I'm Elite!

I always thought that in order to be elite, you needed to come from good breeding...

own a bluetooth headset...

and be a total jerk...

I've learned that this is not the case. You only need two of the three attributes I listed - plus a crapload of aeroplan points. Luckily I have a bluetooth headset (no, I do not wear it constantly, but doing that would ensure that you understand how in demand I am), I am a total jerk (only to those who deserve it) and according to aeroplan I have enough points to be considered "elite" under their rewards program. You are probably saying to yourself, "so what...you just get a luggage tag that makes you better than everyone else on the plane. What's so great about that?" Well, let me tell you. As a member of aeroplan with "Elite" status, I get a bunch of upgrade coupons that I'll never use. Seriously - who buys an upgradable ticket? Also - I get 8 of them and they expire on Feb 28, 2010. Will I really be buying that many upgradeable tickets before then? I may be elite, but I'm no Thurston Howell III. Perhaps I'll buy a bus ticket and attempt to use 4 of the coupons to upgrade to air travel or I'll go all out and use all 8 to upgrade to time travel.

I also get a few Air Canada lounge guest passes that I'll never use because I travel solo and guests have to be with someone who has a lounge membership in order to use the pass.

Now that I'm elite, I plan to stop tolerating the Gilligans of the world and I will use my elite connections and stealthy business acumen to get me out of all sorts of trouble - like perhaps breaking out of a jail made of bamboo.

Would I get one phone call on the coconut phone while in bamboo jail? I think I would call "The Professor".

Set Sail on Lake Superiority

Sean left on his pilgrimage to Thunder Bay on Thursday morning. NOSM (Northern Ontario School of Medicine) orientation week starts on Monday.

Some goodbye pictures...

It's all happening. Sean's new career, my career miraculously continuing, a pretty ring on my finger and a very empty house. Despite having to wave goodbye to Sean this morning, I'm in great spirits. This is a pretty exciting change for both of us. I will still be in KW for another couple of months or so and then back in town for work quite frequently.

Sean did an amazing job putting the finishing touches on the house before he left. Check out the craftsmanship below.
















Actually, Sean replaced the phone jack, so it doesn't look like that anymore.

There are still a few small things for me to do, but for the most part, the house is done. We just need to stage it and then sell it. Simple, right? Riiiiiiight.

People seemed to enjoy our house blog, so I figured I'd continue the tradition of publicizing the ups and downs of our life transitions, with lots of pictures, in a new blog. BLOG!

As you may or may not know, Thunder Bay is located at the top of Lake Superior, hence the blog's title. The title also comes from the fact that I'm a born and bred Southern Ontario girl, and in a lot of ways, I'm totally ignorant to the ways of the North. I'm looking forward to getting to know a new area of our large and beautiful country. In order to make some friends, I'll start by talking to the T-Bayers about how awesome S. Ont (pronounced So-ahnt) is and how everything's different there. People are smarter, prettier, nicer, wealthier, smellier (in a good way) and less sauna-fied, etc. Hardly anyone is Finnish and those who are Finnish just put cute Finnish flag stickers on their cars and wouldn't ever force you to eat kippered herring. As you can see, my southern biases will make me extremely intriguing to the northern-folk and I'm sure they'll want to be around me just so that they can tell people that they met someone who once lived near Toronto. It will be like that scene in 2010 where the chimpanzees are intrigued by the monolith and then it teaches them how to make tools and drive a car and make computers that can beat you at chess or convince your wife to cheat on you.

I'm looking forward to making new friends...maybe with a moose or a wooly mammoth?

In all seriousness, I don't want to come off as an ignorant Southern Ontario fashionista. I've heard Toronto referred to as the United States of Canada in the past, and if I'm going to be compared to an American, I'd prefer to be compared to the ones who say, "you're right - I know nothing about your world. Educate me" rather than the ones who say "I only know about the countries we're at war with" (True conversation I had with two very different Americans many years ago).

Ok. I'm done explaining my new blog...long story short, it will be about my transition to Thunder Bay and all the humourous fish-out-of-water experiences that come along with a culture shift. I promise that the next post won't have any pictures that are from decades old movies (unless my readership likes that sort of thing). Ok - let's be serious...I will continue to make reference to old movies. I don't want to lead you astray.