what to do

I have a contractor who I've become pretty fond of - not like that you bunch of asses - ok - so pretty fond is wrong... he is good person and I watch out for him... does that sound better... lord - anyway he came to my office today for work but before we got to what was available and what he was interested in he gave me an update on his life. He gets through some work stuff and then gets to his health. He tells me he's been diagnosed with Parkinson's. It hit me like a brick in the face. I didn't even know what to say. It has put a lump in my stomach all day. So I'm looking for advise. What do you say in a situation like? We carried on and talked about work and how much he might be able to take on with his health changing and I just wanted to cry. I don't really know him that well but the thought of everything that he must be going through plus I'm thinking about my family and what I would do I just wanted to have a mental breakdown all day. When I told my boss I thought I was going to start crying my eyes out - I held it together, but the super glue is wearing thin.

So what do you say/do? Maybe there isn't a right answer to all of this.

I'm tired and need sleep - in laws are here for the weekend - arrived tonight and I need my sleep so I'm not an ass to them. They don't deserve my bitchy side... she crept out today for a moment but I stuffed her back in the closet and said I would feed her some chocolate if she only behaved... :)

bumps and bruises

We get a little daily report card on Michael - usually its... he ate lunch, he ate snacks - this is what he ate - we need diapers... whatever - not much else - today I get a big long thing and right away I'm worried... the girl who spends most of her day with Michael nearly ran out of space on the card...

Today Michael ran into another child - they bumped heads - this was the first bump
He then fell on top of the teacher and she had her mouth open - so he impaled his little head (other side) on her tooth - no permanent damage - bruised but not broken skin... He also has a bump on his head and we don't know where that came from.

He runs to me every day with a big loud 'mom' and right away he's pointing to ow-wees... it was pretty funny. He was fine and it was just another day on the playground/classroom.

The flood waters are receding.. we are nearly back to 8 metres this morning. The creek is lowering and with the cool weather we have right now I think we've seen the worst of it.

language skills

So Michael is advancing in his language skills so fast that I can barely keep up. He really likes Shrek - he thinks the little toy we got at McDonald's is quite fantastic... it says three things... a bulch or fart.. not sure which and 'I'm on it' and 'I'm an ogre' he is saying both. Yes it is a little blended together - but he is definitely saying it - I got him to say 'love you' and then he has an assortment of words - hat, cat, dog, meow, hello, bye, (doesn't like hi), kyle, mom, dad, daddy, bear, - ok I could go on and on... It is pretty funny seeing him say I'm on it... he doesn't know what it means and just likes to say it.

He was 17 months on Sunday.

because I like all the pictures.. wouldn't take them otherwise

how high will it go

So here it is the morning. It was just under 9 metres on the Moffat Bridge - running from downtown Quesnel to West quesnel. Water has been filling up the loop in West Quesnel for a couple of days - this morning at 8:30 the road was still clear but by 9am it was crossing the road. You can still drive under the bridge from Bouchie Lake but I think they will close it tomorrow. It is quite the sight. I haven't seen it go up this high in a long time.

They said this morning that we have 5 ft before there will be serious problems. We probably have 4 feet left now. It is definitely still going up and it has finally started to back up the creek. You could walk through the creek this weekend, which was super weird, and now it is full again... but not as high as it was in the spring. It is odd now because it is calm.

On the retard note - someone actually tried to swim across the river in this. There are giant trees and who knows what else coming down that river and this moron tried to cross. They didn't make it, however, they didn't die. Search and rescue fast water crew showed up and got him out.

the river at 8 metres....

Here's the river yesterday at 8 metres. We are higher now...

did someone order rain

sleeping with people

What the hell is wrong with the people on facebook? I'm am sincerely happy to be back in touch with some people. I have wanted quite a few people to be more involved in my life and I more involved in theirs, and facebook is making that happen. However, I just went to my homepage and see Dave has posted some retarded thing about... 'hey if you want to sleep with me or if you want to date me reply to this... like everyone's doing it - it's the new rage - oh and if you opened this you have to do it because I say...' are we that narcissistic? (I know that is a big word for me...) I'm picking on Dave here, but I have seen other equally "i love myself" shit that I just don't get it. The survey stuff doesn't bother me - if you want to share, I'll read it... but this is too much.

