The Regina Monologues: October 2006

Well, kids, to be honest, I haven't felt much like sitting in front of the ol' home computer now that I sit in front of the ol' work computer all day. But, because our lives are so infinitely interesting, I shall make a great sacrifice and give you a quick li'l update.
Things have been swimming right along, and we're still having a great time in the beautiful city of Regina. I've got a very low-level job with Saskatchewan Learning as a student records clerk, but I'm glad to have something, and government experience is a good thing. Fortunately, the office environment is very positive, and it's fun to have people to socialize with. I'm also taking three dance classes a week, including a pretty hardcore ballet class involving tights and bodysuits and the whole deal. Wheee! I'm absolutely loving it, and I can't believe I'm having fun exercising.
Jimmy is wowing his parishioners with his mad skills, and learning much from them as well. The other night we went over to the home of Gordon and Adeline where we played Rummikub and ate apple kuchen til all hours of the night. I've been helping out with the Sunday schoolers, which is always entertaining. Seriously, how adorable are these kids?

We've been having a lot of time together, which has been absolutely refreshing. We are now the proud owners of a copy of Dance Factory, the game that lets you dance dance to all your favourite tunes.

So far, we've danced to the sounds of Weezer, the Ventures, Cornershop, OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Moxy Fruvous, k-os, and Meco's "Star Wars/Cantina Band." It's freakin' awesome.
A very kind parishoner also relinquished her tickets to the last Riders home game of the season, and so we bundled up and watched the Riders win! win! win!

(Note, of course, that I remain a Stampeders fan through and through, but we love to cheer for the Riders. And we even rang our touchdown cowbell to cheer for Schulz!)
Warning: the remainder of this post consists of pictures of our cat. I know that other people's pets is the number one worst blog subject, so I apologize. However, I suspect that those who know and love Milton might enjoy this a bit, so please excuse the indulgence.
Lately, Milton has been on TV

has imitated laundry at various stages

and even joined in the dance-dancing.

Sort of.
And so our little adventure continues.

It's only fall for one or two weeks in Alberta, but during that time, there is nothing of comparable beauty.

Bekki and Anthony picked a great time to get married, particularly considering that their reception was in the glorious Rocky Mountains amidst the fall colours. I'm so glad I had the time to go early and spend lots of quality time in Calgary.
I took the Greyhound (about an 11-hour trip) which was tolerable, but just barely. I had lots of great Mom time, including shopping, aerobics, talking, walking, and watching Gilmore Girls. i got to see most of the fam as well as Toph, although I totally screwed up my shopping date with Christopher (sorry!). In general, it was a fabulous week of relaxation, comfort, and regrouping.
Bekki's wedding was on Saturday the 23rd. The ceremony was held at Holy Name Catholic Church in the west of Calgary. It was a pretty big reunion for Mom, as she'd lived with Aunty Cheryl's family for a year when she was in high school (note that Cheryl and Glen are not actually my aunt and uncle, but we still call them that. So as you can imagine, I've known Bekki as long as I've been alive). The ceremony was shorter than I expected, and it was very nice and touching. Bekki looked AMAZING, like a movie star. She made her own gown, you see, because she knows how to do these things after studying fashion design at Ryerson. Anthony's suit was also handmade, by his father who is trained as a tailor. They are a beautiful couple--both very petite with delicate, striking features. And now, with a name like Rebecca Rossi, Bekki can certainly pass for a celebrity.

After the ceremony we gathered on the steps in front of the church for a group picture, and the Bekki and Anthony rode away on a Vespa. .

It was, for lack of a better word, adorable.
We all drove west into the glorious sunshine and congregated at Nakoda Lodge. It's a conference facility/hotel on Chief Hector lake at the foot of Mt. Yamnuska (the first mountain I ever climbed). Mom also goes there with her faculty groups to build trust and communication on the ropes course nearby. The setting was, of course, gorgeous. I'm not the best nature photographer in the world, but I hope I can convey a bit of the atmos.

As we arrived, a piper was playing on the shores of the lake, bringing a bit of the Campbell clan ethos to the day.

We all enjoyed wine and canapes while the bridal party took pictures. They were set up at a weird angle to the light so that everyone's face was in half-shade, which I thought was kind of odd. But even so, it was awesome to have mountains as a backdrop.
Bekki and Anthony eschewed the traditional glass clinking in favour of requiring a poem to be written and read in order to make them kiss. Mom, Bekki's grandma, and Debbie (L-C, whom Westernites will recall) composed an acrostic with the word B-R-I-D-E, and I wrote a little poem alluding to the fact that they are the latest in a long, proud history of Heritage Park-originating marriages. After speeches, a slide show, cake cutting, and a bit of dancing, Mom and I retired early to our room. We skipped the late-night campfire which reportedly continued until 4 AM, but we were in good company: the bride and groom crashed rather than changing into jeans to take in the fire.
The next morning we enjoyed Nakoda's AMAZING Sunday brunch (if you have the chance, you've got to try it. Apparently it's improved immensely over the past few years since they acquired the chef from Lake Louise). There's nothing like warm bannock, fresh salmon, crispy bacon, and all the fruit and cottage cheese I could dream of, not to mention chocolate mousse and nanaimo bars for dessert. Breakfast dessert! Now that's worth celebrating.
After a brief walk around the lake over questionable footbridges and past the evidence of bush parties, we drove to Canmore to meet up with Cindy. She's got a great little condo in the newer part of town, and this is the view from her balcony:

Yes, those are the Three Sisters. From her balcony!
She drove us up to Sunshine Village where she works,

and we walked up to Rock Isle Lake. There was a bit of snow on the way up! We could also see the top of Goat's Eye and the Continental Divide, both of which looked as though you could ski down them already.