I lost a total of 233 lbs. initially (before the 5 lb. bounce- back) that is just over 16 stone or almost 106kg!  Before surgery I weighed a whopping 466lbs, 32 stone, 211 kg!  The weight loss was like losing half of myself, not just physically but mentally, emotionally and relationship-wise, a lot also suffered. Some people I was close to when I was big are not close to me now.

Aside from that I have also lost some very special people over the last few years.

My stepmom June who fought cancer for years passed away in 2009.  Yesterday,  I suddenly remembered her memorial service and just thought about the awful job I did for her eulogy.  I hate speaking at funerals because I never feel like I do the job justice and this time around was no different. I suddenly panicked and realised that I didn’t know her as well as I thought.  There were so many aspects of her life that I had no clue about.  By the time I got over myself as a young adult and finally accepted her as family and realised that I loved her as a parent, my life was in its own state of turmoil. Health problems and then my subsequent surgery.  I guess that seems to be a trend with relationships in my life during the last several years. And all the while, she was going through her own turmoil with cancer over and over again.  I miss her. She died just a couple of months after I met Neil. As a matter of fact the only time he got to see her in person was when she wasn’t even able to communicate or acknowledge us. I wish he had had the chance to get to know her.

My niece Jessica was a miracle and a tragedy in a very short time.  In January of 2009 she had a stroke and amazingly, she recovered really well.  I felt so lucky to get to spend Easter 2010 with her and I kept thinking how lucky I felt that I got to see her again and spend time with her when just a year before we weren’t sure if she would make it. Then tragically at just 21 years old, she passed away on Aug 2 of 2010. The whole time too, while recovering from the stroke she raised money for the heart & stroke foundation and inspired a lot of people.  I think the reflection of her character was really evident  by how everyone around her was impacted by passing.  I didn’t spend as much time with her as I would have liked.  I have thought about her a lot.

My aunt and uncle Anne and Horst passed away just two months apart!  I loved this couple!  They were two of the most accepting and gracious people I know. Whenever I went to visit them (which again seemed like it wasn’t often enough), they opened their home to me (and whomever happened to be with me and over the years that included random friends as well). They always offered food, even when there was no advance notice and I was always guaranteed warm hugs!  Ok so this isn’t foreign to my family culture particularly on the German side… I always received the same warm treatment no matter who I saw. I think that my fond memories stem from childhood as well though and those good feelings stick with you! Their story was touching though. In their retirement they spent every moment together. I never saw them fight or argue have any tension in their relationship and they just seemed to care about each other completely. Then, when Anne passed away very suddenly, Horst’s heart was torn apart and at her funeral he made it clear to me that he wasn’t going to be around long either. This was true love at the deepest level.  I have heard about this so much that it seems to be a phenomenon but when the woman in a long term marriage suddenly passes away, the husband shortly follows.. perhaps from a broken heart?

Aside from those four, I also lost another aunt and grandparents but I was younger then and I think I handled their passing differently back then and apparently have healed more than with these more recent family members.

Now that I live on the other side of the world from those I most love and care about (besides Neil), it seems even more crucial to me to never regret, never miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them, never hesitate telling someone they are special or that you are proud of them.  Know what is going on in their lives and stay connected. Unfortunately it is a two-way street and although I can control what I do, I can’t force them to meet me half way so its just a matter of doing my best I suppose. The only global message I can put across to the people in my life is that if you are a part of my life in any capacity, if I make contact, if I even bother to acknowledge you, it is because I care about you and I think you are special. I don’t waste my time with people that don’t have a piece of my heart!

I guess that’s that!

I have changed the site to make it a lot nicer (and easier for me to use). As part of the renovations, I discovered a cool tool which was able to import all of my posts from my old Blogger site!  As a result, the entire history is here now (and a lot easier to navigate).

I have also discovered that the only way interested readers can receive my blog post updates via email is to subscribe to the RSS feed (see the link on the right-side menu).  If you are interested in subscribing (thank you!) please use the Entries RSS option. At the moment I don’t have a routine for blogging so this will ensure you are notified when I do post!

Lastly, if you are interested in commenting, participating in posts/discussions or just making your presence known as a subscriber, please register on the site. You will be able to log in and post comments and let me know that you are reading.  Readers motivate me to post more often!

See, wasn’t that important??

Also at the beginning of January I started my Swedish language lessons. I use the term lessons loosely here. Since starting 4 weeks ago, I have only actually had maybe 4 in-class lessons and since they are teaching a variety of students with different skill levels, native tongues and cultures, the lessons are somewhat generic and a little inconsistent. Additionally, almost all of the lesson/discussion is in Swedish. Occasionally a teacher might catch my blank stare and recognise it as incomprehension so they will clarify or use sign language to help me understand but not always. Week 1 we were learning Swedish grammar and I hadn’t even learned the basic alphabet and numbers yet. Week 2 we were expected to read/translate a page of political newspaper articles when I didn’t even know the word for newspaper! Admittedly by week 3 I had lost a lot of interest in actually attending the classes and preferred the self-study sessions as I have been able to work at a pace that seems more logical and practical to me. I can’t complain that there is no charge for me to attend the language school. My only costs included the additional study materials I wanted to pick up to help me learn. Partly because I didn’t want to continue to borrow them from the school. I am happy that my prior knowledge in German, English and the little sampling of Danish I have managed to absorb seems to be helpful. There are several words in Swedish that are similar in any one (or all) of the above languages and without even realizing I have learned something, it is embedded into my brain. Unfortunately I am still plagued with my terrible short term memory so unless I am able to read, hear and then see (in context) a particular word or phrase, I forget it. This is where the lack of consistent organized language classes lets me down a bit. Although we have had two lessons which were a repeat of each other (and seem to have stuck in my head) the remaining have been somewhat random topics. In addition to the above complaint about lack of lessons, some of the classes where we appear to be in a “lesson” supervised by a teacher, we are actually working alone or in groups like the blind teaching the blind struggling through some exercise using as much english as possible to first try and figure out what we were asked to do, and then try to figure out how to do it.

