closure

And so after writing for six years in this location I'm moving house.  I've been working on the new blog for about two months and plan to send my coordinates to some of my long time readers that I'm aware of - if you want the link then Facebook me and I'll send it your way.

Thank you for reading here - thank you for all your caring words - I look forward to reading and hearing from my friends on the new blog.

xo

Friday plans

On Friday the Summer Olympics kick off in London and we definitely plan to watch the opening ceremonies... plus I really enjoy the summer sports so I hope to be able to watch a few events... in case you care to watch you'll be able to catch the opening ceremonies on a number of channels - apparently NBC is doing a long delay... when it starts at 9pm in London - that's 1'o clock in BC -  I understand they won't start airing it until 7:00 ish on Friday night... regardless - I'll be watching on Friday night.  (That said - I don't think anything will ever top what they did in Vancouver and nothing will top K D Lang's performance... sigh)

But the root of this post was actually to ask about the London mascots... I know lots of my friends complained and complained about the Vancouver Mascots - which I actually enjoyed - however the London ones... well I have to say I think someone watched the Simpsons a wee bit too much and just shaved off a few of the aliens legs in coming up with these... www.mascot-games.london2012.com

What do you think?

shock

The shooting in Colorado last night (CNN) is shameful and tragic.  I'm not sure what would drive anyone to do such a thing.  David read me what had happened this morning as we drove to work and I couldn't believe it.

Of course, the anxious person in me is like - well that's it for going to movies.  I know - ridiculous - but still there, nonetheless.  The stories are haunting though - and with social media, parents are founding out their children have died before the hospitals are able to contact them.  Very sad and very disturbing.

I had a significantly longer vent about all this, but can't really stomach this whole thing right now.  CNN has put so much information on their website that I've just stopped looking at it.  No one should have to experience that - and really I don't want to read more about it because my brain just starts fabricating what that might have looked like - since the descriptions are so vivid.

I hope all of you are safe and that everyone has a great weekend.  xo

just a pretty sky

This was from a few weeks ago - just never posted.

Not much else to post tonight.  Just wanted to say hi.

xo

lightning by David

This was from the Saturday July 14 storm that rolled over the house - fantastic!

And because you come for the photos.... (and my ridiculous stories of adventure)

summer

We (when I say we I'm using the royal 'we' because I'm not that super helpful being at work a lot) are renovating the house.  New fence, new decks (the back one has a pond and amazing couch that we watched a storm roll in on last night), new bedroom - converting garage to massive new bedroom for Kyle or possibly Michael depending on how Kyle feels, new windows, gardening - it is fantastic - so much has been accomplished.  It shocks me what David finishes every day and that he isn't completely burnt by the sun or just completely a mess and tired - it is so great to move forward on things.

The kids are enjoying summer vacation - last night we went swimming at Deep Creek - my favourite swimming hole - and just cooled off - the water was pretty cool especially because the air temperature wasn't high when we arrived - poor skinny Michael was freezing, but had fun - me and Kyle were pretty good - both of us having a little extra blubber help :)  David also froze... my two skinny guys :)

Kyle and I were swimming upstream and he says - 'yeah we aren't cold cause me and you are like polar bears, both with our extra blubber' I laughed and agreed - I totally have extra blubber.

Michael has become a music lover - he loves to listen to all kinds of music and sing to himself.  I gave him my iPod (the original little rectangle kind) and last night he requested a CD of music we've been playing in the car - so I run outside and grab it and see this amazing cloud - lots of bubbly edges and very very white and then it happens - the cloud throws lightning - piles of it - through the cloud - I've seen that kind of thing on tv but never here - so I run in the house and we take blankets and gear outside and we all watched this amazing storm for about 30 minutes - it was incredible.  It rolled east and because we are a bunch of wieners - we piled in the car and chased it - sadly we never really caught up with it but we did see a brilliant meteor - it changed colours as it passed through our atmosphere - it was a fantastic summer night.

We've had a lot of those great nights lately.  We watched another storm a few nights ago and David got amazing photos of the lightning (I'll post from home).  The storm sat over the house for an hour - and we just oooooed and awwwwed - I've never seen these kinds of storms here before.

Last weekend we had a funeral, my cousins husband had a tragic accident - they did a great service for him and the company he worked for made a contribution to the family and closed down their sites so friends could come to the funeral.  They filled the senior's centre with people - so about 300 must have been there.  The service had a great video and lots of great photos.

