Goodbyes

Well, I am officially sad. Heather is leaving today. Although she plans to come back for Christmas, I always go home at that time so I have no idea when I will see her again.

We spent a lot of time together this week which was very very nice. Thursday, we had lunch together, went downtown for a walk, stopped for coffee, went for another walk, that kind of thing. Tonight, another friend, her and I went for tea on Whyte Ave (the place to people watch) and then walked around. There is a festival going on down there so lots of people, lots of buskers and vendors. After Kim went home, Heather and I had appetizers at one of our favourite hangouts and just chatted.

This is just soooo weird!!! *sniffles*

An old picture of the two of us, I'm guessing 1998 or 1999.

Heather's Going Away

My old roommate Heather is moving to Ontario to do her PhD at the University of Waterloo. Good for her, as I'm sure she'll be amazing. She's explained it to me a couple of times and it's all very impressive, but the part that stands out most for me is where she will be doing research for the Canadian Space Agency and NASA!

This weekend we gave her one heck of a send off. Friday night, we went to Julio's Barrio on Whyte, one of her favourite restaurants, for supper and margaritas. We gave her a scrapbook I made, containing pics from the last 10 years that we all have been friends. That's when both Heather and I moved here as first year university students.

Here's a pic of the scrapbook. Making the scrapbook was fun and I'm glad I did it. Making the pic of the scrapbook was done because I couldn't sleep. *g*



After Julio's, we moved onto a bar called the Thirsty Turtle, which I quite like. It has pool tables, a small dance floor and $1.50 highballs until 10pm. There was much drinking to be had and the occasional dance as well. Around 11pm, we moved to The Attic, which has an even smaller dance floor that is always packed. There was more drinking. Yes. That's all.

The next day, we had plans to go to the Waterpark (indoor wave pool and waterslides at West Edmonton Mall) at 130. I had never been before and enjoyed it. I actually went on waterslides! Ok, a whole THREE waterslides, including one that even I admit is a baby slide. Mostly, Kim, Heather and I hung out in the waves while the boys went on every waterslide twice.

After the waterpark, we ran home, showered, changed and went to another going away party for Heather at another friend's house. Thankfully, it was a quiet party, just board games, video games and just the occasional beer for the brave ones. I came in second at Risk, which is rare for me. Somehow I held Asia for at least a full turn!

I will miss Heather very much, but I think her send off was fine tribute to the girl I met in Lister. I know she will do great out there.

Butterflies!

I had to run errands this week near the U of A campus and, luckily, I had stuck my small camera in my purse. I was so glad I had it! There were butterflies everywhere. Possibly monarchs, but I'm only saying that because they were orange and black. I know nothing about butterflies. I got some nice pics though!



A Butterfly on a Rock.



A Butterfly on a Flower.



And my favourite - A Butterfly on More Flowers.

*L*

Toronto!

If you have ever wondered if I was insane, the answer is yes. Somehow it made perfect sense to go to Toronto for 2.5 days, which when you subtract airport time was really more like 40 hours... But several of my friends had planned a little mini reunion out there and I desperately wanted to see them! Since Carrie's pregnant, I don't know when my next chance to see them will be.

I left for the airport straight from work and arrived safely in Toronto just before midnight on Friday. I had barely turned my cell phone on when Carl called to say they were at the airport. Good news, right? Well, not quite. We couldn't find each other! We were in different terminals in an airport that doesn't seem to have good signage and is currently under construction. It took some time for them to get to my terminal but eventually they pulled into the pick up line and I was very relieved to see Mike getting out of the car. Julie and Carl were with him as well, but Carrie had already gone to bed. We headed back up to the hotel, stopped in to say hi to Jeff, but by now it was quite late and pretty much time to go to sleep.

The next morning, after a free hotel breakfast which I got up in time for, we all met up in the lobby. We then decided to go the Taste of Danforth. It's a Toronto festival vaguely like the Taste of Edmonton, where they close off three blocks of Danforth (which is Greek Town) to traffic and all the stores and restaurants put out little street vendor booths. We had lunch at a Greek restaurant called Mr. Greek, where we had a very strange waiter. He actually told us Mike (Carrie's husband and who is from Sweden) had no accent! Others have said they didn't really enjoy the meal, but I liked it! I rarely have Greek food and I'm a big fan of feta. After lunch, Jeff managed to find a roasted corn vendor and I bought some books at a clearance sale.

That evening, we choose to attend the Summerworks play festival, a bit like Edmonton's Fringe Festival. We picked Do The Clam, partly based on the convenient time and partly on the description: God and his brother get fired from their jobs or something like that. I spent the first half of the play wondering where God was coming into it and the second half realizing that the play was on crack. It was bad. Badbadbad. Best line - (the construction worker is insulting his girlfriend) - "I don't need you anymore, I pierced the dog's tongue." I laughed there. I think that was it.



Me, Carl, Jeff, Julie, Carrie and Mike right before The Play.

Before the play, we had supper at The Wheat Sheaf, based on the recommendation of one of the festival's producers. It was a great recommendation, far better than the play! I think we all had hamburgers, although I know Jeff had soup. Crazy man. The pub was built in 1849 and it rumoured to have a secret passageway to Fort York. Can you tell the menu had a history section that I read??



Carl, Jeff, Mike and Carrie at the Wheat Sheaf.

That night we met up with Alf and Ryan, who currently live in Toronto, and they took us to a local bar called Scotland Yard. It was really great seeing them again! After they left, we headed back to the hotel and Mike and Carrie joined us in our room for some more drinking and chatting. Yes, it's true, Carl and I had a bathtub full of liquor and ice, but I'd like to point out that it was Jeff and Julie who brought the twist off top bottle of wine!



Julie and Jeff drinking in our room.



We had cranked the AC before we went out and our room was freezing so Carrie is wrapped in a housecoat. I also like how she looks slightly afraid of us drunk freaks *g*.



Err... drunk freaks?



Julie and Me and Carl's foot.

The next morning, I managed to make the free breakfast again. Eventually we all got moving and we went to the Casa Loma, a castle in the middle of Toronto! It was built in 1911 and I highly recommend checking it out if you are in Toronto. It has an audio tour that you can take at your own pace and it has great architecture, beautiful furniture and a Canadian military museum. It also apparently has great gardens but the time we got there, I was really happy to take a break in the shade.



Jeff and Julie in the Conservatory listening to the audio tour things.



Carrie and Mike overlooking the great hall. I love the chandeliers.



Julie, Carl, Carrie and Mike in the gardens.

After the castle, we went shopping for a bit and then it was time for me to go to the airport again! My whirlwind tour was totally worth it and I had a lot of fun. It ended on a nasty note though, on my trip back, I sat next to a kid with some seriously bad motion sickness. It was a very very long four hours.