Marlee's Travels

Hey Everybody!!

2007-01-29T07:19:00.000-06:00

Soooo sorry I haven't updated for a bit. But I'll make it up to you if you go to my new blog! I promise this is the only time I'll make you do this cause this new one is way easier to use and I can put way more pics on there for you guys to see!

So, from now on... I will be updated the following site: www.getjealous.com/marleeritchie

Please check it out and gimme some feed back as to what you think!
Hope you enjoy!

Talk to ya soon,
Marlee

Day 8 on the Island... :) Things are lookin' up!

2007-01-19T17:57:00.000-06:00

YAY!!!!! One thing crossed off the list of things to do....we found a place to live!!! That is a big weight off our shoulders. We found a beautiful apartment fully furnished with cable tv to share with an Irish guy about our age, it is only €240 a month and our budget was €400 so we are happy with that. Even the beds come with linens which most of the places didnt. IT's so clean and new with all the kitchen and laundry amenities :) IT is a ten minute walk to downtown and a ten minute walk to Galway Bay (ocean) and our kitchen table window overlooks the city and Galway bay! IT is on the top floor and has a balcony and we have our own bathroom/shower in our room! We are sharing a big room (and it has two closets)which isn't new for us as we did for 4 or 5 years in the past :) It works better for when I take off and leave Jess to pay the full rent for a few months. Also, the guy we are living with has a computer that he is willing to share with us as long as we chip in for internet which is only about €7 a month each. Way cheaper then paying at internet cafes.
You dont understand how happy we are to have found a NICE place within our budget, you would not believe the dodgy dives we looked at over the past few days. But we did get to know the city quite well as we have been walking all over hell's creation on a budget of two eggs and one bowl of special K per day!!! This one apartment was a an old musty shed (not even joking) behind an old womans house and the fridge was in the middle of the living room in front of the couch because there was no room for it anywhere else, and you literally had to step over the toilet to get into the shower! I could barely turn around inside it! Anyways, feeling much more positive about the living and working here. Jess is keeping her fingers crossed as she has applied with a home care agency as well, and where she doesn't need her Irish nursing license to work there as it is mostly health care aid work. She's been getting more hastle with getting the 6week orientation and stuff so it might work out better. I'll look for work when I get back at the start of February... I'm not ready yet :)
We haven't been doing much here in Galway besides looking for places to live. But we leave tomo for Dublin then onto Amsterdam! Really excited. Then meeting Kristi, my sister, back in Dublin on Jan 25th and her, Kim, and I will take a small tour of Ireland then onto Scotland. Flights from Dublin to Edinborough right now are 1 Euro... crazy! It will end up being 66 euro return. Perfect timing.

So, I'll check back in later with good tales to tell I'm sure and x-rated pics to share :)

Anyways, thats all, hope everyone is well!

I'm working on another site at the moment where it is easier to upload a bunch of pics so STAY TUNED!

Me :)

