It's just words...

- I am at work, but only pretending to work, because a bar call party starts in 15 minutes and that is clearly not enough time to accomplish any further today, and I would really like a glass of wine and some cheese.

- My fancy stove top/ sink unit (stainless steel, made in Italy, very cool) for the airstream was delivered to my house by FedEx but I wasn't there (of course). But at least it is in Calgary and I will have it soon!

- It is SO COLD. Like, -8 or something. Overnight lows of -12 or such nonesense. And it has been snowing off and on for several days now, not sticking much in the city, but out at the barn they have several centimetres. I had to put Arwen into her full-on winter blanket. IT IS ONLY OCTOBER AND EARLY OCTOBER AT THAT. I want to believe this is a freak early cold snap and that it will pass and there will be some nice fall weather still to come... but Lake Louise is predicting to open on Nov. 6 so it sounds like might be an early winter.

- If it winter is going to start in the first week of October, in the same year that it snowed at the end of JUNE, this had better be one excellent snowboarding season. It is only fair.

I am becoming bad at LiveJournal, but so is everyone, really, now that there is facebook and y'all can see from my pictures what I'm up to.

The new occupier of all spare time is the airstream. We're trying to make reasonable progress before it gets too cold to work on it, since we don't have a garage large enough to park it in. Considering how cheaply Andrew bought it, it's in very good shape. It was just so disgustingly dirty that it looked much worse. So most of what we are doing is to make it look better. That, and I don't trust gas-powered things from the 60s not to blow up on us, so all the gas-related items (stove, water heater, furnace, tanks and lines) are being replaced.

These are the various projects:

- fresh coat of stain and wax on the cabinets
- new countertops (in a very fun yellow formica!)
- replacing the stove/oven (who needs an oven in a trailer?) with a sleek new combination stove top/ sink unit
- microwave where the oven used to be
- new futon mattress for the main bed
- re-do the sofa/ guest bed (new foam and fabric on existing frame)
- remove ucky carpets (done) and replace with laminate flooring
- new curtains
- spray-paint original 1960s fridge (which still works) so that it is no longer olive green
- repair one bad spot in floor and one leaky spot in trailer

There will also be a whole lot of work on the outside - haven't really assessed things like the exterior lights, hitch, tires, axle, etc., but that part will probably wait until spring. Fun!

Haven't updated in forever, but in my defence, most of the people who read this, were actually in my house.

Had the folks here for the bar call, it was great to see everyone... and now I'm a lawyer. Which feels good but also kind of anticlimatic. It's such a long process and by the end of articling I was being treated like a lawyer and working as a lawyer so the only difference is that I can honestly and truly call myself a lawyer now. I have new letterhead and new business cards and a raise in pay, and people rely on my advice and that is scary because I mostly feel like I don't really know and I'm just taking a somewhat educated guess at the best thing to do. A feeling that more experienced lawyers tells me never really goes away.

As soon as all the family left, the next big event was the year-end horse show in Red Deer. We came home with two reserve championships, a saddle pad, a halter, and $62 in prize money - but would have liked to have some better rounds. There weren't a lot of entries in my division and so I was able to place well with rounds that really didn't deserve it. On the first day in particular, the weather was miserable - cold and rainy - and my classes were first thing in the morning when it was most cold and wet, and a lot of people scratched. So I guess my prizes were mostly for being brave enough (and having brought big enough traction studs for Arwen's shoes) to go out in jump in cold rain.

The photos are on facebook, here is a video of one of our better rounds in the hunter ring... this was a Hunter Classic which was a two-round format, the first was a very long course of 12 jumps and the top 8 were called back to do a second round over a shorter course. There were 20-something horses in the class with many much nicer than Arwen so it was a pleasant surprise to make the top 8 (we finished 6th, not bad!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcrJh158DP0

This time I think I have a better excuse for taking a while to update. Kathleen and Frank arrived as scheduled on Tuesday afternoon and we've tried to show them the best of Alberta in a bit of a whirlwind.

Wednesday we went out to the barn and K rode Arwen; then in the afternoon we took in the zoo and for dinner introduced K&F to Vietnamese food.

