Happy Halloween! Wow...it was nice and dry for the trick-or-treaters last night. I haven't blogged in a while. I've posted some photos from my visit to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary this past spring.

Thursday, July 16, 2009 – Calgary and Edmonton

We went to the New Dynasty Restaurant in Crowfoot to eat. It’s quite a nice Chinese restaurant with beautiful décor. Ray had shrimp fried rice and I had tofu, bbq pork, snowpeas and carrots. I also had the 2 fortune cookies J It’s now 6:00 and Ray has been taking a nap for the past half an hour after we got back. Once he gets up we’ll load up the car and head to Edmonton.

It’s quite hot today, I would say in the low 30’s or at least that’s what it feels like. It’s blue skies outside with humungous white fluffy clouds. The clouds are soooooo fluffy here. Last year when I was here I had to spray mosquito repellent on as soon as I stepped outside otherwise I was eaten alive. Nic said they sprayed this year. It’s been so nice…no mosquitoes buzzing around and not one single mosquito bite so far…knock on wood! I got some white flower oil before I left from my naturopath. Thanks W for the tip. Coincidentally my naturopath used the oil on a cotton ball and put it to my nose when I was getting stuffed up during acupuncture to my neck. My naturopath was not too pleased when I told her I usually spray with Off prior to going in mosquito-infested areas. She recommended getting the citronella spray instead so I got some before we left. Luckily I haven’t had to use the white flower oil or the citronella spray yet J

We hit the road at about 7:45pm and got to Edmonton in 3 hours with one bathroom stop. Whyte Avenue was packed with a younger crowd at restaurants. It reminded me of Denman Street on a Friday night except the buildings were older. We checked into the Coast Edmonton House Hotel and went to our one bedroom with kitchen suite on the 29th floor. There are 34 floors in the hotel so the view is good of downtown. Looking out the window our building is the tallest one. Out on the balcony around the corner I can see the North Sasketchewan River which we drove over to get downtown. After we unpacked we went to Denny’s. It was so packed, at least 20 tables and it was after midnight on a weeknight! I asked the waiter if it’s normally this busy on a Thursday night and he said only after concerts. Ah, now I get it. A few days later I was reading the Metro newspaper and Gwen Stefani was here Thursday before going to Vancouver. Ray always gets the same thing. You can build your own slam there. I had yogurt and strawberries and grapes. It wasn’t very much yogurt so I had a few scrambled eggs too.

Friday, July 17, 2009 – Edmonton Capital Ex (formally Klondike Days)

We went to eat in Chinatown which was only a few minutes from the hotel. There wasn’t much there but there was a gate and we ate at the Double Greeting Wonton House. Ray had wonton noodle soup with lettuce and an order of lettuce with oyster sauce. I can’t stand cooked lettuce and he doesn’t like raw lettuce. I had egg foo yung with bean sprouts, shredded carrot and a few peas. I had my seeds with it too.

We parked by Rexall Place which has changed names so many times. I think one of the many former names of the building was Northlands Coliseum which is the one I’m familiar with. I think this is where the Oilers play. Of course we had to take a photo of the Gretzky statue outside the coliseum. He was holding the Stanley Cup. C, did you see this statue when you were here. If not, are you jealous that I saw the statue of one of your idols? J

We got lucky when we got to the entrance of Capital Ex. An older man gave Ray 2 free admission tickets and then used the third one himself to go in ahead of us to show that they were legit. I’m not sure why the guy had 2 extra tickets but the tickets were worth $10 each so that saved us a few bucks. Thanks to the mystery man!

I promptly bought some tickets for the car lottery as my fortune from my fortune cookie a few days ago in Calgary said something about a fun investment with 4 wheels. So, it’s my destiny to win! We were there in time to see the 5:00 show of Cirque Shanghai Bai Xi which was the best Chinese acrobatic show I have ever seen. (I am basing this opinion from the shows I’ve seen at the PNE and in Beijing so I haven’t really seen that many.) Even Ray was really impressed.

