Shopping in Edmonton
So life's been a little ridiculous since we got here. I was so pumped about finally getting a bit of a break. Heh. I wish I had taken it before I got that one phonecall...
The first thing I did the second day after we got here was go out to Canadian Tire to purchase a GPS. Best decision ever. No more poring over maps for me. I have felt so comfortable on the road these last few days enjoying the nearly failsafe travel method of having an Australian man's voice telling me what to do at every point of the trip. After the GPS I went and got my embroidery hoop for that phantom time in the future when I'll have time to work on my crewel project, and I found a nifty pair of stork scissors as well, a classic embroidery tradition. I picked up a few other things that day too. Paul has since informed me that he'd done some calculations and that it was actually cheaper in the long run, since we already own a car, for me to drive instead of bussing everywhere. Things are within 10k (6m) of us, mostly, so it's really easy to drive to them, except for the roadwork. And I am very happy to have the option of jumping in the car to go. It's now basically mine since Paul hops a bus to school each day.
The only downside of our place is that it's dusty and both Paul and I are allergic to it. Paul's going to clean it a great deal on Saturday while I attend a photo workshop. We're popping pills and feeling mostly alright.
On our first few days here, I did a LOT of internet searches about things and was generally pleased with the results. A billboard reminded me to look into wedding tradeshows, and so I did. There was one in two weekends, September 19th, and even though I knew there was no way I'd get a spot, I gave the woman a call. The next morning I was awoken by her call back - a photographer had just dropped out of the show and left open a prime corner spot. Expensive as tradeshows are, the fact that there will be 1,500 brides and over 4,000 people definitely makes the price seem reasonable. Paul and I talked about it and decided to go for it - a good way to launch the business here, felt like a gift because of the circumstances, and we had really liked the one-on-one aspect of the Fringe, so we figured it couldn't hurt much to try it on an even bigger scale.
Cue me panicking, planning, and finally coming back to equilibrium. Paul, on the other hand, crashed really hard today after too many 6:30am mornings and very late evenings and moving and you name it. He asked me mournfully if he had "abandoned me to a lonely fate away from all my friends and family" and when I started laughing and said that was incredibly melodramatic he conceded the point with some hesitation. Poor boy. He's running himself ragged with nary a break. I hope he can continue to relax better than I can, but it sure looks like he's in for two non-stop years.
They said that they chose the 250 or so students in this program out of 1,200 applicants - the "crème de la crème" as the dean said in his speech at the opening day celebration that I had the privilege of devouring free food at. (I mean, attending.) I knew that there would be competition, but I am pleased that Paul made it! He's in some disbelief at the program. The profs actually have a unified calendar in an attempt to be sure that nobody is setting too many assignment due dates or exam dates at the same time. Everyone is so nice and helpful, says Paul. He's a bit scared of essays, since he's literally never written a University level one, but I assured him that they were formulaic and I could help. They're trying to scare students about plagiarism, which always pisses me off, because the only people that sort of tactic truly scares are the honest ones anyway. The biggest question I ever hear is, "What if I do it by accident?" I guess I just feel like the big academic plagiarism thing goes to ridiculous levels and victimizes the students and the staff for a tiny percentage of people who are going to fail at life regardless of their academic career.
I can't help but feel like the circumstances of being far from home are going to make my life just a bit miserable at times. I suddenly realized just how alone I really was at an inopportune time on the bus the other day when Paul and I were disagreeing about some detail of the trade show and I just started crying, totally spent. I'm still not having a whole lot of success on that whole learning how to relax front. I am annoyed that I can't seem to make myself relax, I always feel like there's SO much to do that I'm being irresponsible if I take time to read a book or embroider. I'll manage it eventually, it's on my mind and heart as important. I am feeling a bit lonely, but it's really not too bad. It's kind of like coming back to Emma. But with a lot more shopping.
Today I took off shopping for as many trade show and business items as possible and some school supplies for the new student. I found some really good sales and spent around $250, which is actually fantastic considering the haul I got. I also found a candy store that specializes in different kinds of licorice and a Safeway where the produce is excellent. I enjoyed shopping, but I really need to spend a few days working on in-house work for the many contracts I have on the burners. Next week Mon-Wed will be just a general workweek I hope. This evening Paul and I attended the launch party for the Catholic Students Association on campus, which included a BBQ and a Dutch Blitz tournament. We left fairly early, being very tired, but the people were really nice and I hope we can see them again.
Tomorrow we look at an apartment that's a block from Paul's school building and has a zillion amenities that we're hoping to move to in November. It's more on the expensive side, but it even has an in-house swimming pool, and the number of amenities we could (and would) actually use is pretty high. So if possible we'll try and get on their waiting list for a bachelor suite in November. If I book a few weddings and other shoots from this tradeshow and continue to grow as fast as I am growing now, things will go well.
