Well, here it is folks. Our travel schedule for August. And because of the effort went in to making it this complicated, believe me when I say it will not be changed to accommodate the Pope himself (although if Halle Berry wants to rehearse scenes for Monster's Ball 2...):

Syd:

• July 18: Nassau to Calgary
• August 11: Calgary to Virden
• August 19: Virden to Winnipeg
• August 20: Winnipeg to Calgary
• August 21: Calgary to Nassau
• August 22: Nassau to Fort Lauderdale
• August 29: Return to Nassau

Liza:

• August 3: Nassau to Calgary
• August 15: Calgary to Nassau
• August 22: Nassau to Fort Lauderdale
• August 29: Return to Nassau

Kyle:

• August 1: Nassau to Maryland
• August 7: Maryland to Calgary
• August 11: Calgary to Virden
• August 19: Virden to Winnipeg
• August 20: Winnipeg to Calgary
• August 21: Calgary to Nassau
• August 22: Nassau to Maryland
• September 1: Return to Nassau

Dropped Ann off at the airport yesterday for a week's vacaction in Alabama and just came from the airport to drop Syd and Dolly off for Syd's three-week sojourn in Calgary. Now Liza and I are wandering around in a daze wondering what to do for the next week. We've stockpiled microwave popcorn and Kraft Dinner so the menu's taken care of. I've also been watching War of the Roses for inspiration.

Syd was pretty excited about her trip until we hit the airport. When I picked her up to carry her in from the parking lot, she threw her arms around my neck and buried her head in my shoulder and didn't say anything for the entire rest of the time I saw her. The only communication I could get out of her was a nod or a shake of the head. (”Do you still want to go to Calgary?” “Or do you want to stay here?” “Or do you want Daddy to come with you?” ). So after a long good-bye and a brief definition of the word “bittersweet”, we sent her on her way.

Oh yeah, toga party at our place this Friday night.

Big news today is that I am gainfully employed again. The fine folks at Data Systems International have seen a glimmer of hope in my resume and hired me on full-time...sort of. To meet mutual interests, I'll be working only about nine months a year with them leaving me to find my own trouble for the remaining time. In the meantime, I'm once again riding the high of starting a new project and ready to confuse and befuddle another would-be employer into submission. Am still doing some contract work for Marriott and they see no reason to let a mere trifle like another job get in their way so I expect to by busy like my homeland's national animal for the foreseeable future.

Have also made somewhat firm vacation plans. Liza's sister is here until the 18^th at which point, she will return to Calgary with Syd. Syd will stay there for three weeks and Liza and/or I will fly up there around August 7^th and start a two week whirlwind tour of Calgary, Virden, Brandon, Winnipeg, and select areas of Lake of the Woods. We're now taking applications for groupies.

Dolly, Liza's sister, arrived Sunday night and Syd has had a permanent grin on her face ever since. The two of them, Liza, Ann, Syd's friend Cajiah and Cajiah's mom spent the day together yesterday (it was Bahamian Independence Day) so I kept to myself lest all the estrogen get the better of me.

Update on the property. It's a long story and not all that interesting but here's the summary. Turns out the current “owner” doesn't actually own the property thanks to a mistake in the contract when the land was first subdivided. The upshot is we are getting the property for $10k less but have to pay that much in lawyer fees to get legal title of the property. Also means we have to wait six months for the legal and parliamentary (process requires intervention from the Treasurer of the Bahamas) machine to do its thing.

'Tis all for now.

Another busy weekend thanks to new friends, Peter, Madeline, and Jonathan Gonzales. Peter came last Wednesday from Miamo with his co-worker Luis to install hurricane shutters on the pool house. Luis hightailed it back on Friday before Peter's wife and son showed up that night.

Saturday, we had our second visit to Island World Adventures and it was another great day in the Exumas. The sting ray hovered around after lunch like a lost puppy and the boat ride back was so smooth, Syd fell asleep before we even got to the iguanas. Yesterday, we hit the streets of Nassau hoping to catch a ride on a glass bottom boat. Alas, the only one we found had the words “Booze Cruise” emblazened on the side so we passed in favour of a day on the beach at the Atlantis hotel. After supper, we walked through it's aquarium which was fun until Syd fell asleep and became dead weight in my arms.

One thing that all this activity helped us to do was decide whether we would take Syd to summer school. We got back into the house at almost midnight last night and were not in the mood to wake up at 7:30 to take Syd to school so she's staying home this week. Don't think there will be a lack of things to do, though. Lauren Knowles is coming later this afternoon for a swim and Hailey is having a sleepover here tomorrow (something Syd has been reminding me of all morning).

A final plug for Peter's business, Hurricane Buster Brothers, in Miami  (305.256.8883). They install hurricane shutters and if the quality is anything like what he did here, they're damned good at it.