Sunny, cool Edmonton

At the moment Darcy and I are staying at my Mom's and Stepdad's condo. The weather has been very cool with snow showers one morning. Today got up to about 8 celcius or 48 farenheit. But it's sunny and I love it! Last weekend Darcy and I drove to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It's a five hour drive (330 miles) southeast from Edmonton on the Yellowhead Highway. Darcy wanted to visit her cousins, aunt and uncle there. We had great weather and Saturday was a balmy 26 celcius or 77 farenheit. It's a picturesque little city that is reminescent of Edmonton in the 1960s and 70s. It's one of about three cities that we'd consider moving to when we decide to leave Abu Dhabi. The other two cities are Calgary and Denver.

I think I forgot to mention that the total number of miles that we drove from Florida to Edmonton was about 3,800. On the topic of transportation, Darcy will take her car to a mechanic next Monday to have modifications done to meet Canadian auto standards. Then it needs to be inspected before she can register and insure it in Alberta. Luckily there are still a couple of people who are interested in buying the car. I have posted a classified ad for my 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle in the local paper. It's currently parked in front of my Dad's house with a *For Sale* sign. You can also view the car's ad at Freecartrader.com . I hope to sell old Bessie by the end of May before we leave Edmonton. More to come later...

It's here!

Well, the rest of our stuff finally arrived from Florida today. An early day as we had to drive out of town to the international airport to clear our shipment with customs, then all the way back to unload. So our things are now in storage, although how safely I can't really say. We didn't have time to unpack and check each box--I'd still be there repacking if we'd tried it--so I'm pretty much trusting things are okay on the fact that none of the boxes were physically open/ripped/etc. and none of the fragile ones made tinkly broken-glass-or-crockery noises when we shook them. I am in the middle of sorting and repacking the things I left in my parents' basement after the last move--I will be moving those things into storage when I'm done. Getting the stuff here finally was a big relief.

So now that our things have arrived and Michael has his drivers licence and our authenticated marriage certificate, he is essentally finished everything he has to do before leaving. Which means that I am in the unenviable position of Holding Everything Up. I haven't got my bank statement in the mail, which means I can't show proof of residence to get my licence. I haven't got the list of modifcations for my car from the Registrar of Imported Vehicles, so I can't get the modifications done, which means I can't get it inspected , registered and insured in Alberta, which means I can't sell it. Everything is down to sitting on my hands waiting for pieces of paper to arrive in the mail, essentially so I can do the few short things necessary to wait for other things to come in the mail. I'm getting to the point where I feel like it will never come and I will never get out of here...

In less stressful news, we are going to be leaving town to visit my cousins, aunt and uncle in Saskatoon this weekend. I haven't been there in about 3 or 4 years, and before that short visit (for an ill-fated job interview) I hadn't been for probably about 10 years. Strange when we used to go all the time! So that should be fun. We still have trips to Calgary and Jasper to plan as well.

Darcy finally posts

Well, I seem to have left most of the updating of this blog up to Michael for quite some time. Figured it was about time I posted a new entry, too!

As Michael mentions below, we are indeed in Edmonton after our road-trip odyssey. It was an interesting trip, even if we didn't have time to stop as much as we'd have liked to. I'm glad we decided to break up the trip by going through Denver. By the time we got there a rest was more than welcome. Plus, I haven't really had the chance to get to know Michael's brother and his wife very well until this point (they had moved from Edmonton by the time Michael and I got involved), and it was really nice to spend some time with them at last.. Malini teaches grade one, and she took me to her class one afternoon, which was really fun. We also had a chance to do some shopping and go out for dinner a few times. All told a great visit.

Thankfully we had a relatively easy border crossing at Sweetgrass/Coutts. I always worry that something will go wrong every time I have to cross, so it's always stressful for me. Fortunately we ended up well prepared. the only thing we hadn't done was assign a value to all the things on our moving inventory, and as it turned out we only had to spend about an hour on that. The agent that helped us said that many times people come to the border without any preparation beforehand, and spend about 7-8 hours there doing all the paperwork they need to hand in, so I think we got off pretty lightly! Even importing my car went off without a hitch.

