Vancouver - the Sparkling Jewel of British Columbia

Vancouver, even amidst all its construction (prep work for next February's Olympics - most buildings/roads/etc. have signs that promise a completion date of January 2010), is really beautiful. Of course it was a bit more difficult to tell these past couple of days because (like Seattle) is drizzled or rained or at least was cloudy and damp. But late yesterday afternoon the sun poked out its head with a promise of blue skies and the rain completely disappeared exactly when we needed it to (in order to deliver Sarah's white couch to its new owner), so I'm not going to complain about the weather again (today anyway).

The Juno Awards (Canada's version of the Grammys) is taking place this weekend (apparently this entire weekend). The actual ceremony is going to be tonight (or possibly late this afternoon since we are on the west coast) but limos and party-goers have been arriving since last week. One might think that since we are on the 24th floor we would be pretty much immune to all the revelry, however, there is no AC in the building and unless you keep the windows open it gets pretty stuffy in here. The bars apparently close at 2:00 am but it would seem some guests are possibly asked to leave a bit earlier. Unfortunately they don't seem to have anywhere else to go or taxi service is very slow at that particular time of the day/night, so they hang around outside the bar (directly under our windows as near as I can tell) discussing various topics (plans for the future, possibly sharing information about their parentage - or more likely guessing about others). I can't imagine what it would be like to actually stand near one of these individuals, but here on the 24th floor, it's plenty loud.

Yesterday, we worked on packing up Sarah's kitchen - designating things to be sent to storage in Redmond (I think that means our place) and things that will eventually get sent or taken to Sweden (setting up a kitchen from scratch is expensive work). Mattias thought it was an unusual game. At first he thought mommy would pack, he should unpack. That wasn't working so much for us! Then he figured out that with all this stuff on the floor he had a whole bunch of new-found toys (to replace those that seem to be mysteriously disappearing into boxes no doubt).

This was once of his favorites: Mom's hand-held mixer.

What I particularly love about little boys is how they are born with the ability to imitate any mechanical object. They just KNOW how to make a car sound, what sound the bus makes and how a mixer should sound. This little guy surprised us by knowing exactly what the beaters were for and how to attach them to the mixer. He was a bit surprised when he accidentally, at first, found the button that released the beaters.

Then it was time to help Grandpa pack the mixer and beaters back in their little container and put it in the big box. Helping Grandpa is serious work.

After dinner it was time to deliver a couch, two bookcases and a plant to their new owners. Mattias was getting pretty tired (and a bit cranky) so I tried to keep him amused or at least out of the way while the others negotiated the furniture down to the truck. It was so cute - Mattias waved "bye bye" to the couch and the bookcase, but when Fredrik took the large plant that Mattias had played with his entire life, it proved just too much for the little guy and he sobbed. He's really getting confused by things disappearing but at least the promise of a ride in Grandpa's truck cheered him up last night. I'm not sure what will happen when the rest of his bedroom furniture goes "bye bye" today with Grandpa (although I'm pretty sure since he doesn't seem to spend too much time in his bed that he will most likely miss Grandpa's truck more!)

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