As most of you know, I like to work. I don't like just sitting around and having nothing to do. I'm getting very bored these days because I haven't started working yet.
I had applied to a job at the bank I used to work at here in Abby, and I FINALLY heard back from them today! The only thing is, that it's such a rigmarole. Even though the bank wanted to just hire me right away, they still had to post the job on the website (have to allow anyone to apply to it). Then it goes to the employment sector of the bank for western Canada. Then My bank had to notify them that they wanted my application.
Finally today that lady calls and reviews the job with me, and now has to forward it on to my bank, and she says to expect a call from her, or from the manager at my bank in the next WEEK or WEEK AND A HALF! Argh, I just want to work people!!
Meanwhile, I don't actually know how many hours I will get, and I don't know if I should apply for another casual job or not. UGH!
Oh well, on another note, the doctor I was going to try and see here in Abbotsford is no longer taking patients, so my goal for today is to go to my family doctor (who I don't really like all that much) and get a referral to these other doctors that specialize in maternity. I didn't really want to do this at the beginning because I would prefer us to just have a good family doctor that also delivers so that we don't have to go back and forth between different offices...but I've decided now that for our circumstances I might as well :) Plus they are supposed to be really good doctors.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
How Rude!
I really like Slurpee's....they are just such a nice, soothing, tasty drink on a hot day!We went to chevron a couple weeks ago, and they had one flavor that was Pina Colada. I don't really like Pina Colada because I hate Pineapples, but I knew Conor would like it, and since we were sharing I put a little bit at the bottom.
But then when I had a taste of it, I was pleasantly surprised! All I could taste was the coconut, and it was soooo good...but I was kicking myself because I only put a little bit in. Then the next time we went all excited, we were going to get one with just Pina Colada....and to our great disappointment they had run out!! The lady said that the slushee man would be coming the next day with the next delivery...but she didn't know if it would have Pina Colada or not. So a few days later we crossed our fingers and went back...and no pina colada! Actually, there were only two of four flavours available, so maybe the delivery man didn't come yet.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Summer in Canada
We've been doing a whole lot of...well, nothing really! But it's been good...I haven't started working yet (any day now hopefully!!) so we've been spending alot of time just hanging out with friends and family
We had some REALLY nice weather the first week or so that we were back, so some old friends and I went to Cultas Lake - which is about a half hour or so from Abbotsford
Sylvia and I
Conor has being going to the driving range or golfing with friends a few times.
Conor's cousins have a beach volleyball court in their backyard, so alot of fun times spent doing that.
Rebeca w/ Alexandra, and Liz in front of the fire at Matt's Birthday
Sonya, Lola and Matt waiting to play "werewolf"
Nate had a roller hockey game last night, so we went to Denny's afterwards.It kind of has this old school diner feeling to it, and serves breakfast all day long. The first time I went I was just waiting for a server named "Kat" to come and top up our coffee in ripped stocking...and SHE DID! Haha, she actually still works there and we got to see her last night!
Conors siblings, Cam and Emma
Typical Conor face for the cameraMy dad is also down from Edmonton for the week, so it's been really good getting to see him. As well as Conor's sister Sonya, who is moving to Ottawa to start her Masters next week.
It's been frustrating not having a routine, but once I start working and fall comes hopefully we'll start getting into some sort of routine.
**I don't put up all the pictures on here, because it would take too long, but if you wanna see the rest of any pictures click on the links on the left side of the screen...the ones under my "feet" hehe**
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Cheers Mate!
So Conor has taught my 6 year old nephew how to say "Cheers, Mate". The other day we were having a BBQ with the family and when my sister-in-law gave her son his drink he replied "cheers, mate".
Just a couple of minutes ago I heard him outside with a neighbor friend teaching him how to say it! haha
Just a couple of minutes ago I heard him outside with a neighbor friend teaching him how to say it! haha
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Picture Time
So I haven't been very diligent in putting up pictures, so here are some for your viewing pleasure...for the rest of the pictures that I've put on the web, click the links below
Last Days in Melbourne
World Youth Day
Baby Sweeney
Last Days in Melbourne
World Youth Day
Baby Sweeney
Okay, here are some pics from the academic dinner...to see ones of World Youth Day either go to that link above, or go down to my posts about WYD and I have added pictures there.