We spent a few hours wandering around the shopping zone where I tried the Wii for the first time. I tried the Wii Fit doing a few yoga poses, balancing and core strengthening. I really enjoyed it. It’s amazing that it could tell if I was centred properly as the red dot stayed in the middle on the screen. Ray tried golf and boxing. Ray got his feet analyzed at an orthotics booth and tried standing on orthotics with lifts underneath them. I was shocked that he has never seen a podiatrist, only orthopedic surgeons. I told him that orthotics are only covered by extended health if a doctor prescribes it so he will look into seeing a podiatrist when we get back home. My podiatrist is downtown but he wants to find one closer to home in Burnaby. Ray has always he his eye on remote controlled helicopters but actually bought one. It is so small and can only be used indoors.

While we were watching the Cirque show Ray checked his email and one of his clients had emailed him asking him to do his WCB paperwork on Friday even though it wasn’t due until Monday so Ray was just going to check out the aboriginal zone and then go back to the hotel. He was “free”. Since it was around 7:45 and I wanted to see the Wild World of Lions Show at 8:00 I left Ray at the aboriginal zone and raced off to find the lion show. I got there with a few minutes to spare. There were a lot of people sitting on the ground and standing but since I was by myself I was able to find a spot in the bleachers. There were 5 female lions that were out first and then the rare white lion came out. No, I found out he is not an albino lion. Apparently white lions don’t do well in the wild because of their colur – i.e. their prey can easily see them so there aren’t very many of them left.

After the lion show I went to the racetrack to see where the fireworks would be at 11pm. I watched a few people trying to surf and then headed back to the building to see the other stuff I hadn’t seen yet. On the way back I checked out the different stuffed animals at the games to see if there were any worth playing for. I saw some really nice lilac ponies at the balloon popping contest so in my text message response to Ray told him that’s what I would be winning later (which I did)! The ponies were really good quality and look like “My Little Pony.”. I popped 4 out of 6 balloons. That cost me $10 which wasn’t bad. For another $10 I could’ve gotten the pony which was the next size up but I thought it was too big to have with my lilac rabbit and Pet my Grand Canyon mule at home. I got some Activa yogurt and ate my apple and then later on got a strawberry and banana smoothie. I checked first to see if the smoothie was made with ice cream or yogurt but it wasn’t made with either. I also asked if it was syrup or real fruit. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was just fruit (first time I’d had that). I went and watched the fireworks which were pretty good and then went to play more games. I also won a really nice Ganz stuffed duckie. It is sooooo soft and makes a boing noise when dropped. I won the duckie at the game where the plastic ducks are floating around and you pick them up and look underneath. My first and third duck were smalls but my second one was a medium, hence the nicer winning! I went and met Ray on 118th Avenue. There was a long line up cars picking people up as it was between the subway entrance and the Capital Ex. We went to eat at Denny’s and I had the chicken salad which was really good. I had my 2 stuffed animals on the table and got a few strange looks from people J If we had gone to eat at Gourmet Castle in Vancouver by the PNE no one would’ve noticed my stuffed animals during PNE time. This is from personal experience J But I guess Denny’s wasn’t really that close to Capital Ex, well at least not across the street. Went to bed before 3am.

Saturday, July 18, 2009 - West Edmonton Mall, The Keg, Thunderstorm

I woke up about 9:30am to go to the bathroom. I turned off my alarm that was set for 9:45 as I was too tired (again) to get up for the free continental brekkie. By 10am I couldn’t fall back asleep so got up and went for brekkie. The price for the continental brekkie was $8.95 and $13.95 for the hot buffet. I forgot that I only got free brekkie on the cold stuff and ended up eating my first bacon since being on the diet J I rarely eat bacon but there was a nice crispy one there. I also had eggs and 2 strawberry Activa yogurt again. Since I had to pay the extra $5 for brekkie I thought I would have some oatmeal but they ran out – I guess because it was 11am which is when brekkie is supposed to end. I took an apple back with me. There was also juice, coffee, tea, cereal, toast, bagels, biscuits, fruit, hash browns, French Toast and sausages. I checked out the convenience store and the weight room on the second level of the hotel. There’s also a pool there. At 12:00 I was searching the channels for Y&R. After flipping through the channels a few times and getting frustrated I realized that it was Saturday. Haha! It’s now 1:40 and Ray’s not up yet.

