No Rest for the Wicked

After shamefully neglecting my blog for months and months and months… I thought I’d update it with a few pictures of things that have been keeping me out of trouble for the past few months.

 

 

Well done, Champ

  Canada gets its way: Commonwealth

 climate deal drops binding targets

“Canada played a pivotal – if controversial – role as Commonwealth countries reached a deal on climate change Saturday.

It helped block a draft agreement that almost every country in the 53-member group had agreed to, one which called on developed countries to meet greenhouse-gas targets.

The move so frustrated some foreign diplomats that they sought out Canadian journalists to express their disgust at what was happening behind closed doors.”

For the rest of the article visit: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/commonwealth_climate_cda

Can you believe Stephen Harper? Who the hell is this guy? And what are his advisors doing? Doesn’t he “get” that one of the most important things to Canadians is standing up to the Yanks to the south of us and proclaiming that we are NOT the 51st state!? Yeah, yeah, we know all the stories about being dependent on the US economy, military defense, blah, blah, blah…

 I may be wrong on my dates, but Jean Chretien was a dinosaur when he was elected for his third term as PM (did it not seem like he was in office for a million years) until he did something amazing that set the fire under our freezing, Canadian asses. When W, leader of the Yanks, gathered his troops and headed off to Iraq to avenge 9-11 (I’m sure there are a few blogs there, but I’ll leave that to Jabiz) Our beloved, Mr. “pepper spray? the only thing I know about pepper is that I like it on my steak” Chretien, did the Shawinigan shake and declared that Canadian troops would not be following suit.

Eh? Wah? Excusez-moi? were heard all over Canada. We all put down our Tim Horton’s iced cappuccinos and felt that rare “maybe the rest of the world will finally realize we’re not american” glow. And clearly, the Liberals were in office for-freaking-ever due to decisions like this one. Allowing gay marriage, and the ongoing discussions about decriminalizing/legalizing pot were other big factors in the Libs popularity (too bad some of them were too little, too late)… so what in the world is old Stevo thinking? “Umm, that I’d really like to not be PM after the next federal election?”

 Well done Stephen, I’d say you’re headed there Champ.

As Rick Mercer (one of my fav Canadian dudes – and good Newfie boy) said:

If I were the Tories I’d be a little bit worried. The economy is red hot, the dollar’s through the roof, the GST is coming down, everyone’s working and the Tories are still only 4 points ahead of Stephane Dion. And everyone thinks he’s an idiot.

Brides, Butterflies and Belgium

I leave for the airport in about 3 hours. I’m not packed, not showered, haven’t even had breakfast yet. Am too excited-nervous-happy-sad…. everything that comes with leaving home again, but even more so this time because Belgium is brand new!

 My next couple of weeks will no doubt be crazy busy with finding a place to live, figuring out the rules and routines of my new school, hanging out with Amie (1st buddy to come visit shows up less than a week after I get there – awesome!) and trying to remember my 4 years of French immersion. So I thought I’d post a couple pictures from the wedding now before things get really busy.

 Here is a picture of the bridesmaids: Alex, me and Erin.

 

And one of Jake and Beckett. The wedding was amazing! I’ll write more later…

Here Comes the Bride

3 days until the big event and “Runaway Bride” Beckett is holding steady ; )

 Here are some pix from one of her showers a couple weeks ago. Maybe I’ll throw in a couple from her stagette later… umm, maybe not… ; )

This is the bouquet that I got to make from all the bows and ribbons from ALL of her gifts. I loved it! It was the best shower I’ve been to, mostly because I had a task with which to occupy myself ; ) Man, did she get a lot of loot! Has me seriously rethinking the whole elopement plan should I ever decide to tie the knot!

Here’s the “before” picture of the bridal party… “after” picture to come after Friday.

Hmm, is Beckett really sure about who she wants to marry?

 

Hmmm…..?

the dresses are in the building!

The emails were flying in over the past couple days announcing the arrival of the long awaited dresses for the wedding event of the year! Beckett and Jake’s big day, of course!  

To see what I’ll look like this summer as a bridesmaid at Beckett’s wedding… look at the picture above, tilt your head a bit, squeeze your eyes really tight, but don’t close them, and picture my head on this body. Presto! Did it work?

I have yet to see the dress in living colour, but I’m sure it will be perfect! Wow, just over three months to go! Beckett, getting nervous yet? ; )  You should be… I’m going to be home to help plan the hen night, and I can’t wait!  

 Speaking of…. if anyone has some great games and truly embarrassing tasks to assist us in giving our beloved ”bride-to-be” an unforgetable send off from singlehood… they’d be enormously appreciated! Not to worry Beckett, I don’t foresee you wearing Dolly Parton style, inflatable boobs… we’ll be a tad classier than that!  ; )

Ringing in the New Year – 007 Style

New Year’s Eve this year was spent in Canada surrounded by some of my oldest friends at a Casino Royale themed bash. Seriously, at times it felt as though this party was the high school grad reunion that I missed a couple of years back. A feeling that was a bit strange at first, especially because I have known many of these people since I was 11 years old, and hadn’t seen many of them since shortly after leaving highschool…. but then the G & Ts kicked in ; )

 

Clearly, you have to get older, but no one says you have to get wiser.

