On the road again

My apologies for the time lag between posts. I have had the chance to travel for work lately - this week: the kootenay-boundary region of BC (for those not familiar with the BC lingo, it's along the southern BC-USA border, amongst the Central Range Mountains and Rockies). I spent a few days this week for work, giving a couple workshops and hosting a "Meet and Greet" event with Interior Health researchers and faculty from Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC. Although the weather wasn't too cooperative (and we drove out), I would definitely like to return sometime in the summer when I can take in the beautiful BC scenery.

Next week I am off to Kamloops for a conference/workshop and another Meet and Greet with TRU (Thompson Rivers University). The week after I am in Vancouver for most of the week and the week following that, back to Kamloops for more work-related workshops. I will be sick of travelling by Christmas, that's for sure!

Before I finish off, a friend of mine sent this link to me earlier this week (thanks Linds!). It's hilarious... enjoy! :)

http://www.smwa.net/downloads/funny/rake_bush4.swf

Good 'ol Trunk Monkey!

So you've probably seen these lots before (I think they were on TV a few years ago), but I laughed when I watched them again!

Trunk Monkey - Take 2, 3, 4

Makes you wish you had your own trunk monkey, doesn't it? :)

Vancouver, Prince George & Beyond...

Long time since my last post and I have to say, does anyone even read these blog things? I'm guessing so - someone told me the other that she loves checking in on things, so I hope I am living up to any standards you have out there!

Since my last post I have made a trip to Vancouver and then up to Prince George (or The Prince they say up there) for a work-related conference. Before I get onto the conference bit (which was probably the best one I've attended), here's a brief synopsis of my trip to the coast... Thanks to Pam for putting up with me once again and for the shopping trip (mmm... A&W!) on Sunday. Thanks to Sonya for the shopping trip on Saturday. Hmm, can you sense a trend here? hehe... I told Aaron i didn't break the bank, lucky for him.

Saturday night was the Burnaby Shooters' Fundraiser at the Mountain Shadow. Some good times I must say (although the Canucks lost, so that was the only damper on the night). It must have been a good night b/c I ended up worshiping the porcelin god afterwards... sigh... those drinks just can't mix, i tell ya. Must have been that sweet apple shot, right Pam? :) Thanks to Tracy for all of her hard work organizing and to both her and Jody for working the crowd for the 50/50 draw. At least someone from the team won the big bucks (yea Kim!). This pic here is of me with Pam, Kristin and Mayra. I have lots more from the night, so if you want to see them, pop me an email.

On Sunday evening I made my way up to Prince George. Couldn't really see much on my way in b/c it was dark by then (earlier even than what it gets in Kelowna, which is way earlier than Vancouver... I never thought I'd notice!). The conference, "Research Use Week (Northwest)" was hosted by CHSRF. The objective was to bring both researchers and policy makers together in an attempt to bridge the gap between reseracher and decision making. The tools and presentations we gained were invaluable and it was such an amazing experience for me. My presentation went well on Wednesday morning (apparently) and although the 3-day event left my brain numb, I made so many great connections and stimulated ideas for work in the future.

Anyway, I'm now back in K-town (funny, I used to call Kingston that) and back to work tomorrow. Can't wait to share the ideas with everyone when I get back! That's about it for now. ttyl!

For the guys

K, this one is purely for you guys out there...

Dog Crap Video

Happy Hallowe'en!

In my office, I sit next to an area of the room we call "the runway" (the aisle between two rows of cubicles where everyone walks down to get anywhere in the room, to the bathroom, kitchen, other cubicles, etc). As a play on this, my dept decided to dress up as members of the runway (ie. an airport/aviation theme)!

I dressed up as "lost luggage" - complete with a big box (thanks to the move for that) and decorated with pockets, handles, zippers, stamps/stickers, etc. And guess what? I WON THE OFFICE "BEST COSTUME" AWARD! Woohoo! See our group photo to the left...


We also had our first official house-owning Hallowe'en evening, with lots of trick-or-treater's last night. We ended up having 60 kids (+ 2 babies) which was pretty good I thought, although we had prepared for 100+ based on last year's accounts from neighbours. One of my coworkers lives down the road from us and thinks that the parents and kids don't necessarily want to walk up our hill (we live at the top of a cresent, on a hill), or that it was pretty chilly last night (-2C at 5:30 when the first gang came to the door). Anyway, here's a pic of our 2 pumpkins...

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN EVERYONE!

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD (Nov 1st)! :)