Then on Sunday we hiked into where they had my grandparents ashes.  It was an easy hike until we got to the hill - there is this giant downhill section that you slowly climb down - trying not to take a spill because if you slip it is a long, bumpy way to the bottom.  My brother made a cross and plaque that a bear decided chew on - but it was still intact in the ground - we just kind of looked around - no one really said much - I took a few photos.  I walked in with a rock I'd found that was in the shape of a heart that I left at the foot of the cross.  I wanted to bring an owl to sit in a tree, but will try and do that next time.  Then we had lunch back at the trucks.  It was a good day.  My brother was here for a few days - for the funeral and then hung around for a while.  So - it has been a busy July...

Now we are all just looking forward to more summer and our vacation to Cannon Beach in August.
We are all super excited about heading there... can't wait to have a break and get to play at the ocean all day.

wow

One of my relatives posted this on Facebook tonight.

I certainly don't believe that this is directed at me - it was simply her sharing her point of view.



I'm not really sure what I wanted to say about this - only that I disagree.  If people want to stay together then giver but if what you show your children is hate, unhappiness and disregard for your personal well being I simply must say that I think you are not doing a good thing for your children and that leaving is better for them - despite all the bumps in the road ahead.

Sigh.

Ok - and now back to a great weekend with David - hooray for three day long weekends where things get accomplished!

xo

side note - I absolutely agree about not cutting your spouse down - no one should do that - it is completely ridiculous - I just disagree with people staying together and quietly hating each other and waiting for their kids to move out and then moving on with your life.  end vent. 

And because I absolutely keep forgetting to write this down

I've been meaning to write this down somewhere for the past 12 hours, and just never got to it last night and in fact, kept remembering and then forgetting.

Kyle received a silver academic award, which means he got all A's and B's on this report card - fantastic!  So we went outside to take a few photos.  I took one of Kyle by his favourite flowers, then David tried to take one of me but I was being cranky and didn't like that my flab was showing in it - then David and Michael went in the house and me and Kyle were sitting in the front garden trying one more picture of him.

He said he wanted a picture of me and him with the plaque (yes, he got a whole plaque to keep...) so we sat beside the garden. I tell him I'm so proud of him, that he worked really hard for this - we had a talk after the last report card and I said he really needed to focus on pulling off some great grades in the last semester and he says to me - Mom, this award is for you too because you worked just as hard to help me - well I didn't cry, but sitting here typing this right now gets me all teary eyed.  That kid has the best lines :)

So we took one photo of us with the plaque and I'll hopefully load that tonight.

Michael completed kindergarten and was a top star in his grade - his reading is great - he has read us green eggs and ham (the whole thing) a few times now and he just seems to be a machine for information - the teacher also noted that he was exceptional in his math skills.. hooray!  His little "grad" ceremony was great - his teacher was fantastic and it was just a good day.

David took the guys away for their first day off of summer - up to PG for adventures and fun... and yes - I'm at work - taking a break - writing to share with you... yes - I will take time off - absolutely - just not today.

xo

vomit

Poor Michael has some new thing and threw up on the grass this afternoon.  He begged for a slurpee about 4 hours after the throw up scene - I agree - we get to 7-11 and he needs to throw up before he has consumed anything.  SIGH.  The healthy part of the family (David and Kyle) drove out to Nazko for dinner and we've just hung out on the couch.  Watching your kids throw up is never great.  Blah.

Alright - well that's it for Sunday night updates - time to go check on the barfer - xo

I hope everyone else had an entirely better and healthier weekend than us :)

today in point form

Last night I had a dream about running - I'm hoping that I feel up for some physical activity tonight - still getting over Monday's disgustingness.

I got a grant today for $9,200.

I've consumed about 6 cups of water and 3 cups of vitamin water.

My face aches at my jaw line - it is stupid fun.

I am a big whiner.

I'm tired and need a  nap.

I was mad at colleague, but then realized that I'm only putting anger out so if I want to feel good and be happy I need to project that... still working on it.

I want to take more computer training.

I felt under paid when someone told me how much they make for doing what they do.  SIGH.
Under paid and maybe under valued.

I wish my nephew lived closer.

I wish my niece lived closer.

I'm thankful for learning about acupressure and even if it is only in my head that it is helping... I don't really care.

And there is my Thursday. - blah.

damned guts

Not really sure what took over our house on Sunday night but my guts did a bender for about 24 hours... I came into work yesterday morning but could hardly even think straight.  I went home at lunch and while today is better - it still feels like a chore to just sit.  I'm trying to stay hydrated and tried to not meet people today... sadly got booked for a meeting this afternoon - so I'm preparing to sit through that... otherwise just trying to work and feel ok.

David also got a case of whatever I had, but his was a little milder.  Thankfully - the boys didn't get it - we are both convinced it is some kind of food poisoning since our reaction was nearly the same... amen to having three bathrooms!

