Things That Make Me Smile

Yesterday morning I woke up to be at work for eight o'clock. When I stepped out the front door I was greeted by the most gorgeous puppy. He looked like a perfect cross between a wolf and a husky. I work with a man named Mel who has warned me not to get too friendly with the dogs around here. They roam the streets and seem to be almost wild. It took everything in me not to play with the dog. He joined me at the front door and walked me all the way to work, never leaving my side. He wanted to play so badly. He dove into the snow drifts, catching snow in his mouth and throwing it in my direction. The look on his face broke my heart as I walked into work, shutting the door behind me. I haven't seen him since, although I haven't been out of the apartment today. It was my day off so I decided to spend it cleaning. It was snowing when I fell asleep last night and when I woke up this morning but the snow turned very wet at some point in the afternoon which made me feel glad to be in the warmth of the apartment.

The dogs wandering around make me think of my good friend and old house mate, Lauren. Animal lover and advocate extraordinaire. Before I left Ontario I told Lauren all about the adventures I was heading out on and that same night she applied for a job with the company I work for. You can imagine my excitement to hear that she has an interview date later this month!

I was thinking of suggesting to the company that she could move in with us. We are currently living in a two bedroom apartment (we haven't even stepped foot in the second bedroom since the day we got here) and were told when we arrived that they would be moving us if a one bedroom became available. Last night we helped our neighbor Annie move some of her things into a one bedroom "suite." I call it a suite because it is a step up from the one bedroom she was in next door. Her new place has private laundry and is on the top floor of a neighboring building, so she can feel safe sleeping with her windows open for ventilation. I am now thinking that we will be moving into her old place right next door to the one we're in now, which is also an exciting prospect. Its been hard for me not really being able to settle in here, knowing that we could be uprooted at anytime. It would also be nice to only have to move down the hall. We really like the building we're in and are loving the people in the apartments around us.

On Monday we will be having Thanksgiving dinner at Zara's. She lives across the hall from us and has invited a group over for the evening. The turkey is stashed safely away in our freezer. Due to the fact that we are the newbies, we haven't accumulated a lot of extra food and had some extra room in our freezer. I have volunteered to bake a pumpkin pie and an apple pie. I am also making death by chocolate, by popular demand. It will be another first for me, being away from my family for thanksgiving. It is so wonderful to have the people we have met become a part of our lives and because of them we are looking forward to the festivities.

On the theme of excitement, Mel told me the other day that his wife wants me to try on an amauti she has at home so she can figure out sizes! I think that means I've found my seamstress. I am LOVING the art work in Iqaluit. First I bought my polar bear which I paid $120 for which was apparently a great deal. Yesterday Matt bought two "pang" hats for us off of a very sweet and talented woman who comes into NorthMart to visit. They are green, brown, and black. They both have inukshuks around them and one of them says 'Nunavut' across the front. I also put in an order for a couple more... potential Christmas gifts?

As I was told, it is easy to spend money here. Matt has spent a lot on necessary household items and both of us have been saving our dough to buy new Canada Goose Arctic Program parkas which will run us just under $600 each. I'm buying mine tomorrow because Iqaluit is beginning to look like winter wonderland!

So here's to Christmas in October and to two of my favorite people in the world, Andrea Latendresse who is celebrating her birthday today and to one of my best friends, Sara Detlor whose birthday partying we missed out on this week. Happy Birthday ladies! Sending all of my love to you and everyone else back home.

Missing you all, from Iqaluit.