We went to West Edmonton Mall where Ray went to eat at Boston Pizza. The restaurant was in a corridor in the mall that was all full-seating restaurants like Old Spaghetti Factory, Hooters and Moxies. I got a nice stuffed sea turtle to add to my collection. Since I’ve fallen off the diet wagon I had my first DQ hot fudge sundae J We went to Sea Life Cavern as I wanted to see the sea turtle. There was a few snakes, lizards and the biggest bull frog I have ever seen. It was huge! There were sting rays and they were being fed. We wandered around the mall and watched some people skating on the ice rink and people on inner tubes in the waterpark. I wanted to go to the Christmas store as I usually get a Christmas ornament to commemorate our travels but when we got to the store shortly after 6pm it was closed. The mall itself doesn’t close until 9pm but we noticed that a few other stores in the old section of the mall were closing too.

We went to the theatre where I think there were 4 theatres playing Harry Potter. We got to the theatre just before 7pm and went to the 7:10 show of The Proposal. It was good. I had a small popcorn and felt parched afterwards. It had rained while we were in the mall as there were puddles in the parking lot and the cars were wet.

We stopped at Earls on the way back to the hotel but while in the parking lot I spotted the Keg so Ray wanted to go there instead. The darkest clouds I had ever seen were there with bluish sky on the horizon underneath. It was getting really windy. I wanted pictures of these dark skies and while Ray was taking my picture the wind was whipping dirt and rocks on the back of my bare calves. I brought the umbrellas inside as I figured it was going to rain soon. I had my first sourdough bread since the diet with lots of butter and a spinach salad. Ray had his usual. While we were eating the lights flickered quite a few times and there was loud thunder which could be heard over the music. I went to the window and it was hailing which turned to pissing rain. There was so much lightning and it was right over us. We stayed in the restaurant for quite a while until the storm subsided and the lightning and thunder moved away. We sat in the parking lot for a few minutes watching the numerous bolts of lightning shooting across the sky and downwards. We didn’t know what to expect on the way home as the news said that there were fallen trees, power poles and fires and that every available fire department was attending to something related to the storm. Callers were saying what they were seeing. Once caller said she counted 300 to 400 lightning events on a stretch of a highway. Cars were crawling as there was flooding in areas. At Elk Island National Park which is about an hour east of Edmonton one caller said his tent was destroyed and that he and his party were stuck in their car as there were fallen trees everywhere. Since this is a park I wanted to see we will come home one day earlier. There was no debris on any of the roads on the way back to the hotel. There were some really wide puddles though. We ended up watching tv until about 4:30am. Ray had to be ready by 10am to play badminton. A brother of someone we play badminton with in Vancouver was going to pick up Ray to go play at the University of Alberta.

Here are some of the websites that reported the storm:
www.news1130.com/news/national/more.jsp?content=n173427424
www.inews880.com/Channels/Reg/iReports/Story.aspx?ID=1116422 www.inews880.com/photogallery/July18Storm.aspx www.inews880.com/Channels/Reg/LocalNews/story.aspx?ID=1116469 www.630ched.com/Channels/Reg/NewsLocal/Story.aspx?ID=1116501 www.globaltv.com/globaltv/edmonton/Edmonton+storm+clean+underway/1806458/story.html

Sunday, July 19, 2009 – Edmonton

Ray got up for breakfast downstairs and headed down about 9:30. It was nice and sunny then. A few hours later it was really windy and I decided not to go to the zoo afterall as it was only 13 degrees and wouldn’t be too pleasant with the wind and possible rain showers. I forgot to take my glucosomine and Super EFA (essential fatty acids – fish oil) last night. This morning I was really sore in my neck, back, hips and hands so took some Advil around 10:30 and slept until 2pm. The wind has been howling. I ordered a chicken stirfry rice bowl from the restaurant downstairs. It said it came with peppers, carrots and cabbage. There were no peppers or cabbage in it but had carrots, bok choy and yucky celery in it. Ray came back about 3:30. Badminton had ended at 2 and he and J went out for Chinese food at the same restaurant we had gone to a few days ago.

There was broken glass all over our balcony. I called the front desk and they sent a maintenance guy over. He said that last night the door from the 32nd floor had broken and the screens were flying. Wow, that was scary. I guess our building wasn’t unaffected after all. The maintenance guy sent housekeeping over to sweep the glass up. It was sooooo windy and freezing on the balcony. The wind was just whipping out there and is rattling the windows. What a difference from the other days when it was so nice and warm on the balcony.