The weekend - well we planted our little garden - we are now growing zucchinis, tomatoes, strawberries, swiss chard, beets, beans, soy beans, and radishes.  It is turning into quite the yard and home space - it is so great to see so much progress in such a short period of time.

We also had two little birds fall out of the tree in our back yard - ended up having them picked up by animal rescue - we have lots of cats prowling the backyard and I knew they'd be dinner and a nice lady was willing to take care of them and give them the extra days they need to get their flying feathers in...

And - my trip to Japan - while it looks amazing - may have some hiccups in it - a typhoon hit central Japan yesterday and has impacted many flights - it seems that they missed the storm and flew to the next destination, but maybe issues flying back to Tokyo... have to wait and see what the storm does... hopefully it will pass and all will be fine... I'm surprised it didn't impact their flights yesterday but they made it to Hokkaido just fine.

And now back to work - need to work on this year's edition of the magazine.  xo

a break

And so I'm taking a break to blog for a few minutes.  This week has been brutal.  Slander, mental abuse, and more highlighted this week.  One week ago today I thought I was going to have a great little weekend but before the weekend could start I was put through the machine - and this week has been a challenge.

Gotta say I'm disappointed in my travel right now - Bali was a blow out, China (didn't really want to go - just because it was rushed) didn't go, and now Japan is out... supposed to go to Nunavut in the fall - that's out... blah...  I'm not super sad about most of the travel being a wash - Bali was disappointing more than anything and a waste of money - Nunavut would have been great but I can't afford to waste my time at a conference that has yet to produce an agenda.. ok and I wanted to see Japan but I'll go on my own sometime... then I don't have to meet politicians and I can just see the sights - go with family versus work...

Summer... well we are heading to Cannon Beach for sure - I can't wait to go - I'd like to go head there tomorrow but school isn't quite out for summer - that said, Michael is done - he's been done for a few weeks now - tired of school, wanting more family time, wanting more play time - these full days of kindergarten really wore on him - he cried this morning when I told him he had to go to school... blah... tough to watch him cry - especially when I'd like to remove him for class and just play all day.

Ok and on the super upside... David is an absolute work horse.  He has built a deck, pulled out dry wall, set posts for a new fence, built a new garden - he is an animal for working.  I can't believe how much gets accomplished every day... and he is staying here permanently now... no more commuting - just life here - it is very exciting.

Ok and now a client is heading in so I best get back to it - xo - xo
Many hugs and kisses :)

asshole

I might say that I'm an asshole - I know that I've said it before... many times... but I really really don't like being called one... sigh... especially six times +.... 

Is this a woman thing that I would allow this to happen... or just a me thing?  

My colleagues suggested that in future discussions where this kind of thing happens that I should say - 'you have two options - you can speak to me in a civil way or you can leave my office' - why do I find that so difficult to do - why is standing up to people so hard...   clearly, I also hope that this shit doesn't happen again... 

Blah.  Sorry there were no photos last night - just didn't get to it and left my laptop in the office.  I'm hoping to actually work on my favourite projects this afternoon which may afford me the time to load a few photos here...  

xo 

blog free for a month

And so I'm back after a month hiatus.  Definitely been busy and occupied with a variety of things, but today I realized that I missed writing - even if there are no readers - I just like writing and it is a great way to keep information.

My work - well it has been a learning curve, from being called an asshole in a conversation more times that I could keep track of, to diffusing situations, to having major travel and back to having no travel, from heated conversations and endless conversations - it has been a hectic month.  I'd love to go into more details, but really it isn't worth it - I, largely, love my job and will just carry on.  Chin up! :)

Life - my real life - is fantastic - we are busy with yard work and cleaning, gardening, photographer, driving trips - we went to Prince Rupert, Smithers, Burns Lake, Prince George (a few times) and have done all kinds of sight seeing in and around Quesnel.  We've seen piles of animals - moose moms and calves, deer moms and fawns, bear moms and cubs - and a crazy fox - it has been amazing.  I've seen parts of the community I never had seen and get to spend great time with David and the kids.

I'll share photos later today (hopefully) but just wanted to say a quick hello to my friends and family - yes, I'm alive - yes, I'm busy - and yes - I will continue to blog...

xo - my loves :)

dyslexia

Alright.. go...

6:45 - I hit the trail - run - not full out - but run - I'm definitely not back into my groove but I'm running again and that's good - good to get out and just wash away the work day with a run.

So I clip along ok - taking walking breaks - but far less than the weekend and I'm thinking about maintaining speed and not slacking off...