Thursday we drove out into the foothills to see Bragg Creek, Forget-me-Not Pond and the waterfalls. We hoped to take in Shakespeare in the Park but it was cold and rainy so our plan for picnic and Shakespeare turned into cooking and hanging out at home.

Friday was Banff day... lunch in Canmore on the way there... wandering the little shops, a hike to a waterfall, Lake Minnewanka, and a fabulous fondue dinner at the Grizzly House.

Saturday we met with up K&F's Red Deer friends and went to cheer on Kiki Cannonball and the rest of the Red Deer Belladonnas in the Roller Derby "Ink Cup" at the Calgary Tattoo Show. Since the weather was finally looking up again we decided to give Shakespeare a try; it turns out the weather was only better by comparison and wasn't really proper outdoor theatre conditions; but we survived.

K&F left yesterday with the Red Deer folk for a few days of camping in the Alberta wilds; I'm not sure at what point they realized that they had left most of their food behind at my house but it must have been some point too late to turn around. But, it's finally sunny so I hope they are having a good time.

After all that activity and people in the house, I am looking forward to a week of normality, at least until the parents arrive on Friday!

That was quite the weekend. Worked almost straight through from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening with only a little down time on Saturday when stuff had to dry before proceeding.

There were a few moments of drama. The plumbing did not want to co-operate which required a two emergency trips to Home Depot for solutions. The new mirror I had my eye on in a local store turned out not to be for sale but a sample for custom orders and they refused to sell me the sample, so I had to go last-minute mirror shopping. And, saddest of all, Andrew chipped the beautiful new sink while installing it - perhaps a glass sink was not the most practical idea ever. At the moment the sink is in anyway chip and all, we had to order that sink in and it took a while, so I have to decide if I want to order the same one again or go with something more practical.

We still have to grout the tiles and adjust the doors on the cabinets so they will close a little smoother, and one drawer needs to be re-sized to better accommodate the plumbing.

But it is mostly done and should be all done by tonight and it looks amazing, I can't believe Andrew built something (and I helped) that looks like it could be in a magazine.

I did a lot of general frantic tidying while Andrew did the more technical parts of the construction, and we have paid the cleaning fairies for some extra time today, so the house should be looking fantastic for the arrival of K&F tomorrow. I am excited! Family visiting! Bar call getting closer!

First of all, happy birthday to my mother (it is not her birthday now, but it is well past her bedtime and so it will be her birthday by the time she reads this). I hope you have a great day and I will call!

What I've been up to... Friday went to a horse show... Arwen's first time in the real jumper ring, meaning the big grass stadium-style ring as opposed to the usual sand riding rings. Same height we have been jumping all along, but they seem bigger in the big ring with the bright jumps and tents and sun-umbrellas for spectators and electronic timers like at Spruce Meadows and the whole bit. We didn't place in any of the classes, since there were lots of horses in them and we had some rails, but I am happy with the rounds, Arwen didn't look at any of that scary exciting stuff and everything went smoothly, the rails were just bad-luck rails that happen in the jumper ring. So that was good.

For the rest of the long weekend I went off to Invermere with Andrew and he took me up for a glider flight! I have been hanging out at the soaring club for three summers now and always made excuses not to go up. I said I wanted Andrew to take me not any of the other pilots, and he wasn't cleared to take passengers... but Andrew did some extra training and got cleared to take a passenger and the weather conditions were apparently "smooth" and so I was out of excuses and up I went with Andrew in the club's venerable two-seat training glider.

Previous to this I had never been in any aircraft smaller than a 12-seat Air Canada jet and now I was in a plane that only barely holds two people. AND HAS NO ENGINES. But up we went, towed up by Ash the Kiwi in the tow plane to about 7,000 feet and releasing over the mountains. This was the first really scary moment: Andrew somehow forgot to mention that releasing the tow rope would make a very loud clunk and that then we'd turn and bank hard away from the tow plane and I kind of freaked out and was like "what just happened!" and Andrew was like "we're off tow, that's what happens."

