I'm Ba-ack!

I'm back from vacation - wishing I wasn't, but am back nonetheless. It's always hard coming back to work after having a week off, but let's not dwell on that anymore.

So let's see what have I been up to lately? The weekend before last was when Carrie and Chris got into town (on Saturday the 20th) but I didn't get to see them until the following day (Sunday). That Saturday Ryan and I rented a movie and got a pumpkin pie blizzard from Dairy Queen, which I must say I was a tad disappointed with considering that I love pumpkin in any form.

The next day Ryan asked me if I wanted to go mudding in his parent's 4X4, so I said sure. We headed out to Mazerolle Settlement Road and up through a ton of trails on Mountain Road, taking in the gorgeous views. Ryan knows this area well and said there was a hiking trail that would take us to Woolastook park. I was all "Yah right, Woolastook park is WAY far from here". Well little did I know that he wasn't pulling my leg. We hiked (downhill on the way in mind you) for a while and sure enough we ended up in the back campground lot of Woolastook park. I was shocked and a little disappointed that we didn't take full advantage of this by bringing a blanket and a picnic lunch. We hiked another trail that took us to a ravine and then another that took us to Kelly's creek and then finally hiked out (uphill!) and went back to the truck. I was tired and thankfull that I'd lost 75 pounds in the last year because I don't think, no, I know, that I wouldn't have made it without doing so. We continued on out through Mountain Road mudding and splashing our way to Harvey. We stopped for a drink and a quick carwash and then met Carrie and Chris for dinner. It was so good to see her and Chris and her expanding belly! We went to the Back Nine downtown. It wasn't bad, but holy crap it was expensive!

Monday I took my car into the dealership to get an oil change, have my tires rotated and to get the annual inspection. Carrie and Chris picked me up at home (the dealership shuttled me home after I dropped my car off) at around noon. Carrie was craving a kabob, so we went downtown and got some lunch from George's canteen and then went to the mall. They then dropped me off to get my car and $129 dollars later, I had wheels again. In the evening I went to my friend Derek's house to get him to guarantee my passport application and hideous passport photo, lol. Ryan and I are planning a trip to Arizona in April of next year and well, you need a freakin passport to fly into the US now. I decided that now was a good time to get my passport as I was away from work this week and had to waste waiting at the passport office, lol.

Tuesday morning I got up and headed over to the passport office. I waited there for an hour and a half and handed over $87 for the privilege of George W. Bush allowing me to visit his country. I then went crib shopping with Carrie and Chris in the afternoon and then in the evening we went to Bingo (and lost, lol).

Wednesday I rose bright and early and got on the road to Moncton with Carrie, Chris and Carrie's mom. This was primarily a shopping trip, but I didn't end up going too crazy. I came home with a Christmas gift for Ryan's parent's, 4 t-shirts from Old Navy that were $1.97 each, 2 long sleeve shirts for 10 bucks each from Costco and an industrial supply of popcorn from Costco, lol.

Thursday was a pretty boring day. I didn't see Carrie and Chris at all. I went to Ryan's parent's house in the evening and we watched Survivor.

Friday was lunch date day. Ryan and I, Carrie and Chris and Mike and Shelly all went for lunch at Ringo's uptown. I hadn't eaten there since Shelly got married 7 years ago. We had a "stagette" dinner there for her. The food was really good and fairly well priced. In the evening I had coffee with Carrie and her family and said our farewells. It's hard to believe that the next time I see her, she'll be a mom!

Saturday my brother and I went to Saint John just for the hell of it. Ryan was working, it was a boring, rainy day, so off we went. We went to the Moosehead brewery store, to the mall, Old Navy (where I scored again with some cheap shirts! lol) and to East Side Mario's for lunch. My brother had never eaten there before and had always wanted to try it, so he got his chance. That place is so good and they really need to get moving on the plans of building one in Fredericton! Saturday evening Ryan went to a Halloween party (I didn't want to go as I didn't really know anyone there) and I did laundry, made some Halloween cupcakes and carved a pumpkin for my mother, which she was nagging me to do for her.

Sunday I made the traditional big breakfast for Ryan and I and we relaxed for the majority of the afternoon. I then went up to Mom and Dad's for supper and a visit. Later I headed out to Ryan's parent's place and had a nice, quiet evening with him.