A trip to Stowe

Hiya all from the great white north. It has been so dang cold although today is turning out not so bad. Good thing too because we are going to the snow festival. I know there will be too many kids and I won't want to go back. But maybe I'll turn into a kid again and slide down the hills with them. We went on a "ski" trip last weekend with friends and it was too cold to ski. Oh there were fools on the hill practicing the craft, but seriously, you needed every spec of skin covered or there'd have been frostbite going on. It was single digits and windy. Don't I look happy?

So it turned into an eating and drinking (and drinking) kind of weekend. It was in the town of Stowe, Vermont, a couple of hours south of here. What a cute little town! Also it happened to be LBGT ski week which was a happy coincidence. It made finding a place to have dinner on Saturday night difficult though.

We went up the hill to check out the Van Trapp Lodge. Did you know that the Sound of Music is based on a true story and that the family escaped and set up shop on this mountaintop in Vermont? One of the kids (now an old guy) still runs the place. We missed the tour time though so maybe that will be something to do next time.

We were right up the road from the Ben and Jerry's factory. Serge and I have toured it before but the souvenir shirt I got last time is stained so I was able to get another one. I chose the same design but got blue instead of brown. Serge wouldn't let me buy the exact same one. He's funny that way.

There were lots of cool shops in the little town. I was amused at the poop paper, made from real moose excrement. Didn't buy any though. Ewwww. We did buy a jar of eight dollar relish. It is so good and we've used it on a bunch of things. Sadly, I don't think it's available anywhere here.  But next time we go down, I'll have to pick some more up.

There was also an ice carving competition. We headed up to the lodge area of the ski station and froze to death watching the artists ply their craft. I don't see how they could spend hours outside working like that.

And everywhere in town, there were ice sculptures. Some were quite elaborate. The artists have quite the arsenal of tools. The guy in front of our hotel had a lot of trouble because the arm fell off and it's tricky business getting it to stick back on. I'm still not fully sure of how that is possible.

We ate like kings. We hardly ever go out to restaurants at home. For the occasional birthday or special treat, so it's really fun for us to get to go to restaurants for EVERY meal. The prices weren't too too outrageous. About what one would expect at a tourist resort.

We did a really fun activity Saturday evening and took a 20 minute dog sled ride. Half the fun was watching the dogs get all excited about running. They were hootin and hollerin just aching to go. I posted a vid on FB of that. I would like to do this again but on their two hour tour through the woods. It was pretty dang cold though.

And a great time was had by all. Good friends, good food, fun activities. Now just need to get mother nature on the same page. We are on our thirteenth year up here and we STILL have not gone skiing. I may be able to remedy that this month. I'm crazy busy with work for a few weeks but I am planning a little road trip in there. I'll tell you all about that when I get back. For now, Serge and I are headed to the snow village to have a drink at the ice hotel. Trying to embrace this winter thing.

Oh and Georgie says Hi.

Stowe on Dwellable

Post vacay post

Well, well, well I have again been a bad blogger. But I can explain. I finished up the butt-kicking course I was taking and then left for a three week holiday. And I've worked every day since I got back. Again, this blog is perhaps redundant for the FB people since Serge and I have been posting pics of our travels along the way. One of the great things about our trip was that we MISSED the record breaking, city paralyzing blizzard while we were gone. They got the streets cleared up the day before we returned. Nice! This week we have had a lot of warm weather so a lot has melted but there is still a good foot on the ground in most places.

First leg of our trip was our every two year visit to the Pacific Northwest. The parental units rented a cottage on Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle. Here's baby bro and I crossing during the only two hours of our week long stay that featured sunshine. I am not exaggerating, it rained every single day.

We went into the city several times to sightsee and to eat at Elliot's, the famous oyster bar and restaurant. I am amazed at my continued love affair for all things seafood. I liked the penn cove oysters, first oysters I've liked and I have tried many times. Also, I can't seem to get enough anchovies for my caesar salad. I used to hate those and now, heaven.

Here are Serge and I in front of the famous public market. I think this was the day he and I escaped to the movies to see This Is 40. OMG it was one of the funniest movies I have seen in a very long time. So raunchy, I just loved it. Saw it two more times I loved it so much.

On cousins night, we took the underground tour and learned a lot about the early beginnings of Seattle. It was a really interesting tour so if you ever make it to Seattle, I highly recommend it.

On Christmas eve, my brother and I prepared a turkey dinner feast for the family and then on Christmas day we had a marvelous hors d'oeuvres buffet. I came back a couple pounds heavier, and I'm sure those two days played into that.