Then Andrew found a thermal and took the glider in circles, what he described as "medium turns" that felt to me like the plane was spinning a circle on one wing tip, banked enough that I felt like I could fall out the side. But this worked because we got to nearly 10,000 feet. Which is really crazy to think about. No engines and we went UP 3,000 feet on rising warm air. Eventually since I was feeling a little queazy we left the thermal and flew around some, this was much better than the thermal. Then back out over the valley and down to the air field to land. Landing was a little scary too but Andrew did it smoothly and we were safe back on the ground.

I will have photos soon, I am having some issues with downloading from the new camera but I can't wait to post proof that I actually flew in a glider!

We have these bathroom renovations that have been being planned, and "worked on" in the sense of buying supplies and so on, for what, two years? The deadline that I set was for when my family arrives for my bar call. First relatives, K and F, get here on Aug. 11. So we are getting down to the wire on this. I am living in fear that it will not get done, and not only not get done in the sense of the bathroom being still ugly, but not done meaning bathroom ripped apart and not put back together and we'll have company.

Andrew of course insists that he is, after all, a PROJECT MANAGER and his projects get done on time and on budget. We will see.

So last night we got the first coat of stain onto half of the cabinets - the other half being not built yet. The new countertop is complete. Old tiles have been removed.

The list of what needs to be done still:

- build rest of cabinets
- finish staining all cabinets
- rip out old cabinets, countertop, sink
- install new cabinets and countertop
- sealant on new countertop
- plumbing for new sink and faucet since they are not going in exactly the same spot as old ones
- new tiles around sink
- repair drywall damaged in demolition process
- paint

Oh and we're going to Invermere for the long weekend so most of this is going to have to get done in one big marathon on the 8/9 weekend right before K&F arrive. Will we get it done? Keep reading!

Spent the weekend at a horse show. I usually don't go for trailering down and stabling there, since it always means missing some work, but I have to admit it makes for a much more civilized experience - never had to get up earlier than 6 a.m. which is my normal time to get up for work through the week.

Saturday started with a jumper medal class that was only okay, had a rail down and a big chip. Got 6th. Meh.

Then a 2'6 jumper class that seemed like we were on track. Beautiful clean first round. Fast fast fast jumpoff, on track to win the class. Got to the last jump too far to one side, smacked the standard with my left shin, pulled the whole thing down. So mad at myself - Arwen jumped the jump just fine, I'm the one who screwed up and cost us the win. There were only 4 double clears though so we ended up 5th as the fastest 4-fault jumpoff.

On to the 2'9s and things didn't get any better. Took two rails in a speed class, didn't place. Took a rail in the first round of another class and didn't make the jumpoff. Not a lot of clears though so we picked up a 7th as fastest 4-fault first round.

Last round of the day, 2'9 Mini Prix, hoping to redeem ourselves. At the very first jump I hear a big hard thwack and think, that's it, it's over, that rail will be down. Lost my concentration, jumped the wrong second jump and was eliminated. And that first jump that we knocked? Stayed up after all, so I lost my brain for nothing. Lesson learned, keep concentrating and keep going no matter what.

Sunday, I had just one more jumper class and then on to the hunters. Finally managed a good round in the jumpers - a clean first round and a nice fast and clean jumpoff, and we won the class.

Feeling redeemed, headed into the hunters in the afternoon and had two very nice rounds, although I was cutting corners just a little after doing the jumpers. Picked up a 3rd and a 4th, which is pretty good for Arwen in the hunters against big fancy horses.

So overall not too bad but we still have to get more consistent before we can move up to the 3', I think.

I've been busy, so a quick rundown:

Work has taken a big step up in the challenge/difficulty level. As if they said, okay, you're basically a lawyer now, so we'll start treating you like one.

It's also full-on bar call season, with all my classmates starting becoming officially real lawyers on a daily basis.

This weekend is a horse show; we're doing jumpers on Saturday and on Sunday one jumper class and some hunter classes. I enjoy the jumpers more, so looking forward to it.

Next weekend is another show, but there's not as much interest from other folks at the barn, so we're only going down for the Friday. A little disapointing but it means I can head to Invermere with Andrew for the rest of the long weekend. A little relaxing by the lakeside will be nice!