I guess online we feel we can say and do anything we like... but I just find this offense. Maybe it should be called pimpbook.

And that is my public service announcement for today.

climbing

This morning when I dropped the kids off for daycare the water level was just cresting 8 metres. Since Friday we've seen a 1 metre gain in the Fraser. I went out for a meeting and came back to the water level at 11 (2 hours later) and the 8 wasn't visible. I've been told we might see it peak on Wednesday now. Given that it went up about a foot in two hours it could go up by a metre by the time I go home from work.

I'll load some photos tonight. It is quite amazing - if your into disasters :)

off button

Alright - someone please turn off the heat. More than 30 degrees... GO AWAY! Of course the boys don't want to sleep, of course I don't want to cook, this heat is terrible... I say that but I have enjoyed my weekend... can I say that? I actually feel like I had a weekend off. I didn't get that much done, but I did feel like I was away from work... despite the phone calls and emails.

It is too hot to sleep.

I guess I will finish some work and then wait for the house to cool off enough to sleep. Heading to Kelowna this weekend - hooray! four days! I can't wait to go. Alright off to workin'.

burnt skin

I guess it is a theme week around here. I got a great burn on my back yesterday and then met my grandma and uncle phil at farmer's market this morning - the sun just killed the burn... I was wanting to go and hide after five minutes.

The highland games are today and it is supposed to get to 31 degrees... I feel sorry for them - I guess most will drink away the sun burns and heat stroke.


Sadly I have to go and clean up today... so I'm off to do that. I'm hoping to get some scrapbooking done this afternoon in my cool basement - it truly is the only escape right now - I just don't like to sit in it too long because then I can't bare to come upstairs.

Enjoy the weather though - I understand it is supposed to turn back into spring on Monday.

Flood update - the Fraser River is now at the 7 1/2 metre mark on our bridge. It is definitely on the rise and if goes up to 8 metres we will definitely see some flooding in Quesnel. We appear to be quite safe - Baker Creek isn't backing up yet and the creek level is quite low.

some pics

So here a Nazko wild orchid - I think it is actually a type of lady slipper, but it looks like it could be from the orchid family. Very beautiful... little... very little. You'd definitely miss them if you weren't searching the ground for them.


I different angle of the beautiful "orchid".


A forget-me-not at Blessings Grave on the way to Barkerville.

I went to Barkerville for some of my day with our photographer and web designer. It was great to see him action. He has some excellent gear! We stopped at a bunch of sites I've never been to... unfortunately I go a nasty burn on my back, boobs and shoulders... ARG! I knew it was hot, I knew the sun was out - but I really tried to stay in the shade. It is not the worst burn I've ever had... just red and a little sore... When I was 6 or 7 years old I went to a friends and we all went to 10 Mile Lake for the day. The mom of the other girl let us play in the sun - on the lake - ALL DAY! I came home with the nastiest burn and I got yelled at forever (ok not forever...) for it. My mom was furious - I looked like a tomato... and of course I got sun stroke - so I was sick on top of all of it... oh the good old days.

burnt throat

So last night I was sick - muchos sick. I don't know for certain what set me off. I know that I had a bit of a panic/anxiety thing going on at 1am. I came out to the couch to try and sleep. Then I just started getting sick. Then of course Michael decided to get up and remind me just how bad things can get. So he is crying and I'm trying to hurl,... and could I take today off... nnnooooo - meeting day for me and I couldn't skip out. Jenni - sorry I didn't call - I will try tomorrow - I didn't get home until 9:30 and then I had to get the kids to bed still...

Why am I still up? Not sure - in a state of tiredness and sick feeling... I'm not good at being sick and I hate barfing! Hate it! I told work it was food poisoning but I only ate some homemade salsa (tomatoe, avocado, onion), watermelon and egg - not in that order - the onion was strong but shouldn't have done what it did to me...

Paula - thanks for calling - I'm glad I can open my vent around you - thanks for chatting and listening.

Alright I'm going to try and sleep.

we be jammin', we be jammin

How long does jam last for?

