It was a toss up at the end and I had a tie breaker question. Am I more female or in touch with my instincts? I had to say more female for biological reasons. I can quantify being female, but not being in touch with my instincts. Besides, I really am a girly girl sometimes.

That's right, pirating. While we only plundered the other raft, it was still awesome. Pirate shirts and bandanas galore, one Jolly Roger to be claimed back and forth and one captain's tricorn hat makes for a glorious day. That all lasted about half the trip down the river. The other half was laying back and soaking up the sun while the river took us wherever we needed to go, mostly.

We lost most of the oars at one point as the other team had five of the six. We had to compensate somehow so we trailed our feet in the water and kicked. This only worked for a little while before certain folks were sucked under the boat as we got into a deeper, swifter part of the river. And when I say, deeper and swifter, we're talking about 4 feet of water here and while it was difficult, it wasn't impossible to just stand. They floated ahead of us for a while until we caught up so they could get back in the boat. I was also out of the boat for a while there and the only challenge with me getting back in was that I was laughing too hard.

For those expecting me back in Saskatoon today, I am spending another night in Calgary so that I can stay awake for the entire drive. I'm very tired. Good night.

I decided to take it easy on the drive to Calgary this evening which means I wasn't even doing 100 km/hr at times. It was a nice drive. The lightning around Drumheller was spectacular as usual.

I listened to my iPod play such classics as Tentacles and Saturday Night. Saturday Night came on at a crucial point in the drive about 25 kilometres out of Hanna. I don't remember the last time I had to pee that badly. I was almost crying. I usually stop at the Husky or Esso actually in Hanna, but the Shell station won this time by being so much sooner on the road.

Clark got many boxes of stuff this evening and we've just finished unloading the car. Hopefully, whatever was scratching from within one of the boxes for the entire drive has gone back to sleep.

My dad likes to talk. A lot. I love him very much and on a long drive, he's great.

Yesterday, I was talking to him about my uncle. And then he started telling about this friend of my great aunt's. He was going on and on. Finally, I had to interrupt him to ask him if he had a point. To which he replied, "Well, she died." I started laughing so hard. There was absolutely no connection between the topics of conversation. NOTHING! And then he just ignored my laughter and started in on something new! LOL

Tonight, I phoned mom just to find out if they were going to come visit me this weekend because she had told me earlier that they were. It was a short conversation and we were done. But then dad had picked up the other line and was wanting to talk to me. I just started giggling because of the conversation last night. He knew why I was laughing so he asked me what I was going to do when I had to take care of him. It's obvious - stick him in a room full of cats to talk to all day. He hates all the cat hair everywhere so I told him I'd vacuum often. How was I going to vacuum without having to talk to him? Sedation in the food I put under the door, of course! It was at that point he finally called me bad. Heh. My dad talking to a room full of cats. It'd either be a hit comedy or something the likes of About Schmidt.

This note was from my Director of HR Operations. He said some nice stuff and then he wrote, "People like you make me love my job!"

That's been making my day every time I come into the office for over a week now.

He's the only consistent male in the Halifax 2006 pictures finally linked on the right. All the other males are ones we picked up at our restaurants.

I had a very relaxing weekend. I spent Friday night through Sunday afternoon with Cheruby. We went to see Creeping Zombie Insanity at the Fringe, took a walk along the railroad tracks at Clavet, watched some Battlestar Galactica (for which I saw an episode preview on Space and know part of the future - grrrr...), played City of Heroes, napped, went to Buttery B's going away party, and went for lunch at Cheruby's mom's.

I got to have supper with my parents tonight too which was very nice. It was good to have some time with them. My mom was telling me that my niece said she liked Cheruby well enough, but that she didn't think he was right for me. She's a very intuitive girl about people. She picks up on a lot of things that most people don't notice at all. She's more intuitive than I am and I like to think that I'm pretty intuitive. Of course, I also can be pretty intimidating so people wouldn't be likely to tell me I'm wrong.

I had such a great weekend and I'm very happy.

