Wife of the Year

If you've followed the blog during any of our vacays, then you knew this post was a'comin'.

There are a lot of seaplanes here.

So, I was wife of the year.

Yesterday I gave G credit for finding some of the best restaurants ever. Which is the truth. What I left out, though, is that one of them was right next to the seaplane dock, because he is strategic that way.

While I enjoyed my seafood, he enjoyed the view and told me all about engines and wingspan and propellers that pull planes rather than push them through the air, and at that point my wine kicked in and I didn't really hear anymore. Which is not to say that he stopped talking, it's only to say that I stopped hearing.

Afterwards, we watched them take off and land even more.

I'm throwing him a bone and including a few of his precious shots here, juuuuuuuust in case you happen to be interested.

Aaaaaaaaand wife of the year. The end. 

Where the Trees Eat the Fish

On the whale tour yesterday, we talked about seafood, appropriately. Killer whales are meat eaters, as are eagles along the shore line. But did you know that the fish even feed the trees? When birds and bears leave fish parts on the ground, the trees absorb their remains along with other minerals from the shore. It is very common here for scientists to study trees to calculate their age, and to find fish remains within the rings. Usually salmon. Isn't that wild?

Since so many people come here for the seafood, especially the salmon, Canada is making huge efforts to fish sustainably and we were told what signs to look for when picking restaurants. Like, literal signs. We have done that and the food has been amazing. There's just no other word for it.

Above is a Beet and Burrata Salad. Seafood aside, it is my favorite dish in Vancouver so far. The flavor combination was perfect: fresh, tangy, robust, and topped with just a bit of crunch. There were dollops of Balsamic on the side which provided a zing every now and then.

Sashimi, of course. The best I've had since Hawaii, oh, and Japan. Sushi Den (in Denver) comes close. But really, there's no comparison; it's so, so good here.

One of our desserts was a big macaron. Two almond-flavored cookies sandwiched a dark chocolate and mint cream, topped with fresh cream and fruit. We savored every bite (not kidding).

Today I outdid myself with seafood. I had a tuna stack, which was tuna poke (ahi, avocado, mandarin oranges, tomatoes, cilantro, and sauces, topped with panko breadcrumbs and served atop won ton strips). 

I also had a tuna sushi cone (ahi, avocado, fresh ginger, rice, spices, and cucumber, in a soy cone wrap).

Here's a special shout-out to G, who found all of these excellent - truly superb - restaurants, and he's not even the foodie!

Cheers!

We've also had some killer drinks, in addition to what is pictured above, some amazing Italian food, and great coffee roasts. More to come! One more day before we drag ourselves back to Denver.

Call Me Ishmael

Because I chased whales all day. In Vancouver.

We spent the morning with this local pod of killer whales, known as orcas (also the name of the lil old lady bun bun we used to have, do you remember her?). They were known as the T101 group: one small female and three enormous males that all travel around these waters together.

At one point G leaned over and said, "How much of our lives have we spent waiting on animals?"

Um, a lot.

But this was so worth it! These whales don't migrate; they live in this area and simply swim around looking for food. So, once we found them we were able to just slow down and hang out with them. They surface and breathe "regularly"a few times in a row before diving deep for about 10 minutes or so before they resurface. When they come up for air, you are able to see more than their dorsal fin; you can see pretty much their whole middle section.

They only jump and splash around if they are being social (like, greeting another pod) or if they are celebrating a kill. Neither of which we saw today, but it was so nice to enjoy the Pacific Northwest coastline for a few hours and bond with our aquatic cousins.

Orcas, like our buds the elephants, are matriarchal. Although the females are smaller, they lead the pod and make all the big decisions, so to speak. Their gestation period - this is for all you moms out there - is seventeen months. !! The baby feeds only on mother's milk for the first year of its life, and for the second year it mainly drinks milk but supplements a bit with food. Babies stay in the pod with mom until they are in their teens, or longer: boys, too. Only adult males really go off on their own.

Unlike elephants, though, killer whales only hang out in groups of three or four. That's the ideal size of a group to hunt the type of prey that they do, which consists of seals, porpoises, and even other whales.

Not a bad way to celebrate our anniversary. I think the rest of the country (world?) was watching the royal wedding, but we didn't because those kids just copied our big day anyways. :) We celebrated our own big day, our own big way. And we had a whale of a time! :)

TGIF, people (international)

When you graduate with your Masters, you reach this:

The Last Post I Can Label Under "Grad School"

I took this picture of G reading on the floor the other day with Roo Roo:

He had to lift her ears in order to turn the page. They looked so cute together, and when I ran to get my phone I told him not to move because I was going to take a picture. He goes, "Why are you taking a picture? So that you can then not blog about this??"

Touche.

It's been a while, loves, because I've been defending my thesis and interviewing for teaching jobs while, you know, teaching my classes, and trying not to fail as a student or an instructor or just in, like, life.

Remember me?

The past few weeks have been a bit dicey. Oh, who am I kidding? The past few months have.

In a nutshell:

• I'm no longer a grad student.
• I am the proud recipient of a Master of Arts in Literature!
• I'm now qualified to teach college classes.
• I have a teaching job at a university over the summer.
• And I'm teaching 3 college courses in the fall!
• I'll keep up my writing consultant gig and my freelance gig as well. 

It's all coming together!

In short, all the hustling of late - and, really, over the last 4 years - has paid off.

And I wanted to write and fill you in on it before we take a quick lil vacay that I'd like to blog about.

G is alive and kicking and still very much a nerd. I could include a nerdy pic here but I want you to keep reading and so I won't.

Stay tuned for a celebratory vacay!

TGIF, people!

Well, hello there.

There have been lots of life changes around here during this past month.

One of them is that we're now United Premier Members. NBD. Just chillin' in the lounge before a quick weekend trip.

More info soon, peeps.

I'm back in business.

TGIF, people!

This gives a whole new meaning to the term 'catwalk'.
Thanks. I'll be here all week.