The Da Vinci Code
I went to the move Sunday night, by myself, so I would have no distractions. ******
The movie stayed pretty much true to the book, and I thought the characters were well developed and convincing. I don't know why the critics didn't like Tom Hank's look for this movie. The Robert Langdon character is supposed to be an intellectual "nerdy" professor type anyway, not a hunky leading man like Brad Pitt or Richard Gere. Seeing all the locations where it was filmed really made me want to go back to see more of London and Paris. I'm sure they've changed a lot since I was there in 1985. Anyway, back on topic, you don't have to have read the book to enjoy the movie, but it will help you keep up with the plot and characters. If you enjoy action, there are lots of chase scenes and fights. Even after all the hype, I thought they managed to keep us at the edge of our seats for the most part. Yes, it is long (two and one-half hours) but there wasn't anything I would have taken out. I had no problem seeing the movie as a good piece of fiction (it was never represented as anything else) with enough parallels to historical fact to make you wonder about some things. As a matter of fact, I'd like to see them do Angels and Demons as well. It would make a great movie.
The Appointment
Since Leslie posted her favorite e-mail ever, I think I should post mine too!I actually kept my mammogram appointment.
I was met with , "Hi, I'm Belinda!" This perky clipboard carrier smiled from ear to ear, tilted her head to one side and crooned, "All I need you to do is step into this room hereee, strip to the waist, thennn slip on this gown. Everything clearrr? "I'm thinking, "Belinda ... try decaf. This ain't rocket science." Belinda skipped away to prepare the chamber of horrors.
Call me crazy, but I suspect a man invented this machine. It takes a perfectly healthy cup size of 36-B to a size 38-LONG in less than 60 seconds. Also, girls aren't made of sugar and spice and everything nice...it's Spandex.
We can be stretched, pulled and twisted over a cold 4-inch piece of square glass and still pop back into shape. With the right side finished, Belinda flipped me (literally) to the left and said, "Hmmm. Can you stand on your tippy toes and lean in a tad so we can get everything?" "Fine," I answered. I was freezing, bruised and out of air, so why not use the remaining circulation in my legs and neck and finish me off?
My body was in a holding pattern that defied gravity (with my other boob wedged between those two 4" pieces of square glass) when we heard, and then felt, a zap! Complete darkness and the power went off! "What?" I yelled. "Oh, maintenance is working. Bet they hit a snag." Belinda headed for the door. "Excuse me! You're not leaving me in this vise alone, are you?" I shouted. Belinda kept going and said, "Oh, you fussy puppy...the door's wide open so you'll have the emergency hall lights. I'll be rightttt backkkk." Before I could shout, NOOOO!" she disappeared.And that's exactly how Bubba and Earl, maintenance men extraordinaire, found me, half-naked and part of me dangling from the Jaws of Life and the other part smashed between glass! After exchanging polite "Hi, how's it going" type greetings, Bubba (or possibly Earl) asked, to my utter disbelief, if I knew the power was off. Trying to disguise my hysteria I replied with as much calmness as possible. "Uh, yes...yes I did, thanks." "You bet, take care," Bubba replied and waved good-bye as though I'd been standing in the line at the grocery store. Two hours later, Belinda breezes in wearing a sheepish grin and making no attempt to suppress her amusement, she said, "Oh I am soooo sorry! The power came back on and I totally forgot about you!
And silly me, I went to lunch. Are we upset?"
And that, Your Honor, is exactly how her head ended up between the clamps
The Wedding
I just had to share this story after so much talk about weddings.
