Halfmoon Bay to Cambridge Bay

Good morning all. I arrived in Cambridge Bay yesterday afternoon and I have to say its beautiful here. Special K gave me a tour of the town and I met a few people and others were friendly and very welcoming. We took a drive down a road that leads to Mount Pelly where apparently theres several Musk Oxes hanging out and it was just spectacular but we saw no Musk Oxes:( We ventured to the local Co-op where yes I did notice some things are expensive and of course the produce is lacking some freshness but all in all it was pretty good. The Northern store was my favourite, their produce was how Superstores is in Vancouver so I ain't complaining and yes it is expensive and the prices are comparable to say Whole Foods but whatever. One thing that drove me crazy was theres no frozen spinach to be found here!!! Not that I need it that badly but Special K wanted me to make my spinach dip for his work potluck. A closer look at the Northern store opened my eyes to a fresh bag of baby spinach so I'm going to try and work with that. The meat was the same price as at home on the Sunshine Coast. A whole chicken for $12, 4 nice steaks for $30. It ain't as expensive as I thought it was going to be. We are still fully stocked on tons of crap from costco. We bought hockey bags from costco and then brought all of the food we bought in those, well Special K did, I dumped an entire hockey bag of ichiban noodle out, seriously who needs that much ichiban noodle? So Special K went back to work yesterday and left me here to absorb the mess that he had accomplished making in 2 weeks. He said theres housekeepers that come by, but wow, I don't think he's wiped the counters down once since he's been here...typical Special K behaviour. I was also tripping over his luggage spread about the house and also overflowing with stuff. He had like these luggage corners where there'd be a piece of luggage and then some stuff out of the bag surrounding it and then some stuff still inside so yeah. In a matter of an hour I unpacked all of my luggage, all of our food from costco and made the bed cleaned up the kitchen and made this place our home. I'm excited to start a new chapter of our lives here, and after the wedding I'm pretty sure we will start making a family, as everyone has 3 kids plus here. I don't know how long we are staying here for one day I'd like to have my garden again but I could stay here for a long time.
So Ralph and I were pulled off our West jet flight when we boarded in Vancouver. Apparently Ralphs crate couldn't fit through their cargo door. I of course was upset and told west jet I had called and confirmed the crate a dozen times in the past 2 weeks after what we went through with air canada. West Jet was awesome. They{Cindy, Jerry and Michael} stepped up to the plate and tried their best to solve the situation by locating a crate and putting us on the next flight which was awesome, also gave me an entire row to myself on a full plane so it was a sweet ride to Edmonton. In Edmonton when I arrived I had Special K's friend Wayne come and lend a helpful hand since I had 2 fully loaded carts and one flatbed cart for Ralphs crate that had one retarded uncooperative wheel on it. Wayne is from Special K's military days and the next day he came back in the morning to help again. Thanks Wayne you rock! The flight with Canadian North was wonderful and they kept giving me more coffee and a great breakfast and lunch, great service and the Pilot Richard was damn nice too. I'm very happy to be here, I really missed my Special K and Ralph was so happy to see him too. Today when Special K left for work Ralph watched him from the window and when Special K was out of his sight Ralph started howling and now he's passed out in an arm chair. I think I will get dressed and take a walk theres a store at the end of our street called the Arctic closet which I want to check out. I also want to take a ton of pics.
Have a sweet day peoples.