Now, at week 4 I am able to read more Swedish than I ever thought possible but I am still not confident speaking it. I get up the courage to go into a store and ask (in Swedish) for 2 of something, or I pretend to be local and smile and just motion to what I want.  Then two seconds later my cover is blown when the cashier or clerk asks me something as simple as “would you like the receipt, would you like a bag, would you like anything else”. Then I get flustered and admit to not being able to understand Swedish.  If everyone would carry around little white boards or have natural subtitles streaming along their chests, I would be fine. Every once in a while I will be on the train or in a store or randomly somewhere and I will understand something spoken.. in Swedish… and my stomach will leap and I will feel like I have achieved some great feat! I have learned the Swedish way to tell time very quickly (almost blinked and I got it) so some things will probably always just come naturally. I am sure that in 6 months when I am finished the basic lessons (level C & D) [my goal], I will read this post back and laugh at myself and then proceed to rewrite it in my head almost entirely in Swedish!  Balderdash! Lets see me translate that word! Hah!

So now that I have complained thoroughly about my language lessons, and to a lesser extent – my home, I should move on to better things! February is a special month!  It is the month in which I met Neil (online), it is the month of my birth and it will be the month of my honeymoon!  Yup, Neil and I are going to Egypt!  We booked a really inexpensive all-inclusive trip to Sharm El Shiekh staying at a 4 1/2 star hotel resort. Ok so February is technically Egypt’s winter but it will be so lovely during the day and still warmer than here at night! I think I am most excited that I will be someplace warm! Also, on Feb 28th, my kitties Faith and Loki will be shipped from Canada to Sweden!  They arrive March 1.

Everyday I look to the post box hoping to find some mail from Canada and occasionally some will arrive. I already received two birthday cards and I know of at least 4 more on the way! I try and send letters to friends and family every week or so. My next parcel will be to my nephew Michael. I am sending him a whole bunch of Swedish candy. Much more than he will need but hey, who is the best auntie in the world?   I have been terribly homesick this last couple weeks. I hear that it is normal and that I should ride it out and things will improve. Thankfully with Skype, Facebook, Facetime, iMessage and GMail I am able to keep in close touch with pretty much all of my family and friends. Some of my friends have surprised me (not in a good way) for becoming pretty much non-existent from my life since I left. I make a real effort to stay connected with a wide variety of ways to get in touch with me and send regular updates but certain friends haven’t really been present since I left. Ironically in some cases it was the ones who complained the most about me leaving that haven’t made contact since! In other cases I have been pleasantly surprised by some friends who have become more involved and been in closer contact! I guess not having any contact with certain friends, I don’t know if there is a reason why they are MIA so I can only assume…

So in May, Neil is going to a conference for work and partly because I don’t want to be home alone and partly because it is in San Francisco!  I decided to tag along.  Although I can’t actually stay with Neil in his hotel (dumb company policy). So Lauren is going to join me in my hotel and two to three other friends are also flying down to spend time with me over the week in San Fran! I am so excited!  I get to see a new city (beyond the airport) and I get to see some of my favourite people! Then, the following months over the summer I am expecting some visits to Sweden as well!

In the meantime, until I get to visit new and exotic places, I attempt (in my home) to create a little exotic by making homemade sushi and homemade sushi ginger! The homemade sushi attempt #1 was great!  Although it was better than most of the cheap kiosk pre-packaged sushi, it was a far cry from Kinjo… The sushi ginger is turning out great as well!  In my next attempt I will try more variety in sushi.  Not just california rolls but dynamite rolls, volcano rolls etc… So excited! We are even going to try a hot california roll ala Kinjo! We did make some tempura as well.. it turned out lovely.  Tempura avocado, carrot, peppers… yum! Exciting stuff!  Life is what you make it and I believe in living my life, not just occupying it!

I am looking forward to reading this back in a few months and seeing how things have improved/changed.  We’ll see!

So this year, things have obviously changed. We moved to Sweden not long before Christmas and into our home just a couple weeks before we were to leave for England to spend the holidays with Neil’s family. Our Christmas tree was about 2 feet tall and although I decorated with a few strings of lights (in the basement where we have been dwelling) there wasn’t a lot to signify Christmas at the Holden household. I was willing to accept this mainly because I knew that we’d be heading to London (which is always very charming at Christmas) en route to Hailsham and Eastbourne to spend time with Lauren and Neil’s family.  Picking Lauren up at Heathrow Airport was a lot of fun.  It was cool to be on the other side of the arrivals for a change and I was so emotional when I saw her. It had only been a few weeks but it really did feel like months since we last saw each other!