And now some random photos...

speed mowing

I decided that I was going to mow my lawn during my lunch break. It definitely needed to be done and with the kids, I have zero time to mow it in the evenings and weekends. So I get home, run back out to get gas for the mower and then fill it up. I run it to the front yard and... nothing - the damned thing won't start. I check everything. I'm mad - I'm spending my lunch wasting my time now - ARG! So I take it to the back yard and at 12:22 I call my parents - they used it last. I'm all 'so I was hoping someone could call me back and tell me how they got the mower to work - cause I can't seem to get it to start, although by the time you get this message I will be back at work and unable to mow my lawn' ARG and then as I hang up my phone I see what I was looking for... the pump start... "push here three times to get started" - and brrrrrmmm it was off and running. Now crunched for time I speed mow - I was mowing like no one should under the hot beautiful sun... and at 12:36 I was back in my car and driving back to work - I mowed the front and back lawn (not that they are that big) in, what I'm calling, a record of 14 minutes - this includes transporting the mower from the back to the front and then back in the shed. I still had time to get changed and come back to work. AMAZING! So now I shared :-) PHEW! Now I just need to work....

Oh and still looking for tips for getting Michael to sleep through the night... HELP!

cast away

Oh how I love cast away. It is not a good movie. I know that most people don't like it, but I love it. I could watch it over and over again... and tonight I could have if I didn't have kids. Some channel has been playing it all day... in fact I caught some of the start and managed to come back for the end... I hate the ending. So now I'm going to change channels... alright - over to Ramsey. I'm trying to work on one of my contracts - and holy heck I'm struggling with it. I just need some creative juices to flow.

Landed a sitter for this week... lord - what a pain in the ass - family friend - hooray! And she's going to pick the kids up after daycare - hooray! This whole thing makes me sad though - back to the whole why did I have kids - I can't even see them in the evenings. This week I've got 7 hours after my 9-5, plus all the rest of my work load. My mom is going away to 'camp' or Waco as I'm calling it right now. I was told by my sitter that it was about homeopathy... news to me. She hasn't talked to me about it and we were out visiting yesterday.

Wildlife... went to Nazko yesterday and saw a brown bear on the way back... that's 10 points on the nature card... yee haw! We are also working on our chinese right now. I bought cd's for the car on our last trip to Kelowna, because I can't tolerate the dvd running the whole time... Kyle enjoyed the cd and even chimed in - he complains that I should only repeat after the girl and he after the boy. I screw it up all the time and he reminds me every time. We haven't learned too much... but we have picked up a couple of new things. The alzheimer's clock isn't clicking as loud now. :)

Alright I'm off to do more work and finish prep.

another facebook survey

Carmen had this on her facebook page. I thought - hey, it's friday night - why not answer a survey... lord I'm such a lame ass....

TEN YEARS AGO

How old were you? 20
Where did you go to school? UNBC
Where did you work? UNBC
Where did you live? UNBC
Where did you hang out? 209, ruggles, king
What was your hair style? long and up
Did you wear glasses? nope
Who were your best friends? lots - everybody from floor hockey
How many tattoos did you have? none
How many piercings did you have?: none
What car did you drive? Carmen's truck, Paula's car, Erin's truck
What was your worst fear? Never getting laid again
Had you driven yet? Yes
Had you been to a real party yet? um, I think that whole year was pretty much a party
Had your heart broken? Yes
Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter: Single/Taken/Bitter/Single/Taken

FIVE YEARS AGO

How old were you? 25
Where did you go to school ? Workin'
Where did you work? Northwest Community College and then I was on EI
Where did you live? Houston (4 months) - Quesnel 8 months
Where did you hang out? No where... in my house
How was your hair style? Long and up
Did you wear glasses? no
Who were your best friends? Paula, Aunti Jenni
Who was your regular-person crush? I was in love...
How many tattoos did you have? none
How many piercings did you have?: ears
What car did you drive? Ford F150
What was your favorite band/group? Backstreet Boys
What was your worst fear? Eating (I was pregnant and sick most of the year)
Had you been to a real party yet? I hadn't been partying - those years were over
Had your heart broken? No more broken heart...
Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter: Taken and then married - Five magical years in June

