As promised - finally - here are some pictures.  For Margaret and Tootous - the cats.  We have Snookums, Tiger, KeeKee and TwoBit.

This is Mr. KeeKee - sleeping on the computer chair - he is the elder statesman and only male.  He regularly goes after Snookums for no good reason.

This is Ms. Two Bit - she is a real character - her tail has been broken - leaving her with a paralyzed anal sphincter and a 'dead' tail.  She is a real lovey dovey - loves to sit on you and suck on your shirt.  She likes to get her nose under my underarm and knead and suck - not bad as long as her nails have been trimmed.  She loves to sit on her pedestal in the sun and keep track of the goings on in the neighbourhood - she goes right snakey when she sees magpies or ravens (of which there are plenty).

This and the next one are of Ms. Snookums - she has a purr like a tractor - she does not willingly get picked up - but if you do manage to snare her she starts purring right away.  She loves to chase her tail - have a video of her doing it - it is hilarious.

Last but not least is Madame Tiger - she reminds me of the cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland - she is quite standoffish unless you are reading, on the computer or watching TV - then she wants to be on you.  She is a real snorer - she loves chocolate, cheezies, cheese, bacon - if I am cooking bacon she is at the table as soon as I get it out of the fridge.

For everyone else - just random shots of Fort McMurray - and my sister with her bus.  She was driving to work - it was a Friday - and not many people actually work on Friday - there were maybe at the most six people on the bus - so I was 'allowed' to tag along - and we were looking for the wild tiger lilies in the ditch - much easier to see from the bus than from the car - being so much higher up.  Just picture this in your mind - bus driving down the highway - slamming on the brakes - pulling over to the side of the highway - and then these two women climbing down and walking in the ditch taking pictures - what  a sight to behold - was a good day.  Now that she only works Monday through Thursday - and I am working from 2-6 p.m. - no more bus trips.  SIGH.

Wild Tiger Lily found in the ditch between Fort McMurray and the oilsands.





Another tiger lily found in the ditch.



Not sure what this is - but it was also in the ditch.

Wild strawberries that we found in the ditch.

Another flower that was found 'in the ditch' - lots of ditch watching done this day.

Marian and 'her' bus - she has since started a new shift and has another 'newer' bus.

The following pictures were taken on our walks - that have since gone the way of the dodo bird - unfortunately my 'injury' keeps me from doing much walking - the after effects are not nice at all - can hardly hobble around.  But you will get the idea of why I enjoyed walking here so much.

This is my favourite shot - always made me want to take another picture - have quite a few of this spot.

Wild - hmmm - want to say columbine but that is not right - but whatever it is it grew on the path.

And of course the wild rose - the floral emblem of Alberta - lots of these.

Not the best shot - but you get the idea - I have no clue what kind of flower this is - just that it is pretty.

This is the view of the Athabasca River with the Snye entering it - on our walk.

A 'close up' of the above view.

One day we went on a tour - we stopped and took pictures of a few areas.  The first is a 'creek' that runs not far from the Shell Albian work site.

Very picturesque - and not very far away there is an oilsands project.

The next stop on our 'tour' was the Oilsands Discovery site - hard to get into pictures the size of the machines that were used when they first started 'mining' - technology has changed - do not think any of the companies continue to use these machines.

Cannot remember what this is - but it is a small piece on the large machine.

This is one of the 'small' scoops that scooped up the oilsand.

Man am I bad - I need to look at all the pictures - because I did take pics of the descriptions - suffice it to say this is a piece of machinery that was used to mine the oilsands.

Next stop on our trip was a stop at the buffalo paddock - Marian had seen that there were some on her way home - usually you cannot see them this close to the highway.

The one in the foreground was looking pretty good - had already gotten rid of his winter coat - the one to the right - you can see still had a fair bit of his winter coat - they looked quite shaggy. 

Such a majestic looking animal.

The following is a picture of me and my friend Helen in her back yard in Pinawa - taken the weekend of the big High School Reunion.  Thought about posting some pics of the reunion - but nobody knows anyone - so will post them on Facebook instead.

Helen and I in her backyard - do miss Pinawa - loved the size of the yards and just the peace.

Now this is just a candid picture of my sister - just could not resist.

Luv ya Marian

The next shot was taken at Marian's work barbecue.  One of the women brought some puppies in the hopes of selling them - the runt was by far the cutest - they are not big dogs to start with and the runt was only about 2/3 the size of it's siblings.

Hard to get a pic - puppy would not sit still.

These next pictures were taken at the fall fair - just a very small sampling of the handiwork of the local artisans.

This teddy bear was hand made out of real fur - there were three or four of them - they were adorable.

This was a beautiful bowl handcrafted out of wood - when the fellow went to put the 'oil' on it the grain just popped out.

This quilt one first prize - beautiful - there were lots of fantastic quilts.

And that is it - took me over three hours to figure out how to upload these pictures - will either have to do it more often or never again - right now I am going with never - but I am sure I will relent.

Managed to 'sleep in' until 7:00 - not that I was sleeping - but sure is nice to be able to laze around.  Got up - had my shower - got dressed - phoned my favourite cuzzy - you are AWESOME - but before I did that I got the first load of laundry in the washing machine.  Woke up to fog - had sort of hoped it would be a nice day so I could hang the clothes outside - but no such luck - fog has burned off - sun is weakly shining now  but the clouds do not look very promising - so first load of laundry is in the dryer - keeping my fingers crossed that it will work for me - seems to take it into its head to not work every once in a while - used it last weekend and it worked - took a long time to dry the clothes - but hey I have lots of time.

