So what have I been up to?

Not a whole lot - just chilling out after Stampede and planning my next holiday - I'm really looking forward to it! Travelling around Calgary, to Banff (to go visit the glacier) and then off to San Fran for some redwood, Alcatraz and wine tasting and then off to Toronto where we're going to see Niagara falls which I'm childishly excited about :-). I'm going to stay on with Proll for a bit after my sister and Claire leave which should be much fun as I'll be there for the bank hol too.

I saw Pirates 2 this weekend. It was good...although I can' t help feeling slightly disappointed as in my opinion it had about 30mins too much fluff. I'm looking forward to 3 though....Louise Depp.....it has a ring, non?! I also played 5 pin bowling. NEVER heard of the game before, but it was much fun...after I figured out how to play it. Its different to 10 pin (apart from the obvious name) in that you have less pins and only one size of ball (about half the size of the ten pin). No holes, you kind of have to get a grip of it (which is hard for those of us 'blessed' with dainty hands) and fire down towards the pins. Plus, there are less pins and they're more spaced out so you often just hit one. I managed to win the first game which I was most impressed with, but didn't do so well on the other two! I am hooked though - its much harder than the traditional bowling!

I'm also back to doing some finkin bout stuff.......not quite figured out what I want to do, but I've got a few irons in the fire!!

So that was Stampede

I made it!!

Wow - I had a BLAST. Actually made it to the rodeo on Friday, my boss gave me a couple of the company tickets which were centre, third row! Was great, almost felt like I was a part of the action myself!!! I'm really pleased I got the chance to see it up close, not many people get that opportunity. You can check out the picks I took by following the link on the right....

Friday night I *was* planning to have a quiet one in, but the guys at work had other ideas, so I headed out after the rodeo and I'm so glad I did! It was a great night and I took loads of pictures. Last friday of Stampede and it was spent at Cowboys (a club which is becoming my local). They had a big tent in the carpark during stampede which was the place to be and we got there around 7.30pm and stayed until the wee hours. Lots of dancing and fun had by all.

So - back to normality now. It seems strange being back at work in a suit, everyone seems so overdressed!!

BBQs and pancakes

Today was really busy at work - lots of stuff coming out of left-field and random meetings. The day was started with a traditional stampede breakfast of pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs and potato things. I could only manage some of the pancakes and bacon (washed down with about a litre of maple syrup!).

I managed to escape at a decent hour though and after a disastrous attempt at getting the c-train, I met up with a friend and we headed to the night's activity which saw me attending a conservative fundraiser!! I suffered through a LOT of speeches and clapping and standing up and even had to pretend I knew the words to the Canadian national anthem :-) I did get to speak to the man (aka the Canadian Prime Minister) though, so am working through royalty and the hob nobs in parliament whilst out here!! I need to meet a few hockey players and rock stars next!!!!

Watch this space....

Whatever happened

to John Malkovitz????

Still alive.....

Wow. I made it through the weekend. I am very impressed!!! Yesterday was a whole lot of fun and I have added to my collection of things to stick on my person/ hat and things to hang around my neck!!!! I have no idea what time we left, but it was dark, so I put in a good innings. My feet KILL me today and I remember lots of dancing, including leading a conga line!

I managed to get out to watch the world cup final with a guy from work and a couple of his buddies. After starting on diet coke, I braved a beer and nursed it for an hour and a half!!! The rest of the day has been spent lazing around and trying to stay out of the sun/ hail.

This Stampede thing is great, but I'm going to have to pace myself. There's a huge party on Wednesday and I think I'm being taken to the rodeo/ chuck wagon races tomorrow or Tuesday (which is also the BBQ with the Canadian Prime Minister!). And best of all, MC Hammer is playing the wrap party next Sunday! You can't touch this.....

Cowboys rock!

yeeeeee haawwwww!!!!!!

