I'm plugging it but I don't care, it took me ages to type.  Enjoy

An interview with ... Cassie

Im almost at the end of my OU course , im busy finishing my end of course assessment. ive got 4 more parts to do, should have it done by the end of next week.

Ive got all the visa paperwork printed and V will start filling them over the weekend. WE have managed to getthe medicals booked in Hull at a hospital where they organise both the medicals and the xrays.

Got some sad news today, V's aunty whom we visited in Rutherglen died yesterday. She had been poorly for a few weeks but suddenly went down hill this week. She was a fiesty old bird, i thought she was great,  getting the email letting us know this morning shook us up a bit, as we had hoped that we could have taken the boys to visit her when we arrived in oz. As i think D was a baby the last time she was in the UK. Instead when we visit Albury to see his uncle and aunt we shall put some flowers on the grave.

Ive been doing the research on Darwin and despite the fact they only have dry and wet seasons im sure we will cope. Saying that i will look forward to when we can get a posting to either NSW or Vic.

Well id best get on with some more of my assessment

I wasn't sure what to do today, I knew there were still a few things that we haven't done yet around Edmonton.  After a bit of looking around through books we decided to go to Rutherford House.  Its just outside Old Strathcona.

What's the significance of the house you may be wondering.  It was the home of the first Premier of Alberta, Alexander Cameron, from 1911 to 1941.

Some pretty flowers in the garden

Unfortunatley we got there at 11:30am and the museum opens at 12 noon.  I am so impatient (as you may know) and there really isn't much to do near there so we left, leaving this for another day.  The admission charge isn't too bad at $4 each and there is also a nice resturant there that opens at 11am, and not too badly priced.

Moving onto Plan B we decided to go to the Alberta Legistature Building.

The building made out of Lego bricks

We have been outside the place and taken pictures but have never gone in.  When we got there we managed (only just)  to tag onto a tour that was leaving.  We didn't have to pay a dollar, it was free!  Wow.

The central part of the building was amazing, full of marble and columns.

The building was built between 1907 and 1913 in the Beaux arts style.

According to the Wiki the building is 180 feet and the projected cost was $4 million dollars.

The main debating area was a bit of a let down compared to the central bit, perhaps they had run out of money by the time they got to here.

There are over 500 lightbulbs in the ceiling.  Electricity had only just become available and the young Architect that designed the building went a bit silly when he designed it.  The problem is from the floor to the ceiling its about 300 feet so ladders are not long enough to change the bulbs.  In order for them to change the bulbs they have to hire some scaffolding and in total it can take three weeks to change them all.

The fountain you see was built for Queen Elizabeths visit to the buiding.

Brass elevator doors.

The day turned out be be great and cheap as well which is always an added benefit.  After our little tour we stuck around the city and had a look around the Mall.  We had parked to car at the cheap $3 car park by The Delta Edmonton Hotel (I think it's called that)  Happy dayz all around

Strange fruit

We went to the supermarket on our way back home.  When we were looking at the fruit section we saw these strange looking things.  They kind of look like small potatoes.

I kept looking and touching them, wondering what they were.  Making a little fuss wanting to know what they were then a  man opposite me started to tell me that they are really good.  He said "if you like sugar, you will like them"

He explained that you peal them just like an orange.  This then turned into a little chat in the Supermarket, were we Australian? etc etc.  We thanked him and off we went.

When we got home I tried one and they are very much like lychees, the small fruit you see in Chinese places but these are called Longans, they are quite nice.

It's Labour Day long weekend which means Neil and Cassie went off a 'road trippin'

Before we start the ins and outs, I'm going to find out what the hell Labour Day is and why it's celebrated in Canada, back in a mo............

............... so here goes, straight off the Wiki page

Labour Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday celebrated all over the world that resulted from the labour union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. The majority of countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1, and it is popularly known as May Day and International Workers' Day, while some celebrate on the first Monday of September.

The celebration of Labour Day has its origins in the Eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.

So now we know what it is, lets get on.

I was looking in one of my faithful books of trips and decided we should go to Athabasca.

Atherbasca is about 145km's North of Edmonton.  To be honest, it's a bit of a grim place, most of the shops seemed to have closed down and nothing much was going on.  It was a real shame as the town seemed to be very proud of its past.  Everywhere you looked there were signs telling you the history of the place.

