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Well Dan had some very good news yesterday. After several years of conflicting opinions about whether he may have a heart problem or not, the final answer came yesterday as a clear “no”. Thank goodness! It’s been a pendulum of “hmm, that doesn’t look good” mixed with “everything is fine, nothing to worry about” but Dan said after having his heart viewed under every possible angle by two different people yesterday the slightlest possibility of a problem has been ruled out. He’s been 100% symptom free anyway which is always a very good indication things are ok but it’s nice to have the final word.

Yesterday was also a rather momentous day in that I finally had to give in and become a card-carrying member of the SAAQ (read: I finally exchanged my almost expired Alberta driver’s license for a Quebec one). I was so loth to do it because of the ridiculous cost ($50 a year) especially considering we don’t have a car - but alas, taking the test over again is much more expensive and inconvenient. I have heard horror stories about how long and difficult the process is, so I was actually rather surprised yesterday that it went as well as it did. It only took an hour and a half, I had all the necessary paperwork with me, and I was even able to keep my married name (hooray for ID that actually doens’t have a different name on it)!

In other news, Dan borrowed a superb recording of The Magic Flute directed by Ingmar Bergman from his teacher. I have heard some of the songs from it before but it was the first time either of us watched it (live or recorded). It was a very well done opera. The best actor was by far they guy who played Papageno, and my favourite part is when (out of despair and lost love) he plans to hang himself but turns to the audience and makes one final plea to the ladies (”I’m still available, will any of you have me?”) with the funniest grin on his face.

I’m rather tardy at getting a post out. Actually it’s almost been a month. A very busy, event packed month, mind you! Yeah so life is a little insane right now … hopefully when things calm down I can say more. I am trying to catch up on all those blog posts I missed. Well Tyler is now a corporate stooge (just kidding Tyler, I’m really happy for you). Also Anik posted lovely photos of her new flat.

I recently returned from a work related trip to Toulouse. We had some very good work meetings (discussing current results and future plans) and I was able to take two days off at the end of the week to do some shopping and sightseeing. Too bad those were the days it rained (did I mention I forgot my umbrella?). But I did have a great time visiting downtown Toulouse. The best thing was that I was able to do tourist things (like visiting Saint Sernin cathedral) without having to a) pay or b) fight my way through crowds of other stupid tourists. It’s a very lovely city and I wish I had even more time to explore it. Oh yes and I almost didn’t make a connecting flight on the way back again, thanks to the travel agent who decided an hour and a half was enough time to switch terminals and airlines in Charles de Gaulle. Thankfully the staff working at the Air Canada desk were nice and rushed us through the booking and security (or at least they thought it was easier than trying to book us on another flight) so we were only just getting our final calls when we walked up to the gate. Unfortunately because the check-in had already closed we lost our upgraded seats (my supervisor got a book of upgrade tickets after flying to India twice, South Africa once, Europe at least twice and Indonesia once in the past 12 months). The food in Toulouse was also great except for the one night we ate in the hotel restaurant.

We’ve been having some very cool fall weather here and I have already started wearing my winter jacket. Have to find the scarves and mittens, though. I think they’re in the closet and hopefully not lost among other things during the move. Dan’s found some very good things at the library lately. We watched Whale Rider and the 1938 mega-blockbuster Robin Hood as well as Life Aquatic. He also got out the Modern French Cookbook and so far we have tried an interesting glazed beet recipe which turned out well. Vegetable pancakes and onion soup are next on the list. He also found a very nice full-o-pictures book on houseplants, how to pot them and how to care for them. I saw the faces of many, many houseplants who are no longer with us - and learned exactly why they died. But in good news, the plants in our planter made a huge come-back (I think it was too hot for them in the summer) and our other plants are still doing very well. The mint and basil plants are still around. In fact the mint plant has so many shoots it’s starting to look a bit Davey-Jones-ish. I might give it a larger pot.