Kelly Date November 1, 2009

'Skitter Bugs on Ice'

Hi, I totally forgot to finish my blog yesterday. I had started a draft earlier in the week and then totally forgot to finish. I got a little carried away doing homework yesterday and I think it was around 10:00 when I was chatting with Randy that he asked if I'd gotten it done. Oops. Oh well, now is as good a time as any and considering the fact that I haven't really done anything earth shatteringly interesting this week, probably just as well.

The one thing I did do this week was to 'start thinking backwards'. Yes, that's right - a process whereby one attempts to look at everything in their life from a different or 'backwards' perspective. Here's an example, "No matter where you go, there you are." Often said to stop one from venturing out and trying something new. You hear this and say to yourself, what is the point of doing or trying something if nothing is going to change. That may be but you'll never know unless you try so I decided to 'turn it around' and it suites me much better....

"No matter where I am, there I go." Love it. Makes me smile every time!

So see if you can come up with one that suites you better and I'll post it on the blog. Give it a whirl and start thinking backwards! You have a great week. Kelly

Kelly Date October 25, 2009

Hello! This week has been a little less crazy than last week, but this is good as I was able to get a couple of projects started and some others inched along just a bit further. It’s almost the end of October and I’m managing to keep up with my assignments reasonably well.

Pretty much five more weeks and I’ll be finished the semester. I have yet to start writing my research proposal, but I’ll be starting on that this week. I have to think about what and where I want to study and start pulling together some of the logistics so we can contact the communities where I might work.

My favorite picks so far would be Nunavut, Greenland, Iceland, or quite possibly the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia. I did some research on each of these places today and all of them are incredible.

John wants to limit me to only two places where I’ll do case studies on Aboriginal ecotourism and community development. Two - only two lol. It’s hard to pick given the incredible choice available. I guess in the end it will also come down to there being an opportunity to go into one of these communities. I can’t exactly just show up and starting asking questions. It will take a considerable amount of time to just make contact and be asked into the community etc. Regardless, it is exciting to just consider the possibilities.

About the only marginally exciting thing to happen this week, was to take some photos of a community event here in Wolfville. It was an event aimed at creating awareness of global warming and the impact of melting ice caps and how this will affect tidal levels here on the east coast. Okay, it wasn’t really that exciting lol. Besides we pretty much got rained out and not too many people were even able to show up as a result. I did get some nice photos though and I included one for you, too right. You can see the town clock which seems to be a major meeting place hereabouts.

I do plan on entering two photo contents here at the school. The one is for submission to a school online art magazine and the second is through the international education department. So I went through my best photos and came up with a selection of top pics. I can submit about seven pictures in total and have included a few of them for you to see. I have to admit to cheating a bit as I asked one of the local professionals to tell me which ones he felt were the best, which he kindly did for me. I’ll keep you posted as to the results.

......

Montana USA and Moraine Mountain, Banff

Other than that, I have absolutely nothing particularly grand to share. Oh, I guess the fact that ts was a wonderful week, the sun was shining at just the right moments, and I managed to fit in several nice walks with the Finmyster does count as quite grand in the scheme of things.

You have a faabu week dahlings......

PS: The system is acting up a bit so the layout for this week's blog may appear a bit off.

Kelly Date October 18, 2009

Hello Again!

As predicted this past week was crazy busy, but enjoyable nonetheless! I left Wolfville very early Tuesday morning to catch a 7:00 flight to Toronto. And, I do mean early! I had to be up by 3:00a.m. but was so excited about the trip I'm pretty sure I didn't get to sleep until 2:00a.m. Oh well, I did manage to get some sleep en route and felt up to a full day on arriving in Toronto.

Chelsey and Trevor were there to pick me up as

planned and we spent the day wandering around downtown Toronto enjoying the sights and sounds. I took my camera along so I was even able to get some good photographs. The funniest thing was a large group of people dancing for a Cadbury chocolate bar promotional gig they had going on right in the centre of the business district.

People had to dance on a large purple mat in order to win a 'purple goodie bag'! Of course Chelsey wanted one but there was no talking her into participating so I decided to take up the cause and danced my way across the mat in exchange for the prize. Too funny...Chelsey is now the proud owner of all things purple... t-shirt, chocolate, bag, etc. I took the pictures on either side as an example of some of the contestants, but I thought I out jigged them all lol. Well, maybe not but it certainly got some smiles from Chelsey and Trevor.

Next morning, we were up and on our way to Geulph for my conference,

actually arriving a bit early as the traffic was better than anticipated. I spent the rest of the morning hanging out with Rob who I knew from some work I did with him in central BC this past spring. It's always nice to know someone when you go to new places.

Late in the afternoon, I joined a tour group to take in several points of interest in and around Guelph including, the Wellington micro brewery, a potato research station, a small rural tourist town, and a local food market. They were all interesting stops and it was especially nice to get out and see a bit more of Ontario other than the urban centers. I was pleasantly surprised at how lovely the fall colors were and had a great time exploring. Oh yes, I ate some of the best cheese ever at the local food market. Tis a very good thing I don't live anywhere near the place or I'd be my own best/worst customer lol.