Ray is taking a nap now, he went to sleep about 4:30pm. Didn’t do anything Sunday. I went to bed about 12:30 and got up at 10:30 Monday.

Monday, July 20, 2009 – Edmonton Valley Zoo

We went for lunch at the Mongolie Grill. It was quite fancy compared to the ones in downtown Vancouver. There was a hostess and the waitress kept checking on us. The price is based on the weight of your food and there was 20% off ours because it was vegetarian. There was still the round slab they grill on but the meat was better quality. The cook brings your cooked food to you on a big fancy plate. The rice is on the bottom layer of the steam containers with the top one being a white thin wrap thing that you could use to wrap your food. The choice of soup was wonton or hot and sour.

We went to the Valley Zoo. Ray was sleepy after eating so took a nap in the car and then ended up playing Street Fighter on his laptop while waiting for me. I spent less than 2 hours at the zoo. It wasn’t that big. The Aldergrove is a lot bigger and better. I did like seeing the prairie dogs and guinea pigs. Each breed had such a large area to run around in. It was weird seeing so many guinea pigs and seeing them outside as I’ve only seen them in pet stores. There was a movie poster of G-Force on the fence of the guinea pig enclosure which I thought was cute. I’ve seen trailers for G-Force at other movies. It looks really good and is so cute. It’s coming out this weekend. There were some trees that had fallen down during the Saturday storm that were roped off. No animals were hurt according to the cashier but obviously they must’ve been spooked. They cleaned up other debris on Sunday as there was nothing on the trails on Monday.

We went to St. Albert in northwest Edmonton to see the world’s largest badminton racquet which was beside the sign for the Red Willow Badminton Club.

We went to Denny’s to eat. It’s cool now that you can build your own slam so I had whole wheat pancakes, eggs, strawberries and sausages. We decided to head back home Monday night instead of waiting until Tuesday. Ray was wide awake anyways and had slept so much and I could nap in the car. We hit the road at 9:00pm. We saw a few deer on the side of the road in the grass who looked at the road and then thought better of it and hopped back towards the trees. When it was dark we saw a caribou facing us on the sidewalk and later on I saw an elk in the grass with magnificent antlers. Luckily we didn’t see any moose or bears or any animals crossing the street. We hit rush hour coming home shortly after 6am and were in gridlock at about 176th Street on the way to the Port Mann Bridge. By the time we went through McDonald’s drive thru (where I had my first hash brown in years and my first OJ since the diet) and got home it was 7am so we made really good time despite the half an hour delay in rush hour. We went to sleep shortly after 9am and got up after 2pm. I thought for sure I had gained at least 3 to 5 pounds since we left but surprisingly weighed exactly the same as when we left!!! Go figure! Perhaps Nic’s scale was wrong. She said that it was 5 pounds more than what it said (according to her friend from Nanaimo who stayed at her place the week before).

I will post photos from our trip later on. I still need to post photos from my vacation earlier in the year too and photos from the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Ladner.

Thursday, July 9, 2009 - Calgary

We got on the road at 4:00pm. Even though it was rush hour the highway wasn’t too bad as I think a lot of people were on vacation. Plus we were in the HOV lane. The traffic got backlogged in Surrey after crossing the Port Mann Bridge. A fire truck passed us and there was a semi that was in the process of being towed. Not sure what happened as there were no other vehicles involved. Once we passed that it was clear sailing. Once it got dark it was difficult for Ray to see a few times on the narrow single lanes when cars and semis came the other way and temporarily blinded him. But luckily that only happened a few times. When it was dark I saw a deer on the side of the road and the only other wildlife was something that looked like a fox with big ears. There were signs the size of the actual elk with antlers and many other signs along the way so we were lucky there wasn’t much traffic so that we could see.