We spent our last night on the road in Lethbridge, and took our last day of travel a little slower. I drove the last day, even though it was Michael's turn, because I've never been through Alberta as a driver rather than a passenger and I wanted to do the last leg myself. We slept in a little later than usual, and stopped at the Penny Coffee house before leaving town. I used to love that place, but going there just proved that there's truth in the idea that You Can Never Go Back. The independent bookstore that used to open into the shop was gone. All the funky posters and pictures on the walls were gone. All the feminist posters and quotes were gone from the womens' washroom. The place had been completely stripped and sanitized and it's fun-hangout character was gone. On top of that, the cappuccino I ordered was watered down to a latte with a little bit of foam on the top...something that always irritates me. Oh well. I still have the good memories from when it was a good place, I guess.

We stopped in Claresholm around lunch time, so I could show Michael where I lived and worked there. The place does not really look good in some respects. Lots of empty storefronts and empty houses. Even some of the churches have closed! The town does have a very nice brand-new public library, however, and the greenhouse I worked in looks really good, so at least that business is thriving!

We also stopped in Red Deer, not far from Edmonton, so that Michael could show me where he lived and went to school the years he was there. The house they were in was almost exactly the same as he had left it!

We stopped at Michael's dad's place when we got into Edmonton, and his mother and stepfather happened to be visiting, so we got to see them all at once! We spent the first few days at my parents' house, then moved to Michael's dad's, and have just set up again today at his mom's place. A little bit different this time around, as we are moving together and have to balance three different families.

Unfortunately not much to report as far as progress goes since we arrived in Edmonton. Our moving truck is late, and we can't really do any out-of-town visiting until it gets here. Whenever that will be. We have to get Alberta drivers licences before we move, which is harder than it used to be--we have to show proof of residence and then wait 2 weeks while everything gets vetted in Ottawa. Thank goodness we both kept bank accounts open here--bank statements are the only thing we would have on the list of acceptable proof! But I have to wait for my statement, then wait for my licence, and what with that and the things to get done with my car before I sell it it's going to be a longer time than anticipated before we will be ready to move overseas.

Not that I've really been able to wrap my head around the reality of our actually moving to Abu Dhabi yet! But, one step at a time I guess!

What with everything that's going on I think this blog needs a facelift/makeover. I'll try to get to that soon....

Back in Canada

We left sunny Denver at 10:30 MST on Monday, April 10. We were running a bit behind schedule as we had anticipated entering Canada on that date. But we wanted to visit with my brother and sister-in-law for a few days and rest up for the next leg of our journey. Darcy's car was ready for pick-up that morning as it needed a new starter and front brake pads. Day five of our roadtrip took us to Billings, Montana. I drove that day and covered about 585 miles. It was a very blustery day once we entered Wyoming. I had never seen that state but the desolation of the landscape was breathtaking. I believe that it is the least populated state and I think it has the second highest elevated state capital. While Denver touts itself as the mile high city at 5,200 feet, Cheyenne (capital of Wyoming) is over 800 feet higher. New Mexico's capital of Santa Fe is nearly 7,000 feet. Sadly we didn't have time to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield. We didn't time it right as we drove past it at 6:00 pm. We stayed overnight at the Cherry Tree Inn in Billings, Montana. It had a George Washington theme and the decor dated from the 1970s. The price was very cheap at $55.00. That night we had dinner at a surprisingly good dinner at the Enzo Mediterranean Bistro restaurant. We didn't expect to find a good Mediterranean restaurant in Billings. The city was picturesque and the Yellowstone River flowed through it. There were impressive bluffs Darcy drove on Day 6 and covered about 575 miles. The weather continued to cool off as we approached the continental divide. We passed the divide twice - first heading west on I-90 approaching Butte and second heading north on I-15. The city of Butte, Montana is situated almost on the divide and junction of the two interstates. We drove through a localized snow storm since the elevation was 6,300 feet. It was nice to see snow again! By this time we were on the final leg of our roadtrip in the U.S. The last city we passed through before reaching the U.S. Canada border was Great Falls which I had visited as a child. My parents went to school at the University of Montana in Missoula and we made a few trips to northern Montana in the early 1970s. Unfortunately we also didn't have time to visit the Lewis & Clark Museum in Great Falls. It was late in the day (4:00 pm) and we needed to give ourselved time to pass through customs and arrive in Lethbridge, Alberta by nightfall. That's all for now - more to come later....

