Last Five Days in Canada....YIKES!

Every time the summer ends
I get a sharp-anxious feeling in my stomach that screams~
BACK TO SCHOOL ALREADY?!?
(its very different from the excited first day
of school jitters as a student)

Back to Dhaka, back to work, back to HEAT!
And there is always that question ~
WHY ARE YOU LEAVING AGAIN??
(other than the contract you signed?)

And so...I read this and it kinda made sense.

*****

This is why once you’ve travelled for the first time all you want to do is leave again. They call it the travel bug, but really it’s the effort to return to a place where you are surrounded by people who speak the same language as you. Not English or Spanish or Mandarin or Portuguese, but that language where others know what it’s like to leave, change, grow, experience, learn, then go home again and feel more lost in your hometown then you did in the most foreign place you visited.

This is the hardest part about travelling, and it’s the very reason why we all run away again. 

http://thoughtcatalog.com/kellie-donnelly/2014/07/the-hardest-part-about-traveling-no-one-talks-about/

Not sure if that completely makes sense but
that is pretty much how I feel about
life, travelling and well, leaving
again for teaching abroad~!

*smile

Evie, my new favourite NIECE!

This is Evelyn...we loving call her Evie~!

How cute is this...?

Dad, are you gonna eat that cracker?

This is the little blue eyes, blond haired monster I fell in love with.

Evie ~ loving life with her daddy 

who just got home after a long 36 hour shift.....hah!

Face Your Fears - Check!

Some people think I'm fearless,

stubborn 

(I prefer strong-willed)

and well,

NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING~!

That is simply not true.

Shocked?

Well, don't worry you are not the only one.

But 

I am here to set the record straight

ONCE AND FOR ALL~!

What is a dynamite girl like me afraid of?

Spiders.

(not mice so that is a plus)

Scary movies.

(not Will Ferell so another plus)

Underwater sea creatures, sharks especially.

(But not afraid of crayfish, so again - YAY!)

Well this past weekend I did the impossible.

I SWAM and SHARED the SAME SPACE with some SHARKS!

Don't believe me?

Boom.

Stuck in the ocean 

(wearing clown pants)

with a bunch of hungry sharks.

No big deal.

*smiling

Cooking Class with Auntie Lolo

Patiently waiting for the muffins to cook....

....so we are going to make funny FACES instead.

.....hide and seek?

Errr - did I just hear the timer go off?

Ohhh cute little chocolate-Nutella muffins.

Okay - that looks a little sick.

This is when the game of cover the almond under

the muffins shells commenced...game of chance/guess kind of game.

I WON of course!

Ha!

Thanks Leia, my faavourite little neice!.

Why it's so HARD to teach kids...sigh*

Clearly these are the same colour socks - no?

I know, right? Well try and teach that to kids...

Leia lectured me for a good hour after that, 

going into detail about different colour pigmentation

and what colours mix with what to make 

ORANGE and BLUE

Ugh...kids think they know EVERYTHING these days!

And Baz? Well,he just said his peace and then left 

for CAMP!

Evie wanted to go too....

Love this family - crazy - but still love'em!

Bye Leia, Bye Baz and bye Jay-Lynn...the best nanny EVER!

So...yeah.

I WAS right all along - same coloured socks.

Working during Summer Break?

Kinda.

Awww, really.

This can't count, can it?

Spoiled rotten in Calgary by the weather and morning coffeeeee!

NOT spoiled by how CRAZY-SLOW this dang

computer is....

...ugh!

Important note:

 Three days later, battery died on computer and whole screen permanently froze...my 

Toshiba had had enough of me asking it to do 12 things at the same time!

I couldn't BREATH for two DAYS while they tried to fix it.

BUT

Then the lovely computer nerds fixed my computer by

Killing 62 viruses

Updating all programs

and back loading my ENTIRE computer....sigh*

Everyone lived

HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

One word?

Awesome.

Summer Style a la Lauren - Part Deux

I have been getting made fun of for a while about

what I wear during workouts.

Fact.

However,

I recently joined a tennis club in Calgary that is 

not really snobby....but kinda.

The tennis dress code has clearly been broken by yours truly 

and although no one has really said anything to me directly 

(Canadians are too nice sometimes)

I can FEEL

the stares,

the comments, 

and the shopping suggestions that people are thinking.

Yeah, it's my sixth sense.

OH Lauren!

HOW BAD CAN IT REALLY BE?