I roll in to the 5.2 km marker at 7:22 and I'm furious - how did it take me 47 minutes... I know... not only am I dyslexic - my math skills must be the shits... but about a second passes and I realize - wait - that's 37 minutes... woohoo!  So that is actually one of my top speeds doing the run - which is shocking - especially since I know it was in my reach to do better. Part of me is quite disappointed to not be running in the relay this month - I really thought the team I was on last year would get back together and run again...  sigh

That said I'm definitely looking forward to David being home and running/walking with him and the guys... I need to find some bikes for the guys so we can do the longer distances.. Michael actually asked last night about doing the trail on bikes.

And Bob (the washer) just launched into the hallway - if it isn't Luongo on the fritz it's Bob... blah.

Toddlers and tiara's was on again tonight - caught a few minutes of the nastiness and again I feel like a good parent.  :)

Other....

What... boobies rule?  Yes - this is part of our relay for life team fundraiser - the bracelets are comfortable to wear and are only $5.00 - so if you'd like to donate to my team - you can mail me cash-ola or chequ-ola's and I'll mail you one - shipping free - I have lots of different kinds including - I love motor boating, nice knockers and all kinds of other ones... 

Tuesday 10

This lovely batch of random questions were provided by Roots and Rings!

1. Who is your favorite talk show host?
Craig Ferguson!  

2. How do you style your hair on a daily basis?
Straightener... with occasional pony tails or clips... depends on how lazy I'm feeling

3. If you were stuck in your bedroom for a week, what would you need in order to not go crazy?
Outside of those basic things like food and water... well I would go crazy - unless if by bedroom you mean Hawaii in which case - food, water, David and the boys ... oh - I've totally gone off topic... oh well - that's where my brain is tonight - far, far away from here... 

4. What are the best non-reality shows on television?
Big Bang Theory is funny - don't really have a favourite show anymore... lost most interest in tv after ER left... sigh.. yes - it's been that long since I actually dedicated time to watching tv shows... 

5. Do you mow your own lawn and clean your own house?
What... yes... I share the load with my great family... ok - David and I do the work and the kids try ... Kyle is learning laundry... 

6. As an adult, what is the best part of summer?
The warm breeze - I felt it yesterday - I took me away - I needed it

7. If you could ask one celebrity one question, who and what would you ask?
I would ask Barenaked Ladies if they would please, please, pretty please sing our multi-centre song and help us raise the rest of the money needed to build the multi-centre - we need $7M - yes, $7,000,000 - and I re-wrote 'million dollars' to 30 million (the total) and would love them to help us sing it or give us permission to sing it... 

8. Post a picture.

9. How many books do you read a year?
Not enough - start and stop many - probably 10

10. Which national chain makes the best delivery pizza?
Um - don't eat pizza... 

Luongo (the fireplace) kicked on and blasted heat - it was fantastic and then... he kept blasting... and blasting until the carpet got hot... apparently the thermostat was set for 26 and it was at about 24.5 that I realized Luongo was overachieving after a long hiatus :)  (just like he'll do in Florida or Montreal when he gets traded) All good - the room is warm now - but I'm a whiner tonight - might go soak in the tub... might read ... printed a couple of pictures - so glad that family posts pictures there so I can steal and print them for the house (Mel - hooray - and thank you for the other printed ones you mailed).

Good night my loves - xo - hugs and snuggles

good grief

Fireplace hasn't worked in a few weeks.  It is quite sad because we love it and have spent the night in the living room to enjoy it and then one day it just stopped.

It has taken a few weeks to get someone to look at it and they finally arrived about 10 minutes ago.  And so they pull it apart - looking at all its little parts - blue flame = good... on button = good...

"hello"

yes

"Do you happen to have any double A batteries in the house?"

what

*silence*

really... really... Luongo doesn't have batteries that work....

(inside voice NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO)

"Well we just want to check it."

------------------

Why Luongo?

All of the large appliances have names...  the washer/dryer were named first (Bob and Doug), dish washer is Jack (like Simple Jack... Tropic Thunder), and the new fridge is Fred.  Luongo doesn't run well, blows hot air and stopped contributing to the team - ... the fire place Luongo... just saying :)

------------------

Blue flame ignites...

DAMNIT!

He tries to make me feel better by saying - hey - "most people would never know that there were batteries in any of this - it's ok."

I laugh.

I tell them how I'm going to share the great adventure of this morning - that there was actually a whatchamadingdong screw in the back and the fireplace guys turned into fairies and went inside the fireplace so they didn't have to pull the whole wall apart and managed to find the whatchamadingdong and put it back in its spot... and then everything got hot - they were burning up - there little wings were catching on fire because Luongo got turned on so fast because he hasn't work in ages... and so they quickly escaped.  Phew.  Hate to see the worker's comp on that... sheesh....