Spent some time on the web last night - looking at job opportunities here in Fort McMurray - sure are some nice jobs - great pay - wish I knew the trick to getting me one of them thar cushy jobs.  One of them really piqued my interest - it is working for the Municipality - excellent salary - only one year - soooo - now I am debating about applying for it and seeing where it leads - have applied for lots of jobs with the Municipality - but never heard boo from them.  It is a junior position - but I don't really care - salary is awesome.  Yesterday while I was at Safeway I filled out an application - they had postings saying they were looking for cashiers and a courtesy clerk - so ... filled out the application - will have to see where that leads.  Hope if I get the job it can be worked around my job at the post office.    Do not want to give up the post office until such time as I find a full time job that pays as much if not more.

Today was a 'porridge' kind of day - and I am not a porridge fan.  I had purchased some quinoa flakes - decided to make them up - doctored them with cinnamon, buckwheat honey, raisins and cut up a date - it was very good.  May have to look at buying some more - or just using the quinoa - some of the recipes I saw online made the porridge with the regular quinoa - which would be fine - could make up a big batch - and then just warm it up when I want to eat some.  Bet Marian would help me eat it as well.

Ayman is driving me crazy - I know 'tis but a short putt.  He is complaining of testicular pain - but will not see a doctor.  He was going to go Saturday night (Egypt time is 9 hours ahead of us so it gets confusing) - but instead he headed to Cairo to sell some copper.  And he was planning on heading to Libya on Sunday - but now he is planning on leaving Saturday night - because there is a driver unloading his load in Tripoli and Ayman is planning on shipping some copper back with him - ARGH.  His ability to procrastinate drives me nuts - I am the one who pushes to get things done - NOW - not later - he is always saying we can do it later - but I have learned later rarely comes - unless it has to do with his business.  When I wanted to renew my passport - told him that before he headed to Libya we had to go to Cairo to start the process - he wanted to leave it until he came back the next time - but I INSISTED that it be done - so he actually had to delay his travel plans to Libya - I am such a beyotch - but if I had waited I would have been running around with an expired passport - not my idea of a good thing.  I ended up having to drive into Cairo with Sharon to go get it - good thing I usually pay attention when Ayman is driving - the area where the embassies and consulates are is in the downtown area of Cairo - it is a disaster - full of dead ends and one way streets - and of course no parking - but I found the place and got the passport - Ayman had made arrangements with his friend to drive me - but did not hear from him so went on my own - danged independent wife he has.  I have just about always been good about doing things now instead of later - well maybe not so great with the dishes - but for 'important' things I like to get them done now so that I do not have to worry about them.

Before I left Egypt they were making noises that they were going to be instituting property tax - so everybody had to register their property - well the backlash was ferocious - so there was noise that they would start very slowly - and of course I wanted to register the property - rather than face the chance of being penalized by not getting it done by the deadline - and of course Ayman was all for waiting - but again I pushed and it got done before I left - did not take all that long - actually took longer to drag him out of the house - he just wanted a 20 minute nap - I had already made the bed - so no way - it was all of 9:30 a.m. - he had been up for about 45 minutes - the joys of East and West - well actually the joys of night owl and morning person - guess which one I am.

Need to think of something to eat for lunch - no idea what to make - maybe I will get busy and make some zero point spaghetti sauce, cook up some sausage or smokies, and cook up one of the spaghetti squash I bought (no points), cook up some broccoli and make a salad - hmmmm - sounds like a good meal.  Guess I need to get busy and get started on the spaghetti sauce - usually use canned tomatoes - but will stew up some of the tomatoes I have bought. 

Will endeavour to upload some pictures later today.

I am heading back to bed for a short snooze before I head to work. Has been a busy morning. Cooked the last of the beets - SIGH. And also made a big batch of home made tomato soup - looking forward to having a bowl of it after work with some garlic bread. Numm. Even have all the dishes done - and the ginormous pressure cooker Marian has is put away. Lunch will be fish, quinoa, beets, swiss chard and maybe a salad. Can you tell I am 'trying' to be good. Am on my third litre of water - need to have the toilet attached - spend a lot of time making my bladder gladder. Hope that in a few days things will settle down - and my body will 'get used' to the water - usually does.

Right now the weather 'looks' gorgeous - sunshine, blue skies - but that can change in a matter of minutes. Will be interesting to see what it is like when I get up.

On my way home from work I will stop at Safeway and get some more tomatoes - they are on sale - and it is certainly soup weather. Plus will make a batch of spaghetti sauce - bought a couple of small spaghetti squash - for spaghetti and sauce - no points - love it. Will likely add some meat of some sort - maybe a chicken smokey or a chicken sausage - low points and maybe a piece of garlic bread - getting hungry thinking about it - will do that tomorrow.

What a cruddy day weatherwise - man we have had sun, snow, rain, sleet and more snow - it is still snowing - I got home just in time - YUCK.