I thought you'd never ask

(grinning)

You be the judge(s).

We got the old granny tank top from the cottage.

A second hand tennis skirt that has no built in shorts so 

~ BLOODY HELL ~

if you forget to wear spandex shorts underneath the skirt rides up like CRAZY!

(Awesome Lauren, awesome!)

(And yes, I know - I know. I am a teacher and there are kids everywhere at the club)

The old tennis head-band isn't really your normal tennis head-band....

...in fact, it's more like something you would wear while hiking.

Okay, it's totally something not for tennis but for hiking.

An old "borrowed" item from a wonderful, sweet, lovely

 ex boyfriend

(a.k.a. Thanks Amesbury - you're the BEST!)

Tee - hee.

Okay ~ I know!

Not the best look (side bang-swipe-look) 

However,

I'm not sure if you guys are familiar with the fact that

BANGS SUCK WHEN PLAYING SPORTS!

They get all wet, don't stay straight, and well, begin to curl

and turn into the poodle-muff-fluff that I have to FIGHT every morning when I wake up!

Arrrrrrgh!

Yes,  EVERY BLOODY MORNING!

(again, who said that bangs were a good idea? Worst idea EVER Lauren!)

I wish, I could say that the photo below is simply a symptoms from

me being colour blind...but unfortunately, 

I am not.

Yeah - yeah.

Not the best duo but those socks are so comfy!

Yeah - yeah.

I can hear the sighs from here and well, 

STOP ROLLING YOUR EYES!!!

You know what I say to all your nay-sayers?

EAT MY SHORTS !!!

(if I was wearing some under my skirt - which by the way

gave me the worst case of....STOP!!!

Too much information Lauren!)

So...yeah.

I went shopping and bought two new tennis outfits

(found the shirts in the men's section - hahah!)

and

wanna know the best part?!?

I BOUGHT A NEW 

SNAZZY TENNIS BAG!!!

(clearly that will help me play better tennis and 

has everything to do with my terrible outfit choices)

Indeed.

Photos of super-DUPER bag coming soon, so stay tuned.

(Peeing your in pants with excitement and suspense, right?)

I knew it.

Tennis Club A La Calgary~!

Welcome to Calgary Tennis Club - Oh la-la!

I got my stuff - ready to make some magic happen!

Opps, I always go in when people are playing....

I am learning so MUCH here!

This is my court - keep OFF!

There are so many courts here....maybe 12? Haven't counted - too many!

Cute little club house with coffee, treats, flat scree, showers and 

PING PONG TABLE!

The courts on the other side are different...made from...errr, what is that stuff called again?

Like I said, this place is gRRReat!

My new best friend - the WALL!

Yes, I am that cool!

GO LAUREN GO!

(wait until I get back to Dhaka ~ no one will recognize my game!)

Boom.

Not yet? Well then, get ready to SMILE....

Best advice I've heard in a while....

Currently grinning from ear to ear!

So...yeah.

Closing the door on love? Impossible.

When do you close the door 
on people you have loved.... for good?

A recent TED talk explained how
in life, the feeling of "love" or "attachment" for someone else 

never really "erases" from your brain....
...you can never really FORGET someone.

(Ugh???) 

Correct- it's true. 

Especially if that love was a love that had
lots of passion, a deep/strong connection and 

was experienced over a long period of time. 

(Wait hold the phone, you can forget or let go of someone. Pffft, please! People do it all the time.

It's not impossible - you make love sound like an addiction Lauren....errr, is it?)

IN FACT
according to this TED talk ~ love IS like a drug!

One of the most ADDICTIVE kind.

(whoa)

Your brain reacts to love or the part of the brain that is stimulated from

drugs such as cocaine is also activated by love! 

(or getting hurt by love for that matter but that's for another day)

That means, even after ten, twenty years ~ no matter what you do, you will

always love that person
whom you once were soooo "addicted" to.

(Oh for gawd - I paid money to help me GET OVER people. Don't

tell me getting over people is impossible 

or a complete waste of time or a crap shoot 

because I don't want to hear it Lauren!!!!)

Yup.

Total crap shoot.

Doesn't matter how many people

you put between you and that special someone....

(Really? Dang it, I thought at least in the 90 would be good enough)

Doesn't matter how much distance you put

between you and that person......

(Oh stop, it definitely helps! FOR SURE! I know this - fact!)

