The WW Salad bowl and the possessed treadmill

I hope all of you had a great Monday.

Mine started with me overcooking my oatmeal in the microwave, it all turned out though.

Today I decided to take the bus to the train station as opposed to walking, it so looked like it was going to rain and I also wanted to time it as this will be my mode of transport when the weather gets colder.

While standing at the bus stop I realized I was super matchy matchy.

Note the jacket, purse and nails are all purple

Because I took the bus this morning I took the stairs to Starbucks.

Paused to admire my favourite thing in my building's lobby. I love this totem pole

I then headed to my new floor to unpack my desk for the second time in two weeks. Check out my new view. 

Today I tried the Weight Watcher Salad Bowl for the first time. 

I like this little space on top of the lid, great for keeping something you don't want to add to your salad until your just about to eat it. 

For me that's cheese, I hate how it gets a little slimey when added at the beginning of the day. 

There's a cooling lid snapped into the top of the lid, I froze it last night so my salad stayed chilled during transport

When you take the lid off this is what greets you the green thing in the middle is the container for your dressing.

Today it was light Peppercorn Ranch, I like how it can be carted separately too.

Lift of the green second lid (where the dressing container locks in) and tada my salad.

I grated carrots and radishes, added green onions, mushroom, chopped roma tomato and romaine hearts and tada. A coworker complimented my salad. I like the bowl though it's pretty big. Thankfully it fit into my lunch bag.

Today I was also going to test out the corporate gym. I packed and repacked into 3 different  gym bags. I have a few Lululemon gym bags that I've collected via gift cards or travelling and needed another bag. However I wound up going with a back pack, just plain easier to schlep.

Then I met the possessed treadmill.

See the touch screen buttons that control speed and grade, well that was awful. It either slowly sped up ticking by .1 by .1, or  little more pressure or longer hold and it jumps by .5 at the time. At one point I was trying to slow down but it sped up instead and it was the first time I actually jumped off the treadmill on the to the sides. I always see them do that on Biggest Loser but I've never been comfortable with it.

I wound up staying at a walk and changing the incline.

I think I'm going to try to do my runs outside now that I'm home. By the time the weather cools off I hope I can have longer run piece in my run/walk.

Dumbo Double Dare is a mere 7 weeks away and today I put the Tinkerbell training plan on my cubicle wall. Which starts 6 days after I come home from Disneyland, no rest for the wicked and as Tinkerbell will roll right into the Glass Slipper Challenge I've got my plan to stay active for winter.

Tomorrow I'm going to dust off a workout DVD as my cross training day. I'm thinking Hip Hop Abs.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Renewed motivation - saving money

Well I attempted to go shopping today.

I wandered through The Bay, Cleo and Laura Petite and came up with zip. The Bay was chaotic with all the spring sales, racks in the middle of aisles and you had to hunt for dressing room. That just makes me grumpy.

Cleo was in a temporary location in the mall and looked like a garage sale.

I can't shop in chaos, I like stores to be organized so during clearance sales I'm 100% turned off. I'm not one who can dig through racks in search of the steal. Which is unfortunate as I'd probably score some deals. What can I say it's the way I'm wired.

I was hoping to find more fall stuff but there was very minimal as it seems there's a lot of spring/summer stuff to get ride of.

I then came home and took a look at my closet, I do have more business clothes then I realized in a myriad of sizes. There quite a few things that are just a little bit too small. Which also makes me grumpy as I had I stayed focused I'd need to buy smaller sizes.

I can get by with what fits now and focus on getting smaller. This way I also save money and actually wear what's in my closet.

I did got to Cleo's website and found more things as of course a website is neatly organized. I had stuff I wanted to purchase and then their website froze. Perhaps it's a sign to stick to my plan and wear what I already own.

In other news I headed out for 4 miles today, I thought I'd ease into it as it's been awhile. I was impressed with my pace as I thought I'd be slower.

To achieve my goals I need to be better organized. I borrowed some habits I had when I had to get up at 3:30 am on Monday's.

