It's been a few good days!

Well what can I say! I did well today and I am one step closer to achieving my goal. I also received word yesterday that I have officially been given permission by the University of Calgary to graduate!! YAY!!!! The only thing that would make things go even smoother would be if Max could get a job!! That would be so nice and then finally we would be able to move out on our own and actually start comtemplating on when we should have children!!! Not anytime soon though, still have soooo much more left to do before that even becomes the remotest of possibilities!

I am not used to this!

I'm still having a hard time getting used to this whole being out of university thang! I am so used to reading at least 30 pages a day that to sit down and read a book (and it's not like I don't have alot of books to read) is not a happening thing. It's disappointing. It was the one thing that I was looking forward to. It was on my number one thing on my list of stuff to do when I was done school! Pretty scary! I have only read one book so far this summer. Oh well, hopefully this winter is long and cold!!! It seems like it's the only time I get things done!

Canada and US Relations: Brought together by love!

Are you still giggling about the all the inuendos brought on by Condoleeza Rice's visit to Canada? Peter McKay playing tourguide? I am!! But then again I like Jeane Mose's reports on CNN! I'd love to see what Rick Mercer would have to say about all this. October can't come fast enough!

I'm sooo nervous!

I got the phone call that I have been waiting months for. Friday is judgement day. I don't think about it much for the simple fact that when I do, my stomach does enormous flipflops.
It's because I'm excited.
My body can't handle excitement like this, everything becomes irregular! I get like this when I am headed out to the mountains for a day of skiing(because I don't get to go as often as I'd like to) or I am headed off to Europe.
I don't handle surprises or excitement well, does this mean that I lead a lackluster life?? I guess it means that I don't get out all that much!

At least I can say this: I'm happy!

Back to work blues!

I had so much fun this weekend! I don't want to go back to work!! Oh well!

Greetings from B.C.

Well we have hit the motherload when it comes to hotels here in Radium! Couldn't ask for a better location! We took the long way to get here but it was well worth it. I love driving on these highways here!! We went all the way down to Cranbrook today and it was really nice. Might have some pictures to post as well. I only have 4 minutes left on the hotel computer. Tomorrow is our anniversary and I get to have a foot treatment!! OOOOH!!!!!! I love being on vacation!!!

I shoulda played POA!!!

Damn it I had a good night bowling! I was 60 poa tonight! WOW!! I guess that 3 double paralyzers really does the trick!!

Does anyone out there have a drinking/bowling game that they would like to share???

I should have scheduled more fridays off!!

Gotta love stat counter!!!

I am getting an average of 5 hits a day ;););)

The wait is over!!!

Interview next week!


YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

We're going west!

We're headed to Radium Hot Springs this weekend. Sounds nice eh? Neither one of us has ever been there so it will be nice to see everything together.

Sweden gets a new prime minister!

Now I'm not one for a whole lot of international politics. However being married to a Swede, having studied in Sweden and taken a course in Swedish political science I kinda have an interest in Swedish politics. If you want scandal, this is the one country that prides itself in the most bizarre political controversies.
For years now the Social Democrats have been floundering. This is a country in which it makes more economic sense to go on welfare than it would be to be working a full time job. Or to put it into something that Max and I both know very well. A country whereby the unemployment statistics are a blatant lie! AND!!! Where university graduates of very highly skilled areas such as engineering and law have to go above and beyond to get a position whereby tens of thousands of others are competing for that same position!! Yeah!

So it is rather refreshing to see that the Moderate coaltition (thank you proportional representation!) eeked out a victory. It should be interesting to see how this story plays out. The new prime minister, Reinfeldt, bears a striking resembalence to my husband. But according Max, Sweden needs this right now. I hope that the situation does change and that we could get to the point that we could go back for a few years. We have discussed that when we have children it would be nice for them to understand both their mother's culture and their father's culture! Understanding their grandfather is a different story, but that's okay we love him for it!

I'm waiting!!

Where are we gonna go?

So next Sunday we celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Trouble is we don't know where we are going to celebrate it! We went to the travel agent today to see where we could go last minute on $500 per person. I hope that we can go to Seattle or San Francisco, I think that it would be nice. I wonder if I could claim it as a work expense? Nahhhh, I'm not that lucky! ;)

Maybe we'll end up going to Calgary or Banff instead, who knows. Hopefully the travel agent will get back to us tomorrow!

Religion at the forefront once again!

Here we go again! I knew that this new Pope was going to make things interesting but I can't believe it's so soon into his papcy.

One thing that all religions do not take into account is change. They are not fluid systems, they are rigid and so when things change in a given society, religion does not follow. The Pope Benedict is a shining example of this.

Given the basic element of Islam, that anyone makes claim agaist Islam, a holy war must be declared, Pope Benedict has opened a can of worms. Given the current climate and opinion of Islam, and the Danish cartoons, this will not end any time soon.



On another note apparently according to a new study about religion in America over 92% believe in God or in a Higher Power. Wow

Things are picking up!

Wow things are starting to get busy, who knew that the cold weather could have this sort of effect on things!!