Until 1913 it was known as Atherbasca Landing and played an important role in the fur trade.  The Atherbasca River was the main trade link and is one of the longest undammed rivers in North America (1,231 Km's)

From there we decided to head to the town of Slave Lake, there is a big lake there called Lesser Slave Lake.

Lesser Slave Lake is the second largest lake that is entirely within the Albertain boundaries.  it covers 1160 kms over 100kms long and 15kms wide.

We stopped over in Slave Lake having packed an over night bag just in case.  Slave Lake town is a bit of a strange place, quite depressing all the paces we could find to eat were pizza places, A&W or McDonalds.It was a very industrail looking town with nothing much to do.

I had to take a picture of the liquor stores as they were next door to each other, talk about competition.

We headed off towards the Lake this morning after we had our breakfast  I wanted to go to the Boreal Bird Centre which is involved in Bird Conservation. 

A loop walk just by the centre.

We were told to go drive to the Lake where they were tagging birds but it was just typical that it had to rain.  I've just noticed that I don't have one single picture of the damn Lake!

We decided to stay in the car because like a pair of idiots we didn't take any coats.

We drove out of Slave Lave and headed towards Swan Hills, then onto Fort Assiniboine.  I really needed the toilet so we drove into the small town.

A very big wagon wheel and pickaxe, just don't ask

We stopped at the museum and had a nice chat with one of the locals then headed back to Edmonton via Barrhead.

We probally won't go back that way again only to go the opposite way through Atherbasca and head to Fort McMurray.  Not sure when we'll head that way but I would like to get there before the white stuff comes along.

As i've been typing this blog entry the winds have really picked up, so I turned on "the weather network" and it seems they are saying winds of 90km's an hour.  The big red bar is stating warnings for the City of Edmonton for severe thunderstorms and a reminder that with severe thunderstorms there are chances of  tornados.  ekkk.

I'm going to grab a glass of wine to chill my nerves, see you.

Well it appears that we are off to Darwin after all, thats what the job offer says. We have also been told once he has signed the formal offer and emailed it back to them we can start filling in the visa application.

We have been told to front load the medicals and police checks. Im going to wait till October to get the medicals done. As i see my consultant who did my op in the beginning of August at the end of September. So once ive seen him i will get a letter stating im fully fit after the op to take with me.

WE are aiming now to get out to oz asap. Im not going to be doing the return to nursing course at York Uni after all. they offered me a place in January which i would not finish till June. The oz army where prepared to wait till April but any later would affect V's job offer.

Instead im going to back to basics and re do my training. I had hoped that we would of been going to Townsville as they have a graduate entry nursing degree and having contacted them once i had completed my BSc i would have been accepted at JCU. I have already contacted CDU and they dont do the graduate entry so i will have to do 3 years. But considering V will be posted there for 3 years im sure it wont be too bad.

Ive still got my current course to finish, ive been given an extention to get my 6th assignment compleated, ive made a start but having J to look after all the time its been hard to concentrate on essay writing and ensuring ive got the right research materials. Im hoping that i can get more work done later in the week. At a push i could get it finished in a few days once the kids are back to school.

Then i will have to get my end of course assignment done, this is writing up 6 topics ive covered in the course to show what ive learned. This work is in lieu of an exam. My work gets sent to 3 different markers and i get the result in December.

Ive now lost over a stone and im wearing jeans ive not worn for over a year, well pleased with that.

Im now eating soft food, like pasta salad, small tuna fish sarnies (with the crusts off). Im feeling much better about my self. Im not getting out of breath when i go for a long walk. I still feel a little tender over the operation site especially pushing a hoover around, or a full shopping trolley.

Its the kids last week of school thank god, they have been so fed up as the weather has been awful the last few weeks. this has also made studying harder.

Any how id best go as the toerag is making a loud noise in the garden.

Saturday

We decided to venture out to the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village its off the Yellowhead Highway just after you past Elk Island.  There is a small charge for addmission.

We took a picnic because most of the time when we go to these places it's mega expensive for a stupid little sandwich.

Bellis National Railway Station

The Village is a living Museum where the staff get dressed up and act as if they are living during the era.  In the early 20th Century the mahority of settlers in east central Alberta  came from Western Ukraine.  Some of the oldest Ukrainian comunities in North America are found east central Alberta, directly east of Edmonton.