Christmas was good. It was so great to spend Christmas day with both of Neil’s parents back at the same house Neil grew up in. Lauren got the chance to experience an English Christmas complete with sausage rolls, pigs in blankets and trifle! Neil’s siblings brought a ton of treats for boxing day as well and the whole family came together. I have to say this was an improvement on their Christmas last year with Neil’s mom still being in the hospital at the time. What a difference a year makes!

Lauren came back to Sweden with us to celebrate the turn from 2011 to 2012. Although we didn’t plan a ton of sightseeing, we managed to show Lauren around the area we live in and introduced her to a few of the Swedish traditions that we know of (Glögg for one).  We had a fantastic dinner out at a local Japanese restaurant called Mikado where we enjoyed sukiyaki which was served similar to Shabu Shabu but you dip your cooked meat into beaten raw egg. It was a delicious experience and we received a lesson in Japanese culture at the same time.

New Years Eve turned out to be a sort of backward experience. We went into central Gothenburg to watch the fireworks at 5PM which are very well known. Our experience was slightly less than impressive because the area was so foggy that the fireworks lit up the sky into some lovely colours but we could not actually see them. We rushed back to the train station so that we could beat the swarm of thousands of people exiting the area. We were lucky because we managed to get a seat on the train before it filled to capacity and set off to take us home.

We celebrated NYE by having a variety of pickled herrings, liver pate, cheese, crackers and glögg. After a break we then enjoyed a cheese fondue with bread, vegetables and meatballs for dipping.

As the time neared midnight, we noticed (from the basement) that there were popping sounds outside which of course were very recognisable as fireworks. Sure enough, the whole neighborhood (and surrounding neighborhoods) were lighting up the sky with a brilliant fireworks display. Even our immediate next door neighbors were setting them off right over the house!  It was brilliant. We live in a fairly rural area which gets very dark at night so the fireworks were even more dazzling! We sipped our sparkling wine and pineapple juice while outside sounding noisemakers! It was so much fun!  I have never seen anything so cool on New Years!

The only trouble with the changeover to 2012 was that I had to see Lauren off at the airport. Its tough to say good bye! I miss her!

On a positive note though, just a couple days after Lauren left, all of our things from Canada arrived!  Our bed, our clothes and my jackpot! Boxes of Kraft Dinner, Mr. Noodle ichiban soup, Lipton Onion Soup Mix and Stagg chili!!! It was awesome!

Yesterday was a lot of work though. The movers arrived 1 1/2 hrs early at 7:30 am. I was up and dressed so it wasn’t that bad but I was annoyed that they didn’t bother to protect the floors. They traipsed throughout the house in their shoes without any regard for our home.  I spent the 2 1/2 hours they were here freezing with the door wide open and marking off the inventory sheet to confirm that all of our items were received. Once the door closed and everything had arrived safely, I was overwhelmed with both excitement and the urge to put everything away! Although we don’t have all the furniture we need, we have enough to get by and I was able to unpack the majority of the boxes!  I think I overdid it but our kitchen feels like it belongs to us and we got to eat dinner using our wedding plates and cutlery!

The best part of yesterday was that we were able to move out of the basement and sleep above ground! I managed to make the bed up with all of our newly washed bedding, covered the windows in bed sheets and oh it was a wonderful sleep!

Until next time…

Two weeks ago when we arrived in Sweden, I completely understood what it feels like to be without a home. It just felt so empty to know that you have no home address. I think being sick made it all worse since I think people tend to want to be all comfy cosy at home when sick…  Last week I really hit rock bottom. We moved into our new home with a few suitcases of clothes and little more. We managed to purchase what we needed until our container arrives and I think we’re both grateful to have this opportunity but I think there is more to it than the adventure of it all. I had a little pity party for one several times throughout the earlier part of the week and I will probably have another small one this Friday when Neil goes to his company Christmas party without me ;P

Aside from the little pangs of homesickness, feeling slightly out of place and the language barrier, things have improved dramatically. We made some fantastic decisions the first week that I think have shaped our future here in Sweden. Neil is enjoying his job, we moved into a house in Anneberg that not only fulfills every wish I have had for a home, but is also owned by the nicest family I have met in a long time. The kind of people that I can see us becoming very close to! Not only are they extremely considerate but they are also willing to help us out and include us in their traditions. Sheila and Anita are fantastic, as are the rest of their families.

Before we moved, I read a book about Swedish culture. It was a depressing read. Detailing the Swedish ways as being cold, unfriendly, bland, grey etc.. and in contrast we have experienced the exact opposite.

This week our neighbor Eva stopped by with a plant and welcomed us to the neighborhood. It was so unexpected and thoughtful! Sheila and Anita also dropped by at the house and Sheila gave me an old meat grinder/food processor to use (until it breaks) and then Anita invited me to see her daughter sing at the Saint Lucia celebration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy%27s_Day). Afterwards Neil and I were invited to their home for fika which is an event usually involving a hot beverage and a pastry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fika_(coffee_break). For this fika we had two varieties of glogg (white and red) which is served with rasins and almonds, and we ate gingerbread cookies and traditional saffron buns.  We sat around their table, talked, enjoyed the food and drink and got to partake in a piece of their culture.