We first stopped in Chiliwack and I got a chicken sub at Subway. This was my first time at Subway since being on the SureSlim diet. I also had my first banana, Cliff bar, and a few of Ray’s fries since being on the diet. I’m not too worried though as I’m on maintenance now as I’m pretty much at my goal weight. I dozed off a few times near the end of our trip although I wanted to stay awake to watch for wildlife. I think we stopped about 3 more times for bathroom/gas breaks and got to Nic’s place at 3am. She is an early bird so had been asleep for quite a few hours already. Thanks for letting us wake you up in the middle of the night! Good thing she lives on the NW side of Calgary as it’s pretty much the first exit in Calgary off the highway.


Friday, July 10, 2009 - Calgary


Went to bed about 6am and got up about 12:30. Nic had already gone out to do some errands and was preparing dinner when I got up. It’s now 3pm and Ray is still asleep. Nic just went downstairs to lie down for a bit. The reason I got up at 12:30 is that I had to get up to go to the washroom. My back and neck were too sore to go back to sleep and I didn’t want to take any Advil. Had Astro berry yogurt and vanilla yogurt with my ground flax seeds and almonds a short time ago. Was my first flavoured yogurt since being on the diet. Nic has invited a few of her friends over for dinner and has prepared rolled steak fluorentine and strawberry flan so far. Salad and corn are also on the menu.

Dinner was good. One of Nic’s friends, O is a mechanic so she, O and her other friend R went to the parkade to look at her car as there was a squeak in it. Ray and I went and saw the movie My Sister’s Keeper in Crowfoot. It was really good. It was quite a tear-jerker and I had to stifle sobbing but could hear others sniffling too. Ray wanted to go for Chinese food after the movie but the restaurants were closed. So we ended up at Denny’s. I just had 2 scrambled eggs as I ate some popcorn at the movie. Popcorn was another thing I hadn’t eaten since I’d been on the diet…I wonder how much weight I’ll gain from this trip J

Saturday, July 11, 2009 – Drumheller Reptile World

I went to bed last night about 2ish and since Ray wasn’t tired yet he did some work and ended up going to bed after 6am. I got up about 12:30 but Ray’s still sleeping and it’s now 1:40!! I’d better drag him out of bed soon so we can get to Reptile World in Drumheller in time for the 5:00 feeding.

We got to Reptile World just in time to see a smaller crocodile being fed 3 rats. That was really cool to see. We also saw lizards and snakes being fed rats. It was really neat to see snakes feeding as they opened their jaw so wide. Some of the snakes squished the rat a lot first before eating it.

It was neat to see the Red Slider turtles as they were a lot bigger than the ones I’ve seen in the pet stores which were a lot younger. There were some different types of tortoises too.

We spent 2 hours at Reptile World and then went to the World’s Largest Dinosaur which was at the tourist info centre. I paid the $3 and climbed the stairs to the top of the 82 foot dinosaur. There were murals inside on the way up. When I got to the top it was a great view from inside the mouth. Ray took photos of me from down below. He didn’t want to go up as he had sat down at Reptile World for about half an hour or more while I was still looking around because his legs and feet get tired fast.

Sunday, July 12, 2009 – Calgary Dinner with S

Ray went to play badminton at SAIT from 1:30 to 4:00. Nic and I stayed home and ate as she wanted to get rid of fruit and food since she was leaving for BC on Monday and then flying out to Ontario Tuesday. After I took a shower and ate we just went out and did some errands …dropped off recycling, dropped off library books and then went to Superstore. There were recycling bins at one of the malls but the items didn’t need to be separated. She said there’s a machine that separates everything and that before she had to separate the items.

We went to S’s place at 5:30 to pick her up for dinner. Ray was parking as we were coming down S’s street. S didn’t have E as she was with M until Tuesday. In a 2 week period S gets E 6 nights and M gets her 4 nights although I think M might want to increase the nights. Nic drove us to the restaurant S had picked to go to: Happy Hills Chinese restaurant. I had my first rice and fortune cookie since being on the diet for 3 months. I had half a bowl of rice. After dinner we went back to S’s place. Ray took a nap. S got us a chocolate mouse cake. Thanks S! I had my first chocolate since being on the diet…I had 2 pieces!

After dinner Nic went home as she was going to be on the road at 7am Monday. Ray and I went to see Ice Age # 3 3D. It was okay. Good animation with the dinosaurs.

