Lo and behold, a miracle happened on Canada Day Weekend - Jeff had all three days off work! To celebrate, we finally rented a truck and drove the Trunk Road (and others) up to Jasper. These are roads that I drive for work, so I was more than happy to let Jeff man the wheel. Friday night I ditched book club (sorry!) and we went to Burnt Timber Prov. Park, just over 100 km from town. Of the 7 campsites there, 3 were empty - and this is just over an hour outside Calgary on a holiday long weekend! Where does everyone else go? It was nice that the parks we stopped at weren't crowded (until we got to Jasper), but what is wrong with people these days?
Saturday we stopped for lunch at Ram Falls, just south of Nordegg, then continued north up the Trunk Road until we turned left to follow the Cardinal River. Although the route wasn't packed with people, every river and creek we passed had one or two trucks next to it with people standing in the river. Not a river was left empty! I had no idea that an Albertan's definition of fun is standing in a river - and a surprizing minority of these people had fishing poles.. what were all the others doing?
Late Saturday afternoon we tried 'green lane'-ing to get to a campground but got the rental truck into a bit of trouble. Luckily Jeff maneuvered well enough to avoid causing any visible damage and we headed back to the Trunk Road, amounting to a small 3 hour detour. Sunday we partook of Jasper tourist fun (hot springs, waterfalls, black bears, glacier walking) and poached a camp site along Abraham Lake. On Monday we quit the dirt roads and took the highway the 4 hours home. All in all, the 5 hour drive to Jasper took us a good 2 days and left us with a very very dirty truck. Good times had by all :)
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Catch up with last week's fun
For all of you holding your breath, I did not do the Castle Mt. traverse; the leader was sick and cancelled the day. But I met a great woman from Zurich in the parking lot as the group disbanded (she was one of the group. No, I don't go picking up women in gas station parking lots at 6 am on Sunday mornings - haha). We went to Mt. Indefatigable and meant to scramble up to the south peak. We go onto the 'wrong' trail, but it was great anyway. Passing through a bowl and tarn (snowmelt lake at the base of a mountain bowl) we hit the east shoulder and there was a scramble either up to the north peak or a slightly lower east high point. We went east; I like the mountains, but I'm not really a peak bagger yet! We had great weather, great views, and we beat the weekend mountain rush by starting so early.
The next day, I went to ride the lower Powderface loop with two friends. This is my new summer loop. Last year I rode one Jumpingpound loop 4 or 5 times over the summer and it was great to judge my learning curve. I figure lower Powderface will do for this year's training track. There are some serious climbs and a few good water crossings, neither of which I'm any good at so far...
Then last week my mom came to visit! On Wednesday, two of her PhD students joined the two of us for an afternoon trail ride. If you are looking for a trail ride in the foothills I strongly recommend AnchorD, the horses were very well behaved but without seeming like depressed trail ride horses. Three hours in a saddle is definitely all my muscles can handle - what a weird feeling! There was a lot of walking, some trotting and once or twice a little canter. The scenery was beautiful, the conversations lovely and our guide keep signing bob marley; a relaxing adventure. I have pictures from mom's camera, but I do not look lovely on the back of a horse, so you may never get to see them... I'm thinking it over.
The next day, I went to ride the lower Powderface loop with two friends. This is my new summer loop. Last year I rode one Jumpingpound loop 4 or 5 times over the summer and it was great to judge my learning curve. I figure lower Powderface will do for this year's training track. There are some serious climbs and a few good water crossings, neither of which I'm any good at so far...
Then last week my mom came to visit! On Wednesday, two of her PhD students joined the two of us for an afternoon trail ride. If you are looking for a trail ride in the foothills I strongly recommend AnchorD, the horses were very well behaved but without seeming like depressed trail ride horses. Three hours in a saddle is definitely all my muscles can handle - what a weird feeling! There was a lot of walking, some trotting and once or twice a little canter. The scenery was beautiful, the conversations lovely and our guide keep signing bob marley; a relaxing adventure. I have pictures from mom's camera, but I do not look lovely on the back of a horse, so you may never get to see them... I'm thinking it over.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Weekend Warrior it seems
This weekend Jeff and I were planning on renting a truck and driving up the Forestry trunk road all the way to Jasper for a little sightseeing, camping and hiking. Unfortunately, Jeff's schedule changed and he has to work on Saturday. So, with a weekend day to myself I started to cast around for activities in the mountains. With bear activity and whatnot, people recommend that you have a group of 6 or more to do any of the hikes between Banff and Lake Louise. Sadly, that would be everyone I know who likes hiking to all be free on the same day! I asked around, but wasn't surprised when that wasn't the case.
I decided that if I didn't have my own friends, I'd have to pay for some - Haha. Really though, I checked out the trail hikes, scrambles, traverses and glacier hikes listed for this weekend at the University of Calgary Outdoors Center. After getting to the top of Yamnuska on the long weekend, I've been really excited about testing my limits with more technical scrambles. I'm not really sure if it was the right decision, but tomorrow at 6:00 am I am leaving to meet a group for a traverse route of Castle Mountain in Banff. We're having lunch at the hut - http://alpineclubofcanada.ca/facility/castle.html
I am very happy that I am not trying this on my own. There will be 5 of us with a trained guide and I think all of them are more climbers than hikers. The weather forecast is for cloudy with sunny spots, high of 14C and no rain. Hopefully perfect weather - no bad sunburn, but not too cold either. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? Most likely. I will bring my camera and post the proof on Sunday.