The first thing I did the second day after we got here was go out to Canadian Tire to purchase a GPS. Best decision ever. No more poring over maps for me. I have felt so comfortable on the road these last few days enjoying the nearly failsafe travel method of having an Australian man's voice telling me what to do at every point of the trip. After the GPS I went and got my embroidery hoop for that phantom time in the future when I'll have time to work on my crewel project, and I found a nifty pair of stork scissors as well, a classic embroidery tradition. I picked up a few other things that day too. Paul has since informed me that he'd done some calculations and that it was actually cheaper in the long run, since we already own a car, for me to drive instead of bussing everywhere. Things are within 10k (6m) of us, mostly, so it's really easy to drive to them, except for the roadwork. And I am very happy to have the option of jumping in the car to go. It's now basically mine since Paul hops a bus to school each day.
The only downside of our place is that it's dusty and both Paul and I are allergic to it. Paul's going to clean it a great deal on Saturday while I attend a photo workshop. We're popping pills and feeling mostly alright.
On our first few days here, I did a LOT of internet searches about things and was generally pleased with the results. A billboard reminded me to look into wedding tradeshows, and so I did. There was one in two weekends, September 19th, and even though I knew there was no way I'd get a spot, I gave the woman a call. The next morning I was awoken by her call back - a photographer had just dropped out of the show and left open a prime corner spot. Expensive as tradeshows are, the fact that there will be 1,500 brides and over 4,000 people definitely makes the price seem reasonable. Paul and I talked about it and decided to go for it - a good way to launch the business here, felt like a gift because of the circumstances, and we had really liked the one-on-one aspect of the Fringe, so we figured it couldn't hurt much to try it on an even bigger scale.
Cue me panicking, planning, and finally coming back to equilibrium. Paul, on the other hand, crashed really hard today after too many 6:30am mornings and very late evenings and moving and you name it. He asked me mournfully if he had "abandoned me to a lonely fate away from all my friends and family" and when I started laughing and said that was incredibly melodramatic he conceded the point with some hesitation. Poor boy. He's running himself ragged with nary a break. I hope he can continue to relax better than I can, but it sure looks like he's in for two non-stop years.
They said that they chose the 250 or so students in this program out of 1,200 applicants - the "crème de la crème" as the dean said in his speech at the opening day celebration that I had the privilege of devouring free food at. (I mean, attending.) I knew that there would be competition, but I am pleased that Paul made it! He's in some disbelief at the program. The profs actually have a unified calendar in an attempt to be sure that nobody is setting too many assignment due dates or exam dates at the same time. Everyone is so nice and helpful, says Paul. He's a bit scared of essays, since he's literally never written a University level one, but I assured him that they were formulaic and I could help. They're trying to scare students about plagiarism, which always pisses me off, because the only people that sort of tactic truly scares are the honest ones anyway. The biggest question I ever hear is, "What if I do it by accident?" I guess I just feel like the big academic plagiarism thing goes to ridiculous levels and victimizes the students and the staff for a tiny percentage of people who are going to fail at life regardless of their academic career.
I can't help but feel like the circumstances of being far from home are going to make my life just a bit miserable at times. I suddenly realized just how alone I really was at an inopportune time on the bus the other day when Paul and I were disagreeing about some detail of the trade show and I just started crying, totally spent. I'm still not having a whole lot of success on that whole learning how to relax front. I am annoyed that I can't seem to make myself relax, I always feel like there's SO much to do that I'm being irresponsible if I take time to read a book or embroider. I'll manage it eventually, it's on my mind and heart as important. I am feeling a bit lonely, but it's really not too bad. It's kind of like coming back to Emma. But with a lot more shopping.
Today I took off shopping for as many trade show and business items as possible and some school supplies for the new student. I found some really good sales and spent around $250, which is actually fantastic considering the haul I got. I also found a candy store that specializes in different kinds of licorice and a Safeway where the produce is excellent. I enjoyed shopping, but I really need to spend a few days working on in-house work for the many contracts I have on the burners. Next week Mon-Wed will be just a general workweek I hope. This evening Paul and I attended the launch party for the Catholic Students Association on campus, which included a BBQ and a Dutch Blitz tournament. We left fairly early, being very tired, but the people were really nice and I hope we can see them again.
Tomorrow we look at an apartment that's a block from Paul's school building and has a zillion amenities that we're hoping to move to in November. It's more on the expensive side, but it even has an in-house swimming pool, and the number of amenities we could (and would) actually use is pretty high. So if possible we'll try and get on their waiting list for a bachelor suite in November. If I book a few weddings and other shoots from this tradeshow and continue to grow as fast as I am growing now, things will go well.