Today I...October 31st

Today I...

...am back after a busy weekend spent with my family!

...am sharing this photos of a peacock lantern at the Botanical Gardens. I took a great deal of photos during my visit there last week, so I'll be armed with fresh photos for a little while :o)

...am so, so looking forward to my Sweetheart coming home tomorrow. If all goes well, he'll be back in Montreal tomorrow evening and we'll be getting together Wednesday after I'm done work. So don't look for me Wednesday night unless I tell you guys otherwise, because I will be nowhere near my computer :o)

...am probably going to be heading to bed earlier than usual tonight since I had issues getting to bed last night. I spent the evening with G at a tea house in the Quartier Latin and drank nothing but white tea, but still wasn't able to get to bed until 1:00 A.M.? Odd...maybe my internal clock was just out of whack because I went to bed late all weekend? Anyhow, hopefully I'll be able to reverse the cycle tonight!

Skywatch Friday

This week's skywatch feature is this photo I took of the Chinese Lantern display on the lake in Montreal's Botanical gardens.

To see more Skywatch photos from around the world, you can visit the Skywatch Friday blog.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Today I...October 26th

Today I...

...am sharing a few of the photos I took at this year's 'La Magie des Lanternes' Chinese lantern exhibit at Montreal's Botanical Gardens with you. The theme of the show this year is 'The First Emperor's Procession' and it is held, naturally, in the Chinese garden section. It is a lovely exhibit to take in either during the day or at night, but I must admit that if you are going specifically to take photos, it is much easier to get that done during the day since the exhibit can be very, very crowded at night. It is also best to go towards the end of the afternoon once all the school groups are done visiting as they can crowd the place up during the day as well. I went around 2:30 P.M. and it was a perfect time as there was still plenty of daylight and not too many people around! And here is an interesting little fact: 'La Magie des Lanternes' was among the first dates that my Sweetheart took me out on back in the Fall of 2004 and it was also my first visit to the Botanical Gardens! He couldn't believe I had lived in Montreal all my life and never been to the gardens before :o)

...was off work, naturally. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to make it to the gardens!

...did a bit of cleaning in my apartment.

...clipped my cats claws, much to their disgust.

...finally got my chicken cassoulet from the other day out of the crockpot and into some containers for the fridge and freezer.

...have a headache again, darn it!

Today I...October 25th

Today I...

...am having a pictureless post.

...finished making a series of calls for my boss.

...walked home from work for the first time in quite a while because, miracle of miracles, it was SUNNY today!!! Well, kind of sunny anyhow, which works out just fine for us! It looks like we're finally going to be getting some fairly nice weather for a while now, thank heavens! Nicer, but chillier, which is not surprising for this time of year, but as long as there's no rain, that's fine with me!

...spoke with Father D about the group of high school students from France that I gave a tour to yesterday. They were the third group of students from France that I gave a tour to in three years and they were the third group of unholy French terrors I had to deal with. There completely undisciplined and had very, very little respect for me and the teachers with them were doing nothing to discipline them. Father D told me that he taught in Paris for a while and that, unfortunately, my experience was not unusual as a lot of french teenagers are like that. Yikes, I would hate to teach in a French school!

Today I...October 22nd

Today I...

...am sharing this sunny picture of a bright orange maple tree in Pointe-Claire village with you. I told you, sunny pictures until the sun comes back!

...was actually fortunate enough to be outside during a brief sunny break this afternoon. I quite enjoyed it, despite the fact that I was hauling a very heavy cart of groceries behind me.

...spent 82$ and small change on the aforementioned heavy cart of groceries. The chicken cassoulet I'm planning on making in my crockpot had better be worth every extra penny I spent on the ingredients!

...was absolutely thrilled to get an e-mail from my Sweetheart a few minutes ago, he says everything is going well in the great white north, that lichen is cushy to walk on, Tundra more colorful than he expected, but that his flights are something else because the airplanes are tiny, the flights full of turbulence and the landing strips gravel. I know, even though he didn't mention it, that he is thinking that if I were on those planes with him I would have died of a panic attack by now. He's right. He's also two days ahead of schedule with his work and only eleven bumpy flights away from home, hopefully they'll be able to keep up the speedy work and get home early!

Today I...October 21st

Today I...

...am sharing this photo of some sailboats and windsurfers on Lake St. Louis with you. We're still waiting for another sunny day like this here, so while we're waiting, I'll keep sharing sunny photos with you :o)

...got 10 hours sleep, it was divine.

...went to get my hair trimmed and styled, it looks awesome!

...got a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks on the way home, decaf of course. It was lovely!

...got my laundry done.

...washed some dishes in an attempt to kill some time while waiting for my brother to swing my and pick me up so we can got and get some sushi for dinner.

...am hoping he gets here soon because I am STARVING!!!

Skywatch Friday

This week's Skywatch Friday feature is this series of photos that I took of these parasailers on Lake Saint Louis in Pointe-Claire over Thanksgiving weekend.


The weather was absolutely stunning that weekend and the parasailing club was more than likely all too aware that it would be their last chance to go out before the weather and the lake got too cold!