Instead of Traeger's, we went to Grainfield's as Traeger's was closed. Heh. Can I tell you that it makes me happy? I don't care for Traeger's. I know that will make some gasp in horror, but I don't. Grainfield's didn't treat us very well though. It took over a half hour to get our food and made me late for D&D.

However, D&D was fantastic today. We beat up orcs and a manticore and let a family die because we were too scared to go on and saved a town from an orc invasion. And we sang more Golden Girls theme music. D&D with mostly girls gets weird in a different way sometimes.

Then I got home to find out that mom and dad and my niece weren't coming to Saskatoon tonight because The Maze isn't happening this year. I was very disappointed and so was my niece. It didn't make sense that they arrive here late and don't get to spend any time with me. So I'm making them lunch tomorrow. Chili and buns. Should make the rest of their drive to Calgary fun. Heh.

So I played City of Heroes all night. It was a nice break before heading back to work tomorrow. And on that note, I need to sleep.

I took Cheruby on the tour of Nipawin after supper at my parents' on Wednesday. It took less than an hour. Heh. Dad mentioned that part. And Cheruby loved the old bridge as much as I do.

The next day we went on a fabulous boat tour on the Saskatchewan river which turns into Tobin Lake on the north side of the new Nipawin bridge. We saw loads of pelicans at the dam and some eagles, bald and golden, while touring the river. The golden eagle was being harried by a smaller bird and just looked annoyed more than anything else. We went on shore at one point so the dog could do his business. Cheruby found a fabulous walking stick.

Cheruby and I took off back to Saskatoon shortly after that. We took a scenic route which took us through Melfort and Prince Albert. It also took us on a river ferry after we had visited LaColle Falls. It was VERY dusty and my car is still awful.

Friday was fantastic as it was the first day to myself in weeks. We played some games at Neuba's house as there were some folks coming in from Calgary. We then went to eat at BPs when the storm hit and the power went out. Romantic meal in the dark. Heh. We played Earthdawn and then had a games night with hottubbing on Saturday.

Sunday had me playing some City of Heroes finally, Fringing with MM, supper Ril and Clark at her new cute house and then some much needed kaiser playing. MM was a kaiser virgin, but no more. Heh. The girls ruled!

The last day is today. Hanging out in my backyard with MM as I write. We're going to Traegar's for brunch, then I'm off to D&D and then mom, dad and my niece are coming through Saskatoon and we hope to do The Maze and visit the Strawberry Ranch tonight if they are still open.

I have to get back into work tonight when I create the agenda for the meeting I'm chairing first thing in the morning, but that isn't now. Now, I am still on vacation.

Well, after our first day of fun which she told you about, we had lots more. We did rent some movies, but hardly got through any of them as there were many distractions to be had.

Let's see, Monday a friend and her two little girls, 8 and 3, came over and played. We just painted and coloured and watched very little of a movie, but that was in the evening. Earlier in the day, we took all my bottles back, rented movies, did a little shopping, and sorted her bead collection into better containers. We maybe should have had some luggage specifically for her stuff, but that didn't happen so there are a lot of trips to the car to pack.

Tuesday was Princess Diaries. It's such a good show. I really should own that someday. I really do love the movie because I'm such an incredible sap. It's all good though. We went rollerblading on the sidewalk and my niece did really well. She only held onto the fence for the first time down the sidewalk and back and the rest was mostly hands-free. She fell a couple times, but then so did I. Good thing we got her new pads that fit her. The wrists guards from the new set really didn't fit as they were too small but everything else fit well. So I'm hoping her wrists guards will last a long time and she can grow from her current pads to the old big ones and keep on blading. And yes, I got some rollerblades and they're a lot of fun. The sales guy was poopy though. He didn't even repack the box for me after I'd tried them on. They're still good blades. We went for ice cream at the double decker bus that night with my friends and her kids again as they got along really well. We went for a walk along the river and went on some rides at Kinsmen Park. I had to have a nap because I was getting so tired. My niece was really great about it and watched TV in bed with me for about a half hour while I rested. We set up the table to do some painting, but never got around to it because our evening activities. Cheruby came over to watch Lemony Snickett's Series of Unfortunate Events with us, but my niece didn't make it through 10 minutes before sleeping so I carried her upstairs as she was a limp noodle (although much, much heavier). Cheruby and I then watched some Battlestar Galactica before sleeping.

