Here's a picture of where I will be this time next week.


Downtown Crossing in Bawston. (Do it with the Boston accent and it is spelled correctly) The four days I am south south will certainly not be enough, but I'm not complaining. I will arrive back in the North on October 2 and if the snow that I awoke to this am is any indication I should not wear my new shoes back on the plane!

Every morning we awake to a soft white blanket of snow. Not a lot, just a little, but enough to remind you that it's that time of the year. Yes, I know I keep mentioning it, but really when you are watching the news in the am and the temps below are +27...well, it's the seasonal difference. By the time the change comes to the south and north are into winter temps the difference doesn't matter. -4 or -40 same thing.

Now the house. It's still moving forward, but slowly of late. We finally have a professional plasterer/mudder to do dry wall and apparently it will take him two weeks to finish. If we are luck we might be at the 97% stage by the end of October. As you know we are still waiting on a number of items to arrive via sea lift and the date keeps getting pushed back. It's a bit sad that it is taking this long, but we are not stopping or giving up. There is a house up the hill that was started the same week and they don't even have dry wall up yet so our house doesn't seem so far behind. And we are at the point of needing professionals to help with the next few weeks so the speed is a bit out of our hands.

I have a couple of friends from back home heading overseas tonight to present a paper at a national conference and then do a bit of touring. Have a great time gals!

I've been tracking a shipment over the past month.
I placed the order on September 2 with a clothing store in the US. September 4 they told me the item had been shipped and once it cleared customs I'd get another email letting me know where it was. The next email arrived on September 10. 6 days in customs seems like a lot...considering it is just a shirt. I suppose though everyone wanted to try it on and likely someone wore it out that weekend before they shipped it out.

Here's the tracking info from Canada Post since September 10.

2007/09/10 14:03 MISSISSAUGA, ON Shipping details electronically submitted
2007/09/10 20:32 MISSISSAUGA, ON Item has been picked up and is enroute to the sortation plant
2007/09/11 09:31 MISSISSAUGA, ON Item accepted and entered into sortation plant
2007/09/12 14:40 MONTREAL, QC Item accepted and entered into sortation plant
2007/09/12 22:45 MONTREAL, QC Item accepted and entered into sortation plant

And that's it. The parcel has been sitting in a cargo warehouse in Montreal for 6 days waiting for a plane. It will hopefully be in today...fingers crossed. Actually as long as it arrives before Friday I'm good. It's a US store that I plan to visit next week so if it doesn't fit I'll take it with me.

Perhaps the folks in Montreal at the post office also decided they all had to try it on and drew straws to determine who would get to wear it out over the weekend. That being the case it would have arrived back in Cargo on Monday and put on the freighter Tuesday...unless the airline staff now want to give it a try...hmmm, I may never get my shirt.

It's Monday morning. I went out for a walk this morning and found snow on the ground. Yes, it will be gone by lunchtime, but all the same...it is here.

No pictures from this past weekend...too tired to get go exploring.

This week is going to fly by. Only 4 sleeps before I get out!! I'm headed to Ottawa Friday night, weekend of girl stuff, meetings Monday/Tuesday then Wednesday I'm off to Boston...yes, again.

My annual journey to Boston. I've gone at least once a year since 2000 and have no plans to stop yet. It's great fun and very relaxing. Anyone wanna join me?

You asked...I'm answering.

My plan, thus far and subject to change without notice to the reading public of this website is as follows:

January 25th fly to Ottawa
January 26th (after a quick hair cut, eyebrow wax and possible pedicure) fly to Europe.
I'm going to stay over for a night or two in London or Milan. I'm pushing for Milan, but it will all be determined by the available flights and cost.
January 30th fly to Delhi
2 two days in Delhi and then fly to Chennai, overnight in Chennai and then on to Pondicherry...the next part is taken from the Habitat website:

Itinerary
The following itinerary is tentative but it provides a good framework for planning purposes. Additional information about excursions and events will be provided once confirmed.

Fri Feb 1 Depart for Chennai

Sat Feb 2 Arrive in Chennai (probably late night arrivals)
Sun Feb 3 Transfer to Pondicherry, welcome / orientation, tour historic site / beach area
Mon-Fri Feb 4-8 Home building days at site
Sat-Sun Feb 9-10 R&R
Mon-Thu Feb 11-14 Home building days at site
Fri-Sun Feb 15-17 R&R, transfer to Chennai

Mon Feb 18 Return home (probably early morning departures)
And I should be freezing my *ss off again by February 21.

As far as the R&R that is built into the trip I have no info yet on what we will be doing but should know closer to Christmas...which seems a long way off but will come quicker than I think.

I want to purchase a sari...or a few, spices, tea and jewelry. If possible I will ride an elephant. That's all I've planned thus far...

Great news! I had a Habitat meeting tonight (2 hours long...) and came home with a big smile on my face. The Habitat group here has given me a return ticket to Ottawa to use for my trip to India. )

Here's how it works. You visit the Habitat.ca website and go to the Global Village section. Take a look at all the trips that you can go on and select the one for you. Contact the Team Leader and begin the process. There will be one or two telephone interviews, an application to fill out and some questions to answer. The questions are to find out why you want to go and how you would handle different situations you might come up against during the build. If you are accepted you pay a deposit on your spot on the team and start making plans.