On the road again...

I couldn't help but think of the Willie Nelson song *On the Road Again* for the title of this entry. Darcy and I have had a wonderful time with my brother and sister-in-law over the past five days. I had a headache our first day here likely due to the 5,000 foot elevation. After spending some time relaxing I decided to buy some clothes (something that I don't do very often!). My brother is a store manager for an upscale men's clothing store called Jos A Bank. So I bought a suit, four dress shirts, one belt, one pair of wool pants and one pair of Johnston & Murphy shoes. Everthing was close to 50% off so I only paid $750.00. I know, it's still a lot of money but it's a bargain. My brother is probably correct in that my new employer will likely not tolerate staff wearing cotton pants with their mandatory shirt and tie policy. I also own a nice Hugo Boss suit and three dress shirts and some nice ties and one pair of Florsheim shoes. So my new workplace wardrobe is complete.

I've had two good work outs with my brother this past Friday and Sunday. I can always count on my brother to have a good anaerobic workout! He is studying to become a certified personal athletic trainer. Sunday afternoon I shot some hoop (played basketball) with my brother for an aerobic workout. I can't emphasize enough how refreshing it is to be outside in a cool, dry climate! My stamina is so higher and I feel better. Plus the spectacular mountain view is breath taking! The shorter, brown colored front range mountains provide a start contrast to the white capped Rocky Mountains. Maybe one day my wife and I will settle in Denver.

Other somewhat boring news to report is that I went to my bank and made a withdrawal from my checking account. I will keep my Washington Mutual account open but will take most of my money up to Canada to invest. We also need to take about $2,500 with us overseas to sustain us until my first paycheck. The college will pay for our hotel and some food but we'll need to rent a car until I pass probation. The other news is that Darcy's Sentra is in the shop because it needs a new starter and front brakes. Unfortunately the starter was rebuilt only a year and a half ago so this shouldn't have happened. But this wasn't the first time that one of our cars needed a part replaced that had only been repaired the previous year. It happened to my Volvo last month (new alternator) and I was forced to sell it at a terrible loss.

Anyway the car will be ready Monday morning so we should be on the road around 10:30 am. The distance from Denver to Edmonton is about 1,100 miles and it will take two days of driving. We'll likely stay in Butte or Billings Montana Monday night. Time permitting I'd like to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana. We'll drive right by it so it's possible we'll have time to visit. The other landmark that I'd like to see is the Lewis & Clark Intrepative Center in Great Falls, Montana. It's not too far south of our home province of Alberta so we'll likely visit it this coming Tuesday.

I guess that's all for now. I need to refill my drink and visit more with my brother and sister-in-law. The next blog entry will likely be later in the week from Edmonton, Alberta!

Relaxing in Denver

I guess this is our first post-Florida blog entry. It was an emotionally draining week for Darcy and I during the last week of March with saying good-bye to friends and colleagues. We had established roots in South Florida after almost six years of living there. My friend Dante was a godsend with flying down from Toronto in part to help us clear out our apartment. During his week's stay the three of us spent almost every night relaxing in our apartment complex's hot tub.

We were forced to place many of our belongings by our apartment complex dumpster since we couldn't get Goodwill or the Salvation Army to pick up our unwanted items. But we were pleasantly surprised to observe that fellow tenants took almost all our former belongings! It took us longer than expected to clear out several small items in our kitchen and empty the refrigerator.

We filled Darcy's 1999 Nissan Sentra with valuables and fragile items that we didn't want packed on the moving truck. Darcy and I didn't leave Broward County until 3:30 pm on Friday March 31. Our destination of Edmonton, Alberta was over 3,400 miles away. But we had decided to break up the long trip by stopping in Denver and visiting my brother and sister-in-law.

