Me, oh my, how time has just flown by! There is a lot of news to report since my last update, because I have been out of commision for typing, well since the whole arm incident! Nevertheless, January, overall, was a pretty slow month that's for sure. The Bow Valley had record low for tourism numbers. We had days below minus 30 degress and days above 5 degrees celcius! As the end of the month approached, some special visitors made their way West, my parents and Dennis and Melinda Pearson! I spent some time with them in Banff and at the lodge, doing the 'tourist' thing! We then left for the north on the first Monday of February. We made lots of photo stops along the Icefields Parkway (recently rated the most beautiful drive in the world!) you know how my Mom is! We made a lunch stop in Jasper and I had a tour arranged for them at Jasper Park Lodge to see where Bill Gates, Queen Elizabeth, Shania Twain, Danny Devito and more stay; the Point, Outlook, Gardeners Cabins. We arrived in Edmonton late that evening and I had to rise early the next morning (4:45 AM) to go to a 'tourism conference' at the Edmonton Airport Conference Center in Leduc. Dennis took me to the airport and insisted on taking my luggage to the hotel in Leduc where I was staying at.....I pleaded no!!! What happened after that, my parents had no idea until days later! I checked in at WestJet, boarded a 7AM flight to London, Ont. and arrived in London for a HUGE wind storm. My plane dropped below the clouds before getting back up and climbing above the clouds, somewhere near the shores of Lake Huron! Everyone on the plane shudder, all I thought was, "so few people know that I'm on this plane and I'm about to..." grrrrrrrr, the pilot pulled through!!! We could only see blowing snow and snow from our windows and only by the jolt of a thud, did we know we were in London (they really do need to lengthen that runway for Boeing 737's!) Nevertheless I had a greeting party at the airport and went that day to surprise many of my friends, at other peoples houses, schools and volleyball practices (I'm sorry I surprised some of you too much....Kristen, Sam!!!) My parents, still thinking I was in Alberta, left Edmonton to arrive in London late, the next night! After claiming their bags they were greeted by Scott and I... talk about confused looks! I had a great visit at home and THANK YOU ALL FOR PULLING IT OFF, even if you didn't know you were helping me!
I returned back to Calgary mid February and rushed back to the lodge where I had more time off. Of course, skiing, snowshoeing, skating were still no-no's at that time, I've been keeping busy with lots of extra work. We staged a great Murder Mystery, I wish I could remember who the murderer was though!
All the surprising I did led to a surprise played on me. I was told that on my days off last week 'that it was in my best interest not to go to Lake Louise for the day!" hmmmmm lil' weird I thought. Our HR director set up a meeting at her house for me to attend, even stranger, because I knew their daughter wasn't being babysat for the meeting. I walked in the house to see Tessa West, a friend of mine that I worked with us this past summer, from Regina. She spent a few days at the lodge during her reading week and our Summer staff recalled all of the Summer memories.
Now, I have my days off again and I was in hospital this morning..... for a re-x-ray. No, I didn't 'slip on ice at the airport and break my other arm' like my boss told my mom on the phone. I was due to have my sling off today. The surgeon told me I still have one of the best breaks of the ski season he's seen at the Banff Hospital, 'you knocked the ice cream right off the cone'. He said it's healing really well. I have my sling off now and the hardware will remain in my arm. It is a five inch long plate that is in the shape of a gun with some screws. The arm, itself, is pretty stiff but I'm coming along great, he said. The biggest challenge I'll face is over head activities. Let me explain the difference between Ontario and Alberta healthcare. In Alberta you walk into the ER tell them your name and they give you a piece of paper and take you right onto the table to x-ray you, even when there are 7-10 others on stretchers. In Ontario, you walk in half dead, to try and find the lone nurse that has worked a 24 hour long shift already, you faint in triage and they wheel you down the hall where the doctor sees you, a few hours later (really happened!) In Alberta you can go and look at all your x-rays, as they are developed and you pass them off to one of the three doc's that are waiting in the ER. In Ontario the doctor shows you an x-ray of someones arm but it was your chest that you had x-rayed (really happened!) In Alberta you are in and out so fast it took longer to get from the main street to the hospital then it took for the whole time in hospital! In Ontario people heal and then develop other problems while waiting in the ER (okay, didn't really happen) In both Ontario and Alberta the staff, doctors and nurses are awesome, awesome people, just it's obvious which province has more dough invested into health care.
More visitors are on their way to the West in less than a week! I'll try and keep this site updated more often again, too!
darren ;)
27/02/03 .