The day after Christmas we flew down to Southern California. It was chilly for them but Serge and I enjoyed what would be downright balmy if it were here in Montreal. I had made a facebook event and invited friends for a happy hour. Out of 25 invites, we had two takers. Ah well, we have been gone going on 13 years now.

The next four nights we spent at camp mommy. She recently had knee replacement surgery and we tried to help out around the house as best we could. She seemed to improve during our visit, but, well, it sucks to get old. Talked to her yesterday and she seemed to be good, so I was happy about that.

Had New Year's Eve in Donna's garage again this year. It was cold again but I made it well past midnight which is unusual for me. We had two fun pinball machines to play with as the neighbor fixes them up and sells them.

Then on New Year's Day, we drove up and met dad at the Vasquez rocks in Agua Dulce. Very interesting place to hike around. You've seen these rocks in several episodes of Star Trek depicting several different planets.

Then Serge and I had a little getaway for a couple nights back in Long Beach. (Got the Hyatt Regency for $60 a night. God I love Priceline!) We had our big crab dinner at Gladstones the second night. Yum!

Then we went back to camp mommy and since it was her birthday, we went out to the best sushi place in SoCal, Kotobuki. Blobby, you should go next time you are in town. It is really worth the detour. We were so stuffed after that but it was sooooo good.

The next day was our annual gingerbread men decorating day. The kids went a little wild on the frosting on some of them, but it was them who got to eat them all. First year I didn't even get a bite. Oh well, next year.

Then it was our annual Feast of 3 Kings party at mom's house. Caya is 18 now and I think this is the first picture I've ever gotten of her and me. Look at that smile! The night was marred by some drama, a rarity and nothing I should discuss here, but I'm sure all feelings will have healed by next year.

So now you are all caught up. I'll try to pop in more often. Here is a little Georgie for you.

Our latest adventure

I know, I know, I know. I have been lax on my blogging duties. To be honest, with work and my class for my Master's program, my ass has been downright kicked. I have decided to take a break with the classes for next semester, I've been so stressed out, not eating, insomnia, it's all I can do to get through the day some days. So what do I do to add to that mess? I decide to embark on real estate adventures. Perfect timing.....NOT! For those who are not in the loop, we own (the bank actually owns) a couple buildings and we have 7 apartments that we rent out. The purpose of this is to have some kind of retirement plan, once the buildings are paid off, we'll have a steady income. Since neither of us will have much of a pension and I have never done well in the stock market, real estate is our plan. So we live in a fiveplex and we have another triplex. We bought the triplex ten years ago and it has provided a steady cash flow which helps us with our monthly nut. However, the building has appreciated quite a lot, so that the return on our equity is like 3 percent. A little better than the bank, but not great.

So I decided to look at numbers south of the border. Average home prices in Canada are about double what they are in the states. The numbers up here suck. What I am seeing down in New Hampshire are numbers similar to what they were here when we bought the triplex ten years ago. This property was the one that got me so excited about selling the triplex and investing down south. I'm sure that will not be the one that we buy, but when I checked out rents vs. prices of rental property, there are some really good investment opportunities. My goal is to get a 10% return on investment, which, from my observations, seems totally doable. Yay!

So last week, we called up our favorite real estate agent, put the triplex up for sale and in less than a week we had an offer. After countering, counter countering and counter counter countering, we had a deal. If all goes well with the inspection and financing, we'll close in January and I will start probing properties in the states. I have always done well with real estate and am very excited about this new venture. But there is no rush. We have our amazing Asia vacation coming up in March for our 20th anniversary and with a few extra bucks in the bank account, it's gonna be all that much more fun.

So now you are all caught up with me. I know y'all want a little Georgie porn, so here ya go. Mwah!

This n That plus Georgie porn

So Serge got a new camera. It was supposed to be our camera since I had a gift certificate to be applied, but he messed that up somehow (Did you push "apply gift certificate"? Apparently not.) and ended up paying it all himself. It takes really good pics though. The impetus for this was the upcoming TV show. None of our cameras do video well at the moment AND I discovered that if you're in the USA, you will not be able to watch the tv station's episodes on line. So we will take a video of the show so we can keep it.

One more week and it starts airing. I've noticed that often times some of the contestants end up on other shows to talk about the experience or the food. Ugh. I don't want to again, too dang stressful. Also, there is a public choice where people vote for contestants to come back. Please please please let it not be me.