We didn't have an itinerary for our trip despite getting a detailed travel planner from the AAA. Orlando ended up being our destination that first day of driving 224 miles (Darcy drove). We stayed at the Days Inn and our first restful night in about a month. On day two I drove and it was one of traffic congestion in Georgia. Despite being on the road for almost nine hours we only covered about 440 miles that day. We stayed overnight at the Quality Inn in Morrow, Georgia (just off I-75 in south Atlanta). If we had more time I would have liked to visit the Carter Center there. But it turned out that we were able to visit another Presidential Library later on our trip.

Darcy drove about 550 miles on day three and we travelled through Georgia and Tennessee. After analyzing the AAA planner we decided to visit the Chickamaugua/Chattanooga Civil War Battlefield. Being a history buff I had to stop since I had never seen a Civil War memorial before. I'd forgotten how mountainous the state was by having the Appalachian Mountains. That night we stayed at a motel called the Microtel in Clarksville, Tennessee. That night turned out to be rife with tornadoes and squawly weather hitting the area. A terrific windstorm blew in and brought a dazzling lightning storm. The temperature also dropped and we had to break out our northern climate clothing.

It was my turn to drive on day four and we covered about 500 miles. We drove through Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri. We stayed overnight at the Best Western Truman Inn in Indpendence, Missouri. The next day we spent about three and a half hours visiting the Truman House and Truman Library. The Miniature White House had amazing detail and was on loan. We could have easily spent the entire day there but we wanted to be in Denver that night. Sadly we didn't have time to visit the Eisenhower Library in neighboring Abilene, Kansas. The trek to Denver was about 600 miles straight west and it took nine hours. We arrived at my brother's condo at 11:00 pm on April 4 a bit tired and stiff but ready to relax in the cool, crisp mountain air for a few days!

The countdown continues....

Darcy and I apologize for not posting more entries but it's been kind of busy lately. She worked her last day on March 15 while I only have three work days left over the next twelve days. Yikes! I get the shudders every time I think of how little time remains. Yesterday (March 17 St. Patrick's Day) We celebrated the sixth anniversay of our first date. We went to our favorite British restaurant in Dania Beach for a yummy dinner. Our priority now is to complete an inventory of all our items. We're just about done with the books, my comics and cds are done. We need to work on data entry in excel for Darcy's stuff too so this will take a while. It's late so I better head home - more later....

Happy six month anniversary!

This past Saturday was our six month anniversary. I know that many of you are probably saying that why are you bothering posting about that? Well, being newlyweds is for a finite time and six months is an important celebration. We didn't go out and celebrate it but instead had a nice candlelit dinner. We still have our daytimer count on the eraser board in our closet but the date somehow snuck up on me! Sure doesn't seem like six months has passed by but I remember the day like it was yesterday. It must be sad for many couples who don't remember much, if any of their wedding day. I was fortunate in that, despite being busy, I remember much of that day. I'm sure that Darcy and her mother don't remember as much since they were very busy doing things.

Anyway the anniversary also coincided with our one year anniversary of moving in together. Despite a few rental payment snafus from the office, garbage piles by the trash chute and intermittent noisy neighbors, we have really enjoyed our place. I know that I will miss gazing at the trees, birds and canal from the balcony. The day is also significant in that we only have six more months at most of living in Florida! Time is ticking down to our eventual departure as it could be six months or two months. It depends on my job application process. See my blog for news about that.

Last bit of news is that my friend Ed, who is a talented photographer, emailed me a few wedding photos that he took. They are great and include some b&w ones. Once we get all those then we can start work on our wedding album. We'll also add them to our online wedding album. My stepdad Rick can also begin creating a dvd of the special day with video and still shots. His iMac has great multimedia capabilities and Rick created a nice wedding dvd for a friend's wedding. I guess that's all for now...

What's in a name?