Bellis Home Grain Co Elevator

The village never existed in history, it is brought together to to tell a story.  The actors speak to you as if there are living in that time.

 Neil with the Blacksmiths car, shhhhh don't tell him.

St Vladimir's Ukrianian Greek Orthodox Church

Free horse ride around the village, back in Blighty they would have cgarged at least five quid.

How many piggies, well there was three if you really must know.

Chick, Chick, Chick, CHICKEN. lol

Inside one of the buildings, I was drawn to the dried flowers.

All in all it was a good day out, it was another hot day though peaking at 30 degrees C so walking around was a little bit tiring.  I probally would only go again if we had guests but its another one of them places I can tick off and say I've been to.

Sunday (today 30th August 2009)

I was looking in my "Nature walks and Sunday Drives 'round Edmonton" book again and came across Telford Lake (Leduc) which is about 35km's south of Edmonton City Centre on the East side of Leduc.

So off we went in the car, camera and husband packed up.

Oh look, it's me!

Telford Lake is a Nature Reserve on the edge of Leduc, you'll see loads of cyclists and dog walkers down there.  There are a few veiwing plaforms so you can look out on the Lake.

Loving Husband and Wife

Bird Condo, WOW!

A plane that has just taken off from Edmonton International, which should really be called Leduc Airport as Edmonton is about a half hour drive away.

Bearing in mind that Neil is a very tall lad (6 foot 7") so these Sunflowers are tall!

This is what Neil was doing while I was taking all these pictures I decided I wanted to wake him up LOL, oh come on you would too.  I set the timer on the camera and ......

........didn't get the reaction I was hoping for.  I get told that I'm an evil wife though, LOL.

This is where the fun begins, trying to get a shot of a god damn Dragonfly.  I tell you the ones in Alberta are on speed or something.  They never seem to stop, and I also caught two having sex in the public.  Not on camera mind, they wanted royalties and I couldn't afford to pay them. 

Blink and you miss it, I know it's a really crap picture of a Dragonfly but like I said they are really hard buggers to get a picture of, they had more "important" issues they wanted to get on with! (if you know what I mean)

Now have I snapped the first signs of Autumn, or should I be normal Canadian and say "Fall".

Now guys, I thought I didn't get any shots of Dragonflies but Neil was a determined little soul and thought he could do better the next few are his "efforts" bless

No........... I can't see any............ can you guys.  My husband thinks i'm a B.I.T.C.H but I don't remeber him 'ever' giving you guys that Yukon entry he promised you and me, so lets say that we've got him back.

and talking of the Yukon I have some pics of that, so here they are.

Neil was at Signpost Forest, Watson Lake  which is probally one of the main attractions on the Alaska Highway.

We weren''t really up to much last night but yesterday when I was listening to The Bear at work I heard that Jennifer Coolidge was going to be on at The Comic Strip.  You all know who she all is, she was in one of my favorite movies Legally Blonde but she is well know for playing 'Stiffler's Mum' in American Pie.

I thought she would probally be a good laugh so we went along to see if we could get tickets and was quite surprised when we got there and managed to bag a couple at just under $40 each.

She managed to pack them in though, we've been at that Comedy Club before and it wasn't that full but she managed to get a full house.  Good for her.

There was a couple of acts on before her that were quite funny/average.

When she came on I personally thought she looked amazing.  She was a very good stand up act the only problem was towards the end of her act she seemed to lose it.  She seemed to be getting very distracted by a few members of the audience taking video clips on their cell phones.  It was starting to ruin her act, she started with lots of erms.  I was willing her just to ignore it but she pleeded with them to stop.

She should have just carried on and ignored them and used the future "you tube" clips as adverts.  I'm not sure if she has done stand up before or not but she was looking a bit nervous at times.

Apart from all that she was really funny, and $40 well worth spent.  If you get the chance to see her then I would reccomend you do.

Just fancied writing an entry not sure what about as I don't seem to have any drama, touchwood.

Oh, the penny just dropped, I know what to Blog about, bloody supermarkets!  I wasn't feeling too well at all yesterday I seem to be having these headaches everyday combined with a sore throat.  Today I've taken a hayfever tablet just in case its an allergy of some sort.

