I Know It Has Been Awhile ...

... but I've been busy Baby!

Jason and I were so lucky, we got to go on an ALASKAN CRUISE with my family. The modes of transportation that were involved were plentiful and diverse, and so I'm going to list them (in a brief outline of where we've been which I hope to fill in with more detail later):

We drove in our vehicle from Saskatoon to Calgary on August 14th:


In Calgary, we had a few days to get some things done and connect with some people. We got to spend some time with Jason's family in Canmore, which was a real treat, for his cousin's 30th B-Day:
On August 17th, we flew to Vancouver:


We had a nice breakfast (all 8 of us) at the Vancouver airport, and then we took a limo to the Canada Place Pier:


At Canada Place, we boarded the Norwegian Cruise Lines ship, the Norwegian Sun. It was bright and sunny onboard, and we were docked at Vancouver until about 5:00 PM.


From Vancouver, we sailed for a day and a bit and arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska on August 19th:


Ketchikan was pretty busy with cruise ships ...


... so we got to ride tenders in to the actual port:


In Ketchikan, some of our party were bussed to the Rainforest Ropes & Zipline Challenge Course, and the rest of us walked to the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show:


We all grabbed a nice lunch overlooking the harbour, and then got back on our ship to sail to Juneau. We arrived in Juneau on August 20th (NOTE: I take liberties with marking the pathway of the cruise ship, I just wanted something to illustrate where we ROUGHLY went, I didn't look up our exact path through the inner passage):

In Juneau, our entire group did the Juneau and Mendenhall Glacier tour, where we all boarded a bus driven by a tourguide that we dubbed "Carefree Carol". First, we stopped at the Mendenhall Glacier:


Next, we stopped at the Macaulay salmon hatchery:


Some of us were traumatized when we witnessed the following:



The mature salmon are clubbed so that their eggs and sperm can be harvested to create the next batch of hatchlings.

After "Carefree Carol" dropped us off, we walked around Juneau a little bit, and dropped into the world famous Red Dog Saloon for a beer:


After leaving Juneau, we sailed through the Tracy Arm and took in some AMAZINGLY SPECTACULAR scenery, definitely a highlight:


We spotted a scouting boat from our ship that went ahead to see how dire the ice situation was ...



... unfortunately, there was too much ice in the water and we had to turn around about 2 miles away from Sawyer Glacier.

We arrived in Skagway, arriving on August 21st:


Here, the whole crew partook of the White Pass Scenic Railway tour, where we took the White Pass and Yukon Rail train ride.



And then had lunch and walked around Skagway itself.


From August 22nd - August 24th we sailed back to Vancouver.


On our first at sea day (August 22nd), Kristin celebrated her 26th birthday on the roughest sea day we had for the whole trip. Most of us retired to our rooms for a good portion of the afternoon, but we had a great b-day dinner celebration in the Seven Seas dining room. That evening, we also got to check out the chocoholic buffet (HAPPY b-day for Kristin).

When we arrived back in Vancouver on August 24th, we took a limo ride to our downtown hotel. We spent the afternoon trying to get our land legs back, and dined on Granville Island , at Sammy J. Peppers, with family friends who live in the Vancouver area.


After dinner we took a water taxi back to the downtown side of False Creek, and got to watch the sunset over the water. Sigh:


August 25th it was an early taxi ride to the Vancouver airport for all of us, and an early flight back to Calgary (Kristin and Julie both had to go to work that day ... yikes):


On August 26th, Jason and I drove up to the Edmonton area to visit with his family (it was his Mom's B-Day), and so that he could play in a hole-in-one tournament.


On August 28th, we drove back to Saskatoon.



Sigh.

Here's the whole trip on a map. So ... you can see ... I've covered a lot of ground:

I Couldn't Be Happer Today

Our new dishwasher arrived.

We've been almost a year without one, and while I've lived in dishwasher-less places before without too many problems, it seemed to be such a hassle living here in Saskatoon without one. Something to do with a lifestyle that includes more home cooking and more than just one person.

It's running its first load right now. I can't even contain myself. Bliss. My whole life has just changed.

Now ... when we have more than 2 other people staying here with us, we won't have to resort to paper plates to maintain our sanity (shhhh ... don't tell the environmentalists, to be fair, I only did it when there were 8 or more people ...).

Yay, No More Tornado Warning

Heh heh heh (that's my nervous laugh as translated into blog-speak).

The Weather Network had a tornado warning up for Saskatoon yesterday afternoon ... luckily it's gone this morning. Not that I was worried ... heh heh heh.

Eyes on sky as funnel clouds spotted

Happy Anniversary to US!

