What a lovely evening

That may have been one of the last walks of the summer with Helen,  I'm pretty sure the weather is going to change - in the meantime, the weather was perfect for our dusk walk tonight.  It was nice to catch up and great to go walking on such a lovely September evening!

Go Flames Go

I don't think I've seen the Flames play live yet this year - but it was a great evening tonight!  My friend at work gave me some left over tickets for tonights pre-season game against Phoenix - the game was good, we won 4-2, very exciting.  But the best part of it was when one of the Saddledome officials asked me to put my camera away - because it was too professional!  That absolutely made my day!

Here are a couple of photo's I took with my too professional camera!

Fantastic seats - second row!

Up up and away!!!

What an interesting day - in so many ways.

Nexen decided to break the world record for the amount of people all dressed as a super-hero - who even knew there was a world record for such a thing?  Well, apparently a school in Ireland  had set the record a few years ago, and we have now snatched the record with 437 supermen.  It made the news tonight and the front page of tomorrow's Herald - must be a slow news week!

All done in a good cause...all funds went to the United Way campaign.

A seriously big mirror

Remind me to not let Arlan buy stuff without my input!  I wanted to replace the little mirror in the bedroom, and we had agreed on a plain mirror in between the two doors....I didn't have in mind that it would be this HUGE....this really makes me want to diet, maybe it will be good for me!

Please ignore the horrible curtains - I can't blame Arlan for those, but heaven knows why we chose them!

Empty Nesters

This was my first full day in the office for about 3 weeks - which was quite refreshing.  It was also the first day of being back on a diet - honestly, why can't I just eat slightly less and lose weight, why do I either eat nothing or loads?!  Today was almost nothing....an orange, a nectarine, an apple and a banana, Surely I lost weight today?  We went to empty nesters tonight, lots of food, and I had none of it!!

These are some of my empty nester friends!

I don't want this weather to ever end

...another gorgeous day.  We sat outside for Priesthood and Relief Society and I was in the sun and I'm pretty sure I got a tan!  After Church I sat on the deck for a while - just because I could.  Then I went out to take my daily photo, and snapped this shot of the Bow River....

The colours of autumn, but there are still rafts out on the river....the weather is still VERY summer!

Another record breaker

Today was the annual City-Wide Food Drive, organized by the Church;  In 2008 we actually broke the Guinness World record for the most food collected in one day for a Food Bank; and this year we surpassed that number.  Again, the weather was gorgeous, which helped.  We've done it in the cold and rain in years gone by.

After collecting and delivering food, we had a BBQ and Corn bust at the Church - As you know, I LOVE taking random photo's of people, and these events give me good opportunities.  Here are 3 favourites:

Lexi

Jayden

Someone that I don't know!

First day of Autumn - really??!!

Not unusual to start seeing frost at this time of year, but I found myself complaining about the heat - we had record breaking temperatures in Calgary today.  I could hardly believe it was the first day of Fall!

Last Day of Summer

...the leaves are already turning, but the weather leaving Banff was still AMAZING..

Never go hiking with Geologists

I used to enjoy a lovely walk in the mountains, and I guess I still do, but after hiking around Johnsons Lake in Banff with a group of geologists, you start to notice specific rock formations (which, incidentally, I don't really understand) instead of just noticing how pretty the mountains are....

Do you see how the rock curve over a little bit?  Well that means something to a Geologist and they'll be happy to talk about it for an hour!

It was actually a very nice walk, the weather was gorgeous....here are my geoscientist friends...

It's all about perspective

The Leadership Conference started today, and we had assigned seating.   I swear I had the best seat in the room - right in the back corner, by the window - this was the view looking inside the room..

But then I just needed to turn 45 degrees to my left to see this....

The contrast was significant and also profound, sometimes I think I spend too much time looking in the wrong direction and missing the good stuff!

These photo's were taken with my i-phone.

I'll never tire of this

I have to go to Banff for the Nexen Leadership Forum; staying in one of my favourite hotels...the Rimrock, nestled in the mountains in Banff; I stayed here with mum once, and so it brings back fond memories.

I know this isn't a great photo, but I was driving at the time - the sun was setting over the mountains on the road to Banff and I realize how lucky I am to live here!

The return of Stake Conference

I sang in the choir at Stake Conference today - it was actually pretty good (though I say so myself) - we sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic for prelude - I love that hymn!

An opportunistic photo of the organist at conference....

I'd like to say I had a quiet afternoon, but it was far from quiet....now I just need to relax for the rest of the day and get ready for my week in Banff!

I need chocolate :)

Stake Conference

It's 10.30 at night, and I really don't know where the day went...chores, choir practice, pottering around at home, Stake Conference and now bed time.  I didn't get anything done from my list.

I need another day this weekend.

Stake Conference was super - I always love the Saturday evening session.  There are seats reserved at the front for the seniors, so I was very glad to be attending with my father in law (and Arlan is pretty close to qualifying as well (I sure am glad he doesn't read this blog!!)

A flower at Stake Conference

Around the world in one evening

..but not literally.  The Stake had a "Round the World party" tonight - I was responsible for the English section, so I picked up a bunch of chocolate and other British stuff when I was in the UK.  Dad and I also spent hours this afternoon making sandwiches (cheese and marmite; cheese and pickle and cheese and cucumber)  - we made way too many, but it was hard to know how many to make!