Jan 15 Day Trip to the Aran Islands

2007-01-16T07:36:00.000-06:00

So this was the first real touristy thing we've done here this time. Jess stayed behind to do laundry for the first time in 6 weeks:) eeeewwww.... I guess that's what I hve to look forward to. Anywho, Jen, Kim and myself booked a ferry out to the Aran Islands to do some site seeing. Bought an hour ride in some rough seas but not as bad as the plane ride that's for sure! We originally thought we would rent some bikes to tour around the island but as soon as we stepped off the ferry, we were practically blown away from the high winds so we quickly accepted a tour guides offer to take around the island in his minibus for the day! It turned out to be a great choice because I was pretty funny and had grown up on the island so he told us all the history, which was pretty cool. One of the places we drove by was this light house that was practically in the middle of the island (island is like 9miles wide by 13miles long)he said that they had built this lighthouse way too far inland and alot of ships were crashing into the shores thinking they had a bit more sea ahead of them... well our driver, Rory, kept calling it the "the lighthouse that was up to no good" because the local people soon realized that when the ships crashed, they could loot all the supplies etc from the shipwreck! So, nobody did anything about the lighthouse for years! crazy. They didn't receive electricity to the island until 1973! They still used lamps and candles. All the houses only have 2-3 windows because before electricity was available, the town taxed them for the amount of sunlight they allowed into their houses, and most people could only afford to have 2-3 windows! If they had a front door that opened just on the bottom half... they weren't taxed for that light... who knew! So even the newer houses are only build with minimal windows in case the tax ever comes back! As we drove around, there isn;t a spot of land that isn't surrounded by rock walls. Rory said that the rock walls had 3 purposes, to establish ownership of the land, (land is all privately owned by farmers, some farmers have 10 acres while others have 100, but they are small lots all split up all over the place, never too many together), to provide shelter for the animals and to help clear the land and make use of all the rocks. He said that if the wall was damaged or fell over anywhere, it was up to the farmer who's field the rocks landed on... that it was their responsibility to fix it. :) Keepin it simple :) Lots of good info, got to see a seal playing in the waves, some local art work and of course a pint to warm us up :) Jenny forgot her backpack in the cafe that we were in at the biginning of the tour which unfortunately had her passport in it... so after panicking, we asked a local shop keeper how to get a hold of our tour guide again as we still had a few hrs to wait for our ferry. She wasn't sure but directed us to the grocery store, when we got there, I recognized a lady that was getting into her car as the lady who owned the shop across from the cafe Jenny's bag was in. Jenny bagged her for a ride back to her shop so she could get her bag. The lady said of course. So kim and I hung around and waited. 1/2 hr later... this island is not very big... so we were wondering where they were... Jen reappears with her bag adn very nice things to say about the lady. When Jen was talking to the lady, she said, "I suppose you woudn't happen to know a Rory that drives the tour bus.." the lady replied, "Well, I know him quite well actually...Rory is my son." LOL Very very small town. The cafe was closed, lady knew where the owners lived, went to their house they said they took it to the tourism and info place... and wouldn't ya just know that the tour/info booth was where Kim and I had decided to wait for Jenny! Argh. Funny in the end. The lady was super sweet and wouldn't take any money for her troubles. Nice end to the visit on Aran Islands. :) Hope you enjoy the pics.

It is now Jan. 16. Hanging out at Diane's (Irish friend that jess met in Australia last year) doing laundry... chillin'

We'll, I guess that's all for now! We start looking tomorrow for apartment cause that;s when the paper comes out with all the listings! Wish us luck!

Later all,
Marlee

I've Finally ARRIVED!!!

2007-01-13T10:10:00.000-06:00

Ahoy!

We've arrived safely... barely tho! There were 80km winds and crazy blowy rain gusts while we were approaching Dublin... then the pilot told us that we had to hang out for a while up there cause there were some escaped prisoners that got loose at the airport and were somewhere on the runways so they had closed all runways! .... Prisoners!??... The turbulence was so bad that when the stewardess came around to collect all the "sick" bags... she had to stop half way to get a new garbage bag! GROSS!! Kimmy and I held down our Heinekens okay... but my face was a tad green. I have my luggage and made it through immagration with only a smile... no questions! I must have that country girl charm I guess.

When we were "debarking" the plane, we had to use stairs out onto the tarmack due to the huge backlog of planes grounded because of the prisoners that were loose... anywho, the rain and gail force winds were so bad that the girl in front of us was almost run over by a runaway wheelchair! It looked so creepy! Then there was this guy that was running after it trying to catch it before it rolled into the flight path! ... really funny. :)