It's our 3rd wedding anniversary today, which seems crazy for so many reasons. Time has flown by, and I can't believe that it's been 3 years since the big day. Thanks to everyone that has sent their congratulations!

Just for posterity's sake, here's a look at our 1st, and 2nd anniversaries.

This anniversary promises to be just as awesome.

For this anniversary, I know that either leather or crystal is the customary gift, but I decided to go with CAKE! Jason has two favourite cakes, one of which is McCain's Deep'n'Delicious, so ... a home-made version of a Deep'n'Delicious cake was my project for the day!

He decided he wanted vanilla, so I found the following recipes ...

Butter Cake from Epicurious
Best Buttercream Frosting from All Recipes

And ... here's the result!

Not the most pro icing job, but I think it looks decent enough to eat. That buttercream frosting is to DIE for, by the way. Not exactly calorie light, but guilt-free enough in small quantities (in my opinion, and I'm sticking to it), hence no icing on the sides.

We haven't cut into it yet, but the cake smelled heavenly when it was baking ... mmmmm ... cake.

Not exactly the beautiful creation that we had on our wedding day, but hopefully it tastes as good ... our wedding cake was AWESOMELY tasty. Ahhh memories ... here's a look at the cake we had 3 years ago today:



** UPDATE **
Went to the Keg for dinner (Thanks Auntie La), and it was so yummy. Had a real date night. When we finally sliced into the cake, it was much more dense than I was expecting, like pound cake, but was so delicious that I almost cried ... ahahahahaha. It would be good layered with some kind of custard in there .... mmmmm .... custard.

I'm Sickened, but Happy

Heartbreaking to read. Can you believe that it's the year 2008? Reading this article made me feel like I was thrown back in time or something, the thought that this ACTUALLY goes on in our cities. We certainly ALL need to smarten up, we can't put up with stuff like this anymore. 17 years from the first complaint, the retaliation ... it sickens me. I wish all discrimination sufferers had the stamina and strength that Delorie Walsh clearly must have to be able to fight this battle for so freakin' long.

Mobil Oil discriminated against first female landman, court rules

Busy Weekend

So ... in short,

• Saw The Dark Knight, loved it, but probably should have waited a week as I scored a seat only 3 rows away from the screen - GAH! Still pretty busy. BUT ... there's a reason ... it is SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD. As Lainey would say, Maggie > Katie any day.
  
• Saw Step Brothers, loved it too. So funny.
• Turned 29. Sigh. The last year of my twenties.
• Got to have lunch with friends of mine that are back from being away sailing for almost 8 months.
• Got to have dinner with friends that haven't been able to see in a long while.
• Got a new camera (looked at the Clay suggested camera, but opted for a cheaper Kodak one ... very similar to my old one so the learning curve for using it is almost non-existent).
• Bought a dishwasher - hallelujah - so exciting.
  

I Hate Junk Mail

In Calgary, we didn't get very much, but I had a slightly aggressive anti-junk-mail sign on our mailbox. Our mailbox there was much more sheltered than the one here, though, and the sign survived winters like a dream ... so I haven't done the same in Saskatoon ... and the junk mail is staggering.

The worst offenders, which actually have nothing to do with lack of an aggressive anti-JM sign, are the "pre-approved" credit card applications that banks seem to LOVE to send to people. I CAN'T BELIEVE how many of these suckers I get. It's ridiculous, and I don't really know how to stop it (project this week is to figure out HOW TO STOP IT).

As I was deliberating what to do with them, I considered how much of my information is on there. Yikes, non? It lead to the verdict to shred, then recycle in batches.

I haven't been keeping up on the privacy law news as much as I was last summer, but I was able to catch this posting over at Law Times:
Fight over YouTube viewer records highlights privacy issues

Makes you really wonder about how much information there is "out there" about YOU.

I really wonder why many companies don't store their data in unidentifiable forms (obviously, not still talking about the bank specific junk-mail)... especially if it's just for statistics, etc.

I guess ... it's harder to send you junk mail if they do.

An Interesting Read?

I was surfing through lawstudents.ca, and came across a post that linked to this article:

Legal Education and the Reproduction of Hierarchy
from the Journal of Legal Education, by Duncan Kennedy, a Harvard Law Prof.

I haven't read it yet, but I did a bit of perusing, and it looks to be an interesting read. I can't wait until I have the time (and the desire to sit and stare at my computer screen for that long) to read all 25 pages.

Can't Wait to See the Dark Knight

Yes, yes, yes ... I STILL haven't gone yet. I can't stand trying to navigate the crowds that dominate the one big movie theatre here in Saskatoon, and so I must wait for the hype to die down a bit. It's OK ... I feel it will be worth it.

