New and Noteworthy in the Land of Dave and Ange

(posted by ange)

Well, it's been some time since I've sat down to write about the goings on around here. Grab a coffee or tea, or maybe a glass of wine and make yourself comfortable. I'm in a chatty state, my brain's in high gear and I'm ready to write! Okay, I'll try to keep it short and just stick to the highlights, but I can't promise you anything! In no particular order, here's what's new and noteworthy (or possibly not noteworthy at all) in the land of me and Dave...

The new digs. Moving day is August 1. Getting ready for moving day has been a joy. HA! I always thought Dave was different from all the rest of the men out there, but as it turns out, not so much. To me, July is packing and getting ready to move month. Lots to do, I'm going to stress, let's try to be prepared and prevent a possible breakdown. For Dave, July has been 10 days in Hong Kong, come home for 3 days then go to a ranch to play cowboy for 4 days, then get ready to move in the final 6 days. I mean, really, it's not going to take long, everything will get done, no big deal. Uh, hello, has he MET me? The way I see it, I'm here packing, living in chaos, spending much too much time tryng to stay calm, while he's off half the month being treated like royalty in Hong Kong and living out boyhood fantasies of living on the range! Aaaahhhh, but we all know Dave and we all know how this works out, don't we? Prior to leaving he made every call necessary to arrange the move. He came home from Hong Kong and pushed through his jet lag to tackle the big list I had made for him while he was away and I was feeling abandoned in this project. He left for the ranch with so much done that there hasn't been anything for me to do while he's been away. He'll arrive home late tonight and be ready to tackle the final week with me tomorrow. And throughout it all, as always, he's been my rock, listening, supporting and not letting me fall into panic and off the deep end. I guess I should take it back - he's not like every other man out there! (Thank you baby!) So for now, I'm not too stressed and really excited to move into our new home! Once we get there and don't unpack right away because we're painting the entire place, we'll see what happens! :)


Camping. Tired of waiting for good weather, we said "f" it - we're going camping, rain or shine, on the July long weekend. Me, Dave and his friend Mike packed up and headed out early on Friday, no reservations, just figuring we'd be early enough to get a site. Decided to try Golden Ears. As we are driving up to the campground, in torrential rain, we are passing sign after sign "CAMPGROUND IS FULL". We keep driving. Maybe they will have a spot. How can they be full? It's only 3:00! As we drive up to the gate, it's raining so hard and hailing so hard all I can think is "these guys better not want to set up until it lets up!". We pull up and Dave pleads for a campsite. Questions: Do we have airmattresses? Do we need to spike our tents in? Hesitantly we are saying yes, we have airmatresses, no we don't need to spike out tents (but we will if you want us to - can we have a campsite??!!!) As it turns out they have one spot left, a handicap spot that is all paved. Sold! We'll take it! So we set up camp and found ourselves in the middle of familyville. Literally. We are 99% certain we were the only site with no children. So while everyone around us is spending quality family time, me, Dave and Mike are pouring drinks and trying to take each other's money playing poker. ha ha. It actually turned out to be a great weekend. The rain stopped. We had a bit of sun. We had some awesome fires and lively debates and just blocked out the 8:00 a.m. soccer game going on in the field across from us. Oh, and once you get over it, camping on pavement is really not so bad.


The new car. Dave has a new love in his life. It's called a 2007 Volkswagen GTI with all the bells and whistles. While in Hong Kong he was dreaming about his car. He did not mention any dreams about me. So what does this mean? Dave is like a child at Christmas. He did not sleep the night before he got it. He was shaking when he went to pick it up. He wants to go driving all the time! Which is really actually quite good because he'll run any errand at the drop of a hat! But really, he wants to go driving all the time. Did I mention that we are moving and he has been away half the month? Road trips aren't on the top of my agenda right now. However, we did have a nice drive to Whistler as the inaugral road trip and he has been very understanding that I don't have time for a lot of long drives right now. (He doesn't either, but since he makes it all work, what can I say?) I must admit, it's a fabulous car. I am sure I was somewhat disappointing when he was telling me every minute detail, about how it runs, how things work, showing me the engine (picture me with a blank stare), basically giving me every fact about the car, most of which meant absolutely nothing to me, while my real interest was in my cupholder placement, the fact that when i open the mirror in the visor the light goes on, and how comfortable my seat is! (Come on, this is what's really important in a new car!) But really, it's quite exciting and I am so excited for Dave. He has been talking and researching and wanting this car for a very long time. He totally deserves this car. And watching his excitement about his new love puts a huge smile on my face.


