restaurant they love and we had a lovely dinner before calling it a night and heading to bed.

I managed to fend off a bout of hypothermia (jk Kathy!) and Baxter's attempt to take over my pillow, and woke up refreshed the next morning. Kathy and Derek both had to work, so Leya and I had made plans to hang out at Metrotown. One shopping trip and a bag full of clothes from the GAP later, it was time for a little girlfriend get together. Leya, Dana, Kathy and I headed to Los Margaritas down in Kitsilano where we enjoyed some delicious Mexican food and--you guessed it--margaritas!

We finished off the night with a game of Scene It back at Dana's apartment. Not surprisingly, Leya emerged the winner.

On Saturday, Kathy and I made plans to meet Dana downtown to do some more shopping and check out the musical buzz enveloping the city (the Juneaus were being held on Sunday night). Though it was chilly outside, we managed to keep warm hopping from shop to shop.

That night, Dana donned her new duds (ooh, alliteration!) as we all made our way to the Flying Beaver for a much-anticipated game of Name that Tune. Thirteen of us crowded around the smallest tables in the world for some pub grub and good times. Being the competitive girl I am, I instructed everyone in our car (Kathy, Derek and Derek's good friend, Ryan) that there was no other option than to win. Lucky for me, they obliged. After nearly four hours of Name that Tune, team Captain Bitchslap emerged victorious. You have to understand this was no easy feat. Puling out a win in this intense competition involved "surfing", disco dancing, air guitars, and girl-on-girl two-stepping. While this was a physically demanding game, it was also involved quite a lot of brain work. I am pleased to tell you that out of all the questions our team was required to answer, we missed only half a question. With the exception of one song, we identified the name of the tune and the artist of every song played for our team. Rock on Captain Bitchslap!

Despite the constant activity, I managed to capture these two quotes in the early evening. The first is courtesy of Ryan: "There are two things I won't do: dance on request and run for a bus."

The second comes from Leya after she observed a pink-clad woman "workin' it" on the dance floor: "That woman is making me hate pink even more."

We wrapped up the night with an entertaining game of "who paid Kathy and Derek's bill?" before heading home.

Sunday morning I said goodbye to Kathy and headed for a WhiteSpot breakfast with Uncle Jon, Cassie and the cousin-I'd-yet-to-meet, Jovan. I was so happy to spend some time with them (even if it was too short) and I'm so glad I finally got to meet my adorable little cuz. I shouldn't really say "little" though, he is a frigging GIANT. This kid is like two feet long and he's only 10 months old--clearly Cassie's genes played a role in that one.

After my visit with the babymakers, I pointed my Kia in the direction of Commercial Drive and made my way to Union Street where I met up with Michael (a friend and former co-worker) for a delicious latte, a tour of his renovation project, and a walk around the ultra-quaint neighbourhood.

From there, I made my way to the airport. I am happy to say that I made it there without a wrong turn and managed to return the rental car sans scratch, dent, or crack (which is good because I declined the rental car insurance coverage!).

All in all, it was a very busy weekend, but the best part was reconnecting with my girlfriends and spending some much needed girly time. I can only hope that our next meeting isn't too far away.

Love you girls.

Xo

L