Anywho, on Jan. 11 we booked a room in a Dublin hostel in an area called Temple Bar which is kinda downtown and reminds me of Osborne. Lots of cool shops and pubs. The hostel was okay but too many rules. Like... can't get to your room before 3pm but have to check out by 10:30am. They upped there prices but no longer offer fruit for breaky just toast and jam. At least it's something. No internet, laundry (if your interested is like 7.5 Euro a load! They do it for you but we learned that people in Ireland don't have to pay for water so ... hmmm... anywho. We can't have guests at anytime, which meant that my friend Jenn who was staying with family friends couldn't even come up to meet us in our rooms in the day! So ya... hope not to stay there again. But we just needed to sleep anyway.
Jan. 12 (I'm using dates cause I really am losing track of what day of the week it is :)
Jess and I went to an orientation session that was offered to us with our Irish Working Visa's. It was really informative and a lot was thrown at us in a short time. Lots of paperwork and tax info to figure out. We have to get a bank acct to get a job but we need an address... so, I guess we'll try to find a place first. The bad news is that we will be taxed 42% until we get our employer to fill out some forms and send them in to the government proving what tax bracket we are in. Then they only charge us 20%. The good news is that we get every cent back when we are done but it will be sent home. If we want to change jobs, there is a form you get the old employer to fill out so you can give it to the new employer... lots of other forms too for other stuff... :)
After the orientation, the four of us met up again (Jess, Jenny, Kim and I) and bought tix for a 3.5hr bus ride across Ireland to Galway on the west coast. This is where Jess' friend lives and where we will be trying to live and work for the next few months. But I won't start looking until after Jenny, Kim and my sister all go home the first week of Feb. We are planning a trip to Scotland and possibly Wales if we have time.
So, we arrived in Galway last nite around supper time, got a hostel room for just the 4 of us which is nice cause we don't have to worry about leaving all our stuff sprawled everywhere... which it is. This hostel is way better. FREE internet! Super nice. Great kitchen facilities and minimal rules... which is more my style :) We went out last to a nite club cause by the time we were all ready to go and had had a few wobbly pops in our room, it was too late for the pubs. Most pubs close around midnight. Super early by our standards so I guess we'll have to learn to just start earlier!! hee hee... when in Rome.... :)
Today, we all finally had a chance to sleep in and take it easy. So, we walked around downtown, and are cooking a good meal here in the hostel. Then we'll try to get the ball rolling a little earlier tonite... we'll see how that goes. ;)
Kim and Jenn are going to take off on a bus tour down the west coast to see the sites tomorrow. I had a pretty thorough trip around here last year so, Jess and I are going to stay in Galway and maybe start looking for places. We actually are going to look at a place on Wed. morning. Wish us luck. Then at the end of the week, the girls will reunite and take off to Amsterdam for the weekend :) I've always wanted to say that... :) So that's the plan the moment. See how she goes.

Thanks to all for your comments! Keep 'm coming!

I'll report back soon! Take care all,

Slainte!

Continued from below... still 2 days to go!! yippee!

2007-01-09T02:15:00.000-06:00

- New years was really memorable for me this year as I was able to spend it with a really special guy. It's kind of a fun story of how we came to be, but I'll have to share that one later. We stayed at his place in Kimberley, BC and he showed me the great ski trails that the mountain had to offer. He's been snowboarding for a while now and I only get out skiing about once a year, so I felt bad that I was holding him back from his double black diamonds! He didn't seem to mind tho and I think he got a kick out of seeing my skis and poles fly off at many different speeds and several different directions on a few occasions :) But... I figured that if I didn't break any bones just before I left on my big trip that it was a sign that I was meant to go. That doesn't mean that letting go of him at the Calgary airport was a walk in the park... :( Needless to say... the flight attendants didn't bother me much.

January:

- My last few days of work were also fairly tough emotionally. I didn't realize how hard it would be to say good-bye to my co-workers and boss. We are a pretty close group and have become very good friends. They were kind enough to have a little lunch party for me. My boss even played a tune for me on his tin whistle :) A fabulous rendition of "Waltzing Matilda"! I think only he and I will understand how touched I was by it. Thanks John! I'll join in when I get back with my digeridoo! :)

- I am now... officially off work for 13 months! It hasn't set in yet. I'll let you know when it does. I think I've just been too busy trying to get all of my stuff done before I leave. Like renewing my driver's license, purchasing an international driver's license, putting my car in "storage" (Thanks to Stacey and Helmut! horray!) getting my autopac switched over to storage status... which wasn't as easy as it sounds... especially since my sister will need to drive it when she comes home to visit in the summer. But I think we got it figured out... I also have been having brunches and suppers with all of my family one last time to say good-bye. Also extremely heart breaking as we are all so close. So basically, I'm outta work and outta tears so I best get outta here! :) ... k... that was pretty bad....

- So I guess I'm all caught up! I told you it was facinating! ... you still awake lil' fella ?

It's getting pretty late so I'll so good nite for now and will talk to you all as soon as I can!

Thanks again to everyone for their kind words and well wishes! They can sure make a person feel special!

Seacrest... out!

Merry Ukrainian Christmas... Everyone!

Marlee :)

Happy New Year!! 2 days to go!!!!