I packed everything tonight. My lunch is in the fridge (a salad in the funky WW Salad Bowl, and Oikos Coconut yogurt, unsweetened applesauce as snacks. My breakfast fixings are laid on the counter - oatmeal with the measuring spoons ready to go. Heck my coffee cup is under the Keurig. The gym bag is packed as well.

Two days are tracked and I for once kabashed my 70,000 step goal on Fit Bit.

Now to just keep this going by focusing on one day at a time.

Hope you had a great week.

Hugs!

Back to basics - learning from the past

Well Stampede 2013 is over for me. Yesterday I packed away my boots and my plethora of plaid with one last trip to the grounds.

I think I wore the boots in fairly well.

Here they are new

Then I think how much my life has changed since I bought them. The most important person to me in the whole world - My Dad- passed away. I started a new job back in downtown Calgary. In other words my whole world changed.

When I first found out I was coming back to the corporate office I made a promise to myself to be more social, experience things and meet new people.

As I'm an introvert that can be a bit of a challenge for me.

Now here are the boots after 10 days of Stampede where I went to Nashville North for the first time ever, a breakfast Stampede party for the first time ever, and the business unit party that I hadn't been to in 2 years.

I also walked to and from the train station every work day in these boots. I figured it was good training for wearing heels again. They got beer spilled on them, stepped in puddles and walked a lot. Yesterday it was 18000 steps.

I do have boot wounds on my right leg about mid calf not sure why just that leg.

Today I was back in these

I didn't go to weigh in instead I focused on sleep, between dealing with grief and trying to be social to introduce myself back to the corporate world I was exhausted. I slept for 11 hours last night. However I'm back on the WW wagon from now on. I also found the new location for the downtown meeting in case I need a back up meeting.

Today it was back to basics and reintroducing myself to my tracker. I also went grocery shopping so I can do what I used to do and pack lunch 4/5 days allowing myself to buy lunch on Wednesday. I find that works for me as I can deal with two days then a break then two days.

It's going to be salad this week so I can try that WW salad bowl and reintroduce the poorly lacking vegetables of the last 10 days.

I'm also trying to rediscover my cooking mojo. Over the last 2.5 years by only being home 3 days a week my cooking mojo has suffered, typically it was the same 3-4 main meals over and over again or eating out. When I worked a regular Mon -Fri schedule before I cooked a lot. I didn't plan too far ahead so I could keep some flexibility and sort of shop in a European way by stopping at the market a few times instead of meal planning 7 days out. I'm only cooking for me after all.

I planned out my Monday in the tracker already so I could plan meals and snacks for the work day. I created a list of what needs to go into the gym bag as it's been a while since I packed a gym bag.  In camp my room was 4 doors down from the gym and when I was home I just walked to the gym ready to go.

Now I need to factor in the train ride home as opposed to walking home so body spray is on the list.

Tomorrow I must go clothes shopping. Since I've been at site I haven't been buying business casual clothes. For my first week I dug through my closet for what I wore before I went to site. It worked for a week but I need to face that I put on a few pounds since I last worked downtown. I kept thinking I would be skinnier returning to DT but hey life happens. I haven't been tracking since my Dad passed away and that's almost 4 weeks ago.

Now it's time to get back to establishing routines.

I made another observation during Stampede, fit girls get more attention. Now I was observing people who were fairly drunk at the time but it leads me to this. I don't know if you seen this but it's an interview with Dustin Hoffman from 2012, it's pretty profound as he talks about the perception of beauty and how it effects how you relate to others. I totally recommend watching it.

Stampede Check In

Hello,

Not sure where the week went but it's whirling by. My city has been knee deep in Stampede, an annual 10 day festival of all things western. Out goes the office wear and everyone dresses Western. I do own a few good plaid western shirts, and my boots which I only bought roughly a month before this year's Stampede have worked out really well.

In fact they're super comfy.