I pay for all expenses to India...airfare, accommodations, hotel, food, etc. Plus I make a $500 donation to the community's Habitat office. The total trip will be around $5000.

Some people fundraise to cover the costs of the trip. I'm not planning on fundraising, but if anyone out there in North of Nain land would like to donate to my trip I would be happy to have you do it. You donate direct to Habitat, using my code (CA 08301 and include my name in the donation) My name must be included to have it count towards my account BUT you get a tax receipt!

My AGM is today...oh the fun. At least we will finish the day with a fabulous supper at the Discovery Hotel here in town. I've ordered a seafood meal. YUM!!!

Another busy day at the build site. We had electricians, roofers, drywall guys, plaster people and politicians.

Here's a few photos from today...I wasn't building btw, I was doing my regular job and just wandered through the build site taking pictures and looking fabulous in my skirt and jacket...are rare event in the North.

I haven't had anyone identify the folks in the pics so I can't tell you who they are...suffice to say most of them are GN employees...or elected officials.



Sunset I took last week...it isn't one of the best I've seen here...but I did have my camera on hand that night.

Another quiet weekend passes in Iqaluit.

Tonight I decided on a nice relaxing bath. Only problem is that the cold water tap got stuck in the on position. I tried to turn it off with no luck. I ended up calling the emergency after hours fix-it guy. And he couldn't get it to turn off either. So I apparently need to wait until the morning to get it fixed. Which means I have to listen to the water all night. I can't believe this is how he left it. Wasting gallons of water. Gallons. Not to mention the number that will be wasted everytime I have to pee during the night while I listen to the running water.

He figures the threads in the wall are gone and they will need to take the whole thing off/out to fix it, which means I may not get to shower in my apartment for a couple days. Sigh.

AAUUGGHH the noise is going to drive me batty.

I hate to be the one to write this down...but there were snow flurries spotted today here in Iqaluit. Yep....snow. It's not surprising...it is September after all...what would you expect. The snow did not stay and really it was mixed with rain...but it is the begining of winter.

On an unrelated note...Happy Birthday to my Mom...hope you get to eat your cake soon.

Spent my evening at the build site again tonight. Ben guilted me into it when I stopped by earlier this evening to give him a message from one of our volunteers. I called C, another volunteer and made him come with me. We put some strapping into the front porch. Basically we worked until we couldn't see anymore...so it's a good thing the electrical inspector was by earlier in the day and gave us the thumbs up.

Isn't it funny how long weekends can really throw you off...and how today was really a Monday...and how it was a good excuse for showing up at my 10:30am meeting...one whole day early. Yep...at least I was punctual...of course you realize that tomorrow I will show up late.

It's getting dark so early...I miss my daylight. Not that the 14 hours of daylight isn't enough...but you know. (BTW, that is still one more hour than Charlottetown...let me brag while I can).

That's the news from Iqaluit today...

Kiinaujakkuvimmiinngaarlunga niuviviralaamuurniaqqunga

When I leave the bank I will go to the corner store.

Apparently I have no shame. When you see the outfit I am wearing in the photos below you will understand that statement. Friday afternoon the office had the opportunity to go out on a boat for a ride around the harbour. Decked out in our finest sailing gear, M, C, Mor, our skipper R and of course myself set out to enjoy the water. It was a fine August day for Iqaluit, which means it was about 4 degrees and raining.

That did not hamper or dampen the enjoyment of the ride.

Getting ready to get to the boat...low tide is very low and since there is no wharf most boats are anchored off shore and require the use of a small boat to get to them.


The boat we would eventually be boarding, apparently it's about 25 feet long and has a 225 motor on it.


The zodiac awaiting our return. Notice the duct tape holding it together. The boat filled up with enough water while we were away that it had to be pumped out before we could head back to shore....yep, I feel safe.


The view we had...lots of small islands. The water was so very calm it was a amazing. The fog did roll in though giving limited vision, but it was still fun all the same. We went out about 7 miles and then motored back in on the rising tide.


The engine creates a nice wake as we pass through the channel.


M & C having a blast being out of the office and spending the afternoon as a Newfoundlander should...out on the water.


M & I enjoying feeling the wind and salt water in our faces. Notice the splash pants, sweater, yellow slicker, gloves, boots, etc...this is how I went grocery shopping and to one of the local restaurants after the ride. Which is why I have no shame.



Nunavut flag flying on board.

Marking the channel for a safe journey.


I spent all of Saturday at the build site again helping to hang drywall. It was great fun and while we didn't have a lot of volunteers...only one...we had a great time and were a pretty good drywall team. After a day of cutting drywall I was covered from head to toe. I then decided it was a good time to head down to the local store and pick up some supper....yes, I went into the store without so much as brushing off my pants or hands. Funny how things work here. In the south I would never have done that, I would have gone home first and changed...up here...not an issue...for me...or anyone else I didn't get any funny looks on my fancy dress. Somedays you gotta be glad you live North of 60.