Today, I went in to Kungsbacka centrum and booked an appointment to register for Swedish languiage lessons. Had I known I needed an appointment, I would have called instead of dropping in but it turned out to be another decision that led to something wonderful!  After booking my appointment (for tomorrow morning) I took a walk around Kungsbacka and ended up in a store called Body Mind Spirit. I ended up chatting with the store clerk who spoke english and found out that they sell Mighty Leaf Tea which is a favourite of mine and they also sell some other cool culinary treats like pure mexican chocolate. While I was browsing, another couple came in. They also spoke english and before long, everyone was brain storming about where I could potentially work and how important it is to learn Swedish etc.. When I left the store, the clerk took my hand, squeezed it and said some really sweet things. I just felt such a tremendous warmth from them all. Then on the train back home another lady started talking to me in Swedish. Although I couldn’t talk to her, it was so comforting to know that people here really are friendly. That book I read and become an addition to our burning materials for the fireplace soon enough.

Tonight I am meeting Neil at Liseberg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liseberg). When it gets dark, it is all lit up for Christmas and should be very beautiful. Although there is no snow right now, we will still enjoy it.

I think the moral to this story is that all it takes is a little time

Will write again soon!

Our first kiss as husband and wife

Wow things have changed dramatically since I last posted.

To recap, on September 10, 2011, my Soul-mate Neil and I were married at Heritage Pointe Golf Course. What an amazing day.  We are still in disbelief that it all actually happened and so perfectly. The few issues we encountered were so minor.

In May of 2011,  Neil and I were both away at separate conferences in the US. Neil was in Denver and I was in Sacramento. Neil was asked to speak at his conference, doing a presentation on his research. That led to two opportunities and eventually, two job offers.

In August, Neil and I were flown to Sweden for 4 days while Neil had a job interview. Then a couple of weeks later, Neil was in Seattle for another interview. Two nights before the wedding in September, we had to make the decision… were we going to move to Seattle or to Sweden.We knew we were moving but the decision of where was difficult. Without being prior citizens of either Sweden or the United States, we were faced with making a decision based on gut feeling… instinct.

I have to admit, the decision making process was difficult. Its easy to fantasize about living in Europe. The adventure, being connected to so many countries and cultures. Its so romantic to envision starting off a new marriage jetting off to a foreign country. Ultimately we chose Sweden over Seattle because of the lifestyle. We made the decision pretty much solely on the quality of life offered. Money was definitely not a deciding factor and although we exchanged proximity to my family for proximity to Neil’s family, that really wasn’t a decision point. We plan to have a family and when thinking about raising children, Sweden seemed like a smarter choice than Seattle.  I guess the end result remains to be seen!

When we were about to announce at our wedding that we had chosen to move to Sweden, someone shouted out, “So what is it, Starbucks or Ikea”?

The process to sort through a lifetime of possessions was much more difficult than I thought it would be. I really did not enjoy the process. Because we had to have our things professionally packed/moved, I couldn’t go through the cathartic process of picking up an item, making a decision on it and then placing it either in a box or in a “to donate/trash/sell” pile. Instead, we shifted things from room to room creating “staging” areas where we could separate the items to be moved from the items that Lauren would keep. Of course we did have a “to sell/donate/trash” pile but the diving lines were slightly more blurry. Things remained incredibly cluttered and it was much more difficult to identify what had been put into each pile. Then, not a week before we were set to have the movers come in and pack things for us, we were told that we had to itemise, value and list off every item we were moving that we wanted insured. Nightmare!  I suppose it was a bonus that we hadn’t packed/sealed boxes up but what an undertaking! It is actually an interesting experience having to go through every single item you own. It creates some mixed feelings.. some items make you feel a little like a hoarder and other items make you feel nostalgic. I ended up leaving at least a dozen boxes in the house with Lauren that contain priceless memories. Things I can’t replace. Things that, if the container fell off the ship, I would be devastated to lose. So some day when we’ve decided for sure where we will settle, I will collect those things.

So now, here I sit, in the middle of Gothenburg.

We arrived in Sweden last Tuesday the 29th of November and have spent the last few days house-hunting with our relocation rep. House-hunting with my new husband was interesting. In every single instance, we had the same gut feeling. We would walk through a house, talk to the really nice landlord, look at each other and immediately agree just with a glance whether or not we liked the house. After viewing half a dozen houses, we had to choose between two that we liked and finally settled on one. It is extremely huge compared to houses we are used to. It has far more rooms than the house back in Calgary and even has a sauna! We move in tomorrow (Sunday).

Thankfully, the landladies are kind enough to leave us some furniture and lamps until we are able to get settled. We’ll pop by Ikea once we have moved in and pick-up a few items to help us get by until our shipment arrives. The boat is set to dock on Christmas eve and since we will be in England during Christmas, we may not see our things until January.

Now that we are here, officially living in Sweden, we have a lot to do. For starters, we need to have an identity. You pretty much don’t exist here without a personnummer. Although we have sim cards for our iphones, we need to get a land-line & an internet connection. We will try and make-do without a TV until perhaps the post-Christmas sales. Luckily we have use of beds, sofa and table so that we can put-off the purchase of these bigger priced items.