Can you believe it, two blogs in the same month. Remember when it used to be everyday? I don't know how I did that. I have had a lot of time off though. I saw three movies this week. Argo, which I highly recommend, is a great true story and even though you know how it's going to end, it still keeps you on the edge of your seat. Kind of like in Titanic when you knew they were going to hit the iceberg. Really well done.

Then I went to see the Perks of being a Wallflower. Meh. I saw so many raves about it. It wasn't very funny or dramatic. Maybe a super light version of Ordinary People. Then today, Serge and I went to see Paranormal Activity 4. If you like the series style, you'll like this one too. So many chills and jumps and the last ten minutes was awesome. Serge still thinks the first one was the best. (When we both jumped off the couch and shrieked at the end.)

We had dinner last night at mother in law's house. Here is Georgie again, thinking he's a lapdog. I've told you about the yawning right? He must yawn hundreds of times per day. It's a really bizarre habit. Even when he's all excited about getting a coookie or going for a walk, a yawn will suddenly possess him. Strange 37 pound dog.

Let's see, what else? Gotta big week starting, another English immersion with my fourth group of nurses AND I start my next class for my Master's program. So, lots of homework coming up. The class is called, The Psychology of learning - how students learn. Should be at least interesting since it is related to my work.

Not sure when I'm going to do Thanksgiving. We missed the Canadian version and I have the turkey in the freezer so I guess I can do it anytime between now and the American version. Can't think of anything else except that I HATE that you closed your blog Rox. I already miss it and keep checking if you came back. Poo on you, at least send me a chatty email. Finally, here's a last shot of Georgie at MIL's house. He sat there looking at something for the longest time. Wonder what it was....

Snippets

* Been a while since I did one of these. Feels all retro and stuff.

* I have a lot of free time this session. The contracts didn't line up like they normally do. I've got 2-3 days of work per week. I'm not gonna stress about it, just enjoy it.

* Seeing movies is one way to enjoy it. Yesterday, Serge and I took in Looper, an interesting tale involving time travel and telekenesis. We are still confused about one scene, but it kept us blabbing about it well after it was finished.

* Today I took myself to see Step Up Revolution. I was the only person in the theater. Weird. I have a major new crush though now. OMG every time he was on the screen, I melted.

* Not going to post his name since I'm probably not allowed to post the pic. Even though it's already on the internet. He is the male lead in the movie. It was really difficult to focus on the plot when he was on screen. Woof.

* Got the holiday weekend off too (Canadian Thanksgiving). We are going on a little road trip off the grid. Should be some really nice fall foliage scenes. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. We are taking Georgie with us. Speaking of the little monster, here's a little Georgie porn.

* He's been especially needy this weekend. I worked three intense English immersion weeks back to back so he must have been missing me.

* I have been smoke free for 51 months today. According to my stats, I have NOT smoked 46599 cigarettes since I quit.

* Serge on the other hand, has picked the habit back up. He decided to smoke while we were in Cape Cod since there were other smokers among us. Then when we got back he requit. But that only lasted a week. Now he's back to a pack a day, sigh.

* The diet is going awesome. I look good naked again. Yay! Still two pounds to reach my goal though. Should be done with that this week or next.

*  Oh yeah, and on Saturday we went to POUTINEVILLE, a fancy poutine restaurant and yours truly ordered a salad! Admire, wont you, my phenomenal restraint. Meanwhile my dining partners ordered poutines with chopped up corn dogs in them! Okay, I got a bite, but that was it.

* My current English shows are Glee, Parenthood, 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory, Amazing Race and waiting for Smash to come back. Are there any I need to be watching that I'm not?

* This was fun. Maybe I'll write more with my light schedule. In the meantime Mwah, and thanks for stopping by.

Taste of Fall

Hiya peeps. Long time no write. Sorry about that. I'm still making it about once a month though at least. Today it was 42 degrees when I took the dog out. A real first shot of fall. I like it. I think last time (I'll go check...) yes indeed, last time I was here, I was facing two unexpected weeks off. I ended up going down to Ogunquit, Maine with a friend for a couple of days. It was beautiful, just like I remembered it, but the water was still too cold to go swimming.

As you can see, it was gorgeous. There is another photo though that I'm not posting here that David took of me on the beach. OMG, now I remember why I stopped taking my shirt off. There's a pot of jelly over my abs. So as soon as I got back, I started the diet again. I'm going to get my bod back if it's the last thing I do.

