Tatlow Park Dino Flower

I always refer to these plants as Dinosaur Plants, but I don't actually think that's correct.  In any case they grow giant in size and look like they're from the time of the dinosaurs.  This group has been growing back in Tatlow Park every year since I can remember.  Prehistoric, man!

Walk in the Woods

Ruby is pooched!  Nigel and I took her for a burn in the Endowment Lands, eliciting smiles all around :)  What a great place to walk in the city.

East Visits West

Joel is back!  My long lost friend that I haven't seen in 3 years gives me the guns and his best blue steel face while we catch up over a hockey game :)  Sweet!

New Cube

Our group has moved locations at work - for me this involves an upgrade to a south-facing window cubicle on the 17th floor.  Movin' on up!

Game 7

Happy fans after a nail-biter of a game... Happy to have made it to Round 2, but wondering how much more we can take if it's this stressful in Round 1!!  C'mon Canucks - get it together!

The Purge

Puppy's impending arrival has motivated me to clean out my closet and make some space in my not-so-big room.  You can find these treasures at the Salvation Army on Broadway and Trafalgar...  Next up: the garage, the bathroom and random paper junk around my room.

Sayonara, surplus!

North Shore Viewing

The north shore looks great this morning :)

Slush Cup!

Spring is here - a pond is dug in front of Galcier Creek Lodge on Blackcomb and people ski down in costumes and various states of sobriety and attempt to make it to the other side.  Most people don't, but the crowd loves it, hurrah!  Mandatory pelting of snowballs by the crowd for all contestants; "try not to hit her in the face!"

Some notable costumes (or non-costumes) included: a few banana suits, a gorilla costume (who ran across the hill chasing the banana as he went down), a guy on a monoski in a retro outfit, a guy dressed as Elmo (but only from the waist UP...) and lots of people going down together with matching duds on.  The event was peppered with bouts of nudity from some of the participants.  Bring on summer!

Ladies Ski Weekend

This photo is mid-raclette: vegetables and meats chopped small so you can grill them on the marble grill and melt cheese to accompany it, yum! Add some grillin' sauce and some red wine in your glass and you're good to go.  Oh yeah, the company is pretty good too ;)

Hockey Night in Canada

Marc, Ryan and Nigel are deadly serious watching us get hammered by Chicago. Bugh.  At least the former co-workers had a good time catching up during the intermissions, and beer always tastes good...

Pumpkin Investigation

Michelle is smuggling a pumpkin up her jacket and looks great doing it! It will turn into Cinderella in the middle of June!

I like what's going on here :)

Meltdown x2

I get a text this afternoon from Camille: "Meltdown in progress. Maybe no hockey."  I call her back twice - no answer.  The meltdown must be at the crux.

Nigel and I start making dinner and watching the hockey game (Canucks Game 4 against Chicago. We're up 3-0 in the series).  An hour later I get a phone call from Camille: "Is the game even still on? [Insert depressed pause here]".  I crack up!  "Yeah it's still on, c'mon over and eat some food with us"...

Camille comes over (there is still lots left in the game and dinner wasn't even ready yet) with the source of the meltdown, who is in a fragile state from her efforts.  We don't pick her up, and we don't make eye contact once she wakes up from her nap... Turns out Tara's afternoon implosion wasn't near as terrible as watching the Canucks get spanked by Chicago 8-2.

Float Home

Today's commute home involves a seabus ride from the Aquatic Centre to Granville Island.  Vancouver is great!  Walk-Float-Walk :)

Carpet Greeting

The W hotel in Seattle changes the carpets in their elevators 3x per day: Morning, Afternoon, and Evening.  I don't know why, but I found it really funny once I realized what was going on.  Easy to please I guess, or still high from Puppy Heaven...

Puppy Heaven

Oh my gosh, this is by far the hardest day so far to pick just ONE picture for the Blog.  These little guys are the reason:  3.5 week old baby vizslas, one of whom is coming home with me in 5 weeks!!  It's puppy heaven, and it lasted most of Saturday.  What more can I say?!

Purple

The drive to Seattle was smooth - 3 hours total including the border, fantastic!  We watched the end of the hockey game at a nearby pub and then made our way here for wine tasting and more eats.  Welcome to Purple, a 2-story restaurant with a column of wine up the middle that they fetch your grapes from.  REALLY neat for the camera - I could have taken photos in here all night.  The staff know their wine, and the wine was delicious.

We also got cozy with some locals who couldn't find an empty seat, so joined us at our table.  What an interesting couple - we yapped away until the restaurant was closed!  It's always really fun when you meet new awesome people when you're in a different place.