The weekend after that will be devoted to (finally) completing the bathroom renovations and otherwise getting the house ready for guests, since Kathleen and Frank will be arriving right after.

It's a little scary to look at a calendar and realize that I have plans for every single weekend from now until the middle of September. But on the plus side I'm doing lots of stuff and having lots of fun! There is a limited amount of summer here in Alberta, have to enjoy it while it lasts, I can sleep in late when it's cold and dark.

I am back from yet another trip to Invermere. I love it out there so much. It's hard to accept that we are still quite at the vacation-home-owning stage of life, because I desperately want to be able to call it HOME out there. But also still have Calgary, where my job is, as home (the courthouse in Invermere is very small, so I suspect they do not need many litigators). Oh well, next summer we should have a campsite that will be ours for the whole year - that's close enough, right?

I left Andrew out there for another week of flying. It is the peak season now and much busier, so he now has competition for the rental gliders. A nice lady pilot has come all the way from Japan to fly at Invermere, so she is getting priority over Andrew's usual plane. But he may end up being allowed to fly an even nicer one than the PW-5, so hopefully all is well.

I stopped on the way home to buy groceries, looking for easy things to make for just me while Andrew is away, and somehow ended up buying a big box of frozen mini-pizzas. So much for eating healthy.

Am home again, sorry no phone calls, life has been a whirlwind!

Camping trip was pretty good, but, I am unlikely to go back to Cypress Hills. I think it is better suited to families with small kids. It's very scenic and lovely but the hiking trails, even the ones rated as "difficult" were really easy for Andrew and I - and we are not that hardcore. The park just didn't hold up well in comparison to last year's trip to Waterton, which has trails that are far more challenging and is even more beautiful, but also has more in the little town in terms of restaurants, coffee shops, etc. for when we are tired of roughing it. Still, it was pleasant to be out of the city (especially during the craziness of Stampede) and we did some hiking and went for a canoe around the lake, photos on facebook.

Got home just in time to catch thedirtyground's barbeque on Saturday night and then Sunday was frantically getting in the usual weekend stuff of shopping and laundry and cleaning out the Boler and so on.

And now I'm back at work and dressed like a cowgirl, since it is Stampede, and this will be a week of beef on a bun and pancake breakfasts and the golf tournament and not doing much work at all.

I'm not even feeling all weird or crisis-y over having a milestone birthday; I've been calling myself 30 for a little while now to ease the shock of it actually happening, and I think it worked. I guess it also helps to be turning 30 as I complete articles and about to become a lawyer at a great firm, happily married, with friends and a life I enjoy. I don't have that "I am 30 and what have done with my life so far" thing going on; I know exactly what I've done with my life.

Spent the milestone birthday weekend with the MD crew - the firm gave us a budget to plan an event to celebrate completing articles, and we realize it would go much further if we camped out and bought food and booze at Costco than if we did a catered dinner or a restaurant or anything like that. So we headed out to Beth's parents' cabin at Gull Lake... and by "cabin" you should read "heavenly gorgeous dream home." We were not allowed to use the cabin other than the bathroom and kitchen; the actual camping was on a vacant lot next door that Beth's parents also own. We golfed nine holes at the local course, cooked up a steak dinner on the BBQ and then settled around the campfire with plenty of beer into the wee hours of the morning.

I'm now feeling tired in the way that comes with lots of sun, lots of booze, and sleeping poorly in a tent on lumpy ground and being waken by the sun only a few short hours after going to bed. But I'm happy.

Next adventure: southern Alberta/Saskatchewan camping odyssey. Taking advantage of the official holiday on the 1st and the unofficial holiday on the 3rd (Stampede parade day for those not in Cowtown; my office is closed for the day) and taking the 2nd as a vacation day to continue the exploration of the prairies in the Boler. Destinations: Red Red Coulee Natural Area, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, and Writing-on-Stone Park.

Got up at 4:15 this morning for the horse and wasn't home until 9 p.m. So I will make this brief before heading do bed. Great horse show - probably the best hunter rounds Arwen and I have ever done. We picked up some assorted placings with the highest being 3rd. Which is why I like jumpers better - we can have a great hunter course but there will always be someone else with a fancier horse who can also put in a nice round. The riders I was competing against all looked great to me so to be placing consistently was enough.

