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.

Welcome back to another edition of Iqaluk in Calgary...coming to you from my couch in Edmonton.

I had my follow up Dr appointment on Tuesday and have been thinking about it ever since. The good news is that I have a shiny new cervix. The area they cut off has healed beautifully and I am now able to exercise again and do heavy lifting...which is a shame cause frankly that means the deep cleaning my apartment needs is going to happen. Sigh. I was very happy actually to hear that...my bike is in desperate need of use. The other news is that the bad cells may have spread upwards. The specialist will do more testing in September. Likely I will need another procedure in the fall.

I walked out of the office feeling a bit numb. I drove back to the office on auto pilot and it wasn't until I was driving home that I realized I had forgotten to eat lunch that day. The news could be worse, so much worse and I am grateful for the results I got, but it wasn't what I expected to hear. I figured it would be the results are back we got it all and other than your 6 month follow ups we won't see you again. So it took a few days to absorb.

And now I am ok with it. I know what to expect in September so that is a HUGE help. It makes it easier to just push it aside and not dwell on it. As the summer comes and then starts to close I am sure I will once again start to worry...lead up to the appointment, but for now...onwards.

I have been waiting to find out when I need to fly up North. It is soon, but no one has pin pointed a date. A bit frustrating. Today I finally said ENGOUGH and booked myself off on Monday. Yeah. Then I got on Facebook and sent a message to some friends from India who are having brunch on Saturday in Calgary and told them that they should get a table for 4. I hope they are as excited as I am. Then after work today I got on line and booked a 4 star hotel in Banff for Saturday night thru one of those discount pick your price online sites. I got a great deal. A treat for me. I haven't done much for fun lately so this will be great. I'm having supper with a friend who works there Saturday night. Sunday morning will be spent wandering around town and buying some tea. Then back to Calgary for a late lunch/early supper with another friend (who I haven't made contact with yet) and then back to Edmonton Sunday night. Monday I can sleep in, relax, do laundry and get my house in order. Phew, I'm tired already.

Should be a nice weekend treat for me.

Thinking about the days events. More to report in a day or two. Please go back to your regular scheduled program.

I need some help. I made a short video...and it isn't great...but a good first try. Anyway, the video is for a contest the MEC has. I would appreciate the votes. Send it along to folks you know and see if you can drum up some numbers for me.


http://www.mec.ca/Apps/videoContest/video_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302884611&mvs_id=296&activity_cd=hike&bmUID=1240100816328

Thanks!!

Thursday evening we had a supper for all the staff at the Elk's Lodge. The food was cooked by the camp cook students and it was sure yummy. I headed home long before anyone else so I could take some pictures of the sun set. This is what I finally got....Tracks from an Arctic hare.I spotted the hare when I was leaving the house to take my pictures unfortunately I didn't have the camera at the ready to take the shot. That is two hare sightings for me inn a week.





The satellites outside our office in Cambridge Bay. Our connection to the outside world.
Geared up for travel out on the tundra in the winter.
Checking out the new skidoo. This driver just got a new machine last week and he was giving it a full work out.
The caboose part of a cat train operation we have on the go outside of Cam Bay.
One of the machines hiding under the snow while it waits for summer.
A wee bit of frozen exhaust on a roof around town.
Someone painted an inukshuk on the side of a sea can.
I guess if you are going to do something illegal the best thing to do is to leave your initials behind.
This is new construction...has just gone up since I left in February.
Beautiful watch dog.
Wait for me!
The DEW line site in Cam Bay.

From the past weeks journey.
With the delay in Yellowknife we had some time to kill...so I made S try on my parka...just in case. Now she looks like a Northern girl.


The view in Kugluktuk. It was more than a bit windy, overcast and dismal.
Baggage collection area.

Refueling before we take off back to Yellowknife.


Flying into Kugluktuk for the second day.
Can't wait to see these cliffs in the summer when the snow has melted.

Greetings from Cambridge Bay!

So.....Monday left Edmonton and arrived in Yellowknife with no issues. They were having a bit of weather in YK but we got in with no problems and waited for our flight to Cambridge Bay. There were 7 of us traveling together and I had warned most of them about flying with me ahead of time but they got on the plane with me anyway.

Our flight took off late, but we were happy to be in the air and hopeful for a smooth trip. The plane stopped in Kugluktuk we got out to stretch and wait for the 2pm weather report so the pilots could determine if they were going to be able to land in Cam Bay. We weren't. Back onto the plane and back to Yellowknife. Sigh.

I was actually happy in one sense as I had hoped to catch up with a friend--and I did. But since this meeting is/was critical getting in was very important. In true Northern style we all checked in at the hotel and headed for the bar! One drink later I had to go to an impromptu meeting downtown. The meeting went until after 8pm and I was tired and a bit cranky by the time we got back to the hotel for supper with the rest of the group (who got to stay back at the bar and drink). I did get to see my friend over breakfast the next morning and then showed a co-worker a tiny bit of YK. It was her first trip North.

Day Two. Left Yellowknife and arrived safe and sound in Cam Bay that evening. We again checked in and headed...to the bunk house for supper then off to a couple hours of meetings followed by a bottle of wine and late night conversation. We are staying in this 'house'. It is a hotel house. There are five individual bedrooms and a shared kitchen/living room. It is really nice and we all have tv's in our rooms and free wireless internet.

The funny thing was that yes, I did jinx our arrival the first day and interestingly enough the same two people I came North with in November were on this trip and they once again did not get their luggage. It's funny and it isn't.

I actually don't think the delay on Monday is my fault. I had an email that afternoon from my friend in YK saying she hoped that my next trip to Cam Bay that I got Weathered out and got to visit...so her email is the reason for the delay.

The meetings are going fairly well, but I was very sore today. I haven't been sore from my procedure for a while now, but I think that sitting in a confined space on a plane for two days combined with a lot of HEAVY luggage lifting did me in. A lot of Advil later I'm feeling better.