Mountains in the background in downtown Vancouver
Entrance to Chinatown
The steam clock in Gastown
A countdown to the Olympics, in front of the Art Gallery
Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park
Okay! It's the end of the month already, and I've been waiting to update until we had some
good news, but unfortunately we're both still job-less, so I figured I better update anyway,
or this entry would get really out of hand.
There have been some positive developments on the job front, but nothing's completely
come together yet. I didn't get the job that I interviewed for at the beginning of the
month, which wasn't a huge surprise since I didn't think I did that well in the interview.
I've since had two interviews (one on the phone and one in person) for a job that I would
really like to get, and they're supposed to let me know early this week, so fingers crossed
for that! Todd has done one day of temp work, and had a meeting at Scotia about possible
opportunities, so we're hopeful that something will come out of that.
We did have a bit of good luck a few weeks ago when we went to Safeway for our grocery
shopping and won a prize on their fall contest! We won the Lagostino cookware set, which
they valued at $550, so that's pretty exciting! And good timing too, since we gave away
all our pots and pans to Goodwill in Toronto.
Despite our lack of income, we've been trying to get out a bit and explore the city. We've
walked all over most of downtown, spent some time looking around the market and shops
at Granville Island, and got ourselves a membership at the art gallery. We hung out at
Stanley Park with Todd's sister and some friends of hers. We also bought season tickets to
the Art Club theatre, which is doing some great shows, including History Boys, Altar Boyz,
Les Mis and Beauty and the Beast. Here are a few pictures around town:
Entrance to Chinatown
The steam clock in Gastown
A countdown to the Olympics, in front of the Art Gallery
Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park
We spent a hot Saturday over in Kitsilano for the Red Bull Soapbox Derby because my cousin Treva was competing. It was absolutely packed, and I had a very happy surprise because Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki from Supernatural were doing a public appearance there! Todd had to calm me down a bit. :-) Unfortunately Treva's team didn't win, but it was a fun afternoon! Here's a picture of their racer, which was a kayak being chased by a shark, as well as a pic of the Supernatural boys!
I'll finish off with some pictures from the wedding, and that's about all I'll say for now. Hopefully the next time I post I'll have some good job news! Hope you're all having a good fall so far!
My immediate family - getting pretty big! From left-right: Brett and his girlfriend Megan,
Todd and me, Mom, Caleb, Shanda, Mike and Ethan, Aubrey and her boyfriend Curtis, and
Lee, Alex and Dawnelda
Alex at the church
Caleb at the church
Ethan looking happy in his carrier
Tiger! He wasn't at the wedding, but he's just so darn cute. :-)
As you can see from the new design, we are in Vancouver! I'm sorry I didn't get a chance
to update at all in August - things were really busy, mostly with tedious things like
packing and selling all our furniture, although there were also some really fun things too!
Let's start with the fun things, and then move on to the past 5 days.
The most exciting thing in August was definitely my mom's visit! She came out for 10 days
in the middle of the month, as my 50th birthday present for her, and we had a great time.
The day she arrived we walked around U of T campus and Todd made a lovely supper. The
next day Todd worked, so Mom and I had a lazy morning, did some shopping and had
lunch at Eggspectation, then went to the Mamma Mia movie. We all went out for supper at
an Italian place we had been meaning to try.
The next morning Mom and I left early for a 3-day trip to Montreal! We arrived in the late
afternoon and, after checking in at our hotel, went to Chinatown for an excellent supper,
and then on to Notre Dame for their light show - an interesting history of the city told
through the development of the church, which also highlights some of the architectural
details of the cathedral interior. The next day we spent in Old Montreal, wandering around,
window-shopping, having crepes for lunch and fondue for supper, visiting a couple of
museums, another church, and also going for a cruise on the St-Lawrence. It was a busy
day! Our third day was spent mostly at the Olympic Stadium, where we went up the tower
for a great view over the city, and at the Biodome, which had some very interesting habitat
displays. We finished the day with a walk down Ste-Catherine street and a drink in a cafe
before catching the bus back to Toronto.
Back in Toronto, we visited Allen Gardens, which are right by our apartment, and then the
three of us went to Medieval Times, which I had been wanting to do FOREVER. It was very
enjoyable. :-) Saturday was another busy day - we had Korean BBQ for lunch, went to the
matinee of We Will Rock You, had a picnic supper in High Park, visited the animals, and
watched the excellent Canstage production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. On Sunday,
we took things a bit easier, with two HUGE buffet meals - Golden Griddle for brunch, and
Mandarin for supper - we were too full to move for the rest of the day. :-) Monday we
went to visit my great-aunts at the abbey in north Toronto, and Tuesday we visited the
waterfront and Kensington Market, before she had to go home on Wednesday. So it was a
busy time, as usual, but as I wasn't working, we had lots of lazy mornings, which was a
nice change!
I also had some really nice visits with friends that I'm sad to be leaving once again. I saw
Zorana several times, including an excellent dinner at the Keg. Several of us went out for
dinner and to see Avenue Q, which everyone enjoyed very much. Todd and I went to
Oakville to say goodbye to people at his church. His co-workers threw a nice party for him
after work one day which I also got invited too.
Then, it was time for the move. After finally selling all the furniture (a VERY drawn-out
process, although we did finally get rid of everything!), we packed up the rest of our stuff
and the movers came to pick it up on the 29th. On the 31st, after we finished cleaning and
moved out, we took a taxi out to the airport with our bags and Tiger in his new carrier.
Unfortunately Tiger was sick in the cab, whether from the motion or just being scared,
we're not sure. So after a quick clean in the airport bathroom, we got him back in the
carrier, and on to the plane. He spent the flight under the seat in front of me, and we tried
to get him to take some food or water, but he wasn't interested. He didn't make a sound
for the whole flight - we thought perhaps he'd meow, but he was absolutely silent. When
we got to Vancouver, we took a taxi to Todd's sister's place, where we finally got to let
Tiger out of the carrier, and he had a big drink, threw up again, but otherwise seemed
okay.
After spending the night at Holly's (Todd's sister), we took one last taxi over to our new
apartment, where we met up with the landlord and got settled in. It took a couple of days
for Tiger to relax, but we think he's finally realized that we're staying here for a little
while.
We immediately went out to buy new sheets for the bed, as the sheets that were on it were
microsuede and VERY nice and soft, but I didn't want to risk Tiger throwing up on them. So
we got new ones, which look quite nice. We also bought the first of many groceries (we're
trying out several stores to compare prices), and have been spending the past few days
getting ourselves familiarized with the new surroundings.
I did have an interview on Tuesday for a job, but I haven't heard anything back yet. It
sounded like an interesting job, but I don't think I did that well in the interview, so we'll
have to see. Todd is likely going to be doing some temp work in a Scotia office until he
finds a job that he really wants.
And, that's about it for now! Lots of changes, and we're very excited to be here and
exploring the new city. I've got several family members and friends in the area, so we'll
hopefully be seeing more of them in the next couple of months.
Here are a few pictures to end off, from my mom's trip, and of the new place. Welcome to
Vancouver!
Mom in Old Montreal
Old Montreal
Me in Jacques Cartier Square
Notre Dame cathedral
Todd, me, Mom and the King at Medieval Times
Mom and Todd at the Korean barbecue
Tiger in our new living room
The new sheets in our Vancouver bedroom