Out and about with Finley

In addition to visiting friends, dining out, going shopping, and snuggling up at home, Finley and I keep ourselves busy by:

Going for walks in our neighbourhood...

Visiting Daddy at work...

And hanging out with other mums and babies...

Nicole (Cadi), me (Finley), Helene (Chloe)

I met these ladies via a January 2013 Mamas internet forum!
L-R: Veronica (Rowan), Connie (Caidon), Jenessa (Canton),
Erin (Ryan), me (Finley), Venus (Austin)

L-R: Caidon, Canton, Rowan, Ryan, Austin, Finley

We're having lots of fun together!

Working in the Wilds

Things have been pretty busy for me (Ben) at work lately. Part of the reason is that I am heavily involved in a very large project that requires a lot of different input from me; however, one of the upshots of this is that I actually got to go out into the field for 6 days about a month ago. I don't get let out of the office very often, so this was quite exciting! Especially since it was a pretty fun trip, which included...

Flying in helicopters...

Learning what biologists actually do in the field (it seems to involve a lot of sitting down)...

Seeing some great scenery (and hiking down 45 degree slopes of dense bush with great scenery)...

Including lots of pretty flowers...

And some more unusual finds, like a lightning struck tree...

And a dead moose...

But before you get too jealous, it also involved 14 hour days, long weekends that weren't (weren't weekends at all actually), some fairly heavy hiking, very early mornings, and mad dashes to the airport where you take the wrong car and leave half of your belongings behind at the hotel but are very grateful for lovely workmates who pick up behind you and bring it all home again!

Santa and his helpers

On December 11th, Delle and I had the opportunity to be Santa's helpers at Ben's work's kids' Christmas party, held at the Burnaby Village Museum.  As for Ben's role at the event... well, suffice to say he was the Santa centre of attention!

Before the Christmas party, we had time to look around the village for a little while...

Historic house

The Rawleigh was still in the cabinet where I found it last time!

Playing with old-fashioned toys

Haha!

...Well, is it?

Christmas in the village

Strange creatures lurking in the street

Me being mugged by one of them...

...No, wait, it was a dance!

And after the Christmas party, we got to ride the carousel for free... twice!

My first earthquake

I experienced my first earthquake today... but it was a bit of an anticlimax!

Click here to read a CBC article about the earthquake

Around lunchtime, my boss noticed a rattling noise coming from the windows of our office, which is on the 4th floor of a 28-storey office tower. She thought at first that the window cleaners were outside, but then realised the rattling was on the inside, caused by the Venetian blinds swaying slightly and hitting the metal window frames. We couldn't feel any shaking, but by this time everyone was wondering aloud whether it was an earthquake and whether we should get under our desks as per the recommended procedure (no one did!).

After about 30 seconds of blind rattling and slightly nervous but calm discussion as to whether it was in fact an earthquake, the rattling stopped. Everyone went straight for their phones/ Twitter/ Google and established within a minute that it WAS an earthquake!

About half an hour later, they announced over the office loudspeakers that a "minor earthquake" had occurred off the west coast of Vancouver Island, and that we should all continue working as normal. By the third time they made the announcement, the general sentiment in the office was: "we're trying to, but someone keeps interrupting us!"

Roxy was at home in our basement suite (3 kms away), and didn't feel anything. Subsequent news articles indicated that, in Vancouver, people felt it more the higher up they were in their building (which makes sense). However, there are no reports of any injuries or damage so far. Ben missed it altogether... he had just departed Fiji (en route to Brisbane) when it happened!

Anyway, that was my first earthquake. I'm rather glad I don't have a more dramatic tale for you! :)

The Great BC Shakeout

At 10am last Wednesday (Australia Day), Ben and I - at our respective workplaces - participated in the Great British Columbia Shakeout! This was the largest earthquake drill in Canadian history, with over 460 000 people participating.


Here I am, under my desk...

Gotta say, it wasn't quite the same as having snags on the barbie at the beach...

Snow in the city

We've had our own severe weather warnings over here too... last night we received 10-15cm of snow overnight. That's rare enough for Vancouver that half the population finds it an exciting novelty and the other half hunkers down as if it's a blizzard!

Here are some photos taken at home around 11pm last night (using my snazzy pink birthday present)...





A video compilation of our backyard...

And some photos taken on the way to work this morning...




What we'd call a lollipop lady...


The tower where I work (it's the left one of the pair), and the Skytrain going by on the right...






An entrance to the second largest mall in Canada, which my workplace is connected to...


And the view from the kitchen on my floor...


I thought this was a good way to combine a glimpse of our recent weather with a little insight into where I spend most of my days. :)