A cool alley in Melbourne
Some friends at the Pub
Faculty of JPII Institute and their spouses (a little mixed up though)
Conor, Me and Father Brendan
Me and Bronwyn
The family that we stayed with for our last 3 nights in AustraliaThey were alot of fun!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
MSP - the bane of my existance!
MSP (Medical Services Plan) is the health plan for Canada, with BCers being a little bit special and therefore having to pay premiums. Canada's private health only extends to dental, optical, chiropractic etc. So for my medical coverage, MSP is my only option. They have no offices that you can go to to speak to someone, only a phone number to call for any and all questions and enquiries.
We had alot of problems with them since 2006 when we moved to Australia. We informed that that we were leaving and that we would no longer require coverage. The thing is, when you cancel coverage, when you get back to have to apply for coverage and go through a waiting period of 2-3 months.
Well Conor's parents started getting letters about Conor owing money for premiums, so Conor's dad tried to call them, but they wouldn't talk to him until Conor signed a power of attorney. So we did that and then I think they still billed him a few more times, so Conor's dad kept speaking to them and finally agreed that they would keep Conor's account open while we were away, so when he got back he wouldn't have a waiting period, and that since he made less than $20,000 for 2005, he was eligible for 100% premium assistance, so he wouldn't have to pay anything. All good there...I called when we got back to Canada and they verified that his account is active and there is nothing owing.
I, on the other hand, received no bills while we were away, so assumed that my account had been closed, as I had requested. But then in January of this year, the government of Canada sent me a letter in Australia saying that I owed money to MSP which had gone to the government for collection, and that they may withhold tax refunds if I didn't pay or have it sorted out. So I called MSP from Australia, told the lady that I had cancelled coverage and that I was out of the country...so took down my Australian address and told me that she would cancel the debt and close my account.
When I called yesterday I got through right away, the lady confirmed that Conor's account was active, and when I asked her about mine she said she had to transfer me to enrollment specialists. I was on hold for 1 hour, and then put through to voicemail! How annoying. At this point I still thought that my account was closed and that I would have to re-apply, but I wanted to see if I could get around the waiting period somehow...plus I had to change my last name with them and get Conor and I put on a family account, because we hadn't had time to do that before we left the country.
Anyways, I tried again later, got through to someone, told them what happened and asked why I got transferred in the first place. She said my account was still open and that I owed alot of money - ARGH!! Anyways, she said that I had to get transferred because they would have to decide if I could just have the account closed, debt cancelled and then re-apply and wait 3 months for coverage....or if they could just cancel the debt and still keep the account open. But it was afternoon by this point and she said I would just get put on hold again so it was best to call at 8am.
SSOOO, this morning I woke up at 8am, called, asked to be transferred to enrollment specialists, and waited. I had told my sister-in-law upstairs that we would watch the kids at 10am for an hour while she had an interior decorator over...and unfortunately I was still on the phone, so Conor took them to the park on his own. Finally at 11am, yes THREE HOURS LATER, someone came on the line. How annoying...oh and even more annoying, I had left a message with them yesterday, but didn't expect to get a call back. Well they called and left a message for me while I was on hold with them! haha, I could have just woke up at 9 and answered when they called and not had to hold for 3 hours.
Well the end decision was to keep my account open. They erased the debt from January of this year, when I had contacted them and thought everything was taken care of. Then I had two options: 1. Close the account, cancel debt and re-apply and not have coverage until Oct 1, or 2. Keep the account open, and if I made under $20,000 for 2005 and 2006 (and could send in my notice of assessment from the tax department) then they would cancel that previous debt and we would just get billed premiums from Aug of this year.
I know for 2006 I made under $20,000 and I have the notice of assessment, but I don't know about 2005...I'm hoping I can find my assessment and that it's under...so I went with option 2.
I'm glad that's sorted, for the moment. At least now I have made the decision and they know, and once I send in my stuff I may still have to contact them, but I won't have to be transferred to any specialists :)
We had alot of problems with them since 2006 when we moved to Australia. We informed that that we were leaving and that we would no longer require coverage. The thing is, when you cancel coverage, when you get back to have to apply for coverage and go through a waiting period of 2-3 months.
