Sunshine & Wine Make Jenn a Happy Girl

This past weekend was fantastic! For the first time, I felt that spring was (probably) upon us. It's impossible to make this assertion with any real sense of finality, as locals tell me they have seen snow in every month of the year, including July, but here's to hoping.

Ben and I discovered a huge off-leash park where we took Bosco on Saturday. With lots of hills and trails and a river-path, there is something for everybody; after Bosco had his fill of playing with other dogs, we hiked around for a while before stopping in at Greg and Angie's house. They have an adorable place with a little fenced back yard that fills with sun, and were kind enough to let Bosco run around outside while the rest of us sat on the deck sipping beer (no heat lamps required!). It's times like this that I really miss having a house. Beer simply tastes better when you're sprawled in the sun with your feet in the grass than it does on a small covered balcony eight floors up.

We were all so drugged by the power of a (much anticipated) warm, sunny day that we were hard-pressed to get moving again. But move we did, eventually! Greg, Angie, Almu, Ben and I drove up to Banff to meet Alicia and another Aussie friend, Stef, for the city's annual wine festival. We spent the evening sampling wines (most were average) and foods (top-notch!) from local restaurants, then headed to a bar that was not unlike a honkey tonk in Nashville's Lower Broad. Except that when singing "Sweet Home Alabama," the band changed the lyrics to "Sweet Home Alberta," which irked me to no end.

We had a big breakfast Sunday morning at Melissa's, Banff's answer to Loveless Cafe, and Greg and Angie, who have lived in Calgary for a while, drove us to some spectacular vistas on the way out of town. The mountains look so different when the snow begins to melt! You can see in more detail the craggy edges and many colors of the stone. We are moving into the rainy season - which I don't think means much here - but regardless, with a bit of hydration, I expect that we'll finally see trees filling in and flowers blooming. It will be our first time to see the city actually looking green and alive, I can't wait!!

In other news, we had to bid farewell yesterday to Michael, a Dutch transfer who had been here for three years with his young family. He's been heading up the international club and will definitely be missed in Calgary! I get the feeling that if not for the thousands of miles between Calgary and family back home, many transfers would stay here. I'm still fairly sure I could not cope with the winter for more than a few years, though!

As for today, I'm decorating and getting food ready for the Cinco de Mayo party Ben and I are throwing tonight. Good Mexican food is a rare commodity in Calgary, so we're hoping to create some of our own. Ben worked hard last night re-creating a traditional Tortilla Soup, which we ate almost daily during our vacation in Cabo. I think he did an excellent job! I also tracked down a Mexican market to purchase freshly-made snacks, so at least some aspects of our meal with be authentic, even if my black bean and tortilla casserole is more Tex than Mex :)