Yesterday we got our first batch of Christmas cards from family and friends. It helped us get into the Christmas spirit more as it doesn't seem very Christmasy living here with no snow! Anyway I was amused by the fact that no one properly addressed our names on the envelopes. People addressed it to either Mr. and Mrs. Michael Shires or Michael and Darcy Shires. Unfortunately people have forgotten that Darcy did not change her name! I don't think that Darcy minded too much about the snafus. But I recall just about everybody asking us at the wedding if Darcy was going to change her name and we said no. We sent Christmas cards to people and addressed ourselves in the sender corner of the envelopes as either Sharman & Shires or Shires & Sharman. Oh well, it's not a big deal in the greater scheme of things....

Housecleaning

This blog has seen a lot of spam comments, so I've changed the setting to require word authentication feature on the comments. If you'd like to leave one, you still can...you'll just need to take the extra step.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming ;)

Our favorite wedding photo

Here is our favorite wedding photograph so far as we don't have all photos from family and friends yet. It was taken by my stepfather, Rick, long after the ceremony had ended. It was terribly hot outside and I put on my shorts and took off my vest. I got a 4X6 reprint of the photo we put it in our new oval glass picture frame. We love the photo as it's not in your traditional formal wedding pose. Without sounding too sentimental I think it represents the intimate and down to earth nature of our wedding day...

101 days of newlywed life!

We have a white erase board in our master bedroom walk-in closet where we are keeping a married day count. We've now been married for 101 days! I suppose it's nothing exciting to mention but I thought it was worth blogging about. We've now entered into triple digits and it will be about three years before we reach the magical 1,000 day mark. In late September I organized our Honeymoon photo album. We bought the album at the Jasper Tramway Chalet on Whistlers Mountain. We are awaiting for a few other wedding photos to be sent from family and friends. Then we'll do up our wedding album.

Life routine is monotonous that has, unfortunately, somewhat dulled our newlywed lives. Last Saturday we renewed our apartment lease for seven months. So D-Day will be August 31, 2006! I need to finish the excel spreadsheet of all the wedding gifts we received. We have just over $1,000 USD to spend. We're thinking of saving it and buying a good bed when we return to Canada. Our Aerobed is nice and suits our purposes here in Florida. But it would be nice to have a real bed at some point. That's all for now.....

newlywed blog

I'm long overdue for posting an entry. Well, we've been married 39 days and it's not been as different as I though it would. I knew that it wouldn't be a radical change of life as I attributed that to us moving in together at the end of January. Our sad return to hot, humid south Florida and resumption of the daily work grind didn't add any zip to our lives. But it does seem different to call Darcy my wife in conversations. We have begun adding our respective names as beneficiaries to life insurance and retirement policies. We've joked with each other that the plans don't have enough money if one of were to die!

But enough of our bland lives in Florida. Our wedding day went off without a hitch! I got a bit teary eyed during the ceremony while strong, resilient Darcy didn't shed a tear the entire day!The weather was excellent (maybe a tad hot but I didn't complain too much). My stepdad is compiling a DVD of the day with still photos and video. We have been receiving photos from friends and family as we obviously took no photos ourselves. The photos show how colorful we are were with our different attires with the lush, green backdrop. We were fortunate to have the great weather as it was literally a window of only a few days of good weather. We cleaned up the backyard the night of the wedding and it started to rain when we finished at 7:00 pm!

Our honeymoon night at the Union Bank Inn felt magical. As people said I tried to take in all that was happening. I remember sitting at our dinner table and seeing other young couples (at least two must have gotten married as there were two wedding receptions there that night) and thinking *we just got married and are now newlyweds*! It felt surreal that I was now in that exact situation but it was a nice feeling. The other couples looked about ten years younger than us but no matter. Our suite was very nice and we enjoyed using the bubble jet tub after the long day.