2007-01-08T23:05:00.000-06:00

I greatly apologize for my very poor updating skills as of late! 40 lashes for me! As you can plainly see, my last entry was in November of 2006! Jeez! My goal before I left, was to update it with all of my outings and hooplahs... so the following is a brief recap of my extremely exciting adventures that I can't believe I haven't shared with all of you! (... cricket... cricket...) :)

November:

- Family fish fry with my Nanny's famous pickerel fillets! I even ate them... (I don't even like fish!)

- My dad's retirement party was held in Boissevain, MB hosted by the RBC. It was really nice. Good to see my dad so happy and to finally meet some of the great staff that he had told me about. He officially retires at the end of January! I'm super proud of him.

- I turned 27 years young on Tuesday, November 21, 2006. :) Right Shannon? tee hee
I went out on the town to our favourite watering hole and thanks to a few friends of mine who knew the band, I was asked up on stage to sing "Summer of '69" and the dance floor was packed! It felt really good that everyone was cheering for me :) Cause everyone knows how shy I am... ;) But I unfortunately don't have picks of that nite, a friend of mine got it on video tho. :) Kinda exciting! Step up from wedding singer :)

December:

- I was blown away when some of my closest friends threw me a surprise going away party on the first weekend of December. It was my first ever surprise party and it meant so much to me to see everyone there. Of course it was a huge success for a few reasons: 1. I wasn't informed of it earlier so I wasn't able to ruin it by telling the wrong people. 2. There was food. 3. There was karoke. 4. I got to wear a really cool, little green, leprechaun hat all nite. :) (again... no pics... sorry) Thanks again guys!

- Christmas was great. I was able to spend it with all of my beloved family (excluding my sister who is in Kuwait). I missed her but knew I would be seeing her in 1 month from Christmas day at the Dublin airport, as she is coming up to tour Ireland/Scotland with me and my buds for a few weeks. My family is pretty close so we all enjoyed each others company over the 3 day event. I'll cherish the memories as I'm sitting on the beach next year with my best friend Wally the Kangaroo. :)

Later,
Marlee :)

69 DAYS LEFT TO GO!! ...hee hee... 69...

2006-11-02T20:14:00.000-06:00

Howdy Doody Folks,

Well, I finally found some time to sit down and fill you in on some of my whereabouts this summer. I am an animal lover :) (Which comes as no surprise to most of you) I had a bit of a side business this summer to help me raise some much needed moola for my upcoming journey & House-sitting/dog-sitting/cat-sitting seemed like a natural choice. The following was my itinerary for spring & summer & fall 2006:

Montana - March 5-7 & June 18-24
Jaxon - March 10-12 & July 28-30
Jazz - March 17-25
Gracie & Habs - March 30-April 1
Otis - April 1
Apollo - June 3-19
Jonesy & Merl - June 30-July 4 & July 12-18 & September 15-16 & December 2-16
Anubus & Fraya - July 4-August 25
Ginger - August 5-10
Murdoch - August 10-23
Cinder/Tess/Hunter/Davey - August 30-September 8
Colleen's 12 Cats (yes... I said 12 cats) - October 27-30

Montana

Jaxon

Apollo

Jonesy

&

Merl

Ginger

Murdoch

Please stay tuned for more animal photos! ... mostly because it's a good tv nite and I gotta go now :)

To all a good nite,

Marlee

120 days left!

2006-09-13T15:32:00.000-05:00

Jenny's Cause

This whitey is my bless-ed life long pal... Jenny E. M. Shnitka!

She received her Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Manitoba and spent 2 yrs in Thompson, MB which is a northern community with many great nursing opportunities. She has since then broadened her horizons and is currently in Nairobi, Kenya volunteering as a teacher in a centre for children. She has also been able to donate her time and use her nursing talents at a few free medical clinics that have popped up around Kenya, which she was really excited about. This is a blurb copied from one of her first emails home.