F-ing batteries... damnit


Ok - off to work.

xo

and today in the life of me

"Mom - come take my photo..."

Ok - I'm coming - hold on

"Mom, hold on - let me get ready."

*intense prep follows - Michael is now getting ready to hang off the monkey bars*

"Alright - I'm ready"

....

And as I start to shoot he pulls up his shirt in a effort to pull his pants down so I'd photograph him hanging with his gonch hanging out - awesome... mooning the camera - now stripping - good grief.


What else...
Well my day had a rough start but things improved along the way.  David sent me the most amazing flowers - it was shocking - the delivery girl laughed that they didn't even need the address - just told to take them to April and off they came to my office...

I mean - totally and completely spectacular!  They stand about 2 1/2 feet tall.

And then tonight - technology was abandoned and we headed to our park.

(Michael saw this via pinterest and asked for one... so we made it)

Below - (from the weekend) - when I first downloaded these photos I thought a ninja had sunk into the house - (see the back pack that looks like it has eyes... right - fine - so it is just me and I'm mental... right... darn it!)

And just something different (this also from the weekend...) thought it might look funny in the yard... no, David, it is not in the yard .... not yet - gotta go pick it up .. ok - I'm kidding... I bought the boy version, but I couldn't post that here... trying to keep it PG - stop laughing - I totally didn't curse in this post. (yes, I double checked.)

xo my loves - sweet dreams!

leaving

Today was an emotional day.  Apparently two of the three of us needed to be emotional and a wee bit crazy - crazy to the point that I decided I was getting rid of the PS3 - I just bought it at Christmas time - but it doesn't help anything in life.  I'm sick of - can I play on it - I only have one game for it - and while we can enjoy our time on it, it - like all tech stuff - has become more than outside time - more than life.

Most of me wants to just sell it all - I love my rock band - love it - but we'd have more fun on a hike than we would playing the PS3.

So after a number of outbursts by Kyle - arguing with me about when I said he could play it next - because I said he could play on Friday night and then they didn't get to so when was he going to get to and on and on and on - and I finally broke - said it was all going.  

So it is leaving - I'll need to get a dvd player but that's it - all of it is going - I shouldn't have even bothered getting it.

And so Kyle has cried this evening a number of times because he is very sad that it is going.  We have had some really great times with it - but I know that our future is bigger and brighter than any good time that can be had with a piece of technology.  Sigh.. tough... very tough!

We had a birthday party to go today which was fun - played games, soccer, and saw an amazing cake and was shocked at how much food the kids could pack away.  We spent the morning gardening and then in the late afternoon I showed Michael some cool felt things I'd seen on pinterest (thank you, Carmen) and then he said he wanted to look - after 10 minutes he found a fox that he liked - and so - we built it.  Took longer than I thought but without a pattern and just looking at one online photo I think we did ok.

And now - I'm going to pack up the PS3 - sell it on Facebook - and go have a shower.

xo - xo my loves
hugs, smooches and love
may this week be amazing for all of us

and now - to go soak ... and wait - cuddle with Kyle - as he is yelling a request...

xo

sleep

Last night was super moon 2012 and, of course, we had cloud cover (there was a meteor shower last night too).  I managed to get a few shots, but had to drive half way to Nazko to get them and nearly smoked a deer on the way - thankfully the idiot looked up about a second before he decided to cross the road - glad he looked.

Today looks like it will be beautiful - but - it's been like this every morning for a while and it tends to go 'yuk' around 11am... so I hope we will miss that part of the day and just have gorgeous sunshine.

I'm tired this morning - sleeping on the couch did nothing for me last night - couldn't sleep - tossing and turning and finally just getting up because I was sick of the couch and didn't want to sleep in the bed.  My legs and my right hip were not super pleased about the run yesterday either... they were screaming at midnight about 'how could I - and who did I think I was' and I had a really sweet headache, near migraine - but all of it went away and I'm largely pain free this morning.

Guys should be here in a few minutes, they have a birthday party this afternoon - a good friend of mine - so we will all go to that and then I'm not sure what.  We could go on another Cariboo Safari, or head to my parents or just hangout at the house... I'll see what they want to do.

I hope you have a fantastic Sunday with lots of fun and laughs and sunshine!  I'll post photos tonight as I got a great fox photo, some of the moon and a bunch of great family ones :)  xo

do I look like a hooker...