Aside from the typical move set-up/logistical stuff, we have moved to not only a new city, but a new country, a new continent… a new hemisphere. We are set to sign up for Swedish language lessons, I will need to re-test for my drivers license (within  a year) and I, of course, need to start looking for a job. There are english-speaking ex-pat groups that gather here that we can hopefully meet and I recently heard about an international business women group that is english-speaking as well.

To say this process has been and will be overwhelming is a bit of an understatement.

With Neil working already and being integrated into his company, there are a number of things that we won’t get to do together. Apparently we don’t get to take our swedish language lessons together and since he will have access to exercise facilities at work, we will probably not do that together. I think there is probably a blessing there somewhere since I will be able to maintain my own identity but it is a huge leap into the unknown.

Yesterday, Neil and I had a very humorous but really REAL experience together. We are staying at a hotel and needed a place to eat lunch. The easy option would have been to do what we have done all along and go grocery shopping and cook in the hotel room (we have a microwave and two cook-top burners). Restaurants here aren’t always obvious. A lot of lunch places are cafeteria style and aren’t visually obvious as a restaurant. We saw a sign in a window that read “Lunch Dessert” and it just appeared to be in an office building in the middle of an almost industrial type area. We found the front door which had a menu and tried to decipher the Swedish text. We basically understood the menu but we couldn’t tell if it was open to the public or if it was even open. I pulled up a translate app on my phone and was able to translate that the restaurant offers wedding catering etc.. so we realised it was open to the public. It was so awkward to feel so uncomfortable. We eventually overcame the fear of the unknown and went in.  We were greeted by a very nice young man that was able to explain to us (in english) what the process was.  “Grab a tray and plate, grab a glass, choose a beverage (one fill included), choose from the buffet etc.. The place looked very much like we were stepping into the private cafeteria that was available for employees only. The food was tasty and plentiful. After dinner we had a coffee/tea and a cookie and placed our tray on the trolley and left. The total cost was about $11 CDN.

I think this type of experience will be common for us here. I think we will be faced with many more of these uncomfortably unfamiliar events that we will need to overcome.  It seems so silly now but it really was a huge leap for us to walk in the building.  It really would have been so simple to go to the big supermarket next door, buy some groceries and go back to the hotel to cook.

It is now very early in the morning and I am feeling awful. I acquired a very fast-acting sinus cold yesterday that has left me feeling like I don’t want to leave the hotel room. I went to a pharmacy (apoteket) yesterday and without a prescription, could only get herbal sinus medication. Note for next time.. “Bring favourite cold medicines from home!” So here I sit with cup-o-soup, instant coffee and both herbal sinus tabs and some good old-fashioned Canadian pain killers..”

Time for some rest…

When I met Neil, I somehow knew.. he was something special.  I was right.  He is amazing!

Tonight, Neil and I had dinner together at Q Haute (formerly La Caille on the Bow).  We decided to order the Chef’s 7 course surprise. We had an amazing dinner.  Beautiful, delicious and although the company was better than the food, all together it was incredible!

To start us off, we had an amuse bouche which was a quail and porcini mushroom terrine with cherry jam.

We were then given bread and herb compound butter – delicious freshly baked bread.

The First Course was a rutabega veloute with chive creme fraiche.

The second course was a beet and bocconcini gelee with shredded cucumber, mushrooms, sweet radish and balsamic reduction with yogurt.

The third course was seared foie gras with 3 foie gras ravioli dressed with parmesan cheese, a deep fried basil leaf and a caramelised onion reduction.

Fourth course (for Neil) was a poached lobster claw on a bed of lentils with sausage accompanied by a shrimp on creme fraiche with a black truffle sauce.

Fourth course (for Me) was a sous vide Arctic Char on a bed of lentils with sausage accompanied by a shrimp on creme fraiche with a black truffle sauce.

Fifth course was the palate cleanser. It was an apple granita with candied melon and mint.

Sixth course was beef tenderloin on a buttermilk yukon gold mash with sauteed spinach and root vegetables au jus.

Seventh course was a concord grape caflouti with liquor infused plums and cherry coulis.

Eighth course was a chocolate and banana ice cream sandwich with banana loaf/cake topped with a caramelised banana and raspberry coulis.

We then were brought complementary Batasiolo 2009 Moscato D’Asti dessert wine for our anniversary.

With the bill, we were brought two mint chocolate truffles with coconut… yum!

Overall, we LOVED the meal.  Everything was great… atmosphere, food, company… the only complaint was that they didn’t tell us that there would be a $30 upcharge per person for the foie gras request.  I thought that was a bit pricey even for their cuisine… but moreso I was just annoyed that they didn’t tell us.

I would love to go back for lunch but need to save up before heading back for dinner

Happy Anniversary sweetheart.. next time we celebrate an anniversary.. it will be for our wedding

I am in Vancouver and to start off my business trip, I got into an argument with the lady at security about my hand lotion and how it is clearly NOT over 100ml. It was a really risky thing to argue but I have been travelling with this particular container for years now (even during the restriction of 80ml) and I have never ever had an issue.

