The bounty of VanIsle as in the picture above. Items purchased in the Saanich Market on Saturday mornings. We have soooooo many tomatoes from our own vines that I'm making spaghetti sauce and salsa today to try and use them.

We have been invited to join a group of friends on a weekly dog walk, at a spot we don't want to advertise since it is virtually undiscovered at this point. The walk is about 7k give or take a little. This was our second week of the walk. I thought I would share some of the beautiful scenery that we saw.

The new job is going okay. I still don't know how well I fit in there, so I'm giving it a while to see. Things are done much differently there than I am used to, so I am definitely out of my comfort zone. I will give it my best shot.

I've been reading all the blogs but have just been overwhelmingly busy. I'm hoping for good news on the last of the 'family' to get the green light to move to Vancouver.

Now if all of our US houses/real estate could sell before the Loonie gets any stronger . . .

Great Canadian Beer Fest 2007

We had a good time at the festival. There were vendors from all over B.C. and some from the States. We met a couple who had come all the way from Massachusetts to be at Beer Fest. We talked to them for a long while and exchanged emails. They are very unhappy with the current state of affairs in Georgie-Land. They were dismayed by the fact that Canadians have commented that American’s voted him into office. We all agreed that W was not elected by the American public, the election was stolen. Then we drank some more beer.

This is my “I’m-buzzed-what-time-is-it?” captioned photo

Then we have Diane-has-had-too-many-Scottish-Ales.

We took public transit all day. It was a little too hot for us at 82 degrees. We are very fond of the milder climate up here.

Today, the first NFL Sunday of the season, we have joined a football pool back in Vegas. Diane actually started it when she worked at her old engineering firm in Las Vegas. We will see how well it goes. So far I’m not looking that good.

Now for the good news – I’ve accepted the position with University of Victoria as Senior Accounts Payable Clerk. The pay is pretty good but the traffic and parking is atrocious. I may end up taking the bus from Langford Park and Ride. I will have to see how it works out for me. To start out I will probably drive. I start on September 17th. I did have high hopes for taking the month of December off, but probably not now. My main function is back-up for the Accounts Payable Supervisor, so I’m sure my holiday times off desires are down at the bottom of the seniority list. It is a Union position.

Well it another beautiful day at the most beautiful place on Earth, so I’ll get out there and enjoy it! This a photo of my biggest tomato, so far. And a little visit from a tree frog.

Greetings from the Best Place on Earth!

I hope everyone had a great long weekend last weekend. Diane and I enjoyed the time. We went to the Saanich Peninsula Fair on Saturday. It was a great time. We looked at the 4-H animals, passed right by the Girl Guides of Canada cookie sales, compared our tomatoes to the winning vegetables and marveled at the various baked goods and homemade wines. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday we went golfing at Ardmore golf course and Diane played the best game of her life. Well, I didn’t golf because I am recovering from a pulled muscle in my back. But I walked the course with Diane’s bag in tow. Offering her my advice on the club selection and angle of the hole, I did my best caddy impersonation. She managed to have a stellar game in spite of all that.

Friday as I was driving home from work and the golden sunlight was filtering down through the trees and the breeze held just a hint of autumn, I did feel like this is the best place on earth. My last day of work with BC Transit was great. My bosses (4 of them) started the day off with Tim Horton’s then a Shark Club lunch, a bouquet of flowers and a card. They presented this to me and told me what a great job I had done and how I was making it really hard for them to miss the girl I was temping for. It was all very, very sweet.

Now on to Diane’s news - She was hired at her Engineering firm as a Mechanical Project Manager with 3 months probation. Two month’s into that probation, one of the Principle Engineers turned in his resignation to go off on his own and start a new company. His role, aside from being a Principle Engineer, was to be the Team Lead for the Mechanical Division. Diane has been offered his position and offered an associate position in the firm, all before she even passed her probation. They have hammered out the contract details and now it is official. This has been very affirming to us in our timing for landing as Permanent Residents. Even though our house is still on the market in Las Vegas and there is always some doubt that creeps into the back of your mind (i.e. Did we leave too soon?), this has been a great affirmation that we are on the right track.

I had an interview yesterday at UVIC for a full time job. I find more and more everyday, how even though Americans and Canadians speak the same language, the differences in meaning and expressions are vast. I frequently ask for translations for things. I know in the interview, there were several phrases that I was not familiar with. I looked them up when I got home and realized that we had just called the process something different in the States. The written test was a challenge for me because the instructions given were not clear in my mind. Small differences in word meanings matter a lot. I think I will write a blog on American to Canadian expression equivalencies. (For example; a camper shell on a truck is called a canopy here. Um-humm is said with a certain inflection here that is hard to describe, accent on the humm part with a little question of interest.) I don’t think I will get the job, but if I do I’m still a little at odds about it because I really like the temping thing. I don’t need the benefits, so the in lieu of pay is even better. We will see how it goes. As my friend from BC Transit says, “It isn’t prison, you can always say no or quit if it does not fit.” I think I would have a feeling prior to taking the job, if it was a good fit or not.

Oh and I had one of my famous dreams last night. The house in Las Vegas sold for asking price. It was done. Severed. Finished. That was a really good dream.

This weekend we will go to the Great Canadian Beer Festival. BC Transit gave out free bus passes for the event if you bought a ticket – so no one drives under the influence. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Now, I'm out to the woods to load and stack firewood for the upcoming winter.