In the meantime, in surfing, I found this hilarious post from Overlawyered:


"Batman Begins": Bruce Wayne, Defendant

U of A Follow-Up ...

... to the slippery slope blog post I cited below:
License to Parent

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DENISE
(and welcome home to you, Rob, and Edie)

I Miss It

I've gone off coffee for the summer. I've never really been crazy about the idea of NEEDING something like coffee, even though I do enjoy it so much. I usually am only a cup-a-day kind of girl, and during the school year I love having coffee in the morning ... especially here in the cold, cold winters. But ... I decided that I would be OFF coffee this summer. Start fresh in the fall if I feel the need.

Looks like it may just be worth it all in the end:
The final verdict on coffee

Are You a Crackberry Addict?

I don't think I'll ever be in danger of being one ... people complain that they can barely get a hold of me at home or on my cell phone ... ahahahaha.

BUT ... if you need "professional help to disconnect from work" you're in luck:
Rehab resorts for Crackberry addicts

A Good Move

I read today over at the Saskatoon Real Estate Resource Centre Blog
that the Government of Canada is stepping in to see and end to 40 year mortgages and 0% down mortgages.

Fantastic move if you ask me ... while I understand that some people argue for the other side, in my mind it merely widens the gap between the rich and the poor; it isn't fair that people who can't afford a down payment (or a shorter mortgage period) are paying so much more for their homes in interest over the years.

I'm So Proud Of Us ...

... and by "us", I mean mostly Jason ... ha. We finished tiling our tub surround (almost, apparently it's tough to find tile edging that matches in Saskatoon ... we've exhausted the multiple big box stores supplies, and now we're waiting for a small family run tile shop to re-open from summer vacation to check their supply).

It looks so great, I can't wait to grout it tomorrow (and I really can't wait to have a shower in my own house again).

I got to navigate my way around the tile saw, which is always an adventure. The water spray made it look like I had peed my pants ... which was pretty funny for Jason each time I came back up from the basement with newly cut tiles.

Sigh. We're on our way to an entirely new bathroom. I'm so excited. Once I get a working camera, I'll post pictures.

Also - first eviction on Big Brother tonight! LOVE BIG BROTHER! I'm not crazy about it being on Sunday, Tuesday, and WEDNESDAY nights though. Last summer it was Thursday nights (instead of Wednesday, during the special Big Brother edition they did in the winter it was Wednesday, but there was a lot of other TV on to distract, not to mention busy, busy school which also makes time fly). That means that I now have to wait until SUNDAY for my next BB dose ... how will I make it?

YIKES

I read this post today at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law Blog:
Canada = 1984

... it reminds me of a conversation that Jason and I were having the other day about how there are "culturally acceptable" (for lack of a better phrase) things to judge people about, and there are not. I'm thinking that the emotional derision factor plays a huge part here.

Here - culturally acceptable to judge based on these particular political beliefs. You hear about swastikas, and most people recoil in derision. I'm not arguing for one side or the other here, since I personally think this woman is a little off her rocker, but if we're looking at principles ... I can't help but draw a comparison to polygamy. In polygamous scenarios, actual harm has been shown to exist for women and children ... polygamy is ACTUALLY a crime in the Criminal Code of Canada, but because of the religious associations involved, no action is taken. NOT the same type of derision as one associates with Nazi's.

Interesting to see how this will shake out. Slippery slope indeed.

(Not that I'm suggesting that fostering racism isn't harmful, because it is ... just wanted to pick out some points to illustrate a comparison ... especially with a lack of information about the actual facts ... newspaper articles, as we all know, don't always paint the complete picture)

Costco in Saskatoon

Have you ever been? Don't go on a weekend. It's a zoo. Impossible to find parking, impossible to navigate the area ... a zoo.

So ... unfortunate then that they'll be getting rid of some of the parking stalls for an expansion:
City OKs Costco expansion

Could be super dicey, especially with rising food costs, which I'd only assume makes Costco even more desirable to join.

Sigh. I'll have to plan my Costco trips for early weekday mornings, I suppose.

Oh the Controversy

Has anyone been keeping up with the "Green Shift" name usage controversy that the Liberal party has going on right now?

Here's a CBC article that goes over the whole scenario:
Company seeks $8.5 million from Liberals for use of Green Shift name

I was lucky to catch Jennifer Wright (owner of the company suing the Liberals) on a radio program I was listening too, and it was pretty interesting hearing her side of it all. Her company actually has a Green Shift program that has been in place long before the Liberals decided to (knowingly) use the same name. Stephane Dion called it "deplorable" that the Liberals were taken to court over this, which is interesting seeing as it is the only recourse that was available to protect the Green Shift company's stake in the name.

