there's nowhere to go but on Although they're calling for much warmer temperatures later this week, I began yesterday in Calgary with a terrible shock to my un-covered Ottawa toes. You see, I mostly packed for summer. It was plenty warm in Ottawa when I left, and I was pretty sure I'd remain plenty warm for the month of August. How quickly we forget, though, how quickly it turns to fall in Calgary. It was raining and six degrees yesterday. Today we started out with a balmy ONE degree. Eek.

I didn't pack proper dress shoes (and socks!), so I'm making due with various open-toed sandals when I go to work in the morning. My feet are not thanking me. Especially when, upon starting at my new temp gig this week, I learn that the building's heat is not working. So you can see your breath outside, and it doesn't feel much warmer inside this chilly office. Brr, brr, brr.

It was Jamie's birthday on Saturday, but most of the family was away, so we celebrated Sunday evening with a fantastic dinner. The newest gadget in the family compound is the "slow-cooker". Dalt loves it for ribs or roast or whatever. So we did both a roast and some ribs on Sunday, slow-cooked for maximum tastiness. We also prepared some nice spinach fettucine with cream cheese sauce, veggies and cheese sauce, fresh bread, and brownies for dessert. It was perfect. More pics are here.

I'm counting down now, to my departure on Sunday, back to Ottawa, the city I love to hate (or something). I'm anxious to get back to certain parts of my life there (i.e. stuff and cats), but not so excited for other stuff (i.e. the Carleton student life). I just got my mark for my summer course and I got a C which isn't fantastic, but it was a bit of a tough slug, so I guess I'm okay with it. Hell, better than a D, right..? So I've got one more semester ahead of me, and I'm hoping that with my return to Ottawa comes a return to summer (!).  | ¶ 1:17 p.m.