Northern Saskatchewan

A cold hello from snowy Stony Rapids. I'm here at the Water Front Lodge, beautiful, lake front lodge. Unfortunately, the weather forcast called for decent weather, no snow and thus I have no winter boots. I did go on Cabellas last week and ordered some insulated hunting boots. I think I'll wear them next time. I hope they fit! Sorels are wonderful, but a bit heavy, though I bet I'll be wearing them next time I fly. Too big to pack. I fit right in with the crew men they have working up here =D

I'm about to go for a taxi ride - one of those airborne vans that only touch the lops. Maybe I should go eat now... wait! Is that my blood pressure rising??? The road is snowy though so the sailing may be clear.

Martin and I are still seeing each other. I think I'm still happy. So I guess that's good. He's really nice still. I think he's frustrated with my travelling though, and that has put a bit of a damper on things this week. As well, I'm stressed/overwelmed at work right now so it's easy to want to turn into myself for strength and want to hermit a bit, too. I haven't been hermitting mind you, but I think I might this weekend a bit. I set up this dresser to finish stripping and restain, and I'm very eager to get back to it. I've let it sit for weeks now.

Shall I tell you more about my travels?? Flying north at this time of the year is risky. We flew no problem from Edmonton to Saskatoon to Prince Albert. Then at Prince Albert we heard rumors of bad weather in the north... if the weather's out no on flies. What does that mean when the weather is out? Either there is a storm or the air and water are similar temperature and the fog is too thick. But on we went, a little late. Landed in La Ronge... and waited... and waited... and then waited some more for a window in the weather. Then one flight was cancelled!! Thankfuly, it wasn't mine. Then we heard our flight was going!! Thank goodness.

We made it safely, changed our exit ticket to give us time for our meeting. And though we were two hours late, our meeting went ahead, successfully! Unfortunately some members couldn't come because they were stranded in other communities or had to drive the grader to clear the runway. =D Such is life.

So we arrived at the airport after our meeting and just missed the early flight, which actually left an hour early, so we were in time for the "early" late flight, which 20 minutes later was cancelled... my dinner was waiting in Stony Rapids... my bed was waiting in Stony Rapids... I wanted to be in Stony Rapids. Instead we improvised, we found accommodation, one lady complained to the right person and early this morning we received a call to hop on a freight flight =) And here I sit, curled up on my bay window seat looking over the Fond du Lac River leading to the Athabasca thinking I should go eat lunch. Too bad I left my camera cable in the car, I could show you the view out my window. I think it would be peaceful to live up here.

Broken Pride

Surprise! Surprise! Another dating blog!

But first this breaking news! A HUGE thank you to everyone who sponsored me in the MS bike tour this year. I raised $1,500 and our team raised over $16,000!! THANKS!!! The MS Society also sends out a big thanks! It was fairly cold biking, but we had a fabulous time. The second day of the tour was mostly downhill and gorgeous. They have these erosion dykes across the trail and all their words of caution for the day centred on not taking the dykes at high speeds. I can see why – they have terrific launching capabilities! An amazing quality until you land on the following dyke and wipe out. =)

So Martin bought a bike last Thursday se we could go biking together. Out we headed on Sunday. We biked for about an hour and he bikes at about the same level as our MS team “A Few Spokes Short”. We’re bombing along some single track and it starts downhill. Now I thought I was doing an okay clip, not dangerously fast. But then I spotted a bit of a dip I the trail and it looked a bit dark. Well in my distraction I hit a large root, put myself a bit off course, hit the “dark spot” aka mud hole and my front tire stopped dead. Well you can imagine with my momentum what happened to the rest of my bike and my body. So next thing I know I’m laying there and all I can think is “Don’t cry! Don’t cry!” Don’t’ cry!” Well I didn’t cry and Martin was a true gentleman. I wish I had it on video, but he assured me he would go buy a helmet-cam for our next ride. =) What a sweety.

And I should mention we are enriching our cultural side, too. Friday he took me to The Comic Strip at WEM and they were so funny! Now we use the jokes on each other - keeps me on my toes. Sunday (yes, after biking) we dressed up and went to live theatre Noises Off at the Citadel. God it was hilarious!! Martin enoyed it, but missed some of the puns and plays on words. I think I may look for a french play next, but his english is loads better than my french. This Friday will be "date" 6 and I'm looking forward to it. =)

A New Outlook on Dating

First, yes I made it back to Canada with my laundered passport. It is now invalid and I received many raised eyebrows and head shakes on my voyage through customs. =)

But on to more exciting news. I have not posted any dating news of late, mainly because I didn't have anything to say. I at times have a bad attitude, find my dates mediocre, pout, avoid dates, and in general fulfill the my princess nickname. I am after all looking for my knight in shining armour or I'd settle for a prince too.

I've tried Lifemates, Lavalife and Plenty of Fish. I don't think I really like Lifemates. Lavalife was fun; I met two people there but neither lead to anything. Plenty of Fish... well my neighbours were on POF so I was hesitant to join. For those of you new to the list, my neighbours are at varying stages of "player" and have all read "The Game". But, putting aside my fear I signed on and my god it was overwelming. I was on for 12 hours and received 20 emails; needless to say I still have unopened email. I chatted with a few people, told more to nicely take a hike and have met one person.