MAY 2007

How old are you?: 30 - lord
Where do you work? Economic Development Quesnel
Where do you live? Quesnel
Where do you hang out? work, house, Wal-mart - for the air conditioning
How is your hair style? layered, shorter, down
Do you wear glasses? no
Who are your best friends? Paula, Aunti Jenni
Do you talk to your old friends? facebook has made this much easier - I did send Christmas cards to most...
How many piercings do you have? ears only
How many tattoos? yep - I've had it for a year
What kind of car do you have? Honda CRV and Ford F-150
What is your favorite band/group? JT, Timbaland
What is your biggest fear? I've got a few
Have you been arrested, if so how many times total? Sorry - I didn't join this club
Has your heart been broken?: no
Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter: married

yummers

My grandma used to make the best macaroni and cheese. I could have eaten buckets of it when I was a kid. Between this and her spaghetti sauce (and of course her buns)... ok she was a great cook... I've wondered how she came up with that fantastic flavor and I never asked. I remembered her having velvetta in the house, but I tried that and it wasn't the same.

Tonight I made mac and cheese (and peas and weiners) for the boys lunch tomorrow and I didn't have the box stuff and needed to make sauce. Feeling lazy I decided to just put some cheez whiz into the noodles and hope it tasted ok... and with that decision I found her secret. She definitely used Cheez Whiz... I will admit that tonight it is not tasting as fabulous - more because I'm having terrible heart burn - but it is definitely the stuff I craved.



What else... the kids playing tonight. Michael had his first hair cut tonight and didn't bat an eye to it. The weather has been beautiful and we take full advantage of our evenings on the deck.


And just so you know... they have started growing on trees, in case you need a pair.

bite me - bite you

So here it is. I don't know how clear that is going to be, but I definitely have a bite mark there. I'm not some looney. And this isn't because I wear bare feet all the time... thank you very much - you could just as easily get bit wearing shoes - think about a spider or snake climbing into your shoe and lurking - waiting for your little toes to enter and then it would be on... isn't that how most people get bit by black widows... just thought I would clear that up :) This isn't going to change my shoe (less) wearing habits.

I'm totally slackin' today... lord. I need a coffee.

home again home again slithery slop

After an eight hour ride home - 5 hours filled of Michael's whines and cries.. lord!

We had a fairly uneventful evening, other than Michael not wanting to sleep - ARG again! My foot was bugging me though - it had been bugging me all day. When we finally got to Quesnel it was a constant bothering - like a little mosquito buzzing around your head - bzz bzzz... I didn't pay much attention to it... then after I had a shower I noticed that I had two clear bite marks on my tattoo. I was a little (alot) surprised by the finding. It was bugging me enough this morning that I decided to take my foot to the dr... better safe than sorry - I like my feet and wouldn't want to have to replace them :) I tell my doctor I've been in Kelowna and I said I think I've been biten by something. He looks at my foot and starts talking about snakes in Africa. "I've seen lots of snake bites. Most times the effect is immediate. If it was poisonous you would be sick, or having brain problems. Looks like a snake bite... didn't you know you were...." So then I'm kind of like... um - I guess I slept on the floor for a couple of nights. You'd think I would notice getting bit by a snake though. He just kind of scratches his head and looks at me like... look lady you should know you were bit- why don't you know... almost looking at me like I'm lying - like I need to lie about getting bit by a snake... so the jury is out on this one... note to Andy - don't sleep on the floor in your place...

After that I went to Safeway and see one of my grandma's old work friends outside the building. I haven't seen her in ages and say hello. She immediately asks how Grandma is. I just about had a mental breakdown over it. It really threw a big rusty smelly wrench into my day. I apologized and told her she'd passed in November. Each word tasted bad. Each word worst than the next, curdling as I said them. I explained what happened and how things went. She told me she'd seen her at Dunrovin last year and she'd said hello and she had thought she'd recognized her. It all sounded like lies - it feels longer - enough though I know it isn't. Then she said - it must be hurting the family - my eyes filled up - like they are now writing this - (I didn't cry, but was very much on the brink) and I simply said yes. She told me she'd moved to Vernon and was just up visiting. That she was glad to have run into me and at least found out. I said goodbye and wanted to throw up, wanted to run, wanted to talk with someone about her and reminise some more. So that is my day right now - I still have some work to do - so I better get to it. I guess this is all part of grief - it sucks.

gyro park

I decided to take the kids to the beach for lunch today. A nice outing, more time to unwind and the weather - while not as fabulous as yesterday, works for me because I'm not into the weather once it passes 30 degrees.