I'm leaving at 9 tomorrow morning for the MD camping weekend... so family, no need to call for my birthday tomorrow, I will phone sometime soon. The second package arrived the other day, too.

I don't think I mentioned that I went to my first golf lesson of the series of four I'm doing. It turns out that I was doing pretty everything wrong. Which isn't really surprising since I was basically just guessing how to golf based on how it looks on TV. So I was holding the club wrong, standing wrong, aiming wrong, and swinging wrong. Which together perfectly explains how badly I golf.

I am definetly the worst of the three of us in the group, but I have already improved based on the one lesson. In fact my "missing the ball altogether" issue is basically gone. Now I just have to work on making it go further and in a straight line. I have my next lesson tonight and I'm actually looking forward to it.

This is a busy week; I'm doing my first horse show of the season on Friday... it runs all weekend but I'm taking Friday off and just doing that day, since Saturday/Sunday is our articling student camping weekend, so I will be spending my 30th birthday with my fellow students at a cabin on a lake. Trying to get all my work done so that taking Friday off will not be a problem.

I suppose Tuesday afternoon is late for a "My weekend was awesome" post, but it was, and I haven't done anything interesting since. All I did was head out to Invermere, but I just love it out there. This time, dragged along mekkavandexter for company and that was good, and I think most of what I promised her came true:
- campfire
- barbeque
- better weather than Calgary
- wandering touristy little shops
- reading in the sunshine
- hot New Zealand pilots

Except the last one is a slight lie, because while there are pilots from New Zealand, they are not particularly hot; however, there is a very fine specimen from (yawn) Edmonton who thus lacks a hot accent, but is bringing in a whole new clientele for the gliding club consisting of teenage girls. So between them, that's sort of like having hot New Zealand pilots, right?

And I bought a painting at a gallery, that I really really like, even though I am supposed to be on my "buy nothing" resolution until the end of June. But what's two weeks? Call it an early 30th birthday present to myself, call it an end of articling present, call it anything, it's beautiful and I love seeing it on my wall.

I'm all twitchy at work, don't wanna be here, it's nice outside, I want go home and hit the road for B.C. But I am the back-up on-call for legal emergencies student, so I should really stay until close to the end of a normal workday. I am bringing mekkavandexter for as company for the drive so I can't leave for B.C. until she's done work too.

It probably doesn't help that today I am trying to research stuff that I don't really understand, about the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bills of Exchange Act, and this isn't a good sign since I may have told one of the partners, in an attempt at a recession-proof career, that I was interested in bankruptcy and insolvency litigation. Which would involve having to one day understand this stuff. Today is not going to be that day.

A few things:

- I have a fresh haircut, waxed eyebrows, and fancy new shampoo and conditioner. The salon has all my money.

- After having a weird allergic type reaction to Aveeno "Positively Ageless" moisturizer with sunscreen, I now have a (much more expensive, but I still had some $ left on an HBC gift card) Clinique hypoallergenic moisturizer with sunscreen. Buying Clinique being just one more sign that I am slowly turning into my mother. But at least Clinique will let me return their products if I have a reaction to them. If anyone out there would like to try the Aveeno, I'd hate to toss a nearly-full container, maybe you aren't allergic to it?

- I reluctantly signed up for golf lessons. I don't want to learn to golf; it's boring and I have enough summer hobbies. But lawyers golf and I will miss out on important opportunities if I cannot at least golf at a basic level. It turns out that the office supplies manager at my work, in charge of pens and toner by day, is a golf instructor by night and offers a discount to firm people. So along with two of my fellow students I will be doing a four-lesson crash course in how to golf before the firm's tournament during Stampede.

- Andrew is out in B.C. this week, living in the Boler and flying, and is having a great time... and has gotten enough good flights in that he's currently ranked #8 novice pilot in Canada. He wants to finish the year in the top 10 so this is a great start. There's a lot of season left for everyone to earn more points so being in 8 right now is far from a guarentee of how he will finish, but hopefully he can keep it up.