To see more Skywatch photos from around the world, you can visit the Skywatch Friday blog. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a nice weekend!

Today I...October 19th

Today I...

...found myself thinking, as I was drowning in data entry again (I will hopefully get the last of it done tomorrow), that I would love to be able to get away somewhere warm and sunny. Since I am still nine weeks away from my next 'vacation' (I have no trip planned so far, I will try and work on something with my Sweetheart when he gets back), I am breaking out one of my palm tree photos from our trip to Los Angeles in May instead. Ah, what I would give to be back there with my Sweetheart now!

...enjoyed the sun by going out for a walk during my lunch hour. It was our first sunny day since Thursday and it's going to start raining again any time now and keep it up until Friday night with some very blustery winds, so I figured I had better enjoy the nice weather while I could!

...stocked up on cat food after work as I was almost out.

...am so happy that it's finally Thursday tomorrow, I get Friday off since I worked on Sunday so three day weekend for me, yippee!

Today I...October 18th

Today I...

...am sharing this picture of some houses in Blanc-Sablon, a town in Quebec which is right on the border of Labrador and across the Gulf of St-Lawrence from Newfoundland with all of you. I think it's lovely and am wishing that I was heading there tomorrow with my Sweetheart. I will, of course, like the place even better if my Sweetheart manages to reach me from there!

...had a busy, but uneventful day at worked filled with phone calls, last minute group bookings and loads of data entry, which is know for its ability to plunge me into a coma. I defy anyone to do more than one hour straight of data entry without being plunged into a stupor!

...had a very good laugh when a man who called this morning to book a guided tour for this coming Thursday (he said he didn't know he had to book a tour in advance, imagine that!) sent an email with a scanned PICTURE of his signed booking form to me instead of scanning THE ACTUAL FORM and e-mailing that to me. There's a first time for everything :oJ

Today I...October 17th

Today I...

...am sharing this photo of some lovely Fall foliage with you :o)

...spent most of the day feeling very cold due to the cold, damp weather. Ick...

...was stuck on the phone with a very, very conservative Catholic for an hour and a quarter. I am Catholic, don't get me wrong on that one and I'm very happy to be Catholic, but I am not an über conservative Catholic, not by a long shot. If I truly was a mortal sinner for not doing everything she said I should have been doing in order for 'Jesus to love me', I would be going to Hell for sure. I believe that God and Jesus love us for who we are and take account of our efforts to be faithful Christians, not that they turn their backs on us for not being Christian enough. In my opinion, overly conservative believers do religion, no matter what the religion, more harm than good.

...had a good time at choir practice, despite the fact that we spent the better part of the practice working on a very long, difficult piece of music.

...spoke with my Sweetheart one more time before he leaves for his two week business trip on the North Shore tomorrow. His plane is taking off at 6:30 A.M. for Sept-Îles and from there he is going much further north to Blanc-Sablon, which is right next to Labrador!!! He will then gradually work his way back South until he comes home, probably on November 2nd unless things go faster or more slowly than planned. I, naturally, am hoping things will go faster, like they did last time!

Today I...October 16th

Today I...

...am letting you know that I am still alive and well. Sorry for the long wait between posts, but I got home very late on Thursday, for a work night at least and then I was at my Sweetheart's from Friday evening to last night, hence the lack of blog posts! I have been having a wonderful time though and also went out with my friend G after work tonight. Yup, I only had one day off this weekend and am now back to work until Thursday. My Sweetheart is leaving for his two week trip on Tuesday and will be back on November 2nd or 3rd, so I'm hoping it will go fast as I will then have him in town for a month before he's off to Haiti in December. Phew! Hopefully work will help it go by and he'll find some way to get in touch with me once or twice.

That's it for today, I'll try and catch up with your blogs gradually this week :o)

Today I...October 12th

Today I...

...am sharing this photo of one of the two points that give the town of Pointe-Claire its name. The other point, which is just across from this one, is home to St-Joachim church, which I featured in yesterday's post, as well as to a convent and windmill. All of the photos I have featured on my blog so far this week were taken this past weekend and I also have some very Skywatch worthy photos that I took in the same Pointe-Claire series that I will use either for this week or next week's Skywatch Friday feature.

...am letting you all know that I may not be blogging tomorrow and will not be blogging on Friday since I am going out with my mom and one of our friends tomorrow night and am going to my Sweetheart's place on Friday night. I should be back on Saturday :o)

...had a fun time with my friend V. We went to dinner at a sushi restaurant we hadn't tried yet and it was quite good.

...stained my white t-shirt after losing my hold on a gyoza (Japanese dumpling) with my chopsticks and having it plop unceremoniously into my dish of soy and vinegar dipping sauce. Luckily, I was able to get to stain out with my delicate laundry soap. I soaked the t-shirt in a sink full of warm water and a bit of the soap for about 20 minutes and voilà! no more stain. It is quite surprising that I dropped the gyoza though, I am a champion chopstick user, I can pick up and hold pretty much anything with them!