I decided that if I didn't have my own friends, I'd have to pay for some - Haha. Really though, I checked out the trail hikes, scrambles, traverses and glacier hikes listed for this weekend at the University of Calgary Outdoors Center. After getting to the top of Yamnuska on the long weekend, I've been really excited about testing my limits with more technical scrambles. I'm not really sure if it was the right decision, but tomorrow at 6:00 am I am leaving to meet a group for a traverse route of Castle Mountain in Banff. We're having lunch at the hut - http://alpineclubofcanada.ca/facility/castle.html
I am very happy that I am not trying this on my own. There will be 5 of us with a trained guide and I think all of them are more climbers than hikers. The weather forecast is for cloudy with sunny spots, high of 14C and no rain. Hopefully perfect weather - no bad sunburn, but not too cold either. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? Most likely. I will bring my camera and post the proof on Sunday.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Yam Scramble
I would like to post more often, but I seem to have hit a short dry spell when it comes to adventures. But on the Sunday of the long weekend I did do something fun. Just north of the trans-canada right when you hit the mountains is a fin-like high ridge called Mt. Yamnuska. This peak dries out fast and catches little last season snow, so when it's a sunny day on the first long weekend of summer (or almost-summer) it's packed. Luckily it wasn't so crowded that we didn't need the trail - there were just enough people to find ahead and behind on the upper scrable to keep you going in the right direction.
The first photo is me posing where the trees end and where a rock chute is the first obstacle of the scramble. We met up with more than a dozen hikers turning back to go down to the parking lot. I went with my co-worker Jenna and her brother's friend Stacey, both from Ontario and it was nice to have some like-minded people beside me. By Ontario standards the scramble is high and steep! We were heading to the peak from the east side, and about halfway up there is 'the crux'. There is a short section of a very small ledge and a cable bolted into the face of a section of cliff. I did a quick glance at the bottom of the face to judge the sucess of those who had gone before me - haha. As it was all clear below, and I could see a dozen people or so on the slopes ahead, I figured classically, If they could do it So could I. Being the first time I had done something like this and feeling very unsafe (pining for a quickdraw hanging from so many hikers packs) I took my time and many deep breaths later I was around the corner and on 'safe' rock. Lucky for me my partners were also scramble novices and were freaked out by the cable as much as I was! Somethings are just hard to learn in Ontario... After we all made it around there was no going back and we took our time using all 5 climbing limbs - 2 hands, 2 feet, 1 bum - to get down another rock chute, across a loose scree slope, and up to the peak.
The second photo posted is on the way down with the face up to the left (where we were) and the parking lot off to the right (where we were going). We walked along the talus slope there and just off the photo, down the trail, you just pick a spot and turn to face downhill. I've heared it called 'scree skiing', but what you essentially do is make little rock slides under your feet and ride them like a very dusty escalator. You have to keep a lot of space between people and call ahead whenever you start to send a large rock towards your friend in front of you, but the run down was long and fast and FUN!
After having such a great time, I went straight to MEC and finally bought some good collapsable poles for my next adventure. Unfortunately this past weekend was raining non-stop and next weekend I'm heading to Tumbler Ridge. I'm hoping to get to the mountains on Saturday if the field schedule doesn't change and the weather is passable. That said, I am not without my excitement. Tomorrow I am heading to the Canmore Nordic Center with the SpinSisters and am still trying to remember to hold my speed while on the mtb. I'm going to try to ride a few more of the stream crossings in the coulee beside my house tonight for practice. All in all though, May was a quiet month.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Books and Bikes
After beautiful weather last week in Calgary (and the obligatory freezing day on the weekend) the buds are busting out today. I'm sad that we don't yet have a backyard to lounge in; it's still just a pile of dirt. Luckily though the empty lots beside us were preped for sod last week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have a good sun-lounging/book-reading spot soon.
On the book front, I'm reading Mordecai Richler's St. Urbain's Horseman on the bus these days. I can't believe it was written in the mid-sixties. I'd like to say not much has changed in Canadian literature, but I think it may be heading a bit downhill. Although I may change my tune after I finish the book, I would currently place St. Urbain's Horseman well before many of the latest G.G. award winners. Then again, I have always liked the cranky/awkward men characters and authors (see previous posts) so maybe it's all just my personal preference. Whatever it is, it's an excellent redeemer to follow the Nick Hornby.
On the activity front, I'm finding it very difficult to get into running up these hills. In Winnipeg, I ran along the river. In Guelph, I ran a few hills next to the river, but pretty much along the river. Last year in Calgary, I ran along the Elbow River, hitting one small hill every now and then. Now - up down, up down, up down! Whew! And living at the top of a hill doesn't help. But I have promised myself new running shoes if I can keep up with a good running schedule for a month, and hopefully by then I will be laughing. Also, the mountain bike club I rode with last year starts up this week and I am nervous but happy to try it all again. But I do have an excellent shiny new helmet!
