Saturday 25 October 2014

BRRRRRRRRRR...1 Degree C! Calling for snow Sunday & Monday


Very dull gloomy Saturday, woke up around 8:00 AM (still dark outside) to a temperature of 1 degree C.  Have a hair appointment this afternoon for the locks!  With my new stylist I don't have to get it done as often and my hair is in great shape.
August 29, 2014 ready for Emma's wedding!

Hubby has his big test coming up soon!  Last minute studying this weekend and Monday & Wednesday nights.  He's nervous but I have great faith in him, I know it will be a PASS!

This book is 4 " thick!

I have a new supervisor at work...an amazing Lady...very supportive and helpful and is constantly having meetings with me to get my thoughts on things.  Yesterday, before I left work, she sent a response to me on an email I copied her on and said, Debi, "Good Job!"....never got that from my old supervisor.  She knows there are issues in the department and she is working on fixing things.  In other words as she told me, they can either do their jobs or find another place to work!

Thought I would throw in a few pics on a recent trip through the mountains to Kalispell, MT.
It's the law!

Scenery

Hand carved!

All along the drive you see these signs!

Guess what....finally got vacation approved as well.  She gave me Christmas off so I will not have to spend the BIG BDAY here in Calgary.  We have Nov 10-15, Nov 26-Dec 3 and Dec 20-Jan 4 off!  We have never been to Black Friday so perhaps that is in the cards end of November....Not sure what we'll do first part of Nov....drive to Vancouver?????  Decisions, decisions, decisions!

More images from a recent drive!
Across the street from the hotel in Kalispell!
Pretty with the mountains in the background!

Our friends (Bill & Carol) made it to Las Vegas from Indiana in their motor home.  Trusting the weather helps Bill's allergies and he starts feeling better.  

Sad days in Canada this week with the killings of two of Canada's soldiers. The attacks on Wednesday and Monday were the work of Canadian citizens reported to be recent converts to Islam who appear to have operated independently police said.  The first victim, 53-year-old Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent died when a man ran over him with a car in Quebec while the second 24-year -old Corporal Nathan Cirillo was gunned down while standing at a ceremonial watch at a monument to Canada's war dead near Parliament Hill.
53-year-old Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent
24-year -old Corporal Nathan Cirillo
His dogs waiting for 24-year -old Corporal Nathan Cirillo to come home!


The Highway of Heroes this week!



Canada will always Remember Our Fallen Heroes!



My favourite one of all
Believe!

Have a great week everyone, pray for our fallen and their families.  May God Bless us all!

Tuesday 14 October 2014

Fall.....Colder.......Lessons Learned...(NOT)

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving....with no friends and family here, we decided to take off and go to Kalispell, USA.  It's about a 5 1/2 hour trip to get there, much different than the 2 1/2 hours from Bowmanville, Ont.  It was great to get away and just have fun for a couple of days.
The road to Sparwood, BC

The road to Kalispell, MT

Colours in the mountains!

I was upset before we left and almost didn't go....SOMEONE got ANOTHER speeding ticket!  This one cost $147.00.  That's three since being here!
Could be a cop!

We went back to the garden centre that we found earlier this year, wonderful people.  She was giving me a hint about next years display!  Here are a few images I took!
Turkey

So cute!


Love the signage!

The band!
Cloudy and overcast but you can still see the mountains!

Cooking a chicken today...and made an apple crumble.  Not much sense in cooking a big turkey dinner for two!  I'll do one when it gets colder, some snowy cold winter Saturday!  Which may not be too far off here!
Calgary...but wait!

Will soon look like this! 

Hubby got cigars delivered to the hotel from JR's....he was over by 36 so YUP, we got busted at the border and had to pay additional duty.

A few more nights of study group before hubby's big test...trusting this will make him open to additional opportunities.  We HAVE to get out of here! :)

I am back to work....have new boss...but the old one made dam sure she messed me up good before being put in her place.  I wanted Christmas off, she denied me and over the last two weeks she gave everyone the time off!  Now, I have no one to look after my files so I can't go away.  That leaves me with 14.5 days vacation to take and we can't carry it over.  The chitt continues, and every day seems to be getting worse.  In other words, I am once again stressed out and wish we had never taken these positions.  Not even sure what happens with the 14.5 days.....not sure if they pay us or not. GRRRRRRRRR!

There are 3 places for sale now in the complex.....so will be anxious to see what they sell for.  Different prices for all of them but we still have the most updated with the new stainless steel appliances and additional updates.  Ours is also one of the largest units here.
Unit behind the guy is for sale!

Well that's it for now....I keep hoping and praying that a miracle will happen and we can get out of here....before I loose my sanity (at this job)!

Have a great week everyone and be safe and God Bless!  Talk soon!
inspiring quotes
Patience! OMG...what is that? :)

Sunday 5 October 2014

Forgot the CAMERA! Note to SELF: Don`t leave home without it!