Stampede has arrived! My day at work yesterday consisted of arriving at around 10.45am, leaving to get beer and burgers (on order of the boss!) at 11.15am, getting back to work at 1.30pm, planning the afternoon's festivities then leaving at 3.30pm.

We went to a club called coyotes and whiled away the time on the patio drinking beer (and the occasional shot) and listening to a few bands. I red carded myself at around 10pm which was one of my better ideas! I woke up this morning at 5am feeling like death, but a few cups of coffee and two english muffins and I'm ready to do it all over again. Which is good as that's exactly what's going to happen. A taxi is coming at 11.45 (about 25 mins time) to take me to the first stop on today's club call.....lord help me! I think I'll probably be going home at around 3pm, but festivities aren't scheduled to end until 3am!!!!!!! These Calgarians are kerazy. Still, I'm wearing my I 'heart' cowboys t-shirt and I'm ready to give it my best shot!!!!

Only in Calary

I got off the plane expecting the nice 'dry heat' I have come to expect only to find HUMIDITY and hotness...argh! I noticed, on my walk to the 7-11, the charcoal grey clouds in the sky and felt that a storm was a brewin. I was right. We had heat, sun, hail, rain, thunder and lightening all in one.


WOW

Miss me??

I'm baaaaaaack!!!!

I had a GREAT time - so first up, thanks a million Shauna and Jim, I had a ball and am more in love with Charleston now than ever!! I demand you find me a nice Southern boy to marry so I can move down there forthwith....

Was a bit of a trauma getting down there, in part my fault and in part idiocy on the part of airline staff in general. And customs.

Friday morning my flight was at 7am. I was informed that leaving at 5am would be fine, so I booked a taxi for 4.50am just in case. I set my alarm for 4am (bathed and pretty much packed the night before, so not much to do...). I then panicked and decided to set it for just before four. I awoke from a bizarre dream to the sound of a buzzer...it was 4.55am, the taxi was slightly late and I err...was still in bed. Turns out I'd forgotten to change the hour along with the minutes and had set the alarm for 4.56am....d'oh!!! So I ran around panicking, dumped the last few things in my bag and jumped in the taxi.

I made my way to the Delta checkin. It was quite confusing, but I found the right line. After queueing for about 30 mins and with one other person in front of me, we were informed that our line was now first class only and we had to join the back of the other queue


!!#$%$@#@!#!!!@

so anyway, I finally got through, only had carry on luggage, so made my way to US customs. Only one person ahead of me - woo hoo!!! So I got up to the chap who proceeded to give me all kinds of grief the like of which I've never experienced before about what I was planning to do in America, what I was doing in Canada, why I had an Irish passport...I was probably there for about 5 minutes (time now was 6.30am, plane leaves at 7am.....) before he told me I had to fill out some form - he pointed to 4 boxes I had to fill in and the time we spent arguing about why exactly I couldn't fill it in there and then instead of going to some table and getting back in line I could have probably translated the bible into irish, but anyway - so I go fill out the boxes, get back in line, smile my best smile at some hard nosed chick who promptly turns the form over and points to the other four boxes and back I head to my table. I finally fill out all boxes, get through customs and then queue again to get scanned (time check: 6.47am). It takes a few goes before I am beep free, at which stage my shoes, cardigan and belt are no longer on my person. I also had the indignity of the french canadian requesting that she touch the area around my jean button/ zip...after which she had a good feel of my bra fastener area (all which I'm trying to do the job of my much needed belt), much to the amusement of the guys in line behind me.

Finally made it to the boarding area and was the second last person on the plane. I sat in my seat hot, flushed, stressed and very aware of the fact that I hadn't showered that morning. To the cute guy that sat next to me who also had to put up with my jerking awake and drooling (why lord, WHY?!?!?!) I can only apologise!!!!

Still, it was ALL worth it. To those of you who haven't been yet, make it a priority. Charleston is a great place - full of history with a nice slow pace of life. And great seafood :-)

So - what did I miss??