Now, I haven't taken Intellectual Property yet (hopefully I'll successfully ballot for it in the fall), so I don't know the ins and outs of legally for this scenario, but it certainly appears to be a case where the Liberal party just did what they wanted, because a small company likely wouldn't take the case to court due to being unable to afford it. Yikes. Not so nice, ethical, or honest, if you ask this humble little law student. Why they couldn't pick another name is beyond me. Seems pretty simple. Especially when you'd think they'd want to ENCOURAGE businesses that are making the environment a priority. Wow, hey?

The unfortunate part (to me) of this whole scenario, is the political back and forth non-sense. This is a pretty simple case of intellectual property issues. If you actually read the CBC article above, it's interesting that the first sentence is this:

The owner of an environmental firm who is suing the Liberal party for $8.7 million over its use of the company's name says she's received offers of financial support for her legal battle from Conservatives.

So ... Conservative implication. If you read further on, Ms. Wright does deny (and did on the radio) having taken any money from the Conservatives ... so ... doesn't seem quite as relevant as the actual facts of the case ... but ... I guess it's spicier to implicate the Conservatives somehow, non?

OMG - I'm SOOOO Tired

We've rented a tile cutter, and got straight to work today.

J and I tiled 1/3 of the kitchen floor (we're trying to do it in stages so that we can move the fridge and stove onto the done part before we have to do the rest), and put up kerdi around the tub surround.

Tomorrow, we'll tile the tub surround, and hopefully grout the kitchen floor that we've done.

Wednesday hopefully we'll grout (and hopefully seal) the tub surround, so maybe we'll be back to full fledged showering by Thursday.

Luckily, our water is back to ON on a full-time basis, since J got the new shower faucet system up and running. Whew. No more strategic hydration.



I tried to snap some IN PROGRESS pics, to document our hard-core DIY productiveness, but unfortunately it looks like I've got to research new digital cameras since it looks like mine is done.

My little Kodak CX7330 did a valiant picture taking job for almost 5 years for me, but now the OK button doesn't work. When there hasn't been battery power for a while, the date setting resets, and when you turn the camera on, you can't get past the date reset function without being able to hit OK, meaning I can't use my camera for taking pics. I've done some research, and it looks like far too much trouble to have fixed, so I'll be looking for a new compact digi-cam.

If anyone has one that they love, I'd love suggestions. I don't want to spend more than $150, so bear that in mind with any opinions left for me.

It's funny how I don't use my camera THAT often, but when I want to use it and I can't, it really becomes a thorn in my side.

Time for bed, though. I'm done, just like my camera. Hopefully we'll both be better after a good night's sleep, but somehow I'm thinking that I'll be the only one fully restored in the morning. Sigh.

Holding It

That's kind of what I've been doing, although it's more like strategic hydration. Our bathroom has been torn apart, which is awesome from the perspective that it will soon be gloriously shiny and new, but not awesome from the perspective that we go lengths of time with the water shut off, and therefore get limited options for relief, if you know what I mean.

Here are a couple of before pictures, from when we did the home inspection before we moved in:



We've removed all the wall paper (yuck) to reveal a stunningly purple bathroom.

I don't know if you can tell from the bathtub pics, but there were yucky plastic wall thingy's that were not installed well as a tub surround. I'm so excited, because they're now gone. We're going to be tiling the tub surround, so it should be much better. J also spent the weekend changing the shower from a handheld device to a proper behind the wall kind of shower, which should be much better for tiling.

I can't wait to post AFTER pics. This week we hope to install a new tiled floor, a new vanity a new mirror and light fixture, and maybe a new toilet. We'll see how strategically we can accomplish all of this, as it's our only bathroom. I'm OK with intermittent toilet allowances, but no toilet allowances may be tough to plan around. Oh yeah - and we'll have to paint too. GAH. So much work for such a little room.

The purple wall colour is something that has us wondering, though, especially since it looks like it was a bright baby blue before it was purple. We only wonder since we've had the chance to remove the wall paper in our bedroom to reveal a lime green that is VERY VERY bright, and under the wall paper (still to be removed, sigh) in the other two bedrooms, there is bright pink paint. The kitchen, which is now dark green, was at one time bright red. Either this family was pretty big on the rainbow, or it must have been pretty trendy at one time to go big or go home in the paint colour department. Granted, these rooms could have been painted at any time over an almost 50 year period, so who knows what colours actually co-existed. A mystery for the ages.

Also - summer has officially begun. Big Brother 10 started tonight. GAWD I love watching that show. I can't wait to really get into it. Looks to be a spicy season already.