Work is as usual - I have finally caught up with the RTS - am working on mail that was boxed on September 14 - so.... a light at the end of the tunnel. Now I just need to be careful not to work myself out of a job - thought I was going to - there was no mail for a couple of days - got me kind of worried - but the last two days have got 3 boxes both days - I can manage to get through 3 boxes (short) and usually one box of 'flats' - magazines, 8 x 11 sized envelopes, 5 x 7 sized envelopes - etc. There are now five boxes waiting to be done - one of them is 1/2 done - got that much of it done before I called it a day. My back is not happy with me today. I left for work at noon - instead of 1:10 - because I needed to get a few groceries - so I have been on my feet a lot longer than usual - and my back is letting me know it is less than thrilled with me. Does not help that I did not sleep very well last night - had trouble getting to sleep - unusual for me - I usually drop off quite quickly and then have trouble staying asleep - but last night was different. I guess the news Ayman gave me unsettled me more than I thought it had. While chatting with him yesterday he informed me that my downstairs neighbour - who is determined that I will get rid of the garden - has contacted a lawyer - and the lawyer contacted Ayman. This started over a year ago now. She has decided that the reason the paint is coming off her ceiling is because of the garden - now I have not seen where the paint is peeling - Ayman has - but typical Ayman he does not 'remember' where it is - last year her husband called Ayman and Ayman contacted a painter and made arrangements with the husband to pay for having the ceiling repainted - even went as far as purchasing the supplies needed. But wifey would have nothing to do with it - so Ayman returned the supplies. Now she has contacted a lawyer. Guess she and her next door neighbour do not get along - gee wonder why - and she has been trying to get the neighbour to complain as well - but there is nothing to complain about - she even went so far as to complain that she was getting dangerous worms in her flat from my garden - hmmm - yet I don't have any in my flat - guess they just slithered out the door, down the stairs and into her place - give me a break. Ayman is sure it is a tempest in a teapot - but man it galls me. I guess the paint in her bedroom - which is right below ours - is also peeling - and she is blaming the garden - DUH????? I have had second hand experience about how slowly the wheels of justice work in Egypt - so doubt that much will ever come of it - especially because the place is in my name - and I am likely going to be out of the country a lot - good luck finding me in the country and then having the time to get me to court before I take off again. It is most unfortunate that she is being so 'silly' - she has given Suzanne, (my sister in law) her husband Sadee and her eldest son Mahmoud grief over the garden on a regular basis - because of course she cannot talk to me about it because her English is likely about as good as my Arabic - so.......feel badly that my family has had to be dragged into this pettiness - but such is life.

Not much else to report - Marian is still on holidays - expect her back on Monday - likely pretty late - she is not very good at getting anywhere at a decent time - oh well - her life not mine.

Last Sunday a friend of Marians - whom I have met - Denise - called me - was surprised to get me at home - guess she had been calling - did not leave a message - and I certainly did not recognize the number so I did not call her back - she had misunderstood what my work hours were - she thought I had been avoiding her - but not true - I was just at work whenever she called. We drove out to Dunvegan gardens - bought a bit of fresh produce - I bought green and wax beans and swiss chard and she stocked up on beets to make pickled beets for her girls. We wandered around the greenhouse for a bit - then headed to her place - where she had laundry to do - so we chatted and then ended up going out for supper - her treat. We had a really good visit - she is a really interesting lady.

Other than that my life consists of work and home or home and work depending on your perspective. It is nice to have the pile of boxes down to a manageable number - wonder how long it will be before the powers that be decide that they are going to make a permanent part time position out of the job I have been doing - scuttle butt has it that I will have first dibs on the job when/if it comes through - hmmmm - decisions, decisions.

It has been a very quiet day here - Marian left yesterday for her holidays - she is heading out to BC to visit the folks. She will be gone for two weeks - what will I do??? Today I tidied up the kitchen - turfed a few things - Marian will not likely be happy - but I warned her. She had a sunshine iced tea jar - and the spigot leaked - she wanted to get it fixed - told her she had 3 weeks to look after it - after that I would deal with it - as in throw it out - that was 6 weeks ago - so today I turfed it - shhhhh don't tell her - see if she notices. She took two of the cats with her - leaving Tiger and Snookums with me - and right now Tiger has woken up and is sitting on the desk top - 'helping' me type -not sure what she wants - she is not a particularly cuddly cat - but .... bet she wants food - seems to be a constant in their lives - every time you head to the stairs they beat you to it - to their food dishes in the hopes that they will be fed - good luck on that one. She wants her head scratched - does love that. And just stepped on the enter key - so lots of lines put in. Weather was not bad today - mostly sunny - but the clouds have rolled in now - they are promising rain tomorrow and Monday - so much for the long weekend - but why am I not surprised.

Work is as usual - although one of the supervisors informed me that they are considering making the position a permanent part time one - the one I have been doing - and as I have been doing the job for a month or so - seems like forever - I will get first crack at the cat - so to speak. Hmmm - do I want to go from temporary to permanent part time - not sure - decisions, decisions. Have decided to speak to HR and get a bit of background info regarding the difference in the two - and not worry overly much about it - after all this is the post office - will not worry until I hear for sure they are going to do something.

Maybe tomorrow I will play around with the camera and see about uploading some pics - not making any promises but will certainly think about it.

Finally heard from Ayman - had talked with him briefly on Monday - he had his knickers in a knot because I had not called him - so Tuesday I went and bought some phone cards - and tried to call him Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - phones were off - very unlike him - his phones are rarely off because he has to be in contact with drivers - was getting very worried - but turns out he was in an area that has really bad signals - so no phone signals - hmmm - do I believe him - or was he getting back at me - a common Egyptian practice. One shows one's displeasure by not answering phone calls from the person who has pissed you off - he has done this to me before - but man does he get irate when I do it to him. Last time I did it - he was really incensed - told him I thought it was the Egyptian custom - to ignore phone calls when you are upset with the person - as he had done this to me - and he is always telling me that I do not understand the Egyptian customs - so ..... he told me he did not like it when I did this to him - told him I did not like it when he does it to me - so ...... I had called him at 5 a.m. this morning - and his phone actually rang - so I came downstairs and got a phone card and called him and then he did not answer - ARGH - he says he was in the mosque when I called. Said he would try to get to a cybernet after iftar - no call - so I guess the cybernet was not there or not open. Must admit I do not like not being able to keep in touch with him - worries me when he is unavailable.

Not much else to report - things are pretty quiet on the northern front.

Here it is Monday - SIGH - back to the grind. The weekend was very busy - not much 'down' time.