Well Conor's parents started getting letters about Conor owing money for premiums, so Conor's dad tried to call them, but they wouldn't talk to him until Conor signed a power of attorney. So we did that and then I think they still billed him a few more times, so Conor's dad kept speaking to them and finally agreed that they would keep Conor's account open while we were away, so when he got back he wouldn't have a waiting period, and that since he made less than $20,000 for 2005, he was eligible for 100% premium assistance, so he wouldn't have to pay anything. All good there...I called when we got back to Canada and they verified that his account is active and there is nothing owing.
I, on the other hand, received no bills while we were away, so assumed that my account had been closed, as I had requested. But then in January of this year, the government of Canada sent me a letter in Australia saying that I owed money to MSP which had gone to the government for collection, and that they may withhold tax refunds if I didn't pay or have it sorted out. So I called MSP from Australia, told the lady that I had cancelled coverage and that I was out of the country...so took down my Australian address and told me that she would cancel the debt and close my account.
When I called yesterday I got through right away, the lady confirmed that Conor's account was active, and when I asked her about mine she said she had to transfer me to enrollment specialists. I was on hold for 1 hour, and then put through to voicemail! How annoying. At this point I still thought that my account was closed and that I would have to re-apply, but I wanted to see if I could get around the waiting period somehow...plus I had to change my last name with them and get Conor and I put on a family account, because we hadn't had time to do that before we left the country.
Anyways, I tried again later, got through to someone, told them what happened and asked why I got transferred in the first place. She said my account was still open and that I owed alot of money - ARGH!! Anyways, she said that I had to get transferred because they would have to decide if I could just have the account closed, debt cancelled and then re-apply and wait 3 months for coverage....or if they could just cancel the debt and still keep the account open. But it was afternoon by this point and she said I would just get put on hold again so it was best to call at 8am.
SSOOO, this morning I woke up at 8am, called, asked to be transferred to enrollment specialists, and waited. I had told my sister-in-law upstairs that we would watch the kids at 10am for an hour while she had an interior decorator over...and unfortunately I was still on the phone, so Conor took them to the park on his own. Finally at 11am, yes THREE HOURS LATER, someone came on the line. How annoying...oh and even more annoying, I had left a message with them yesterday, but didn't expect to get a call back. Well they called and left a message for me while I was on hold with them! haha, I could have just woke up at 9 and answered when they called and not had to hold for 3 hours.
Well the end decision was to keep my account open. They erased the debt from January of this year, when I had contacted them and thought everything was taken care of. Then I had two options: 1. Close the account, cancel debt and re-apply and not have coverage until Oct 1, or 2. Keep the account open, and if I made under $20,000 for 2005 and 2006 (and could send in my notice of assessment from the tax department) then they would cancel that previous debt and we would just get billed premiums from Aug of this year.
I know for 2006 I made under $20,000 and I have the notice of assessment, but I don't know about 2005...I'm hoping I can find my assessment and that it's under...so I went with option 2.
I'm glad that's sorted, for the moment. At least now I have made the decision and they know, and once I send in my stuff I may still have to contact them, but I won't have to be transferred to any specialists :)
Monday, August 11, 2008
WYD Rest of the week
I knew I would get caught up with stuff and forget to post the rest of WYD stuff. So I apologize, I'm sure you will understand :)
My Girls :)Anyways, this will be sort of brief, because I can't even remember everything! I'm typing this up with one hand while on hold with MSP (Canada's Medical Services Plan), I've confirmed that Conor doesn't have to wait 3 months for medical to kick in...but I'm crossing my fingers about myself, cuz I think I accidentally cancelled my account when we left the country as opposed to suspending it :(
Walking the BridgeOkay, WYD - the rest of the week:
Tuesday July 15th
Cathedral Tour - We got a special tour of the Cathedral. We had a tour guide and everything...but unfortunately I couldn't hear a word he was saying, not to mention I had to go to the bathroom really bad, so I didn't really pay that much attention!
Opening Mass - I really enjoyed this mass. The pope wasn't there yet but Cardinal Pell said mass and I really enjoyed his homily.
Our Group @ RandwickWednesday July 16th
Catechesis/Mass - Ummm, I won't go into much detail, but we didn't really think much of our catechesis site. So we didn't go back the next two days.