The next day was full of fun and some interesting conversations between my niece and I. We picked apples at an old roommates house in the morning. It was really good to see him and his girlfriend. It was raining a little so we took the fabulous orange umbrella I got in Halifax. She doesn't know what it says so it was all good. Then we got home to find Cheruby home from work as he wasn't feeling well so we went for food at BP's and then over to swim for a bit at Cheruby's moms. Cheruby just slept in a comfy recliner on the deck while my niece and I swam. She really tested the deep end a few times and freaked me out, but I kept my patience and just had myself at the ready to bring her to safety. We had pool noodles so she mostly held onto those. She did freak herself out once, but I was right beside her to bring her a flotation device (pool noodle). After that, we spent some time in the shallow end at her request. We wrestled pool noodles (thanks, Ril), had contests about who could shoot water further, had back kick contests across the pool, and did other various watery things. After that, we drove straight to Nipawin where we had supper with my parents.

Everytime I go to Calgary, I run myself ragged trying to see everyone I miss so much. Of course, this only gets worse when I work every day that I'm there now. I'll start taking a day off in there so that I can enjoy myself and maybe get enough sleep. Just a thought.

I had a great time though. I always do. I did miss Bne as he was gallavanting on another continent, but that's his loss really. I got to see quite a bit of Clark and E&MM which was awesome. We picked up a barbecue that his company gave him and even though I wanted to take it home with me, it stayed in Calgary. I also got to see W&H&E which is always a good time even though it's usually on a weeknight when we all have to work in the morning so it's a short visit.

One of the best things about the trip was a chat with one of my coworkers in the Calgary office. I used to work with her very closely and had no idea what was going on when I first started on her team. So her behaviour which was induced by significant stress levels left me feeling as thought I was incompetent in some way. Of course, she wasn't in any kind of headspace to try to make better for herself let alone anyone because of the pressures of the business. I've grown up a lot since then and can take responsibility for my own actions and perceptions of the time in question which were very wrong. It was a really good chat and I did learn a lot from her, but for the most part, I just wanted out at the time. I almost quit and was blaming her. Now, I see it wasn't really her fault. There were circumstances that I knew nothing about and she had been so stressed for so long, she had become a different person than who she thought she was. I get that now. And I feel bad for putting all the blame on her, but I'm truly not stressed about it anymore. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to have that talk with her. I've wanted to for a very long time and it opened my eyes a lot.

I spent Friday night and Saturday with the family and drove home with my niece late on Saturday night. She only slept for a half hour and we finally got to Saskatoon at 3:30 or so in the morning safe and sound.

There was a house full of people when we got here, but I was expecting that. It was great to see everyone from Edmonton before they went home on Sunday.

Written by my niece and edited for spelling by Auntie:

Yesterday I went for breakfast with Auntie's friends from Edmonton. When we had breakfast the chef forgot my breakfast but that is OK. Auntie's pretty friend with red hair got them to bring my breakfast. And I had hash browns, bacon, and toast, but I didn't like the hash browns and bacon, but I loved the toast.

We went to Pike Lake and I went down the water slide by myself but the scariest part was going on the water slide backwards but then I turned around quickly. We went on a paddle boat last, but it was boring and hard and Auntie scared me by splashing the water and I thought it was a fish. And then Auntie and Cheruby were going to throw me in the water and then I got so freaked out. And I also saw three fish. They were only babies. And then we went in the pool another time.

We watched Hellboy before bed and ate kettle corn. Before that, we had cherries and grapes.

I must have been sleep-walking last night because Auntie told me I came downstairs and went right back up again.

Bye all.