We went for a drive yesterday to get out of the city.  We have driven through Okotoks many times and saw the "Big Rock" but never stopped to see what it was about.  Below is the story:

The Okotoks Erratic is the largest rock in what’s known as the Foothills Erratic Train. The Foothills Erratic Train is essentially a group of rocks that were fallen here as the glacier melted after being transported by ice along the mountain front some 10,000 years ago. Also known as "The Big Rock", the Okotoks Erratic is the world’s largest glacial erratic. By definition, a glacial erratic is rock that is transported far from its origin by glacial ice. The Okotoks Erratic is one of plenty that lie in a narrow band from northern Montana up to Jasper National Park. "The Big Rock" is a large landmark that looks misplaced in the flat prairies and with time, has been eroded into pieces.
Okotoks Erratic
The Okotoks Erratic is said to most likely be from Mount Edith Cavell in Jasper National Park. In present day Athabasca River valley some 18,000 years ago, a rockslide brought rock material and other sediments to the surface of a glacier and the erratic was slowly carried on the back of the glacier as the glacier moved eastwards. Of course this was a slow process that took thousands of years for the glacier to move to the plains where it then collided with the great Laurentide ice sheet, another continental glacier. The Athabasca River valley glacier was then diverted becoming parallel to the mountain front, towards the southeast and is the reason why the erratics were deposited as a narrow band from Jasper National Park to Montana as the ice melted.

There is a story stemming from the Natives, specifically the Blackfoots, of how the Okotoks Erratic came to split. The story provides a curious explanation to why bats have faces that look as though they have been squashed as well. It is a good tale with a moral lesson and even caution of taking back what you have given away. The name of the erratic was originated from the Blackfoot word for rock, "okatok".
“One hot summer day, Napi, the supernatural trickster of the Blackfoot peoples, rested on the rock because the day was warm and he was tired. He spread his robe on the rock, telling the rock to keep the robe in return for letting Napi rest there. Suddenly, the weather changed and Napi became cold as the wind whistled and the rain fell. Napi asked the rock to return his robe, but the rock refused. Napi got mad and just took the clothing. As he strolled away, he heard a loud noise and turning, he saw the rock was rolling after him. Napi ran for his life. The deer, the bison and the pronghorn were Napi's friends, and they tried to stop the rock by running in front of it. The rock rolled over them. Napi's last chance was to call on the bats for help. Fortunately, they did better than their hoofed neighbours, and by diving at the rock and colliding with it, one of them finally hit the rock just right and it broke into two pieces.”

The Okotoks Erratic measures 41m long, 18m wide and 9m high and weighs in at 16,500 tons. Looking closely at the rock, you can see that the rock originates from the Gog formation because of the hardened layers of small pebbles, sand and silt. The Gog formation was found to be in a shallow sea and consisted of the layering of sediment that was deposited roughly 570 to 540 million years ago before the uplift of the Rocky Mountains. It is due to this that the composite of the rock is predominantly quartzite. With time passing on, layer upon layer of sediment was built up thousands of feet thick. The weight of the overlying sediments created heat and pressure and compacted the sand grains. They were then cemented into the durable and extremely hard rock aka quartzite. As the Rocky Mountains were being formed 150 to 50 million years ago, beds of sediment were thrust up and eastwards. In the main ranges of the Rocky Mountains, quartzite is commonly found.
Quartzite is a slippery rock, probably one of the reasons why it is enclosed so that people do not go touch it. 

I go back to work tomorrow, new supervisor, new work station and a lot of nervousness.  Most people that know me understand the situation....""wish me luck""!

Sunny here today but cool!  Winter is fast approaching!  OMG...I told hubby that I have already seen enough snow this year....they are still cleaning up from the 20 + cm we had a couple of weeks ago. So many beautiful trees lost.
The beginning of 20+ cm
Damages

Our friends from Indiana are getting ready to leave for 6-8 months in their motor home....they are fortunate they won't see snow!  Our other friends are looking to go to Australia for the winter.

We are leaving on Friday after work to go to Kalispell, MT...need to get some necessities in the US before winter sets in and we can't get there from here.  It is a 5 hour drive through the mountains and you MUST have winter tires on your vehicle or get fined!  I have not taken the snows off my car so we are good to go!  Have to stop in Sparwood, BC to drop off some LED tubes and fixtures to Finning!  (Note:  always working...LOL)
On the way to Kalispell
Scenery
Flowers along the bank of the road
Cute
I think I may know this guy!
Love the scenery!

No news from our other friends in Ancaster....very concerned about Paul & Jeannie....hope they are well and Paul is doing OK!

Nascar race this afternoon....The Chase is in Kansas this weekend...I see my favourite `24`is in 5th place in the Chase!
ESPNAPI_IMG_NO_ALTEXT_Value
Jeff Gordon
That`s it for another week my friends...be safe and enjoy the week!
be_yourself