Despite not following protocol with traditional weddings we did have our honeymoon the day after the wedding which made it seem magical. It's strange how many couples don't do that now. We headed out in our rental car to Jasper National Park and it was a wonder trip! Although the park is only a four hour drive west from Edmonton I had never spent a day there. It was the perfect place for us and to decompress. Weather co-operated for most of the time and we squeezed in much sight-seeing. Places included Mt. Edith Cavell, Maligne Lake, Maligne Canyon, Sunwapta Falls, Athabasca Falls, Athabasca Glacier, and a gondola ride to Whistlers Mountain. Edith Cavell was breathtaking with seeing the glacial lake and hearing the dull *thunk* echo through the air as ice cracked off in the distance. It was the coldest day of our trip as the temperaure hovered around freezing. The scenery, fresh air and our cozy cabin were heavenly. Our snowcoach ride up to the Athabasca Glacier was cool. Mt. Athabasca, Mt. Andromeda, and the Snow Dome are part of the Columbia Icefield that is the largest collection of ice south of the Arctic Circle. The Snow Dome hsa three rivers that flow into three different oceans (Columbia into the Pacific, North Saskatchewan into Hudson's Bay/Atlantic and the Athabasca into the Arctic.) Sort of a tricontinental divide - I forget the scientfic term.

Climbing the 1,200 feet from the Whistlers Mountain chalet to the summit was incredible! Despite the height (8,100 feet) I was not as out of breath as trudging up the three flights of stairs to our apartment on a hot, humid day. I now know that my body shuts down in the south Florida climate. Anyway we spent just about every night in the hot tub and I also got to chop firewood a few times. We had roaring fires everynight too. It was tough to leave Jasper but we know that we'll return again for a wedding anniversary visit!

Shopping up a Storm

Well, we've had a lot of fun in the past couple of weeks spending our wedding money! A lot of our friends and family gave us cash in lieu of difficult-to-transport gifts, so we decided that we would use it to buy many of the things on our Crate and Barrel Registry. So, we've got a pretty decently equipped kitchen now, and we got to replace a lot of our gathered-piecemeal-for-cheap-or-secondhand things.

Actually, I think that this was probably the single biggest shopping trip I have ever participated in. We took a look around the store, decided on the things we were going to get, and then just went up to the counter with our marked-up list and asked for everything. We ended up with five huge stuffed-to-the-brim shopping bags, and one large box of cookware. Needless to say it's been fun unpacking, organizing, and putting away everything. And I've been having a great time using all the supersharp knives, real mixing bowls, copper pots and pans, and nice dishes, flatware serving utensils, and cloth napkins. I'm also glad to have the correct tools to do things that I haven't been able to do in a while, like baking and so forth.

As for how we fared with Hurricane Katrina: we were on the northern edge of the hurricane-force winds and storm. Fortunately, unlike the usual scenario where the wost weather of a hurricane is concentrated in the north, Katrina's main force was on the south side. So while we ended up with lots of downed trees and no power for 55 hours, we had no flooding or structural damage and fared much better than those in Miami and parts south. And of course our experiences here don't begin to match those in Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf. So overall we are feeling pretty lucky right now!

We did it!

Well, as the timer at the top of the page says, we did it! We are officially married. I think things still haven't fully sunk in yet--sometimes I feel different, sometimes I don't.

Overall I don't think we could have asked for things to possibly go better than they did. The day was hot and sunny, and the backyard was lovely. The flowers that Hole's Greenhouses did for us were absolutely gorgeous, and the staff even included a complimentarly copy of Lois' book for me! The extra flowers we bought to decorate the outside tables, and the pots that my mom planted this year, looked great too.

We took photos with our families and attendants before the wedding. Our ceremony went off pretty much without at hitch. A lot of people have asked us about it and complimented us on it, so I'll put a link to it, as well as to photos and other items of interest, on the sidebar as soon as they're available. Our officiant was great, and in a nice stroke of luck a friend offered to lend her green robes and a wreath for her hair which were just perfect. I had been "vibrating", in my mom's words, for the entire day and night before as we made the last minute preparations, and I was very nervous as we walked down the aisle and began the ceremony. But, as Pam began to speak and call the directions, I took a deep breath or two, and everything felt right and fine.