The rest of the week was spent taking part in the conference and of course my first attempt to present at this type of venue. It went well, or so I felt, but it was just as stressful as I had imagined it might be. But I had worked very hard to have the information flow and make sense and thought I accomplished that in spades.

One night I went out with a group of delegates and had a great time and the next I wandered around taking photographs of downtown Guelph. They have some amazing architecture there and beautiful old churches and bridges as you can see from the photographs.

I ended up in a nearby pub to get some food and a brew and ended up chatting with a local by the name of Burl Levine who is an amazing poet. He quoted some of his best work and actually honored me with a copy of his published book entitled 'Inklings About Relationships'. It was a real treat and great fun.

The next morning I was up early again and off to catch a ride into Toronto with some newfound friends from the Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia; Harold and Cindy. We managed to get lost but did make it on time in the end.

I am now back at home in Wolfville and I cannot tell you how excited Mr. Finnigan was to see me! Wow, he was over the top wiggly lol. What a wonderful pooch. It's good to be home - it was a great week and a wonderful experience, but as I say...."Home is a good place to be."

Chat next week.....

Kelly Date October 12, 2009t

Well I had good intentions of doing the blog last night, but between a wonderful Thanksgiving meal at Susan and John's place and the lateness of the evening I decided to put it off until today. Isn't it funny how you can go through a whole week of getting up, eating, doing things, and the general chaos of it all, but when you sit down to write about it you can't seem to remember much of anything at all.

In attempting to recollect my week it was a busy one. I did

manage to get out for a couple of nice bike rides to enjoy the fall colors, finished up a huge data project for one the profs, and shuffled several of my projects along as well. The fall colours are amazing and I've included a couple of pictures. I went for a walk with John (supervisor) at one point and he took several nice photos. One in particular (right) of the leaves on the ground

that is a perfect as a fall screensaver.

I did take Mr. Finnigan out for a long walk late one afternoon and found a new trail to wander along very near to where I'm staying. Such a nice day and the sun was shining and there

was even an agreeable little squirrel who allowed me to get close enough to get some nice pictures of him eating his lunch. This

trail ends up in another of the schools gardens with a charming little bridge and huge trees draped along the creek.

Today I am busy getting ready to leave tomorrow morning. I seriously cannot think why I booked the flight for 7:00 in the morning which means I have to be up at 3:30 tomorrow. I mean I did this to myself on purpose with no ill intent whatsoever and for no particular reason. The one good thing is that I can sleep on the plane and I can spend the whole day with Chelsey and Trevor in Toronto which I know will be fun. I am so looking forward to spending time with her. I hadn't really thought I'd be able to see anyone for at least a year while I was here so this is a major treat.

Mr. Finnigan will be vacationing at Susan and John's while I am away. I'll drop him off this evening and I'm sure he will have a great time, but I will miss him terribly. Chelsey wanted me to bring him with me, but I can't take him on the plane easily. I really don't like putting him in cargo as it is so stressful for him. He'll be better off here and I know he'll be safe and won't have to worry about him. He even has a playmate, Barnaby, for the week at his vacation spot.

I'm looking forward to a busy week in Guelph and will report in on how it all goes. I'm taking the camera with me so I can get some pictures as well. I've never been there before so quite keen on getting out and taking it all in. Apparently there is an agro-tour planned for Wednesday so I want to get some pictures of the countryside.

You have a great week! I'm off on another adventure very very early tomorrow morning and will report back next week to let you know how it went.

Kelly Date October 4, 2009

Okay, I admit it.....I forgot to do the blog last night. In my defense I did homework until 12:00p.m. and while I would have welcomed a break I was so engrossed in what I was doing I totally forgot. So now I am scrambling to put it together quickly as I have a meeting to prepare for this afternoon.

I did manage to get some fun in this week and enjoyed a day trip to Halifax to attend a workshop at Dalhousie University. I had never been there before and I had some difficulty finding it, but it is very beautiful and very old. The workshop was great and afterwards I was able to wander around and get some photos of the main buildings.

Fall is well in swing now here in Wolfville and the pumpkin patch has expanded to include critters of the two legged variety all

in search of the perfect, big old phat pumpkin. The kids were so cute and people were lined up on the highway taking pictures, myself included.

Better yet, they have something here called pumpkin fudge - ooooh yeah....that is some wonderful stuff. I confess to having a rather large piece - I did share a bit with Mr. Finnigan, but I got the pumpkin's share so to speak. Sorry, but it disappeared way to quickly to get a picture lol.

I did get around to taking some nice garden pictures in our backyard as well and have included one to show

you. There is also a new picture of the front of my building on campus. The deep purple reds are gorgeous.

