Saturday, February 06, 2010

Hello C A N A D A. Whew - has been one heck of a week. Landed in Calgary on January 29th at 4:00 p.m., left Alex on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. (which is 10 a.m. Calgary time) - not appreciating at all the fact that I have to leave from Cairo - makes a long journey into a much longer one. Add to that that there was a must see football match and it was YUCK. Made it to within 80 km of Cairo before we HAD to stop to watch the football match - Egypt won - YAY. Then we headed to Cairo - needless to say Cairo was CRAZY - Thursday night and Egypt made it into the final at the Africa Cup - then my husband is saying - I think this is the way to the airport - not exactly the words I wanted to hear. Thank goodness we made it in plenty of time - my flight was scheduled to leave around 4:00 a.m. - so was supposed to be there by 1 - made it by 1:30 - lots of time to spare - the Cairo airport is not exactly a hub of activity - not much to see - wandered around for a bit - saw all there was to see. Boarded the plane and was asleep before it taxiied down the runway - slept through the food - but did not stay asleep - managed to get 2 hours of sleep before I woke up. Amsterdam was great - nice airport - friendly atmosphere - quite a change from Frankfurt. Had a 6.5 hour layover here - found some comfy seats and crashed for a couple of hours. Security was 'interesting' - security was after you checked in - so did not leave a lot of time - and they were doing the body scan - so it took quite awhile to get checked in - I did not have to go through the body scan machine - there was a real lineup so I just went through the normal metal detector - was asked if I had a lot of 'bangles' (in my dreams) - showed my right arm with my 1 bracelet - no problem. While at the airport I bought some cheese to bring back - then wondered how much fun I was going to have going through customs - woman asked me at passport control what dairy product I was bringing - told her cheese - she asked me what kind - told her Gouda - she wrote fine on my card - so breezed through customs. By the time I made it through passport control all my luggage was on the carousel so just picked it up and out I went - into the moderate weather of Calgary.

First stop was Spa Lady to work on my membership. Only reason I was travelling in January to Canada - no I am not really and truly crazy - was because the gym (Spa Lady) that I had a lifetime membership with had been bought out and the new company was not honouring the lifetime members - we had until Jan. 31 to sign up for a new membership - 1 month free and then $19/month for 23 months and then $19 a month forever more. Definitely something I wanted to participate in - because I need to go to the gym when I am in Canada and I am afraid bottom line is that I will eventually be relocating back to Canada - no idea when - but eventually - so will want it then as well.

Saturday we headed to WalMart - needed a few things - outdoor footwear was number one on the list. Got everything on the list except the footwear - SIGH. Then we headed to watch my friend's grandson's soccer game. After the game we went to Sobey's and bought lots and lots of produce - the variety is overwhelming. Then home for lunch - and then out in the evening to watch Avatar - awesome movie - special effects were fantastic - would likely have enjoyed it more if I had had more time to unpretzel my self and had more rest - but well worth the bit of discomfort I had at being confined again.

I am staying with my friend Tina and her husband Sav in the NE of Calgary. Not far from my old stomping grounds. I am without wheels - so I am going to have to bite the bullet and start using public transportation - SIGH. I am so very grateful to Tina and Sav for opening their home to me. I am also very grateful to my friend Deb who has been my 'wheels' during the week - when she is not busy she very kindly drives me around to get things done.

Sunday saw me out and about again - had wanted to go to church - but did not make it. Ended up back at WalMart - this time I got the footwear - then had a nice relaxing rest of the day. I need to get back into the habit of not shopping on Sunday and going to church - need to cadge a ride from someone - will look into that once I get back to Calgary.

Saturday got to see my favourite cuzzy for a bit - was I blown away - she has lost a lot of weight and has gone from a size 18 to a size 10 - I was gobsmacked - she attributes it to divorce, depression and Weight Watchers - now I am not sure I want to go for the divorce or the depression but the WW sounds like a good idea. Talked with my buddy and we decided we would join WW that week sometime. I looked online for the meetings and we decided to join on Tuesday afternoon.

Sunday afternoon I got to see my niece Shawna and her 3 kids - phoned her in the morning and she motored over in the afternoon for a nice visit.

Talked with Miles - but have not yet seen him.

Monday the routine started - off to the gym for 6 a.m. - OMG what was I thinking - I have not worked out for over a year and my body is not really thrilled to be back - but I know that soon it will be thanking me. While Tina and Sav are at work I do a bit of housework and prepare supper for when they get home.

Tuesday Tina and I headed to WW after she finished work and we joined up - I am determined to make this work - it truly is a plan I can live with for the rest of my life and it is certainly something that is long overdue. My goal is to lose enough so that when I go back to Egypt (if I do) I can sit more comfortably in the seats. Must admit it is no fun flying when you are uncomfortable - not that it will ever by truly comfortable - but when I get down to a more reasonable size it will be less uncomfortable.

Thursday night saw me boarding a bus for Creston to spend a week with my parents, before I start looking for work, figured it made more sense to spend the week before I started looking for work - so that when I find work I can start right away.

So I am here in Creston - have some sewing to do - and will be heading Stateside for a gander at the Super WalMart in Sandpoint - if the weather cooperates we are planning to head down south on Monday. Sunday I will head to Church - will be good to see some friends. This trip I have opted not to cover - decided that since I will be working and there is no way I am going to cover at work - that I am not going to cover at all. Had a new western wardrobe made while I was in Egypt - so brought all that with me - to leave behind if I head back to Egypt - must admit it is taking a bit of getting used to - not covering when I go out - getting kind of used to it - although I am wearing a winter coat - so I am sort of covered.

Will endeavour to post more regularly - not that my life is all that exciting - but .....

5 comments:

Caminante said...

Hello Egianqueen,
I'm a long-time lurker!
I wanted to congratulate you on your decision to join weightwatchers!!

My mom (who's 62) had been overweight her whole life. She would ocassionally go on the "latest diet" and lose weight only to gain it back in 6 months.

Finally 2 years ago, she joined weightwatchers. For the first time in over 30 years, she's healthy, is within the normal limits of her weight/height, changed her eating habits, and has kept the weight off.

I truly hope it works for you as well!

All the best,
Caminante

Lynn said...

"although I am wearing a winter coat - so I am sort of covered."

LOL! Thanks for the giggle. So true.

Glad you found some foot wear too. That is a total must. No sandals here. Although. I must admit that I've seen some crazy youngins still trying to wear their flip flops around some places.

I am with Caminate.......I wish you all the best with weight watchers. Sounds like your cousin had total success. Cool.

Enjoy your visit with your parents! We'll catch you when you come back this way.

Rhonda C. said...

Hey girl! I am glad u are posting and I think your life is so darn exciting compared to a lot of people! Gosh! You don't sit still! You are constantly looking for ways to improve yourself. God certainly blessed you with an effervescent personality! Keep us posted!

Anonymous said...

hey


just signed up and wanted to say hello while I read through the posts


hopefully this is just what im looking for looks like i have a lot to read.

Unknown said...

I like your posts about Egypt : ), I am at Cairo at the moment, there are a lot of interesting sightseeing.

Holiday In Egypt