Moving day...check, Ralph Duct Tape..check, Air North Tix For Sale..check

This past week and half flew by! This morning after what I like to call a non-sleep night the movers came. Now these guys cleared out what we referred to as the "pile" in an hour. Those of you who don't know what the pile was it was a heap that took over two car parking spots in our garage, that managed to get out of control and turned into chaos. Not only did it look like and actually still looks like the backroom of a party rental shop or Martha Stewarts crafts gone wrong space{wedding crap}, it looked like an episode of Oprah or Dr Phil when they go through hoarders houses and condemn them for their love of old china dolls or whatever their fetish is. My fetish was clearly Tide, Bounty and Charmin. Thank god for movers. I can finally open the garage doors and not feel ashamed or worried of what may be behind the doors. Seriously it was a mess. I tripped and launched and hurled myself into the not so soft cement floors several times this past week. Ralph also aided in the tripping and falling as whenever I turned around his head was almost, yes right at my behind and when I'd carry a box he'd somehow in a matter of a seconds bolt in front of me when I couldn't see then stop until I tripped over him and the contents of the box and I ended up on the floor. Speaking of Ralph the reject in so many ways from the RCMP to Air Canada....He and I will be flying West Jet. I'm happy about this and Boooo to Air Canada who lost my dog and were going to put him on a plane that was not safe for live animals or actually I should say did put him on plane not safe for live animals. Billed us twice and apparently their complaints department doesn't get back to us for 45 days, wonder how many complaints they have for it to take 45 days eh? Anyways things could have been worse and I was and am very happy to have my big bonehead here with me (No Special K isn't here, I'm referring to Ralph):) So my Special K is enjoying Cambridge Bay and he says I'm going to love it too. Though today when I was conversing with the movers Special K sent me an email saying that the sun was setting at 11am, and I was quite happy to take my coffee and sit on the ocean in my backyard and enjoy the daylight:) So this will be my last weekend here and my Mom who is visiting from Japan is coming to stay with me. My Mom has lived over in a very small fishing community on the sea of Japan for 10 years so it will be a good visit and I'll get to share the beauty of the Sunshine Coast with her and she'll see why I'm going to miss it....and she can put some hours in on some wedding crafts as I plan to put her to work on pure guilt, and thats a joke well not really. Oh I should mention how Ralph has learned to open the gate. The other morning while I was awaiting the pot of coffee I heard screams of girl and barks of a dog and then it occured to me in slow motion it was my dog. As I bolted outside to see Ralph chasing down our 13 year old neighbour I was confused at how our gate got open and was pissed at myself for being so careless as Tyra our neighbour is already terrified of the dumass dog of mine and can't wait till he won't be around to bark at her on her way to school. So this morning when the movers arrived I went out to show them the "pile" and of course Ralph ran back and forth from each side of the house to bark at the movers through the fence. His bark sound terrifying but really I think hes just saying "hello!hello! hello! wanna play!? wanna play!? wanna play!? hello !hello! hello!" He's actually having a big bark fest while I'm typing this at nothing. So the movers are backing up the truck when barking german shepherd comes a running down the driveway, so somehow the smartass got over the gate. I was puzzled because the gate was open and I clearly locked it, so I put the sprinkler on, which can occupy Ralph for about 30 mins like a toddler to tv and it was quiet for those 30 minutes.(My dog chases the water coming from the sprinkler, sounds funny but watching it live is a riot) So I get the guys some coffee and we are just chit chatting about how they can only find 3 boots because Special K must've thrown mine into the black hole of the pile since we never found it, when I notice Ralph the dog...I see him put his paws on the top of the gate, now he's on his hind legs at this point and then he drops his paws so that his body like what would be our arm pits are resting on the gate and he pushes down hard on it making the lock come unattached then he walks backwards pulling open the gate, jumps down and runs through. So I'm glad Special K bought that family pack? that doesn't sound right of Duct tape from Costco, because thats how I'm locking the gate now:)
So I wanted to mention when I was a kid I had an obsession with the Franklin Expedition and the book Frozen in Time was on my moms bedside table, anyways I ended up reading it and wishing I could go try to find Franklins ships. So I decided to pick up a book, I wanted something to do with the Franklin Expedition as I wanted to remember and feel those same feelings that I had as a child so I picked up a copy of The Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton and I haven't been able to put it down since. If you love history and a good read I recommend this book. Did it bring back those same feelings I had as a kid?...sure did!
So we begin, well Ralph and I, our adventure up North on Tuesday night. We fly from Van to Edmonton then the next morning to Yellowknife then on to Cambridge Bay. I'm looking forward to getting there and am thinking all sorts of nice things about West Jet and just praying this time everything will go smoothly and there will be no lost dogs. Anyways I'm going to crash and burn but before I do Special K bought some tix for Air North at an auction up there they are Two Round Trip Tickets to anywhere Air North flys for 5000 or best offer, if you're interested then contact me. Nighty night peoples.

