Ah, the weekend is coming to a close. For most of you it ended yesterday, mine was extended by one. Nice. I really should do that more often.

I was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and headed South to Calgary. The open road is great, but the road between Calgary and Edmonton is rather dull. Straight road thru prairie and not much to see. I made great time and after a quick stop at the mall to purchase some new frivolous make up and body wash I headed to the restaurant. As I mentioned the other day I was meeting up with three habitat friends from India. We had a great lunch and I tried to get them interested in coming up North with me to build. I think I convinced them but money and time will tell. One of the first comments made was how neat it is to see everyone in their 'regular lives'. Unlike the time we spent in India dressed in work clothes and dirt yesterday morning we were shiny clean and dressed in our 'normal' wardrobes.

After lunch I hit the road for Banff. I arrived and played tourist. It was fun. I even went to the tourist bureau. I made a few purchases for me...tea, a new necklace and some fudge. I checked into my hotel room and then headed downtown on the eco-bus to meet up with a friend. We hit this fantastic Japanese restaurant. They have an all-you-can-eat sushi event. And wow...definitely worth the $. I ate and ate and ate. Mmmm. I love sushi. And that reminds me that I haven't bought any here in Edmonton in months and should get back into the habit. After supper we hit one of the local pubs and after two drinks she took me back to my hotel. I was soooo tired. It wasn't late but I was ready to fall asleep at the table. It's too bad cause the conversation was good and so were the drinks. Ah well.

Sunday am I headed to the hot springs park site. I paid $3.90 for a really terrible self guided tour of a cave and an outside hot spring. I don't recommend so I won't bother telling you more. Then I went to a local favourite for brunch and then hit the road. I decided that while it was going to be longer it would be more relaxing to drive to Lake Louise and then over to Red Deer before heading North. It made for a LONG day but a good one. I was totally relaxed when I walked in the door last night and felt as though I had been away for a week rather than really just 2. The drive was nice, I saw a lot of deer and even tried to take photos of them. (Pictures to follow tomorrow or later in the week) There was lots of snow and even some hail. At times the snow and clouds covered everything and I could barely see what was ahead of me. Lake Louise was nice and while I had been before and knew what it looked like it was still a new experience.

As I was wandering around a couple of sites I offered to take pics of two couples. They were doing the single shots of each other in front of said tourist attraction and I volunteered my services. Both times (and these were 3 hours apart) the couple said yes and how happy they were that someone with a real camera was going to do it. They figured that the pics would turn out better. I laughed and said that just cause you have the equipment doesn't mean you know how to use it.

Today I cleaned, did laundry and hung out at home. One more day would be great but I guess I will need to wait until Saturday. Lots to do at work this week.
Did I mention that I will be hiring 230 people between now and June 15th? Umm, yeah--I am crazy.