Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Canada Day....The Aftermath

Alright not really an aftermath, I was very good in actuality and kept contained. I did go a little crazy point wise Friday night but that's in the past. The fact I kept it together over the weekend with 3 days of 24 hour access to a fridge was miraculous. Activity was minimal mostly due to the weather. I'm not a summer person. Spring, Fall and even Winter but not Summer between the heat and mosquitos not my favourite time of year.

I have been faced with killer snack attacks thanks to impending TOM. Last night I had to go brush my teeth to stop myself from seeking out a snack. After work today I have to go to Safeway to purchase ingredients for tomorrow's work pot luck...I must be strong!

Did get a bit of yard work done this weekend but mostly just relaxed and now I feel like I need a vacation. Oh well half day on Friday thanks to the Calgary Stampede Parade. The entire downtown core shuts down at 7am for all the vicious lawn chair people. Never cross a vicious lawn chair person, they don't care if you need to cross the street to get to work, they will sit there with their line of lawn chairs allowing no one to pass (Which did give the opportunity to memorize the extensive plus 15 system which takes you over and above the vicious lawn chair people). So I'm taking advantage of the 1/2 day option and sleeping in on Friday. I'm already planning to make my own stampede breakfast with the fantastic Coyote Pancake mix (7g of fibre in this baby).

Stampede week is just ridiculous, no work gets done most people party hard and have 3hr lunches. For 10 days a pretty cosmpolitan city turns into a "Gosh Darn Yee Haw Horse Town". Hay bales on the street and everyone (I mean everyone dressed western) Having a desk job and not being an out and about sales person, I typically hear about the wild parties and never expect any phone call to be returned. Companies compete for who can hold the best breakfast. Thankfully I'm very close to Premier Ralphs Calgary office, they throw a great breakfast (which I'm probably helping to pay for :))
I think I'm going to skip the exhibition itself, I'm a native Calgarian and have gone to this thing so many times and have a general rule of once every two years. I do get to attend a clients Stampede BBQ.
On the grounds I do recommend the Ag Exhibit were you can get up close to all the animals. The Round Up centre has all the people selling their wares so if it slices, dices and washes your car it will be sold there. The Midway is excellent for ride seekers with biker carny guys tossed in. The Coca Cola stage offers up some wicked bands for just the price of general admission so if you're there anyway it's technically free. Nashville North does the same for the country artists. Of course the mini donuts, corn dogs and etc shall lure you from the midway...also a good reason not to go.

Word to the wise if you come and enjoy...stay hydrated, the grounds and the city get super hot during Stampede and a few Bacardi Silvers (Drink of the devil is how I refer to them now) or any other libation can hit your system hard. So play safe.

So the next three days will be the calm before the storm of the Yee Haw and Y'all Come Back Now.

Alright I secretly enjoy Stampede and it's shananigans...don't tell anyone :)

2 comments:

Marathon Someday said...

I was in Calgary once - but I was there for work, and it was for just one night. We literally left the hotel to have dinner, and then that was about it.

I would love to experience the stampede! One day, for sure.

Great work over the long weekend! Long weekends make it hard to stay on track, and it sounds like you did really well.

And those pancakes sound awesome. I've been craving pancakes for awhile now. There's a brunch place near me that makes a mean chocolate-chip banana pancake with crusted pecans on top. Oh my.

Marathon Someday said...

Okay - I'm REALLY craving pancakes now. Will have to see if they can be factored in this weekend somehow. The best part about them, is that they're made with spelt and whole grain flour - so they're quite healthy. It's the mounds of maple syrup on top that can perhaps be, ahem, limited.:-)

And the shopping here IS awesome - but at least you don't pay sales tax in Calgary! Sigh! I discovered this when I had two hours left in Edmonton (also there on work, and kinda didn't like it) - and went mad at The Body Shop. Hey 8% makes a difference!

Okay - enough rambling in your blog comments!