JPII/Life and Love/Lola and Cam - At the University of Notre Dame there was a "Life and Love" tent...at this venue there was a booth for the JPII Institute, some Respect Life agencies, the Sisters of Life from NYC as well as bbqs, concerts and special speakers. We had known previously to getting to WYD that Conor would be helping at the JPII booth this day, so we had let Conors brother Cam know, and hoped to meet up with him there. It all worked out splendidly...Conor wasn't needed right away, so we got to go out for coffee with Cam and Lola (Conors cousins girlfriend) and catch up.
Christopher West - This was probably the highlight of the week for me...next to seeing the Pope of course! Christopher West played a big part in my conversion to Catholicism, so I was excited to see one of his talks in person. And I think most of the kids in our group really enjoyed it as well.
Christopher WestThursday July 17th
Slept in - hehe, I got to sleep in, it was great. Conor and I met up with the group at our designated spot for the Popes arrival.
Umm...random guy that Conor lovesPapal Arrival - This was more exciting for me than I thought it was going to be. We weren't super close to the front, but we had a pretty decent spot. Everyone was just going crazy, haha!!
Father Flemming talk - after the Papal Arrival, we headed over to the University of Notre Dame and had a Q&A session with Father Flemming, who is the director (I think director, something like that) of Campion College, a Catholic Liberal Arts College in Sydney. It was an interesting session, there were some really good questions, but I'm just not sure if it was the most productive. I think some people left having felt that their questions weren't really answered. Oh well.
Friday July 18th
Mass @ Convention center - Because we had decided not to go to our usual catechesis site again, we went to the big Convention center and sat in on their catechesis, went to Confession and stayed for mass.
Stations of the cross - Well what can I say about this?? Some of our group went to our designated viewing area for the stations of the cross early, to see the whole thing...while the rest of the group left later. So in the end I pretty much did see any of the stations of the cross. I heard it was amazing though - a very realist re-enactment of Jesus' death and resurrection. There were different places in the city that the Stations would go through, but where ever you were there was a big screen, so even if it wasn't at your location, you would watch it on the screen.
Saterday July 19th
Early in the morning, everyone in our group met at the train station and went into the city to begin their pilgrimage. I'll have to put some map links up later so you can see where they walked..but for the most part they went to the north end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and walked across is, and then south, south-east to Randwick Racecourse, where there would be an evening vigil with the Pope and the final mass on Sunday morning.
I was definitely not up for the pilgrimage, so me and another girl in our group met up at the train station later, went into the city, ate some lunch, bought some birthday stuff (one of our girls was having her 16th birthday that night, so we thought we'd do a little something for her) and then took a bus to where we were staying that night.
While I was eating lunch I kept feeling these "muscle spasms" in my lower stomach and it was really weird. But then when they stopped I was thinking about it and realized that they didn't really feel like your typical muscle spasms, and I remembered a friend joking about how I would probably feel the baby kick sometime during the World Youth Day week and I then decided that yes, it probably was the baby kicking!! I wanted it to kick again so I could feel it again, but no such luck.
Anyways, I didn't mention that the group were walking to randwick, would have the vigil that evening and then would all sleep outside that night. Along with not doing the pilgrimage, I wasn't going to do the sleepout. So I had arranged previously with another JPII student to stay in his room, which was in Randwick, while he did the overnight sleep out. So after lunch we went to where were would be staying, dropped off our stuff, and then headed to the racecourse to meet everyone else.
I honestly don't remember the vigil at all! It's kind of embarrassing, because when I got back to work in Melbourne afterwards and would see people who had also been there and they would ask me what I thought of the week, almost all of them would say "What about that vigil? Wasn't that just the most amazing night??" Anyways, I just don't remember it! After the vigil was over me and the other girl left to sleep in our hostel and have a nice hot shower :)
Sunday July 20th
Mass with Pope - We got up the next morning, packed our stuff up and headed back to the racecourse for the final mass. The whole week is called World Youth Day...but the Sunday is the actual DAY. It was a great mass. When we heard the pope talk at the Papal Arrival, I actually thought he was kind of dull and boring...but he was a totally different person at the final mass. He was very interesting and sounded very, I don't know, enthusiastic. I found out later that he had a bit of a cold or something on the day of the arrival, and that's probably why he didn't sound as enthusiastic. Anyways, my favorite part of the day was after mass, when the Pope announced that Madrid would be the venue for the next WYD he looked sooo excited!! And the crowd was cheering like crazy...he started to go on with his talk, but they were all cheering so loudly and he stopped and chuckled a bit...so CUTE! haha
Anyways, I don't really think that I personally got alot spiritually out of WYD...but I realize that it isn't geared towards 25 year old, but teenagers...all in all though, I'm very glad I went...I would have regretted not going.