The evening was amazing, probably about 1,000 people came; and some of the country displays were AMAZING!  There was a Teepee; a grass hut, dancers, musicians - but no-one else had English Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate!!

One of my photo's from the event...

Alberta bound

What do you take a photo of when you're flying for most of the day?

Sunset over Ripley

I did some last minute shopping at Marks and Spencers....I am single handedly keeping them and the entire European economy going by my lack of control over my spending habits!  And still I have nothing to wear tomorrow!

The sun was setting as I drove home from work - it was very pretty...

Can you tell the difference?

Breaking the rules slightly by including a photo from last week, but it is alongside a photo from today...

Government building in Victoria

Harrods

I know the surroundings give it away, but it is interesting.  We had dinner at Senor Sassi's  a lovely little Italian restaurant in Knightsbridge...I decided to stay in London tonight and I paid (well Nexen paid) 299 GBP for a room at the Copthorne in Kensington - it looked decent from the outside, bell man in top hat and tails, lovely lobby etc - but the room was like a cheap motel.  Amazing that they can charge that kind of money!

Same stuff, different country

It's lovely being in England, but it's the same old stuff, just a different environment...this is my evening office today - actually very similar to my evening office at home!!

In addition to my regular work, I also ordered a bunch of British stuff from Amazon for the Stake Party on Friday - hopefully it will arrive before I leave!

A drive in the country

It was lovely to see everyone at Church today - Guildford will always really be home, and it's good to catch up with everyone, but why is it that no-one else seems to age?

I went searching for a photo today, so Lauren came with me and we drove around Send, Pyford and West Byfleet looking for typically English things for a photo....and we landed (not literally) on a graveyard...

Very English!

There ain't nothing like family

I arrived at Heathrow late morning, picked up my lovely BMW rental car and was home at Dad's by lunch time.  We arranged a family get-together this afternoon, and everyone showed up (apart from George) - it was delightful catching up.  I think I have the best family!  Also, it was Lauren's 12th birthday today, any excuse for a party!!

In the lap of luxury

I've always wanted to ride in a stretch limo - so it was particularly nice that we got one from the hotel to the airport.  It was nice that we could fit everyone in and continue with "teaming" on the way back to the airport.

I flew back to Calgary, (here is a lovely view from the plane) - got home, did some laundry and last minute shopping and then got on another plane to London.  Busy day!

Another career option

I honestly think this is the best work trip I've ever been on!  That is partly because I have a bad memory and I don't really remember anything longer than a few months ago....and partly because this is actually a lot of fun.

We've had some pretty focused work in the mornings, and then fun stuff in the afternoons...followed by delightful dinners in the evenings...and it helps that the team is pretty awesome.

This afternoon's escapade was a pastry cook-off at the Empress Hotel, we got to make desserts and the chef and manager marked them; they weren't really tough enough to decide who would win, but I'm pretty sure ours was the winner!

A tough day at the office

I've wanted to go whale watching for the longest time....and today I got the chance, and it was perfect.  I took over 900 photo's - there were dozens of whales, and I got the impression that even the guides were pretty pleased with the turnout.  You'll be pleased that I'm not including all of them, I boiled it down to the following:

Occasionally they pop out of the water - the purpose is to check out what's happening and see if there is a threat - there's a name for this, but I can't remember what it is!

That's Mount Baker in the background

Awesome!

Victoria, BC

I've heard so much about Victoria - but this is the first time I've been here.  I didn't see too much today, we flew in just before dinner and after checking into the Empress hotel, we had dinner somewhere close by.  I like what I see so far!

Here is the lovely hotel, with a lovely view:

..and the government building at night, which resembles something between Harrods and Disneyland.  I can see this from my hotel room...but still no sign of mickey mouse!

Yet another Canadian holiday

It was Labour Day today, not really sure how that ended up being a holiday, but I'm very glad for it.  I didn't get nearly enough done though....I took Dad and Boyce out for haircuts, then went to Future Shop to buy Dad's new laptop (which he LOVES!) and then after setting up his new toy, doing the laundry and making a couple of meals the day was almost gone.   I guess I'll need to fit in some extra hours this week somehow!

This is Boyce getting his hair cut - he really quite enjoys having it done and I like how this guys cuts his hair, it's shorter than it used to be, way nicer in my humble opinion!

But is it art?

This evening I visited some friends who just moved house.  The house came with this work of art on the wall - it's actually quite cool, I'm not sure if they like it or not, but it will likely leave a big hole in the wall if they take it down!

Home sweet home

It occurred to me today that I have not included a photo of our house....I will probably get this blog printed at the end of the year, and it would be a shame not to have my house in the book....so here it is.

The flowers are beginning to wilt, and the air has turned colder, and I'm guessing it won't be too long before the snow flies....so this may be my best chance this year :(  and who knows how long I'll actually live here.

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!

I went into the office briefly today - it was a little chilly....but check the weather forecast for tomorrow.  I don't want to scrape ice from the cars :(

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

So, I often get to the stage when I really look forward to starting a diet - it's been a lovely summer, but I feel like I haven't stopped eating since May, and the scale is showing it.  So, tomorrow is the first day of my crazy diet.  500 cals a day for at least a few weeks.  I've already given the hotel and restaurant in Victoria a heads up that I'll need special small meals - but the good news is that I'll be 10lbs lighter by this time next week :)

This was my last meal...

Delicious!