Moonlight Run

There is an annual race in Lethbridge called the Moonlight Run. It starts downtown, at 8:15pm, then goes down into the coulee, by the river, then back up the hill. This year was the 20th Anniversary of the race. I entered, but unfortunately haven't done much (any!) running in preparation, so it was a bit tough. Fortunately, walking my bike up the hills on a regular basis meant that I was able to walk the hill faster than some people were running. I'm starting a learn to run program on the 31st. I came 436 out of 1081 women this time. Maybe next year I'll do better! It is a lot of fun though, and it's really nice with the stars out, and the moon shining.

Mom's Pictures

Here are some pictures Mom took while she was here. These are all at the University. To the left is the climbing wall at the fitness centre.

Molly's Dog Walker

Here's Wendy, Molly's dog walker.

Trip to Medicine Hat

Mom & I went to Medicine Hat yesterday. I don't think I'll rush back. There's nothing wrong with MH, but it isn't as picturesque as I expected. We saw some fun stuff on the trip though, including several wind farms, tumblin' tumbleweeds, mountains, 2 donkeys, 2 ponies scrapping (I think they were actually playing!), and a ton of other stuff.


We stopped at the Coaldale Bakery on the way. It's supposed to be one of the best bakeries around.













The main street in MH is called Toronto St!




The City Hall is quite nice, as it's all windows, and is right on the Saskatchewan River.


Here are some pictures taken along the river.

There are some really nice monuments along the river too.

Cardboard Boat Races

The UofL had the local high school students compete in cardboard boat races at the pool. Mom & I had gone up to swim, but we watched the races for a while. Mom took pictures. It was quite funny to watch. Some of the boats sank right away, others overbalanced, and some were really successful. The most successful ones were the simplest ones.

Why I Like Lethbridge

In the past few days, within 3 kms of our house, we've seen 2 pheasants (or pheasant-like birds, anyway), 12 deers, 3 bunnies (or the same bunny 3 times!), and a huge white hare. I've also seen an owl and a mouse on my ride to work. There is another bunny that is always in my way on the trail I ride on. The darned thing won't move! Then it'll suddenly run off, usually right into my path.

Molly and I also had a weird thing happen a few weeks ago. I was taking her outside for a piddle before bed, and a large bird was in the backyard, right by the deck. I scared it, and it took off, but unfortunately it flew into the side of the garage. It was shaken, but took off again. I don't know what it was, but it was large!

Loads of Snow!

We're having our first real snowfall of the season. It hasn't stopped snowing since Saturday night. I don't know how much we've rec'd at this point, but it's a fair amount. John has shoveled about 6 times since Sunday morning. I definitely won't be riding this week! By Wednesday the temp is supposed to be above freezing, so although the snow will disappear, the winds are bound to come up again.

We had a really nice dinner out on Saturday. We went to 360, which we've been trying to get to, and it was really nice. They do a steady business, so that's good. Apparently they change their menu every 3 months, so we should be able to go there regularly.

Ice Fog

This morning we experienced something called ice fog. Apparently ice fog is fog made of ice crystals in the air instead of water droplets, and it forms when there are clear & calm conditions in really cold (Arctic) air. It was quite beautiful, although it disappeared when the sun came out. You could actually see the ice in the air.

I'm used to ice on the trees like this because of freezing rain, but in this case, there is no precipitation, it just forms from the air.

I took a bunch of pictures when Molly & I went out this morning. She's really feeling the cold these days. She used to love the cold, but now she shivers and justs wants to get home. I bought some new coats for her to try today, so we'll see if either of them fits. Hopefully they'll be a bit warmer than the coat she currently wears.

A Celebration!

Today was the grand opening of the new Wellness Centre at the University. They had a huge party tonight, which we attended because friends of ours were involved. Sarah is the Promotions & Marketing Coordinator for Sport and Recreation Services, and her partner Nicholas was the MC. They both did amazing jobs. The whole event was almost flawless. It's also the 40th anniversary of the University, so this event kicked off a year of celebrations for that too.

There were performers showcasing the many kinds of activities that you can do at the Centre, from tiny girls doing ballet to women doing belodi. The new Pronghorns mascot was revealed too, and he's quite something! Many well-known Canadians were there too. Ian Tyson & Susan Aglukark performed, and Norman Kwong (first Chinese Canadian to play in the CFL, now LG of Alberta), Preston Manning, and others gave speeches. All in all, it was an impressive lineup.

John's department chair's daughter Alice was a dancer in the show. She danced with a partner and 3 other couples. She did really well.

I've attached a link to the development of the new Centre, and hopefully tomorrow I can add a link to some pictures in the Lethbridge Herald. I go to the gym 4 days a week, so I am definitely getting my money's worth! It's still under construction, but it's a great facility.

http://www.uleth.ca/hwc/overview.shtml

Deer TV

John's office at the university faces a little protected area where deer like to come to graze. He sits and watches them from his office window. He's been trying to get pictures of them for ages, and finally got some today. We're still new enough to the area to find having the deer so close fun. The road you can see in one of the pictures takes you from the top of the university to the bottom. John's office is at the bottom. This buiding, University Hall, has many levels. It's built into the coulee.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! We are having a relatively quiet New Year's Eve this year, which is how we like it. We took the dog for the nature walk this afternoon, so the pictures are from that. We drove around to Popson Park as the sun set, and saw the deer there. As you can see, although we didn't have a white Christmas, we did get some snow in the past week. It likely won't hang around long though. It never does.

Tonight we'll go over to the new house of some friends. They had it built and moved in a couple of weeks ago. We'll only stay a couple of hours, then we'll come home to watch the ball drop with Mom. Tomorrow we're having our neighbours over for lunch. Then on Tuesday it's back to work.

I hope you all have a great New Year's Eve, and that 2007 brings only the best.

Christmas Day (part 2)

Here are more pictures of us opening gifts.


Thanks again for all the great gifts!

Christmas Day! (part 1)

Yesterday Mom & I went to the Lutheran Church at the end of our street for the candlelight service. It was really nice.

We've had a great Christmas Day so far. We got up, had breakfast, then went for a nature walk so the dog could run around. Unfortunately she isn't feeling great today, so she's had some medication and is just sleeping now.

There was a classic chinook arch this morning, so I've attached some pictures of that, above. I was hoping it would all fit across the page so you could see the full arch, but I don't know if it will. You'll get the idea anyway!

It took ages to open our gifts, between the dog getting sick, the phone ringing, etc.
We all got really great things. Poor Mom suffered a bit because she won't get her real gift until they have Christmas at home, so she had only 3 gifts to open. Thank you to everyone for all the gifts, they are all wonderful.

I think we're all going to have a nap this afternoon, and then have a fabulous dinner. John is making prosciutto wrapped turkey breast with mashed potatoes, veg & gravy. I am making sticky toffee pudding with low fat vanilla custard for dessert. Should be good!

We'll be thinking about all our friends and family over the holidays, and wishing we could see you all.