Ambition got the best of me this afternoon - that plus a dash of boredom and a side of I really really really don't want to sit in the house today (ok and some inspiration - Ryan (trail runner blog on the side panel) is hitting a marathon run tomorrow and I thought while I'm in no condition for a marathon I could probably cut a quarter-thon this afternoon... - so I went off to do the river front trail - I ran/walked the first 5.2 km in 42 minutes and when I got back to the car I decided that I still had more energy and need for exercise and carried on - completing another lap (10.4 - woohoo - in 86 min -  Ryan will probably run the while marathon in that tomorrow... lol).

I get to the mid section of the trail and find a poor lady who has pretty rough road (river) rash - she fell in the river - climbed out - wet, cold, messy leg - so I lent her my phone so she could call for a ride - and then I carried on - she wasn't dying and didn't need 911 or anything like that... I get about 1 km from that point - clipping along - when out of the corner of my eye a notice truck pulling up beside me - initial thought - lord - I must look like phebi (feebee - Friends) running again - and someone is worried they let the 'special' people out for a run today and the truck is pulling up to cheer me on... ha... ok - now all jokes aside - I slow up wondering what is going on - and this old man has his window down and again my brain thinks - gees - maybe this old geezer needs help... well yes, he does... 'hey, do you need a ride?' - I say 'no, thanks' - seriously - I'm on the f-ing trail - blatantly - in my running gear - clipping along... he gives me this weird nod and then slowly goes away - crossing the street in front of me - and then all the training I hope my kids understand kicks in - and I run to the corner and get his license plate - because fear has now joined the run.  What if he loops back around the corner and tries to get you - I've put in more than 8km at this point and I'm not going to make much of a get away - especially against a truck - I text David the license plate - just in case - and carry on.  Freakin' creepy.  It bugs me the rest of the run - really bugs me.

I get back to the car and happen to see a cop - I ask if I should bother reporting it - she says yes - so I call it in - explain my little story and then go get tea.  I try to go for a drive and then don't want to ... so now I'm home - had a shower and am not sure what I'll do the rest of the night - while it is harmless - was harmless, it continues to bug me... rrrrrr (insert really loud angry pirate noises).  SIGH!  I don't want my running experiences to be tarnished by something like this - but it has. The worst is that it conjures up other things for me and that bugs me - really bugs me... and so I will sit here and ponder things and eventually - hopefully - feel compelled to make something to eat or at the very least - be compelled to go and by new drumsticks so I can play rock band.

I'll have more later - just wanted to vent here... blah.

xo

safe, sound and a little bit damaged - but really - what's new about that :)
love to you!

i was just about to...

I took a bit of a hiatus from blogging - turns out that when I have a life and David is home I'm less inclined to blog... I think it speaks volumes about my life over the course of blogging for more than 10 years now... sigh.

And so - you should have guessed by now that David is making the trek back to Vancouver - sadly without me this weekend - our goodbyes are tear filled, but this mornings came with a new phone so we can FaceTime from afar and stay better connected.  Hooray.

And so ... what has happened - well I don't have much time right now - taking up my lunch to blog - but had to share one story from the past two weeks...

Turn on your imagination...

It is Sunday, quiet, beautiful - good weather for a hot dog roast - so we pile in the car and drive to Nazko for some afternoon wiener roasting and marshmallow browning.

We enjoy some yummy wieners and watermelon that seems to taste like orange because an orange sat just a little too close to the watermelon when we bust out the marshmallows - we cook many - many, many - and then the last round seems to be on the fire - Kyle has cooked six (6) at the same time... enough for all... and as luck would have it Michael buggers off to play and one of the marshmallows does a dive into the fire... so with five masterfully cooked mallows come to the table.  Grandma (yes, mom) takes one off - passes it - takes another off, passes it - then takes one off and says - to Kyle - while holding it up in the air - wow - these totally look like assholes...

pin drop


We look at each other.

Did she just tell Kyle that these marshmallows look like assholes...



bwahahahahahahahahaha

We howl!  I mean - nearly peeing our pants - howl....


And then what does my mom say - well - I just haven't eaten this much sugar in a long time, that's what happens when I have too much sugar... so note to self - don't feed mom sugar - she turns into a cursing pirate...

More stories tonight... plus photos...

xo

friday

Tonight I'm alone.  First night in quite a while.  I took my chance to run the river front trail which I shockingly completed in 40 minutes - I had to walk parts and also had work phone calls and great texts... then I did a little shopping at a big 50% off sale at Carvers - got to try on clothes and wander around - now I'm home - have some clean up to do and well... I'm not sure what else right now.

It has been a wicked long week - work was challenging (wow - that's polite) and held very few rewards - I had one rewarding moment but that didn't cross out all of the other things that were... challenging.

On my run I ran into a fox - he was packing stuff to his den - he kind of looked at me like - 'what -this is my trail too' - and off he went.  Running helped take away the challenges of this week and I'm thinking of hitting the trail in the morning too - just to get some extra work out time in.  I feel like I could have run longer tonight and only stopped because I got back to the car.

