Weesatarekaad

John and I flew down to Kansas the 23rd of November.  American Thanksgiving and Mom's Birthday; two birds, one trip.  Actually, three birds; we got my Visitor Record on our way through immigration, coming home.

Thanksgiving was delicious.  I think we are all becoming fans of smoked turkey, especially, Mom and me.  Pop it in the oven to heat up, and pull it out.  Done.  Mom had done some pre-emptive cooking, so all the sides were about as easy as the turkey.  We changed up the seating arrangements this year, which I thought would encounter some resistance but much to my surprise, it went smoothly.

With the meal prepared and the seating figured out, we sat down to an extremely peaceful dinner.  If there was conversation, I missed it.  I single mindedly dug into green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, potatoes and gravy, and mom's family tradition : Cranberry Fluff.

In the days following, we hung garland and lights, put up an artificial tree and ate turkey sandwiches.  Whenever I go home, I find myself drawn to the back room where my sister's possessions reside.  There are boxes of what I consider to be, life's debris.  Pictures, receipts, letters, notes, clothing tags, instruction manuals, and tickets.  In this way, Kandace and I are very similar.  Not quite the pack rats we could be, but unwilling to toss tangible reminders.  I sorted a few boxes but without the feeling of accomplishment.  It's not enough.  I thought I would get to know more about her via what she kept but I now realize that isn't going to happen.

Her journals would be the direct connection to what I'm looking for, but Kandace was a very private person.  I doubt she would want every thought, concern and opinion read like a tabloid magazine.  Mine are set up as records so that one day my children and family will have that insight into my life.  Not quite a biography, just... me. On paper.  Now I just have to get back to writing in it.

With another trip at an end, I shut the door to the back room and got back to present issues.
We flew home the 27th and were met by severe winds in Calgary.  We were warned that if they didn't die down a bit, we would be rerouted to Edmonton which would make for a very long day.  Twelve planes before us were turned away, but as we approached, the pilots got the go-ahead.  I will summarize the landing by telling you what a flight attendant told us; "We never should have landed."  There is a video clip they have been playing on the weather channel, of a plane landing.  Without a word of a lie, I think it's the one that touched down after us.  It was sideways as it approached the runway, and straightened out just as it touched down... I didn't feel any sideways action, but there was plenty of surging, tipping and dropping.

After that experience you would think I'd be numb, but I still had enough nerves in me to make going through immigration a stressful experience.  It went well, which was to be expected, since we are almost all the way through the process.  The agent handling us was not convinced we satisfied the 'common-law' aspect but we had the letter, stating we had fulfilled the requirements. She gave us the Visitor Record and sent us on our way.

Monday, John emailed it to our lawyer who will pass it on the the Border Agent overseeing our case.  This is the last piece of legal documentation that we needed.  Fingers crossed for a speedy reply.

Fisher Invasion

John and I are the only ones in our immediate families living out here in Calgary. John had to leave behind a lot, including his friends. No matter where I went I was going to be leaving someone behind. My parents are in Kansas. My brother and my friends are in Jersey, and my sister is way down in New Mexico. So why not follow love, end up in a different country, and see what there is to see?

Since we moved, our families have been talking about coming out to see us. The first ones to make the trek ended up being my parents. They aimed to come up for Canadian Thanksgiving; the idea being, John would be able to have guilt free time off with my folks! Also, it would be my parents first Canadian Thanksgiving! Now I wish I could give you the precise rundown of what we did on which days, but I failed to journal.

I know my memory's limitations, so I record everything in a journal. The problem is, now that I'm living with another person, and sharing the same bedroom, writing in bed is no longer an option. I don't feel comfortable journaling with a witness, and I'm not mean enough to kick him out of the room while I do. So yeah, I could leave the room, but by the time I get back, John is usually asleep, so I miss valuable cuddle time. "So do it during the day!" you are probably telling your computer. Sorry guys, that won't work either. The journal is also part of my falling asleep ritual. I usually have a ton of useless thoughts running through my head before bed, so the journal allows me to get it all out so I can actually sleep. I'm not sure how I will resolve this issue, so let's continue with the story!

My parents arrived October 9th, via Continental (much to John's disappointment). He was hoping they would fly up in Skywalker, the Mooney. If it had still been summer-ish weather, taking the little plane would have been much faster. Unfortunately, we had a cold snap that week, leading to snow in the mornings.

Snow on a grass landing stip = no stopping. Cold air = ice on the wings.
(Personally, I'm glad they left the flying to a commercial aircraft)

-October 9th was our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY by the way! Congrats to us! Don't worry, we celebrated the day before to avoid any awkwardness. However, this did not stop mom from offering to wear earplugs (the start of many embarassing yet humorous comments).

Now the problem with moving to an unfamiliar location, and then trying to entertain family, is finding stuff to do with them. John and I were not (still aren't) familiar enough with Calgary to properly entertain visitors. We took them to Banff and did a little shopping. Mom and Dad bought us a set of western, wood handled steak knives. Thanks guys! We got to see an Asian tourist wipeout and almost take me with her. John got to learn a few things that no boyfriend deserves to know. He and my parents enjoyed my embarassment as mom began to freely share all sorts of info.

We decided to go check out Lake Louise while we were out that way. It was a first for all of us which made it a little more special. That cold snap made being outside less than pleasurable so the time spent there was short but sweet. We managed to get a couple pictures, and then we ditched.

I had done a little research before they came up, and discovered the +15 Walkway system. The +15 is a covered, elevated walkway system that allows Calgarians to go from building to building without having to go outside during the freezing winter (My parents took pictures which are now on facebook.) We went on the weekend, so we didn't get the full experience. The main path South to North was open, but all of the side walkways were locked.

Since we were there and hadn't done it before, we went to the top of the Calgary Tower. While not as impressive as the CN Tower in Toronto (great memories), the Calgary Tower was still entertaining. They recently put in a glass floor, so we got to look down at the people on the street and the roofs of the shorter buildings surrounding it. Again, the pictures from this are on mom's facebook.

On Thanksgiving, John treated us to a tasty turkey. Mom and I learned a new trick to keep the turkey meat juicy, and we were all impressed with his stuffing. John got a taste of the midwest with the Gilbert Cranberry fluff recipe. He ate a ton of it, so I'm pretty sure he liked it. We took it easy that day. If we did anything besides eat, and do tons of laundry, I don't remember it, haha.

Tuesday morning we woke up to snow. Much to my displeasure, I got to drive my parents to the airport in it. Calgary does not believe in snow plows, apparently, and instead of using salt (it would run into the rivers and kill the fish), they use gravel. This is probably why most Albertans have cracks running across their windshields. We saw cars and SUV's in the ditches along the road and even got to watch one lose control at high speed. Thankfully we arrived at the airport on time and without incident!

Not to anyones great surprise, we survived the first family visit!