In case you were waiting to see what happened with our weather-driven logistical jam, Andrew and I made it out to B.C., he's still out there and I'm back.

Andrew decided that the snow would stop by Saturday afternoon and we would drive out then. Having made up that plan, he was determined to stick to it, even though the snow never really did stop. But a series of highway web cams told us that there was better weather along the way, so we hitched up the Boler and Andrew got on the Beemer and off we went. And he had to drive through snow and sleet until we just short of Cochrane, and then in and out of very cold rain until Canmore. I was in the Bleep behind feeling terrible for Andrew but reminding myself that at least he had his heated vest on and the heated hand grips on the bike. Until the gas station at Canmore where he said he was freezing since none of the heated stuff was working. But, tightening up the connections fixed the problem and with heat re-established, off we went again. Around the B.C. border it suddenly got quite a bit nicer so the second half of the drive was just fine. Why it would magically become sunny and 10 degrees warmer when crossing a provincial line is beyond me but I'll take it.

So I had a nice brief little visit with the valley, I just love it out there, I start to feel this relaxed calm feeling as soon as I drive out of the last mountain pass and the view opens up. Andrew even got to fly today in a short window of decent conditions this afternoon. The Boler is all set up in a lovely spot as Andrew's home for the week, and I will head out next weekend to pick it up. Let's hope work is calm enough that I can head out on Friday and come back on Sunday, two nights between the drive is better than one.

Right now in Calgary it is zero degrees and snowing.

And I'm up and about this early for work. But not even real, billable hours work... because two lawyers from my work on are doing the Law Society's trial advocacy course, and are running mock trials today, and recruited students to play their witnesses. The course is very similar to the one U of C does for third-years, so this is actually the same mock trial that I ran last January. So at least I know what it's about. Of course I managed to leave the script I was given in the car of the co-worker who drove me home yesterday evening, and I didn't realize that until late last night when I thought I'd get my things in order for the morning. So here's hoping E. gets my late-night email and can print me another copy.

The snow, more so than the trial, is what threatens to make the weekend really awkward. Andrew is taking next week off to go flying in Invermere, and he'd like to stay in the Boler for the week. Entirely reasonable, since that's what we bought it for. We planned to drive up together in convoy, him on his motorbike, me with the Bleep and Boler, on Friday after work, spend the weekend together, then I'd go back to the city leaving him with the trailer to live in and the motorbike to get around. Repeat in reverse the next weekend.

Except we couldn't go up on Friday with the bad weather and this trial thing this morning. If it clears up enough to drive out today it won't be so bad, at least I can spend a night out there before driving back. But if it keeps snowing all day then I'll have to drive out Sunday morning to drop the Boler and back Sunday evening and that won't be fun.

Alternate plan was, maybe Andrew can just take the Bleep and keep it all week, and I can use the motorbike to get around through the week. Only I never rode all last summer, I'm out of practice, I'm not familiar with the BMW, and I don't feel ready to drive it through dense traffic and on the highway to get to the barn just yet. I could not see Arwen for a week, while Andrew is on holidays and I have nothing else to do, but that doesn't seem like fun either.

So please send along some warm up and stop snowing vibes... this is no fun!

A quick update to say that Evil Dead: The Musical was fantastic, I laughed and laughed and laughed, so if you are in Calgary, or anywhere else where it is playing, go see it right now!

We had seats in the Splatter Zone, which cost extra, but turned out to be double-extra worth it, since the night we went turned out to be the grand gala opening with wine and cheese and cookies, all of us Splatter Zone folks got free foam chainsaws, and after the show, since we had to stay until the rest of the theatre left, we got to meet the cast. The stage blood drenching in the Splatter Zone is even more extreme than it's advertised - you can't leave with everyone else because they don't want you dripping blood all through the theatre, so you get escorted out the back way. Then we walked home from downtown covered in fake blood. Despite a plastic poncho I still got it on my clothes, I am blaming secondary transfer, but thanks to copious amounts of Spray N Wash, my clothes came clean in the wash.

Also: congrats to my mom on bringing home "Carribean Babe", a three year old greyhound fresh off the track from the U.S. Here's hoping she settles in and learns to do the stairs!