Monday, July 13, 2009 - Calgary

When Nic left for the Coast at 7am it wasn’t raining. I had to take Advil again to fall back asleep as I was sooooo sore…much sorer than when I had to take Advil a few mornings ago so it wasn’t just the bed and pillow…it was the weather. By the afternoon we were socked in and it was pissing rain and there was thunder. Ray and I decided not to do any day trips. Instead we went out for lunch at Brewsters and then he went to play badminton at Bearpaw Centre which is by Nic’s. I was thinking of working out in the weightroom but was tired so just watched TV. Law and Order SVU is on at the same time here as at home – 7:00. Then I watched The Late Show with Conan O’Brien and then a 2 hour episode of the Bachelorette. Ray and I went to Denny’s after he came back from badminton. I had 2 scrambled eggs and my first oatmeal since being on the diet. It sure gets cold here after midnight.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 – Drumheller Hoodoos and Royal Tyrrell Museum

I think I was up by 1:30pm on Tuesday. As usual Ray slept later and we finally got on the road to go to Drumheller again. I wasn’t too worried about leaving late as I knew the Royal Tyrrell Museum was opened until 9pm. We went and saw the hoodoos first which were rocks shaped like mushrooms basically made of sand but the tops were harder. The landscape was totally flat from Calgary to Drumheller but once by the hoodoos in Drumheller there were rolling hills and you could see the layers of rock from millions of years passing. We got to the museum after 7pm. Ray got in trouble for carrying his Coke out in the open so put it in his pocket J I had my water bottle in my backpack. The museum map said that no tripods were allowed but Ray used out little flexible gorilla one anyways as it was so dark in the museum. A lot of the exhibits had changed since I was there 10 years ago. On a side note there were more hoodoos 10 years ago so I guess a lot of them had disintegrated. It was cool to see real dinosaur fossils and to wonder what it was like millions of years ago here. So many fossils have been found in this area and more are being found all the time. We were the last ones in the museum. The same guy who told Ray not to have his Coke in the open at the beginning of the exhibits was now tailing us and told Ray that no tripods were allowed. Luckily we were near the end of the exhibits so it was okay. After we walked into the gift shop and the guy locked the gate behind us the 3 cashiers celebrated. I guess because their day was over and they could go home.

Since the Chinese restaurants by Nic’s close early we went to Chinatown again. The only restaurant that was still opened was the same one we had been to on Saturday night – Calgary Court so I had gailan and Agadashi tofu.

The weather was a lot cooler today and it was the first time I’ve worn short sleeves and my heavier jogging pants in months. I also had to wear my spring Taiga. Luckily we managed to avoid any of the rain clouds and it only slightly spitted on us on the way to Drumheller.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - Vulcan

I set my alarm for 11am but after snoozing it for an hour ended up falling back asleep and got up at 12:30. As usual Ray took a while to get up so we didn’t leave until after 3pm. We lucked out and the weather was nice and warm so I was able to wear sleeveless and shorts again. We got to Vulcan at about 5pm and looked around at the Vulcan Tourism and Trek Station. Apparently it was designed to look like a space station . There was lot of Trekkie stuff, way more than at the Hilton in Vegas. Ray doesn’t usually like shopping but he spent a lot of time looking around and picked up quite a few things such as light switch and electric socket covers, miniature shuttlecraft, triangle pin etc. There were life-size cut-outs of the Star Trek cast and you could take photos with them decked out in Star Trek clothes along with pointed ears. There was a 31 foot long, 9 foot long tall replica Star Ship outside so that was neat to see beside the road. On the wall of a pharmacy in downtown Vulcan there was a mural of the doctors of the various Star Trek series. When the wind picks up it sure gets cold but then gets hot again when it dies down. Vulcan was so small there wasn’t too much to see so we left Vulcan at 6pm and got back to Nic’s at 7:30. Ray wanted to be back in time to play badminton.

I’ve been catching up on Y&R the past few days while I wait for Ray to wake up as the earlier version is on from 12 to 1pm and the later version is on from 1pm to 2pm. What happened to the old Adam? And what is Philip’s story? I just found out that Ellen is here at 12 so caught the last few minutes of it today with John Travolta.