Ralph the dog denied boarding pass

So where do I start? Hmmm....Well some of you know I love my dog, like a lot. I guess most people love their dogs....Anyways I've had an issue with putting Ralph on 3 planes ever since we found out that we were moving to the Great White North and apparently so does Air Canada! I can't really describe how exhausted I'am from today. My eyes hurt from crying, I'm missing my other best friend. Special K repeatedly told me not to worry and that I was stressing over nothing and he was mostly right. BUT when we arrived at YVR today to check in Special K and Ralph, Ralph was nowhere to be found on the manifest. It all kinda spun out of control from there. Ralphs crate was too big, then too small. Then I found him a new crate through Air Canada, and then the plane was the wrong plane. When we arrived to pick him up no one knew where he was. I'm so tired and I'm so glad that Ralph is with me at our good friend Darshans. We got a full refund plus a new dog crate.
Yesterday I was thinking of all the things I'm thankful for this year, and I have plenty to be thankful for. Tonight though I'm so thankful that Ralph is safe with me. I'll end this here. Sweet dreams peoples.

One week left till Special K and Ralph the Dog head North

Well we almost have everything we need for the big move plus some. We even tackled the garage and now theres a clear path to one of the doors, and I say ONE of the doors. The other one is surrounded. It's a week today till Special K and Ralph the dog leave for Cambridge Bay, which also means its about a week until my mom arrives here from Japan. So we've been pretty busy but yesterday we took it easy and took Ralph up to Francis Peninsula Park and just enjoyed eachothers company. It was a beautiful day here and I will miss the beauty of the Sunshine Coast but I'm ready for another adventure. So the other day we hit Canadian Tire (my favourite store on the Sunshine Coast) and bought the aero garden. When I first saw this thing a few months ago I wondered who would buy this thing and now I have one. It comes with an english country garden package and we purchased the herb package so YAY I'm excited to grow some herbs in what is a modern day chia pet to me. We also went to Vancouver on I think wednesday or thursday and hit costco again. We found this blue light thing by Philips, I'd go grab the box and tell you what its actually called but it happens to be in the garage and even though its organised I couldn't tell you where anything actually is...I can't even see the lawnmower or the freezer. Anyhow the blue light thing, it's suppose to resonate blue sky. Special K, my special man decided to plug it in without much notice and face it directly at me while I was reading the instructions which read "do not face the blue light directly or stare at it", anyways I'm fine and the blue sky is back in the box till it reaches Cambridge Bay where I will position it and assemble it so it takes no more victims.
I have to mention my only fear of moving. Ralph flying. It terrifies me. I just am so worried he'll end up on the wrong plane and next thing you know he's like in Russia or something or that he's misplaced or forgotten about. I know he's young and my vet said he'll be fine and that we can give him gravol but I'm just dreading it. I think when Ralph leaves I will need to be sedated. I'm almost not kidding!!!I've decided to stay with friends while Special K and Ralph head to Nunavut just to keep my mind off of it. I even looked into driving to Yellowknife but yeah. We all know thats retarded.
Oh yeah and the bed, we found out where we'd be moving into comes with a double bed and that ain't gonna work. So we went to Sears where Special K who's always looking for a bargain(read cheap) (I love you luvbug even when you're cheap, mwah)found a bed that was 55% off so we have a new bed coming with us and I'm super excited because its a king sized bed. The queen isn't big enough for all THREE of us. Yes Ralph sleeps on the bed too. I attribute that to my father, he always told me when I was growing up to keep the dog off the bed and furniture. You must know when my Dad wasn't around my dog Kelsey at the time was lounging on the couch and sleeping at the end of my bed. Now that I'm an adult, sort of, I buy furniture to share with the dog. I know its bad and Ralph should know his place but for some reason I like getting up in the morning grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down on the couch next to Ralph. He's a clean dog. I bathe him on a regular basis and he plays in the sprinkler as much as he possibly can. At this moment Ralph and Special K are sleeping side by side in our bed. So I'm looking forward to having a bigger bed.
So today we have to check our list and see which Nunavut stuff needs to still get done and which wedding stuff needs to get done. I'm thinking I should have all of the votive embossing done before I go that way the movers can take the embossing crap up instead of me. Anyways maybe I'll do some more of those before we head to Vancouver today.
Cheers!