Saturday the weather was not very nice - since we had planned on going to the County Fair here in Fort McMurray - it was chilly and damp - but we persevered - there were lots of arts and crafts and baking on display - lovely quilts - I was quite impressed with the scope of talent here in Fort McMurray - it is not a very large town - but there are a lot of very talented crafters here. Need to get busy and upload some pictures - right now I think I am doing well just blogging - but need to get on the pictures - pictures make the blog much nicer. We spent four hours poking around Heritage Park - where the Fair was held - looking at the buildings they have - as well as looking at the crafts and the vendors. We happened on the Dunvegan Garden's booth and bought some beets, carrots, onions, radishes and then I found that they had baked goods for sale - oh oh - ended up buying four cinnamon buns and a tiny zucchini lemon poppyseed loaf. So guess what I am doing today - yep cooking beets - getting ready to make another batch of borscht - Marian put in a request. I am very glad that I splurged and bought my yellow duck jacket - as Marian calls it - it is a waterproof jacket - got it at WalMart for $8.00 or something like that - has turned out to be very handy. Unfortunately all the standing around in the cold weather did not help my knee any - but such is life. When we finished at the County Fair we went grocery shopping and got a few things that we needed. Got home - I made a gourmet meal of hot dogs and a salad - we also had 1/2 a cinnamon bun for dessert - then prepared ourselves for 'movie' night - we watched the movie 'Precious' - Marian has quite a movie collection as well as TV Series - the movie was 'interesting' - not autobiographical - but I guess a combination of stories - sad that this happens - made me truly appreciate that which I had as a child. It was certainly sobering.

Unfortunately I did not sleep well Saturday night - woke up around 2:30 a.m. and could not get back to sleep - tossed and turned - finally gave up and started reading. Did not manage to get any more sleep - ARGH. Meant Sunday was going to be a very long day.

Sunday was Marian's company's first annual picnic - lousy timing as a fair number of their drivers are Muslim and of course are fasting for Ramadan - so the turnout was not as good as it could have been. Weather was much better - sunny with a few cloudy periods - when it was sunny it was VERY nice. We were supposed to start early - but Marian got sidetracked - surprise, surprise - so by the time we got moving it was time that I had wanted to be back home so I could have a nap - I get CRANKY without sleep - but I ended up going - because if I did not go Marian would not go - oh well. Had quite an enjoyable time - ran into Brenda - she is one of the Weight Watchers leader here in Fort McMurray - she commented that I had lost more weight since I quit going to meetings (financially and psychologically could no longer cope with it) - and yes I have managed to lose around another 20 lbs. - have .6 lb. to lose and I will be at the 50 lb. mark - still a long way to go before I get to my goal -but I am closer than I was. Before we went to the picnic we stopped at Save on Foods and bought out their quinoa - it is usually $1.59/100 g - on sale this week for $0.99/100 g - I bought 2 kg. to take back with me to Egypt - I really like it - and I am sure Ayman will eat it as well - as he eats anything. Marian got around 6 kg. of it - they now have no more - we bought it all. But we both like it - and since I found the recipe for Tabouleh Quinoa - it is a real crowd pleaser - we go through quite a bit of it. We indulged at the picnic and had a couple of burgers each - small ones - so when we got home I put together a huge salad and that is what we had for supper - and polished off the last of the cinnamon buns - we each had one for breakfast - they were YUMMY.

So here it is Monday morning and I have cooked beets - now need to wait for them to cool off so I can put together the borscht - guess I should have some breakfast - not sure what interests me - but I need to get something going - already had some 'concord' type grapes - yummy. Going to cook fish, beans, corn on the cob and have salad for lunch - it is our big meal of the day. Then for 'supper' we will have soup and maybe a sandwich.

TGIF - and I am finished work for the day.

Yesterday was a long day. Worked my usual 2-6 at the post office - then went to A&W and had a Teenburger - they were donating a dollar from every teenburger sold to MS - so Marian and I went to do our part - yeah right - okay so you don't believe me. They also had a fairly good collection of 'classic' cars to look at - I was quite impressed with the number of cars considering that Fort McMurray's population is around 100,000. They even had cars there that are older than ME - hard to believe - but it is true. After we gawked at the cars - and Marian shook her head at some of the souped up cars that were automatic - hard to believe - what is the point - we headed home and guess what - the flyers were on the doorstep. So we came in made our bladders gladder and headed out to do the flyers. I have not been doing much in the way of helping since I buggered up my knee - have been helping mainly by driving and loading the flyers into the carrier bag for Marian - have been slowly working my way back to doing my share. Last night I did - and man is my knee ever sore today - had trouble getting to sleep last night because my legs were so sore - partly from the walking - the steps kill me - and partly because I have been doing squats every day - and my quads are saying - WHAT IN SAM HILL ARE YOU DOING TO US - hmmm - maybe I should only do them every other day. Once we finished the flyers and disposing of the extras - we came home grabbed a well deserved ice cream treat - walked up the hill to the gazebo that is perched on the hill - and sat inside to watch Mother Nature put on a really whiz bang light show. The lightening was stupendous - and the thunder was pretty good too. Only problem was that it was past my bedtime - Marian's as well - got home a bit after 10:00 and I did some stretches and then had my shower and tried to sleep. Marian got 'sidetracked' as is her wont - and did a bunch of laundry before getting to bed - so she did not get upstairs until after midnight and then she had to have her bath. We were supposed to get up early this morning and go for a walk - got up around 7:00 - knocked on her door - and she said she wanted to get more sleep - I did not argue too much - my legs were still giving me grief from yesterday - but I got up and had my shower and got dressed and came downstairs. Today is the first day of Marian's weekend - she has 3 days off - but today she had to attend a Professional Driver Improvement Course - which took all morning. She had made an appointment with Telus to come in and do something with her TV's - so I had to stay put - and of course they phoned yesterday to confirm - and stated their technician would be by anytime from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. - I usually head to bed around 10:00 for a laydown - find the afternoon at work goes better if I give my feet and legs a break - only an hour - but could not do this today because I was waiting for the Telus technician - and I was worried that if I went upstairs to lay down I would not hear him when he came - because you cannot hear much of anything when you are upstairs - kind of nice most of the time - but times like this would have been nice to have not had it so quiet. Anyhow so I stayed up - he called around 11:30 (could have had my rest) - he was on his way - did I want him to come - UH YES - called again after about 10 minutes - he was lost - had to give him directions - talk about the blind leading the blind - like I know my way around Fort McMurray- luckily he was quite close so I knew where he was and could give him directions to the house. He was here for about 30 minutes - and when he left I went upstairs for my rest. Marian got home in time for me to take the car and drive to work.

