New Camera

My blog has been decidely lacking in pictures since our camera died (before Christmas).  This weekend, we finally replaced it with a Flip handheld video camera.  This is not your father's camcorder!  Thank goodness!  

Prepare to be inundated with Hedgehog Dog pictures and vidoes.  Beginning now.

And finally me in the kitchen last night doing dishes and cooking...  Hedgehog Guy said it was my "natural" environment, which earned him the evil eye.

Last weekend

Hedgehog Guy says it has been a long time since I posted, so...

Last weekend we put work aside and spent some time outside the house.  We finally have had some good weather which makes exploring easier and lots more fun.  I think we have realized that everything here is just beautiful. It is so different for us to live somewhere with mountains and water for a background rather than rolling prairie lands. 

On Saturday, we all (even the dog) went for a picnic lunch and a hike at Lighthouse Park in North Vancouver.  The views of the shoreline were really impressive. You can climb out on big granite rocks about 30ft above the bay and see kelp fronds and tide pools.  The trails run through an old-growth forest of Douglas firs, some of which had trunks that Hedgehog Guy and I together couldn't reach around.  Hedgehog Dog loved it - rocks and slopes to climb on.  It was a first time for us on a trail like that with him.  We are so sheltered!  

Sunday afternoon we drove south to Langley and tried out a local winery - Domaine de Chaberton.  Along the way, Hedgehog Guy remarked that the country looked just like southern Pennslyvania where we became first enamored of local wines.  The scenery to the south is almost the opposite of that in the north - low rolling hills, rich black delta soil, fields, and farm animals.  The winery was ok.  The wines were good, and all had the "finished" qualty that we have found lacking in several store bought wines lately.  But they are not Va La.  Sigh.

We drove home a different way, hoping to encounter another winery.  But all we got was lost, honked at, and almost side-swiped.  So much for an idyllic weekend ending!

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom is pretty amazing.  She is hundreds of miles away, yet she always seem to be there for us.  Here's just one example.

Last week we had some yummy maple sugar biscuits.  Hedgehog Guy commented that they were perfectly shaped circles, which is a rarity for my biscuits.  I responded that yes, I had used a biscuit cutter this time.  Hedgehog Guy said, "Oh, we have one of those?".  "Yes, four of them, of different sizes, my mom gave them to us."  Hedgehog Guy gives the thumbs up sign.  Yeah, she is a supermom, always looking out for us.

Emma's Wedding in Victoria

Yeah, so I have a new group of friends in my labmates. They are pretty awesome - somewhere between crazy and hilarious most days.  This weekend we all (6 labmates + 1 department co-worker) traveled on the ferry over to Victoria Island for the wedding of our youngest lab member, Emma.  Below is a picture of Renat, Jessica, myself, and Caro on the ferry.

The ferry ride was a bit surreal, the Prius on a boat is a bit hard to imagine, but the wedding was gorgeous and a lot of fun.  We rented a hotel room for the night (7 of us in one room...) so that we could stay for the entire reception.  I knew that Emma had us pegged when we were the closest table to the bar AND the dance floor.  The ceremony was based on Saxon traditions with Angelican overtones.  Emma and Stephen "rang" us out of the church by ringing the church bell as we exited.  It was lovely.  This is the group before the wedding and then at the reception with Emma.

The reception took a bit to get started since we had to wait for the couple and bridal party to complete the pictures.  But, that just gave us time to drink all the champagne punch.  The buffet was amazing.  I started to load up my plate on salad and then realized there was veggie lasagna!  Very yummy, even the roast beef with horseradish smelled great.  The brides' mom made everything - the bridesmaids dresses, the cake, the invitations, the chair covers, the tablecloths- and did a wonderful job.  She is definately a super mom.  

We started dancing about 9pm when the band arrived.  Lots of swing and classic rock.  We were sorry they left at midnight!  Here's a funny picture of me teaching Kristina to swing (I was not a very good teacher...)  Can't wait to go back with Hedgehog Guy and Dog for a vacation day.

Mr. Post-doc

Hedgehog Guy officially began his post-doc at UBC last Friday, May 1st.  He has really been working throughout his "vacation" on various grant proposals with his new advisor, but he started going in full time on Friday, rather than sporadic visits.  

Starting a new job is rarely very fun, perhaps especially in science where most of your co-workers are deeply engrossed in projects that they understand intimately and efficiently proceed with.  As a new person you are lost and feel like a failure immediately because you are not getting any results and it appears everyone else is.  You don't know the jargon, you don't know what you are supposed to be doing (usually), and you don't know where anything is.  You are really dependent on the benevolant pity of your labmates for a couple weeks.  Hedgehog Guy's comment summed it up pretty well Friday afternoon.  Something like, "It is like trying to jump on a moving train only you don't know where the door or handholds are, but you know people are inside who can help you."  He got a lab bench and pipettors of his very own and is now waiting on a desk in the group office.  

Hedgehog Guy's time off was largely spent playing WoW where he now has 3 characters over level 70 (Jod, Wapner, and Alchux).  I think he finally began to relax a bit since he was able to sleep past 8am without waking up by the end of it.  I think he secretly enjoyed being home with the dog.   

Hedgehog Guy works in the building next to mine, so we even get to eat lunch together like in the old days at DBI.  Funny how things circle around again.