Ok and a few more things to smile about...

And ... David comes home tomorrow - hooray :)

Ok - off to do something... 

xo 

yep - I love them!

A big storm came into Quesnel tonight and rather than just give up and go home for the night after work we ran in the house, dropped off our stuff, grabbed what we needed and ran back out the door to hit West Fraser Timber Park before it really really started raining... here is the outcome of our adventure tonight... it definitely made my LONG day better...

Our new fun with photography is faces and body shape when you jump out of a swing... Kyle likes to go super high and then toss himself out of the swing.. so much fun!  He is free and I love shooting it!

He went across this one a couple of times... 

Monkey (a really long tall monkey)

I love this photo - crazy kids - well trained

More jumping out of the swing photos

This whole 30 minute adventure in the park turned my day around.  This plus some ACDC and Timberland seemed to clear things a bit.  I've postponed the photo review - don't need anything else bringing me down tonight - not after my day - so I'm going to crochet, read and journal (yes - I still write on real paper and not just on here... )

xo

note to self

Mr. Hugh Culver - a wicked super smart British Columbian and master of time management and many other things emailed me great advise that I totally procrastinated on reading and then yesterday I read it and did something about it...  you see - he talks about getting those things accomplished that are taking up your time in your head that you could easily get done - allowing you to move forward... (you can listen to his free seminars and get free info all the time here - http://www.hughculver.com/ he is fantastic and it will be worth your time to sign up and listen to his advise )

I had a few of these things... that could be "easily" completed and then I could stop worrying about them...

1. A pile on my desk that I lovingly called - the reading pile - this pile continued to grow - I swear the newspapers were 'doing it' in my office.  Today I took the entire pile to the recycling bin and stood over the recycling bin and threw things out.  Shocking to me was a paper that I'd had for more than a year and when I actually read the damned thing I found out it was based on stats from the 70s and really weren't applicable anymore... blah... so lesson - read crap as it comes in or recycle

2. Email - I have gobs of emails that I was hoarding.  I kept telling myself (again) that at some point I was going to read them - and fancy that - hadn't... (thank god I didn't print them) so how do you tackle more than 3000 emails... well first I sorted them by who they were from and immediately deleted the ones I absolutely knew I was not going to read.  Then I deleted all the work related ones because my home computer - you got it... it's my home computer... and work is not my life... not any more... then I went through the rest of the emails and since last night I've purged more than 2900 and am working through the last of the emails tonight.  (update - 11:27pm - finished all the emails... only one left and it is a recipe I want to print... or somehow pin to pinterest and look at later...)

3. Photos - 100,000 (plus) which needed to be uploaded off my laptop and put on the new computer.  So that part is done... and now I need to sort the photos and purge some.  I plan to keep the bulk of them - just not in my main photo database as the kids need all the photos - past, present and future - I just don't need to be looking at them all the time... so this organization of photography is a long time coming and also helps with future projects - like the book writing...


xo


and really... go look at Hugh's website - you won't regret it - he is awesome!

p.p.s - I did my taxes - finished... easier than I had even remotely imagined - hooray! hip hip hooray! (imagine pooh bear and the 100 acre woods gang singing when they were able to free Winnie the Pooh from the honey tree... that was kind of what I did... a little happy dance and song...)

Hurray for you
Hurray for me
Hooray, hooray
My money will soon be free

Dum da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum
Now the time has come for proving
What paying my taxes did for me
And since I pledged to finish them
That's what I'm going to do

I'll be pulled and I'll be tugged
And eventually unplugged
We'll have a tug of war
To open Harper's door

Think deduction-age, think contribution-age
And out the money will go-age
For mind over matter
Will make the Government unfatter

Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!
Heave! Heave! Heave! Heave! Heave!


And out came my tax return... yep - a wee bit of money back to me... amazing... really really amazing... 

night

My brain is not functioning properly tonight.  My emotions seem to be getting the best of me and just running wild.  Just to top things off tonight Michael spent an hour crying about his first wiggly tooth.  He'd cry and complain and fight me on just wiggling it to see how bad it really is and then go to bed, then get right back up and ask me to pull it out, then chicken out and cry and cry.  Sigh.  This moment put my day in perspective though.  I wasn't in physical pain, I have a roof over my head, I have happiness, I have love - I have a lot - and so... a wiggly tooth taught me a lesson tonight.


 More about lessons.... something I read somewhere recently... 



A professor stood before his Philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.  "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. 


"The golf balls are the important things - your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

"The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. 

