Happy New Year update!

Hello boys and girls!

I know,I know, it's been long in coming, but the update is finally here!
I've been crazy busy since the last time - work in particular. I even had to pull a couple of near-72-hour shifts in December!

Anyway, it's a little calmer now so I'll try to give you the skinny on what's been happening.
Well, first off, people have been asking about Tae Kwon Do and being a black belt and all that. Unfortunately, right after I got my belt I busted not one but both of my ankles. Yeah, coool!! So since then I've only practised 2 or 3 times. They seem fine now so I'm hoping to be back next week, at last. This should stop me from jumping all over the house with all that extra energy unspent!

It's been snowing like crazy here, but unfortunately the temperatures have kept really high (well, as winter temperatures go around here) and it's been raining as well (it's raining today and will be for the next 3-4 days :o( ). so instead of being buried under 1.5 m of nice fluffy snow we only have 50 cm of hardened slush... It's still good for skiing though, just not as perfect as it should be.

Oh, and I have been host to our dear and beloved Marcel since December until he gets his visa and starts working in Montreal next month. It has been great catching up with him and being able to spend some quality time with him - although I've been too busy and tired to really take care of him as I should. All the same, we've had a good time so far and he should be with me for at least another week to 10 days, so I'll try to milk as much as I can out of him ;o)

Anyway, this has been a rather plain post so far, so I think I'll indulge you all with some pictures (and even some footage!!) of recent times, for your visual enjoyment.

Keep banging!


Natalie sunddenly realises she made boobies in the snow


Cheap labour


Marcel had to say goodbye to his prime view of downtown TO. No regrets though...


Working till 5am... CHECK 1200km-drive day... CHECK Loading of the Civic with all of Marcel's earthly possessions... CHECK Looking stoopid on camera... CHECK


Mr and soon-to-be Mrs Saliba looking good for the New Year


Marcel, also dressed to kill (although, unfortunately, no casualties were reported)


Me, unshaven as usual. I just let the ladies make me look good!


Marcel undergoes torture-resistance training


Wake up everybody, it's ski time!!!


Marcel, back on the planks after 9 years...


Booyaakashaa!!


That's what happens when you ski as hard (read: do something stupid :o) ) as I do


Marcel showing off his skillz!


Me acting the idiot

Kragmortha -d!

Here are Nat and my Mom during a game of Kragmortha tonight:






It's a little game I picked up the other where you play a goblin nosing about about the evil overlord's library. whenever you get in his way, he gives you a withering look and a curse. THe effects range from keeping a card tucked in between your forearms to keeping your tongue out at all times. And the effects are cumulative!

A lot of fun and plays really quickly

Goodbye baby doggy...

Masha died last night.

She got violently sick on friday, and she had to be put down at 3:30 am last night. we were all with her for that, but it still fucking sucks she had to go that way, it's not what I hoped her last two days would be.

Farewell bébé chien, I'm gonna miss you here. May you find snowy fields wherever you're going...

The day the Mighty fell

At the final whistle I stared for a few seconds in complete disbelief. The old enemy had done it again and bested us one step away from the ultimate prize...

So our World Cup hopes are over. Without taking anything from the English, who beat us fair and square, the most frustrating (and for a few hours last night, infuriating) part of it is that the defeat is due more to us shooting ourselves in the foot than our opponents playing brilliant rugby...

But anyway, I will not here make an analysis of the game, I don't think many of you would care much for that. Instead, I'll just say that despite the disappointment, I'm still proud of our team who made it to the last 4. There's no shame in losing at this stage of the competition, especially to the reigning World Champions.
You can walk with your head high guys! Now go and get that 3rd place for us!

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!
ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!
ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!

2 more to go!

Come on guys, one great thing done, but the hardest is yet to come. Keep at it, we're behind you all the way!!!

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!
ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!
ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!
...

Call me Master Nico!

OK, so I'm not a master, simply a humble black belt. But still, I feel pretty good as I join Wendy in the official Killers' Club of the group.
I don't have many pictures, actually practically none - Natalie didn't know there was a sports setting on the camera, so as a result all the pictures of me doing cool stuff consist of a big white blurry stripe. You'll have to be satisfied with this one then:


As for the World Cup, well, it took me a while to regain a semblance of composure - which was made easier by my self-control skills I developed on my way to becoming a black belt ;o)
But once I did, I decided to do like Masha here:


Sleep it off and pretend it was all just a bad dream! Hey, we still have a shot! All we need to do is find 22 rugby players to play instead of the 22 toilet paper rolls we had on the field last night! :o)

Love y'all!

Busy Busy!

Hey folks,

So it's been a while since I gave an update. No, I didn't change my looks this time, although my hair did grow back quite a bit already. Still debating whether to 'shave it' again and let it 'grow' back to its usual level.
Anyhoot, it's been somewhat of a crazy month, busy at work, getting sick for a while and for the last 2 weeks preparing my black belt test. It's this afternoon. I'm a little nervous but no more than that, because, hey, I never really get nervous. I must have some lizardry in my family tree the way my blood is cold like that.

Anyway, wish me luck, it'd be a pain to have learnt all these forms and kicks, written those essays, and learnt all that Korean terminology and writing for nothing!

