Back in snowy Ottawa

After a lengthy 40 hours in transit from Bangkok to Ottawa, I'm back home, wondering if the last 6 weeks was simply a dream. The fact that I have a pile of (very) dirty laundry and a pretty nice tan lets me know that it was real. But it's amazing how easily one can fall back into "normal" routine, even after being gone so long. Guess what? The world doesn't stop when you leave the continent!!

I managed to come home with some strange intestinal issues, which I believe I picked up on our last night in Bangkok. We wound up eating at a "local" Thai place where you simply choose your ingredient and they cook it up right there and deliver it to your table. We choose squid, pig intestines, some sort of bivalve, and pork short ribs. I believe either the mollusc or the intestines are the cause of my uncertain stomach. Until last night, I wasn't able to eat solid food and have it stay inside for more than an hour or so, following a session of cramping. Today seems to be better, but I did decide to start the course of Cipro I had just in case. Better safe than sorry, right?

So, it's back to reality. 90 days until the Canada-Wide Science Fair and that means from now until May 20th, chaos will reign. It's started already. I haven't been in to work yet this week but have spent most of my time in science fair meetings. I have a sneaky suspicion that weekend meetings will become the norm (meeting at 10am this morning will start the season off). Our new office is ready to be occupied and all our committees are in full work mode. Which was actually very encouraging to come back to.

I was wide awake this morning at 4am, went back to bed for 2 hours and finally decided to get up at 6am. I figure if I can continue this early morning trend, it will allow me to get a run in before work (or a spin class) so that I don't have to worry about doing cardio in the evenings. It's not quite a New Year's Resolution, but more of a solid realization that time management is going to be a huge factor in the next 3 months, and if I want to get back into shape after this much time off, then I have to plan out training in a more regimented fashion.

Yes, I will post on the remainder of my trip, most likely later today when I have a bit more time. It's alot to recap and will take a bit of thinking and creativity. Luckily, there are many photos to prompt memories.