"The sand is everything else--the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
"The same goes for life. "If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
"Play with your children.
"Take time to get medical checkups.
"Take your partner out to dinner.
"There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
"Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.
"Set your priorities.
"The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.  "It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a cup of coffee with a friend."


xo - my loves, my friends, my family - many many xo's :)

cheese touch

Tonight the mystery of the 'cheese touch' was solved.  For many months now the kids start to poke each other and shout - cheese touch - and the only way to get out cheese touch is to touch someone else and give it away. Pretty much tag - except you can get out of the cheese touch if you have your fingers crossed or some other part of your body crossed.

Enter the movie tonight - Diary of a Wimpy Kid - and it all comes together.. You see there was a piece of cheese in the movie that got all disgusting and gross on the playground and it kept getting more and more disgusting so all the kids just kept watching it getting grosser and grosser and then one kid touched it - the kids go nuts because he touched the disgusting cheese - and that's how he got the cheese touch. Everyone then avoided this kid until he was able to touch another kid and give the cheese touch away...

Next thing you know they'll be explaining how to use the new i'shit' and I'll be crying in the corner...

spring!

David went back to the coast to work this week so we spent the afternoon farting around.  Fun points - I gave Kyle my camera while I worked on the car and Michael asked to be his subject.  So now I have a series of photos of Michael doing crazy things and also mooning the camera -multiple times... at his request.

I also let the guys walk to the park (its about three houses away) alone... I know they are old enough to do that stuff... but - well I get the scaredy-squirrel feeling - like I can't let them go anywhere alone... but all was good... and it lead to the following photographs...

Little bumble bees on our lilac shrub... (or is this plant called something else... I've heard a different name but it definitely looks like lilac flowers but smells like 'suntan lotion' - notes Kyle)

Helper #1

Lead wiener

Helper # 2 - hamming it up

Messing around at the park

Fun with shadows and timing

Wicked awesome action! Leaping Kyle.  No children were injured during the filming of this photograph.

Winter tires off - summer tires on - 4 tires on and installed in 56 minutes! Yeah baby!  

I know... Kal Tire could have done it in 30 minutes but what fun would that be for me - plus I'd have to pay for it... and this was way funnier - plus I got to teach the guys about changing tires.

easter

We celebrated this easter with an eggtra special event...

(And yes - I know - I'm a week late...)

Michael's plan - wrap it with blue paper, wrap it in duct tape - then strap a support egg to the lead egg... and ... hope for the best.

Scientific Kyle

My attempt... complete with chick support team

David holding his 'vessel' - a plastic container filled with filler and the egg...

David with the launch series

And Kyle was the only architect with the correct kind of transport for his egg to survive.

Sigh - amazing easter - can't wait to do this next year... might even open up the event to friends and neighbours... 

More photos tonight - planning to head out and take a few photos - xo

sunday

Just a quick happy Easter to everyone.  We are waiting for the easter egg hunters to come home this morning and then it will be on... the Easter bunny did a pretty good job in the back yard and we can't wait to see the kids get into the search this morning...

xo 

more photos

Me in front of the Goonie Jail -yep - it really is there.... 

Goonie rocks - those ones they look through the skeleton key with... this is Cannon Beach and FANTASTIC!

And that's about it for tonight - feeling better- one sore spot... definitely on the mend.

xo :)

purge

So the great purge is finished.  I've cleaned up and the only messy piece left is what remains of the yarn.  I tossed a pile of it today because, while I love my grandma and want to build things that remind me of her, I know that I simply won't use the wool and that some of it was just not good working material anymore as it has sat for far too long.  So some went to Sally Ann and some to the trash heap.  (Yes, Mel - I have slippers, and three toques.  Do you want me to hold them till the season is upon us again... or just send them out...)

I'm working on a blanket to use up most of the scraps and things are going ok on that.  I'm about a foot into - it is colourful and fun - exactly what I wanted.

I put up pictures and really feel like more need to go up but I ran out of frames and I'm not 100% sure where frames and photos should go.  So I'm taking a break from that, but it is nice to have a few things up.

And that's about it - I'm going to get back to working on the blanket and chill out for the rest of the night - I actually ended up busy and out of the house most of the day which was a nice break given that I've been in the house all week.  Cold is still not completely gone but it seems that the good guys have the upper hand right now.  xo.

ok - a couple photos... i couldn't resist - and needed a break

Salt and pepper (yuck) salt was pasty and pepper was likely dirt

Really.. this photo was taken because there are boobies in it - so it was very funny there. 

I figure that if you pull on this it would open up a black hole.

Or it could be a fuse for a large explosion that blow this beach off the map. 

Ok - a small - small sampling... more to come :)  xo - hugs -