There's Western art everywhere especially on buildings. I love the Teepee on The Bow building. Those flags on the traffic lights are all over the city.

A free Stampede breakfast somewhere in the city every single day during Stampede.

Stampede Parties in the morning, this one started at 9 am.

Plus there's Nashville North down on the Stampede grounds, (me and my friend T who came down from Newfoundland)

You discover things like this JD and Coke in a can, by far my favorite Stampede drink so far.

Even Starbucks gets in to the Stampede spirit

Considering only a few weeks ago the downtown and Stampede grounds were covered in water due to flooding, the spirit of Calgary has bounced back.

Last week I picked up the pendants I ordered with my Dad's fingerprint

I bought the Angel and Drop pendant blind as I was directed to a website. So the Angel is a bit bigger then I wanted.

I actually prefer the back of the pendant as you can see the fingerprint so I might wear it backwards.

On Saturday T came with me to check out the cemetery in Bergen, it is a beautiful spot and very small. I think Dad would approve. I haven't decided on when to actually bury the urn but I'm rushing into things.

Now I haven't tracked at all this week and didn't go to weigh in last week either. In fact this week has been a bit of free for all.

It actually had me thinking of quitting meetings and going online, but the one time I tried online it didn't work for me. I also realize I'm dealing with a lot of change right now. Still feeling the loss of my Dad plus the new job and assimilating myself into a new work environment, and I'm moving desks on Friday to a new floor. I just unpacked 2 weeks ago.

I just needed to be this week. Next week will be all about establishing routine again and getting back to training.

For now I just want to breath and enjoy the distraction of Stampede.

Hugs

Back to work and realizing a few things

Almost done my first week back to work and first week in a new job and so far so good.

My new view or at least for now. I barely unpacked and was told "you know this is just a temporary spot right". I was forewarned and when I worked in Calgary the last time I moved 3 times. Today I got told they're working on my new spot, I'll still have a window and it's a bigger cubicle - I'm happy with that of course I'd prefer an office but hey I'll take what I can get.

At least the potato heads have a place to hang out for now. A few people asked me if I had kids when they saw the potato heads. Nope I like science fiction was my answer. I don't understand their comment if I did have kids why would these be at work if they were their toys?

I knew it'd be buying lunch this week as I'm not 100% together. I still have moments of sadness about my Dad and no doubt will for awhile. My to do list with all that is definitely shorter.

I also know I can't keep buying lunch and next week I'll pack for 4 days and have on buy day. I used that system when I worked downtown before. I do have the snazzy WW salad bowl that I'm eager to test out. It's not just the cost but it's far too easy to not eat healthy. Today I went to Sunterra and built a salad, got some strawberries and a cookie. Now had I packed I could do the salad and strawberries, pay less and not have the cookie.

I joined the company gym today too as it's just convenient. The last few days have been so hot it's not comfortable outside and stopping off at Spa Lady has been less then ideal. It's still cheap in terms of gym memberships that's for sure.

A friend is willing to come up with me to my Dad's house on Saturday which is great. I'm not ready to do the burying the urn thing yet. I would like to take a look around the cemetery though to get a lay of the land.

On Friday I need to pop down to the funeral home to pick up the pendants I ordered with the scan of my Dad's fingerprint. Speaking of jewellery, I realized I lost an earring today. I always wear these earrings no idea when I lost it and it's a stud so unlikely to find it. I take it as a sign to try something new.

I definitely need new work clothes but starting tomorrow it's Stampede so 2 weeks of western wear until I need to go down that path. I was happy my old ones still fit but in the same moment it was like "why aren't they too big".

I do realize I've been through a lot lately so I'm just going to go day by day and one foot in front of the other.

I missed the boat with the whole google reader disappearing as the other day I looked at my Feedler Pro app and there was a nada. Trying to figure out how to export the list so I can keep up with everyone.

I do hope you are all having a good week.

Hugs!!

Happy Canada Day

I love this version of the Canadian Flag and it was created by artist named Curtis Wilson and you can check out his website here.