We did a big clean up and reorganized our office. Threw a bunch of things out and discovered a disc with some old photos on it. Found a pic of how my stomach once looked. THAT picture I will post here, haha.

What's funny is that I remember I hated this picture. Not ripped enough, lol. Ah how our criteria mellow over the years. Anyway, motivated. Lost 3 pounds in two weeks already. Yay!

Serge and I also went for a couple of hikes at local nature parks. The first one didn't allow dogs, but I found out the municipal nature parks do allow dogs, so today we took Georgie out and he absolutely LOVED it. We need to take him more. Of course now he's a total blob meister. Here's a Georgie pic for ya.

We had an election too and the separatist party won but not a majority. Whew. I hate the xenophobic rhetoric up here from the hard line separatists. The francophones will swear up and down that they just want to protect their language and culture, but the flip side of that coin is xenophobia because what they are really saying is that they are afraid those that are non-francophone will alter or take away what exists now. Fear based = phobia. Anyway, I was pleased they didn't get all the power.

I guess that's about it. Work season is back on and I've got my second group of nurses tomorrow. 15 students so it will be a busy week. Thanks for stopping by and see you next time.

OMG an update!

So sorry to have been remiss in my blog duties, but it's summertime, time to shirk responsibility and rejoice in the warmth. Which is what I've been doing. Well, except for the working part. As I mentioned before, I landed a summer contract to teach those on unemployment whose lack of English communication skills were ostensibly the last obstacle for them to find a job. Well I can tell you it certainly isn't the only obstacle. I started calling them my Welcome Back Kotter class. I just received their evaluation of the course from them which they fill out in an anonymous format. While most of the evaluation and comments were positive, there were a couple that just gobsmacked me. Here I'll show you one:

Vous acceptez trop de race surtout des maudits arabe. Ceci créer des conflits dans la classe. J’aurais aimé être juste des Québécois. J’aime pas les maudite crisse de race.

Um, racist much? I didn't have much trouble divining who had written such a thing. Sadly, such attitudes persist in every corner of the globe. That said, I did have a few bizarre moments in the class, most notably when, let's call him Mutlag, looked at me and chortled, "You don't really believe the holocaust actually happened, do you?" I had to affirm that yes, yes I did. Thankfully, we left it at that. Anyway, it was an interesting experience spending nine weeks with them all day every day.

Once the contract finished, it was time to travel and have fun. First up was New York City, a family vacation to celebrate my stepdad's 75th birthday.

We stayed right on Time's Square and each morning I could hear the screaming from the crowd outside the Good Morning America studios. Too. Many. People. Luckily, there was a subway stop nearby to whisk us away to other parts of the city. We dined like kings thanks to the parental units and saw Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana, a show that will move to Las Vegas and replace the Elvis show there. At least I've heard so.

We also scored some off broadway tickets to Forbidden Broadway, a musical that spoofs all the other musicals on Broadway. We made a rather somber tour of the 9/11 memorial which was pretty impressive. The security screening was quite rigorous. Another neat thing we did was tour the Space museum where we got to see the space shuttle up close (though sadly we weren't able to go IN the shuttle) but we couldn't get a good picture because it's too dang big. This one was cool from the exhibit inside though:

 

One thing I noticed in NYC that really irritated me was that there were no recycling bins anywhere! I'm so used to Montreal now where there are always two sides to the garbage bin, one side for mixed recyclables and the other for true garbage. C'mon New Yorkers, get with the program.

 

Serge and I also went to Brooklyn on the free ferry to Ikea and tripped around the Red Hook neighborhood. Also, we took the subway out to Coney Island, a place I've wanted to visit since I was a kid. It was kinda sad and run down although it looked like they were embarking on a major renovation of the site. If you are friends with me on Facebook, you already saw lots of family shots on the trip. (Rox please get back on FB) A great trip despite the oppressive heat.

Next trip was my Vegas junket with my Vegas Junket Buddy. We spent four days playing and eating and seeing another Cirque show, Zumanity. VJB and I didn't take any pictures dangit. I've only had one other trip like this where it seemed I just couldn't lose. So much fun to put twenty bucks in and take a hundred out of a machine. And this happened several times. I think I spent a total of $300 and that includes taking VJB out to the show. Zumanity was great because it was Cirque's X-rated show, 18 and over only. It was hilarious and dirty and filled with acrobatics too. Hard to explain, but definitely worth the detour.