Of course, we fell asleep dreaming of the puppies we will see Saturday!

Weekend Warrior!

Seattle here I come!  Food and wine tasting and puppy visiting for the weekend - sweet!

Tired Eyes

Come to think of it, the tired eyes probably has to do with the vampiring the day before...

Vampired

I finally got around to donating blood today for the first time.  Satisfactory to have done my part, not so satisfactory actually experiencing it.  Don't get me wrong the staff and nurses were great, but I'm not sure I'm cut out for it.  I went on my lunch break thinking it would be an hour or so.  It takes a little longer if you almost faint and barf on yourself.  I even made sure to hydrate and eat lots before... But hovering on the weight restriction is probably less than ideal - they take the same amount from me as a 250 pound gorilla of a human.  At least I made the 'unit' before they ran over and ripped out the tube when it went sideways (I was pleased about that). 3 juice boxes and 45 minutes later I floated back to work and was really unproductive and tired for the rest of the afternoon.

Note to self: do not donate on a weekday when you have things to do!

Okay, now it's your turn.

Ye Olde Times

Tonight we feast!  Well, eat anyways.  Pasta with jar sauce and salad, followed by non-fireside lounging dogs half-sleeping at our feet while we read (the other half trying to sneak into the kitchen to cause trouble).  It's not so different from the old castle days where knights drank mead and threw pork bones to the wolfhounds by the hearth and the ladies darned socks or did needlepoint.  Okay, maybe that was in the animated version of Sword and the Stone...  Either way - our night was just right!

Vancouver Classic II

Well, it wasn't intentionally documented this way, but in a matter of days both Vancouver Classics have emerged... This one is the classic gross rainy sunday where no one feels bad about watching a movie in the morning and having a huge nap in the afternoon.  At least I don't...  This, interspersed with a soggy trip to MEC to hunt for some "necessary" gear.
Wipers on!

Pot Luck Mingle Fest

Nat and Sheena are a tag team recounting the hilarious childhood story of how they first met all those years ago in the Sault.  I've heard this story about 5 times now and it never fails to crack me up - it comes complete with a model walk, model face posing and the same quotes everytime!  If you're lucky they'll tell you and they'll take the full 15 minutes ;)

The Reg-La

The regular contents of my bag: keys, wallet, phone, camera, gloves, ricola, cloth shopping bag, sunglasses, calendar, lip balm, business cards, hair clip, and some other mysterious items...

Volunteer Park

A regular sight when I used to walk the dog every day after high school.  I've had more than one nap on a sunny day in this park :)

The Vancouver Classic

Of course there is the rainy day Vancouver Classic.  Today, I would like to focus on the other Vancouver Classic: the sun-warmed, wind-tickled, first prickle of sweat on your skin as you walk home in the spring Vancouver Classic.  Cycle commuters are out on the bridge and you're glad you brought your sunglasses with you.  You didn't put on sunscreen, but you absent mindedly wonder if you have any in the bottom of your bathroom cupboard... The beautiful people never looked so good and the possibilities never seemed so open because the days are getting noticeably longer as summer encroaches.  It's Classic, baby!

Birthday Mama Escape!

Camille cunningly follow's Tara's newfound bedtime recipe for sleep, and it works!  We make dinner at home, Grandma inserts herself as a replacement, and we make our get-away to the Wolf and Hound for a well deserved and much coveted pint of Strongbow.  Success and beauty on your birthday! Happy Birthday my friend :)

Sandman Calling

There's only one thing left to do in this house - follow the light, turn it out, and go for a float in Dreamland...

A Morning Ski With Your Coffee?

The view from behind as we trapse around the Solitude Loop up at the Callaghan Valley.  All this in between breakfast and lunch.  On the way up to the lodge we wondered who on earth would ski in just for lunch - but it turns out the way back is about a quarter of the time because it's all downhill!  So we had time to check out some more viewscapes before heading back after our lunch.

Callaghan Lodge

4 course dinner with your friends after sweating your way uphill to the Callaghan Lodge.  Totally satisfying :)  Beautiful dinner, beautiful lodge, beautiful scenery, and beautiful people!  Not to mention we had the best possible bluebird weather for the weekend.

Nordic Prep(py)

Liz preps for our cross-country ski extravaganza this weekend at Callaghan Lodge by donning her preppy Nordic sweater.  She completes the look by attempting to insert braids into her hair (not visible here) - and it worked out pretty well!

I love how dorky this sport is - it makes me feel like a natural!