After a few back and forth comments of “It is over 100″, “it isn’t even close to 100ml!!!”, she finally drops the baggie into my bin and says “fine! I won’t argue with you about it” and let me go. Although I had a mini victory of winning the argument with someone who had the power to get me strip searched by a woman named Bertha with elbow length latex gloves, I am sure somewhere on my permanent travel record, there is a little note or asterisk or flashing yellow highlighted text that alerts the authorities that I am one to watch! After getting the approval to proceed without further incident, I took my stuff and got as far away from her as I could before I bothered to put my boots on.  I didn’t want to risk her changing her mind! Needless to say, I packed the hand lotion bottle in my checked luggage for the return flight!

So the rest of the trip to Vancouver went off without incident.  I did run into a very chatty guy who asked me a lot of questions but was elusive with his own answers to my questions. I pondered for a few moments whether or not he may have been one of those Air Marshalls sent to follow me in case I ended up squirting my less than 100ml lotion bottle at the flight attendants…

The next experience I had with customer service involved a trip to my all time favourite sushi restaurant (Miku). When you enter the restaurant and are seated, you are greeted with the popular Japanese welcome which is overwhelmingly loud but much appreciated.  The only problem is, in a small and very busy restaurant, all of those greetings make for an extremely LOUD experience! The staff at this restaurant are just amazing. Your tea is never empty (even though each person gets a personal tea pot, you rarely have to fill your own cup). The food is absolutely delicious and presentation is so beautiful!

Checking into my hotel was another “experience”. Now I am becoming a more regular traveller and my expectations are fairly high knowing how much things really cost.  I don’t care who is ultimately paying the bill because of course my company is paying for this business trip.

The check-in experience was just outstanding. With the corporate rate, I was given a little note listing all of the extras I was getting and after check-in was complete, I was personally escorted to the elevator. Things shifted to a less happy place though, when I entered my hotel room and discovered that there was a used bar of soap and used towels in the bathroom, the garbages hadn’t been emptied and there were things missing from the common amenities. I was shocked and of course I complained. Housekeeping offered to come up and clean the room (which I gladly accepted while I was out for a couple of hours). When I returned, the room looked immaculate and there was a note from housekeeping itemizing all of the things they cleaned including the bedding which was a relief! I also recieved a voicemail from the Hotel Manager apologizing for the issue and asking me to call back. So I did call back and left a voicemail explaining that everything was fixed and that although shocked to find the room that way initially, I was happy with the final result.

So although the initial experience was bad, they did a remarkable job of recovering and fixing the issue.

That night, I went to a restaurant called The Italian Kitchen. I was dining alone and I think when people dine as singles, restaurant staff tend to feel sorry for them.  I went there with no expectations. I hadn’t planned out what I was going to eat like I often do.  I was seated upstairs facing a long table which would soon fill up with corporate types appearing to be celebrating something. Although a toast was never made and no congratulatory expressions were exchanged, the egos were inflated with discussion of expensive wines they preferred and bottles were opened and emptied as quickly as the server could attend to them.

I browsed the menu and decided against alcohol. I had a beer earlier in the night and I didn’t care for the Italian reds on the menu. I ordered a ginger ale, the bone marrow starter($17.50), the hand rolled gnocchi ($16.50) and a side order of Sicilian olives. The waitress warned me that the portion of olives is more of a table share and quite large for one.  For $7.50, I wasn’t worried about not getting through them all.  I assured her that whatever I didn’t finish, I would take away with me.

Once I placed my order, I felt free to “people watch” and just soak up the atmosphere of the restaurant. I enjoyed watching the various personalities at the corporate party I was sitting across from. It seemed to be an obviously male dominated group and the two partners who were footing the bill, had two very distinct personalities.  One was very concerned about ensuring the food and drink was constant and abundant, the other was stiffer and always out of his chair, possibly making/taking phone calls. I have to admit, I made a lot of assumptions about these people. I only saw maybe 45 minutes of their lives and based all judgements on facial expressions, body language and the hints of conversation that I was able to pick up. All I could tell about their line of business was that it somehow involved software or technology. I have to say, Vancouver is an interesting place. People are different. More relaxed and they seem to have a much higher expectation of quality for the price they pay.

I was greeted by a server offering me my “risotto”. For a split second, I thought.. hey I didn’t order that!  But I have had my share of free samples and quickly realized that this was indeed a free sample. I still don’t know if that free risotto was a standard offering to guests before their starters arrived, or if it was a pity offering for me while dining alone. Shortly after the risotto (which was delicious), my bone marrow starter and olives arrived. They were not kidding about the olive portion size!  The bowl was huge and must have had 50 olives in it! The olives were tasty. Typical for what you expect but I was amazed at the low low price of $7.50 for a portion that would cost double that in Calgary. The bone marrow starter included a beef tenderloin tartare and garlic crostini. It was delicious. Admittedly not the best bone marrow or tartare I have ever eaten, but definitely delicious!