It's interesting the things you don't notice when you are absorbed in the moment. Afterwards, people told me that just as the ceremony was beginning, one of our particularly noisy neighbors came outside just for a moment, shouted something, and then went back inside. I had no idea that it had happened at all--I just didn't hear it! Likewise, my mom mentioned later that Michael's father had been quite choked up during the ceremony, and though I was standing pretty much right in front of him I didn't notice!

Right after the ceremony, Farahnaz, our bellydancer, performed for about half an hour. She was wonderful, and everyone, even people who had been a bit...unsure about what it would be like beforehand enjoyed her dancing immensely. She got just about everyone at the party up to dance with her at some point, and some people (ahem...CRAIG...) performed quite enthusiastically!

Much of the reception after that is a blur for me, as I was busy with last minute food preparation, serving, and so forth. Sounds strange perhaps but it is what I wanted and expected to do, so it was all good for me. We had a variety of appetizers and finger foods, fruit and vegetables, and of course dessert! Mom and I had baked shortbread heart cookies, I made Mocha Layer Cake, and Mom made Cheesecake with Strawberries for Michael. We must have planned all right because we had plenty of leftovers.

All told it was over all too soon, even though the party went a little longer than originally planned. Strange to spend so much time thinking about, planning, and preparing for one day and then have it pass in such a flash. Everyone did seem to have a good time, and a couple of people said that it was the best wedding that they had ever been to, which was nice.

We arrived at the Union Bank Inn about 8 pm. The site doesn't have a picture of the bridal suite we chose, but we went for the one that was "rustic in décor, and offers warm earth tones, pine and slate accents, with a pair of pine rocking chairs to bundle up in." It was nice and cozy, with a gas fireplace, a jetted bathtub with a prop to hold books to read, and Aveda products for bath and body. We ate at the hotel's restaurant, Madison's Grill; I had the Black Cod and Michael had chicken. Breakfast the next morning was included with the room--the citrus french toast and smoked salmon eggs benedict was heavenly!

We left for Jasper about 11 that morning. We loved the cabin we stayed in, and spent our days hiking the trails and seeing the sights, and the evenings in front of our wood burning fireplace. I took a lot of photos with the digital camera Michael's mother and stepfather gave us for our wedding gift; a link to the album is on the sidebar. Naturally, the vacation also felt way too short and it was very hard for us to leave. It's the first chance we've had to have a vacation longer than a day or two to really recharge and pamper ourselves in a long, long time.

So, after a night at my parents' place and a night at Michael's mom's, we're back in Florida and trying to readjust to real life. We actually had a bit of a scare at Immigration--even though the agents I had talked to before we left Florida said that there would be no problems renewing my temporary work visa while being married to a dual national, the agents at the airport said that there was a problem with me applying for a status that did not allow dual intent when I had a claim to permanent residency through Michael's US citizenship. Fortunately, after making us sweat a few minutes, they did decide to grant me the TN status and let us enter. I think the fact that Michael was born and raised in Canada and had only been in the US for a relatively short time was a factor, as well as the fact that while we didn't have hard documentation, we could truly say that we had given notice to work, family and friends that were were planning to leave next year. This has always been my problem with the TN status--the rules and the laws around it are so "fuzzy" that each agent can interpret them differently and still be within bounds. Thankfully this is the last year we will have to do this!

Wedding Day!

Today is the Big Day!! Even though the wedding blog timeline says *Just Married* we still have about five hours until the ceremony. We've been quite busy since arriving in Edmonton July 29. Wedding plans have gone fairly smoothly. Yesterday was the day of setting up the rental equipment and buying refreshments. I was worried that the 20x20 foot tent was not going to fit in the backyard comfortably. But it did! The delivery van came by at 8:45 am and Darcy's brother, her friend/maitron of honor Mike, and Darcy's brother helped me set up the tent. It looks great! We did more cleaning and preparing the yard and had the rehearsal and dinner last night. I've surprisingly not been too nervous until today. I've slept fairly well every night but just haven't got enough sleep. Poor Darcy has not slept well as has her mother. I slept five hours last night and did some yoga stretches this morning and walked just over a mile on the treadmill this morning.