SO - my highlights were
- Seeing Christopher West talk
- Seeing the Pope
- Going to confession and adoration (although I didn't make it to adoration as often as I would have liked)
- And finally, just being in that atmosphere. Everyone was just so happy and friendly...there were police everywhere but it was probably the easiest week of their lives because yes there were alot of crowds, but everyone was happy and getting along and meeting people. It was just very encouraging seeing all these young people standing together in their faith.
Okay, end of long post!!
Friday, August 08, 2008
Maternity Clothes
So for the past few months I've bought next to no clothes, because I knew I would start putting on weight soon, and all the "maternity" clothes in Melbourne were winter clothes, but it's summer in Canada.
We went to this big shopping center in Burnaby the other day, and I bought a couple of tops, a pair of black pants, and a brown skirt. They have nice clothes but it was mostly work clothes. I still needed to get some casual clothes, so I went to the same store today, but the one in Abbotsford. It's way bigger, and has work and casual clothes. I bought alot of nice stuff...but I spent way too much, so now I have to decide what to take back. It's frustrating because if I want summer maternity clothes I have to get them now, because they're starting to bring in winter stock....but I don't know how long summer with last! So I don't know how much summer stuff to buy. Ugh...anyways, it was a good shopping day :)
We went to this big shopping center in Burnaby the other day, and I bought a couple of tops, a pair of black pants, and a brown skirt. They have nice clothes but it was mostly work clothes. I still needed to get some casual clothes, so I went to the same store today, but the one in Abbotsford. It's way bigger, and has work and casual clothes. I bought alot of nice stuff...but I spent way too much, so now I have to decide what to take back. It's frustrating because if I want summer maternity clothes I have to get them now, because they're starting to bring in winter stock....but I don't know how long summer with last! So I don't know how much summer stuff to buy. Ugh...anyways, it was a good shopping day :)
Friday, August 01, 2008
Arrival in Canada!
Well we have arrived!
We left Melbourne at 12noon on Thursday July 31st, and arrived at Vancouver airport at 5pm the same day :) Wouldn't it be great it that was just a 5 hour flight?!?! But no, it was 22 hours long altogether!
I don't know how, but somehow us and our luggage made it safely back to Vancouver all at the same time! I think we have little luggage guardian angels! Every time we fly, we have overweight luggage and somehow manage to get away with it. When we first moved to Australia, because one of our flights was domestic, we were flying with an extra suitcase (as well as all three suitcases being overweight), and instead of charging us per extra pound, they just charged us $20 or something if I remember correctly. This flight we were allowed 2 check-in pieces each and they were all over! (thanks to all the last minute gifts and souvenirs!). The first one we put on the scale at the airport was actually over to maximum weight...I thought I was going to have a heart attack, I had no idea it was that much over...so we had to take a couple things out, and even then it was 10 kilos over. Then we put the other ones and they were also all over. At this point I was just calculating in my head how much extra we were going to have to pay ($10/kilo x 10kg for the first suitcase = $100!...and that's only the one suitcase)
Anyways, she handed us our passports and boarding tickets and wished us a safe flight...NO CHARGE!! Oh man was I excited. The only thing I was worried about was that after our stop in LA we were going to have to collect our baggage and re-check it in.
Our first flight, Melb to Auckland went well...nothing exciting. Then we went Auckland to LA...the LONG 12 hour flight. I got more sleep than Conor, and I got less than 2 hours...probably closer to 1 hours sleep. On those big flights there are 3 sets of 3 seats, if that makes sense. 3 seats on one side with a window, 3 seats on the other side with a window, and 3 seats in the middle. For some reason I have always avoided the 3 seats in the middle. But it's actually a good system, because Conor and I always ask for the aisle and then the middle seat, so if you're on the side then you have to move every time the person at the window wants to get up...but this way Conor was on the aisle and the 3rd person was on the other aisle. I think the main reason that sleep was not gotten was that my doctor highly recommended that I get up and walk around at least every 2 hours. This is recommended for everyone actually, to avoid deep-vein thrombosis. But since I'm pregnant I'm at a higher risk..so up and walk I did. I didn't have an alarm clock, and I had asked the stewardess to walk me every 2 hours to make sure I was walking around. The first time I asked her to, I ended up not falling asleep but no one came to wake me anyways, so I wasn't really going to trust them again...so when I did sleep it wasn't very deep cuz I knew I'd have to wake myself up.