Once my starter plate was removed, I again started sensing a little pity. The manager came over to me to introduce himself. He was apparently also from Calgary at one point in his life.  He insisted that if I needed anything at all, I should ask for him directly.  I was thankful for the distractions and for the time between starter and main since I was dining alone and when ordering, didn’t account for not having anyone to share with. I was already getting stuffed and I couldn’t stop myself from eating olives! In the middle of my reprieve, the waitress came over and said, “Oh your gnocchi hasn’t come yet! I am going to have them send up a meatball for you!”. I smiled.  Not for pleasure or general happiness but I thought it was amusing that even with being so stuffed, the push for high end customer service was nearly overkill. Perhaps I looked like I had a large appetite! The meatball arrived and before I tell you what it tasted like, let me say that I loved the little tiny sampling plates that they used for the free samples!

The meatball was divine. Spicy but melt in your mouth. I have NEVER had a meatball melt in my mouth before. Of course dispite the fact that I was bursting at the seams, I ate the entire meatball! Then my entree arrived. Gnocchi with roasted tomatoes and basil cream. OMG YUM! The gnocchi was light and pillowy – definitely home made. The cream sauce was delicious as well but then cutting the roasted tomatoes up into the gnocchi was even more divine! I managed to eat almost half of the dish before I finally requested that the gnocchi and olives be packed up to go.

I loved The Italian Kitchen! The food was just outstanding and incredibly organized. The staff were extremely professional and polite.I left there with the feeling that I would definitely go back and would be willing to try some of the other restaurants in the family.

I went back to the hotel and this time, I found a tray with 3 green apples and a 750ml bottle of San Pelegrino along with the business card of the Manager of Housekeeping at the hotel. Although an odd offering, I appreciated the sentiment.

The next day, I found myself back at Miku for lunch.  This time, I sat at the sushi bar (alone) and watched the chefs make their intricate creations! At Miku, when you are seated at the sushi bar, the sushi chef is your waiter who takes your order etc.. and although not the one who serves you the tea or miso, they are the ones that make sure you are taken care of. My sushi chef was fantastic. I wanted a similar lunch to the previous day but the tofu wasn’t something i loved. So I asked him if I could have something (anything) instead.  He said he would take care of it and went and spoke to the hot food chefs.  The replacement item was a bowl of spicy soba noodles. Delicious!! I was so thrilled with that option.  It was one of the few hot noodle dishes I have ever tasted that I would specifically go back to that restaurant for!

All in all, I think that customer service is still alive and well in Vancouver. It is a dying art but I think that is much more prominent in Calgary. In a city with so much oil money, Calgarians have turned into those people who just toss money at whatever is offered with no expectations of quality of food or service. Our restaurants are overpriced and the food is often a lower quality either by portion or presentation. It sure is a pity. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is any way for this city to gain those higher expectations. We are too far gone. I guess though, I get to enjoy it while I have it and I am thankful for the experience!

You tend to expect death at old age and even though it is still sad, you can at the very least rationalize that the person lived a full life but it is the unexpected occurrences as young as early 20′s and 60′s that is hard to accept.

This year, I have done a lot of travelling (maybe not a lot more than my new usual but a lot still by my standards). Some of the travelling has been for leisure and part for less enjoyable reasons. 

In June, Lauren and I ventured down to Las Vegas. We were Vegas virgins and although I was going down there for a specific reason, we were set to have a blast and I couldn’t believe how much I loved it!! I used to scoff at Vegas. I thought it was all about gambling and lewd behaviour but I didn’t think that there was so much more to it than that! Of course you still have the gambling and lewd behaviour everywhere you go, but you can choose to opt out and enjoy the fantastic architecture, food, entertainment and food! (yes I know I listed food twice).

As I mentioned, we went down to Vegas for a specific reason. The surgeon who performed my weight loss surgery 3 years ago was visiting Vegas for a conference. Every year, the conference is held in a different city in the US and this year it happened to be in Las Vegas. Often, previous patients make arrangements to visit with the Doctor to celebrate his birthday since it happens to fall on the same week as the conference.  This year he turned 69!

So Lauren and I met up with some former patients and with one of the kindest and most thoughtful men in the medical profession that I have ever met. Dr. Marchesini saved my life (through my decision to fly 14 hours to have surgery) and he took care of me. I was honoured to have the chance to see him again, thank him and spend a couple of hours with him. Even with all of the thousands of patients he keeps up with, he remembers me well and seems genuinely interested in my well being. You just can’t get that quality of care elsewhere! Vegas was amazing and I fell in love with the city, the warmth (40 degrees some days!!!), the air conditioning, the food and the shopping. I didn’t enjoy the massive sunburn but otherwise it was great. We stayed at the Trump Hotel and it was luxury! Also, being in a non-gambling/non-smoking hotel, it was a pleasure!

Anyway, after Vegas (literally the day we arrived back in Calgary) Neil and I flew to Vancouver. I was going there for work and we tacked on a couple of days just for the two of us to check out the city. Vancouver was a whirlwind trip. We met up with my mom which was great since she hadn’t met Neil yet and we managed to see a little bit of the city.  We didn’t enjoy the Pan Pacific hotel that much but I had just been spoiled at the Trump International so that may have skewed my perception slightly.

Not long after the Vancouver trip, my family was devastated when my niece Jessica passed away. We attended her funeral and that’s when it occurred to me that the time between now and our wedding, we can’t really plan for everything. People that meant a lot to me won’t be at the wedding.