After Ray got back from badminton we went to Boston Pizza. I had their baked salmon with spinach salad and broccoli/yellow carrots. The salmon was really good. Ray had fettuccine alfredo and had vanilla ice cream for dessert. Since it was such a large portion of ice cream I had my first ice cream since being on the diet J I didn’t gain any weight from it though and have gained 3 pounds since leaving home but that hasn’t increased lately.

Vegas and Sedona

It's been a few months since I've blogged. I'm on vacation now so thought I'd update my blog.

Nic, April and I are in Sedona, Arizona now. We flew into Vegas last Monday and went to the Freemont Hotel and Casino to the Paradise Buffet for dinner. The food was delicious and so was the chocolate cake and ice cream :) Then we watched the 9:00 American Pie, 10:00 Tribute to Queen and the 11:00 Kiss canopy light shows. They were all good and it was fun to dance to the Queen songs. We walked around and looked at all the vendors along Freemont and also went to the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino to check out the shark and fish tank. It was quite impressive as it was outside in the back of the hotel in the middle of some restaurants.

On Tuesday we went shopping at the outlet mall at the south end of the strip and then went to eat at the new China Star Buffet by the resort. We went to the Criss Angel/Cirque du Soleil show. It was excellent, very dark and gothic and soooo unbelievable. I kept saying "How'd he do that?"...

On Wednesday we drove to Sedona which took about 6 hours including bathroom breaks. Thursday we went and checked in at the Grand Canyon at the Bright Angel Lodge. We had to get weighed in for the mule rides the next day. We also got our bright yellow rain jackets, canteen for water and our string to tie our cameras and glasses around our necks. The drive from Sedona to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon was about 3 hours and we had to be back for the orientation at 7am. We didn't get back from the Canyon until 10:30 or so. Nic got about 4 hours sleep and April and I got less. I think I got less than 2 hours sleep as we had to leave at 3:30am. The mule ride was excellent. My mule was named Pet and she kept trying to stop and eat grass and greenery on the descent down. It was a beautiful view and she like to walk along the edge. It was quite cold and windy at the rim but further down it was nice and warm. I wore my toque and layered myself with water/wind resistant pants, my thermal pants, long sleeve New Balance lightning dry long-sleeved shirt, my fleecy and my Taiga. We also wore our rain jackets on top. We ate dust and dirt throughout the ride as the sand got in our eyes, nose and mouth. Hikers on the way up and down were so brown and dusty. Our first stop was Indian Arm and then Plateau Point for lunch and then came back up. We sure went down a great distance and it looked so high as we were on switchbacks. Pet was slow near the top so our wrangler had to hold onto her rope and pull her. Nic's mule Tisi lagged behind as he kept stopping to eat and apparently doesn't get ridden much. Our wrangler Brendin said that he usually has to pull Pet up near the end. April's mule was named Marcy. She said that after she was back in the corral Marcy kissed her! It was soooo windy at the top. I was glad I had my bandana on to cover my nose and mouth. After we went back to the corral and got our diplomas for completing the ride and dropped our rain jackets off it started snowing!!! Brrr...it was soooo cold and windy. We were sooooo sore. We went to Tusuyan just outside the Canyon and had a snack and looked around at the gift shop. On the drive back to Sedona it was snowing and blowing so hard that it was a whiteout and the signs were totally covered by snow. Luckily I knew which exit to take and the signs weren't covered where we needed to turn off. Sedona was raining.

The days have been nice and warm but it cools off at night.

My neck, back, hips, quads, pecs, wrists, fingers and ankles were all sore. On Saturday Nic and April went to a timeshare presentation and then we went to look at Snoopy Rock, Chapel Rock and Bell rock. We went to Shugrue's Hillside Restaurant for dinner and had a beautiful sunset view of some red rocks. The food was excellent there.

Today Nic made eggs again with green onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, ham and cheese. Yummy! They went on a jeep tour and I rested as my muscles were very fatigued especially my back. Their butts were more sore than mine was. The jeep tour picked them up at the lobby and then dropped them off uptown so they could go shopping. I picked them up and we went shopping at Tlaquepaque. Then went to Airport Road to watch the sun set from up above. It was packed there.

