I wouldn’t say I’m a sell out for starting to carry around a Blackberry. Because I didn’t buy it. While part of me kind of hates it, the rest of me loves it. Google talk? Anywhere! Internet? Anywhere! Twitter? Yes! E-mail? Well, anywhere I feel like reading it.

I think my favorite thing to do to waste time is get directions to some favorite spot in a far off place with the GPS Mapper thinger.

Tomorrow my boyfriendy-partner-bot is going with his dad to pick out a cemetery plot. I don’t envy him the task at all. In fact, I couldn’t imagine it - and since my parents secured plots when they were in their 30s, I will never have to imagine it.

I’m really struggling to find the right words to say to someone who has a parent on the verge of death. The right words fail me. I think part of the reason is the amount of negativity towards the doctors, and hospitals, and any care giver. Not my boyfriend-bot’s, but the rest of his family. They are selfishly trying to hold on to their wife and mom, and blaming anyone who can’t save her - when all the saving that could have been done has been done. I think he’s more emotionally affected by their anger than about his mom’s pretty much imminent death. I’m being as supportive as I can be given my lack of experience in this arena.

It’s not fun, and I’m hoping that buying a burial plot is the acceptance stage for the family patriarch and the brother unit. I guess the stages of grief do include denial, anger, and then acceptance. There’s been a lot of anger and denial. A bit of bargaining too.

One thing I’m totally grateful for is boyfriend-bot’s availability throughout this whole year-long nightmare for him and his family. Even though I know he wants to spend as much time by his mom’s side as he can, and I support that wholeheartedly, we still have weekends like this where we hang out with each other and go farmer’s marketing, for bike rides and trips to read in the park. It means a lot to me. More than e-mail on-the-go.

I have been so insanely busy lately. Mosty with work. I get there at 8 in the morning and am lucky if I leave at 8 at night (I don’t think this has happened since my vacation). I’ve been there every weekend, and almost entirely missed the Calgary Stampede - but not entirely.

Right now I am hard at work cooking dinner. Or watching the dinner I made cook. Today is the (very late) start of our summer-long 100 mile diet. It’s going to be especially easy this year since I can’t eat fish, and now that (with many thanks) global warming has made it possible to source chickpeas locally. Yay!

Today is the 102nd birthday of my great grandmother. I think she’s likely spending her day celebrating at the beach. I wish I could be there.

Since I can’t eat fish anymore, I’ve had to become a little more creative in my cooking. Chickpeas, lentils… they’re all fun. Having 8 years of pseudo vegetarianism under my belt should be more of a help than it is. I love(d) fish! It’s summer now, so fresh local veggies will start appearing soon. Salads are fun, but can become really repetitive. I need ideas, interwebs!

Emulating the menu for The Naam is as good a place as any to start. I love it there, and when in Van, I have to try hard not to eat there every meal. Last night I made sesame yam fries and had them with miso gravy from The Naam and some warmed organic chick peas. Simple? Yes. Delicious? Amazingly so.

I want to go to Vancouver…like, right now. Actually, I’d like to live there for a few years before abandoning Canada (actually, North America) all together.

Happy Canada Day.