Anyway, I went into a certain Supermarket yesterday on my day off, it's in the lower budget end of supermarkets and I very rarely go into that store because it has the longest queues you have ever seen.  If you know me, you would know that I hate queues in fact I would put stuff back to avoid having to stand in one.  When I walked in I inspected the queues and they weren't that bad in fact there weren't any.  I went in at about 10am after paying a bank bill, which is another story I have just remembered, oh I'll have to tell you that one!   Lets put supermarkets on pause for a second.

I went to the Bank to pay our electric and my cell phone bill.  The girl behind the counter said "Oh I like you accent, are you from Australia"

Smiling politely, as I have never  heard that one before I replied "No I'm from England"

She then replies with a "I really like the British accent"

I stopped and thought for a moment, well she can't really like it that much can she, she thought I was from down under.

Anyway she starts looking at my bills and sees the cell provider I'm with and says this is the best one, in her opnion.  I thought great thanks for letting me know, then she procedes to tell me how one provider she was with ripped her off.  Then starts telling me her life story, about her and her ex splitting and how she didn't need the two phone plan.  I must have one of these trusting faces as it seems to happen to me all the time.  People like to tell me their life stories.  She went on for some time, I only went in to pay two bills.

Anyway back to the Supermarket when I finally got out of the bank, one thing I would like to know about Canadian shopping is why are biscuits so expensive.  For example a packet of NICE bicuits back in the UK you could pick them buggers up for about 54p so why on planet Canada do I have to pay over $3 for them!

Another thing I hate about supermarkets is everytime I go people always seem to want to target me with their shopping carts.  Its like a Wii Game, how many carts can I dodge.  People seem to be in some sort of a trance when they go into a Supermarket.  They have no idea that other people are shopping too until they get to the till.  People will block aisles up with their carts and you have to push them out of the way in order to get to what you want, come on people think.

God I sound like a moody bitch but no I'm not it's surely just about peoples lack in common courtesy. 

To put the nail into the coffin by the time I got to the till the queues were big, but I had too much stuff in my basket so couldn't start putting it all back.  Anyway I had a Chocolate Chip muffin and it looked so good.

There were one or two things I forgot off the list so last night we went back to the supermarket, a different one this time by the way.

We got to the checkout and I had my own shopping bag, save the panet and all that.  I gave it over to the assistant and she says....... no joke.........she says "Mmmmmm this bag smells good, just like you"

I thought I might have heard her wrong and just carried on, she said a few other little strange comments.  When we were sat down on the couch last night, (I have the habbit of things coming back to me, later after the event) I said to Neil did you hear what that that girl said to me.  He heard the same thing we both thought it was a little werid.

Just before bedtime last night there was a thunder storm, to be honest we needed one just to clear the air a bit.  I left the window open and let the sound of the rain and thunder send us to sleep., and it did the trick 

I wasn't working on Friday, Saturday or the Sunday and believe me when you work in retail you would understand this is a very rare occasion indeed.  What better way to celebrate, than a Road Trip.  The Friday was a bit grim to start with but towards the end of the day the sun decided to make an appearance.

I packed my bag waited for Neil to come home, we had some tea and decided to set off.  As we did set off so late we stopped at Lloydminster, probally one of the worst Best Westerns ever, may I just add.  Lloyminster is in both Saskatewan and Alberta.  Addresses east of 50th Ave are in Saskatewan and addresses west of 50th Ave are in Alberta.

With a fresh day ahead of us we headed straight for Saskatoon.  We hadn't booked anything and headed straight for the Travel Lodge outside of the city.  When they stated $175 we turned round and headed for the door, with a "Good Luck" from the girl at the desk.  Will we be needing it then, we started to wonder.  We looked around the outside of the Travel Lodge and noticed a Sandman.

We got to reception and the girl stated that they had a suite with a couch, to be honest she made it sound very expensive.  I said "Oh no thanks" but when she stated the $135 I was pleasantly surprised and said we would take it.

We dumped our bags and headed for Saskatoon. 

One of the predominant buildings is the Delta Beesborough Hotel, it was built by the Canadian National Railway from 1928 to 1932.  It was such an amazing building.

The cities Riverside walk, very much like Edmonton.

The last thing I was expecting to see was a London Bus, it was in fact a Takeaway.  I was thinking maybe Fish 'n' chips but no!