On the book front, I'm reading Mordecai Richler's St. Urbain's Horseman on the bus these days. I can't believe it was written in the mid-sixties. I'd like to say not much has changed in Canadian literature, but I think it may be heading a bit downhill. Although I may change my tune after I finish the book, I would currently place St. Urbain's Horseman well before many of the latest G.G. award winners. Then again, I have always liked the cranky/awkward men characters and authors (see previous posts) so maybe it's all just my personal preference. Whatever it is, it's an excellent redeemer to follow the Nick Hornby.
On the activity front, I'm finding it very difficult to get into running up these hills. In Winnipeg, I ran along the river. In Guelph, I ran a few hills next to the river, but pretty much along the river. Last year in Calgary, I ran along the Elbow River, hitting one small hill every now and then. Now - up down, up down, up down! Whew! And living at the top of a hill doesn't help. But I have promised myself new running shoes if I can keep up with a good running schedule for a month, and hopefully by then I will be laughing. Also, the mountain bike club I rode with last year starts up this week and I am nervous but happy to try it all again. But I do have an excellent shiny new helmet!
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
The never-ending novel
This weekend I read 'A Long Way Down' by Nick Hornby. This book is one of the reasons that I am a library addict; I'm glad I read it, but really glad I didn't buy it. I would say the ending takes about 50 or more pages. It just goes on and on and on. Geesh! It strikes me as a publisher contract sort of book - i.e. he had to make it X number of pages. I guess I'm not surprised. Nick Hornby isn't exactly Nobel Prize winning, but even if this book gets made into a movie like most of his others, I don't even think it will be good at the box office. The characters are interesting and the story has merit, I didn't find myself wanting to skip/skim pages, but it sort of felt like a waste of time. And I do love a pulp/trashy novel as much as the next guy, so I think this is the harshest review I've posted this year. If you find this book on the floor of an airport, pick it up. If you are thinking of putting down cash for a paperback, there are zillions of better ways to make yourself happy for $15.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Do what you love...
Everything with the house is going smoothly. This weekend I will try to muster the courage to put holes in my walls to hang pictures and curtains - they're just so smooth and clean right now! Our long weekend plans also include Jeff and I 'rescuing' lumber from the construction dumpsters nearby to build workbenches for the basement. Their garbage is my treasure! Another exciting house-related event is that I now have a porch and am getting organic fruits and veggies delivered every other Wednesday. Last night I came home to a blue rubbermaid of goodness on my porch. Because you never really know what you are going to get, it actually becomes quite an adventure - anyone have tips on what to do with a dozen radishes?
Spring is starting here in Calgary and I think this weekend's activities pretty much sum it well. Tomorrow (Good Friday) I'm heading up to Lake Louise to go cross-country skiing with a friend visiting from Victoria. Then Saturday, I'm heading out on a reconnaissance 60 km road loop with another woman who has just begun road riding. Maybe Sunday I'll go for a snowball fight, and Monday I'll get a tan!! What a place, this mountain/prairie limbo...
Moving to the edge of town has hopefully opened up a whole new world of good roads for biking. Last summer I didn't use my road bike much as I a) was trying to learn to mountain bike in the mountains, and b) was living downtown and got frustrated trying to get out of traffic. This year I'm excited to go back to my cycling roots and rekindle my love for my road bike. And anyway, my mountain bike and I are having spat, or so it seems. Haha.
On the book front, I recommend 'Being Caribou' by Karsten Heuer. I haven't read it, but on Tuesday night, said friend from Victoria (Kristina) and I went to see him speak at the Public Library and it was seriously inspiring. It wasn't so much that it made me want to hike with the Porcupine Caribou herd for 5 months (his adventure) but that when you do what you love and are passionate about, you will find happiness and success. The book/documentary/talk was about his and his wife's experience with the herd and the journey involved in a calving season. Some of the focus was on the fragility of the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain and why gas extraction and caribou calving just aren't compatible activities. My friend Diana (who works in land reclamation) came out of the talk feeling the need to change jobs; that she hadn't trained in biology to sit behind a desk. Whereas I came out of it really wanting to go back to my desk (with long weekend hiking trips!) to try to devise any possible way of making extraction more sustainable and less disruptive. Not for the Arctic Refuge (that's just too fragile/pristine to even start), but for so many of the stunning systems across Alberta and BC. We are, fundamentally, resource users, and though I am all about reducing our resource use/wastage, we are going to be building, extracting, refining, combining, emitting and we have to be responsible for it to the very best of our abilities. I don't need to go out and experience the majesty of Caribou, I like it at my desk, whittling away tiny tiny chunks, making my little smidge of a difference. I really recommend reading his book, the excerpts he read were very well written.
Spring is starting here in Calgary and I think this weekend's activities pretty much sum it well. Tomorrow (Good Friday) I'm heading up to Lake Louise to go cross-country skiing with a friend visiting from Victoria. Then Saturday, I'm heading out on a reconnaissance 60 km road loop with another woman who has just begun road riding. Maybe Sunday I'll go for a snowball fight, and Monday I'll get a tan!! What a place, this mountain/prairie limbo...
Moving to the edge of town has hopefully opened up a whole new world of good roads for biking. Last summer I didn't use my road bike much as I a) was trying to learn to mountain bike in the mountains, and b) was living downtown and got frustrated trying to get out of traffic. This year I'm excited to go back to my cycling roots and rekindle my love for my road bike. And anyway, my mountain bike and I are having spat, or so it seems. Haha.