We're heading back to Vegas Monday morning to drop Nic off as her flight is at 4:35. Then April and I will go to San Diego for the night as we're planning to go to the zoo Tuesday. Then we'll stay at April's friend's place in Lake Forest (close to Anaheim). We have to line up at 6am Wednesday morning to try and get Price is Right tickets. Then on Thursday we're going to the Bonnie Hunt show. We'll go back to Vegas Thursday and fly back home Saturday.

Well, that's it for now...will post some photos later on when I get home.

Ray and I played badminton as usual Saturday afternoon. Then we went to Save-On and later that evening went to see the movie Inkheart with Brendan Fraser. I wanted to see Benjamin Button but the latest one was at 7:45. Perhaps another weekend then. I enjoyed Inkheart, thought it was original and quite entertaining. But Ray didn't like it as he thought too logically about it. I told him it's just a fairytale. Oh well.

Then on Sunday D and I went to a beginners hot yoga workshop. It sure was hot but since it was dry heat I got acclimatized to it. I drank over a litre of water and think I lost a pound or two in sweat! Now that I've tried yoga in the heat I prefer it over regular yoga. My back and neck felt good afterwards. After yoga we went on a tour of the Richmond Oval - it looked so big from the outside. I was looking at the ice and wondering where the gyms were for badminton/volleyball/basketball. Haha, the gyms were in the middle of the oval inside the perimeter of the ice track! All the workout equipment and machines were high above the ice overlooking it and the gym. There was filming going on on the far side of the rink. When I asked the tour guide what was being filmed she didn't know but she thought it might be an athlete's profile. D and I went to Ikea afterwards as I wanted to get a new floor lamp as ours died. The one I wanted was sold out. But I don't think it would be bright enough for the living room. Perhaps I may get another halogen one. D had never been to the Starlight Casino so we went and ate at the bar and grill there.

New Year's Eve 2008/Chinese New Year

Ray and I went to the new Grand Villa Casino on New Year's Eve to eat. Then we went and saw a movie - The Day the Earth Stood Still. We were in the theatre past midnight so didn't even realize it was 2009 until after the movie ended.

Had dinner at the inlaws the Saturday before Chinese New Year and the Saturday after Chinese New Year. Could've had dinner there on CNY too but Ray wanted to play badminton instead.

Christmas 2008

Wow, where did January go!?! Time flies! It was exciting to spend my first Christmas over here on the mainland after spending Christmas in Nanaimo my whole life. I was even more excited to go to my first Boxing Day at Metrtown since it has always been spent in Nanaimo. The lines ups were way too long, 50 or 60 in the Sport Chek one so I didn't actually do any shopping except at Hallmark and Carlton. The food court was so packed that Ray and I ended up eating on top of the garbage and recycling stations.

It was great that Mom and Dad were able to make it over here as the snow let up long enough so that they could get over on Christmas Day. I went back to Nanaimo with them on Dec. 27 and then saw N on the 28th. Yep, a great Christmas indeed! Yes, it was the first time I haven't been sick some time during the Christmas season. It could be because I didn't get run down from the rushing around to go to Nanaimo after getting home in the wee hours Christmas morning from the inlaws. Or perhaps I didn't get sick because I've been taking Cold FX. Ahhhh, yes Cold FX to the rescue. When I had the first signs of a cold in October I tried the 200mg regular strength Cold FX. It didn't do anything. Then the next time I had the same cold signs (sore throat and hots and colds) I took the extra strength 300mg ones for the recommended dose (3 pills twice a day for the first day, 2 pills twice a day the second day, and then 1 pill twice a day for the third day). By the 2nd day my sore throat and fever disappeared. Then the next time I got a sore throat and fever I took the extra strength again. Symptoms disappeared. I've been taking one regular strength one every day since for prevention. All was going well until Ray came down with a bad headache and fever this past Sunday night. Then on Monday I got the fever and fatigue. I dosed up on the extra strength and it didn't disappear right away but only lasted a few days, a lot less then my flus used to last. My naturopath recommends 2 regular strength per day so I think I will up it to that since this is sever cold and flu season and my co-workers are dropping off like flies.

Jingle Bell Run and Walk Photos (November 16, 2008)

Happy New Year, it's been a while since I've blogged. I've posted the photos from the Jingle Bell event. There are also photos the Arthritis Society photographer took: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32773936@N05/