Craig and I need to go to Hole's Greenhouse in St. Albert this morning to pick up flowers. Then we'll do a few errands en route to the Sharman's house and be there by 11 am to help out with things. The weather has been beautiful (25 celcius or 77 farenheit) and a light breeze. So this is our last entry before the wedding. Unfortunately today will go by much too quickly. We'll try to focus on the moment and remember this special day for the rest of our lives....

last minute things...

I'm back at work on my day off doing last minute wedding errands. Am burning tracks for music on the big day. On the weekend Darcy and I went through my Real Player master player list of 400 songs and whittled it down to about 50 tracks. From that I will burn about four cds of tunes - the theme is naturally Middle Eastern with some Delerium, Tea Party and Loreena McKinnett and a few surprises sprinkled in. I'm sure that our selections will surprise people as I've never heard this stuff played at weddings I've attended. We will spend tonight frantically packing and will likely not sleep much. After speaking with my relatives I have a good idea of what my agenda will be for next week. My brother and sister-in-law fly into Edmonton today.

Luckily Darcy and I only have some anxiety about the wedding. I can't imagine the stress couples go through with planning huge weddings! Despite what Darcy has said I am a bit nervous about the Big Day! But I'm not too worried about the preparations for the event. But I won't be surprised if I'm a bit teary eyed during the ceremony. I'm very pleased with how the vows turned out. I'll be happy for us and my emotions may come through a bit. So you'll likely next hear from us in cool and dry Edmonton!

surprise showers

The people at my library threw me a surprise shower yesterday afternoon! There was lots of food, a few nice presents, and people from all over the library. Michael worked here before I did, so most people there know both of us. So here I was assuming that I would have no showers, and now I've had two!

Three more days until we leave for Edmonton, which seems totally unreal. I'm starting to wonder when I'm going to have time to do things like pack. We made up a list of things not to forget...hopefully that will help!

We are just hoping it will not rain...of course the forecast is for rain all this week, according to weather.com...send your petitions up to the weather gods now for nice sunshine next Saturday please!

2 weeks to go!

Ack! We are really into the home stretch now. Michael and I are in his office right now, selecting music to burn onto CDs for the reception--a long overdue task. Tonight, we are going to map out the major things we know we will need to do, and will need others' help with, before and during the big day. We also need to look at the ceremony text again, finalize who will be doing the readings, and block out the processional and so forth. I also keep on having to remind myself to bring henna, so we can do our hands!

Michael has pretty much finalized his outfit...he just needs to decide which of his 2 vests to wear. I finally managed to find shoes, so I won't need to go barefoot, but I haven't totally decided what to do with my hair. I will probably curl it, instead of fighting with its natural texture, and due to its length and weight at least some of it will have to be tied back or up, but that's all I'm certain on for now.

My mom has been busy preparing the house and yard. They have had French doors installed on their patio door (which they were going to do anyway), and the dining room has been rewallpapered. She has also spent a lot of time in the yard, weeding and planting flowers. She is very nervous but I'm sure the place will be lovely. She has also done a few test runs for our cakes, so she and Dad have had a lot of nice desserts lately!

I am starting to get quite nervous. I'm at the stage where everything seems a little unreal. I am naturally anxious about hosting a party, and wanting it to go well, but also anxious about the life transition--getting married, becoming a wife, and figuring out what it all means. Realistically I know that things will be fine if I just take life one day at a time, but it's still a little scary.

Michael, in contrast, doesn't seem to be nervous at all. Lucky him!

Second time around...

The link Michael posted to the picture of the shirt he bought for the wedding no longer works, so here's another copy:

Guess we were lucky to find it when we did...the store site says it's no longer available!

Four weeks to the day, according to our counter. I'm excited but nervous too. Because of the nature of our plan, most things are going to have to be done in the week or so prior to the wedding, so all we can really do now is sit and fret! Hopefully things will come together...hopefully it won't rain...hopefully everything will be fine... and underlying all that is the nervousness at the life transition, about becoming something and someone different, and changing our lives. So part of me is really looking forward to everything, and part of me wishes it was just over and done already! ack!