Airport Security. Okay, this is just a little story. So I go visit my dad in Edmonton and coming through security on the way back I'm "randomly flagged" for extra screening. I think this means they want to search my bag. Nope. They'd like to search me. As in spread your legs, spread your arms out, get fully patted down (and I do mean fully everywhere), then place your hands on the table, one foot up, then the next. My first full on pat down at airport security! I thought it was funny that they checked my shoes - I was wearing flip flops that are so thin they're practically invisible! I was so glad that I had decided not to pack my explosives on my body! So close! :)


Our new addiction. Well, I am still a CSI addict, but our latest addiction is 24 (Thank you Patricia and Michael). We were given 5 seasons to borrow and have finished one, we're into season 2 now. We were told it was addictive and hard to stop watching. I don't think we fully bought into what that meant. So, first time we watch it, sit down at 9:00 p.m., thinking we will watch a couple episodes. At 3:00 a.m. we finished the 8th episode and forced ourselves to bed. I cannot emphasize this enough: How do people watch this show on T.V., waiting week to week for the next episode and then enduring breaks for Christmas or specials, or whatever??????? I can barely wait until the next night to pick up where we left off. If it weren't for Dave's willpower, I am sure I would stay up for as long as it took me to watch all five seasons. I believe this show is the crystal meth of T.V. and won't be surprised if people have to enter rehab when this show finally ends. Thankfully I will have it on DVD and be able to feed my own withdrawals. Hmmmm. Do I need to get a life?


Pills all over the place. This makes Dave and I laugh so hard. So as we've been preparing to move, we've been moving things. You know how when you move something, you always find something back there? Well, we're finding pills. Yep. Move a shelf, oh, here's a couple pills. Take down the CD shelf, here's a handfull - this one must have been a toss, not a drop! (i've been known to chuck my pills across the room when i'm not well). We were keeping a little pile on the table to see how many we'd find at the end of the day, but I notice they aren't there now. Hmmmm. (laughter)


Well, I think I'm probably starting to include those stories that, while however new, really aren't all that noteworthy and are really just more amusing to myself than anything else. Since I wouldn't want to alienate my faithful readers (hmmm...do I even still have faithful readers?) I better end this update here. If you made it to the end, thanks for reading!!!!!

A Romantic Mid-Week Getaway...

(posted by ange)

NOTE: I started writing this right after our "weekend" in Victoria, June 13-14, but just finally got around to finishing it now, so it's long, probably a bit broken, but hey, I figure at least I'm getting something up here!!! So here it is....

Dave and I spent Wednesday and Thursday enjoying a most romantic getaway to Victoria, celebrating the fact that we are still utterly and completely in love after one year together. We started off Wednesday morning, rising oh so early at 8:00 a.m. with intentions, but little actual belief, of leaving at 9:00 and catching the 11:00 ferry. As we pulled on to the street at exactly 9:12, we congratulated ourselves on being on time (something we are not known for). Anticipating traffic and road work, we were pleasantly surprised as we smooth sailed up to the Tswassen ferry terminal at 9:50, just in time for the 10:00 sailing. Things were going our way. The half our delay due to a missing life boat (no explanation was given, but I am still trying to figure out a life boat goes missing) did not dampen our spirits. We were already early!

As it turns out, catching this earlier ferry was an extra bonus. We were treated to a pretty spectacular display put on by a pod of 6 Orcas. They were absolutely amazing, rising in and out of the water, at times all six jumping out at once. We were lucky to have sat ourselves down at a table on the view side, while most of the passengers were running to our side of the ship to see the display.


We arrived at our shi-shi hotel at 12:30, hoping for an early check-in but really just expecting to park the car and head downtown until the room was ready. But, continuing in the charmed fashion of the day thus far, our room was ready and we were able to check in and unpack before seeing the sights. Although we were only staying for one night and packed our gear in duffel bags (we’re so chic), Dave unpacked his entire bag, hanging things up, putting things in the drawers. Almost a week after our stay, when he couldn’t find his swim trunks, he realized he had left everything in the room! (insert doubled over laughing on my end). Anyways…

We wandered around Victoria, checked out the Parliament Buildings – much more impressive and interesting as an adult than as a 10 year old, which was the last time I was there on a school field trip. Note to the school system: save that field trip for grade 12! We had drinks in the Bengal Bar at the Empress and a great lobster feast at a restaurant on the water, the name of which I now forget. Upon returning to our room, we found a bottle of champagne, our bed turned down with a shower of rose petals, robes and slippers and a bath bar from Lush. It was so romantic I immediately started taking pictures of it all. :) The rest of the evening is obviously x-rated and cannot be commented on here.















We slept in (ask for a late check out and you shall receive it) before our room service breakfast arrived, complete with fancy chocolate and a rose. And then it was off to the Titanic Exhibit. This was so above and beyond what I expected. If you have a chance, you have to see it. Upon entry you’ve given a boarding pass with information about a passenger from the actual Titanic. Of course Dave ends up being some young rich guy in first class and I’m some lowly, poor, single, middle aged woman in the bottom class, not even allowed to set foot in Dave’s area!!!! You can guess who died and who made it out alive! (At the end you actually find out). We took our time heading out of town, stopping in Sidney for the best fish and chips ever at Fish on 5th before catching the ferry home to reality.

It was an absolute perfect getaway and celebration of our one year anniversary. Any time spent with Dave is good time and I can’t imagine us ever not having a great time doing anything, but this little getaway was extra special.