"For the past two weeks I have visited and taught English and various other subjects to some children ranging in class one (our grade one) to class 7 (our grade 7). The children in a place called Agape (translation 'God's Love) Hope Center, are children who come from 'slums' government homes that are really only peices of mud land that you can now build for yourself. "
takes needy children who most of are orphans but have been accepted by a guardian; or if they are lucky enough, have their own parents. Agape charges nothing because the parents have no money obviously. The only two qualified teachers on the premesis are the young couple who had the vision to start the program. They are Margret and Oliver and you would all fall in love with them if you met them. They are only young, 32 and 34, have been married for 4 years and have a beautiful 3 year old girl named Crystal. They started Agape 4 years ago once they were married and wanted desperately to help needy children to keep away from the streets and have a potential future with free education. The government of Kenya has stated that their public schools will become free, however they sneak in administration fees of $1000 Kenyan shillings and parents who have no money obviously cannot afford this, therefore their bright child cannot learn a thing, and is turned to options of stealing or begging on the street. Agape has now accepted over 160 children. They have classes in their compound for baby class, pre unit (kindergarden) and class 1-7. The children arrive at 9am sharp and start playing and running around. Then they line up and at 9:30 and start singing songs with the teachers and ofcourse pray. A lot of praying goes on around here cause that has become many peoples last resort. After prayer, they all go inside and start their classes. They have a couple 10 minute breaks and around 2pm they are let out for lunch. They all must pray and give thanks before they take their lunch. Lunch usually consists of either rice or ugale, and then a side of cabbage and beans, or beans and spinach. It's always nutritious and always there for the children. For 3/4 of them, this is their only meal of the day. For that reason Agape even opens saturday so that the children have somewhere to safely play and eat atleast once that day. Agape cannot afford to pay any teachers so they ask for volunteers. There is a cook who has been there for a year and hasn't been paid a penny, there is a grounds keeper named Mike who comes faithfully everyday and as well without pay. There is a young boy named Bromwell who is 25 and lives on the compound, so for free rent he teaches for free and attends the grounds as well. There are other young men and women who come and go devoting a few months at a time because they are qualified teachers who need to look for paying jobs eventually; but out of the good ness of their hearts atleast help with what they can. There is one young girl there right now who has said she's willing to volunteer to be a permenant teacher of the class two's. She has no formal training, just highschool, but an amazing teacher none the less. The only income that comes into Agape is that they have had to take some paying children into class 1 and kindergarden so that they can atleast survive and pay rent for their compound. They have gone many days looknig for food for the children because they have run out of money, and are now asking for a charity donation from somewhere nearby. They were so desperate one time Oliver sold his radio for a bag of rice and beans for lunch that day. The children are aware and greatful for everything Agape gives them. One small thing I would love to do for Agape is see that they recieve school supplies. None of the children can afford text books and neither can Agape, so the teacher teaches from one text book and writes everything on their chalk board. The children almost always have no stationary so they share passing pens and pencils to one another all class just to get their work done. It's sad and frustrating all in one because you want to squeeze in as much learning as possible with them but they take so long doing short tasks due to their stationary problem. I have witnessed the same problem in the other orphanage called 'Good Samaritan' which is situated in the second biggest slum in Nairobi called Keybera. "

Jenny has such a huge heart and even greater spirit! When she realized that the young couple who run the centre where scrounging for enough food to feed the children on a daily basis, she knew she could help out even more. Because Jen comes from good stock :) , her mom donated $100 to help out by placing the money in Jen's bank acct. Here is another blurb to help you understand just how big of a deal this donation was!