We enter the park (same place we went last night) and found people hot boxing their van in the parking lot. No big deal right - just lock up your car... sure, so I do that and make our way to a picnic table. First table we find has a crack addict sitting at the table - I try to avoid eye contact so she doesn't feel the need to follow us. We make our way to another table and find a couple eating lunch - ok - better... I unload and no sooner have we started eating that a cyclist comes through the park (kyle - mom he's riding on the grass...) the table once filled with a couple is now empty and he takes up residence. I make no judgement. He appears to just be a cyclist - no worries. We eat lunch and enjoy the breeze coming off the lake. And the first beer is opened across from us along with a cigarette. Great. So we start packing up and make our way down to the beach. Now I'm biased and watch him more carefully just in case he decides to cross my path. He is eyeing up everyone that passes by. ARG - crappy beach... so we go down to the water but now I'm nervous - I know he is watching and there are few people on the beach. I managed to control my urge to flee and we stayed for 30 minutes. Michael was starting to get ready for a nap and I decided we should get going. Of course, we walked back from the beach without shoes and we get within about 50 feet of the car and find some tard has disposed of his beer bottle on the sidewalk. ARG again!

So nothing great to report from the land of Kelowna. I guess the reason Quesnel has one of the highest crime rates is because our citizens report disturbances and don't want to tolerate the types of things I crossed path with today.

What else? Well since I'm complaining about Kelowna - does the sky ever clear here? It has been socked in with smog since we arrived - there have been clear points up here but nothing in the valley. Alright enough whining... off to spend time with Kyle while Michael is enjoying his siesta.

birds

My sister is doing the walk for MS and they are trying to fundraise... (why is MS so close to the cancer walk for life - POOR PLANNING) If you have a little or a lot she would appreciate you donating to the research at her team site

Still in Kelowna and this afternoon it actually felt like I was on vacation. Andy bought a great deck swing for $10 at a garage sale down here and me and the boys curled up in it. There was a light breeze and it was beautiful out... it was awesome. We went to the beach tonight and that was great. I did have some work stuff today but this afternoon helped me unwind... everyone now... deep sigh - AAAAHHHHHHH!

We went to farmers market and grocery shopping this morning. On the way there I get this.... 'mom, mom... there's a bird, do you see it, do you see it, do you see it,' yes kyle i see it...(still looking... where is that darn bird... - oh there...) yes, kyle i see it - 'mom do you see it, do you see it - mom it's a nose picker' I start laughing, I mean really laughing and then I catch my breathe enough to say, um do you mean wood pecker... he laughs - 'oh yeah, that's what i meant' I'm still laughing about it - and now i have something to bug him about - tonight i asked him if he saw the nose picker bird and he just goes 'oh mom' - i love him :)

Alright - back to the vacation - hooray!

vancouver

After a lengthy seven hours from Kelowna to Van (should have taken 5 max) then dropping the kids off, getting lost (kind of) and then attending my board meeting late I finally have a couple of minutes to say hello. My meetings have been good and I'm not one who is easily impressed by conferences. Today was better than most days at conferences and I managed to meet a few professionals I've never met before and sit on one great discussion and one good discussion - I also got to have sushi for lunch and dinner - HOORAY!

Now I have a nostril that will not stop running and I'm convinced it is the elevation change and that I'm just trying to adjust.

It is Mom's day on Sunday - so call your mommies and tell them how much you love them.

I'm back at the conference tomorrow - hoping for another interesting day - then a new conference on Saturday in downtown Vancouver... that one should be interesting,... not as grand but still good for new info...

Good night my hens and chicks - sleep well.

kelowna

So we made it here and are enjoying the sun and fine weather. It has been raining since we left Quesnel a couple of days ago. From Andy's computer desk I can see Okanagan Lake, a bunch of vineyards and orchards and the mountains. It is pretty awesome.

Spent the weekend with family and enjoyed aunti wendy playing ultimate (think of playing frisbee, but instead of just playing with a friend you have a team and the frisbee is more like a football in terms of getting points... very cool) and see Connie and Jen. It was nice to chat and remember the past - It was also nice to just talk with Connie, our reunion didn't really give me the time to chat - or rather I was so disappointed with most of it that I just wanted to go home and didn't really feel like chatting with people - so this was great because I really missed that with Connie.