Shopped Out

I think I may be all shopped out. Today I spent mainly in bed, except for my walk and wubba throwing sessions for Ralph in the backyard I had an extremely lazy day. Yesterday we did another food shop at Costco and seriously I had troubles getting the garage door down after I unloaded the car. We also went to Ikea and got a few pretty lamps and some kitchen crap and the essential shower curtain that we were told to bring. We also had a visit to WalMart where we found our humidifier and some other kitchen thingys. Then it was the Sears outlet store which is like walking into Sears in the mid 1980's but not the cool 1980's. Then we went back to East Hastings to my favourite store the Gourmet Warehouse where we picked up all the spices and a damn huge bottle of olive oil. Later while in the ferry line up coming home I picked up that bottle of olive oil and thought wow this looks like a 60 pounder of rum, and at that very moment I think the guy in the car next to me had the same thought but I think he thought I was actually going to pop that baby open and drink it back, little did he know it's a bottle of extra virgin olive oil from Spain. Anyways we have most everything that we need to bring. I'm debating bringing my antique coffee maker since its all glass but I really don't want to buy anything else. We still need to pick up toilet paper, paper towel, the memory foam pad thing, binoculars(ask Dad) and more books on the stars.
We heard from the housing peoples today and apparently where they were going to move us isn't good now? So they are putting us up in Green Row Executive Suites, which I googled and it really is a green row of umm suites. After our stay at the green rows apparently we will be moving into a townhouse that has a view of the Bay which is nice since I know how much I'm going to miss my ocean view here and am already anticipating returning in spring when all of my bulbs will be breaking through the frozen soil....ahhh spring:)
So I want to know do they sell frozen turkeys up there? Anyone know? I'm thinking I'll buy one in Yellowknife and just carry it on the plane with me if nobody thinks there's turkey up there. That would just be so typical of me to be carrying around a frozen turkey...I have a funny story which involves me buckling a turkey into the front seat of my camaro but I'll save that story for another time. Oh and what about liqour? Should I bring my own Rum up or?
On a good note I applied for a job today up there and got a call back four hours after I applied. Yay me!!!I just don't want to get bored. I know I have 160 wedding napkins to sew and embroider and a bunch of new wii exercise stuff and some workout DVD's from London Drugs. I also want to contribute to our household and have money to buy food up there and carvings plus I want to go to Bora Bora for our Honeymoon. Anyways I think I'll go to bed and get an early night in. Night night all.

Back to Costco

On saturday we went back into Vancouver and hit costco again, this time buying food. We also bought 2 hockey bags to load it all into and they're so awesome, they even have wheels on em! Mr K or actually Special K was told he can bring 6 bags with a maximum weight of 70 pounds so yeah we are heading back to Van to get more stuff and hockey bags. We also hit my favourite sewing store Dress Sew Supply and got some black vinyl to make some blackout curtain blind things and the fabric for our wedding napkins. I'm pretty sure I will be kept busy while Special K is at work.
Today we are heading back to Costco. See I drive a vw golf and theres quite a bit of space in there but when you put 40 pounds of pancake mix, 20 pounds of rice, 3 large boxes of cereal, a dozen cans of tuna, 6 flats of green giant canned veggies, 4 boxes of dehydrated mashed potatoes, 1 massive tub of beef stock, a crazy amount of chicken noodle soup, 100 pound german shepherd....you get the picture. So theres a point where we can't buy anymore because theres no room in the car and we have to travel by BC Ferries which ain't cheap but Special K says it cheaper than renting a truck.... So today we go in again! Yay! I'm actually totally excited because we're going to Ikea! Today we plan on getting some more food and some kitchen gadjets like a garlic press, and you know wooden spoons and some other handy kitchen tools since I want to keep what we have in our kitchen here so that when I come back in a few months I won't be searching for like a knife when I go to dice something.
We also hit our storage locker in Vancouver which has quite a bit of kitchenware that my grandmothers both had so I've swapped out some stuff from my kitchen and yeah we are good to go. We are taking most of our modern stuff up and leaving the 1950's kitchen here on the Coast. I figure when we eventually do comeback I'd like to not bring back so much stuff. So most everything that we're bringing we can leave, donate and not have to bring it back here. Did I mention our garage looks like we have a serious hoarding issue and I'm kinda wondering if I do considering all the crap that we, well I have in the storage locker.
So Special K and Ralph the dog head up on Oct 12 and I'm staying here till the end of October since my mom who lives in Japan is coming home for a visit for the last 3 weeks of October and then I will come up. I have to admit my fear of moving up has somewhat subsided with the thought of having a ton of stuff to do but I'm totally worried about Ralph the dog flying up there and the 3 different planes. Anyways thats all I can write since I need to get my butt in the shower. Cheers!