Got to work and ended up sitting around for two hours because I could not get into the program I needed. Have a feeling IT had been busy after Jim left - he was gone when I got there at 2:00 - and had done some upgrades and closed the program - only problem is that no one there knew what the password was - so we had to wait for Jim to arrive home and call back - so did not really start work until just before 4:00 - managed to get two boxes of mail done - one short one - and one 'flat' one - not as much as I usually get done - but did not have my usual amount of time either - so shoot me.

Got home and prepared supper - leftover barbecued steak, fresh green beans, corn on the cob, salad and some potatoes that I cut up and 'fried' in the oven. For dessert we had some chocolate pudding - all in all a good meal. Now I have to figure out what to cook for the coming week - because there are no leftovers - will be thinking about eating a lot of fish - we have bought lots of it - was on sale - so should just eat it up - make room in the freezer.

Tomorrow we are planning on heading to Heritage Park for Fort McMurray's Country Fair. And then on Sunday the company Marian is working for - Diversified Transportation - is putting on their first Family Picnic - not a great time to do this - as a lot of the drivers are Muslim and it is Ramadan so they are not able to eat - but I guess they will be bringing their kids and the kids can eat.

Ayman headed back to Libya on Wednesday - he is hoping to be able to ship some copper to Egypt during the next couple of weeks and then hightail it back to Egypt for Eid.

And that is it for today.

OK - to continue the saga of the last 3 months.

My job hunting has been more 'successful' here than in Calgary. I applied for a part time job working at A&W - was hired to work Saturday and Sunday and some evenings. Unfortunately the woman who hired me then quit - and the new management were not happy that she hired me at $13.50 an hour - according to them my wage should have been around $11.00 an hour - because I would only be working on weekends and the occasional evening. I did all the training - it is done online - took what seemed forever. Every time I would complete a module I would be told to do more. I ended up doing all 18 of them - when I only really needed to do six of them. Oh well - interesting.

I then applied - on a whim - for a letter carrier position with Canada Post. Actually my niece Annie told me about the position - she had applied for it - so I thought what the heck - and I got called. Had to go in for a GAT (General Aptitude Test) - now I remember them from when I was being tested by Manpower (way before it was called UI now EI) to decide what 'career' best suited my 'skills' - and I was a bit freaked because I remember the math being a doozy - and I was not all that great at math when in school - and as you know from my previous post - it has been just a 'day or two' since I was in school - so I worked myself up into a sweat about the math portion. Day finally came to go for the testing and why was I surprised - they were so disorganized. The tests had not been run off yet - and instead of giving us the test first - they give us a wad of paperwork that had to be done - security clearance, privacy issues, TD1's, banking information - all kinds of stuff - which to my way of thinking was a waste of time until we had at least passed the GAT - but who am I to question the way things are done - after all this is Canada Post. We were to be there by noon - and of course people showed up late - so held everyone up - because we had to fill out all the paperwork before we could get to the testing - ARGH. Well the math - after all my stressing - was a non-event - very basic - adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing - no sweat - interesting to hear the 'young 'uns' go on about how tough the math was - SAY WHAT - but of course they do not know how to do it without a calculator - I just breezed through it. Did run into problems with the short term memory test - my ability to memorize things has never been very good - and after noon it drops dramatically - being a morning person and all - so I likely did not do all that well on that portion of the test - so I am figuring I am done for. But lo and behold I get a phone call - I passed the GAT and am not onto - what I think and have been told - is the last hurdle - the one on one interview - a bunch more scenario questions - as well as a map question - get through that and I think I did quite well. Then I get an email saying they have added a physical fitness test to the equation - more stress - ARGH - oh well - I have been walking a couple of hours most days - so I think I am all right. In the email I am given the phone number and instructions that I have 48 hours to make the appointment or I lose the opportunity. So I immediately start calling the number they have given - to find out it is the fax number - hmmm - Marian suggests looking the company up in the phone book and getting the number from that - so I do - call them and am told that they cannot make an appointment right now - they will call me later in the day - so I wait - at 3:30 - no call so I phone them - and am told that they are not yet set up for the testing - could I please call back in a week to 10 days - SAY WHAT????? I tell them I have 48 hours to make the appointment or I lose the chance of work - no change. So I contact the woman I had interviewed with - she was not there - but I got the number for HR in Edmonton - gave them a call - told them that the number in the email is actually the fax number - oh - so sorry - but that email comes from head office - ok - then I tell the woman that I did make contact with the company that was to do the physical testing - and was told that they were not yet set up - she was some surprised - because the company told Canada Post they were ready in mid-June - and this was the end of June - hmmmm - so she makes some calls - gets back to me - tells me that they are ready - and the company calls while I am at A&W and Marian makes the appointment - I am now stressing about this. Go for the test and it was a 'piece of cake' - only problem I had was being hooked up to a heart monitor for the walking section - you were carrying the postal bag - with increasing amounts of weight - up to 35 lb. - and you had to walk 300 ft. including up a step - hmmm - not bad - except I was rushing - and my heart rate exceeded their 'normal range' - so I had to stop - a phone call was put into Canada Post - and a decision was made to give me another chance - this time I took it nice and slow and remember to breathe - second time around my heart behaved itself - minor detail that my resting heart rate is higher than their normal - but God forbid anyone 'think' - so I leave there and wait again for a call or something. The call comes in when I am at A&W - Marian calls me and I am thrilled. Finally I am going to be working - had applied for many, many jobs in my 'field of expertise' and heard nothing from anyone. So, at the age of 53 I am going to be a mail carrier - GULP.