Oh, and ALLEZ LES PETITS! Elle est pour nous cette Coupe!!!

Nico version 'summer 2007'

Well, I'm not as funky and fresh as those of us who dye their hair, but I went for a change too.

So without further ado, here goes:


Aaarrgh!! Where did it all go?


For a better view of the overall result

It was kinda weird at first seeing myself like this, but when I woke up this morning and went to the bathroom I did not feel overly strange. And I appreciate the improved aerodynamics, I walk much faster now...

Chose promise, chose due...

Since I said I would post a 'Best Off' for the first half of 2007, and considering I have, on occasion, not made true to my promises regarding this blog before, I decided this morning that I would kick my own butt and do it.

For those of you without a visual impairment, enjoy!
(PS: you can click the pix to see larger versions)


Morning Angel


The Irish fighting spirit


Marcel cheers the Colts to victory during the Superbowl


Meanwhile, Natalie discreetly teases me with a sausage...


Macha ponders on her choice to join us for walk


Thursday morning


Kitchen fun


My little volley-ball chick getting ready to set


Nature's birthday present to me!


Girls and booze


Marcel gets shocked again (this was unbelievable, he got shocked about 15 of the 20 times we played!!!)


Thank you Sony...


Rock on, mountain lovers!


My bitc... ladies


My hood...


What would my blog be without pictures of me?


You, be cool...


Look at them melons!


Marcel vainly tries to compete


Just cute


At the top


I was there too


Franginou's ninja training

Dragging myself back in it

Hey all!

No, I'm not dead, as you can see. The reason I haven't been posting lately is this: I've been in a bad mood, and this blog is not about getting everyone going: 'Oooh, look at poor Nico over there...'.
A freaking long time to be in a bad mood I hear you say. So, OK, I haven't been depressed everyday, no. But the whole immigration affair with Natalie is starting to take its toll on me, and for all that I need to be strong for her and appear confident, stupid bureaucracy is starting to get the better of ol' Bourgui. It's even worse as it does not affect me, but her... It's always the way huh? When you try to get to someone tough, you target the people they care for.

Anyway, enough of this self-pitying crap. It's funny actually, because I honestly believe that, were it not for this small administrative detail, my life would be fabulous. Sure I'm not rich and I could always use more holidays :o) but I got a job I like (most days), I live with Nat and I've got time and money enough to do the things I like (sports, games and movies galore in these parts!). I also get to semi-regularly spend time with Marcel (now if we could just get the Arab to stop pretending he's busy all the time and join us from time to time... Hint hint Karim! :op )

Life is really quite enjoyable here. So here's to hoping we can sort it all out quickly, so we can bask in all its comforts and pleasures. And then there'll be plenty of blog updates from me, for sure :o)

You all take care now!

El Nico

PS: You're right Tao, these pix are overdue. Tell you what, I'm gonna compile a 'best of' for the year so far, just to make up for it!

News from the new world

Wow,

How fast can time pass? So much has happened since I last gave an update I barely know where to begin.

The biggest news I guess is that my dad's got throat cancer. Fortunately it didn't spread anywhere else. He's on radiation treatment right now, for a few more weeks but he should be fine.
Kinda hard to follow after this without sounding mundane...

Well first of all, the skiing season was really short this year (along with the money), I only had the chance to go twice after my last post. But it was really good, because, for all that the season was short, the temperature never went over -5 which meant that the snow was absolutely perfect!
In sports still I've been working hard in Tae Kwon Do, hoping to get my black belt for the sumer so I can go to tournaments (full contact competitions are only opened to black belts here).
I've also been having fun playing volley-ball. We're in a recreational league with Natalie and we're having a ball. We're actually playing for 3rd place on thursday, in the season finale. This was so good we're signing up for the beach volley-ball league this summer.

Work has been kinda stressful lately. We are coming to all kinds of deadlines, for which we're no necessarily ready. But we're a hard working bunch, so we'll make do. I have to say though, this 4-day weekend was pretty welcome.

And to top it all off I've qualified for the Grand Tournament (Warhammer 40,000) in May. That will require a few hours preparation, which I have no idea where I will find!

So as you can see, it's been pretty busy here. You can also throw in a couple of weekends of fun with Marcel, who came down for the superbowl and for an orgy of playstation goodness, a couple of saturdays spent watching France and Ireland battling it out for the 6 Nations championship, and you'l have an idea of the pace!

I wouldn't have it any other way though, I'm happy as a pig in mud right now. Just wish you guys could come down sometime, but we'll work on that.


Anyway, that's about it for now. I'll try and post some pix later on for your visual entertainment.

Miss y'all


Nico

Skiing!!

We went skiing a couple of weeks ago (it feels like an eternity, I can't wait to go back!!). So I decided to give you lot a few pix, and even a video of Natali doin' her thang. :o)

And just for good measure, a few shots from New Year as well. Don't say I don't spoil you!!

Marcel really was in Canada: we have the pictures with the maple syrup stand to prove it!

My god... how does she do that?!?

Hustlerettes

Exhibit 21C in the case of harrassment againt Mr K. Saliba

Karim and Janine putting us all to shame with their skills

All hail King Marcel!

So, where are those slopes?

The happy couple

And the grand finale, enjoy!