The day after I got back from Vegas, we jumped in the car with Andy and drove down to Boston to our friends' place. Oh my but did we drink that first night. I didn't go to bed until 4 in the morning. (!) The reason we went down there is because we had planned a weekend in Provincetown. We wanted to break the drive up so we wouldn't have to do the 9 hours all at once.

I was SOOOOOO hungover. Andy said I didn't look it, but I can sure see it here. The weather was nice that day and we nursed hangovers at the bar and had a fancy schmancy dinner at 10pm. The next day was kinda sucky weather-wise. We went on a walk that ended up taking us three hours to complete. And we had parted with no food or water. Lame. Then we went into town and toured the big monument commemorating the Mayflower's stopping point before they finally settled on Plymouth as the settlement choice.

We climbed all the way to the top. When we got home, Serge mapped our travels on foot that day. We had done 8 miles plus the tower, much of it on sand. Boy were our legs noodly the next day.

The last night we had another fancy dinner and crashed pretty early. Spent another day at our friends' place before driving home Monday.

And we are all caught up now. It's been a pretty hot summer, probably the hottest since I've lived here but we seem to be over the hump now, mornings are cool again. I was supposed to start a new contract this week but that has been put on hold so now I find myself with two unexpected weeks off. What to do, what to do. Stay tuned for that.

June recap

Serge was going through an old box of photos from when he was young and came upon this photo of the Olympic stadium without the tower! For those of you who don't know, the tower is the largest inclined structure of its type in the world. It was supposed to house a fabric roof that could be retracted in the summer. Trouble is, the roof never really worked right. It took a thirty year cigarette tax just to pay for the thing and it loses millions annually. If only they had just stopped it here in the picture. Of course we wouldn't have the iconic symbol either.

It's been quite the month for me. I started an English immersion group with 16 students and we are spending nine weeks together this summer, all day, five days a week. After three weeks, they have made so much progress and are really into the learning process. They have been very supportive too as I filmed the tv show last week.

God what a trip that was!

The first day was blinding anxiety but by the last day, we were a group of five friends having a lovely dinner together. Of course I can't reveal the results or anything but I think we all feel like winners since we each made four new friends who passed through one of the most intense weeks of our lives together.

I already put this on FB but after the night I cooked, I was so exhausted that I passed out on the couch. I don't remember being asleep but Serge said I was for a good 20 minutes. Thanks darling for documenting it. Every day of the week we were summoned to a different place in the city to be interviewed and get our reaction to that evening's menu. Then we met at the next participant's house for dinner. When it was my day, the crew arrived at around 1 and from 2-4pm I prepared my dinner. I finished with about 5 minutes to spare but everything went as I had planned. I can't really go into more details, you'll just have to watch the show when it's aired in October. It's available on the internet once it airs.

I don't think I slept for more than 5 hours any night and I was also WORKING.....unlike the other participants. It's amazing how much you can do when adrenaline is coursing through your veins. I'm looking forward to a more tranquil July.

Also, we have been dealing with the apartments turning over. First we had the three bedbug infested apartments to treat. It seems Guy likes to drag things he finds in the alley into his apartment. Then the girl who painted her kitchen ass brown without masking or anything creating the ugliest room ever ( but it was yellow, she opined when we asked her about it) has cost us hundreds of dollars. Then it was the two furnished bachelor apartments that had far fewer furnishings than when the tenants arrived. No towels, no spatulas, can openers, and one of them had no knives left. Really? We can't ask for a deposit so it's just the price of doing business I guess. But it always makes me think that bad thought: people are pieces of shit. Again, I'm looking forward to a more tranquil July.

How about a pooch pic for smiles? Have a lovely month peeps.

DC 'n stuff

Wow what a month I've had. So many things going on at the same time. Let's start with work. I just finished up a contract with a lovely charming young woman today and the last two days I've also been in the studio doing some voiceover work for the ESL textbooks. It's related to that job I applied for but didn't get last month. When I inquired about who got the job, I was told, "Someone from McGill with no experience." McGill is a big university here. So it made me wonder what I had said wrong in the interview. Monday, I start a nine week full-time contract for people on unemployment. Apparently their last hurdle to entering the job market is their lack of English communication ability. But between you and me, it's more than just that that makes it difficult for them to find employment. Ahem.

I got THE CALL last Wednesday before our getaway. More on that at the end.