My friend Kathy sent me an e-mail on Wednesday last Fall to ask if I could be her Maid of Honour on that Saturday. Her MOH had to leave the province because of a death in the family. Kathy was frantic because her only bridesmaid was her 12-year-old daughter. She wanted to know if I could fit into a size 12 dress (Yeah, right!!). I asked what her colour scheme was (emerald green) and told her I would do this as my wedding present to her. I rushed over to a consignment store during my lunch break and found the perfect dress. I had one of the girls in the office take a picture with the digital camera which I sent to Kathy for approval. Then we made plans to meet Thursday night to discuss details, and for me to meet the groom-to-be. Great guy, a perfect match for her. Then I learned that the person who had promised to take care of the flowers didn't come through. Off we went, to the nearby Safeway of all places. We were helped by a very friendly lady in their flower shop, and by the end of the evening, we had them picked out in nice fall colors. The rehersal dinner was Friday night when I got to meet the rest of the wedding party and the family members. It went well except that the lasagna was still half-frozen so had to be micro-waved in small batches. I particularly enjoyed meeting the Best Man as we had a lot of interests in common. He used to be a "roadie" with some rock bands when he was younger, and he loves to dance. We made plans to meet at her place on Saturday morning for the hairdresser appointment. Kathy had made reservations at her hairdresser for 10:00 AM (in Kensington which is at least a half-hour from her place) then we had to find parking. I ended up with an interesting "fifties" updo (remember bubbles??). The wedding was at 2:00 PM and I still had to do her make-up before getting dressed. The ceremony was in a charming little church in the NE, and the reception was in Balzac which is about a half-hour north of Calgary. I was a little surprised when I was handed the microphone and expected to make a speech, but I blustered my way through it even though it was a "dry" reception. Being outside the city, it was pitch dark when I finally left, and of course I got lost and drove around in circles in Coventry Hills, NE Calgary for awhile before I found Deerfoot Trail and made it home.
God, I love my life. It's never boring!
Mid-May in Calgary
Greetings, all. It's 28 degrees at lunch time in Calgary, and I'm stuck in an air-conditioned office. I hope it's this nice for the long weekend. I'm taking Friday off as well, giving me four days off in a row. Everybody will be putting in their bedding plants this weekend. My tiger lilies are a few inches high, and there are some other mystery shoots coming up from last year's plantings. Last year the lupins I planted in front were 3 feet high, but all leaves. They don't seem to grow well out here.
I hosted a Fifth Avenue Jewellery party at my place on Saturday, but only 5 people came if you count the the two kids Kathy brought with her. We had fun watching them acting like typical happy 12-year-olds. There was lots of wine, fruit, cheese, and other goodies and, surprisingly, not too many left-overs. At Gail's party last weekend, I had bought a tiger-eye bracelet & earring set, silver/gold chain chocker, silver marquisite ring with black stone, gold anklet, and a beautiful earring and pendant set in crystal called "Cracklin Rose" . I also ended up with a pewter colored heart pendant with 5 stones and got 50% off the most expensive purchase for booking my own party. At my party, I got the tiger-eye necklace to match the set, a chunky silver ring with 3 big blue topaz stones, another anklet, toe-rings, and a fancy pinky ring. I'm not quite sure how their bonus gifts work yet, but I was given another pewter necklace, and a beautiful earring and necklace in carved sliver flowers with cubic zirconia in the middle for free. I'm planning to host a lunch-hour party here at the office on the 24th. After that, I'll be covered for all the birthdays, and even have some for Christmas gifts.
I'm going to my first Progress Club meeting in over two months tomorrow night. I've been so busy and travelling out of town so much the last couple of months for work that I didn't have time for much else. It will be nice to see the girls again and get caught up. I'm sure everyone will be talking about the upcoming convention in Jasper as the beginning of June. I've been so looking forward to getting into the mountains again.
I was supposed to golf with Linda on Sunday morning, but my back problems were too bad to even consider it. I had her over to my place for lunch instead, and gave her her birthday gift. She brought me some beautiful yellow tulips. Linda is 3 weeks older than me, and we've been close friends since I lived in Fredericton.
I called Mom late on Mother's Day, and she is doing well. She hadn't gotten my card yet and thought I had forgotten (as if!!!). Louis had another accident on his motorcycle on the way home from taking Mom out for Chinese food. Not his fault, apparently, he ran into a car that pulled out in front of him and the driver admitted it was his fault. He wasn't badly injured, no broken bones, just a lot of painful scrapes and bruises. They didn't even keep him in the hospital overnight. I think it's time for him to hang up his helmet for good. Lee Anne is still doing very well in her pharmaceuticals course, and she and her boyfriend, Al, is renovating Mom's house. Mom is very excited about getting the things done that she's been wanting for so long.