On the book front, I recommend 'Being Caribou' by Karsten Heuer. I haven't read it, but on Tuesday night, said friend from Victoria (Kristina) and I went to see him speak at the Public Library and it was seriously inspiring. It wasn't so much that it made me want to hike with the Porcupine Caribou herd for 5 months (his adventure) but that when you do what you love and are passionate about, you will find happiness and success. The book/documentary/talk was about his and his wife's experience with the herd and the journey involved in a calving season. Some of the focus was on the fragility of the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain and why gas extraction and caribou calving just aren't compatible activities. My friend Diana (who works in land reclamation) came out of the talk feeling the need to change jobs; that she hadn't trained in biology to sit behind a desk. Whereas I came out of it really wanting to go back to my desk (with long weekend hiking trips!) to try to devise any possible way of making extraction more sustainable and less disruptive. Not for the Arctic Refuge (that's just too fragile/pristine to even start), but for so many of the stunning systems across Alberta and BC. We are, fundamentally, resource users, and though I am all about reducing our resource use/wastage, we are going to be building, extracting, refining, combining, emitting and we have to be responsible for it to the very best of our abilities. I don't need to go out and experience the majesty of Caribou, I like it at my desk, whittling away tiny tiny chunks, making my little smidge of a difference. I really recommend reading his book, the excerpts he read were very well written.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Go Big or Go Home
True to my nature, my enthousiasm outweighed my experience in Moab. First day, first ride, just after the first hour, bam! my face hits the rocks. And not only that, but my face actually gets sort of sandwiched between the slickrock and my handlebars leaving me with an award winning shinner, a bloddy nose and a mid-range concussion. I think this was my best crash to date, or at least the one with the most injury. Thanks to the experience with my wrist last New Year's down in Kalispell, Jeff and I are pretty smooth with using our out-of-province extended health insurance cards. I got off the trail thanks to some slightly drunk 4x4 drivers and Jeff took me straight to the hospital to get my eye checked out. Retina, iris and cornea, intact and healthy - check! Awsome. My eye was swollen shut for most of the remaining days in Moab, but I still got out and hiked up a few of the trails Jeff was riding. I must have looked pretty funny hiking with no depth perception (I stayed far back from 'viewpoints'!), and I came home with a square outlined by sunburn on my face (from the patch), but all told it was nice to get out of town for a while.
Fortunately or not, on Saturday when we got home I was hit with a bad cold. I think it was maybe tied to having hurt my sinus, but having a runny nose with a still sore face was a challenge! I say 'fortunately' because I stayed home from work yesterday sick and started packing up our stuff. I feel like I worked pretty steady all day but I only got about a 1/4 of our stuff packed up... for a small apartment, we certainly have things stuck in every little spot! Some field work has come up for this week (starting tomorrow) but with my eye, I'm really not comfortable driving long distances yet. So for all my threatening to ditch out of moving, I'm really quite happy to beable to stay and get it done. It's a much bigger job than I remember...
Tomorrow we get the keys and start the van train. The next picture of the house I post will have us inside it! The 4 to 5 months promised has become 9 months, but the house looks good and the weather is much better for moving than it was around Christmas. It's finally Moving Day!
Fortunately or not, on Saturday when we got home I was hit with a bad cold. I think it was maybe tied to having hurt my sinus, but having a runny nose with a still sore face was a challenge! I say 'fortunately' because I stayed home from work yesterday sick and started packing up our stuff. I feel like I worked pretty steady all day but I only got about a 1/4 of our stuff packed up... for a small apartment, we certainly have things stuck in every little spot! Some field work has come up for this week (starting tomorrow) but with my eye, I'm really not comfortable driving long distances yet. So for all my threatening to ditch out of moving, I'm really quite happy to beable to stay and get it done. It's a much bigger job than I remember...
Tomorrow we get the keys and start the van train. The next picture of the house I post will have us inside it! The 4 to 5 months promised has become 9 months, but the house looks good and the weather is much better for moving than it was around Christmas. It's finally Moving Day!
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Musing on Mortgages
(i'm back to the green template - oh the indecision!) Tomorrow I'm heading on vacation! Jeff and I are heading to Moab for the week, and we are leaving Friday as soon as we can get out from work. There are many reasons for this vacation - 1) we got our tax returns, and though I know it's not true, it sure does feel like free money... 2) yesterday we went to the lawyers and signed our mortgage, certainly a watershed moment worth celebrating, and 3) yesterday we signed the mortgage - so now the waiting is feeling intermitable! Oh yeah, and we're bringing our bikes so there's that fun stuff too :)
Signing the mortgage really did seem like a big deal. With all my attempted bad-assedness of my early 20's, it was my first time in a lawyers office (I wasn't much of a bad-ass). Kevin (the law-man) took his time and explained it all and I'm starting to actually understand about owning property. You hear and read all about the realestate market, the benefits of tax-free income, and flipping houses, but without experience it's hard to get a handle on it. Our, or at least my, house-buying motivation mostly came from personal perceptions of space, of greedily wanting to stop sharing with the 2 a.m. vacumer above me, the stinky meat-fryer down the hall, etc... I have a bit of a family history of 'wise investment' in land/houses and I think I've been rather stubborn against giving it any attention. I'm not saying I've begun down a complex road of tax-shelters and market prospecting, but I think I've started to understand how people can see it as a realtively safe road to happy retirement. Once again I realise how far the gap is between knowing something and understanding it!