Last weekend, Serge and I had a very well-deserved weekend getaway to Washington DC. We drove down to Burlington after I finished my class last Thursday at noon. We had a little extra time to spare before our 7pm flight so we went into town and bought shoes. We both got new pairs of New Balance (for those who value comfort over fashion) for less than HALF the price they cost up here. Plus no sales tax on shoes in Vermont! Cool beans. It was kind of long getting from Dulles into Washington DC. We finally checked in at about 11. I asked if I could buy some wine somewhere and that's when I learned that there is no wine sold except at (closed) government stores and there was no mini bar in the room either. So we went to the restaurant across the street and had a couple glasses before they closed along with a yummy calamari. We would have had more, but they were mopping the floor. We took the hint and went back to our room.

The room was so big. It had a fridge (would it have killed them to stock it with wine?) and stove that we didn't use. Basically a large bachelor apartment. With the free wifi and the extensive free breakfast buffet, this room was a steal at $70 Thanks Priceline! Before going to bed, we checked the email (bad idea) to find that one of our tenants downstairs is going to break her lease because she has a bug phobia and has seen a couple of silverfish. Plus she knew we had just left for the weekend. It infuriated me so much that I lay there all night stewing and didn't sleep a wink. Not a happy start for me.

The next day came and as we had reserved and prepaid for our National Mall Segway tour, I dragged my ass out.. It took 15 or 20 minutes to really get the hang of it, but once you do, it's really easy - and fun!

If you ever get a chance, do it! It was a great way to see the major monuments.

We had lunch after that at a Mexican joint and then went back to the hotel for a siesta. I dozed a bit and Serge slept like the dead as usual.

Then we headed out to meet VUBOQ at Number 9 only they weren't quite open yet, so we met up at the joint next door. There were big storms a brewing and even tornadoes touching down nearby. We dealt with the inclement weather by enjoying two for one cocktails and meeting some younguns. Boozy good times.

The next day we had our Capitol tour planned. We got there early and the guy checking us in recognized us as family and winked and said, "Oh honey, I'm gonna put you on the earlier tour so you don't have to wait." Yay, family perks.

My tennis elbow was flaring up so I wore my brace. It sure is impressive when you are standing next to it. Washington DC is the only place in America where I can feel the European influence in the architecture. Inside was just as grandiose as outside.

That's under the capitol dome. I wish I remembered more of my American History because some of the details were lost on me since I couldn't remember who certain people were. Doh! The slow Quebecification of me is becoming evident. After that we toured the Library of Congress, an equally opulent structure nearby.

Then we headed over to Union Station to have some lunch. Although Taco Bell nearly seduced me, we decided on Johnny Rockets and patty melts. Nom. Then we went to the National Portrait Gallery and spent hours looking at the paintings and photographs. Not only was it free (like most museums in DC) but there was free coffee at the end! Very nice touch.

After a little down time at the room (I let Serge sleep for about 15 minutes) we headed out to the suburbs to meet some old friends who live out there. They wanted to show us their digs which was almost a McMansion. Although they seemed to imply we should stay the night, Serge was an absolute no on that so we forced them to take us back to the metro stop - a forty minute drive. Oy. Got home late and crashed.

At about two in the morning I woke up in the corridor outside my room. It was the door closing that woke me up. I had sleepwalked to go pee and ended up outside in my underwear with a pee boner and the locked door preventing me from entering. I banged on the door so much that someone in the next room poked their head out. Serge did not answer. So I went down to the lobby and asked the front desk to get security to let me in. She actually asked if I had ID before correcting herself, "Oh of course you don't." I was doing the "I have to pee so bad" dance when the security guy arrived and let me back in. I'm still grateful though, at least I was wearing underwear which I usually don't do in bed!

The next day we wanted to go the the Natural History museum and the Air and Space museum. I'll just let you know now, only one of those per day is doable. We spent over 6 hours in the Natural History museum and didn't even take in an IMAX film or it would have been longer. Very cool though.

Then we headed out to meet up with VUBOQ again and drinks and Mexican food. There were lots of boys out because the weather was just perfect.

The next morning we headed back home. Metro, bus, plane, car, pick up Georgie and finally home.

Okay so the call. I'm going on the Quebec reality show Un Souper Presque Parfait! We are doing halloween week which will be filmed in a couple of weeks. Our meal has to be halloween themed and our table halloween decorated and we have to dress up in a different costume all five days. Work has been really accomodating as I will have to miss some of my duties during the filming week. It will be aired in October of course and I won't be able to talk about any of the details of the filming until then. At first I was filled with anxiety about it, but now that's morphed into excitement.

There you have it. It's long, I'll admit, but pretend it's thirty posts in thirty days. I'll post when I can. Mwah!