Another sunny, gorgeous day in Vancouver

Jadine and Melissa-Stanley Park
Originally uploaded by Jadine.

Here we are in Stanley Park. It's a bit cold for swimming yet, but as you can see I have left my jacket at home and am sporting sunglasses. Ahhh...February in Vancouver...

Downtown Vancouver from Jericho Beach

Downtown Vancouver from Jericho Beach
Originally uploaded by Jadine.

Don't you wish you were here...Hear the water lapping up on the beach, feel the sand giving way under your feet, feel the warmth of the sun on your face, breathe in the smell of salt water...

Reading Week - Act II

I went to the airport at 8:30 in the morning to pick up Melissa. Came back to the apartment for a bit, and then we went to Kits for sushi (what else?) and shopping. We each bought a pair of "bitch boots" from the Shoe Warehouse. Mine are burgundy and very cool...they may bump out my moo mitts from second place in my list of favourite articles of clothing. (Red jacket still tops the list.) They even fit over my calves (requires quite a bit of coaxing). Happy day. Melissa enjoyed her sushi much more than dad, but in general she is easier to please. I made curry for dinner. We had a SOHO martini and then went to Lou's to meet up with some friends of hers from Queens. I had a couple of caesars which i had been craving all week. And some sugary long island iced teas.

Woke up early and did some work/blog writing while I waited for Melissa to wake up. She finally emerged at about noon. We walked down to the beach and enjoyed the sea breeze, the dogs frolicking in the sand and the sand in our shoes. Had some curly fries at the sailing club. Why is it that fries taste so much better when you curl them??? Hmmm...something to ponder. Showed her my 'hood. Bought a cute pendant from a store on 10th that is shaped like a martini glass. Cute. Melissa bought a watch and a used book. Bought some coffee from the Starbucks and headed home for an early/quick dinner of perogies and salad. Britta came over at around 6 pm and we had a quick drink before heading to Melissa's friend Rebecca's house. Drank some yummy Spanish wine, and chatted with the room full of Queens grads...6 of us in total headed down to the Blarney Stone. Fun place. 2 for 1 shooters upstairs. My favourite was the Butterball which contained Baileys, Butterscotch liqueur and banana liqueur. I'm convinced that these things were milked down though, because I had about 4 of these things and I didn't feel drunk at all. But mmm...tasty. I also met a boy who seemed refreshingly gentle and genuine. I will likely call him later this week when I work up the courage/find the time.

Today we went to Stanley Park and enjoyed the sunshine, and we weren't the only ones. Lots of people out blading and biking and running through the park. For a change of pace, walked back along Robson and watched all the pretty people buying pretty things. We went for Vietnamese food and then she left for the airport.

Now, I am enjoying some alone time. Doing some laundry and trying to motivate myself to do some reading. Back to school tomorrow...groan. Should be a looooooooooong week.

Rib update: Apparently there is nothing they can do about broken or cracked ribs except advise you to wait for them to heal. Mine still are are noticeably uncomfortable but not increasing in discomfort. (Jiggin' it up at the Blarney Stone and the giant bear hug that I got probably didn't help.) Regardless, I think I can hold out until Tuesday when I have some time in the afternoon to go to the clinic on campus...maybe get an X-ray to see how bad it is and an estimate of how long they will take to heal. Melissa's mom cracked her ribs and it took 6 months to heal. (Aack!!)

OOh...got a postcard from Kevin yesterday. Thailand is pretty...

7th Heaven - the top of Blackcomb

7th Heaven - the top of Blackcomb
Originally uploaded by Jadine.

This is no cheesy show from the WB...this really IS 7th heaven...

Skiing, I mean Reading week

So reading week has been pretty productive. I actually managed to get some work done over the weekend. Monday I finished a couple of problem sets and made lasagna for me and Lloyd. Mmm...looooove lasagna. Lloyd is good too.

Tuesday, Dad arrived at about noon. I showed him my new digs, which took about 1 minute. He was impressed that it's a step up from the crackhouse. In a lot of ways, I really miss the crackhouse, and Toronto. But I know this situation is a lot more conducive to studying.