My Canada Day was very low key, I just mowed the lawn. My lovely neighbours mowed my front lawn last week but it needed to be mowed again. The back lawn hadn't been done in two weeks so that was a monster and it was so hot today.

I go back to work tomorrow and while I'm looking forward to establishing a routine again my thoughts are still filled with Dad. I'm going in early to unpack my boxes and the good part is I should be pretty busy.

I'm thinking about going back to his house on Saturday, I had originally thought I'd leave it for two weeks. I do know I'm not comfortable being there for a long stretches of time by myself. It's very very isolated and just feels so weird without Dad. Of course before he passed away I was intending to go out there for a week in July. I may still take that week off but not spend the entire week there. Weekend trips might be easier for me to handle. I need to rent a garbage bin but I suspect that won't happen anytime soon as they're needed for flood relief.

I did get him spot in the Bergen Cemetery which makes me feel better, his urn goes where he wanted and no matter what I do with the property I can always visit. The only thing that through me off a little is I have to dig myself as there is no caretaker and because it's an urn. I sent out a cry of help and a number of friends came forward so I'll coordinate with them. A part of me wanted to keep this very private but I can recognize when I need help. I've cried in front of enough people for the past two weeks maybe I'm over avoiding crying in front of people.

I went to Canada Post to get my Dad's mail forwarded to me. I practically go everywhere with a copy of the Funeral Director's Note and the will as so many people seem to need to see it. Apparently they used to do this service for free but now it cost me $84 to forward it for a year. That's another reason to go back this Saturday as it the forwarding goes into effect July 5th. This time I'll bring the correct size bed sheets so I don't need to sleep on the couch as I'd probably come back early Sunday.

I did go to weigh in on Saturday as well after I dropped the rental off at the airport. I was down 1.4 lb can't say that was because of the plan as I wasn't tracking and while I did eat it wasn't much. I think that was more to do with grieving. We have a new leader...again. I can't remember her name right now but she was a leader in Fredericton so we'll see.  I picked up a new 3 month tracker to get back at it.

I don't have a big desire to cook also because it's so hot so it's pretty simple meal planning. I didn't plan on packing lunch this week as I just wasn't in the head space to be that organized.

I need to get back on track for training too. Dumbo double dare is a mere 2 months away and I am going to Disneyland. I could really use the happiest place on earth

Hope you are all doing well.

Slightly overwhelmed

The enormity of what needs to be done makes me feel like I have a dark cloud over my head. Forgive me if this post is a little all over the place.

Let me go back to Monday.

Those Reebok shoes I won in the Design UR Own twitter contest finally arrived.

On Tuesday I headed to the airport to pick up the rental, again haven't driven in 6 years and while I did a week ago this time I was renting for 4 days. I asked for an economy and I got this...

It's a Chevy Orlando and by far the biggest thing I've ever driven. I've never even heard of this vehicle. So my first stop was the Walmart in Olds (1 hr from Calgary) as I needed to pick up supplies for Dad's house later that day the highway was hit by mega hail so my timing was good. Parked far away from the store as it was the first time I parked in a parking lot in a long time.

Then I headed to Sundre (30 min from Olds) I parked at the Sobey's as I didn't get groceries in Olds,as I didn't want them sitting in the car forever, just cleaning supplies and replacement stuff. Sundre is so small that it's pretty walkable.

My next stop was the lawyer were I promptly burst into tears. I despise crying in front of people so this is torture for me. The Will will be in probate anywhere from 6 months to a year. The lawyer is hopeful as it's pretty straightforward that it will only be 6 months. Now I need to find an accountant to do the final tax return for my Dad. I'll deal with Canada Post back in Calgary.

My next stop was the bank to open an "Estate of" account, were I burst into tears for the 2nd time.

Then it was off to deal with vehicle insurance. As neither vehicle is being driven currently I got the insurance changed to cover fire, theft sort of stuff. My Dad's neighbour thinks her son would be interested in the Aveo, now she told me that over a week ago. I talked to her today and I still haven't heard from her son.