Went in on July 12 to start my training - remember how in the previous post I mentioned that on July 10 I had injured my IT band - now it is causing major problems. My first week of training is on a walking route - about 14 km long - and I am in PAIN. Having to walk is not the problem - but the stairs are a killer - Monday I just followed Kriscinda - my trainer - and Tuesday I delivered a bit of mail - Wednesday she divided the walk in 1/2 and I did one 1/2 and she did the other - then on Thursday we switched - Wednesday took me forever because the bags of mail had been put in the wrong transfer boxes - so I did not have the mail at the right place - meant I was doing a lot of backtracking - oh well - got it done - then on Friday I did the whole route on my own - she helped me do the sort - which is the most important part of the job - you sort it right and then you just follow the mail - was going along really well - until I got to a transfer box - and the wrong bag was in it - NOT AGAIN - yes again - so I just picked up the bag and carried it to the right box and took the bag that was supposed to be in the other box back to it - and carried on my not so merry way. The weather was HOT and HUMID - so I was sweating and dehydrated - but I followed the mail and managed to finish it just before 3:00 - Kriscinda is usually done by noon at the latest - oh well - got back to the depot and had time to sort through the mail that was waiting to be done - called flats - magazines, and advertising (not flyers) and got out by 3:30. Called Kriscinda when I got home - she was surprised that I finished when I did - thanks I think. I just kept following the mail - must admit by the latter part of the day I was really wishing the mail would just disappear. Got home and soaked my feet in cold water - AHHHHH.

The second week of training was done on a 'motorized' run - which means you drive around in a Canada Post vehicle - the route I was trained on is in a newer area of Fort McMurray - and most of the mail is delivered to the super mail boxes - she has six of them on her route - and as well you deliver all the parcels to the houses for that area - and there is a small walking section as well. Much easier on my knee - but this woman kept telling my to pick up the pace - I was slowing her down - well I was going as fast as I could - will take time to get as fast as these guys who have been doing it for years. I tend to have to look at the mail a lot more than they do - they do the same route day in day out - week after week - so they know the route really well. Anyhow I managed to finish the second week of training - still in a lot of pain - but I finished it.

Now I have been hired as a temporary mail carrier - so I now sit at home and wait for the phone to ring to be called in. On the Friday of the 2nd week of training I am told that I will have Monday off - so I sleep in - am in the shower at 7 - when Marian comes banging on the door - I have to go to work - thank goodness she was not working - so I could take the car - they needed help with sorting the mail - usually you get one maybe two boxes of mail - well most of the routes were dealing with four to five boxes - and one of the regular carriers was off - so the person doing her route needed help sorting the mail - so that was fine by me. Then Kriscinda - the girl who trained me on the walk route was not feeling well - so I ended up doing half of her route - they called it an 'overtime' route and it is done a lot differently - so I was not very fast at getting it done - took me until 3:00 to do half of the route - but I was going round and round in circles - I was SO confused - I knew how to do the whole thing - but the way they divided it had me thoroughly flumoxed - oh well I got it done. No calls came in for the remainder of the week.

The following Tuesday I missed a phone call from them - did not hear the phone and did not see that they had called until later in the day - ARGH. Decided to head in on Wednesday to see what was going on - I had to pay the $5.00 initiation fee for the union - so used that as my excuse to go in - went in for 7:00 a.m. and told the supervisors I would show up every day at 7:00 because I do not have a car - so to wait at home would waste a lot of time - I would not get paid for the time - but I did not care - would rather be there when they need me then at home and not be able to get there until 8 - which means you are running late with no chance of getting caught up. Was told to report to the other depot (there are two in Fort McMurray) at 1:00 p.m. that day to be trained on RTS (Return To Sender) mail - ok - means I will be working from 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. five days a week - I am not THRILLED - but it does beat sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring. The job is B O R I N G - you sit or stand at a table - pick up an envelope - type in the postal code of the sender - put the envelope in the machine and a label is put on it with the sender's postal code and reason for the mail being returned - and then you do it over and over again - oh yes it is just such a thrill. I am able to do 3 boxes of mail in a 'normal' shift - do not seem to be getting anywhere - because for every 3 boxes I do - another 3 come in the next day - yesterday I finished the RTS mail for July - which was an accomplishment. And actually got the mail done for Aug. 4 as well. Will be at this for the foreseeable future. Talked with the supervisors - had been thinking maybe I was being punished or I had washed out as a letter carrier - but was told if I would rather they could bring someone else in and I could sit at home - told them no thanks I am happy to be working four hours a day - just want to know that there is a chance I will get to go outside and play - and they said yes. The VOP training (have to be trained to drive their vehicles) will next be held at the beginning of October - so will be doing that - missed the last one because of the danged long drawn out hiring procedure - oh well - such is life.

And I think that is the end of the post for today.

Well this is truly frustrating. Spent a couple of hours yesterday typing up my life in the last few months on MS Word and am unable to copy it onto my blog - so will have to start from scratch.

First my hair has been cut numerous times - so have lost the calico look and am au naturel - white - with a sprinkling of pepper. Have renewed my licence again and even took the major step and admitted that my hair colour is white - ah isn't aging grand.

