Pete's Place & Marla's Musings

Death & Resurrection

2009-11-29T09:30:00.000-08:00

We have decided to move on from this blogger service and publish our own website along with a blog and oodles of pictures.

See for yourself:

Site http://web.me.com/drtongue3d
Welcome

We won't being using this service any longer.

Peter & Marla

Journey to Iqaluit

2009-11-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry folks we haven't written much of late. We have been busy adapting, experiencing, settling in and coping, but more on that later :-)First, we thought we would attempt to give you a sense of our journey here in pictures. It was an amazing journey with (I can't believe I am saying this) Air Canada providing outstanding service to us. Kudos go to John and Brian at the special baggage counter in Vancouver and Sonja in Toronto. Also to the First Air people in Ottawa. All made the process of dealing with 17 pieces!! of baggage fairly pain free; we felt obscene at times for the amount of stuff but we kept telling ourselves we were going for 5 months not one.

Enjoy:

How do you pack up an apartment? With a lot of

work and stress.

It is important to balance

all of that with moments of

luxury and serenity after all is said and done.

Our treat to ourselves at the hotel at the Vancouver Airport

the night before we are to leave. Love the bathrobes.

But Marla do you see your pillow here?

(more on that later :-) )

At last!!! On

the first leg

of the journey, Toronto!

Bye for now Vancouver.

You will be in our

hearts and thoughts.

Air Canada does an onboard

Red Light District!!

17 pieces make the 1st leg unscathed!!!

2nd Leg of Journey!!

Stopover visiting Harper.

Thanks to Ron & Lore again

for the 2nd moment of

luxury & serenity that launched us on to this leg.

Egads!!

No turning back now.

Last leg!!

Not Oz but 1st glimpses

of Iqaluit!

So that's the terminal but where

is the requisite Starbucks!!

Our new Home (for Linda)!!

More to come.

Marla & Peter

2009-11-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

So before I dive into describing our journey to Iqaluit, I want to send out a bunch of kudos and good karma to those people who launched us on this journey.

Prior to us leaving Vancouver and on the last day at VGH, the crew on the Spine Unit at VGH sent us off in style at the Cascade Room on Main. Marla and I were overwhelmed and speechless with the outpouring of good will and good vibes from all of those that attended. We cannot begin to tell you how touched we were and how good a time we had. I hope everyone else had as good a time as we had.

Much beverages were consumed and special mention goes out to Lori for the Flaming Lamborghini; Marla and I obviously don’t get out much and definitely were babes when Lori twisted our arms on this one. Kudos to Eric and Mike, I think, for their additions to our altered states that night and the next day.

I apologize if we didn’t get around to schmoozing with everyone, we were beside ourselves. We only reserved a space for 10!! Your presence was appreciated beyond words.

I would also like to thank the OT’s on the Neuro Team (this includes Spine OTs) again for their ‘gift’ as I used it that evening to purchase a new mountaineering stove. I will take pictures hopefully when we camp out this winter.

And thanks again go out to Bal for the spiciness that she has sent with us. It will be much savoured.

A special mention goes out to my good friend, Gary, whom I have known for over 24 years. I speak of him hear only to highlight the fact that when one begins a journey to far flung places one inevitably leaves behind people and relationships that they cherish. It is part of the journey. Gary you will be with me in heart and spirit.

Lastly, thank you wholeheartedly to Marla’s parents, Ron and Lore, for their unbounded hospitality in Toronto and for allowing us to sleep for 12+ hours on our first day there. The respite helped us prepare for the final leg of our journey to Iqaluit.

Stay tuned. Keep an ‘ear’ out on Twitter by looking for me at Zenroq and for Marla at MarlaBird.

Peter

*********************************************

What else can I mention that Peter hasn’t already touched on??

It’s definitely been a whirlwind and it has become quite obvious that we couldn’t have made this journey without the support and encouragement of our friends and family.

A special note here to my very, very good friend Jeannette. We weren’t able to meet up before we left, but you will definitely be missed. You are a big part of the reason I ‘made it’ in BC. Who else could I talk to about physio and about life when I first made the big move from Winnipeg to Kelowan and then to Vancouver. Your spirit, energy, realism and openness are amazing. I look forward to skyping with you and to more adventures ahead for both of us!

Thank you to my dear Spine colleagues, not only for the gift, but for the support and enthusiasm you all showed while we prepared for our journey. Cath – the toques are great and we will post some pictures of us wearing them ‘out and about’ as soon as we can. Sandy – we’re going to hold you to the promise of spicy care packages!

Lastly to my family who, as Peter said, welcomed us for a quick visit and let us recharge mid-trek. It meant a lot to spend some time with you before heading up on this new adventure!

More about the actual adventure once we touch down….

Prep & purge continues

2009-10-13T09:13:00.001-07:00

Well we are still purging. We have been fortunate to sell some things on Craigslist.

It is always interesting to get rid of things you've been hanging on to for many years. I had this armoire/wardrobe since my teens. I remembering coming home from school one day and finding it in my room; my Dad had bought it for me as I had no closet in my room. It wasn't any fancy piece of furniture by any means. But after lugging it to several provinces and abodes, it has slot of memories attached.
A similiar story goes with my futon bed and frame which I finished myself. So it was with mixed feelings that we dropped off my armoire to a sweet Quebec girl and my bed was picked up by a mixed heritage couple who were going to use it for the wife's parents. (meeting these people makes me wonder about their stories and how my stuff will fit in with their lives.....)
Mixed feelings because at the same time it feels great to be purging. I feel that there is this invisible burden/load of stuff that is slowly disipitating. It will be great to have less stuff.

Things are becoming more real for Iqaluit as we now sleep on an inflatable bed among a scattering of remains of our former apartment.
4 weeks until we are there.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Starting To Earnest about Getting Ready

2009-09-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well we have about 10 days off & it's time purge & pack for Iqaluit! Hopefully we can squeeze in some fun days.
Can't wait to get rid of stuff.

We'll contact our manager to firm out contract and travel plans. We're getting a little anxious as we are supposed start work in Iqaliut on Nov. 2.

We have been enjoying reading all the Nunavut blogs. Great info!