The boys are enjoying the change of activities since we have hit a park nearly every day we've been here.

Negatives - I busted my wedding ring. I was going to bed a week ago and realized I couldn't turn my ring. My ring must have saved my finger from something pretty heavy. In any case it was pretty flat looking... when we got here Wendy looked at it and said - hey it's cracked and I'm all yeah I know and then I was like - WHAT? I didn't even notice that it was broken. So I need to go and fix my band while I'm in van...

I need to prep for a board meeting tomorrow - I hope the sun is shining or the weather is doing what you'd like it to wherever you are.

from carmen's facebook

So this is a long.... long "survey" type thing... if you feel like doing it on your blog or facebook space let me know and I will link it up...

A
- Available: No
Age: 30
- Annoyance: Too many things to list... ok - #1 right now is people who think they know everything
- Actor: Ewan McGregor

B
- Beer: No thanks
- Birthday/Birthplace: Dec 29 - good ole' Quesnel
- Best Friends: Paula
- Body Part on opposite sex: um, biceps, chest, my list could go on and on right - I'm definitely love starved....
- Best feeling in the world: Succeeding at something you've worked hard at
- Big words: nothing comes to mind tonight... I tell you what - add this to the annoyance list - I hate it when people use big words when they could just as easily use a regular human word, but want you to think that they are uber (i hate uber) smart and because they are using a big word it is obvious to all that they are... asses...
- Best weather: Big puffy snow
- Been in Love: Yes
- Been bitched out?: Yes
- Been on stage?: Yes
- Believe in yourself?: For most things
- Believe in life on other planets: Yes
- Believe in miracles: Not sure
- Believe in Magic: No
- Believe in God: No
- Believe in Satan: No
- Believe in Santa: Of course
- Believe in Ghosts/spirits: No (but I did read the allison dubois book and I do have doubts now...)
- Believe in Evolution: Yes

C
- Car: I've got a CRV - not lovin' it - but it works
- Candy: Runts - orange
- Colour: blue
- Cried in school: Yes - cried during a presentation to add drama - very sad - very well performed - definitely oscar worthy
- Chocolate/Vanilla: neither
- Chinese/Mexican: Chinese - duh
- Cake or pie: mmmmm PIE! - well sort of - not so much right now
- Country to visit: China
D
- Day or Night: Day
- Dream vehicle: not sure - definitely not a mini van but I don't think I'm going to get out of that
- Danced: yes - not so much anymore
- Dance in the rain?: yes
- Do the splits?: not so much

E
- Eggs: Poached
- Eyes: Blue
- Everyone has a: an evil side
- Ever failed a class? Yes, yes and yes

F
- First crush: Corey
- First kiss: can't remember
- Full name: April Marie Cheng
- First thoughts waking up: Where are the kids
- Food: popcorn twists

G
- Greatest Fear: Death
- Giver or taker: both
- Goals: to live forever
- Gum: not so much
- Get along with your parents?: Yes
- Good luck charm: nope

In girls/guys:
Eye colour: Brown/Dark
Hair Colour: Dark
Short/Long: Short
Height: Taller for sure
Clothing Style: Uniform

H
- Hair Colour: Blonde
- Height: 5'8"
- Happy: Yes
- Holiday: no favorite
- How do you want to die: I told you I'm going to live forever... gees
- Health freak?: A little bit
- Hate: Fat
- Hockey Team: Vancouver Canucks
I
- Ice cream: Blackforest
- Instrument: Flute, oboe

J
- Jewellery: Ring, earrings, necklace (occassionally)
- Job: Office & Project Manager - Jane of all trades

K
- Kids: Two
- Kickboxing or karate: nope - taebo
- Keep a journal?: yes

L
- Longest Car Ride: Red Wood Forest
- Love: all the time - all you need is love, love is a many splendid thing,
- Letter: A
- Laughed so hard you cried: Yes
- Love at first sight: Yes
- Long Distance Relationships: Yes... boo hoo hoo

LAST PERSON WHO...
1. Slept in a bed beside you? Hubby... well I guess the kids...
2. Saw you cry? Hubby, and the kids... "mom why is there water on your face..."
3. Went to the movies with you? Hubby
4. You went to the mall with? What mall... I guess the Kelowna mall was the last one I was at.. so Hubby and kids
5. You went to dinner with? my board - wholy -I'm lame
6. You talked to on the phone? Gord my sign guy
7. Made you laugh? Kyle

