update on the royal tour

it depends on how you look at two months, but i'm going to be home soon! so soon! and i'm really excited. but there have been a few changes in plans.

unfortunately, sam and kel aren't coming any more. they've both had loads of financial commitments in the past couple of months and just can't make a trip like this right now. i'm really upset about it because i wanted to show them home and all the people, places and things i love about it, but as my dad said...canada's not going anywhere and this isn't going to be their only opprotunity to visit.

but...dipak is still coming so at least someone thats close to me here is going to get a behind the scenes tour of the things that shaped lauren. and yes, most of you have probably figured out by now that there's something a little more going on there. i mean, why would anyone voluntarily go down to coventry so often? there is substance behind the saying "being sent to cov."

schedule has changed *slightly* too:

june 16-18 markham/toronto
june 19 goderich
june 20-23 montreal
june 24 oka
june 25-28 cottage
june 29 markham
june 30...fly back

i'm hoping to see as many people as possible as usual. save up the sun, humidity, black flies and nice patches of grass. and start pouring those pitchers of beer...7 weeks to go!

income tax hell

right. so oddball canadian tax rules.

filled out my lovely federal income tax form with quick tax and was all ready for the netfile with my access code and all when suddenly it remembers that i'm no longer a canadian resident because i now live in the uk.

but wait! *am* i a canadian resident still? sure, maybe i don't have any primary ties (ie. car, residence, husband, kids) but i do still hold a canadian passport, driver's license and bank account. well, that's for good ol' revenue canada to sort out.

and then i made the mistake of living in quebec, which has its own set of weird and wonderful tax laws. so after much stressing over doing my federal taxes (i was getting *really* angry and spiteful, wishing i'd never moved from 186 ramona and dreaming of whisky) i called revenu quebec. explained my situation to the lovely french canadian girl at the other end when...

"no, you don't have to file a tax return in quebec. yes, you may have lived here and paid tax for 6 months of the year, but because you didn't reside in quebec on *31 december 2005* you don't have to file a tax return."

riiiiiiiiiiiight.

bring on the whisky cause that's call for a celebration. except i don't have any...going back to edinburgh this weekend to stock up.

this is probably my favorite photo from the whole trip. we stumbled - quite literally - upon these series of sculptures in prague by olbram zoubek.

continental excursion

(first pic: the john lennon wall in prague on the quieter side of the river)

val and i had an awesome little excursion to the continent and were delighted with loads of art, culture, opera, ballet, wiener schnitzel...

starting the first few days in vienna visiting come lovely churches, the belvedere (where we saw the infamous painting "the kiss"...unbelievable), and the prater. i think i have to say i enjoyed the prater thoroughly. its an amusement park and i got to go on rides and play air hockey. much fun.


(second pic: the view from prague castle, maybe from the tower)

prague was awesome. ended up there after a 5 hour train journey and a couple of stamps for ye olde passport. it's definitely more of a working city and you can see how its tumultuous history has shaped its character. stunning architecture. visited the museum of communism and felt very educated; lots of reading of museum panels involved in that one.





(third pic: the giant ferris wheel at the prater)

i like rides. this made me want to revisit my youth and season's pass to canada's wonderland.
















(fourth pic: val)

val sitting in one of the best garden restaurants of all time in vienna. we visited Kunst Haus Wien, which is this building conceived by artist Hundertwasser. *very* cool stuff and may have to post more photos of that place.








(fifth pic: st michaels, petrin hill)

thanks to my keen sense of direction and navigational skills (*skills* haha) we made it down to this little wooden church that was moved from the ukraine to this spot after flooding. it was tiny and beautiful and i wish the lighting had been better. val and i were constantly saying "i know the lighting isn't right, but don't tell davoud."

oh. and don't forget to wish a happy birthday to val...it's today!

spring break

i'm digging this system. the three weeks of work and then two weeks off system...it's great.

yesterday i did work though. i took two students to FACT (new media/theatre centre in liverpool) with the art teachers: miss sheena smith and miss kate challinor. it was really great for the students i spending the afternoon with sheena and kate was fab. i think i've found my new best friends at work. the other plus is that their both artistically active as well which is encouraging me even more to do it myself! i'm even going to set up studio/shop in dipak's basement in coventry and spend some dedicated time painting during my vast amount of holidays.

work has gotten a lot better because i am now actually doing stuff...working on projects and making things happen. its a much better feeling, but i realise that of course it was going to take time to adjust to everything. and i still have to do that too.

so off i go for the first two weeks of my awesome hols. going down to cov today for some painting, then back to the pool to meet up with val and fly to vienna and prague for a few days. back down to cov when i get back for some more painting and sean's record label launch, and then back up to the pool with dipak and davoud to go to a gig in manchester. busy and much fun.

i'll try and post from the continent if val and i find an internet cafe.

happy trails.

the elite league

I’ve never seen anything quite like it. A handful of hockey fanatics, painted faces, wigs, jerseys you name it…in the UK! Shocking.

I went down to Coventry this weekend to see my boys, and surprise, Dipak had found out that the Coventry Blaze were playing the Sheffield Steelers (that’s Sheffield, not Pittsburgh) in a knock out game as they’re at the end of their season. Not only did I have the best seats I have ever had for a hockey game (and it had nothing to do with the fact that the arena only sat about 200 people), but I went with three people who had never been treated to the board hitting, pucks flying, blood flowing game that is my national sport.

It was also one of the most exciting games I’d ever been to. Coventry did play horribly during the first period (think the style of TML this season) and got several cries of “wake up!” from the crowd (sound familiar?) and I was actually quite impressed with some of the skills from Sheffield. At the end of the first period it Sheffield was ahead by one.

Then the oldest zamboni known to man flooded the ice.

Coventry scored towards the end of the second period and it was tied throughout the third. They went into 5 minutes of extra time (no one scored) and then a shoot out! Awesome. Unfortunately the home team lost, but the crowd from Sheffield definitely had more spirit and took up about three sections (so that’s about 20 people?).

During the game a panel of glass above the boards was broken, two incidents of blood on the ice needed to be cleared up, a couple of good fights, ref heckling, and players in the penalty box getting yelled at. Much fun.

But there was the oddity of the cheers, drinking beer out of plastic bottles, the fact that fans for each time are separated (a la football match), and there were several Maple Leafs fans in the crowd. I was glad I brought my blinking pin and TML socks.

Next year I want season tickets.

It was an awesome weekend. Made an amazing meal for the boys Saturday, read the paper, made amazing breakfast of French toast and Canadian bacon on Sunday, and crafted the road trip mix with Davoud.

Monday mornings are hard after such good times…