today

I went for lunch with my mom today - of course I'm limping - but trying to hide it - and so I sit down, but as soon as I sit down my achilles tendon cramps and I wince... and she says - oh your back... no... not my back - just a sore foot.... and she says - oh your left ankle.... great... so she is right... the conversation continues down this path... and in my head I'm singing...
"I told the witch doctor I was in love with you...."

In any case we have lunch - and as I'm half way done I see a special treat... a surprise from the chef... deep fried hair... I nearly gagged... actually I did gag but didn't throw up... wicked :)

Word to the wise... cause I know you'll want to know about this - American's through their food administration say that one rodent hair in 100 grams of chocolate is ok... so next time you find hair in your chocolate (if you find it) and its an american bar know that it is ok to keep munching... the FDA said it was a-o-tay... (a mars bar is 58g - so that means it is ok to have 1/2 a hair in the bar... mmmmmm)

um...what about fall

So we had a pretty amazing summer and I thought we were rolling into fall... turns out we are only getting two days of fall this year and being thrown right into winter... I kid you not that it snowed in Nazko and out at Dunkley today... which means the target mark is set for Quesnel - the snow is on its way... now I hear that we are supposed to make a comeback next week - up to plus 20... but when it freezes at night does it still count.. I can't grow anything in that crazy weather...

As a tribute to summer I thought I'd post one of my favorite flower photos from this past summer.


Kyle is back in the swing of things again - reading and having fun... he has also started trading food for pokemon cards - fantastic... he also asked if he could take toys to school to "garage sale" at school... crazy... I asked another parent tonight about this selling and trading stuff and she said that I should just get use to it... great... anyone else going through this... or gone through this - love to hear about it...

anxiety

Tonight I deleted my secondary blog - a place I've been going for 9 months to let go of my stress and anxiety. It made me cry to set it free, it made me cry to remember how bad it really was - how far I've come this year. I managed to save all the writing as a single document (58 pages) which I'll keep safe - keep as a reminder of success.

Good night my friends - "Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears."

a little bit of fun

Last weekend Andy took the guys to cloudy with a chance of meatballs (I still haven't seen it)... anyway - they are sitting there watching and enjoying it. Then there is the part where (see this clip for what really happens....www.apple.com/trailers/) the main character and his female side kick go to a jello castle and jump in... the girl dives into the jello and he does a painful belly flop... apparently from this scene of them both being stuck it goes to them being outside the jello castle and at this point Kyle pipes up.. "Dad, did he eat her out?"

back to the spawning grounds...

Well we couldn't help ourselves and went back to the salmon spawning area on Baker Creek. Today we spent about two hours hunting around and looking under rocks and just enjoying the fleeting days of fall... I say fleeting because this morning we woke up to minus... MINUS - WHAT?... There was frost on my car... enough to scrape off... thankfully no scraping because today was a day off...






Boys, being boys... got some nice big sticks and started poking at the salmon... nice... this didn't last long - my brother would understand my short temper on this kind of situation.. he once poked a moth that I didn't want him touching... he left that scene with a black eye from a broom... this isn't rage I still have (that happened when I was six) so I just asked them to drop their sticks and move on... which we did... it was a great time down by the creek. Today's adventure included bear warnings... lots of sign... so most of the people we saw noted that a bear had been seen - we said thanks and just kept puttering around... being somewhat familiar of the bush we managed to figure out that the bear hadn't been around for quite a while... plus I was packing a walking stick and figured I'd kick some bear tail if it came to that... can't stay in the house scared of one bear...

salmon run

Today we took in the salmon running up Baker Creek - so if you are in Quesnel this is definitely something to check out - it is amazing to watch and the area is beautiful.

I didn't manage to get a very clear shot of the salmon - wrong lens... but I might go and give it another try tomorrow... see what the weather does - apparently it is supposed to freeze here tonight... boo...


(We "painted" messages on the dry rocks near the salmon run...)



