Strip Show

Let me start this post off by telling you that today, while I was on my lunch break, it snowed. Today was the first time in my entire life I have seen real snow in September. I practically jumped out of my seat with excitement. Today was a surprisingly thrilling day. I couldn't sleep last night, I found some ridiculously unwanted burst of energy and wanted to chat Matt's ear off about everything I'd seen thus far. Due to the lack of sleep, it was extra difficult to drag myself out of bed this morning at seven. It didn't help that until this morning, our heat has been off. We turned it off the day we got here because it was a sauna when we walked in... it was also hovering around 10 degrees outside. Today however was cold and windy and classified as one of those days that you would rather spend in bed. I turned the heat on, shivered my way through breakfast and walked to work with my manager and the only other person in my department, Ellen.

Thriller number one was obviously the snow.

Thriller number two - Babies in mukluks and parkas. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love babies and tiny baby accessories, so if this isn't a thriller for you, too bad, I love it. I need to find someone to hand make me some of these adorable garbs so I can send them home to my honorary niece, Gabriella, who is nine months old now and will be almost two next time I see her during my vacation time. This is probably biased but I'm not kidding when I say that she is the most adorable child I've ever loved and she would kill with cuteness in the traditional outfits the Inuit babies rock. Absolutely stunning.

Thriller number three - Loss prevention in full effect. Its not unusual for people to try and steal anything and everything they can from the store, in fact, its rather common. Today a young man who had apparently been kicked out of the store multiple times decided he would try his luck on a five finger discount. The boys, including Matt, who work on the opposite end of the store from me, caught him on his way out. They dragged him into the customer service office and once the RCMP had been called he pulled a knife out. The threats he made didn't put out the excitement for them. My favorite part was the excitement in Matt's voice as he re-told the story to anyone who asked. Boys...

Thriller number four - Ellen smiled an excited little grin and said, "follow me." She led me to a wall of windows in the "food court" at the store, where a whole gaggle of men were sitting and watching something outside. A fight. One man, a known trouble maker, stole money from another man. The other man obviously wanted his money back. We watched... everyone else amused... me worried. He held the man up against the wall of a house and lectured him, he then started to search the mans pockets. One pocket at a time he retrieved his money but he wasn't satisfied. He took his coat, shook it out and kept yelling. He turned the man around, put him against the wall and patted him down. Then the real kicker.... the snow had just stopped falling and the man who stole the money, in an effort to prove he had nothing more, dropped his pants. At that moment I stopped worrying and started laughing. I wonder if he knew he had an audience?

Well folks... "Welcome to the North."

Other than the trouble makers, I loved today because for the first time I feel comfortable. Ive been feeling out our surroundings, avoiding anyone who I didn't know I could trust. In the last couples days I've started to feel at ease, probably because Ive met enough people to know I've got "people," and probably because we got the deadbolt on our front door fixed. I am less worried now and more comfortable. I am recognizing friendly faces and allowing myself to enjoy where I am and what I'm doing. I am even starting to fear the small-dog-sized Ravens a teeny-tiny bit less... Sort of. And life is beautiful now that Matt's luggage arrived and he has something other than shorts to wear.

Cheers to all the beautiful days to come,
With love from Iqaluit.