So, we are off to the desert for a little fun under that big sky and happy cappucinos after a frosty morning ride. Riding with Jeff is daunting, but he's a great and patient teacher, and I am clinging to the hope that you truly never forget how to ride a bike - it's been months since I rode, and my last ride left me with a black eye on the eve of my company christmas party. Biking and I did not part well for the season... finger's crossed for an accident free week!!
Signing the mortgage really did seem like a big deal. With all my attempted bad-assedness of my early 20's, it was my first time in a lawyers office (I wasn't much of a bad-ass). Kevin (the law-man) took his time and explained it all and I'm starting to actually understand about owning property. You hear and read all about the realestate market, the benefits of tax-free income, and flipping houses, but without experience it's hard to get a handle on it. Our, or at least my, house-buying motivation mostly came from personal perceptions of space, of greedily wanting to stop sharing with the 2 a.m. vacumer above me, the stinky meat-fryer down the hall, etc... I have a bit of a family history of 'wise investment' in land/houses and I think I've been rather stubborn against giving it any attention. I'm not saying I've begun down a complex road of tax-shelters and market prospecting, but I think I've started to understand how people can see it as a realtively safe road to happy retirement. Once again I realise how far the gap is between knowing something and understanding it!
So, we are off to the desert for a little fun under that big sky and happy cappucinos after a frosty morning ride. Riding with Jeff is daunting, but he's a great and patient teacher, and I am clinging to the hope that you truly never forget how to ride a bike - it's been months since I rode, and my last ride left me with a black eye on the eve of my company christmas party. Biking and I did not part well for the season... finger's crossed for an accident free week!!
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Time for a change
Thinking of posting today, I was looking at this site, and it was just too green for my liking. I have nothing agaist green, but I figured it was time for a change. Nothing big to report today. Although I do feel rather proud - I think I have actually got the next month of house/legal/paperwork organized to be on my schedule! Because Jeff's work life is so seasonal, it occurred to us that if we don't take a vacation before April 1rst we will likely not have a chance to until the fall. So, on top of closing on the house and moving, we are taking off somewhere for the week of March 20th. Not really sure where, but it's got to be cheap! Stay tuned...
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
A little too green...
This weekend we went inside, with permission, to check out the progress. Jeff took a bunch of photos, but true to my roots, the only one I think is interesting to put up here is the kitchen view! The colour we picked for the walls has turned out a bit greener than expected, but I'm sure we will get used to it. I like it against the maple cabinets. All that is left now is the flooring, tiles and the plumbing.
A good surprise was that they painted the whole house the same colour. When making the building plan, the painting was to stop at the upstairs hallway, leaving three bedrooms and three bathrooms unpainted. So, I have been spending the last three weeks stressing about paint choices and finally picked a palette. Walking around the house on Sunday, I was relieved that we don't have to paint the bedroom immediately before we move in so that there is something on the walls, and I think we can live with a greenish stony colour for a while. Painting has now moved to a weekend project per room, if necessary.
The bigger news in my mind involves our friends and new neighbours Noel and Dana. Noel and a very pregnant Dana came with us to tour our house on Sunday and all was cheerful and nice. I hadn't seen Dana since November when Jeff was in Costa Rica, so Sunday I finally gave her the baby quilt I had made (#5 for me) and checked out her big belly. Lucky I did, because unknown to Jeff and I, Dana was starting labour. The whole account is posted on Noel's blog and it's great! Just like all babies look the same and yet are completely unique simultaneously, I find birthing stories fascinating! This is their first kid and they went with the mixture of doula and doctor. It sounds like an excellent combination. Happily and excitingly Molly Rose is in our world :)
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Move-in Revenge
We have our possession date - March 30th. I have been threatening to take any and all field work jobs around our move-in date, and now there actually is a good chance I really will be away! As some of you may know, when coming out west here (Fall 2004) I drove the u-haul across country and unpacked all by my lonesome. My then-pregnant friend Luka provided snacks, encouragement and door-holding, but the move-in was pretty much a solo show. I vowed revenge on Jeff then and there!
Because our possession date is March 30th, it doesn't give us much time to paint the bedrooms before moving in. Luckily we are paying the builders to paint the first floor, stairwell and upstairs hallway. Currently these spaces are all the same colour, pretty much because I'm such a design novice, I had no idea where to get them to stop the colour with an open floor plan! Over the next month I am accepting all tips and tricks regarding choosing paint colours. I'm finding it oddly stressful... :)
To end, I extend the classic moving invitation - I will provide beer and heartfelt thanks for all volunteer painters, packers and/or movers. Come one, come all! (though don't help Jeff too much - he has to pay for the solo u-haul cross country trauma! haha)
Because our possession date is March 30th, it doesn't give us much time to paint the bedrooms before moving in. Luckily we are paying the builders to paint the first floor, stairwell and upstairs hallway. Currently these spaces are all the same colour, pretty much because I'm such a design novice, I had no idea where to get them to stop the colour with an open floor plan! Over the next month I am accepting all tips and tricks regarding choosing paint colours. I'm finding it oddly stressful... :)
To end, I extend the classic moving invitation - I will provide beer and heartfelt thanks for all volunteer painters, packers and/or movers. Come one, come all! (though don't help Jeff too much - he has to pay for the solo u-haul cross country trauma! haha)
Monday, February 06, 2006
House Update
Nothing too exciting at the moment. We are supposed to get a call today or tomorrow to get our 45 day notice. But this is after I called two weeks ago to check on how the schedule is coming along, and they let us know that we were on the list to get a call later that week. Of course, that didn't happen and I called them again last week to remind them to call us. I got the same speech - "we will be calling you shortly". Then last Thursday, they called to tell us that they will be calling us before the 7th. Gee, thanks.