WOW!!! This person blew me away! His name is Martin, he's french, cute, confident, and christian. He added me to his favourites list on POF, so I sent him a note, with encouragement (Thanks Lesley), telling him he was cute. Our first date we were supposed to bring our mugs and meet up for drinks to take on our walk - I of course forgot my mug, even though it was my idea.

I had a great time!! Got home and was swinging on the counters telling Jen about the date. I was excited to go on a second date! And I had a great time again!! We played pool very poorly! Ate cinnamon buns at Southgate and then played Carcazone at my house - we spent over 7 hours together and we still wanted to see each other again!! It's like a miracle. We're about to go on date 3, but I'm not sure what we're doing. Even more impressive is that it will be 3 dates within a week... never have I gone on date with the same person twice in one week!! What's happening to me!?!?!

My flatmate and her man laugh at or with me quite a bit. I suppose it is quite a change, I blow-dried my hair, put on makeup, dressed in nice clothes (as opposed to going directly on a date after doing electrical work not so long ago - In all fairness I did brush off the drywall dust), tripped out the door, had to come back for a coat, ... and on it goes. I did remember to brush my teeth thankfully because I laughed alot. =) LOL. I feel very giddy and foolish. It's actually a good feeling - very interuptive at work, but good. I can't stop giggling either! Good gracious, you would all laugh to see me.

One date at a time. And he like x-country skiing and biking!! But I haven't told him about hunting yet...

Spanish Pubs

Here´s a picture of me in front of the statue of Phillipe Cousteau at the Museo Anclas, Avilles. I now realize that ancla is anchor... which is now very logical to me as 90% of the attractions are anchors... =)

I had the best fish today in a Spanish Pub - Casa Gelu!! I wish I had have taken and picture of it. It was I´m not sure what type of fish... but it was cooked whole and then just split in half and placed on my plate... I didn´t eat the eyeball. Best fish yet, I would definitely come back.

The funny thing about this pub, Casa Gelu, is that the owner is very charismatic and likes to visit everyone. He remembers my sister. Anyways he gave us two appetizers, then after our meal brought us dessert and an extra round of shots. I am still full!!! Anyways, the funny thing is that someone can order something and it will cost $X but then two hours later it will cost a different price. So be nice =)

Hopefully I´ll get comfortable enough to sleep sometime tonight. I´m too full to sleep right now.

Wish I could stay longer. Today I swam in the ocean twice!! But tomorrow we´re heading to to the Picos de Europa and Bilbao, and then home.

Police Advice

Well, I took my passport to the police here in Spain and they said my passport was no longer valid... oops. =(

Thankfully on second look they said that seeing as I am returning to Canada it will be okay, cause if I didn´t have a passport they´d deport me to Canada anyways. =)

But I have a message from my dear friend Fawn and she knows someone who has treated their passport terribly and it was still good until finally their dog ate it.

Value of Water

My travel in Spain is fabulous! On the weekend I went to visit Jorge´s grandma. She lives in a small village and has a wonderful house and garden. I found I prefer peaches to plums. But I was given a ripe fig to try - my first one and they are really good.

I learned how to make typical potato tortilla and I really like it!! Lots of fried food here - fried sardines, fried trout, fried potatoes - YUM!! I like the desserts too! I still don´t like cidre and I don´t really like paella either.

Anyways, back to the country weekend... imagine making bread, making a meal for 12, having 5 people in a house for a weekend, having an indoor toilet... and the water runs out!! Who knows why!?!?! It just stopped. We brought water jugs from the city to fill with country water and it stopped!!!???

Well I hauled water, as you can see above, in my sandals and skirt =) It was fun, but I was grateful when the water came back on... unfortunately it only lasted a few minutes. So I poured water for dishes. Other than that, I swept the floor and harvested fruit and vegetables, and then mostly sat around and knitted near a window with a breeze cause I was told to chill out, they (the adults?) would do the cooking and cleaning. Ah, I tried =) Oh the lives of spanish families. The other women soon joined me to chat and the men watched Formula One. You should have heard their cries during the preshow. WOW!

How important is a passport, really?

The question of the day... my passport...

Does my passport need to be in pristine condition to travel?

You may be wondering, oh my, what happened to Nicole´s passport?

Well it just so happens that after being awake for 30 hours wearing the same clothes, eating weird food, I may not have been thinking properly.

Of course at home, I check every single pocket before putting my clothes in the washer. But you know, I was tired, I wasn´t doing the laundry... or was I? Anyways, the jist of the story is, that this morning after getting dressed, there was something funny in my pocket. And just as I felt the glob it dawned on me that I hadn´t seen my passport since last I wore these pants... sigh. There crumpled up in a ball in my pocket was my still wet passport. You´ll be happy to know that the cover shrinks, the blue writing on the inside front and back covers smudges, the picture page looks okay (I think), the edges wear, and the stamp pages which are partially cotton, just get wrinkled.

So I gently unrolled my passport, took out the iron and carefully flattened each page. The iron also helped dry the pages with the heat.

My passport is now sitting on my harry potter book in my room in front of the window drying some more. I will iron it again a little later. I was a little concerned about the picture page but it is laminated. I think my passport is okay, it looks like a very well read book, though it has many empty pages. Perhaps I was flipping tthrough it dreaming of the stamps I wanted. =) yes, that´s what I´ll tell them if they ask.