It rains in Ottawa? What?

Apparently the Greater Vancouver area is not the sole recipient of liquid precipitation in Canada. This revelation comes as a surprise to me. I was completely expecting to be blown away with crisp, sunny days; instead, I walked home from work today in "typical" Lower Mainland weather: soppy rain. Luckily, I bought an umbrella a while ago for $3.00 at Hartman's. I was definitely not going to pay any more than that for some metal and cheap material thrown together in such a way as to keep me dry. OK, so it has a few holes in it, but that's not such a big deal. I ascribe them to character and everyone's happy (everyone = me). I arrived home as dry as I would like to be.

We're going to Montreal on the weekend - it should be a good time! I hope the weather tends more toward what I was expecting the weather to be like around here because otherwise I'm going to be wet. I don't know if my umbrella can stand up to 6-7 hours of walking around outside. One thing is for sure, it's time to buy new shoes. My usual pair of sneakers is 2 years old and leaks from the bottom and the top when it rains ("usual" can be taken to mean "only). Oh dear.

I'm happy to report that the thrill of walking around Parliament Hill almost daily has not left yet. Truthfully, I don't expect that it will leave. It's just such a great thing!

My internship is going well still. I'm still researching a lot, but I also do some correspondence on a variety of different things, open the mail, write briefing notes, and burn toast in the toaster which smells up the office and the connecting hallway. Good times. The office where I work is quite laid back and everyone is really friendly and helpful. It has a great atmosphere to work in!

Have I come to any conclusions about a specific life calling? Nope. So far, I'm considering being an elementary school teacher, a staffer (someone who is staff on Parliament Hill), or a perpetual Peer Success Coach (my summer job the last two summers). What's your vote? Or, do you have any other careers you'd like to see on that list?

Signing off,

Nicole

P.S. If you are craving chili, just let me know and I'll see what I can do for you. I made chili for my dinner group a couple of weeks ago and had a 1 KG yogourt container full leftover. This week Tuesday, I made "taco soup" which ended up being chili with the same amount leftover. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how much you like chili), Melissa had made chili on Monday. And we had leftovers from that too. At this point, I have two lunches less than 2 KG of chili, 1 yogourt container of chicken soup, and a bunch of potato bake. I don't make lunch. I just eat leftovers. Chili for breakfast, anyone?