The other building of interest was the Mendel Art Gallery.  Free of charge to get in and we like free.  Most of the paintings were landscapes and very pretty I wish I could have used my camera but I wasn't allowed.  The Artist was Dorothy Knowles and was born in Saskatewan. 

The Art Gallery had another section of the gallery which was called "don't tell me your dreams" to be honest it was a little odd.   Apparently the artist Patrick Traer was diagnosed with sleep apnea and the exhibit is all based on him listening to other peoples dreams.  As the Art Gallery states it's an exhibition of Darkness, consisting of photographs, audio, drawing and embroidery.   To be honest it was enough to give someone a nightmare not dreams!

This is a little conservatory they have on the other side of the gallery.

Saskatoon very much reminded me of Old Strathcona in Edmonton.  The buildings were amazing, I very much enjoyed walking around.

The Sunday was spent driving back home, and oh my god was that a long drive.  We decided to go a different route home and it was boring.  Field, tree, cattle, Field, tree, cattle it was like on of the Scooby Doo cartoons where you see the same thing over and over.

You might see a grain store if your lucky.

Oh and don't forget the long striaght road ahead.

This is what happens when you are bored, take pictures of yourself because there really isn't much else to take a picture of.

I don't think we will be heading back to our next door neighbour Saskatchewan again, we like our other British Columbia better.

There's still plenty of Alberta to do as well before we start going round asking for sugar again.  Time spent way from Edmonton makes me realise how much I love the place. 

The surgeon used a new method where he only need to use one incision. I came out of hospital on Saturday afternoon after i could prove i could manage to have something more than water and apple juice. On Saturday morning they offered me some yoghurt but i really struggled to swallow it. i managed about 4 teaspoons. So the nurse who had looked after me (a lovley aussie from Sydney) produced some clear chicken soup and i really struggled having more than a few mouthfulls. It was so salty, so V had some for me. I did manage to have a little more yoghurt, about 50g and i was stuffed. So eventually they let us go home.

Im bruised across my abdomen and i did look very swollen almost as if i was pregnant. thankfully the swelling is coming down now although the bruising is spreading. I have to give my self some heprin injections every morning to help prevent clots and im still wearing the sexy TED stockings.

On Sunday it was my parents ruby wedding anniversary and they were having their vows renewed, so i managed to put on a pretty dress that covered my swelling abdomen well. I also managed to get away with not wearing the 'stockings' for a few hours while we were at the church.

It was a good service and despite afterwards being surrounded by people tucking into a buffett it didn't bother me. V got me a cup of tea and we sat with my 2 favourite auntys and my great aunt and uncle. They new i was having an operation but not the details, or so i thought. It seems my mother had informed a few people i was having the band fitted. I was not impressed that she had informed other people. Not that i am ashamed or anything, its just i wanted to choose who i told.

Any how, V and my aunt C were on top form taking the mick out of me, getting lovley food and waffting it past me and saying a shame you cant eat it.

To be honest ive not felt hungry in the slightest since i had the op. On Sunday i managed to have a slimfast bottle of diet drink, for my breakfast and the remainder for my lunch. For my evening meal i tried a baby meal of veg and rice but it was truely awful, even if it was liquidised.

So im sticking to thin soup, jelly, liquidised fruit and marmite. Yesterday i managed 1/2 a weetabix mixed with warm milk and i can say it was very enjoyable, and very filling. Im drinking loads of water as i do find im thirsty more than hungry, im also having a carrot and orange juice to boost my vitamin intake.

Ive got 2 weeks on the liquid/puree stage before i go to mushy/soft food before in 4 weeks i start on solids. I will be having my first fill in 4 weeks time as well.

Yesterday i had a slow day at home, as i felt exhausted, i think going out on Sunday took it out of me.However i did manage to get through the day with no painkillers, only an afternoon nap. Today im feeling more alert , im not in pain and i dont feel so tired either. Im going to try and get a bit of work done for my assignment and maybe a litle prep for tommorow. 

Tommorow ive got my interview for my return to nurse course at York uni, then in the afternoon im meeting up with my good freind Mel before she disappers to UAE to live. Thursday im off to Scotland to be with the boys again then home again on Sunday with my family back together.

Well thats it for now, im going to enjoy a nice long drink of chilled water while i catch up on some reading.