Week 37 - Meetings, Running and Life in General

Another week been and gone here in Canada. It's been a week of meetings, socializing and spending time with each other. So without further ado, let's get into it.

Monday we both had work for the day. Once Pete arrived home, we caught up on our day and then prepared ourselves for week 2 of training. Our run went well. I am as ungraceful in my running as ever. Pete, I fear is getting even more graceful with his running. Oh well, as I continually remind myself, I'm in a race against myself and no one else. As I keep track of my times, I have improved my time for a 1km run from 13.02 mins from the first run to 8.53 mins. I'm pretty happy with that.

Tuesday was a great day at work. I had fun mucking about with the 3 year olds. After work we had a meeting for summer camp. I have decided to teach in summer camp over July. I'm looking forward to it, but it does require a bit of work. After my meeting, I called Pete upon his request. He had been home for a bit and wanted to know if I wanted to be picked up as the weather had turned nasty. I declined, but suggested we meet at Starbucks for a coffee and catch up before we headed out that night for a movie. After filling my body with caffeine, we made our way to the movie early as it was cheap Tuesday and we expected crowds. We were pleasantly surprised to find few people. So we ordered snacks and found a good seat (no such thing as allocated seating here) to watch Fast and the Furious #7. After much suspense, tears and mouthfuls of cotton candy, we made our way home.

Wednesday I worked my day at work, made my way home for a bit and then headed back to work for another meeting. This time the venue of the meeting was Tim Horton's which I must admit I have grown fairly fond of. The meeting went well (more planning for summer camp) and we both (Cindy - a colleague and I) left feeling good to get that item off the 'to do' list. Once the meeting was over, I made my way home for a run with my graceful gazelle. With the run done and dusted, we made dinner for ourselves and booked ourselves in for a 5Km run! It's in June and is the run for water run. Now that should keep us motivated.

Thursday I decided that with all this sun, it was time to whip out the spring clothing. So donned in my spring outfit I went to work. I received loads of compliments on my attire. None from the kids however, but I wouldn't expect that. Pete had to work later that night, so after he arrived home, we had a quick dinner before I made my way out to meet people. Intriguing I know. I have done a program called Weigh Down in the past. As a result I lost a bit of weight. On the Weigh Down Facebook page, a lady (Sherri) asked if anyone lived in Calgary. I said I did. So after much tooing and frooing, we decided to meet. I also met another lady called Lyndsi. We had tea and chatted. It was an awesome evening. I can proudly say that I then made my way home without the assistance of Moana (our GPS).

Friday brought the end to another work week. I did my normal shift and again made my way to work for another meeting. Ahhh, the bain of my existence. This meeting was thought to take 20 minutes. 2 and a half hours later, I tiredly made my way in the door, kissed Pete and then said, "ready for our run?" Jeez, what have I turned into???  So, we did our run, and settled down to dinner and TV. Bliss. On a side note, we received news regarding our visa. Pete has to get an LMIA form. This means his job is advertised for 4 weeks, and his boss needs to pay $1000 to keep Pete in his position. If no-one gets the job, and Pete is the better candidate, the form is sent in (with the fee) and then if approved, I get to tag on as I am Pete's wife. Pete told John what needed to happen and John said not a problem. I was ecstatic as that means we are one step closer to staying here. The work permit would also give us another 4 years tops over another year. Pete was very excited about this, but I intend on coming home after another year here.

Saturday we decided to food shop. My attitude towards food shopping has altered drastically. We now shop in Okotoks which is 15 minutes out of Calgary. Before shopping, we went to a bakery to have a bite to eat and a coffee. It took us a while to find this gem, but we were so glad we did find it. After eating till I was about to pop, we went to explore the area. We had the intention of going to a sale, but got there and decided not to. We did however find other shops. We stopped in, and I found my new favorite shop in Canada. Winners! Its is pretty much a shop that sells big brands for a smaller price tag. It reminds me of a thrift shop as there are often not the same of one thing. We purchased a few things. Mine were running related. Again, I repeat, what have I turned into? We then did our food shopping and made our way home to relax before heading to church. I was teaching again. The lesson went well and despite missing out on the message, I was still fed as someone asked if they could pray for me. He spoke such life over me, and then asked God to give me pictures. He asked for it then and there. God gave me a picture of a rushing river and brought a song to mind with the lyrics "stirring up deep deep wells, stirring up deep deep waters." After helping pack up, we went to a pub with a bunch of friends. Pete had to have his customary Guinness and I had my customary coke. Overall, we had the best time.

Latte and an oreo cupcake.

Coconut and cupcake. My favorites!

Found me a good chai latte. Whoop whoop.

Sunday dawned bright. The sun woke me up, so for a change I got up first and left Pete in bed. I woke him around 9ish, so we could get out and about. I had a couple of places I wanted to go. One being IKEA. We haven't been to this glorious place since we first arrived in Calgary. We went with intention of getting towels. I am pleased to say, we only came out with towels, 2 knives and spice jars. I had forgotten how much I love IKEA. We perused the shop, stopped for a $1 pop (that's refillable - a bargain) and continued perusing the shop. I found so much stuff I wanted to buy. But with the state of our being here longer still not firm, I had to resist. We then went to another new love. That being 'Old Navy' (a clothes shop). As I had mentally spent my pocket money there, I went to try on a bunch of clothes. As there weren't things available in my size, I decided to purchase my desired pieces online. So, after some window shopping, we made our way home for another relaxing night in.

If that's New York in the background, I'll be there in a few weeks!

Found my bath. I'm sure I could post it home.

So wanted this one. It would look perfect on our tiny patio.

Enjoying our $1 pop.

And so ends another week here. The weather is stunning with loads of sun and a cool breeze. Hopefully we can get some snaps of the that for you next time.