SPOILED ROTTEN!!!

The photo collage above is from a little boating trip Kate and I got to take in Seattle this past weekend--but I'll get to that in a moment!

Our weekend started on Friday afternoon, when we arrived down South. Our friend Rain was our gracious hostess for the day, along with her husband Damon. The pair of them live on the East side of Lake Union, and Rain works for a sea plane company along the lakeshore. As such, Kate and I got to take an aerial tour above Seattle!! Here's some pics!





On saturday morning, Damon and Rain took us to the Locks, an impressive system of raising bridges and water locks that help get boats to and from the open sea in to the lakes. Here's some more pics of that outing!!
That afternoon, after saying adios to Rain and Damon, Kate and I headed out to the Elliot Bay Marina, where we were meeting Bob and Sally--they had given us an overnighter boat trip on The Roberta-- named after Bob's Mother--as a wedding gift, and we were ready to cash in!

Round about the time of our departure from the marina, the rain started, the winds kicked up, and consequently, our crossing from Seattle to our destination--Blake island--was done in a white squall. What's worse, Giant squid wrapped around the boat, A whale swallowed us, and I'm pretty sure we were boarded by pirates. okay, okay, so that may just be some books I read, but whatever. But really, it was very wet, and windy to be sure.

we dropped anchor around the wind-protected side of the island, and spent time talking and filling our stomachs in the cabin of the boat. at about six pm, the weather passed on, and we were treated to a nice evening walk and frisbee toss on the shore. Dinner ran late, but man, it was worth the wait. Halibut, sauteed in shallots, poached in white wine and topped with breadcrumbs, served on a bed of lentils, with salad and bread. YUMMM!

By then it was late, and we all went to bed...and awoke to a beauty of a day! we hit the shore after a long and leisurely breakfast (scones w/jam, bacon, scrambled eggs, juice / tea... just for the record...), and spent the next three hours or so circumnaviagting the island at low tide. I'll put on a whole whack of pics at the end of this entry, so if you're bored of reading my ramblings, feel free to move on... :) The walk was beatiful. we saw racoons feasting on low tide goodies at the water's ege, bald eagles, and plenty of seagulls. We stopped to build lots of obos (aka, inukshooks, to us Candians), play some frisbee or baseball with a tennis ball we found and a hefty stick, and did our part to pick up some garbage accumulating ion the shoreline.
after getting back on the boat, we prepared to set sail for the mainland. The weather was great, though not enough wind to warrant using the sails, so we chugged along under engine power. A few birds here, a few curious seals there, some dodged driftwood, and we were back at the Marina by late afternoon. What a fantastic couple of days!

But, Kate and I, being the people of leisure that we are at the moment, didn't drive back to BC right away. We stayed overnight with Bob's sister, Pam. It was nice to have a visit there, and THEN, on Monday, we finally headed home--but not before a stop at the Seattle outlets store (thanks for being strong these days Canadian Dollar!) I bought a fab pair of cargo khaki shorts from Eddie Bauer, if anyone cares :)

Claire, we missed you on this trip, but next time!

oh yes, and of course, somre more photos of our trip, posted below! Next entry: my adventures in Alberta. see you then!

Happy Easter! (and other thoughts)

Happy Easter to one and all, I hope the long weekend has treated you well! I just got back from Whistler today, where we spent the last few days. Spring skiing is usually expected to be t-shirt weather and some mediocre snow. Instead, the Winter season has persevered, and the snow was "puking" down for most of the time we were there. We skied on Saturday and Sunday, and there was 40 cm's of new snow during all that time. Now, I'm not a big powder hound or anything--I love to streak down the hill as fast as I can over some groomed runs more than anything--but I cannot deny that playing in the fresh white stuff was great too!

Kate's brother, Michael was up at the hill with us the whole time, and was more than happy to partake in the two rounds of charades that were played on Friday and Sunday nights after a few big dinners---that's right, you heard me. Charades. And it was fun, too!

The Easter Bunny brought each of us in the house a giant Toblerone choco bar (mmmm, milk chocolate and honey and nooouuuugaaaaaat... unnnnnggghhhh), so that was a sweet deal, literally! (Boo, hiss)

And so, having returned home, there is but one week of school stuff to deal with, give or take! One final in-class exam on thursday, and one take-home exam due by the 26th. I think. Hopefully I'll have it wrapped up this week anyway.

Moving on, congrats to Lindsay, who gave birth to her second child, Connor Joseph! (if you want to see pics, I have her blog linked on the sidebar of this blog) He's a cutie!!

And moving on again, May and June will be busy months around here! aside from the obvious need to get the veggie garden up and running soon (Oh god, I'm so old), there is much travelling to be done! Kate and I are headed to Seattle for the last weekend in April; just a quick jaunt down there. But, I landed a spot on the Military Journalism course that I was trying to get on, so yay for that! It'll have me next door in Alberta from May 7th-17th. Then, on May 24th, it's off to England (wot wot, eh old boy?) and Turkey (gobble gobble...? I guess?) until June 26th! It'll be July before I know it!