On the winter front, things are strange in Calgary; same as last year, but strange to me nonetheless. On both Saturday and Sunday, Jeff biked up to the new house. A bit windy, but dry, clear roads and above 0 degrees. At the same time, I drove out to the mountains with my cross-country skis and found almost a meter of snow base right off the road, more as you went up, and around -5 degrees and snowing. So here I was, bundled up and skiing through woods and there he was riding his bike. Strange, yes?
From biking up there, Jeff's house report is that our ceilings have been 'textured' and the drywall has been all taped and plastered. Cabinets, floors and paint to go. This means that we now have to finalize our appliance choices (well, they were finalized before building started, but we can change them before delivery). The main undecided factor there is the washing machine. Anyone have a favorite brand? We also want to upgrade the fridge we picked last summer, but we want to profit from the scratch and dent section of the appliance store which means that we need to pick it out less than a week before delivery. It will all require some coordination.
It looks like I'll be back north by the end of the week. I'll post my first book reviews of 2006 then. That first job in January got me started on a good foot - five books so far! Keep the emails and comments coming, I love hearing from you all.
On the winter front, things are strange in Calgary; same as last year, but strange to me nonetheless. On both Saturday and Sunday, Jeff biked up to the new house. A bit windy, but dry, clear roads and above 0 degrees. At the same time, I drove out to the mountains with my cross-country skis and found almost a meter of snow base right off the road, more as you went up, and around -5 degrees and snowing. So here I was, bundled up and skiing through woods and there he was riding his bike. Strange, yes?
From biking up there, Jeff's house report is that our ceilings have been 'textured' and the drywall has been all taped and plastered. Cabinets, floors and paint to go. This means that we now have to finalize our appliance choices (well, they were finalized before building started, but we can change them before delivery). The main undecided factor there is the washing machine. Anyone have a favorite brand? We also want to upgrade the fridge we picked last summer, but we want to profit from the scratch and dent section of the appliance store which means that we need to pick it out less than a week before delivery. It will all require some coordination.
It looks like I'll be back north by the end of the week. I'll post my first book reviews of 2006 then. That first job in January got me started on a good foot - five books so far! Keep the emails and comments coming, I love hearing from you all.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Colour Schemes
Also on Saturday, I took this picture of the mostly completed siding. The exterior colour scheme is 
mushroom-y ("harvard slate") siding with sky blue ("pacific blue") roof trim and eaves and white-ish ("winter mountain") trim around the windows. As of our visit yesterday, the blue trim is on the little porch roof too. It's sort of prairie camouflage...
mushroom-y ("harvard slate") siding with sky blue ("pacific blue") roof trim and eaves and white-ish ("winter mountain") trim around the windows. As of our visit yesterday, the blue trim is on the little porch roof too. It's sort of prairie camouflage...
The 'inside' scoop
Well you asked for it! An inside shot. This now proves that I was tresspassing as we are technically not allowed in until we take posession, but it was unlocked and we really really wanted to check it out. I hope none of you will turn us in.
This image is looking from the dinning room to the living room. For those of you living in houses of your own this may look small, but those of us moving from small apartments will gasp at the huge spaces - ha! The little half-wall on the left is the kitchen island-to-be. We are super excited about that fireplace-as-room-divider.
This photo was taken this past Saturday when I got home from the oil patch. We went by yesterday as well and peeked in the windows with our headlamps. I'm happy to report that the drywalling is all up (no longer in piles on the floor as I show here). It does look smaller with the drywall up, I'll admit.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Zoe goes to Tumbler Ridge
Well, I'm up north again, and just got finished a week at one site. Today I got the news that the next job (supposed to start yesterday) has been delayed until Monday, so I have a weekend 'off' so to speak up here in Tumbler Ridge B.C. (google it!). I have a new guy with me that I'm showing the ropes to, and because most of the action of this job happens with the nightshift (crazy stable meteorology) I've been pawning them off on him. You know, so that he can learn... I have to say though, dayshifts are great! All in all, he doesn't seem too resentful (he does have to make the more critical decisions this way) and it's nice to know that in the future there will be more people on staff for these field jobs. I remember thinking that people were crazy when they said that someday I would get tired of jobs involving fieldwork and undetermined schedules, but here I am thinking they may be right... 2006 will see me turn 30 and maybe I'll just want to stay home. (30! am I old? am I young?)
Second topic - yea commenters! I love hearing from you all and I'm sorry I haven't emailed you all long heartfelt messages. Sitting in the middle of nowhere is no real excuse, but it's all I've got to cover my laziness. heehee.