...very much enjoyed the 45 minute walk home from the restaurant. V was with me most of the way before turning off to go to her father's place, so we were able to keep chattering almost until I got home.

...am very much looking forward to the arts and crafts sale I'm going to with my mom and our friend H tomorrow as well as dinner afterwards!

...am looking forward even more to seeing my Sweetheart on Friday. I really have to stock up on time with him before he leaves for his next work-related trip on Tuesday. Two weeks this time, ugh. Fortunately it will be his last trip for a while!

Today I...October 11th

Today I...

...am sharing this picture of Église St-Joachim with you. It is the French language church in my former parish in the West Island portion of Montreal, which is still actually the parish of my entire family in Montreal except for my brother, my mother and I. It is as beautiful and well maintained inside as it is outside. The inside is painted white with sky blue and gold accents. There has been a church on the same site since 1713 and this current one is the fourth one and has been around since 1883. And here is an interesting fact about Montreal: all neighborhoods have at least two Catholic churches: one English language one and one French language one. It's Montreal, you can't have one language without the other, otherwise pandemonium ensues :o)

...went back to work and it was quieter than last week. I handled things alright, I'll just have to take the week one day at a time.

...spoke with my Sweetheart for a bit and he shared a few more pictures from his inspection trip with me. He's going to call me back in a bit, but I did get one of the two most important pieces of information I needed from him: He's here for a week, he's leaving for more inspections again on Tuesday of next week, this time for two weeks but then he's going to be done, at least for a little while.

...am going to have cabbage rolls, or 'halupki' as we call them in my family, for dinner. My mom made some a month ago and kept some in freezer for me until she was able to give them to me on Saturday. Yum!!!

Today I...October 10th

Today I...

...am back after an unscheduled break from blogging this weekend. It was much needed though after the week I had last week.

...am sharing this picture depicting the Fall color situation in Montreal this past weekend. Some trees are in full color, while others are still very green.

...was swept away by all the beautiful colors on the trees outside of Montreal today, it was gorgeous.

...went to pick apples and gather about two dozen for 4.50$! What a bargain and they taste better that what you can get in the grocery store too!

...just got an e-mail from my Sweetheart telling me that he came home early today since they got their work done faster than planned! Hooray! I'm off to answer him :o)

Today I...October 7th

Today I...

...am sharing another fall photo with you, I took it while in Toronto visiting my Sweetheart last year.

...nearly didn't go into work this morning because I just didn't feel like it. I so need a vacation.

...made it to the end of the day and nearly danced down the stairs. Thank heavens for three day weekends!

...had a nice hot shower when I got home and felt much better.

...am looking forward to a weekend spent with family and friends! I hope you all enjoy your weekend :o)

Skywatch Friday

This week's Skywatch feature are these beautiful autumn leaves against the October Sky. I'm hoping to get some more nice autumn pictures this weekend when I go and visit my mom out in the country and when I go apple picking on Monday!

To see more Skywatch photos from around the world, stop by the Skywatch Friday blog.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend, happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers!

Today I...October 5th

Today I...

...am watching the first half of the second film in the Anne of Green Gables series :o)

...got a lovely surprise and found an e-mail from my Sweetheart in my inbox earlier! He must have found some Internet access in the boonies, either that or he has 3G cell phone service so he can get his e-mails on his phone! We did get to talk on Sunday by the way, we spent nearly 40 minutes on Skype and it was lovely :o)

...am feeling better today now that I have gotten rid of nearly all the tension out of my neck and shoulders thanks to my heating pad. I've been quite stressed lately and it caught up with me and I'd had a nearly constant headache since Monday night.

...am looking forward to a three day weekend. It's Thanksgiving up here in Canada on Monday, a holiday that I've always been fond of !

Today I...October 3rd

Today I...

...got a really good giggle out of one of my fellow sopranos at choir when I told her that the exercise our director had us doing was making me feel like Beaker. Enough said :o)

Today I...October 2nd

Today I...

...am posting the pumpkin picture I had promised for yesterday :o)

...had another fairly quiet day.

...went out to get a new heater and some fish for my tank, they were a gift from a friend who thought that my remaining fish (after Quinn accidentally killed all but three of my previous fish after nudging the heater dial, as you may recall) looked lonely and knew I was short on money to get any new ones. I got one honey gourami and six micro raspboras. I'm a bit concerned about the honey gourami as she is not moving around very much, but she may just be stressed. Hopefully she'll feel better after a good night's sleep :o)

...have not heard from my Sweetheart and am hoping to later on. I may try and call him if I haven't heard from him by 9:00 as I would really like to speak with him a bit before he leaves for Anticosti tomorrow, if he is indeed leaving. It was still a toss-up when I last spoke with him on Tuesday.

Today I...October 1st

Today I...

...had a very quiet, ordinary kind of day. I did the laundry and vacuumed and practiced my music for choir.

...found it a bit chilly for my liking as the heat is not turned on in my building yet.

...am watching Anne of Green Gables. It is one of my favorite comfort movies and perfect for a day like today :o)