"Lots of the kids guardians don't pay the wages that must be paid to cover rent of the center too and the couple who runs the center for the 170 kids dont' have the heart to send the kids home so they just keep them without pay, and they have to make ends meet at home too cause they have a little one and another on the way. THey have a cook who has cooked for them everyday for a year for free cause they have no money to pay her. They have two other young men who help teach there for free, plus do grounds keeping; and in return have a place to sleep at night, and one free meal a day. the meals usually consist of half your plate being filled with rice or somethign called ogale (its' a thick, almost rice like thick mash, or as thick as mashed potatoes but it's just corn or maize flour mxed with water, it's not bad but you need something obviously to eat with it.) so then they normally a cabbage with beans mix or a spinach and "skuma weeke" some veggie that's green and grows above ground n big leaves, almost cabbage colored but darker, sorry for the poor description and it's direct translation is 'push the weak' casue apparently its easy to grow and it at least fills you when you're weak and can't get other food so it'll 'push you when you're weak' and give you enough to keep on rollin' so lately at the hope center they've been very tight on food. I saw them scroung for money for 2 days in a row looking for money just to buy for that day and it was distressing cause I know the couple well now and I dont' like seeing them fret over how they're going ot feed the children cause that's the last thing they want is for the kids to come to school thinking they may not get fed that day. so at the end of day 2 I asked James (the maiin dude runnign Fadhili helpers) and asked if he'd take me to the market with some donated money (I dont' like to say where i get the money just only that it's not mine personally and that it's donation only cause otherwise you may be asked everytime they're short and i just dont' have the funds for that here). So I went with him with $100 Canuck( that's 6,000 kenyan shillings) that my mom donated and we bought 12 cabbages, a big bag of tomatoes and onions a big box of cooking fat, a huge bag, the size of me of beans, and 4 cartons, of 14 pack bags of maize flour to make the ogale and 10 kg of rice all for that, oh not to mention it paid for the taxi we got to take us to the market and drop it all off at the hope center. And that will feed the kids including me for 5 days! That is their one meal a day but fuck i've spent that one night at the bar. "

So when I found out how much just a few dollars bought for these children, I wanted to help too! I read Jen's email to my family and sent out a mass email to some of my work friends. It went as follows:

"Hello all,
This is not a forward from my mailman's, sister-in-law's, third cousin's ex. :) The message below is copied from an email that I received from a very close friend of mine, Jenny Shnitka, whom some of you may know, or may even have received the email. Anyway, she is currently in Nairobi, Kenya volunteering for 3 mths where ever she can. She is a Nurse but because of the strict volunteering rules for certain lengths of time to volunteer and money it would have cost her to sign up, she wasn't able to get on as a nurse over there but is volunteering as a teacher in a hope centre for orphans. Many of these children's parents are dieing of AIDS. This is a very lengthy message but I found it very powerful. She mentions that she had to witness the couple that run the centre, scrounge for enough money for 2 days in a row to feed the 170 kids who go there. Between herself and her mom, they donated $100 to the centre for food. This amount, which many of us are close to paying for a tank of gas, was enough to cover the cab ride to and from the store as well as feed Jenny and all the children for 5 DAYS! Jenny personally purchased these groceries and supplies which made me want to help as well. I have spoken with Jen's mom and received her bank acct # so that I can directly donate to the cause as well. My family has also given me money for the centre and I am now up to $300!
I know that there are several organizations that do this but it is very comforting to know that every cent is getting to the children in need! This is one of my closest, life long friends with such a huge heart and an even bigger spirit and I know this money will make it into capable hands! If this email moves you, as it did for me, I would love to add a few extra dollars to this great cause. As you can see, it doesn't take much $ to purchase much needed supplies. If you don't want to that's okay too. I just wanted to share this info with you all... if only to make us think for a second. :)
Best regards,
Marlee"

Well, the money came pouring in from supporters with well wishes for Jen and prayers for what she is doing. I didn't know what to expect when I sent that email as there are so many great charities that people donate to but was hoping to add a few more dollars to the pot... So the amount as of this moment that I have placed into Jen Bank acct. (as funds are still finding there way to me) is..... $1095!
The following list of angels are all receiving prayers from the children at the Agape Hope Centre in Nairobi, Kenya!

Marlee Ritchie
Marjie & Grant Ritchie
Richard & Beth Clark
Pat Brunsdon (Nan-se-fran:)
Mary Lynn Brooks
Irene Giesbrecht
Shannon Toback
Kevin Tierney
Stacey Halayko
Kim Azaransky
Maggie Forbes
Hilary Holland
Nicole Beausoleil
Estella Moffat
Margaret Krzyzelewski
Joanne Sigfusson
Ryan Phair
Denise Borowski
Carissa Embury-Hyatt

A Huge Thank-you to all of these people who gave big to such a great cause! Thank-you Jen for being who you are, for being so beautiful, for being a free spirit and for making a difference in the world.

Take care everybody!

Marlee

143 days left in Canada!

2006-08-14T14:01:00.000-05:00

I took this pic on our beach this summer when I was looking after Apollo... one of my "clients" ;) I really like it. Something about it makes me smile.