I guess there is no real point to this post, but I'm working (sort of), it's late, I'm tired and have an internet connection available. This makes me feel a little less isolated. Thanks!
Second topic - yea commenters! I love hearing from you all and I'm sorry I haven't emailed you all long heartfelt messages. Sitting in the middle of nowhere is no real excuse, but it's all I've got to cover my laziness. heehee.
I guess there is no real point to this post, but I'm working (sort of), it's late, I'm tired and have an internet connection available. This makes me feel a little less isolated. Thanks!
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Starting off 2006
Today we finally had our mechanical walk through of our house! This means that the electrical and plumbing (and of course the walls, floors and roof) are "finished". Well.... not quite. In our walk through we found a few things missing (wires with no outlet boxes), but only two real mistakes. One is easy - they have an ugly front door on the place, definitely not the one I chose, easy to replace. The second requires more work. As Jeff is really looking forward to having a workshop in the basement, we are both keen to improve the ventilation. With the possibility of a fourth (!) bathroom to be roughed in down there, we decided to ask them to skip the tub and toilet, but to put in the vent fan and sink hook-up. This way we will get a laundry sink and next to it a place where we can install a hood fan over a table, venting to the outdoors. Well, they forgot to do this eventhough we filled out all the right forms. It looks like they will have to cut a hole in the side of the foundation to accommodate it - and that sounds hard to do... I'm excited to think that all these things will be under warranty.
People have told me this, but WOW! - my perceptions have really changed now that we walked through the space. It's huge! Well, it's bigger than a cheap 1 bedroom apartment, that's for sure. The whole process has seemed a bit abstract, but now that we walked around it, ran up and down the stairs a few times, and had our first real conversation with a guy in a hard hat, I'll admit - I'm Excited!
Now we are waiting on the drywall installers. Along with the boom in housing in Calgary there is the inevitable labour shortage, and we are waiting for our closing date notice expected as soon as the drywall is up. Fingers are crossed for early March. I'm going to feel so bourgeois - owning a house... imagine!
People have told me this, but WOW! - my perceptions have really changed now that we walked through the space. It's huge! Well, it's bigger than a cheap 1 bedroom apartment, that's for sure. The whole process has seemed a bit abstract, but now that we walked around it, ran up and down the stairs a few times, and had our first real conversation with a guy in a hard hat, I'll admit - I'm Excited!
Now we are waiting on the drywall installers. Along with the boom in housing in Calgary there is the inevitable labour shortage, and we are waiting for our closing date notice expected as soon as the drywall is up. Fingers are crossed for early March. I'm going to feel so bourgeois - owning a house... imagine!
Friday, December 30, 2005
Priorities
Re-reading that last post, I had meant to talk more about the skiing and the hiking, but it all seemed to focus on the meals! Hahaha. Oh well... (they were great meals!)
True Day of Vacation
Ahh. Today is my first day of true, full, vacation. My sister and mum left yesterday afternoon, and this morning my only alarm clock was my bladder. It felt like I slept and slept - in reality I lasted in bed until about 8:45 am - it was the ultimate luxury. The familial visit was terrific, but I am now even more excited to have spare bedrooms at my disposal. Setting your mom up on your couch and your sister on the floor just does not seem like the most adult of situations...
We had a terrific Christmas eventhough Mother Nature was less than accommodating. When I was small we used to go cross country skiing around some local parks (around Guelph, ON) and so when thinking about mountain activities for this week, I turned back to the planks and sticks. I rented three sets of skis from the University of Calgary, and we spent some time on the 25th trying on the various boot sizes that had made it into the living room. On the 26th we packed up the car and headed west. Innocently, we stopped at Lake Louise to check out the ice castle and frozen lake before lunch and felt smug that we were headed for 'better snow' over in Yoho for our first ski. When we got to Field, the park guy at the info center laughed at my condition inquiry as the area was well into it's third straight day of rain. Even with rentals, skiing on rocks was not our intended activity. Luckily, there is a FANTASTIC restaurant in Field, owned by the friend of a friend of my mom's. Faced with nothing else to do that afternoon but drive to Golden, we got comfortable and ate! Good stuff.
Arriving at Golden, we checked into the Kicking Horse River Lodge (we reserved a private room at the Hostel), jeff went to the hill to pick up his pass-thingy, and mum, claire and I walked along the river checking out the ice jams. Dinner with our friend tracey at eleven22 perfectly topped our day of great food. With no snow for skiing, mum claire and I spent the morning of the 27th walking along rocky trails, looking out at the valley choked with low clouds. For a late lunch we took the gondola up to the Eagle Eye restaurant at the top of the mountain, still stuck in the clouds. I hear the vistas are breath-taking, I'll just have to get up there again sometime. In good family form, we spent the afternoon eating excellent food and puttering at the bottom of the hill waiting for jeff to elbow himself through the line up for the lower chair lift to get off the hill. After a little decompression/movie watching time at the hostel we went for dinner at the Cedar House. Awesome food once again.
