busy busy

The past week has flown by so quickly that I haven't had much time at the computer.

We've managed to get most of the work done on our home now so there is only one pile of boxes left - Jeff needs to sort through all the toys and mementoes he's been keeping from his youth :-) The bedrooms all look "normal" now, it's just the living areas that need a bit of touching up. Our first visitor arrives on Friday and we would like to try and get everything in order by then! Unfortunately Jeff's work schedule hasn't really given him much time to focus on doing this because of a big deadline this week. We've literally not seen him for more than an hour or so all week. He is enjoying the work but by Friday he was really tired.

I have finally started to get into the work involved with the new LLL position I took this summer. It's fun getting to know the new people I will be working with.

My best friend from Toronto was in Vancouver this week, stopping by for a few days on her way out to Asia. We got to hang out with her and her boyfriend on Thursday and Friday. Thursday we went up to North Vancouver and checked out the new building that Megan's school is being housed in this school year. The classrooms are undergoing renovations which are still in progress and I seriously wonder if the place is going to be ready by September 7th, the first day of school. The rooms and hallways are packed with boxes of school supplies but nobody can start unpacking them yet.

After this quick visit (we had to get Calum out of there before he pulled a stack of boxes over himself) we checked out Lonsdale Quay which is also in North Vancouver. It's right on a wharf, and is a two story building with a farmer's market type of atmosphere on the lower level with some overpriced boutiques upstairs. We had trouble keeping Calum out of the kids' hair salon upstairs where they had TVs for the kids to watch during their haircuts, and little cars instead of chairs to sit in. The Spiderman car near the door was very appealing to him but at $18 plus tax and tip it would have been a rather expensive experience. We grabbed some lunch from one of the various cafes there and were able to sit outdoors and watch the tugboats docking while we ate. There was a fantastic view of Vancouver across the bay too.

Yesterday we drove out to Spanish Banks beach in Vancouver and spent literally the entire day there. We got there around 11:30, had our pick of spots on the beach and stayed until sunset. The kids never get bored at the beach. It's great that we can spend an entire day there with just a few sand toys and a cooler full of food to keep us going. When we arrived it was just before the tide started going out and we watched the water receding and eventually coming back in. This particular beach is very shallow so when the tide is low you can walk out for about half a mile before you even get to the water, and when it's going in or out you can wade out just as far and the water will only come up to your waist. I say all this but I didn't actually go in the water myself - seaweed and sea critters rubbing against my legs aren't my thing.

I had some plans to do a bit of gardening in our neglected back yard today but for the first time in ages it is raining! This should bring some welcome relief from the sauna-like atmosphere we've had every day in the apartment since we moved in.