annie soup

Friday, April 22, 2011

Well we got on our flight after all. Was starving from not being able to eat dinner in calgary so we got some A and Dubb in Vancouver airport to tide us over. I was so hungry. Everyone was already exhausted from the ordeal in Calgary, so we were mostly looking forward to getting on the plane to sleep. Sylvie was looking particularly wasted.

After checking with the cathay pacific desk to make sure everything was okay with luggage and stuff we were all supremely relieved it all went without a hitch.

The flight didn't leave till nearly 3am local time, so we were all wiped out. I pretty well passed out as soon as we got on the plane, and missed "dinner" which was served at about 5am lethbridge time. Weird. I slept like a baby for about 3-4 hours, then attempted to watch a movie but fell asleep during. The remainder of the flight has been long, but nice enough. I've watched 3 movies, not including the two I attempted then slept through.

We land in about 30min. We are all ready for it. With the longest leg if the trip almost over we can all relax a bit. Plus, it is 6am in Hong Kong and already 23 degrees. Ready for some warmth. Plus I've skipped all of Friday and went straight to Saturday. Thats just how I roll. I will include a couple pre hong kong pictures if time allows. And maybe after our day in HK I will post a few more!

Yea!

-AV-
From my iPhone
403-915-2452

Sheeeesh

Well we have had an interesting start. We spent 2 hours at the west jet check in!! Some complication. Anyway, we made our flight to Vancouver, but just in the nick. But we are not out of the woods yet. We will need to talk to cathay pacific to sort out the rest of the ordeal. Hopefully we will get some smooth sailing in BC.

We think our bags are checked all the way through to Nepal. But only time will tell. So far our patients and tempers have been tested, but we are moving forward slowly.

I believe all will be well. Who knows, if it isn't sorted out I may just spend 2 weeks in Hawaii.

-AV-
From my iPhone

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

24 hours

well the impossible has happened. the time has arrived! 4 months ago i thought april 21 was FOREVER away, but it has crept up on me faster that expected. and the closer it has gotten, the more anxious i have felt.

not for the trip. no, i am not an anxious traveler. i've done my share of world travels, and truly it doesn't make me nervous. alas, i am anxious to be leaving Xander and Judy for all those days. but i have resolved not to let it ruin my trip, so that will be the last (i hope) we hear of that.

onto the details!

we fly out tomorrow night (thursday) from Calgary with a quick stop over in Vancouver before boarding the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong! yuck. i don't mind a plane ride, but i've done a 14 hour one once before and it was LONG! about 12 hours in Hong Kong, we'll do a walking tour, then back on the plane. touch down in Bangladesh, then onto Kathmandu. total trip time from Calgary to Kathmandu= 36hrs.

once in Kathmandu we have one day of sight seeing, then onto the trek!

this is our schedule, in case anyone out there would like to know:

April 23- Arrive at Kathmandu airport (1345meters)
April 24- Pre-trip Meeting and Sightseeing around Kathmandu valley. Overnight at hotel.
April 25- Fly to Tenzing and Hillary Airport in Lukla (2804 meters) from Kathmandu, trek to Phakding (2610 meters) 3 hours. Overnight at Guesthouse.
April 26- Trek to Namche Bazaar (3441 meters) 5 hours. Overnight at Guesthouse.
April 27- Namche Bazaar Acclimatization day. Overnight at Guesthouse.
April 28- Trek to Tengboche Monastery (3860 meters) 5 hours. Overnight at Guesthouse.
April 29- Trek to Dingboche (4350 meters) 6 hours. Overnight at Guesthouse.
April 30- Day trip to Chhukung valley (4710 meters) and trek back to Dingboche. 4 hours. Overnight at Guesthouse.
May 01- Trek to Lobuche (4910 meters) 5 hours. Overnight at Guesthouse
May 02- Trek to Everest Base Camp (5365 meters) then back to Gorak Shep. 8 hours. Overnight at Guesthouse.
May 03- Hike up to Kalapattar (5555 meters) early in the morning then trek down to Periche (4200 meters). 7 hours. Overnight at Guesthouse.
May 04- Trek to Namche Bazaar (3441 meters) 6 hours. Overnight at Guesthouse.
May 05- Trek to Lukla (2804 meters) 6 hours. Overnight at Guesthouse.
May 06- Flight from Lukla to Kathmandu in the morning. Overnight at hotel.
May 07- Leisure day in Kathmandu Overnight at hotel.
May 08- Transfer to international airport for your final flight departure.

and that's it!

i will be doing my best to put updates on my blog as often as possible. pictures too. but the higher we get into the Himalayas, the less accessible internet connections are. plus they get more expensive.

i hope all will go well, both here and in Nepal. i am so excited for the trip, but equally as anxious to get back.

that's all for now! next post will be en route!