I think I will start with my 35 year high school reunion. It took place on July 9 and 10. I flew out to Winnipeg from Fort McMurray, rented a car and drove to Pinawa - located 120 km ENE of Winnipeg - on an island in the Winnipeg River - beautiful place. We moved there in 1971 - in April - I was in Grade 8. Did not really find my niche as the kids in my class had been together since Grade 1 - definitely odd man out. Found out how odd at the reunion - a couple of people questioned whether I had graduated with them - hmmm - really made an impression. Of course the girls I did associate with did not come to the reunion - we were kind of the 'outcasts'. Arrived in Pinawa around 5 - had dinner with my hostess - a friend of my parents that I got to know through Miles - and her son who was visiting from Australia. After supper I went to the meet and greet - that had originally been planned to be held at the Pub - but the pub burned down a month or so before the reunion - so the venue was moved to one of the organizer's back yards - only drawback were the mosquitoes - one of the bonuses of living in the 'wilderness'. The only people who recognized me were the few people who I have connected with through Facebook - the rest were absolutely clueless - and even wondered if I had in fact graduated with them - I assured them I had. It was 'fun' to see the people who were there - there were about 15 who showed up for Friday night - again I was the observer - watching people. And I remembered why I did not associate with them even in high school - their idea of fun is to see how much liquor they can consume before upchucking - not much has changed. I was busy in high school babysitting - earning the princely sum of $.50 an hour. Good money back then - how the times have changed. This was the first reunion that I had attended - will likely attend others if I am in the country and available - but will plan to stay longer than 2 days. Saturday I opted out of the golfing - I have never golfed in my life - no desire to start now - and spent the day with my gracious hostess - Helen - she took me on a tour of the town - sure has changed. When we lived there there were very few fences - my dad put one up and I think it was one of the very few in the town. But fences have now been erected to keep the deer out of people's yards. The deer have become a real problem - Helen and I were sitting in her back porch and a doe and her fawn just about came in and joined us - they are very tame - guess there are a few reasons why the deer have become such vermin 1) there are very few kids - when we lived there there were loads of kids - so lots of noise; 2) new town bylaw keeping dogs tied up - when we lived there the dogs roamed - so kept the deer at bay and 3) lots of Bambi lovers. There are even people who feed them - causing more of a problem. Saturday night we were supposed to go to the club for a meal - but again the venue had to be changed - the chef quit earlier in the week - so salads were catered and we barbecued in another classmates back yard. It was quite enjoyable - again I watched and marvelled. Unfortunately I managed to trip and injure my IT (ileotibial) band - making walking very painful. I flew back to Fort McMurray on Sunday.

And that is all I have time for tonight. Will endeavour to do more tomorrow.

Every day I receive a couple of spiritual newsletters. This one that I got today really struck a chord - so I thought I would share it with you.

Differences and Divsions

Differences and divisions are not the same things.

Differences, confirm and make possible, your experience of Who You Are. Divsions confuse and render impossible that experience. Without the differences between here and there, up and down, fast and slow, hot and cold none of these things could be epxerienced. Yet there is no division between here and there, up and down, fast and slow, hot and cold. These are merely different versions of the same thing. Similarly there are no divisions between black and white, male and female, Christian and Muslim. These are merely different versions of the same thing.

I promise to start blogging on a regular basis - had a post all typed up in MSWord and am having trouble copying it - so will try again tomorrow.

Ta da - as promised yesterday here are pics of the new 'do'. I also included pictures of the car after we had picked up a few groceries in Fort McMurray before we finished the trip.

Here I am with the everyday look - looking a tad bit like a calico cat.

The everyday look from the front.

Here we are really styling - spikey here I come.

Looking so happy - but still styling.

And a back shot - some would say my best side - kind of hard seeing the dark hair at the back - used to all be that colour. SIGH.

Here I am in the car - well packed - good thing we did not have far to go.

See how much stuff is in the car - and at the bottom of one of the piles is a cat carrier with two kitties.

Good thing it was well packed - only got attacked by a jacket and a backpack a couple of times.

Love that hang dog expression - poor little ol' me - just all packed up for the long journey to Marian's place.

Where has the time gone? Hard to believe that it is over 3 months since I arrived in Canada. Have had winter, summer, spring, winter, spring in those 3 months. Gotta love spring in Canada – especially Calgary.

So far I have had no luck with finding employment. On May 4th I packed up and came to Fort MacMurray with my sister – in the hopes that I would be able to find work here – economy is much better here than in Calgary – so keep your fingers crossed that I am able to find work. My niece’s husband has a lead with the company he works for – heard that the company here in Fort MacMurray are looking for an Admin. Assistant – so will endeavour to find out where their office is and on Monday I will drop in with my resume and tell them that I had heard they were in the market for an Admin. Assistant and I am interested in the position. If this does not pan out may end up working at Timmy’s serving coffee and donuts – YEAH – oh well will beat nothing. And at least I have a place to stay here in Fort MacMurray.

Two weeks ago I had to move from my friend’s place, not sure what was going on – but I was asked to leave – so figured I would move in with my niece and her family along with my sister – was talking to Miles (son) and he asked me to move in with them – so I did. Spent 8 days with them – was nice to spend time with them – had not seen much of them since I had arrived. Did manage to spend some of the Easter weekend with them. We were invited over for Easter supper on Sunday, my parents had come into town – the arrived Friday night – and I had bought a small roast – cooked it up with potatoes, and made Yorkshire pudding (nummy) – invited Maurine and her daughter Maurghan over to join us. Saturday we went to WalMart – mom was looking for shoes – she found two pairs that she deemed suitable. Then we went to Shawna’s place for supper – it was quite a gathering – my two nieces and one nephew came up from Edmonton – had not seen the nephew for about 10 years – he has growed some – it was nice to see him – he was on his best behaviour – there were no major or even minor incidents – WHEW – my niece lives in a smallish place – and there were 10 adults and 4 little kids there – was nice to be together. Sunday we went to Miles and Shani’s place for Easter dinner – there were around 15 people there – mainly her family. Miles youngest sister Jennifer had been in Calgary and they got together for a couple of hours at Miles place – would have been nice to have seen her – but we missed her by 10 minutes – oh well. Had a very nice dinner there – good food and pleasant company. Monday we had KFC – Dad had a hankering for it – so we went out to Maurine’s place and on the way purchased a bucket of chicken – love it when Dad cooks. Mom and dad headed east on Tuesday morning. They went to Saskatchewan to visit family and friends. While they were gone we had a wing ding of a snow storm in Calgary and south – was really ugly – have actually had a few storms – as I said luv’n spring in Canada.

