That being said, not all has been bad. We have managed to get us a new bed, and it has done wonders for my health – It is amazing how many issues our old bed caused issues. Thinks have been picking up though.

Hasn’t felt like much has been going on otherwise. mostly recovery. Been watching a lot of sachrinetastic shows, playing through some old games. And lots of sleep…

We went to Gina and Matt’s wedding in the middle of the month – beautiful ceremony out at Eagle Rock Golf Course. It was set against a small lake with a fountain. There was beautiful weather over the ceremony. The reception was also beautiful, aubergines and grays covered the room with these wonderful centre peices – tall, thin glass vases with wood and little flowers hanging from the sticks. We danced up a storm.

All in all we are glad to be back in Edmonton, we are getting ourselves well on track. Victoria was a nice vacation, and did treat us well. It was just not what we wanted.

Tomorrow is packed with a museum trip – Something I have been really looking forward to for a bit now. I have heard nothing but good things about the Royal BC Museum, and it has been something we have put off seeing for a long time. We will also be seeing the 2 latest IMAX films – We figure we might as well see them all before our trip.

Thursday we plan on going to Parksville and Qualicum for the day. We have been up there twice since we have been on the island, and I find it stunning. Before moving to the island, I have only experianced lakes, and rocky beaches. I love having the opportunity to walk along the sandy shores, that strech for miles.

On Friday Rhian and Alan will be flying out. I am looking forward to seeing them again.

Today we finally had the chance to go out and enjoy the bikes. I am glad to find that we didn’t lose to much of what we had gained from the bikes last summer. We had little issue with the hills. This time last year we would have never been able to ride like we did today.

We were out biking for close to 4 hours. we ended up going down to the rocky beach down in Oak Bay and sat on the beach for about half an hour, before continuing down the scenic rout down to Ogden Point (where the cruise ship launch from) We ended up down on Fisherman’s Wharf and having this wonderful meal of fresh local fish and chips, while the harbour seals played just bellow us.

The Wharf itself is an interesting sight, wonderful fresh local fish can be bought to take home, or eaten right on site, whale watching and harbour tours launch from there as well. The character of the building at the wharf was amazing. there were some 30 “floating homes” of all different colour, size and shap. Some ranging from little bachelor sizes homes to a massive 2 floor home with the roff as a large balcony. Definitely a sight to see.

All and all, we spent about 4 hours in the lovely 32 degree weather biking around this beautiful island. It was a wonderful day, and a real treat.

Drew is actually the only long distance relationship I have ever really had. Then again, we have always spent a good deal of time on the phone–that makes things easier for sure. It sounds like he is having a great time, and congrats to him for making it work. Hopefully next trip Kate and I will be able to join him.

I went into the film not expecting much. Not looking at the source material before hand, I expected a campy psuedo-parody of the comic genre. Instead I saw a wonderful deconstruction turn into a great comic movie.

We also had the chance to test out a couple of new roleplaying systems: Elemental Axes and Burning Wheel. Eric and Aaron both ran a session for several of us. And it was good to get the dice on again. It has been far too long.

A few weeks later, Kate’s father came out to visit for a few days, with the majority of our stuff that was still sitting in Edmonton. Of course we are still in the process of sorting out everything. The living room/bar area is mostly set up now. We have our books out and sorted, the furniture where we want it, and everything else in the spare room. It is nice to finally get our stuff here – I didn’t realize how much I missed some of my things. We still have a bit of our stuff back in Alberta – but the big things are all here.

It really makes the place feel more like a home.

Since getting our own place however, we hadn’t had any visitors. Again this is understandable. With Christmas, our trip to Edmonton and our hectic schedule, we really hadn’t had the chance to have anyone over. Of course this week that all changed.

Last Sunday we had our friend Sharron come and visit us from the mainland. She had the honour of being our first guest in our place. It was nice to finally have someone over to see where we live, and after being Sharron’s first overnight guest, it was nice to have her as our first guest. She missed out on being the first overnight guest though.

That distinction will get to go to Aaron and Christine. They will be coming in to visit us tomorrow evening. I have been looking forward to this for a while. Always good to have one of your best friends to come and visit, especially when you don’t get to see them often. We have arranged a bit of a larger get together on Saturday as well. An excuse to be huge geeks of course, but hey, that also means that they get to be here for our first party-like gathering.

~Dusk||

I have the car back up and running though. It felt really good to get behind the wheel after just over a month of not being able to drive. I missed it.

The next few weekends are going to be rather busy. We have friends coming to visit the Island both this weekend and next. Sharron will be coming in from Vancouver on the 21st, with Aaron and Christine coming the weekend after. the weekends will obviously be filled with good times.

On the 21st we will be attempting to go and see the festivities for Chinese New Year. Even though the 14th was officially the start of the new year, The parade and such was moved to this coming Sunday because of Valentine’s. I have never really been to one of the lion’s dances so I am looking forward to seeing it.

~Dusk||

Saturday was a day for family. We spent the day with my mother, and the evening with Kate’s family. Both families ended up having big meals that day, so we were stuffed by the end of it. Exhausted and full, we came back to my mother’s place and tried to sleep.

Sunday was Aaron’s birthday. We went to dinner at Chianti’s, a wonderful Italian restaurant on Whyte. There were a lot of friends, and many we had not met before. It was a good night, nice to see everyone again.

Our week is still mostly up in the air. But so far it is looking like good times.

Dusk//