I started massage therapy at the same office as my Chiropractor yesterday, and although I found the whole experience quite painful, it seems to have helped. I paid for five sessions in advance to get a discount, so hopefully it will make a difference. The recliner I bought at The Brick is now in my living room and gives me pretty good back support when I'm reading or watching TV. I guess I'm just not quite as limber as I used to be.
And I think that brings everything up to date.
New Baby at the Office
My friend and co-worker Diane is a proud new Grandma of Baby Myles.
Home Again
Started a busy week Wednesday afternoon when I left for Edmonton. I couldn't get into my usual hotel, so I booked into Sutton Place. It gave me a 10-block walk to the office, but it was a nice day and I needed the exercise. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it right away and drove around in circles a few times before I saw the right turn-off. I got some interesting comments as I was driving with windows rolled down on such a nice day, it seems I had forgotten to remove my Calgary Flames flag from the car window. There is no comparing the rivalry between Calgary & Edmonton. I removed it as soon as I settled into the hotel parkade, and was really glad I did after watching the game that night. 'nuff said!! Calgary-bashing is a favorite passtime in Edm, and they had lots of ammunition after that sad game.
My two days in Head Office were very productive, I claimed over $17 Million of the province's housing budget for my shelter projects. It's been a rough couple of weeks getting the supporting information I needed before I could process the requests, shelter operators are great social workers but do not usually have much background in business and accounting. The homeless shelters in Calgary and Southern Alberta count on me to make sure their paper work is in order so that they can get what they need from the government. I work for the provincial government as a Housing Advisor. Since my counterpart in Edmonton has been on sick leave for 2 years and probably won't be coming back to work, I had to do some work on the Edmonton and North files too. Things should slow down a little in June, July & August.
Thursday night I met my former neighbour, Bev, and we shopped for a bathing suit for me. I took her to dinner to celebrate her birthday, and she gave me a tour of the new house she was finally able to move into. What a great design - high ceilings, 3 levels, a loft area. Makes my little townhouse look pretty shabby. Bev is happy with her new job and her new home, and that's what's important.
Friday afternoon our ministry hosted a Employee Recognition ceremony where the Minister recognizes people who are celebrating milestones like 5, 10, 15, 20 etc. years with the government, or who have retired during the year. One guy in our department had 35 years! There was a fancy buffet lunch and lots of boring speakers, but I got to sit with some of my friends from Head Office. We got out early, and I drove to Morinville to spend the night getting caught up with 'Berta & Joe.
It's been a long time since it was just the three of us, and we enjoyed hours in the hottub, with me in my new bathing suit. I gave the "big guy" his birthday present early because we never know when we will see each other. Every time I visit, 'Berta's done something new to the house. This time it was a new and improved home office.
I got up relatively early because I had to be back in Calgary for Vertigo Mystery Theatre with the girls. The play was great "A Spider's Web". You've heard the saying :
"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive". It certainly described this play, and was one of the closing lines. I had just munched on some junk food on the way from Edmonton, so I went out to The White Spot for dinner with the girls afterward. If you ever go there, you have got to try the Victorian Chicken Salad - delicious.
At 7:30 I joined some of my work-mates for a "girls night out" where Gail hosted and had representatives from Fifth Avenue jewelry and some Intimate Products. Sad to say I didn't have a clue what most of the things were. There were 2 ladies doing massage and pedicures. I really needed the massage after 3 days on the road. I got a little carried away with the Fifth Avenue jewelry, so those of you who live in Calgary will be invited to attend my party on Saturday the 13th. I got 50% off my purchases just for booking a party, and my guests don't even have to buy anything. By the time I got home, and unloaded the car with my suitcase, briefcase, etc. I was exhausted - I hadn't been home since Wednesday morning. I didn't get up until 11:00 AM today. I was surprised the cats stayed in bed with me that long.
And now I'd better sign off so I can finish my laundry before I go to bed.
Adrienne's Grad pictures
Adrienne Lisa Tossmann - Class of 2006