Then I went to Sobey's to pick up a few groceries and got to my Dad's house just as thunderstorm started. After all that I was wiped but I did wander around Dad's house and looked at the enormity of stuff. Remind me to downsize when I get close to retirement. That's when the overwhelmed feeling hit high gear. My Dad was 90 you accumulate a lot of stuff. I can also tell that since I saw him at Christmas his energy level probably wasn't great as his house was a mess. I almost bought a mop and then didn't I wish I had. The mop in this house is not so great.

My mission for the days that I'm here is just to clean the top floor. The basement is pretty much all stuff that can be given away or tossed. I'm going to need to help with that so it's not my priority at the moment.

I slept on the couch again as I was just more comfortable. I did go through his photo album and found some neat pictures.

Dad is in the center, dark suit. This picture made me think of Mad Men and there are very few pictures were my Dad smiles, he's a little like Victoria Beckham in that regard.

This is 1954 somewhere in Saskatchewan and I suspect my Dad's first Canadian winter. See the no smiling.

There were loads of pictures of people I don't recognize but I found some cute shots of me.

Me in my christening gown, could I pose or what.

Both my parents say I never crawled I just used furniture for stability.

Can I say I'm super happy I bought this

The Avivision personal scanner that's been a huge help with all the documents people need.

I actually slept pretty well on the couch last night and woke up at 6 am. Today I got cleaning, I cleaned up the messes I noticed when I was last here. Cleaned both bathrooms top to bottom, the kitchen floor and have 10 garbage bags sitting outside. I intended to sleep in my bedroom in this house so I cleaned this room too and I got new sheets. This is also the room where my Dad passed away but I was at peace with that. The only thing is I bought the wrong size of sheets. It was a guess. The sheets can go to Calgary as they fit my bed there. So now I'll stay on the couch for the rest of my stay.

I couldn't bring myself to clean Dad's room today.

Then I called all the bills and got them changed into my name, only burst into tears once. The only people who are charging me a deposit is the gas company, two places had to set up new accounts under my name. I also called the life insurance.

I got the house insurance sorted for the house in Calgary but they had no record of the house in Sundre. My Dad only used one insurance company but multiple brokers for example vehicle was in Sundre, Calgary house was in Cochrane, no clue where the Sundre house is I need to still find that.

Tomorrow I wan't to tackle the rest of the kitchen, the dining room and finish the living room. I'm not in a rush to get to Dad's room.

Friday I need to clean out the fridge.

I'm also trying not to push myself, slow and easy as I'm still pretty raw. I couldn't phone the cemetery people either to see if they have spot for the urn I'll try to do that tomorrow.

Let me end on a brighter note. I did buy this today

The Stampede is selling these and all  proceeds go to the Canadian Red Cross for Alberta Flood relief, they went on sale Monday afternoon, by Tuesday afternoon over 10,000 were sold. They're $19.95 and available here.

One week ago

My entire world changed when my father passed away.

He was my rock, the one I always looked up to, the one I went to when I had a problem, the one who's opinion mattered most to me.

This week I need to contact all the bills, banks and registrations. I want to have it 99% sorted before I go back to work on July 2nd. The only thing I want left is get the vehicles back to Calgary as that can happen anytime during the summer. My neighbours to the west like to park in front of my house instead of their driveway or in front of their house so I'd like to claim back my street space. I realize that's a little spiteful.

So Tuesday I head out and will be back on Saturday so I have few days to get sorted to start back at work on July 2 at the home office which probably won't open until mid week due to the flood waters downtown.

Oy vey this picture is as of yesterday, I will be working in the reddish brown tall building in the upper left of the picture next to the really big one. I've always thought we had one of the prettiest downtown cores compared to everywhere I've visited.

I don't even know if my boxes are there and I was thinking about going in on Canada Day (July 1) to unpack my desk. I'm not sure where my laptop is but I think my old boss has it. It blows my mind that two weeks ago this is what occupied my thoughts getting ready to be back working downtown. Right now downtown is still closed and I'm hoping by July 2 transit is running again.