So I've been clear of dairy for more than two weeks and tonight I'm craving caramel popcorn... caramel has cream in it.. how flamin' sad is that... what can I eat - let's see - how about some dry boring popcorn, or another cup of honey water - which is actually quite good but it isn't a steeped tea double double - I won't complain too much as this no-dairy life is better... in only two weeks I can see it making a difference... anyways -back to my new novel... the lovely bones...

tired

Nothing dramatic to share tonight... and too tired to post photos... supposed to be working on a strategic plan but just never got to it tonight... so I'm planning to go to bed and get up early to work on it. And that is my lame post for Friday Sept 25... sorry.

trip photo

The first picture was taken on my flight home with WestJet on Wednesday morning. I was kind of sleepy (kind of... ha) and nodding off a bit when I glanced out and saw this beautiful scenery... amazing! The second picture is the first one adapted in photoshop.

I just purchased a fabulous book called "Love letters of great men"... the letters are beautiful... and because I think you should go to your library and try to borrow it or go and get a copy of this book yourself I'm going to share a little of one...
This is a letter from Pliny the Younger AD 61 to AD 112 to his wife Calpurnia - each letter has a paragraph or two on the history of the writer...

"You will not believe what a longing for you possesses me. The chief cause of this is my love; and then we have not grown used to be apart. So it comes to pass that I lie awake a great part of the night, thinking of you; and that by day when the hours return at which I was wont to visit you, my feet take me, as it is so truly said, to your chamber, but not finding you there I return, sick and sad at heart, like an excluded lover..."

return again

Another delayed post but I've been away enjoying a conference in Vancouver over the last four days. I took a lot away from the conference and plan to integrate some of the stuff I heard into a strategic plan I'm working on - so it was definitely valuable... not to much the excellent networking :)

So those who've been reading here over the last few months or so may have noticed that I have a bit of an affinity towards Lillooet. While I was in Vancouver I took myself to Chapters for an excursion over a lunch break and picked up some recommended reading. Now I had left my swanky hotel (the beautiful Westin Bayshore on Coal Harbour) and the front desk man hailed a cab and off I went about 20+ blocks from the hotel. Now I'm wearing a skirt and heels, but the heels are actually really comfortable... so I figure a little walking - no problem - I do my reference book shopping at Chapters - finding everything I was looking for and then start to walk a little - I try hailing a cab to no avail... I was putting my hand out there, standing in the street... nothing... so I start walking... I end up on the phone with the office and so I stop and stand by a building to talk for a minute... and then I see a custom t-shirts shop and I decide I should do something to commemorate my new love... ;) So I bought myself a new workout t-shirt - my first bamboo shirt - and man - I ran tonight (5.6 km... yeah baby) and it was nice to run in - better than the cotton t-shirts.. not as great as some of my sports bra tanks... but good... anyway - here's what I bought...



What happened after I bought the t-shirt... well I ended up walking all the way back to the hotel.. but it was a beautiful walk and frankly I needed some vitamin D... and now for a few more photos from the amazing conference...


This is the sunrise this morning - thankfully the sun came up and shone in my room as my damned cell phone alarm decided to turn itself off...


This is a wall inside the amazing Vancouver Convention Centre - this is one of the most beautiful buildings I've been in. Northern BC hosted a night in the centre and people were pleased with the building and the views... I mean you really can't beat the view... and speaking of the view...


I was left to hold down the fort for a while... leaving me with a few minutes of free time...

back on the road

Tomorrow morning at a brilliant 7:20 I'll be flying via PG to Van.... where I will be greeted by Paula - we will likely grab some chow... and then... we are going wedding dress browsing... hooray! Then my conference starts later that day... I'm in Van for the weekend, plus two days next week - crazy... it is a bit much for travel right now, I've missed two weekends at home with the family.... but it settles down for a bit after this weekend.

