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 .....