I have to say I've never been more proud of my city. There have been no injuries, crime has been almost nill during this time, no mass looting, no mass price gouging. The entire city has come together and that's over 1 million people. There are multiple Facebook groups coordinating volunteers. I chose to give a donation to the Red Cross as to avoid chaos.

A huge amount of kudos needs to go our Mayor Naheed Nenshi, I didn't vote for him in the last election and I wish I had. I definitely will if he runs again. As you can tell from the quote he also has a nice sense of humour during this crisis. He and his team have worked tirelessly along with all the amazing people in emergency services like Calgary Police, The Calgary Fire Department, the employees of the City of Calgary. Not to mention all the help from the Edmonton Police and the Canadian Military. I am so proud to call this city my home and birthplace.

In search of a little normalcy and to stop buying food at a convenience store. My eating has been pretty awful since last Sunday as my desire to cook is gone. It will come back.  I ventured to the mall today. I was in Walmart and I stopped dead when I saw this.

I love love love these, stock up whenever I'm in the US heck about a month ago I bought some on Ebay. Up till now we've only had one flavour Chili Lime well this now makes two. Not sure if the other bold flavours will launch here. A little bright spot in my day.

I was thinking about social media today too, and just how much worse this flood situation could have been without it. Sure there's been some incorrect rumours and fake pictures roaming around but I don't think the word could have gone out or people contacting each other without it especially with power outages (as long as your phone is charged of course).

It's so weird how things work out to. The suitcase I packed with my camp room stuff pretty much can go straight to my Dad's house just had to take a few things out and add a couple of things.

In another bought of normalcy I think I have my hotel sorted for the Glass Slipper challenge. I'm trying a different travel provider. I was disappointed that GET travel only had one hotel option at over $200 a night and when I looked on my own only the high price properties were available. I booked one just in case but Wishing Well Travel came through with All Star Movies. I've been super impressed with their customer service. Last time I stayed at All Star Music. So the hotel and park pass still comes in about $300 cheaper. Now I just need flights but I'm going to keep my eye on seat sales.

I was having trouble with my FitBit I kept getting an error when it tried to sync. I uninstalled the program and re-installed and it seems to be fine.

So that was my day.

Hugs,

Hell or high water

It was a surreal morning as I woke up to sunshine and dry neighbourhood but my city is still under State of Local Emergency.

The Stampede grounds under water

A view of the downtown core and the spillage of the rivers

Of course when I turned on the tv news was on and while water levels were steady we're still a long way to back to normal. Slowly evacuated families are being allowed back into their homes. The Bow River is supposed to be stable in 24hrs. The news was not all day like yesterday but it was hard to think of nothing else.

Some areas have water receding and now you get to see what the water dragged with it, loads of debris will be left behind.

The below completely captures the spirit of my city.

The Stampede is supposed to start in 2 weeks, well no matter what it's happening. What it will look like we'll have to wait and see but I'm supporting it 100%. This brings Calgarians together.

This morning the funeral home called today to say they could bring me Dad's urn this afternoon.

I needed to sign a few more papers and they told me the pendant with Dad's fingerprint should be ready by Wednesday.

The moment they left I just sat and hugged the urn bawling. It's heavy and strong and I didn't realize when I picked it out that the border around it has etched flowers and leaves in a very manly way almost Grecian. It is so my Dad. The last time I saw him was at Christmas though we talked every day so those memories are burned into my brain.

I made mac n' cheese for lunch and totally overcooked the noodles - it was by accident but that's exactly how Dad liked it. I didn't even consider going to weigh in as I figured the meeting would be cancelled due to all the chaos.

Now my original plan was to pick up the rental downtown tomorrow at 9am but the entire downtown core is cut off with many power outages so that office is closed. I phoned Enterprise to see what my options were and they said I could transfer the reservation to another location. I went online to check locations and 99% of them said sold out which makes perfect sense as many probably had to rent to evacuate.