The new season premieres start tonight, first with the Amazing Race. I love this show, it may be a reality TV show but it's the best one out there. It's even got the awards to prove it too! Max's favorite team? The hilbillies from Kentucky. I have to admit it, I like them too! "It's like being a 30-year old newborn with a passport and a ticket to ride!!" It will be interesting though. Given the recent tensions brought on by the Pope it will be interesting to see if there will be any media backlash for the Muslim team that was eliminated right in the middle of a leg!

The (re?)-education of Max has also begun. He made ribs tonight and well he made one hell of a mess with the roasting pan so basically it was me and my paitence which showed him how to get it cleaned up. But all is well in the kitchen again. Mom is on days off so it should be interesting to see what those two will put together for supper.

So here starts week number one of waiting for the results of my tests. I am so nervous, I can't wait to find out. I am also waiting to hear about when I am going to have my surgery. Soon I hope, with the cold weather the last few days I have been noticing that it's more achy, which in turn makes me more bitchy! ;)

Oh the weather outside if frightful!

But everything else is delightful! Afterall Max is here now! We are in the process of getting his degree accredited. Once that happens he can start looking for a job and that ever elusive Labour Marker Opinion.

Nothing new going on AT ALL! It's been a calm week compared to last week. It's nice.
Max and I can't decide what to do for our first wedding anniversary next weekend! I guess we will have to wait and see what the weather is going to do first.

It's bowling night!

Max and I are headed out tonight, yeah the weather isn't very nice but we gotta get out and do something! Tonight is the night. Thursday is our bowling night. It's more for the fun and activity of it all than competition. How ever this concept is rather lost on Max. Oh well!

It's snowing!!!

In the mountains that is!!!

Shout out to Sarunas!!

I haven't seen you in a long time man!!! Anyways it's thanx to him I've started the blog, gotten statcounter figured out, and now I am addicted to Overheard in New York. I wish I would have made more effort to learn Swedish because I am pretty sure I would have heard some very interesting conversations while I was riding the bus in Sweden.

Although I must admit that I have heard a good deal of interesting things in my life time!

Calgary racism gets international attention

A story that Global Calgary did on night club racism is getting some international attention. I just checked youtube.com and found it. There are many things about all this that makes me mad.

Firstly, it gives the perception that Calgary is redneck, and out of the times. This is sad to see. I love Calgary. Calgary has so many cultural dimensions.

Secondly, Calgary is not the only place where this happens. In Sweden this happens quite regularily. When I went to school there, we had a habit of going out on Friday afternoons for what they call "After work", which essentially is happy hour with food. Anyways, some of my classmates had a hard time getting to some places. Take case in point, one of my black friends, who was usually better dressed than the lot of us (dress pants, dress shirt and a tie!!) and was hassled nearly every single time we went out. They usually checked and double checked his passport as identification. Meanwhile here is myself who rarely was checked and when I was I produced my Alberta's drivers licence as identification.

Lastly, I can't understand how people can do this to other people. Sure criticize me for having a horrible personality, or if I was a snob. But to make a decision on one person based on the color of their skin is down right stupid and wrong.

The latest Super 7 winners!

I got home today from work just in time to catch the last few minutes of Global National and seen that the latest winners of the Super 7 were probably some of the most deserving... they are military ladies. They work in the mess hall at CFB Petawawa (hope I spelled that right). Two of the winners have husbands on the front lines in Afganistan.

So in conclusion it is nice to see some people who put their lives on the line just so we can enjoy the little things in life.

Is this the end of summer?

It looks like it is the last of days of summer. It's supposed to get rainy for the next week. Why couldn't be nice until the end of the month, for the sake of the farmers, then again I think that most of them have gotten everything critical done. I know I am evil when I say that I can't wait for the snow. I am probably the only person in the world who doesn't mind getting up in the morning to a whole driveway full of snow and having to shovel it all off.

Yeah I know, I'm evil, I've been told that before! ;)

Sad day.

It was 5 years ago today that I was shocked. It's pretty much the first "where were you when something happened" moment of my life. Where was I? I was in bed, watching the morning news and eating breakfast. I thought at first that it was a movie stunt gone wrong. I'll never forget when the second tower was hit and I realized that something is seriously wrong.

It was 3 years ago today that Anna Lindh, the Swedish foreign minister died of wounds sustained in a stabbing incident in a Swedish department store in Stockholm. That was a shock as well. I'll never forget all the red roses on the Poisideon (i know can't spell) fountain in Goteborg. At least the guy who did it was caught and will serve time.

The unfortunate thing is that in the case of those who perished in 2001 will not see full justice. There are still questions that remain as to who should be responsible for this still unbelievable act.

Something interesting happened in Innisfail!

A bank was robbed! I can't wait to read about it in the paper on Tuesday!

Max comes home today!

Yay!!! I've got a feeling that September is going to fly by fast with all the things that both him and I have to get done.
But then again first things first, I should get the house clean. But that would mean that I would have to get out of bed, and well I am enjoying the fact that I have it all to myself, with exception of course to the small snorning furry thing laying at my feet right now!

It's gotta be the full moon!

