Monday, December 31, 2007

Right on the crack...

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year!


From CTV.ca, Associated Press, Chiang Ying ying, these fireworks are coming off of the tallest building in Taipei - Taipei 101 and currently the tallest skyscraper.

Best wishes for 2008!

(BC 150th Birthday)

Friday, December 28, 2007

250

I'm here posting my 250th post on the eve of my 31st birthday. I haven't watched the news since I went on holidays. I've caught snips and snipes of it, but I haven't really paid attention. Then yesterday I was compelled to start listening. I don't know if any of you are following the news, but if you have you've likely heard that the opposition leader of Pakistan was assassinated. Her name was Benazir Bhutto. I've been reading about her since her return to Pakistan in October. Why should you care? As small as one of our voices is, she was heard! She was heard and she was only one. I think we all need to start focusing on the pride points in our lives and make contributions. Slough off all the bull shit. Slough it. I say this and I will struggle with it, but it must be done. Take a minute to google Bhutto, learn about something that might encourage you to be great, in small and big ways.

Stupid me, I also chose to read about the murders on Christmas Eve in Seattle. What the hell kind of world do we live in? What is wrong with human kind? What kind of hope can we have for our children or any children when we have these things occuring in our communities and when our media chooses to focus on them?

(End scene)

New scence
A bench rests under a window and a girl sits looking out the window. Thinking. Pondering. Remembering.

So here I am sitting on the door step of 31, what gems of wisdom/thoughts can I share?

1) Love; its important, if you don't have it, find it, if you do hold on to it and embrass it
2) Children make your life better and put all things into perspective
3) Life is constructed in a manner that when you do something negative it will one day come back and bite you, maybe just a nip, maybe it will take out your whole ass
4) Life is also constructed in a manner that when you do something positive it will also effect the course of your life
5) Birthdays are only another day of the year, every day should be celebrated
6) Family is everything, even if they bother you and do things that do not match up with what you think is right - see #3 and 4
7) If you have had pets you know that every day you make a point of acknowledging the pet, a simple ear rub, a scratch - do this same small thing for your spouse - acknowledge them, love them, encourage them
8) I like the number eight...
9) Falling behind sucks - avoid it
10) Listen to people - stop what you are doing and when they stop talking repeat back the message, make sure you understood what they shared with you - it will take longer - but what are you rushing life for - it is short, make time to make a difference
11) Be respectiveful - always
12) Everyone can do something
13) Email and blogging should be a glimpse into who you are - don't give it all away
14) Phone people - there was a time before cell phone texting, and email and chat rooms - it is only laziness that drives the internet forward
15) Giving up will leave you with a life time of regret
16) I am far more sensitive then I was a year ago or ten years ago, I'm learning to live with that.
17) True friendship is hard to come by.
18) Entertainers are overpaid and the entire medical system is underpaid and under appreciated.
19) It is easier to give advice than to take it.
20) Drinking makes the pain dull, but causes it to throb the next day and doesn't solve problems.
21) If you put your mind to it all things are possible.
22) Lies are bad. Avoid them. Ask why you are telling a lie.
23) Gossip is bad. Avoid it. Get the facts. Learn. Be intelligent. It is harder to do, but why be lazy.
24) I love my family.
25) Digital cameras are nice, but if you don't make use of the photos you took, you might as well not have taken the photos in the first place.
26) Learning about nature and getting out to see the Cariboo was one of the best things I could have done for myself, and I only saw a glimpse. It has inspired me to see more.
27) Your physical and mental state are very important. Value your body, show it appreciation by eating well and using it - in all of the many fabulous ways it can be used.
28) You can buy all the crap in the world, but it will stay here when you die. Remember possessions can not hold your hand, love you, sing to you, smile at you, laugh, or anything else. This is a tough one for me and something I'm trying to learn.
29) Technically, my list should be ending here because I promised I would just continue to celebrate my 29th... I'm ok with the number changing though.
30) Enjoy work, and if you don't, start looking for ways to make your work better (on your own) or find new work, see #15.
31) See #1, repeat.

Friday, December 21, 2007

home again jiggity jig

We made it back from PG. Uneventful trip - Costco made some good moola off of us, yet again. And now I sit up waiting for my brothers arrival from Port Hardy. I'm assuming at this point that he made his 3pm ferry and should be here soon... especially the way he drives.