M
- Milk flavour: Soya...
- Movie: Love actually - plus hundreds more
-Mooned anybody: uuummmmmm - no it wasn't me
- Marriage?: Yes
- Motion sickness? Yes

N
- Number of Siblings: 2
- Number of Piercings: 2
- Number: eight hundred million

O
- Overused Phrases: i hate hearing 'like' - I'm a recovering like-aholic
- One wish: ummmm live forever ;)
- One phobia: lots

P
- Place you'd like to live: vancouver island
- Perfect Pizza: alfredo chicken
- Pepsi/Coke: neither

Q
- Quail: rhymes with hail

R
- Reason to cry: everything
- Reality T.V.: Survivor
- Radio Station: CBC
- Roll your tongue in a circle? Yes
- Rolling Stones/ Rascall Flatts: Neither

S
- Song: loads and loads - I'm still lovin' JT and what goes around...
- Shoe size: 8-10
- Salad Dressing: Ranch
- Sushi: Yes mmmmm sushi
- Scent: Lily of the valley
- Slept outside: Yes
- Seen a dead body?: Yes
- Smoked?: No - but might as well have
- Skinny dipped? Yes
- Shower Daily?: Mostly
- Sing well? Sure
- In the shower? Yes
- Swear?: Yes
- Stuffed Animals?: No
- Single/Group dates: Single
- Strawberries/Blueberries: Blueberries - fresh only -
- Scientists need to invent: a way for me to live forever
- Sex: missing it

T
- Time for bed: 12am
- Thunderstorms: Are ok...
- TV: ER
- Touch your tongue to your nose?: Sorry no
- Truck: Four door by whoever... probably Ford... I guess someone needs to support that company
- Tattoos: Yes

U
-Unpredictable: No
-Unpredictability: Laughable

V
- Vegetable you hate: Lima beans
- Vegetable you love: Lots - most
- Vacation spot: Interested in going to Vegas, or Hawaii and Newfoundland

W
- Weakness: Ankles
- When you grow up: Astronaut
- Which one of your friends acts the most like you: Aunti Jenni
- Who makes you laugh the most: Everyone makes me laugh
- Worst feeling: Loss
- Wanted to be a model?: Yes, but only because my brother was one for Zellers
- Where do we go when we die: since I'm living forever I don't need to answer this question... (Ok - I hope that Dubois book was right - I hope)
- Worst weather: freezing rain - blah

X
-X-Rays: A few

Y
-Year it is now: 2007
-Yellow: is the color of corn
-Zoo animal: Giraffe
-Zodiac sign: Capricorn

Holy and if you read all that you must be bored... phew - all finished.

Other crazy bastards who managed to finish this thing : Sarah, Jodi, Carmen

shmeep

Cute Michael playing on the slide on our deck.


I know his nose is running, but I really like this pic. We managed to have some photo time together while Kyle went on a play date and dinner with Aunti Leighann.


So I've joined facebook and I thought I would provide some of my old quesnelly friends with community updates... this is granvilles.. yes it is still open... and...


We love it so much that now there are two. This one is near Correlieu. Yes, still the land of crazy.


Here is cover on the side of my house that goes no where and is purely decorative - thank you previous owners! Way to go on kicking so much ass!


This is a tulip in my garden. It is the only tulip and this is all it does. It grows one pathetic leaf and will likely be trampled by some stray poop spreading neighbourhood dog (THANK YOU NEIGHBORS... I'm going to start leaving diapers on my neighbours yards and see what they think of that.) or be smushed by one of the kids... both kids have nearly stepped on it.


This is the boot that kicked my face.


This is the face that took the boot, that tried to laugh, because of the boot in the face.

the wheels on the bus

Today marked our first trip as a family (minus dad) on Quesnel transit. Kyle kept asking why we had to take the bus and halfway through our journey he says to me "mom, i miss your car" My mom had car issues last night and had to borrow mine to get home, leaving us vehicless. We got off at school and I walked to work from there. It was actually quite nice as spring has finally come. Could I take the bus everyday? I think I could - I have some meetings that it might not work for, but for the most part I could... would I? Well saving the planet is one thing, but I felt like I was getting exposed to second hand smoke by sitting on the bus. I swear that everyone around us was emminating smoke... it was so gross. I'm quite sensitive to that now and it gave me a nice headache and sinus pain. That is a pretty big deterant...