Today I've felt kind of blah - I had a lunch date and then got extra sick after lunch - it was not pretty or beautiful - just all ugly - then I had training in the late afternoon that I was worried I wasn't going to be able to sit through because of my stomach... but I made it.. we went for dinner tonight - so that was nice but my stomach is still reeling from lunch... now I'm planning on unwinding for a couple of hours (already packed) and then get some sleep since I have to leave Q-town at 5am... more blah... taking my camera though so there should be some SWEET sunrise photos soon :)

I'll update as I go this weekend... hopefully have some beautiful wedding dress photos to share... hooray :)

Hugs and kisses :)

yes-sir

8km... yeah baby... hell ya!
That was great - great - great!

That was just what I needed... now to continue the unwinding process with a shower and a book.

need a run

Tonight I need to go for a run - all day today I've been wanting to go for a run - one of my regular running songs has come on twice today and each time I could feel myself trying to get ready to go... I need to unwind... work is going well right now - my three page list is finally getting checked off and I feel like before I head back to the coast this weekend I'll be in good shape going forward. I've also got my staff working on some great projects and I've assigned them to work on themselves as well... we've got a staff meeting tomorrow afternoon to move forward on their personal planning - gotta say I'm lovin' my crew - the size of the office is great and I feel like I'm getting some good HR experience in which has been lacking in my resume.

Grade 2 is going well for Kyle, he is enjoying his new classroom and new teacher and he has started giving Michael a goodbye hug every morning - and dropping mine... I'm ok with that because Michael really really likes it and it helps him get through the day. Michael is adjusting to life at daycare without Kyle - he is less excited about being dropped off, but he has a buddy and he seems to be doing just fine. Kyle is back in swimming and starts back up in soccer next month.

K - gonna go run... changed into my favorite pair of sweats... I bought these great Olympic ones - sadly I can no longer leave the house with them as I decided to cycle with them and the black seat rubbed into the ass of the pants... I was flippin' mad... so now they are just for in the house... alright... get going already.. lord...

a painted sky

So not only does Lillooet have a beautiful night sky they also have great starts to the day... I feel like someone painted the sky for me for this shot. Took this at about quarter to seven in the morning at the old bridge...



K - so this doesn't look the same unless you click on it so it blows up... then you'll see some of the amazing pinks that were in the sky...

Ok and here is me playing with the same shot... artistic license...




Ok - one more...

The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad is on tonight... hmmm... sleep or a great movie... hmmm.....

hell ya

Yah - Biggest Loser is back! HOORAY!

Um, OMG,... didn't know I was going to be crying at the beginning of Biggest Loser, WTF... still love it!

Holy... ok I'm a potty mouth - I know it... I know it... but damn, there be a lot of swears on Biggest Loser this year.... holy.

i know, i know...

I post, I post, I post.. and then nothing... sorry... I went away for a few days and just didn't have a minute for blogging - plus I was trying to surprise Paula and I knew I'd mention I was heading to Abbotsford and then no surprise.. so... now I'm back and have heaps of photos to share... lucky me, I got to go to Lillooet again (a very fantastic place in our province) and do some more photography! Not only did I get to do a photo shoot with a family, I got to take a bunch of panoramic photos and more... great, great, and more great! And then to top all this off I was shooting at night and after cutting my hand on my flamin' tri-pod I took a second to look up and just stood there with my mouth gapping open... the sky was unbelievable - I don't know that I've ever seen the sky look so full of stars - it was an amazing moment - it just filled me with joy - I could have stayed outside for the night and in fact after I dropped off everyone that was with me (BFF's - LOL) I did go back out and take some more photos... but there was a dog barking nearby and I thought I'd better move along just in case the dog decided to try and find me - but it was beautiful - it just filled my soul... and you don't catch me saying that kind of stuff often - if at all - and this did it for me... while I was out there I managed to see four falling stars, and also wisely cut both my hand and knee... I know, I'm a genius :)




Like a million diamonds in the sky... it was amazing!

