Happy 2-4!!

Hi, guys :) So I made it back to BC ok without any real events (besides the fact that the ferry shaved over 6 hours off my life - if any of you are planning on visiting a destination on Vancouver Island, I recommend landing in Victoria, not Vancouver, so you can avoid the ferry). And I'm back at work *blah*. I really don't think I'm cut out for this working business.

In other news, Remi and I went camping au naturel this weekend with some friends. We drove up a bumpy, stoney dirt road heading towards an abandoned ski lodge on Mt. Arrowsmith (peak pictured here):

We didn't make it to the lodge because the road was snowed out, so we camped down a ways. The first night was freezing, but last night wasn't bad. Anyway, it was great. No washrooms, showers, other people really. We had our own little private grown-over road to camp on.

It was quiet and relaxing. For us anyway... There was a group of hikers who were trying to make it to the peak on Sunday when one of their party slipped and ended up impaling himself (in the thigh) on a tree branch or something. There was police, ambulance, search and rescue and then a chopper to air-lift the guy to a hospital in Comox. It was wild. We had no idea what had happened until today when a news crew showed up and told us. They also interviewed Remi, so he was on the five o'clock news out here! HILARIOUS! We didn't even know anything about it!! Their story was really weak, but it was cool to see Remi on TV. I'm going to try to get a copy of the tape because they also had a brief shot of me, Mags and Remi with the anchor woman.

Anyway, the guy is going to be fine. I guess the people he was with were up on their first aide training, so they knew what to do. And they had cellphones. As much as I curse little frou frou girls with cellphones, I think Remi and I should have one for hiking trips and stuff. If it wasn't for that, the guy would have been up there for a very long time for someone to drive down the mountain and to the nearest town to get help.

So that was our May 2-4. Pretty exciting and relaxing all at the same time ;) I leave you with a couple of other pictures.

The view from our campsite.

Doing dishes with moss and sand!

The lean-to the boys built. We made fun of the building process until it started to rain and the thing actually worked.

Our Sunday night bonfire. There was a tree stump on there that smoldered pretty much all night.

Hopefully there will be more free back-woods camping in our future :)

Did I mention you guys should visit?

POSTING!!

Ok, so I was going to post after Sunday's GA, which would have been Monday night, but then two hours of GA kind of got in the way. I didn't realize it was going to be 2 hours long. So the way things were rolling, I figured Danny had to go and there was NO WAY they could kill of Burke so with tears in my eyes I said goodbye to 'ol danny boy. I thought Izzie did a great job trying to convince Danny to let her cut his wires. Maybe a little Emmy award? I think Sandra Oh won for her performance last season. I also liked the way they filmed Danny's death, without the drama of Izzie, which I suppose, had already been done. A classic image when Alex picked Izzie up off the bed. The scene wouldn't have quite the same if she were wearing a little black dress. Which reminds me, I'm going to check out who made her dress - I love it.

So since I waited to post, my on-the-surface emotions have passed and I'll just say that the finale was great sans Meredith+Finn+McDreamy. Although I kinda liked the sex in the hospital room scene I hate how it ended with her chosing between the two. Although I suppose that's what the show was originally based around - Meredith and Derek - so it makes sense to tie the finale back into that, but still, I was a little disappointed. At the same time, they did a final feature on each of the characters, so this scene with Meredith is the most appropriate. We can't leave her happily with Finn without some questions hanging . . .

So that's that.

In other news, I went to see Xavier Rudd in Ottawa at the Tulip Festival last Saturday and got some amazing pictures. And I do mean amazing!

This one looks much better larger.

And . . .











This is my favourite one I think. I took about ten pics total, some out of focus cuz I zoomed in and it was really hard to stay still. I took my camera chip and used one of those Kodak machines and got about 5 pics in 8 x 10. I took this pic here in 8 x 10 then zoomed in on Xavier for another 8 x 10 and then one for his aboriginal guest from Australia. They both turned out fantastically. So I made some copies for Julie and I made a 8 x 10 and put it in a black picture frame and gave it to Xavier (!!!) when I went to a second concert, this time in Guelph last night (Thursday night).