I took Dad out for sushi on Broadway, hoping that me and Vancouver could convert him from his sushi-hating ways. I've decided this is impossible. If dynamite rolls and chopped scalloped rolls can't do it...I don't know what will. Hmph...

Then we drove out to Whistler. They are doing major construction on the Sea to Sky highway in preparation for the Olympics, widening it from 2 lanes to four. As the terrain that they need to expand into tends to be rock/trees/cliff, this should be a long and expensive process. But I guess they have 5 years and millions of dollars.

Once we got to Whistler, our room wasn't quite ready yet, so we went for a walk around the village. Rented some skis (Volkl) and boots (Salomon) for the next day. They had to readjust the latches on the boots to accommodate my big calves. Despite this, they still pinched quite a bit which I discovered the next day while skiing.

Went back to the hotel room and checked in. It had a kitchenette, a dining room table, a fireplace, a regular bed and a secret hidden bed that folded down from what looked like a cabinet in the wall. We rested for a bit and then decided to go for a walk before dinner. I bought a Vapourwick shirt from the North Face store. This definitely made the skiing experience a little more comfortable...but boy did that shirt ever get aromatic! For dinner we went to this place called Carramba. We shared some delicious grilled calamari with aoli (garlic and mayo) sauce for dipping. Mmmm...I had lamb and Dad had a pizza. Good meal. Went back to the hotel room. Dad watched tv while I did some reading (yes...very geeky). He passed out at around 9 pm, so I went to the gym, worked out and sat in the hot tub. Came back upstairs, read some more and then went to bed myself at around 11:30pm, which is quite early for me. My earplugs were a godsend. They blocked out my dad's snoring and I could actually fall asleep in the same room as him!

Wednesday we skied Whistler. Suffered a couple of tumbles in the morning, the more serious of which landed me face-down in a rocky/icy patch at the base of the mountain near the Creekside gondola. I blame dad for leading me down the wrong side of the gondola. The other side was smooth and free of debris. Initially I thought that I had just bruised my ribs because it was a bit uncomfortable to breathe, but as the pain has not subsided at all in the last couple of days, I now believe that I may have actually broken something. I'm calling dad in a few minutes to see if he will take me to get X-rays today. The only comfortable sleeping position is on my back. Other than that...not too bad of a day. I'm not exactly used to skiing. (Judging from the lift ticket I removed from my ski jacket on Tuesday morning, I haven't skiied in over 4 years.) My knees and my legs in general feel pretty battered. Wednesday and Thursday I was walking like a cross between a zombie and an old arthritic woman. We went to the top of the mountain (above the treeline). It's cold and barren but for a some severe cliffs. On the way through the Saddle, which was pretty icy, I watched my dad wipe out. And then about 5 other people wipe out. So I kind of stood there frozen for about 10 minutes working up the courage to tackle this large patch of ice. I mean, my dad is a much better skier than I and he wiped out. Scary...Anyway, I obviously lived to tell the tale, but the run really took a lot out of me. And my skiing was apparently getting "sloppy" so we quit at about 3 o'clock. Rested in the hotel room for a bit and went to the hot tub. I find the hot tub to be quite effective at relaxing your muscles...until they cool down. And then everything stiffens up again. That night we went to the Keg. Kind of like a regular Keg, but more ritzy and more expensive. I had a yummy chicken filet with scallops and shrimps and garlic mashed potatoes. Dad had a rack of ribs. (Maybe in honour of my ribs???) Tried to do some work when we got back to the hotel, but funghi were not nearly as interesting as the dog show and I was much much too tired. Besides the golden retriever was in the running for best in his category (go Angel!). I think we went to bed at around 10 pm (unheard of!).

Thursday was a shorter skiing day because we were due to leave that day. We skied Blackcomb which I actually enjoyed much better because the hills were less crowded and the runs were more interesting. The top of Blackcomb (see above) also had the most amazing panoramic view. The name of the lift that runs up there is called 7th heaven...indeeeeeeeed! The runs down were also much less treacherous than the Saddle. By Thursday afternoon I had a good rhythm going and I was learning to work through the pain in my thighs, knees, calves, ankles and ribs. I was even being lauded by dad as being a "good" skier. Alas, it was time to leave. After a nice long run down the hill straight into the village, we called it a day. No accidents this day. Only a lot of fun skiing and some unbelievable scenery. I love mountains.