Marian was in Calgary waiting for the birth of her newest grandchild – Shawna’s fourth – little fart showed up late – she had booked a month off work – and he showed up 10 days before she had to head back to work – so she asked for 3 more days off – and we headed up on Tuesday – through yet another snow storm – roads were scary in parts – especially around Edmonton – they had had a really bad snow storm – whiteout conditions – cars and big rigs all over the place in ditches – apparently it hit around noon – so good thing we were late leaving – as usual – weather was so bad that a car got hit by a train – all 3 in the car were killed. We spent the night with Marian’s daughters Gloria and Annie – along with Gloria’s son. Wednesday we headed to Fort MacMurray and the roads were clear, weather was good, sunny and blue skies all the way up – a bit windy – but nothing compared to the wind we had on Tuesday, we made the trip safely – you should have seen the car – it was packed to the gunnels – good thing as the wind was so strong – at least the car was heavy and did not get blown around too much.

Unfortunately there is no gym here that is affiliated with the gym that I belong to in Calgary – so I am going to have to improvise – thank goodness (I guess) Fort McMurray is a very hilly town – so there are lots of hills to walk up and down – Marian’s place is not far from a walking path – and it has a humdinger of a hill – so I am walking that five days a week – plus another walk with Marian after she finishes her first shift in the morning – well at least until I find work that is.

I miss being home in Egypt – but this is something I have to do – I really need to earn some money – and it is kind of nice being here for so long – away from the drama that seems to be my life there. I miss my family there – and I really miss Aymn –this is the longest separation we have had since we married. I like being where I understand the culture, the language and how things are done – but I miss the people in Egypt.

Two weeks ago today I had my niece cut my hair – I did not particularly like the style that I had – so she used her clippers and cut it all off – it is about an inch long all over – most people really like it – I think it is funky – not sure how it will be received in Egypt – but we will cross that bridge when we get to it. Should get a picture taken and post it – hmmm – I was bright and did not bring my camera cord – so will see if I can get Marian to take a pic and upload it.

While in Calgary I was fortunate to spend a fair bit of time with my cousin – Maurine. We had a lot of fun – miss her here – but such is life. Also got to spend a week with my folks shortly after arriving from Egypt. Would have been nice to have been able to go to Creston this weekend since tomorrow is Mother’s Day – and then next weekend is a long weekend – but I am finding life does not always work out the way we want it to – I know – just a tad slow on the uptake.

Not much more to report – have started back with cross stitching – have one project on the go and 7 in the wings waiting for me – so need to get myself organized here and figure out how I can work on it.

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 .....

Well, since my mom ditched me and I have 30 minutes before I head home - I will take this opportunity to blog.

I do not have a computer at the moment - have not had one for about 3 months - need a new motherboard and new RAM at the same time - and I just do not have the money for it. So I am back to sitting in cybernets and being smoked. Sure do wish there was one near the house that was a non-smoking one - but such is life - the one I am using is more expensive than most - but it keeps the 'gamers' out of the place - which is good.

I am heading back to Canada on January 29th, have my ticket in my hot little hand. Will be looking for work as I have a few debts I need to look after - and my investment money has disappeared - turns out it was a ponzi scheme - I am very grateful that I got all of the money I invested out of it before it dried up - but it sure has changed my plans for the future. Am looking forward to being back for my 'sanity' break.

Not sure how long I will be in Canada - will all depend on how long it will take me to earn the money to cover my debts as well as have a nest egg so that I can afford to go home next year. If things work out well enough on this trial I will look at going back for the summer for the next few years - a) to add to my CPP and b) to build up a bit of a nest egg for unforeseen circumstances here in Egypt.

Weather here has been wonderful - not much rain yet. I spent Christmas in Ain Sokhna with my buddy Margaret - spent Christmas day at the beach in the water - even managed to 'drag' two little ones in the water with me. Margaret and her husband, Mustafa, had company for Christmas Day - husband and wife with 3 adorable little ones - 5, 4 and 2. I managed to entice the two older girls into the water with me. Unfortunately because I do not have my own computer I am unable to post my pictures - but I do have pics and as soon as I can I will post them.

Aymn is still spending a lot of his time in Libya - although the last time he was back he managed to spend a bit over 3 weeks here - instead of his usual 10 days to 2 weeks - was kind of nice. Things have certainly improved between us - I think the fact that I had the place listed to sell and actually had people coming to see it shocked him - whatever it was - I am glad - we are in daily contact now - last year or so once he crossed the border I rarely heard from him - so it is very nice to get text messages from him every day. On Dec. 23 he had an accident in his car in Libya - cost him over 8,000 LE to get it fixed. Managed to rear end a truck on the highway - not sure how he managed it - but he came up behind a truck that was not going nearly as fast as he was - and could not pass him as there was a truck travelling in the other lane - and of course he was going too fast to be able to stop in time - I am just very grateful that he was wearing his seatbelt - something he has started doing since his Canadian wife insists he put on the seatbelt every time he is in my car.

I spent a bit of time today in the garden - one drawback to not having 'winter' - the garden needs watering and weeding - today I tackled the rose garden - came out looking the worse for wear - have sweet peas blooming already - will take pics and post them when I have the chance as well.