And what would this place be without my crazy photos... ok - so here are two...

This is in downtown Lillooet where they have their visitor centre and four pieces of jade... there is jade throughout the downtown area...



This is me at the top of a hill in Lillooet. It took me a few minutes to climb to the top and then I was able to shoot some pan's.... it was first light and it was great... it dawned me as I made my descent that I didn't have my cell phone and I didn't tell anyone where I was going - note to self - remember this kind of thing for next time...


Well I think I'm going to call it a night... I'm tired and want to have a bath... love you guys! Thanks for reading... more photos tomorrow.

ROAR

I don't have anything happy to offer you tonight... super long day... I'm having a OM-freakin'-G day... actually had someone roll their eyes at me and I just wanted to jump up and say - you know what... you can go and f*&@ yourself... how do you like them apples - then get up and just walk out..

Tomorrow will be filled with joy and happiness as I'm going on a photo shoot and another road trip - can't wait to get going... I'm taking one of my staff and am looking forward to the trip. And in honor of my staff and the laugh they get out of it - I'm planning to bring my "hooker" boots - as they've called them - just to make the trip even better... (I was going to say funner... but I know - that isn't a word.. see my english friends - I can learn some things.. but only some things... )

fun and fabulous

So I was away from the office last week for a few days and while I was gone a couple of my staff went to work in my office... now the last time this happened they put at least 100 post notes all over my office. I like it though - and I work with them on targeting others... like one of the staff had 50 bras put up in their office for their 50th birthday.. it was a riot - I wasn't really in on that one... but it was damn funny... anyway... so I go away and they didn't know it but I decided to work on Monday and so there surprise was a little bit wasted because they didn't get to hear my reaction.. so I took a photo of the moment to share with them at our staff meeting this morning... and now I share it with you - my loving, beautiful friends and family :)



Yes, that's right. They wrote Queen of the Universe on my wall and used everything that was sitting on my desk to do it... har har... I laughed pretty hard... and I appreciate that everyone around me is feeding my ego on this Queen of the Universe thing.. :)

So at this point I cleaned up my office and then sat down to get some work done.. I did actually get some work done and at some point in my work I needed something from my desk and it turns out those great staff of mine had taped my desk shut... at this point I cursed a little - laughing the whole time - smart... yes, very smart... I love them! I couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with!

What was used to spell out Queen of the Universe, you ask... well... "Queen" was all of my pens and pencils, "of" was rolled toilet paper, "the" was bottle caps, and "Universe" was chocolate eggs... freakin' awesome... I'm totally going to get them back... suggestions can be posted here...

kamloops photos

Here are the guys at the Kamloops Wildlife Park - they had a great time.


Bald Eagle


What you lookin' at?


A beautiful cougar - I don't know if I've ever seen one this close - it was pretty amazing.

Tomorrow is the start of grade 2 for Kyle. He is pretty worried about stuff and as a result has had a tough couple of days.. I'm hoping things get better for him once he is back in the swing of things. It is crazy for me too - grade 2 - holy crap... where did the time go?

Ahhhhh, just had a great bath with my strawberry champagne bath bombs from Candied Beauty over on etsy... fabulous! I made the water a bit too hot though... I can't seem to get the perfect temperature - usually I'm cold or sitting in luke warm water and, I mean, seriously - luke warm water - what the hell... tonight it was scorching hot - my skin is still red/pink and I've been out of the tub for 20 minutes.. lord... still reading the scary book... that was how I passed the time in the tub... what is the scary book... well it is called Food Matters... I'll share more once I've gotten a little farther in the book and speaking of books - 'binder - did you finish Time Travelers? what did you think?

Oh and I've abandoned dairy... until about 30 minutes ago - by complete stupidity I thought I could have some microwave popcorn.. nope - not that kind we had - it actually clearly said product contains milk... it did some damage - but I'm recovering... I've stopped eating/drinking all dairy for about six days... and yes, it has made a difference - how much? Well I want to give it a few weeks and see...

