Time to catch up...

So much has happened so I really need to write ...

Bowen Island was great. It was such a relaxing day and we really enjoyed getting out of the city. We wandered around the main village area by the ferry terminal and wandered up to Artisan Square. Poked around some shops and then wandered back down the hill to find some lunch. After spending some time at at the park where the ferry terminal is, we took the community shuttle (yes, there were buses we could use our Vancouver bus passes on) to Bowen Bay, on the other side of the island. We stopped for a short while and enjoyed the beach and waited for the shuttle;e to come around again. Once we got back to the ferry, we went back to Vancouver. I have to say that Horseshoe Bay is so pretty. It really is your typical marine village. We had a fabulous early dinner at Trolls. Mmmm, fish and chips. Yum! All in all, we had a wonderful BC Day.

The following weekend, Ryan's parents were in town. The had just come back from Las Vegas and stayed at our place on the Saturday night. We had dinner at the Macaroni Grill (food was great but we waited an hour and a half for our table because they lost our reservation) and then watched the fireworks (Sweden put on a fantastic show).

That Sunday was the Gay Pride Parade. It was a great parade; very entertaining. The only complaint I had was that it was 2 hours long. Now normally that would n't be a problem. But when you're sitting on the sidewalk in full sun on Beach Ave, it was a bit much. But I was very good about putting sunscreen on and a didn't burn... all except for one spot... the part on my head. Having thin hair, it tends to create a natural part down the middle of my head and leave a thin strip of skin exposed... Yeah, FYI... it really hurts...

On Wednesday Aug.3, we saw China do their thing for the Celebration of Light . It was an okay show, but no where near as good as Sweden.

Last Saturday was Ryan's b-day. We spent the part of the day at Sasamat Lake in Belcarra (just North of Port Moody). It was so nice there. The lake was warm and so clean. And it smelled like a lake. How quickly I had forgotten. The salt air permeates everything here in the West End. It Then becomes a part of you. Makes things like lakes stand out as novel. We came back in to town and I out together a picnic dinner for the two of us and my friend Sarah. We took everything down to our normal fireworks viewing spot and enjoyed food, good company and a great finale to the Celebration of Light.

This weekend has been far less busy. Yesterday, I just puttered and fiddled with things in the apartment. Today is more of the same. Sorting, cleaning, budgeting, that sort of fun. Last night was great though... Ryan got tickets from his parent to Bard on the Beach. We saw Rosencratz and Guildenstern Are Dead. It is a fantastic play and I highly recommend it.

Meanwhile, Ryan is madly working away on his thesis. He wants to hand it in this week, so he's feeling just a little bit stressed. But he does actually have to the end of the month to complete it. I just know he wants it over and done with.

Work is going great. Got some feedback from Senior Management about the focus group sessions we took part in awhile. They have taken everyone's suggestions seriously and some things are going to be changing. Should be interesting to see what happens. We'll see..

Well that's enough rambling for now... lots more to come for sure...

32 degrees in the city...

What a hot and beautiful sunny day! 32 degrees here downtown and boy does it feel like it!

The dinner cruise on Wednesday night was wonderful. Ryan and I had a great time with my co-workers. Our president Samir was great and personable. At point after the fireworks when we were all chatting on the main deck, he was chatting to Ryan and a couple of ladies from our office. It was great to see Ryan socializing with them. I had a great time myself. Had some wine, saw some good fireworks, danced a little and got to know my co-workers a lot better.

Yesterday, Ryan's parents came to stay with us on their way back from Las Vegas. Went for dinner and then to see the fireworks again (more about that later). Dinner was delicious except for the 1 1/2 we ended up waiting to get a table (they lost our walk-in reservation). I was so hungry and my blood-sugar was so low I had a huge headache and felt really faint.

The fireworks were spectacular. It was Sweden's night (Canada went on Wed) and boy did they put on a show! I'm looking forward to China's show on this coming Wednesday and to see whether they beat Sweden this year (Sweden took the honours last year). Canada has no hope of winning. The show just wasn't anywhere near as sophisticated and the timing wasn't all that great. I think it was their music. Their show was called "Jazz in the sky". The music was fun to listen to but was hard to put fireworks to. But enough about that.

We (Ryan, myself and his parents) went to see the gay pride parade. It was fun and most definitely entertaining but went really long and in today's heat it was hard to have energy for the entire parade.

Tomorrow should be another fun but relaxing day. We're going to take the bus and ferry to Bowen Island. Never been there but apparently there's lots you can do if you don't have a vehicle. Looking forward to getting out the city and exploring places near by.