Buying my wedding dress was supposed to be a wonderful and thrilling moment and although I love the dress I bought, I was flanked with grief about my niece and the news I was about to receive. Neil and I had already put a deposit down on the venue so finding my dress was exciting. Unfortunately, while I was off buying my dress, Neil was finding out that his mom had a stroke. All I wanted to do was get home to be with Neil.

We waited it out and received daily updates on Jackie’s progress. We all kept a positive attitude and everything seemed to be moving forward until she came down with double pneumonia. Within a day, we were contacted with the news, booked the flights and were off to England to be with Neil’s family. We had to take a side trip to Toronto to get an emergency passport for Neil (his original passport was being processed for his landed immigrancy – the Toronto trip was a whole other crazy adventure) but within a couple of days, we were in England at Jackie’s side. Although we expected to arrive in England and attend a funeral, we were thrilled that Jackie started to quickly recover and improve dramatically every day. Neil and I stayed in England for 2 weeks helping out and visiting Jackie.

The trip was all business and no fun. The only day we had that was the least bit fun was our final day in England. We were in London and got a great hotel room for cheap right at the airport. We were upgraded to a better room and also club lounge access, and for the first time in two weeks, we were able to relax!

The day we were departing England, I received the sad news that my aunt had passed away.  All of the euphoria of the previous night was replaced by worry and sadness.  The day after getting back to work, we were down in Lethbridge attending her funeral. It seems like there was no time to rest and recoup!

The crazy thing was, we had already pre-scheduled a trip to England for November to attend Neil’s brother’s wedding. That trip was still going forward so just 4 short weeks after arriving back in Calgary, we were flying back to England. In that 4 short weeks, I was in school trying to catch up on classes I missed because of the emergency England trip and write my final paper (which I am still in the middle of!), we attended the funeral and also attended a Westjet plane dedication for Jessica!  

The second trip to England in November was much more enjoyable. Jackie was moved to a facility closer to where we were staying and she is still making progress towards recovery. Neil’s brother’s wedding was a lot of fun and I am so glad we were able to attend. I was finally introduced to one of Neil’s best friends and got to see the house Shakespeare was born in! We brought back way too much stuff (as usual) and ate some amazing food. Not everything went as planned but we weren’t greeted with any tragic news this time around and that is something to be thankful for! Lauren did give us a bit of a scare but nothing too serious!

So now that we are back, travel (at least outside of the province) is done for the year. We are planning our next trip(s) for the new year and starting to think more about the wedding. I am trying to get through my paper and complete it before the deadline and then Christmas is upon us. Next year though, is when things are going to get really crazy!!

After all of the changes family-wise, I am hesitant to finalize the wedding invitation list and send out the save-the-dates. We are fairly certain Neil’s mom and dad won’t be able to come all the way to Canada for our wedding.

Life changes so quickly and yet things can seem to take so long. The wedding is still 9 months away and Neil and I are faced with an inevitable move. We don’t know when or where but we know that we could be faced with a potential move outside of Alberta. A very daunting, yet exciting possibility.

Reflecting back on everything that has happened, I am amazed at how much can happen in a year. Some years seem to blow by with no major events and other years seem to have it all. This year, I have been filled with tremendous joy, sadness, discomfort and excitement. I guess in the craziness that is life, I can only be flexible, patient and thankful for all I have.

So it is Friday morning.. which in general seems to make people a little happier.. it is spring too, so that helps.. but this morning, Lauren and I were at Tim Hortons and it seemed like the happiest place on earth!

It is ‘roll-up-the-rim’ time and so the long Timmies line-ups are generally much longer.. so we are in line and a man from near the front of the line offers his spot to trade with a woman at the back of the line who was toting around 2 small children.  I think I can speak for everyone in the line-up when I say that we were all really impressed.  He not only gave up his spot, but he influenced the entire line-up with his infectious friendliness. I think it ended up affecting the entire place because suddenly people were holding doors open for one another etc.. it was pretty cool and I am glad to have wittnessed it.  In fact, I have really begun to lose faith in the Human Race.  We have so many horrible people living on this planet.  Our history is riddled with hatred and torture and murder.

It is really nice to know that somewhere on this little planet, on a tiny speck of land in Calgary… someone was kind!

Now it is lunch time… and I have been craving both egg and tuna salad sandwiches thanks to our catered lunch here at work yesterday.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a variety nut and often, when I can I will ask for as many variations and options as possible.

So I went to Marcellos and asked for a sandwich.. 1/2 tuna, 1/2 egg.  So she starts to spread the tuna salad on a whole slice of bread and I try to explain that I want it spread on only half.. she doesn’t understand so she passes me on to another girl who claims to understand EXACTLY what I want.  So she begins to spread the egg on another whole slice of bread… so now I am envisioning how this sandwich will taste.  I can’t imagine it will be revolting.. so I just play along.. I get the lettuce and the cucumber and salt & pepper… Luckily she puts all the vegetables between layers.. and then folds it up and cuts it diagonally.  She hands me a tuna & egg salad sandwich on white bread with lettuce, cucumber, salt & pepper.  Hmmmm.. thanks! I brought it back to my desk… took a bite of the frankenwich… and its not THAT bad!  As a matter of fact, I would consider eating something like this again sometime.. but my craving was for each sandwich individually.  So I carefully separated the two halves, split the veggies evenly between them and ate them separately.