This is pretty much my favorite picture ever! This was taken in December, 2005 on the south western coast of Ireland along the Ring of Kerry. We were right in the middle of a 2 week girls road trip which took us all over Ireland and Northern Ireland. Thanx to Jess (in the white) and Donna (lovely girl to the right) who had met loads of Irish people over in Austrailia at the beginning of that year, we had a place to stay at almost every stop! Many great memories and stories. Trying to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car, with a standard car that had the gears in the same places as we do (1 was at the far left etc), and the accelerator, clutch and brake were the same as ours on the worst roads known to man with signs every once in a while that told you how many people had died on that stretch of highway that year... was surely an adrenalin rush!! I can't wait to go back!!

Well, gotta run! Enjoy!

2006-08-09T14:11:00.000-05:00

In case you weren't aware... landscaping is one of my greatest passions! I've just never been able to landscape anything until now! ... except the summer jobs as groundskeeper but that didn't count cause I wasn't given the freedom to create anything... I just had to maintain other people's creations... it's just not the same ya know? ;)

This is the before pictures of a "tiny little" flower garden I created at our cabin this summer. The brown thing is the remains of a stump that we had removed last year. It gave me much strife when I was trying to decide where to place the pond! Stupid roots were everywhere!

This is the final product. Turned out not too bad eh? A lot better than the previous alternative. :)

So everything was going well until all the fish in my pond started to commit suicide one by one! They would jump out and I would keep finding them when I was weeding. Some of those little buggers jumped far! ... or at least wiggled far.

I think when I get back from my trip I'll have to think of a better pond... at least a better pump.

Well, that's it for today.
To all a good nite,
Marlee ;)

Marlee's Family and background!

2006-08-01T13:56:00.000-05:00

"Families are like fudge... mostly sweet, with a few nuts!"

Dis one's me dad. Grand 'ol chap! 'e'll be retiring een de new year. 'e's count'n down de days... 'e is. Golf is slowly takin' over 'is life which is exactly what 'e's "banking" on! Enter, Sir Grant David ...

And my mommy... :) She's a Virgo, likes singing, long walks on the beach and sandwiches :) She has recently relocated to the 'Peg and started a new job! She is super excited about this life change as am I. Welcome Marjie May... :)

k... now this hot chick is my much older and wiser sister! :) Don't let the hat fool you... she's always horney... tee hee. She can usually be found halfway across the globe trying to get the sand out of her contacts while humming the "Kuwait Call to Prayer" tune. A salamah Lecume... Kristi Ann!

Quick family history... You will be quizzed on this later...

1. Marjie born in Winnipeg, spent some time in Calgary growing up where she worked for ski patrol but moved back to Winnipeg to complete highschool.

2. Grant born and raised in Winnipeg. Spent many years working for the Winnipeg Free Press as a cute paper boy and as a late night shelf stocker for Safeway.

3. Marjie and Grant meet on a blind date... hate each other. Then they meet up again later on... this time, sparks flew, emotions ran high :) Yadda, yukky, yadda... they get hitched and move all over the place thanx to the Royal Bank. Some of these places include Church Hill (Where they made a whole buncha cash!), Atikokan and Thunder Bay, Ont. (Where they spent a buncha cash!)

4. Then onto Kenora, Ont where my beloved sister was born.

5. They get back into good 'ol Manitoba to none other than Pilot Mound/Crystal City where yours truly was blessed into this world. ;) ... awwwwwwww....

6. Morris was the next stop for 5 yrs. until I was halfway thru Kindergarden. I sang "Roudolph the red nosed Reindeer" as a solo at the school christmas concert. I didn't think anything of it so I hadn't mentioned it to my mom. Then on the big day, my mom was in a hurry and had forgotten to buy me new leotards and sent me on my way with some ragged old ones that had runs in them. Mom still talks about how embarrassed she was when she realized that I was the center of attention up on stage... all alone... with the lights shining on my leotard runs:)

7. Roblin was a blur until halfway thru grade 2... Mrs. Kutcherhan and Mrs. Bagoski... enough said. I do remeber my sister being beaten up everday after school while we were walking home. She had a "lunch box" shaped bruise across her face once. I tried to help one time when the boys had grabbed her, there was just a big huddle of movement so I just started kicking at it... and wouldn't ya just know... I kicked my only sister! :( Sorry Kris...