Alright and now since I'm on here.. a rant... I'm watching late night tv - well not really - but it is on in the background and a commercial comes on that grabs my attention - it said vibrate and I was all ears - it was promoting the vibrating touch from Trojan - I'll let you guess what this is and if you don't know what I'm talking about... google it - you'll find it no problem... anyway - so I watch and the commercial has two younger women chatting about how awesome the "touch" is and then there is some whispering, one of the characters asks 'where can she get one' and an older women who's been listening to the conversation tells them to get it online - like she did... and then the younger ones laugh a little... so what's wrong with all that.... well this might be age speaking but what the freakin' hell - do people stop having sex eventually - are there more things no one is telling me about - do married people at some point go... gees I think that was quota - so I'm good for... let's see... for the rest of time... seriously... does that shit happen... I heard tell about married people who started sleeping in different rooms and then I started hearing it more and more and now it seems that damn near everyone I know that is married and over 60 mostly sleep in separate rooms... ok I won't get into that - I'm just disappointed - I mean I know sex won't be the same later in life - I get that some things just won't be working the way they use to but will it all be over... right - I know, you get what you make of it - thanks... thanks for the wise answer... tell me the truth... I know when I was a kid we joked about parents having sex and how that must be terrible and gross and really parents only have sex the same number of times they have children... right... ok, but now that I'm living it and because I see a commercial where young people laugh about older people getting some I thought I'd ask... and now I will go back to my scary book

no photos

Tonight I decided to work out as opposed to loading photos and blogging... and now I'm reading - something scary... I'll share more about the book soon - so I said I'm reading... I'm reading, but only between commercials - as Dirty Dancing is on tonight and this weekend marks 21 years since I watched it for the first time and fell in love with Patrick Swayze... I also watched it another five or six times that night with my best friends from Elementary School - it was awesome! Watching it now I'm a little shocked that I watched that pre-grade seven and really fell in love with the movie... there is stuff in there that is um... well I would think my parents probably wouldn't have wanted me to see that stuff... now did I get it... well no - I figured that when the lights went out in the sex scene that they were just going to sleep and being close to each other - I didn't know about sex or all that other stuff... I didn't get that the plot of the story "dances" around a character getting an abortion - I definitely didn't get any of that - I just loved the dancing and the closeness of the two characters and how much I wanted that - that closeness... aahhhhhh.... back to the movie :)

um, yep, holy freakin' awesome

Today I bought myself a present... a remote for my camera... hooray! Now why do I need this kind of thing... well when I take all those night photos or lightning or even landscape it would be really nice to sit back and frame things up a bit and not have to worry about bumping the camera to take a shot... so this little piece of technology helps me a tonne with that... hooray - and it totally works - so that makes it even better... tonight the sky in Kamloops was amazing... I didn't get a photo because I missed the light as we came up the hill but it was something else... and that, my friends, is the only compliment you will get out of me about Kamloops... wait - that's a lie - the Kamloops Wildlife Park is HIGHLY superior over the Edmonton Zoo... the kids had a great time, we saw lots of animals and we even took a ride on the train... it was a little pricey - $50 for us... it would be nice if they offered a family rate or something... but really - $50 isn't that much when you consider going to dinner nearly costs us that and the experience certainly doesn't last a life time... so I guess I'll get over that... back to Q-town tomorrow after a little more shopping...

another friday

Tonight I put in a good 10 miles on the bike all in the comfort of the gym at the hotel... so what did that mean.. it meant that I got a good old hour of kenny vs spenny in.... woohoo... hate me for it, if you like, but I really get a good laugh out of watching them - they are insane - but I like it. (One of the episodes was - how ever gets a boner first is the loser - you can't even imagine the stuff they did to each other or how it ended.. well I guess you can actually guess that... duh... )