Since I got to Calgary, I've been nursing my sunburn and whining about it a lot. I like to sleep on my tummy, you see. And it hurts so much that I can't so I'm waking myself just before I drift off because I roll onto my belly. [sigh] It's a hard life. [Visions of third world countries from those commercials going through my head.] My left breast also really started hurting today. Apparently, I was paying too much attention to my belly burn and neglecting my boob burn. Really hard life. [More flies crawling allover small stick like children with their distended bellies.]

So today, I got riled up at work. Someone from our client tech support center called a client at the request of one of my staff and told the client that my staff member's instructions were completely wrong, thus, discrediting her. Am I wrong to be this bothered by that? Because I am. I know she's not the easiest person to deal with when she upset and she's very much used to getting her way, but how rude is that?!?! In front of a client!! I'm going to have a very good, rational discussion about it on Friday and we'll get it all sorted out, but right now, I'm still too riled. Gggrrrrr...

On the plus side, it's great to get riled up again. I have two more days until I have no more theme song. [grin]

Yes, I'm crispy. But just on my left arm, neck, and breast. I was driving in my sports bra because it was hot. But I forgot to bring any sunscreen. Ooops. I did spend about 2 hours of the trip with my t-shirt draped over my left arm and it definitely helped, but I'm definitely still crispy.

Ferlak treated me to a fantastic supper when I got here. He's gone all healthy on us, folks! AND he's playing Katamari right now so I must go... I'm so torn though. Double XP weekend in CoH or Katamari? Is there an angel and devil in this situation or are they both devils? [grin]

Well, not really. I was planning on driving to Calgary today, but this and that happened and I'm going in the morning now. No plans were really made today so no harm done, and I'm feeling much better about getting a lot of stuff done this evening so I can leave my house in relative cleanliness for when I bring my niece back with me. [YAY!]

Got a few more chores to do like finishing up the laundry, vacuuming and dishes. All the rest like mowing the lawn, weeding the flower beds, most of the laundry, cleaning the litter, etc. are done already. I suppose I'm not doin' too bad. Of course, I haven't packed yet either and I'm only half done my "to pack" list. That list is optional.

I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone in Calgary. It's been way too long, actually. I even get to see my auntie because she will there from Edmonton. I think I'm going to have to start making trips to Edmonton like I do for Calgary with the staying a couple of days thing. I just hired another staff member there. YAY!

So, tomorrow, I start on my journey westward and hopefully I get there before the day heats up too much.

Cheruby and I got home this evening from our wonderful camping weekend and watched a movie.

Weekend notes: I finally got what being away from home with no worries does for my mom. My shoulders and neck were so much less tense. I slept beautifully for the first time all week. I met more of Cheruby's family and they were wonderful. Played a lot of games with Cheruby and his uncle. It was such a good visit.

Back to the movie. Cheruby wanted to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with me. I thought I remembered Clark telling me that I might not like it after he'd seen it. I trust his judgement on these things and he was right - I wasn't ready to see it. It would have really, really upset me. I think I would have appreciated the movie as being as beautiful as it was, but I wouldn't have enjoyed it much. Tonight wasn't that different except that I was with Cheruby and that made it good. The movie was, as Cheruby said, beautiful. I didn't once bring myself out of it to say, "That's Jim Carrey acting." Apparently, he can act! Besides that, it took me with it through the story of how a relationship failed even though there was love and then started again knowing that it failed the previous time. It had a great ending where you are left to decide for yourself how they end up. I said that it was wonderful and I never wanted to see it again. That was a few hours ago and I don't know if I'm still feeling that way. Maybe I do want to see it again.

ESotSM left me with three thoughts:

1. It was a really beautiful.


2. I didn't want that to happen to Cheruby and me. They started out so happy and went down the drain. I hated the thought of that happening to us.


3. I was scared of Cheruby's ex. "Was" being the operative word. Cheruby confidently told me that she has nothing to do with the success of our relationship. Yep, I'm in - hook, line, and sinker. [heart-flutter]

What counts as roughing it? Just an outhouse? Cuz that's what I'm doing. Going camping at a campground with no other amenities. I'm pretty excited about it. Or maybe I'm just excited to see Cheruby because he's been camping since Wednesday. [GRIN]

I'm worried about the kittens because the little gets pretty upset when I'm not around, but she's doing much better. She has that bump on her belly from her spaying operation, but she hasn't been licking it very much. The big brat has mellowed completely and although he's happy to see me when I get home, he doesn't fuss quite as much. I'm quite sure that the little one cuddles with him in the basement during the day.