8. Then the skys cleared when we took up residence in Melita! This is ... as many of you know... what I refer to as my hometown. We stayed here for 8 glorious years:) I made a lot of my life long friends here and learned a lot of lifes lessons:) Too many to mention but drinking a mickey of Jack Daniels straight for the first real experience with alcohol is always a fond memory for all of my family:) After I somehow made it home before curfew, after riding my bike across town, I became ill ... and well... my parents nursed me back to health so they could make sure I was properly punished. The words Melita and Grounded... have always kinda come hand in hand:)

9. Then, at the end of my grade 9 year... after my sister graduated high school... the sky clouded over again and we moved to Birtle... (enter thunder and loud, crashing, music of doom) ... The last 3 years of my high school experience were really ... ummm... trying. But to be honest... I wouldn't change anything... well... except driving into Kristi's car with Dad's truck... that I didn't need to learn from. But if anything... I built character and became a very well grounded person... see... there's that word again... I know there are worse experiences one can have in high school. I did let a few people into my heart while I was there. I still think of these people often and probably always will.

10. With Birtle in my rearview mirror as fast as I could get it there, I moved into Winnipeg for a fresh start at the University of Manitoba.

I will leave you there for now and pick up some other time. Gotta run to baseball... starting playoffs tonite with a nail biting double header! :)

Later weiners!
Me

2006-07-28T14:48:00.000-05:00

159 days left in Canada...

Hello all who actually care! :) ya right... Well, summer's flying by and I've been crazy busy between house/dog/cat sitting, work, baseball, family at the lake and making sure I spend enough time with my sister... who is flying out on Aug. 24th ;( back to Kuwait for another fun filled year of teaching.

I did manage to get down to Red Lake Falls with our annual "Great Canadian Whore Tour" at the beginning of July. Always good times... hee hee. The staff remembers us by name now, the rest of the regulars just know us by our t-shirts. We even sold a few this year... always have been a crowd pleaser! The slogan this year was "Treat 'm mean... Keep 'm Keen!" I've just figured out how to post pics so I'll have to put some up on display for all to enjoy.

I am moving outta Bryn Mawr into an appt with... shhh... don't tell anyone... my mommy... ;) It's been 9 years on my own..... ahhh! I'm actually not that worried:) We get along pretty well. She wanted to move into the city to help out with my Grandma who is needing a little more care but my dad doesn't retire from his job in Boissevain until Jan. So... it just kinda worked out. I needed a place to live and my mom didn't want to live alone... plus I'm helping her with rent as they will be paying rent in 2 places until Jan. So, this is all taking place July 31 ish.

I'll still try to be a regular at the girls' house tho cause I'm already in withdrawl ... ;(

The man situation is at a very firm stand still. Which is where I want it until I leave. What else... oh ya, my car has been being naughty again this summer. New brake parts, battery and alternator... howza a girl suppose to save her well earned pennies with things like that.

This is pretty boring ... have I lost you yet... I woke up last nite coughing with a burning sensation in my lungs... I figured out when I woke up this morning that I had vomitted a little in my sleep and aspirated some... this was really nice. I didn't even drink!!! Maybe that's the problem. I had been reading "Whiteout" before I went to bed which is about a Level 4 lab in Scotland that had a security breech and a guy bleed to death from some deadly disease. So of course at 3am when I woke up to burning acid coughs of fire! ... my first thoughts were that I had actually been infected from an influenza strain that I've been working with at my lab lately. So that was nice.

K... well. Hope I didn't bore you too badly. Let me know about stuff... with you :)

Later peeps,

Marlee

Plans are firming up!

2006-03-19T16:16:00.000-06:00

Well, I thought I'd test out this new blog craze in hopes that it would be a great way to communicate with friends and family at home while I was abroad. I'm frustrated 'bout the picture thing. I haven't figured it out yet. Maybe later :)

So, I've very graciously received firm comfirmation from my bosses that I could leave for a 13 month holiday and return back to work on the dates that I have chosen. These being:

Off work Jan. 8, 2007
Fly out of Winnipeg on Jan. 10, 2007
Return back to work Feb. 5, 2008

This is all starting to feel so real. Now all I need is money... hmmm...

Trial Run...

2006-03-19T15:32:00.000-06:00

Just Checkin' to see if this works...