Well, to be honest, I didn't actually get to meet Xavier but I spoke with his guitar tech man, who also played a song with him, and I asked if he could deliver the pic to Xavier. He said he could, but wouldn't I like to give it to him myself? Of course! He said Xavier may show up on stage in about 15min to help pack up and if not, he'd make sure it got to him. So unfort. Xavier was doing a post show ceremony with some local natives in the basement of War Mem (where it was held) so I never got a chance to meet him. I wasn't overly disappointed cuz I wasn't expecting to see him. The most important thing is that he got the pic. I put the location and my name on the back, but no contact info. I may email in a couple of days (or tomorrow) and see if he got it.
I was hoping to get some good pics in War Mem but they used a fog machine so the pics are shit, but at least I got some good ones in Ottawa. One wall of the upstairs hall is going to be my Xavier wall, made up of three pics I think maybe four in black frames with the picture floating so there's glass around it then the frame. I'll take a pic of my wall when its done and post it for all of you to see.

Ok so that's it for now. I will post again soon with further details, inquiries etc but must shower and get ready to go out. It is Friday night after all!!

Sue

PS - Dave I bought The Office !

Anybody out there?

Wow, did we all get enough of each other or what? Sure seems that way, since there has been no posting of late. Maybe we just don't have much left to talk about, which is true with me. I just wanted to post so that the blog looked different the next time I checked it. I wish I had a fun picture, but that's not the case.

I've been getting things together for Maine, buying supplies and figuring out what I need to take. I'm all amped up for the camping now. My parents and I went to BassPro yesterday and seeing all the tents and accessories has me all ready to get out there. That said, I still can't believe it's almost time to leave. Time has flown and I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not going to be here this summer. Indiana Audubon Society's (not affiliated with the National one that I'm working for) birdcount was this past Sat. I went with the folks from the Nature Center and we had some key sightings: two osprey, two peregrin falcons, some sandpipers, some warblers. We also saw some nests that would be nice to keep an eye on over the summer, but I had to keep reminding myself that I'm not going to be here for that. Weird.

I've also been working on my present to my parents for their 40th anniversary. I don't know if I told you all, but I'm sending out a mass letter to friends of theirs from over the years asking them to send their wishes back to my parents. I thought it would be kinda nice, since basically no one ever sends anniversary cards unless they are family. Plus, it'll kind of be a stand in for a party, which is what I really wanted to do, but I have no money for that and my parents are hard to pin down for stuff like that, anyway. So, I think this'll do.

So, besides reading and watching tv, that's all I've been doing. It may be boring, but it's still an update. How about you guys? I suppose Sarah made it back to BC w/out any problems? And Dave is working on the house before camp starts? And Sue's job back with the city of Otts is going well again? And Manda loves counting pills and petting kitties still? BTW, Amanda, I've been ruined. I've had the hugest hankering for sushi since we ate it last. And there's no sushi in Madison! Well, except for the who-knows-how-long-it's-been-there stuff at one of the grocery stores. I'm not quite to the point of buying some of that yet, but close. Maybe when I go to Louisville next... Anyway, people, POST!!!

You guys rock!

I just wanted to thank everyone again for being able to make their ways to Toronto to visit me (and each other, of course!)!! It was great to see everyone and like Melissa said, the great thing about old, good friends is that when you get together it's like you were never apart. I miss you guys terribly in BC and I don't think I can ever hope to make closer friends and I just wanted you all to know that. Hopefully the next time we get together it can be for more than a day ;)

Talk to you all soon,

Sarah

A post to end the non-posting

Hi. Nothing's new, I have nothing to say, but we haven't had any new posts in a while and that depresses me. Have I mentioned that I hate my neighbours? *stomp*stomp*STOMP*bang*BANG*CRASH*tinkle(that's to represent peeing)* They are becoming more and more annoying as the summer-y season progresses. Yesterday they left our "garage" (which is how they access the laundry room) wide open for any crackhead/crackwhore to go in and rifle through the various junkly things our landlord has stashed down there. So, I took the key out, locked it and brought the key inside. Today, the crackwhore came and asked for it and I said "Yeah, you left it gaping so we locked it." And if she didn't notice until this morning, that means her intention was to leave it that way overnight (or she was passed out in a crack-haze, who knows?), and I don't want a door into my house being left unlocked over night in this neighbourhood. While she was here I casually mentioned that leaving cat food outside (her cat had run away, probably because it doesn't want to live in a piss-hole) might draw rats close to and perhaps into our house (she was leaving cat food in the "garage" in case her cat showed up) and so could she please remove it. She turned around without saying a word and I later heard her yell (through the wall): "I'm sick of being told what to do in my own fucking house!!!!!!!" I would like to mention that on no more than 3 occasions have we really interacted with this slut, so I'm not sure what she's talking about with that statement. And who wants friggin' RATS in their house!!!!!!

Anyway, Remi has passed me some booze to calm down, so I'm going to sign off.

Wishing for my neighbour's painful death,

sarah
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Sunday departure times

Can I get an idea of what time people need/want to be heading home on Sunday?