Oh well, we survived...it seemed to take FOREVER for circle around and land....and I was getting worried because we only had a hour and 45 minutes to clear customs, collect our baggage, and re-check-in. But when we got our luggage Conor realized that our tags actually had Vancouver airport on them, we just had to bring them to the transfer desk and we already had our seating boarding pass, so we should have been fine...SHOULD HAVE. But unfortunately one of our bags (the heaviest one) had lost it's sticker along the way, so we DID have to re-check it. We went to the desk and told the lady and she started casually punching in info...at this point it was about 10 minutes to 2 and our flight was scheduled for 2:15!!!
I asked her if it was going to make the flight and then she looked at the tickets and freaked out cuz it was so late! haha...we didn't know what label was on it, so she had to re-check it altogether and then she told us it was 10 pounds over their maximum! What a dumb system...oh wait, I guess I should clarify. We flew Air New Zealand from Melbourne to LA and then changed to Air Canada...which is why we had to collect our bags in LA. Anyways, she wasn't very happy, but she realized that if she didn't just let it go we weren't going to make our flight...so she told us she was going to get in trouble but she would let it go...THANK YOU LUGGAGE ANGEL AGAIN!!! Then she had to run it to x-ray and then run us through security. And then we RAN to our gate and finally got on!
I seriously can't believe we made it on that flight! haha. Someone was definitely looking out for us. And it was kinda funny, because we were there very early for our first flight and while we were waiting, on of the other flights kept making announcements for final boarding and then finally say "will mr.____ please board flight ___. The flight is ready for take-off and everyone is waiting for you" This went on for awhile and Conor and I were commenting on how annoying some people are for keeping up flights like that. When we first got in line to check that one bag in they were making our final call...and three times while we were running through security and to our gate it got to the point where they were calling us by name! How embarrassing! haha
Anyways, we made it on. The lady I was sitting next to said that she was also on the Air New Zealand flight and had just made it on the plane...so she wasn't mad at us! haha. Now we just had to pray that all of our luggage would actually make it to Vancouver, and thank goodness it all did! I wanted to cry when I saw Conor take the last one of the belt, I was so happy. What a day.
We were joyfully greeted by our family at the airport. I was only expecting my mom, Conor's dad and maybe Conor's mom. But my brother Dan was there as well (with a big welcome home balloon!!), along with 2 of Conor's sisters, 2 of his brothers and a soon-to-be brother-in-law. It was great to see everyone! We headed to Conor's house were dinner was waiting for us, hung out a bit and then came to mom's house, which is where we will be staying for the time being.
I thought I would just fall right asleep and never wake up again....but its almost 5am...and I've been up for an hour and a half....so much for getting my sleep regulated on the first night! haha. I'm gonna try to go back to sleep again now.
Thank you everyone for keeping us in your prayers...it definitely worked and we are happy to be back in Canada :)
We left Melbourne at 12noon on Thursday July 31st, and arrived at Vancouver airport at 5pm the same day :) Wouldn't it be great it that was just a 5 hour flight?!?! But no, it was 22 hours long altogether!
I don't know how, but somehow us and our luggage made it safely back to Vancouver all at the same time! I think we have little luggage guardian angels! Every time we fly, we have overweight luggage and somehow manage to get away with it. When we first moved to Australia, because one of our flights was domestic, we were flying with an extra suitcase (as well as all three suitcases being overweight), and instead of charging us per extra pound, they just charged us $20 or something if I remember correctly. This flight we were allowed 2 check-in pieces each and they were all over! (thanks to all the last minute gifts and souvenirs!). The first one we put on the scale at the airport was actually over to maximum weight...I thought I was going to have a heart attack, I had no idea it was that much over...so we had to take a couple things out, and even then it was 10 kilos over. Then we put the other ones and they were also all over. At this point I was just calculating in my head how much extra we were going to have to pay ($10/kilo x 10kg for the first suitcase = $100!...and that's only the one suitcase)
Anyways, she handed us our passports and boarding tickets and wished us a safe flight...NO CHARGE!! Oh man was I excited. The only thing I was worried about was that after our stop in LA we were going to have to collect our baggage and re-check it in.
