John and Maureen's Christmas Party

I have a photo of this same party in 2005 on my office bulletin board... one of the year's highlights! John & Mo didn't have a party last year, but decided to host it again this year on Dec 22nd. Laura and I got home at about 2am (Rob stayed over) - slightly drunk, but after having a wonderful time.

Doug 2.0 - 7 month update

I promised that I’d be updating the blog and not sending emails to half the human race … but I lied. Actually, the intent here is to let you know that we have a new address. I’ll get to that in a minute.

After we dropped Kath and Dave off at LAX after our Christmas Cruise, Laura and I decided that we’d spent enough time travelling around the USA. We headed back to Vancouver on January 1^st, and arrived “home” on January 3^rd. In all, we put 16,000kms (10,000 miles) on the truck – and probably 2/3 of that on the trailer. We saw most everything we set out to see, and have warrants out for my arrest in five states.

Our original plan, once we got home, was to take our time in finding a new place to live. We thought we’d rent a while, and maybe experiment with living downtown. On January 4^th, on our way to visit with some friends, we passed by a townhouse for sale that I’d looked at last summer. On a bit of a whim, I called the realtor … and we now own another home. It’s about a mile from our old house. So much for downtown.

We take possession on Feb 15^th, and will spend the next few weeks fixing the place up. Fortunately, we have time … Our bank account took a big hit, and the balance continues to go in the wrong direction, but we’re pleased with the new location – even closer to all the friends we sponged off last summer!

So – for those of you that care, here’s the new address:

Doug & Laura Stewart
#7 – 3476 Coast Meridian Road
Port Coquitlam, BC V3B 7H6

I don’t quite know what we’re going to do about the old phone number (still on hold), but we’ll probably move over to an IP-phone, and try to use the old 604-552-9291 number (sorry Bruce – sell your Telus stock!).

As for me – 7 months post-surgery – I still don’t feel 100%. When we got home I visited with the doctor and we’re going to experiment a bit with the meds. Seems I’ve been on a very aggressive drug regimen, and I might be experiencing some side effects (muscle pain). We’ll likely change the statin I’m on (currently Zocor/Lipidil – move to Crestor), and reduce the dose. Once we’re established in the new home, I’ll get back into a regular routine of exercise – we’re about 400 yards from a gym/pool. I think this will help a lot.

I hope this message finds each and every one of you well, and that 2007 is starting out as a great year (and stays that way)!

Cheers!
Doug

Welcome to Vancouver in January

Since we’ve been home, we’ve lived through two snowstorms, two power outages, a couple of wind storms and torrential rain. This would all be well and fine, except for we’re still living in the trailer.

We got home on Wednesday, January 3rd, and on our way to surprise some friends that night, saw a townhouse for sale not far from where we used to live. During my recuperation in the summer last year I had wandered by the complex several times and thought it would be a great place to live. We called a realtor on Friday, saw the townhouse on Sunday, talked to the bank on Tuesday, and closed the deal on Thursday. Call me impulsive. The house needs some work – but I have some time ;-)

On Friday this week we head to Calgary to visit with my cousin. The anniversary of Jack’s murder is Jan 16th, and that single awful incident kicked off a series of events in our lives that are still being felt. It’s changed me in ways I don’t even know yet. Who would have thought that on January 15th, 2006 that Jack would be gone, Laura and I would leave our jobs, I’d have bypass surgery, we’d spend 4 months traveling, and that I’d feel closer to my cousins in Alberta than I have in 30 years.

Happy New Year - 6 month update - Home Again

Hi Everybody:

First, Happy 2007! For me, I hope 2007 turns out to be slightly less eventful than 2006.

We dropped Kathryn and David off at LAX late Saturday afternoon (Dec 30), and on our drive back to the Airstream decided that we needed to take a "break" from our "break". We've seen all the places we set out to see (except Baja), and were missing our friends and family terribly. Like Dorothy said "there's no place like home". Except, of course, when home is having the worst winter (rain, snow, wind) anybody can remember. We are officially the only Snowbirds to ever go north in January.

There was a weather window of a few days (mountain passes would be bare and dry) so we left January 1st to drive home. Arrived in Vancouver on Wednesday, January 3rd - 2,000 kms and 400 litres of gas later. We'll likely take another shorted trip someplace warm in February or March (Australia, Cabo, any suggestions?).

A couple of other notes about our trip:

(1) The truck (Toyota 4Runner V8) was fantastic. Not a hiccup. Towed a 6,000 lb trailer over 16,000 kms without any trouble at all. I'm very impressed. When John D got back from Africa in November, he mentioned that we all should sell our vehicles and buy Toyota Land Cruisers and pickup trucks - that's all they have in Africa and they keep running after horrendous abuse.

(2) The trailer (Airstream CCD-25) was equally fantastic. Since we were the first owners to really "travel" with this particular trailer, there were a few bugs at first (like tightening up the city water inlet) - but nothing significant at all. It's very well built, and it still looks brand new.

(3) There's no place like home. Even though it SNOWED here overnight, we're glad to be back. The trailer is warm, comfortable, and it's our home (for now).

(4) It took a few hours, but our social calendar is full again. I love it.

Cheers!
Doug 2.1