We drove back to Vancouver. Dad checked into his B and B where he will stay until Sunday. And then we went on the hunt for a good seafood restaurant. Ended up going to a place in Kerrisdale were I went for dim sum with Britta and Diane before Christmas. And we ate a BC crab. There was a requisite veggie as well. But the crab was the star of the show. Lightly battered and deep fried, then covered with a ginger and green onion sauce. This is how we love our crab. It's a lot of work...but boy is it ever worth it. And it was so fresh...straight out of the tank. This meal took us over 2 hours to eat as we didn't want to miss a single morsel. I was glad that I hadn't had time to cut my fingernails so that I had a useful tool for accessing the crevices. Yummmmy...BEST MEAL OF THE WEEK!!

Ok...9:30. Will call dad's B and B...hopefully he has some time to drive me to the hospital today. Otherwise, I guess Melissa and I will take the bus...

Well, that just about covers it...I've been resumed

On Wednesday I went to a resume and cover letter seminar. It was super useful...So today I re-wrote my resume and my cover letters in preparation for the co-op application process. I wrote three of each: one set each for GSK, Health Canada and Alcan. Well, I wrote one set and then modified it for the other two. It's been an exhausting process...but I think I have improved my technique. Hopefully it'll work...and I'll get a job...

I've come to terms with the fact that I really, really need to get a driver's license. A lot of these hygiene jobs seem to require some driving around with sampling equipment. So, definitely this summer...I promise...someone had better hold me to this! Do I have any volunteers to help me practice???? Anyone????

It's Reading Week! Although, I have spent most of the weekend doing schoolwork...so it hasn't really hit me yet. But in a few days, when I'm hitting the slopes at Whistler...yipee!! Sadly, I'll have to bring some bedtime reading with me. (How nice to get a nice big stack of readings in your mailbox on the Friday afternoon before Reading week...)

Tomorrow the plan is to do some more work, maybe go visit Lloyd at work (if time permits), make lasagna, and clean the apartment so that Dad and Melissa don't think I'm a slob. Maybe do some packing...Relaxed yet?

Ok...date with Lloyd tonight.

Happy Valentine's day! I heart all of you!

I heart Vancouver

Just got back from a rollerblade. Love that the sun is shining and the streets are dry. One of the many reasons why "I heart Vancouver".

Sadly, found out today that I will not be here for the summer. But, possibly good news for you folks back in Ontario who have been missing me. Here is the story on the summer co-ops. Like I mentionned before there is the job at GSK working with Jewels...sweet job...this is my top pick. From there on, it gets a bit hazier...there are 5 other jobs. ONE in Vancouver working for Fraser Health which would be nice...except that you need a driver's license (doh!) and a car (well...). So...not a possibility...don't have time to learn how to drive right now. Two jobs with Alcan up in Kitimat, BC -- not exactly sure where this is...but I'm sure I'd learn a lot and the pay is really really good and there is a subsidy of some kind for being willing to live up in BFN. Two jobs working for oil companies in Alberta (Shell and some other one...). Probably also good jobs, but I have moral objections to working at an oil company. Last job is also in Ontario working for Health Canada. But the pay is pretty lousy (the minimum) and it requires a lot of travelling between Ottawa and Windsor (not sure if they expect me to drive that...or if I can just fly?) Anyway. GSK is the top pick right now. Not sure what the pay will be like...but it sounds like a good job, and no one from my school is going to apply to it. So, i will likely only be competing with U of T kids for the job...I think my chances are pretty good. Also may need a place to live for the summer...

Kevin is in Thailand. Here is a link to his online journal. As can be expected, it is very witty, entertaining and clever...much cleverer than my ramblings.

The countdown to Reading week begins. Dad IS coming and we are going skiing at Whistler for a couple of days. Yippee. Melissa is also coming. Apparently to see my "men"...haha....she is one to talk...

Ok...should probably do some work...grr...