Writ of Mainprize

I haven't had time to blog lately, but I had a few minutes while my computer code crunched away on some data. It's now 18 days until our wedding! Everything is booked, decorations are being assembled, bombonieres are nearly ready, and gifts have been bought. Lots of little things to do, and lots of money to spend, but I think everything is falling into place. The only unfortunate thing is the fact that work is stunningly busy right now, as I have to complete a grant application to get funding for my project for the next four years. And it's due 5 days after my wedding. Talk about bad timing. Oh well, between that, the wedding, and moving into a new apartment, and entertaining the new in-laws when they visit Canada, September will be an interesting month!

My brother successfully defended this Ph.D thesis yesterday!!!! Congratulations! Although he had one examiner that disagreed from a philosophical point of view, they were all very satisfied with the thesis and his oral defense. Way to go, Iain!

That's right! Olivia and I are engaged. We had a wonderful "unofficial" engagement party this past weekend and we were ecstatic to see a lot of friends that we haven't seen in a while too! I got to meet some of Olivia's dorm-mates which was really nice, and we got to see my friends' babies (one was only seven days old!). A big thank you to my housemates (and Paul too!) for helping get ready and putting up with a house full of people on a sweltering hot day! Now comes the daunting part....PLANNING the wedding!

Olivia is starting a new job today with a small consulting company in environmental and water assessment. It sounds very exciting, and a great change of pace. I'm so excited and proud of her. I hope the job is lots of fun! Good luck, Olivia!! YAY! The only drawback, is that the job is even further north!! We will have to move north to make a good balance between my job location and hers. I wonder where that will be?

Is it just me, or has salsa dancing exploded in popularity? It seems like there are salsa clubs springing up everywhere, and so many people are either going salsa dancing or taking lessons. I didn't even realize the popularity of salsa until my girlfriend and I started taking lessons together. I have to say, salsa dancing is a LOT of fun! The dancing is fast enough and just complicated enough to keep things interesting for a long time. Even when you get all messed up in a dance move, there's no real pressure, just laugh and carry on! We'll finish our Level 1 class tonight, and probably sign up for Level 2. We have yet to test out are new skills at a real salsa club yet. Hopefully we'll get our dancing shoes on, soon, and head for the clubs!