Holey Moley! I'm off . . .

to Kandahar on Thursday! I got the call a few days ago and have been running around trying to get ready ever since. So much to do, so little time.

Myself and a colleague are leaving from Victoria on Thursday and flying via Calgary, London and an undiclosed location to Afghanistan. We will meet three others in London. That is a relief, I was worried about travelling that far by myself. I was offered a 3 month temporary position as a travel coordinator. Not sure if there is a possibility of extension but that's OK. My coworkers at the restaurant gave me a huge supply of Tim Horton's gift certificates, so I will always be able to get a double double.

So Selena is off to mum's and will take care of the pets from there and my cousin will be painting our place while I'm away. I'm down to Victoria to get shots and an ID card on Monday, then back to checking my list multiple times . . .

Time in Kandahar
Weather in Kandahar

I'm sorting all my email addresses into a list so I can keep everyone up to date.

Weather and Christmas and Vistors, etc

Not a whole lot has happened around here since the Great Snow. The snow has melted, the rain and wind have returned in force, and our yard is still littered with fallen branches.

Niko was here for a whirlwind visit over the holidays. The two weeks came and went so quickly I'm not sure she really was here, except for the things left behind. //sigh// I was working most of her visit so didn't get to do all the stuff I'd hoped.

The restaurant was closed this past week so I've been running around like crazy to get caught up on housework and laundry, etc that didn't get done due to work and I won't have much time to do later. Sam (the other line cook) has taken a job in Victoria at the fantastic Rosemeade, so that leaves Chris to do dinner and me for lunch, with Fatima doing both as usual. Then in Feb Chris is off to his level 3 course, but we will have a replacement for him this time and if they work out, they can stay. I expect 6 day weeks for the forseeable future and I think we may be busy due to a 4 star review in the Times-Colonist (about time!) .

Christmas was nice and quiet with a minimum of running around. We were all thoroughly spoiled. I used my gift money from Mum to buy lots and lots of books and some new bedding (I bought the duvet cover, 2 shams, a throw pillow and coordinating khaki green sheets). I was also given many books! Yay! And lots of cook kitchen gadgets - the Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker, silicone bakeware, a really cool one-hand pepper mill, and some spatulas.

The book haul includes a bunch I got from a bookcloseouts sale (I love that site!).
Fiction - Hangman's Hymn (from PC Doherty's Canterbury Tales series), The Sempster's Tale and The Hunter's Tale by Margaret Frazer, Something Rotten and The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde (the latter two were intended for Niko but she already has them, so I kept them //evil laugh//), and the much anticipated (by me, anyway) Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.
Travelographies (I don't know if that's a word but I like it //wink//) - Baghdad Without A Map And Other Misadventures In Arabia by Tony Horwitz, and Mirrors of the Unseen - Travels in Iran by Jason Elliot.
Other non fiction - The Book of the Greyhound by Sue LeMieux, The Gypsies by Jean-Paul Clebert, Genghis Khan by RP Lister (based on The Secret History of the Mongols), Islamic Archictecture of the Indian Subcontinent by Bianca Maria Alfieri, Gold, Silver and Bronze of Mughal India by Mark Zebrowski, and a beautiful reprint of the Atlas Maior of 1665.
Then there are the cookbooks - The Bon Appetit Cookbook, Nigella Bites, Cook's Guide to Asian Ingredients, the French Laundry, Culinaria Germany, Williams-Sonoma Soups & Stews, and Steaks & Chops, as well as Dad's Time Life series cookbooks.

The above reminds me of another travelography I read recently that is worth recommending (and chosen purely by the title) - So Many Enemies, So Little Time - An American Woman in All the Wrong Places by Elinor Burkett. The author goes to Kyrgyzstan as a Fullbright professor and relates her experiences teaching journalism in a former Soviet state and travelling all over the Near East and Central Asia. Fascinating! Read the Amazon blurb.

I also had a blast at Future Shop with the gift card from Dad & Cat (Thank you!) and stocked up on DVD's. Other gifts include a really soft pair of lambskin gloves, a nice bottle of red wine, and lots of chocolate.

So that's pretty much that. Except that I found a great seat sale and will be taking the kids back east (yes, Halifax) for spring break. I hope it's not too cold then.