I cancelled that reservation and booked another one to pick up a car up at the airport on Tuesday, hey at least I'm now familiar with the way the airport is set up. I decided on Tuesday as the rivers should be more receded and that's the day I absolutely need to go. I'm picking it up right when they open so hopefully traffic won't be too bad as I'm heading out of Calgary. I also went back to a smaller car then the SUV. So now my plan is to go from the airport to Olds, Alberta stop off at the Walmart and get my supplies, then continue on to Sundre, Alberta for my appointment with the lawyer then go on to Dad's house. This way I go around Calgary. I'll need to make a second stop in Sundre at some point to take care of some things and get gas.  Now my trip back I'll have to think about as that might mean dropping stuff at home and then dropping off the car however the sun rises early.

They say they'll open the downtown core midweek at minimum but that could be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.  It's so strange a week ago  I was supposed to start back in the downtown office as of this Monday. How fast life changes.

Craziness

I don't know where to start my friends.

Let me go in chronological order.

As I said I flew up to site on Thursday to pack my camp room. I've never flown up on a Thursday before as that's normally the day I fly home. I was hoping that I wouldn't run into anyone I knew at the airport. Low and behold the Senior Vice President of the business unit I support sits next me. Then he says "I'm sorry about your Dad". Well that set me off into tears, not full out bawling but serious dabbing with the kleenex.

Then we got to site and it's the first time I've ever gone straight to camp, it was a ghost town as of course most people were at work. I went to my room and start packing. Then I thought I should show you guys what the room looks like as "camp room" can bring many things to mind.

This is the view when you walk in.

Sink is outside with mini fridge and microwave.

There's a desk and amazing storage including two drawers under the bed. I will miss that room.

Well I had the whole room packed up and into a suitcase in about 30min. I got there at about 8am and I wasn't flying out till 1:30pm so I sat on the bed and watched daytime tv. A few weeks ago I was wondering what I'd do with all the duplicates i.e. hair dryer, straightener, WW scale then it hit me I can bring it to my Dad's house. It's going to take me awhile to stop calling Dad's house.

It was raining like crazy when I left so I wasn't sure if my flight home would be on time but it was. Then I got home and my first instinct was to call my Dad as that was my routine and to tell him about the crazy weather which we often talked about. It was raining like crazy. Then a friend phoned who I used to work with at the previous company I worked at. She had heard from my old boss that my Dad had passed away, which blows my mind as I don't know how she knew. Teary chat with her.

So it was a rough night then today this happened.

A portion of downtown Calgary

 The military were called in to help

 There is normally loads of space between the water and this bridge.

 I have no words

 The Stampede grounds, the Stampede is supposed to start in two weeks. That curved roof building is the Saddledome and apparently water was reaching the boxes inside.

My city had a massive flood. In fact most of Southern Alberta has been hit hard. I was already sad and now my heart is broken at all this craziness. I can't even give photo credits as these pictures were coming in from Facebook and twitter at a crazy pace and I was just saving ones that spoke to me. Up to 100000 people were evacuated as of evening yesterday and then it pretty much rained all day. Now the sun is out but we'll have to wait and see what the damage is when the water recedes. Luckily I live on high ground but I have friends who were evacuated.

I called the rental place in the morning and changed my pick up date to Sunday. We'll see if I can get downtown to pick it up. Then one my Dad's friends phoned as she tried calling him and no answer so I told her the news. Then I phoned one of Dad's neighbours to find out if they were effected and word had already spread about my Dad. The closest town was evacuating low level areas. Pretty much anywhere with a river was dealing with massive amount of water.

The funeral home were going to bring me Dad's ashes today but with all the water they couldn't make it. I was surprised they'd attempt so now I'll probably get them on Sunday.

I spent the whole day watching the news and while yes I'm sad my heart goes out to my city and surrounding areas. We are strong and we will rebuild.