And moving on AGAIN... uhhh, no wait, that's it! plus, it's pretty much time for the daily rerun of the Simpsons... so, ta ta for now!

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz! I wonder where the flowers... is...

Okay, Okay, so I got that from an Archie comic a good ten years ago... wierd how some things stick with you!

people have been asking me... "hey stu, what's with no blog updates? It's been weeks! are things going badly with the whole marriage? is that why no updates?"

Yeah, that's it. My lack of blogging correlates directly to the state of my relationship... gah?

School is into the last month of classes, and one is going well, the other one, I'm getting slammed in. not too concerned anywhich way; I graduate at the end of this, after all, so no big. But it's frustrating not to have hooked into what this one english teacher wants out of my writing style! I have one essay and wone final left to go. hopefully those will be better!

Kate is struggling through her graduating essay; it's the last thing she has to do as part of her speech pathology masters degree, and man... she hates this paper... we'll all be glad when it's over ;)

Mum turned the big Six-Oh last month, we had a party up in Kamloops to celebrate the occasion, which was nice. some of our relatvies from Ontario that were out for the wedding in December made the trek back again, so that was great!

Had some friends through town lately; Mandy visited from edmonton, and we had the chance to hang out a bit while she was in town. We paid the Vancouver aquarium a visit,

which is where these three pics came from-- sorry mandy, had to add the fishy kiss pic... :)

My parents were just down this past weekend for a couple of days of visiting while mum was on her spring break from teaching. They brought the dog, much to our delight; here's Lil' Lucy now!

Isn't she cute :)
Oh, and of course--all is well in the marital department, to answer the initial--and clearly most pressing--question. The Honeymoon is booked! We'llbe headed to London, england on May 24th, and flying back on June 26th. Somewhere in that space of time, we're headed off to Turkey for ten days or two weeks or so! gonna be great!

Looking ahead, I'm vying for a scholarship that will see me learning about military journalism and land me back in Alberta for 10 days in May, assuming I actually get a spot in the program. Given the prevalance of the Candian military in the news this day, it looks to be a very interesting program. All you Edmontonians, I'll keep you posted! Even if I don't get it, Kate is headed to Toronto for a conference, so I'll be using that as an excuse to go to Ontario if I don't end up on this course.

talk atcha later! (no promises as to when, mind you! )
cheers,
stu

David Emerson shmemerson

Okay, for those of you unaware of the situation that David Emerson has put himself in, let me give you a quick recap of the last week.

Who: David Emerson, Liberal candidate elected into office by the constituents of Vancouver-Kingsway (my riding)
What: Emerson crossed the floor last week to join the Conservative party
Why: the move precipitated an appointment to the cabinet, a position he would not have gotten as a Liberal (of course)
When: Last week... didn't I already say that? Pay attention!

okay, enough of the five W's... if you want a full account beyond what I've written below, go to this story in the Vancovuer Sun Newspaper:

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=1e797bd2-4ad0-4830-820a-8fd7bd88f098&k=71383.

SO, the situation is this: The people of Vancouver Kingsway overwhelmingly voted for a Liberal, and ended up with a Conservative. The pro? We're one of the only ridings in a major city (read: Toronto, Vancouver) to have representation in the federal cabinet. The con? a mochery of the democratic process!

If the people of this riding voted in a Conservative, then fine, they voted in a Conservative. The will of the people and all that. But they didn't--nor have they been anything but Liberal for the past 50 years--and now the locals are all kinds of angry.

This past weekend saw a few protest rallies in front of Emerson's riding office, there was a town hall meeting with local NDP MLA David Chudnovsky to discuss what's to be done about Mr. Emerson, and in general, the neighbourhood is in a state of disgust over the whole thing.

Emerson can't see what all the fuss is about, and doesn't understand why his kids are getting harrassed on the school grounds ( okay, so that part isn't cool. Quit bugging the kids, eh?). Emerson has said the move the move wasn't premeditated, and Conservative party leader Stephen Harper's offer of the cabinet gig came after the election.

so which pill is harder to swallow?
A) no premeditation was invovled, and Emerson's decision to switch parties was knee-jerk and totally inconsiderate of his constituents, or
B)It was a premeditated move, and Emerson ran his entire campagin under totally false pretenses.

Either way, I think there's something stuck in my throat.

The fact of the matter is that 82 per cent of our riding voted liberal. And now 82 per cent of our riding is asking for a recall and by-election.

I know that there have been times in my life when I haven't been the most honest person; flip-flopped on some issues and ticked some people off. But once I realize what a complete and total tool I'm being, I'm happy to make an apology.

Mr. Emerson, we're waiting for yours.