It doesn't even matter if you get rid of everything and 

ANYTHING that reminds you of that person...they will still be there.

(Oh gawd - just stop. I don't want to hear anymore of this B.S.)

It's true!!!

You will hear a song, you will go to a place, you will smell a scent,

taste a food or heck, BUMP into them at some point.

(So what can you do?)

EMBRACE IT & ACCEPT! 

It can be your worst nightmare or the greatest gift.

It's your choice.

(Cheesey Lauren, bloody cheesey!)

But seriously just stop and think for a second.

Your brain is amazing because without you even knowing it,

it reserved a chair, a room, a folder in your memory drawer for that person.

You are right, your brain didn't EVEN ask you for permission.

(Jerk!)

It didn't have to. 

It knows better than YOU!!!

Even if you don't agree, that person is forever in that room along with 

all the memories and sounds, smells, tastes, etc.

Just waiting.

So you have two choices - you can either accept that 

"they" are there forever and if you have to, open the door every once in a while to say "Hey!"

OR

Try and push them out of sight out of ...mind?

Not sure which one I like better.

Hmmmm.

To conclude? What did we learn?

What do you (lauren) like best 

about the TED talk? 
That forgetting people whom I loved is impossible?

DUH

*****

That my brain wants me to remember
and believes that I am capable of remembering all the good

in those that I loved - 

no matter how much   the logic in my brain
disagree or the pain might prickle... 

******

Feeling the "hurt" is sometimes a good thing,
I think.

Everything is as it should be in the world (a.k.a. Germany WON!)

Nothing like finding an empty bar with

the best seats in the house

on 

WORLD CUP FOOTBALL FINAL DAY!

(gotta love Calgarians for their lack of interest - Hah)

Ohhhhh stop!

You really can't blame Canadians for not being interested in football - 

we didn't even have a team to cheer for, right?

Of course - I'm right.
Although that didn't stop me and my Dah.

GERMANY I have been with you ALL the way.

Been wearing this dang thing for a WHILE now....not the 

best accessory but MAN oh MAN!

Am I ever proud

to have not cut it off!

One o'clock in the afternoon - vodka and pomegranate?

Don't mind if I dooooo!

And of course, we won.....knew they could DO IT!

*sigh

Like I said.

All is right in the world for the next 24 hours ~!

Rather go HIKING than STAMPEDING ~ YES please!

I had a choice while I was in Calgary.

Stampede?

Or

Hiking up a mountain?

I CHOSE MOUNTAIN - naturally!

Best way to catch up with a friend 

(in case you were wondering)

That was the goal, straight ahead!

Beautiful, period.

I couldn't stop taking pictures....I know, I know.

Get over it Lauren.

Easy part still....of course I was breathing hard just walking ~ !

An old pro with her walking stick....more like an old granny!

Squint much? Naw.

Can nothing like wearing recovery pants while walking....forward thinking!

(I knew I wouldn't be able to walk the next day)

Still can't get over the view.

Clearly Kate my guide is loving the walking stick look - bahah!

She wanted to run the whole way...I said no.

She stopped once so that I could take her picture....

...and smell the flowers....

...or do a groin stretch?!?

Easy path...so happy!

Taking shots of flowers....

...loving life!

Until we started walking UP ~ !

(that was a fake smile...legs were BURNING!)

Wow - so close, so close to the top!

Made it!

Feeling on top of the world.

Wish I could do this every other day

(one day in between to recovery)

The view - killerrrrrrrrrr!

Ahhhh!

Ohhhhh!

Sorry - it's just so pretty!

This is when we found out we were NOT the only people on the top of the 

mountain.

Can you see what I see?

Chipieeeeeeeeeeeee!

He was fed like a KING! 

(Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts...it was Chipie's Chrismtas!)

One last view shot before we head out!

Great day, awesome friend, perfect cairn, and wicked shades!

(take that UV light!) 

Lauren and her "european" scarf look - pffft!

Most BAD-ASS girl I have ever charged up a mountain with.

Really.

Thank you KATE!!!

She liked taking pictures of me fall on the way down...hahahah!

Catch me if you can...so QUICK on the way down.

(that is an outright lie - I hate going downhill)

Back to level ground and already want to head BACK up!

Love the big picture look.

And then there were these guys....

...pretty sure you need to be up IN the mountains - goaties!

They finally took off.

Back were you belong buddies...and we got home safe and sound too!

Ugh!

I'm tired just looking at these - gotta go take nap.