Back by popular demand ... or not.

So I feel that I am being punished for having such a good run in my temping career thus far. When CPSBC Natalie thinks back to SNC Natalie's perfect job earning a decent hourly wage for browsing the wonderful web stores of Saks and Christian Louboutin while making the occasional deep-in-thought face whenever a VP walked past her desk, a pained sigh ensues.

Cue beginning of dramatic personal journal style blog entry a la Bridget Jones ... Current Weight: 5 000 000 pounds; Cigarettes: 2 packets (this will make no sense if you have not read the book .. or seen the movie for that matter!).

The truth is I am far too tired and of course it is not that dramatic at all. In fact, I actually enjoy being busy because it makes the working week fly by! Nevertheless I catch myself occasionally reminiscing about the days when temping was fun and carefree. Now it's all business and little play, hence the lack of blog updates recently (and quite possibly the lapse into talking about myself in third person).

So my new work is at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC) and I'm working in the Registration department until (at this stage) mid September. I'm still trying to work out what my fellow colleagues are on (although when I put two and two together...) - they are without a doubt the nicest collective group of people I have ever met ... and this place has a LUNCH ROOM! Is it sad that I was so excited to find myself lucky enough to work in an office with a dedicated lunch room? Please don't answer that.

Basically the work involves me sifting through hundreds of files of physicians that have at any stage in their careers been registered in British Columbia and issuing certificates of conduct to other agencies and regulatory bodies throughout the world. Clearly it's pretty important all the details are accurate so the job is a tedious, painstaking grind. Despite the busy days I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge and as I said - can't complain about the company! It has also made me question (several times, daily) the sanity of my friends who are studying medicine - do these people EVER stop studying and taking exams?

Vancouver life of late has been fairly non eventful.

We celebrated Canada Day (seems so long ago now) by enjoying afternoon drinks at a British pub down on the water near Canada Place and dining on a range of tasty offerings from local street food vendors - pretty sure we did Asian (pork dumplings), Greek (lamb wraps) and French (Crepes) all in one day! 

Despite our best porker efforts Steven is still hungry and attempts to eat his beer.

The Olympic cauldron in all its glory on Canada Day.

We've also started making our weekly pilgrimage to Granville Island on a Sunday afternoon to do our  grocery shopping (and for me to buy my banana nut toasted lunch-bagel!) at the public market. The food is fantastic and well worth the ferry fare. As it turns out our groceries cost the same, if not less than they do here, in Downtown. The only negative is that it gets so busy of a weekend, especially later in the day, so it's sometimes a struggle to shuffle through the hoards of people - works wonders for my  patience threshold though!

An example of delish Granville Island ingredients dinners - homemade rice paper rolls & Vietnamese salad.

Steven is still training hard for his upcoming events. Every morning I wake to the sweet sounds of the wind trainer and the sweet (OR NOT) smells of hard work. In fact, as I type this a waft of training gear smell is moving in this direction and has reminded me I need to do ANOTHER load of exercise clothes washing. All for a good cause though - if he was this stinky for no reason then we'd have serious issues. Steven is also training extra hard this week because I promised him I would make lasagne on Friday night if he makes all his sessions. He is being very diligent and as the household appointed Director of Dinners I am enjoying having all the power.

Post half marathon I have been attempting to maintain my own fitness by continuing to run the trails of Stanley Park. The other day I saw a tiny baby squirrel no bigger than my hand! At first I thought it was a piece of dead wood (cut me some slack, I run glasses-less!) until I moved closer and realised the poor little thing was frozen in fear (as you would be with a giant monster standing a metre away from you). It was pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen.

I've also started taking bikram yoga classes and I am in love. I honestly feel like I am going to die every time I do a class yet I am now addicted. I could be addicted to worse things though so it's all good.

So I guess we've been lying fairly low lately also because summer seems to have disappeared as quickly as it arrived. The last two weeks we've had mostly rainy days or ones full of dark, ominous clouds so our trips to Granville (scheduled rain, hail or shine) have been the only shining light - oh, plus my new found love of bikram. Thankfully last night was rain free so we packed our sleeping bags and set off to Stanley Park to watch a free screening of Top Gun (Steven could hardly contain his excitement, he even had to tap his head and feet in unison along to 'Danger Zone'). Free outdoor movies screen all summer long - I love it how people really embrace the season. It makes sense though - summer is fickle here.

We didn't take any pictures from the night but it basically looks like this (only dark - obviously!) -

People tend to set up early to get prime spots and do dinner in the park, pre-movie.

No rest for the wicked. I am off to start dinner and get cracking on this stinky washing. Miss you all and I promise not to leave it so long in future as I am sure you will all be waiting with bated breath for the next installment.

Namaste.