I hate to blast off, but I have much to do and feel I'm behind enough already. Enjoy the fall weather and get out and take a walk. The air seems so fresh and crisp this time of year. Wonderful stuff!

You have a great day!

Kelly Date September 27, 2009

This has been a fairly major homework week for me. In fact I have done almost nothing else except home work for the past seven days straight. All good fun though and you get your laughs and small joys as they come.

For instance, I was working away on something and went to the kitchen to get some more coffee. Upon returning to my bedroom I found Mr. Finnigan rolled up in the blankets on my bed with only his head peaking out. I burst out laughing of course, how could I not! He often surprises me with some of the funny things he does. The only problem with this is that I'm always the only one laughing. Oh well, he is the recipient of endless hugs and kisses as a result of his cuteness. In fact I entitled the picture 'Cuteness in Hiding'. Ya gotta love it.

So what does endless homework actually mean. The translation goes something like this....

Monday ='s 8 hours

Tuesday ='s 12 hours

Wednesday =' 12 hours

Thursday = 's 8 hours

Friday ='s 6 hours

Saturday ='s 10 hours

Suunday ='s 8 hours

In between all this hard work I did manage to get out for a few shorter bike rides, take Mr. Finnigan for several walks and attend a faculty function on Saturday evening. What's really scary is that we've not even gotten to the hard part of the semester yet. I seriously need to speed up or get more clever very quickly. Oh well, I'm doing my best and that is as good as it can get.

Today, I got out for a walk with Mr. Finnigan and ended up down on the boardwalk on the far side of town. I spent quite awhile playing 'get the grape' with the pooch, his favorite game ever, and have included a couple of pics of all the fun.

Fall is fast approaching and its getting colder and colder here it seems every day.

The trees have started to turn color and some of the colour are pretty amazing. The one picture is of a flower bud on a tree I found today that I couldn't help but photograph it. The reds and texture of the buds is so beautiful and there were easily two dozen of these on the one bush alone.

It's windier now it seems as well and you can here it whistling past the windows at night. I'm not looking forward to the snow at all and I'm quite sure that come November I'll be quite glad my office is only a three minute walk away.

I really have nothing else to report this week. It was a good week, but I was just so focused on working I really did almost nothing else. I won't bore you with details of my work as I didn't get any feedback on the 'new words' lol. It seems not everyone needs or wants to know what epistemology means. Tis okay, I know what it means....I think..... :)

You have a great week and I'll be back next Sunday!

Kelly Date September 21, 2009

I have some adventures to tell you about!

The picture to the right is a sunset from my back porch. It was such a beautiful evening I had to take a picture.

It's been a busy week, but I've also had some fun with it. I simply had to go by the fields just outside of town to take some pictures of the pumpkin patch. I'm sure its one of many, but I've never seen so many pumpkins in one place lol. Rows and rows of the crazy orange spheres in all sizes. There is even a corn maze that you can wander around in and try and get lost. The leaves here are starting turn already and the colors are burnt reds and deep oranges rather than the yellow I'm more accustomed to up north and on Vancouver Island.

I guess my biggest adventure this week was to do the high ropes course at Acadia. I had a great time and what a blast the group was! I think everybody at least tried one thing and several of us tried all of the challenges. I, as always, couldn't help but try everything and I've included a couple pictures of myself and Kim who joined us for the day on my encouragement that we'd have a great time.

She wasn't exactly convinced, but at the end of the day she met and exceeded her expectations by completing one of the hardest challenges. Half way up the pole she kept

saying g she couldn't do it, but everyone was cheering her and it must have made a difference because she did it and did it well lol. It didn't hurt that her husband and two children stopped by to watch the fun. They were very encouraging as well and had lots of advice I'm not too sure she needed at all.

I did the hardest challenge by climbing a single pole up to about 35 feet and stood on the top of the pole. Once there the challenge was to jump across about 8 feet to a trapeze style bar. I didn't quite make the bar (grab it) as I didn't want to hurt my shoulder, but I did touch it with my finger tips on the way by. Yea me! The picture shows how hard I am concentrating to make that jump. The second picture is of me wobbling my way across the ropes in a strong wind which made it a lot more difficult. But I made it! This height doesn't look too scary from the ground but once you're up there it is a little intimidating.

.....

It was a good day and I spent the rest of the evening doing homework and even managed to take some time for a bike ride. It was a very nice evening out and I enjoyed myself. Finnigan as well had a great time and ran along side the bike for quite a distance. I would have to admit to having had one small mishap involving a 'new trail', a tangle of very tall grass, and a hidden pond with which I had a minor disagreement but came out of it relatively unscathed lol.

I have a very busy week ahead of me and a lot of projects to get done and behind me. I did mark my first class assignments though on Friday evening which was fun. I'd never done it before so it was a challenge to make sure I was fair and helpful in my marks and comments.

A good week overall and a better one yet to look forward to. I hope you have a great week as well.

Bye for now, Kelly