The Great White North

I hadn’t experienced a Canadian winter in over four years until I went home this past December. I had forgotten how much I love winter and snow! I was worried that my five years of living in the tropics had made me a winter wimp… but my three weeks at home in the cold were wonderful! I especially loved wearing my winter clothes! I never feel cozy here in the heat… just hot and sticky. I’ve been back in KL for almost two weeks now and feel like it’s hotter here than it has ever been! Argh!

Since it doesn’t often snow in Vancouver, I made sure that I would find some so I went skiing with some friends, including my good buddy Nicole, up at Cypress Mountain. Ahh, sigh… Vancouver truly is the best city in the world…

But then… the snow came to us. Here’s a picture of my parents’ street the day I left Vancouver for KL. Talk about extremes…

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Yay!!!!! For the first time in 4 years I’m going home for Christmas!

I am so excited. I got my plane tickets today and have been dreaming about wearing my winter clothes! Sweaters, coats, real shoes instead of sandals all the time! I can’t wait! I fully realize that I’ve been rather homesick for the last little while, so going home might not be the smartest move right now… but so what? I do wonder how many days of being cold will it take before I can’t wait to be back in the hot and steamy tropics. Hmm…. we’ll see….

Found this photo taken way back in 2002 when I was living in Colombia. This was the last time I came home for xmas…. check out my hair… ugh! Beckett and Jenn look perfect as always ; )

 

Sisters: can’t live with them… can’t shoot ‘em ;)

This past Sunday I called home and experienced one of the worst things that can happen to someone who lives on the other side of the planet from their nearest and dearest… well almost. After doing the chit chat routine with Ma for a few minutes. It will always make me laugh that everytime we talk on the phone she asks what’s the weather like? ummm here in KL now? hot and wet. yesterday? hot and wet. tomorrow? you guessed it… hot and wet. Gotta luv her  

So after the oh-so-informative “how’s the weather?” chat, Mom jumps into something new with “I’ve got some bad news for you… Kelly(sister) was in a car accident.”  I seriously felt my heart stop and all these questions immediately enter my head: is Kel ok? is she in the hospital? am I going home? who will look after my class? can I change my plane ticket? will I stay at home? And then… I really should be a more organized teacher. Half a second later I got the “but she’s okay” part of the message, and all was well again. Thank heaven.

Here’s to you Kelbelle. Can’t wait to go skiing with you this winter when I’m home. Am so happy you and Angel weren’t hurt. Love ya heaps and heaps. But do realize this… when we’re heading up whatever mountain, I’m driving!

Here’s us tanked at this year’s Canada Day Party (to my Yankee friends, no I don’t wear my Canadian flag pin all the time!)

And here’s Kel’s little green bomb… totally totalled. I say, life is short Kelbelle, buy the VW Beetle you’ve wanted since you were 13.

Life is Good

Things are finally looking up….

Top ten things in Tamland:

1- went to the ultra-posh KL sports medicine clinic yesterday and YA-FRIGGIN-HOOO!!!! I don’t need another surgery on my 98 year old knee… yay!!!! but do need heaps of rather expensive physio that is unlikely to be covered by my crap health insurance (heaps to be said for Canada’s universal healthcare policy)

2- after procrastination of epic proportion… I have finally finished my report card comments

3- just got back from a much needed beach holiday, nothing beats sitting next to the ocean thinking about nothing and everything all at once (see above pics of Tam with cutest baby in the world Aidan and super surfer girl Devon)

4- going on a Hallowe’en Hash Harrier Run tonight with Lynn and Hot Scott, finally the gross KL haze seems to be going…. but now it’s raining again… jungle run will be slippery and muddy

5- break up diet in combination with ongoing mild stomach bug ( I know sort of icky… but whatever) kicks ass over South Beach, have now lost all the weight I gained post first knee surgery and can once again fit in to fabulous suits I had tailor-made in Colombia, just in time for recruiting season

6- have decided for certain I am NOT going to a recruiting fair but have decided to activate my file with a recruiting agency… just to see who bites

7- have booked my flight home for xmas… and special bonus, I’ll then have enough miles to fly home for free in the summer

8- heard from both a former principal and former headmaster who have agreed to be referees for my CV and various school applications… phew!

9- finally not feeling freaked out or overwhelmed by plethora of “world is my oyster” options for where I’ll land next year… am confident it’ll all be good… even if (maybe especially if) I end up landing in my “dungeon” at home 

10- I bought my own copies of season 1 and 2 of Grey’s Anatomy…. my new fav show