The power was out in the house last night for a couple of hours. I was still tidying before heading out for the weekend. I finished up using a flashnight. Including catching the little one deciding to pee in the basket beside the toilet upstairs which ended up being all over me because I picked her up by the scruff in an effort to stop her. [sigh] We took a walk downstairs to the freshly cleaned litterbox in the hopes that this would be what she needed. I never had a single problem with the big brat. Then I did laundry which didn't turn on because the power was out so it just sat there and turned on when the power came back.

I haven't been sleeping well lately, which for some people is a normal way of life, but I'm having some trouble adjusting. So much trouble that I was awake for my whole massage last night. I had NO idea she beats me up so badly. It hurt A LOT! And then she tells me that she's taking it easy on me because I'm awake. Yikes! What the hell am I sleeping through? I have another appointment next week because my neck and shoulders are a mess so we'll see if I can get through it.

I know that this is a blatant abuse of my blog in order to promote discomfort and uneasiness in others, but Clark's 30th birthday is today and it would be awful to do to him what we did to Neuba's husband.

So, if you know this fellow, send him a note to taunt him that you know his secret. If you're close enough, you should give him a hug because he really loves hugs. ;)

So while I am absolutely smitten with Cheruby and I want to spend all my time with him, it seems that I'm neglecting some other very important obligations like yard work, house cleaning, laundry, City of Heroes...

Of course, with today all to myself I started at the top of the priority list and almost got Purrrsia to level 43. I got to play with Arkayne last night and today even! YAY!

The kitten still hasn't been able to remove her pain patch after her Tuesday trip to the vet to have her baby making bits and a dozen pointy bits removed. On Wednesday morning, I discovered a new perk of working from home. While I knew that my big brat really enjoys having me at home so he can go in and out all day, he was able to bring me a present to say thanks. Of course, I screamed loudly and he dropped his very large, freshly dead robin inside the back door. He didn't know what the heck was going on so I left the robin there and calmed him down and told him what a good boy he was. Then I went about the task of removing the dead bird from my house. [sigh] The little one came home later that afternoon and within 20 seconds of my holding her at the vet, she was purring. I was a little worried, but apparently didn't have anything to worry about. She's missed her pointy bits a few times, but I know she'll be fine.

The rest of my to do list will eventually get done, but I'm not going to rush myself. I'm going to enjoy the summer and love it. And spend as much time as I can with my friends, family and of course, Cheruby.

Did I have a good time at their wedding last year?

This should answer your question.

The weekend was a total blast! I got to get to know some new friends better. Cheruby came with me camping and we had a rockin' good time.

We had to drive up on Saturday morning so we left early enough (after having to borrow his mom's tent because my tent has gone missing from my basement - please let me know if you've seen it) to take the scenic route south of the Saskatchewan River from Saskatoon to North Battleford. It was very, very dusty. Cheruby's hair turned gray from all the fine dust sticking to it. Crazy! We were feeling pretty gross, but gas at Battleford was 99 cents and the gorgeous Saskatchewan scenery was well worth it.

Cheruby played in his first LARP on Saturday evening after a dip in the pool. He did very well and looked very dashing in his top hat and tux costume. I even think he's going to come with me again sometime. YAY!

There was some carousing after the game, but we were very tired from the day's travel and intense new experience. Of course, because it wasn't my tent my air mattress was a little big for the tent. In fact, it didn't fit well at all. We had a very small door opening left to crawl through once the mattress was full. I thought it was great.

The next day was full of napping, carousing, swimming (lots of swimming), frolicking, massages, fireworks and a wonderful round of "O! Canada". It was a lot of fun. Oh, I forgot to mention the games that were played. You can't get rid of all the geekery from a party of geeks even though there was a champagne fountain.

It was a great weekend.