A completion to the update...

Well. I guess I should begin at the start.

K and I got on the road back home on the 22nd of December. Typically, we're short on time so we end up driving during the early evening. This causes issues. Actually, it only causes issues for one of us: me. K fights night blindness and doesn't see well enough to confidently drive when it gets dark (particularly on the highway where there are no street lights). Thus, I have to take on the driving duties. Now, I don't really mind driving. I actually kinda like it for the most part. But I hate driving in bad conditions. Lucky for me, though, we had some extra time over the holidays, so K was able to drive during the day over the icy/snowy roads through the northern Okanagan toward the Trans-Canada before getting back to the 4-0-3. Growing up in the boondocks north of Calgary turned her into a ninja of a winter driver, so she's much more confident on the snowy/icy roads than I am.

We got back to Alberta in one piece and had a lot of time to spend with our respective families. K's family was riddled with the flu, which they passed on to K and which she ended up passing to my little sister, but I managed to stay alive and fought off my cough/cold without it ever settling in. I popped more echinacea in those two weeks than I have in my life! We had a nice visit, though, with K's family, and then made it down to see my family in Bridge City on Christmas Day just in time to get the last part of Christmas dinner. As always, my family spoiled us with too many gifts and we left with more stuff than we came with. I also got to meet up with the old high school crew... 6 or 7 of us met for brunch the day before we got back on the road to BC, so it was great to see everyone. One is in Med School, another is doing a Masters in Performance Piano, another just left for Australia, still another is finishing up a teaching program, and another buddy is just about to have a baby with his lovely wife (who couldn't make... doctor's appointment). Always so much stuff going on.

On the 28th, we headed back to Calgary for an extended family Christmas get together with some of K's aunts, uncles and cousins. We were thinking of spending the night again, but decided last-minute to simply get back on the the road to the OK Valley so we could spend another day out in Victoria. So we stayed for about 2 hours, then made the drive back home, arriving at the apartment at about 11pm.

By 9:30am the next morning, we were on the road to the Island. K and I got stuck behind an accident on the Coquihalla for nearly 2 hours, but since we had left a whole day earlier than anticipated, we got there about 7:30pm, had some dinner and beer, and turned in... K at her friend's house, and me at my friend's house.

After playing lots of games, drinking lots of brew, and seeing a bunch of people, we were back home on the 1st with K's friend in tow. I did nearly all the driving after the first day (on the 22nd), but the roads weren't too bad, and although it was a bit stressful at times, we made it home in one piece. AND, after visiting with K's friend for 5 days and relaxing, it was back to life and work and such.

And so, here I am... two weeks away from starting my new (very REAL) job, and two weeks into the TOC'ing world. Subbing hasn't been too bad, and although it was quiet last week, I'm working 4/5 this week, and I'll be able to get some planning/cleaning done today to offset the lack of work that's been taking place over the past 2-3 weeks. I did some painting for my uncle last week, but with coaching and a busy subbing week, I haven't had time to do much planning, so today is what that's for... heading up to the school to get some materials and chat with a couple of the English teachers about some stuff, and hopefully snagging some keys so I can get copying and preparing more effectively. I can only do so much here at home.

Now we're all caught up... I'm going to make another unrelated post shortly about substitutes in the U.S. and issues surrounding their effectiveness. For now, I can only say that the standards are much higher north of the border, in most provinces anyway. But more on that later...

T