I also wanted to post that... what the heck - it's -19... it was beautiful this afternoon - I was actually thinking to myself how beautiful it would be to get out and do some cross country skiing - and since the sun went down I've been watching the temperature plummet. -19 now at 1am.. what about in another 2 hours... what about another 6... we are nearly at the mid point of the year and days will once again get longer - HOORAY! but tonight at -19 I wonder what the next few days will actually be.

ok - I'm going to do something productive while I wait for my brother - night all

Thursday, December 20, 2007

home again... well kind of

Tuesday was an extra long driving day for us. We left late from Richmond because we knew that we'd be driving in the dark no matter what time we left the lower mainland. So we took our time and I got thirsty at Boston Bar and my eyes needed a break because the roads had gone in the crapper as soon as we left Hope. I'm grabbing a drink and the lady tells me the highway is closed - just closed it - then as I'm leaving she updates with a minimum six hour wait because there has been a fatality. With that I loop back and turn us around. We ended up taking the Coquihalla - not great - the roads actually weren't too bad to the top, lots of snow but people were mindful of each other and because it is a climb most the rigs just get in a line and don't try to pass much. We get to the top and its a whole different story. Not 2km from the tollbooth we come to our first accident and police officer. He tells us to slow down through the accidents and that the roads are slick all the way to Merritt. BLAH! We passed four accidents from the top to about 30 km from the top and then just took our time down.

And then it was another 5 1/2 hours from Merritt home. We stopped at Merritt and then we stopped in Williams Lake at Tim Hortons around midnight - took in some of the night life in WL - and waited about 20 minutes to get tea and some treats to keep us awake for the rest of the drive.

Then yesterday we had to come to PG. We'll be back in Quesnel this afternoon - just doing a little shopping this morning, lunch and then heading home.

I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend and just taking it easy... oh and on the kitchen front the counter top is going to be another few weeks - extra blah! - at least jan 10 and then who really knows... not the end of the world - I'm not making turkey dinner this year - headed to nazko for that... of course as a result cookie production is way down - in fact zero to date...

Sunday, December 16, 2007

the concert

Last night was my first concert since Great Big Sea in university. We were in the upper deck, and funny enough, at the back of the building where I saw my first Canucks game live. Hedley opened and they were pretty good. I confess that I didn't know all of their songs, but I knew three, not bad.

And then we found ourselves inside the church of bon jovi with 17,000 singing strong. It was amazing! They played for nearly three hours and had multiple encores. The old stuff was great - Living on Prayer, Wanted dead or alive, Bad Medicine. I would have liked to hear Bed of Roses - but they had to leave some new stuff for tonight, as they are rocking out again tonight in Vancouver - and hear there are still tickets... definitely worth it and if I'd had an idea they were going to be that good I would have paid more and been closer.

We've cut our trip short, so we will be back in Quesnel on Tuesday night now. Headed to the aquarium on Monday and doing a couple of other things - today is pretty low key - a little shopping and work this morning and then back to Richmond to cook turkey dinner. I hope everyone is taking it easy and not getting beat up in a mall with masses trying to buy gifts. Take a minute for yourself - remember the reason you are buying gifts is because you love the people you are buying for and how much they love you and maybe that will help you see that maybe a gift isn't what you needed to buy for them... will they remember the money you spent on them or the way you spent your time together.

And I finished Potter! Record time for me. Should you read it? Well if you've read all the others I'd be surprised if you haven't already - I'm old and taking too long to read anything these days. Read them, enjoy the story and pass them on to children who will enjoy the growth of characters over 7 years and who will greatly appreciate them. Ok - off to do some work before we had to the mall.

Friday, December 07, 2007

pity

it is -25 here and only going to get colder tonight
please send blankets... and warm thoughts in our direction

coldest winter in 15 years... how about coldest winter ever... yes, thanks - global warming... right... except canada - THANK YOU!

Saturday, December 01, 2007

sick

This is a new one for me. I've had pneumonia, colds and flus. Now I've got something I've never had before and it is super painful. It feels like I have something stuck in my throat and everytime I swallow I aggrevate it. It hurts bad enough that I'm not getting alot of sleep at night, because I wake up everytime I swallow.... ok so that was my post 48 hours ago and now it is sunday night and I'm sitting here and feel far far far less pain. I ended up escorting myself to the walk-in clinic yesterday afternoon and the doc decided I had a throat infection... hooray - got some strong drugs and they are apparently having some kind of effect on this bacterial germ in my throat.

I'm definitely taking a sick day tomorrow. Time to recover and sleep in the day if I feel like it. Plus my voice is in no condition to answer phones or even talk to people. We did manage to decorate our christmas tree today - hooray - beautiful - boys had a great time and helped a lot this year.