Friday, April 1, 2011

3 weeks and counting!

actually 3 weeks minus one day!

i may be getting a bit anxious about going on this great nepalese adventure. i've got ALL my gear (minus a few things i'll be picking up for a fraction of the cost in Kathmandu), and have spent the last week ordering a few miscellaneous items on amazon.com. bandanas, hand warmers, travel pillow, sanitizing hand wipes, ear plugs, new SD card, dry stuff sacks, the list goes on!

in my antsy-ness, i decided to get all my gear together for a sort of "dry run" for packing. this is probably 90% of my gear.

seems like a lot. good thing i don't have to carry it!

speaking of carrying things, i've also been trying to find a logical solution for carrying/easy access to my DSLR. i've tried 2 different backpacks, and settled on the bigger one because of its superior frame and comfort. i've also found this camera solution after much searching.

yes, i know what i look like. a HUGE nerd. but there is a price to be paid for easy access. one thing i will NOT do is have my camera stuck at the bottom of my pack and forego an opportunity to snap a shot just because i don't want to stop, take off my pack, undo the straps, dig out the camera, and snap the photo. the above solution will eliminate inconvenience and allow for optimal access and ease.

i feel like there are a billion things to do before i go, but i know that is not true. it's just the anticipation of leaving. not only that, the anticipation of leaving kids for 19 days! i think that is what is making the most nervous. it will be good though. judy only wants her dad these days anyway, and xander will think its an extra treat to have dad around for so long because he can get whatever he wants from rob.

physically i'm am ready as i'll ever be. in the short time i've been preparing i've made great strides. i could categorize my cardio fitness as "poor" when i started. now, i'm 10 points away from being in the "excellent" category (harvard step test).

should be a great adventure! i hope i make it all the way!

that is what my gear looks like packed in dry sacks. i didn't take a picture of my gear packed in the suitcase... that would be weird.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

first parent teacher interview

as most of you may know, xander started going to pre-school the beginning of march. he has "severe" speech delay (according to the speech pathologist's assessment) and qualified for funding from the alberta government to start going to school. he has his own aide (Mrs. N) who guides him in the activities to center more around his speech. he goes twice a week for about 6 hours total time, and he LOVES it!

well, he's been going for 3 weeks now and the speech pathologist has had a couple opportunities to observe him in the classroom to gain a better assessment. so yesterday we met with the speech pathologist and his teachers. everything was really encouraging!

xander knows all his shapes, colors, numbers and letters, which academically speaking puts him right where he needs to be (even ahead of some of his classmates)
his fine and gross motor skills are extremely well developed
xander has excellent recall and memory skills
he loves music and responds to that best
words said alone are regularly said correctly, it is only when put into sentences that things get muddled
when he does use complete sentences the proper syntax is typically being used, but it is just very difficult to understand
in just 3 weeks xander has made leaps and bounds, and to say the teachers and speech pathologist were very pleased would be an understatement

we have been so happy to have xander in pre-school and have even noticed a difference at home. he is happier and trying harder to say what's on his mind. and we're even able to understand him a bit better (there is still a long way to go).

now while this is all great news, there were still some concerns with the speech pathologist. as she does her speech assessments she is always looking out for other markers or red flags that may be showing. after the few weeks he's been doing school the pathologist expressed her pleasure and confidence that his speech would soon catch up. she did express a concern about his social development and interactions though. some of his compulsions with putting this back exactly where they came from, lining up toys and organizing them in a not typical "playing" way, his extreme singular focus on an object he is playing with, never giving eye contact when expressing if he wants something. she suggested that perhaps his behavior problems (which he has) isn't stemming from his speech but that it was possible it was coming from a social deficiency. all these examples she observed while in the pre-school environment rang true to us. he has some compulsive behaviors at home and the never giving eye contact has been something he's ALWAYS done. since he was a toddler he would almost never look at you in the eye. i could go into great detail about all the indicators, but its not super important.

all in all, it is possible that the behaviors observed in xander and the red flags may fall into the autism spectrum. we can't know for sure unless he gets further testing (which will be done at the alberta children's hospital if needed). the speech pathologist was being very frank about her observations (which was appreciated). she can't say for sure if it is autism, but from 20 years experience i believe she would know the indicators. she is very good about not putting labels on kids and expressed her belief that it may be very likely that xander is just who he is and doesn't have any social deficiencies. time will tell. if he continues to grow the way he has in the last 3 weeks, by june it is likely that there will no longer be a worry for any of this.

so to conclude, are we worried? hell no. until we get him tested xander is just like any other kid with a bratty streak. i am not qualified to say that he has autism, and neither are you. so until a dude in a white coat with 15 phd's on his wall says my son falls somewhere on the autism spectrum there is no use even entertaining it (even though in my mind it is a part of the puzzle that seems to fit). xander is a good kid, smart and loving. he'll survive anything thrown at him.

on another note, for judy's first parent teacher interview she showed the teachers a neat trick: hiding thumb tacks in her mouth! way to go jude!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Better than a dog whistle

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

perspective

it seems as though the weather has been a pretty hot topic this winter. and rightly so! this winter has been the worst! but as i went out for the 60th hour this season to plow the road i went with a different perspective: THINGS CAN ALWAYS BE WORSE! (no joke, when the winter began we were at 90 hours on the bobcat and now we're pushing 150).

i'm lucky to live where i do, and when i'm not swearing at mother nature i am in total awe of her complete grandeur. i won't be living here forever, and so when i have a 500sq ft driveway to dig out in the future i will be SO grateful it's not a quarter mile of 4 foot drifts.

it was an amazing night tonight. no wind. light snow. fresh adele tunes in my ears. i could've stayed out all night. i live for a night like tonight. i got out of the bobcat a couple times to snap a few photos. it was so quiet out. i could've walked in the night for hours. there is something relaxing for me about walking on a still, quiet, dark night.

as a side note, robbie is the opposite. he hates walking around at night, especially during the camping season. so if you ever camp here on a friday night, don't pretend to be the wolfman at 11pm because you'll probably end up getting stabbed. i bought him a hunting knife so he can "protect" himself. it's hilarious.

so here are some pictures to give some perspective. things could always be worse! but spring is almost here, and all this snow will not only flood our basements but make everything UBER-green!