The morning of the 28th we decided to head back to Lake Louise as that had been the only good cross country spot we'd seen all week. The weather finally cooperated and we spent an excellent 4 hours in -5 temps on great, groomed trails. In order to soothe our skied out bodies, we headed to the Banff Hot Springs - the ultimate tourist destination - and soaked with the most diverse crowd of cultures this side of Toronto. As having a good dinner in Banff between Christmas and New Year's without a reservation is about as rare as a sasquatsh, we piled in for the next leg of driving, getting to my favorite restaurant in Canmore. Good food every meal for days is quite a Christmas present!
When we got back to Calgary there was the crazy 'mom sleeping on the couch' situation, a slow quiet morning walking around the neighborhood, one last house check to the NW (we have shingles!) and I got them to the airport with ample time to spare. Though I do still romanticise Toronto, Calgary seemed quaint, small and relaxed yesterday and I was really happy that I could stay behind as mum and sis flew back east. This afternoon I'm heading wall climbing and then to yoga class, and tomorrow I'm going snowboarding at Sunshine - somehow I have to burn off all these three-course meals! It was nice to showcase my part of the world; it made me really appreciate the blind wisdom of the move west last year. I don't think I had any idea this would be my life at the end of 2005. 2006 here I come!
We had a terrific Christmas eventhough Mother Nature was less than accommodating. When I was small we used to go cross country skiing around some local parks (around Guelph, ON) and so when thinking about mountain activities for this week, I turned back to the planks and sticks. I rented three sets of skis from the University of Calgary, and we spent some time on the 25th trying on the various boot sizes that had made it into the living room. On the 26th we packed up the car and headed west. Innocently, we stopped at Lake Louise to check out the ice castle and frozen lake before lunch and felt smug that we were headed for 'better snow' over in Yoho for our first ski. When we got to Field, the park guy at the info center laughed at my condition inquiry as the area was well into it's third straight day of rain. Even with rentals, skiing on rocks was not our intended activity. Luckily, there is a FANTASTIC restaurant in Field, owned by the friend of a friend of my mom's. Faced with nothing else to do that afternoon but drive to Golden, we got comfortable and ate! Good stuff.
Arriving at Golden, we checked into the Kicking Horse River Lodge (we reserved a private room at the Hostel), jeff went to the hill to pick up his pass-thingy, and mum, claire and I walked along the river checking out the ice jams. Dinner with our friend tracey at eleven22 perfectly topped our day of great food. With no snow for skiing, mum claire and I spent the morning of the 27th walking along rocky trails, looking out at the valley choked with low clouds. For a late lunch we took the gondola up to the Eagle Eye restaurant at the top of the mountain, still stuck in the clouds. I hear the vistas are breath-taking, I'll just have to get up there again sometime. In good family form, we spent the afternoon eating excellent food and puttering at the bottom of the hill waiting for jeff to elbow himself through the line up for the lower chair lift to get off the hill. After a little decompression/movie watching time at the hostel we went for dinner at the Cedar House. Awesome food once again.
The morning of the 28th we decided to head back to Lake Louise as that had been the only good cross country spot we'd seen all week. The weather finally cooperated and we spent an excellent 4 hours in -5 temps on great, groomed trails. In order to soothe our skied out bodies, we headed to the Banff Hot Springs - the ultimate tourist destination - and soaked with the most diverse crowd of cultures this side of Toronto. As having a good dinner in Banff between Christmas and New Year's without a reservation is about as rare as a sasquatsh, we piled in for the next leg of driving, getting to my favorite restaurant in Canmore. Good food every meal for days is quite a Christmas present!
When we got back to Calgary there was the crazy 'mom sleeping on the couch' situation, a slow quiet morning walking around the neighborhood, one last house check to the NW (we have shingles!) and I got them to the airport with ample time to spare. Though I do still romanticise Toronto, Calgary seemed quaint, small and relaxed yesterday and I was really happy that I could stay behind as mum and sis flew back east. This afternoon I'm heading wall climbing and then to yoga class, and tomorrow I'm going snowboarding at Sunshine - somehow I have to burn off all these three-course meals! It was nice to showcase my part of the world; it made me really appreciate the blind wisdom of the move west last year. I don't think I had any idea this would be my life at the end of 2005. 2006 here I come!
Monday, December 26, 2005
The latest from Tuscany
Tada! Here it is. My house is very simple - a box with windows, a very small front porch, and pretty much the only 'architectural' detail are those funky slim windows at the back of the first floor. I think that's as funky as the suburbs get... This photo was taken Dec. 22. My mum and sis are currently visiting for christmas and the four of us (Jeff, mum, sis and me) drove up for a little tour of Tuscany yesterday. I decided not to take a picture as the only change is that there are shingles on the little porch roof.
This morning we are packing up the christmas dinner leftovers (nut loaf, bread pudding and roasted veggies) and the cross-country skis (rented from the U of C) and heading into the woods! We're skiing around Emerald Lake in Yoho today just to get the blood pumping, and then tomorrow we're skiing and hot spring hunting based out of golden. I'm really excited to get out of town and into the mountains. The weather is beautiful these days and it is snowing like crazy up at the ski hills. My mom got us ipods all around (WOW!! THANKS MOM), so last night we were copying music like mad to rock out on our road trip. Though sometimes stressful, Christmas is a great time of year!
Likely my next post will be the reminiscing about 2005 and musing on 2006 - I feel the urge starting. Stay tuned :)
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