Our first flight, Melb to Auckland went well...nothing exciting. Then we went Auckland to LA...the LONG 12 hour flight. I got more sleep than Conor, and I got less than 2 hours...probably closer to 1 hours sleep. On those big flights there are 3 sets of 3 seats, if that makes sense. 3 seats on one side with a window, 3 seats on the other side with a window, and 3 seats in the middle. For some reason I have always avoided the 3 seats in the middle. But it's actually a good system, because Conor and I always ask for the aisle and then the middle seat, so if you're on the side then you have to move every time the person at the window wants to get up...but this way Conor was on the aisle and the 3rd person was on the other aisle. I think the main reason that sleep was not gotten was that my doctor highly recommended that I get up and walk around at least every 2 hours. This is recommended for everyone actually, to avoid deep-vein thrombosis. But since I'm pregnant I'm at a higher risk..so up and walk I did. I didn't have an alarm clock, and I had asked the stewardess to walk me every 2 hours to make sure I was walking around. The first time I asked her to, I ended up not falling asleep but no one came to wake me anyways, so I wasn't really going to trust them again...so when I did sleep it wasn't very deep cuz I knew I'd have to wake myself up.
Oh well, we survived...it seemed to take FOREVER for circle around and land....and I was getting worried because we only had a hour and 45 minutes to clear customs, collect our baggage, and re-check-in. But when we got our luggage Conor realized that our tags actually had Vancouver airport on them, we just had to bring them to the transfer desk and we already had our seating boarding pass, so we should have been fine...SHOULD HAVE. But unfortunately one of our bags (the heaviest one) had lost it's sticker along the way, so we DID have to re-check it. We went to the desk and told the lady and she started casually punching in info...at this point it was about 10 minutes to 2 and our flight was scheduled for 2:15!!!
I asked her if it was going to make the flight and then she looked at the tickets and freaked out cuz it was so late! haha...we didn't know what label was on it, so she had to re-check it altogether and then she told us it was 10 pounds over their maximum! What a dumb system...oh wait, I guess I should clarify. We flew Air New Zealand from Melbourne to LA and then changed to Air Canada...which is why we had to collect our bags in LA. Anyways, she wasn't very happy, but she realized that if she didn't just let it go we weren't going to make our flight...so she told us she was going to get in trouble but she would let it go...THANK YOU LUGGAGE ANGEL AGAIN!!! Then she had to run it to x-ray and then run us through security. And then we RAN to our gate and finally got on!
I seriously can't believe we made it on that flight! haha. Someone was definitely looking out for us. And it was kinda funny, because we were there very early for our first flight and while we were waiting, on of the other flights kept making announcements for final boarding and then finally say "will mr.____ please board flight ___. The flight is ready for take-off and everyone is waiting for you" This went on for awhile and Conor and I were commenting on how annoying some people are for keeping up flights like that. When we first got in line to check that one bag in they were making our final call...and three times while we were running through security and to our gate it got to the point where they were calling us by name! How embarrassing! haha
Anyways, we made it on. The lady I was sitting next to said that she was also on the Air New Zealand flight and had just made it on the plane...so she wasn't mad at us! haha. Now we just had to pray that all of our luggage would actually make it to Vancouver, and thank goodness it all did! I wanted to cry when I saw Conor take the last one of the belt, I was so happy. What a day.
We were joyfully greeted by our family at the airport. I was only expecting my mom, Conor's dad and maybe Conor's mom. But my brother Dan was there as well (with a big welcome home balloon!!), along with 2 of Conor's sisters, 2 of his brothers and a soon-to-be brother-in-law. It was great to see everyone! We headed to Conor's house were dinner was waiting for us, hung out a bit and then came to mom's house, which is where we will be staying for the time being.
I thought I would just fall right asleep and never wake up again....but its almost 5am...and I've been up for an hour and a half....so much for getting my sleep regulated on the first night! haha. I'm gonna try to go back to sleep again now.
Thank you everyone for keeping us in your prayers...it definitely worked and we are happy to be back in Canada :)
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