Now I'm sitting here writing you and listening to Kyle snore his little heart out... we did have a special afternoon though - I bought an in-room film (not that kind you pervs, I can get that free on the internet...) and we closed the curtains and turned out the lights and pretended we were at the theatre. We watched "Up", one of Disney's new films. I don't know if many of you have seen this movie, but I can understand why it wasn't as popular as Disney might have expected. I will say that I enjoyed it and cried throughout most of the movie - sometimes big tears, sometimes quiet tears... maybe I was just watching it on an off day... I'd watch it again and probably cry as much... the guys didn't shed a tear - which actually does say a lot because Kyle usually sheds a tear or two in a film like that... and nothing - I'm the only one crying. In any case - was it a kids movie - yes, once the dog was introduced as a character... then it was a kids movie and then the kids really started paying attention. At the end of the movie I opened the curtains and it was just like when you leave a theatre, Kyle was shocked that it was still light out...

Tomorrow we are heading to the Kelowna Farmers' Market - 'cause I love it - and then back to Kamloops.

Wanna know what else was great today - I woke up and read the paper - I LOVE THAT! Did I learn something... multiple things in fact... like some new books I should read, that teens are having sex earlier and that there is way more oral - sorry - but that was in the paper... I didn't even know what that meant when I was the age they are reporting is doing it... , I read all the angry editorial on the government (love it) - there were just pages and pages and pages and... you get the idea - simple happiness....

Ok - one more thing - the movie that I really want to see - that someone can take me to - is Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs... I'll be in Vancouver then - so I plan to take myself should I have no one to go with - I think my hotel for the conference is near the theatre in china town...

I'll have photos tomorrow... unless I feel super inspired and get a couple up tonight... ... wait I found some motivation...

Here are the boys at one of three water parks in Kelowna... there is a water slide at this park - the guys had a good time... please note that the next photo is not G rated....






Ok - so this photo comes to you from dinner... this pretty much ended things for me... nasty, nasty... now if you are just seeing a clam - good for you - you are not as nasty disgusting as I am... yes I took a picture - but only so that I could share it with you... nasty nasty... think Everybody Loves Raymond and the painting Marie did that everyone could see something in and Marie couldn't.... and now you know that I love Everybody Loves Raymond...


And last, but not least, me fartin' around with my photobooth program.... xxoo - good night

crap

Tonight Kyle stepped on my sunglasses that cost me a ridiculous amount of money and busted them... I could have cried... I just told him it was ok - I should have put them away better than I did...

that is all... sorry no inspiration tonight... if others have some to share I'll be happy to accept it :)

another day, another beautiful sunset

These are from Lac La Hache tonight - the sunset was going fast and I could see the colors getting dark and then (sadly) a flamin' flock of geese flew over marking the end of summer and I decided that was it - so I pulled over and just missed getting a shot with the geese in the sunset... but still managed to get an ok couple of sunset photos...

Not much to add tonight - I have work to do before I get to sleep.
Hugs to each of you tonight... we all need more of that...

hello sunshine

Another day, another road trip. Today took me to 100 Mile House and back... it was raining as I came into 100 Mile this morning and then tonight the skies were getting ready for another bought of rain, but to the north - my direction - it was semi-clearing... and so I got these great shots of the rays of light coming through the clouds... love it! I actually pulled over a few times to get these photos - I initially stopped at my favorite hwy stop - the 108 Ranch area stop....







The sunsets made for a great end to my day - or great start to my drive home... as the skies did darken and then it was dark when I finally rolled into the house.... but man, those sunsets were unbelievable. I'm serious... that kind of shit just gets to me... I don't know why - but I just can't get enough of that.

Ok - happy September - hugs and love :)

Alright... one more photo... this is a "stitched" photo... more than one photo pulled together to give a panoramic view...

There are some gray zones on the panoramic photo... but that was just a quick upload - just to share something :)