First on Wednesday we had a guy in the shop who was paranoid that the US government was after him. He was dead convinced, he could rationalize it sooo well too, that was the scary part!

Then the next day another guy who has been in before, and he spends hours there. He's rambled at me once before, basically it was how we could turn our little small town coffee shop into starbucks! UUMMM NO! On Thursday, he came in again (oh great!). I was busy hanging new pictures and he comes up to me and tells be that those poor cereal farmers don't make as much as the beef producers in this country. OH MY FREAKIN GOD!!!! I don't care! Leave me alone! GO AWAY!!!!

Then this morning I get up and I turn on the radio and I heard that a schizophrenic has escaped the hospital in Red Deer and sent the police on a wild goose chase through Red Deer. Luckily he was convinced to go with the police and they were able to take him to Alberta Hospital Ponoka for further evaluation, and notably better security.

Wow, I am thinking all my courses in Psychology are going to help me with just life in general!! WOW!

I'm THE low bowler!!

Yeah I thought that was rather catchy myself!

Mom called me tonight and asked if Max and I would be interested in joining her bowling team for the season because two of their members dropped out this year because of other committments. So Thursday nights we're bowling!

We have also come to the determination tonight that I can be the low bowler because that will give us an advantage come roll offs! We'll take the competition!! lol

It's for fun and we don't take it as nearly as serious as what some of them do around there! This is Innisfail for christsake!

Jackass 2?

You've got to be kidding me!?!

Oohhhhh!

The knee specialist appointment

So the day has finally come. After bitching and complaining (let's face it, I'm doing alot of it lately!) for about a year now, the time has come. I went to see a knee specialist. He was very nice and very pleasant. He took a look at my knee, played around with my knee cap, which is always so much fun (sarcasm) and also took a look at my MRI. He determined that it was about time that I had a orthoscope to get some of the fluid out of there, get some of the "floaties" (wow, where's that one in my medical terminology dictionary?) out there and smooth out some of the rough cartilage. Nice!!! Just what I was hoping that the doctor would order!

So now I am on an elective surgery waiting list. Which in best case senario would mean that I would be in surgery in November!

YAY!!

Psychological buzzword of the day...

paranoid!

I hate this.

I am so bored right now.

I have to get to bed because I have an early early morning at work tomorrow

Can't sleep and the new sleep meds make a funny taste in my mouth the next day and no amount of drinking helps

Knee specialist appointment at 3 in Red Deer with impossible parking situation

Also have to put together art switch out because the big boss is getting impaitent with me, and well I have no time and no staff to cover me while I work on it

Have to clean our room because Max gets back on Saturday and well I still have remnants of last weeks ear infection scattered about on my side of the bed.

Need to study new study package sent in the mail, ironically enough with my maiden name on the front.

Need to get better fuckin job so I can get to bed at a decent time instead of rambling incessantly on my blog.

Crikey! That's the way I want to go!

I was a bit surpised yesterday morning when Max called to give me a wake up call and told me that Steve Irwin had died. Conversation went something like this:

Max: Have you seen the news this morning?
Me: Ah no, I'm still in bed, why?
Max: You're not going to believe this.
Me: What?
Max: Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray.
Me: What? You're kidding me? I always thought that he would get taken out by a croc but I guess this is the next best thing eh. But then again I betcha he was doing something that he loved.
Max: Yeah.
Me: That would be about the only way to go. Doing something that you love. Or in your sleep.




So here's one for Steve Irwin. Going while doing something that you love. I seriously thought that you were crazy but was always so enthusiastic about what you were doing, and let me tell ya that there aren't alot of people in this world who are doing something that makes them enthusiastic about the world around them. It's a sad loss for that very simple reason.

King Ralph admits he fucked up!

Well, it was old Ralphie's last hurrah at the leg this week. Thank god! 13 years was way too long for that man to be in power for! So he figures that in order to make a lasting impression (most of us have forgotten about the $400 Ralph-bucks cheque) he thought that he better come clean and admit that he was just winging it for the last couple of years. "Alberta's rapid growth "CAME AS A BIT OF A SURPRISE!!!"". Let me see when about 25% of the Atlantic population emigrates to Alberta, it's a bit of a surprise.

GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

I hope the next guy that comes in actually has a brain, and better looking cabinet members, don't even get me started on Iris Evans and her excessive use of eyeliner!

3 solid days, more horrible customers!

It's so hard to please people these days. They have so many expectations, they want more than the other guy. I swear this hyperized capitalism that we exist in is enough to make me go nuts!

He's done!

It's a sad day! Andre Agassi lost his third round match today at the U.S. Open. Pretty sad to see, he's a pretty remarkable guy. One of only 5 men in history to win every grand slam! Wow! I am kinda hoping that he will do a Jimmy Connors comeback in a few years time. That would be so cool!

Oh and if you don't remember the whole Jimmy Connors comeback, think 1992 U.S. Open, I think that he was 39 at the time if I remember right and he made it all the way to the semi-final where he lost to John MacEnroe if I remember correctly!

Bye Andre!

Have I been found out?

Who is "The Boss"?