I'm trying to stay upbeat on here. I have some work things I would love to download to my blog, but you never know who is reading these things... Let's just say that I'm too stressed out.

In the book of oddities... my mom is doing her docterate (?) in naturopathy right now. She is doing quite well and let's face it - I think it is pretty bogus. She rolls healing touch with auras and lots of other things that seem a little off in my books... but tonight... well my back has been bugging me for a couple of days. I over did my last work out - so not unbearable pain but that ache... however my back was really complaining. I kid you not that I'm sitting in the car with her and she says your back hurts - I'm thinking - is it that obvious... I knew I'd made some motions and was probably stretching - so I say yeah... (inside voice - please leave me alone, please don't tell me I'm blue.. lord) and then she puts her finger on the exact spot that had been killing me ... and it shut me up. She's like it's right here - right... all I could say was yeah... and she's all - yeah it was calling me... so that's it - I'm removing the cellular implant in my back - who knew it was going to start making calls on its own. Very very odd!

Nature news - I saw my first 2007 hummingbird tonight. Nice bright pink one - hanging out in the apple trees. My feeder is going out in the morning.

facebook

So I've been introduced to the phenomenon that is facebook. It is all kind of intimidating... maybe that isn't the right word. There are people I haven't seen in ages - some who I've missed, some who I didn't really know that well and some who I treated like shit and didn't realize it until I saw there picture again and felt really bad about the shitty person I was ten years ago. So I'm sorry to you - in case any of those people that know I was shitty to thenm happen to read here... not that I expect any forgiveness cause let's face it - I was not a good person.

It actually made me sick for the last two days. How messed up is that? I should be pleased to see all the shiny faces again but something just hasn't sat well with me.

So what to do? I've been very caution about updating anything. I don't know if I'm ready for that. You can tell me I'm a lame-o I'm will to accept that.

There you go - me blogging about nothing... my apologies.

Come
as you are
as you were
as I want you to be
as a friend
as a friend
as an old enemy
take your time
hurry up
the choice is your
don't be late
take a rest
as a friend
as an old memoria
memoria
memoria
memoria

Now that brings back memories... holy - I need to go have a glass of wine and chill out. Night my loves.

gone

Andy arrived on Friday night, just before midnight... of course Michael decided he was going to pull the cry of the century. I'm lucky I even got to get into bed at all... he cried for two hours... at least. I finally got into my own bed at 3am. It may have been the start of a cold - but he had no other symptoms. We spent Saturday doing what we usually do on Saturdays - garage sale - Kyle got a few new friends - I can't say no to 25 cent toys - or 5 for 25 cents... and I got Michael a new (used) comforter/sheet set - Bob the Builder - very nice - used - but still nice and all of it for $7... I know - some of you are not into garage saling but that was good find :)

My mom came with us and hated it - she doesn't like garage saling and said something like 'i don't like the crowds...." whatever - I hate going because I feel like I have to buy something, but I've gotten over that... now I browse and leave :) hooray!

We had sushi at home last night and then just hung out. This whole being apart crap is super draining. Andy napped for two hours in the afternoon and we went to bed by 11pm. sad... and Michael only got up at 6am... amazing.

He left for Kelowna at 10am and just called to let me know he'd was just outside of Kamloops.

Did you know - From Cache Creek there are at least 4 different ways to travel to Kelowna. I can do a different way every time and it takes me nearly the same amount of time..., in any case, it was definitely a sad morning. We've just hung out today. I managed to clean the fish tank (10 gallons) with two kids and that should be some kind of medal achievement. The tank was disgusting - like ruggles disgusting.. ok maybe not that bad, that poor pyranah - anyway after an hour I got it all clean and put our only surviving fish back in - see how he does with new water - I think I figured out why all the other fish died - I took all the parts out of the tank today and picked up a damned Walmart tank toy - a little shark and the paint was peeling off - the paint actualy came off in my hands... it isn't going back in the tank... I'm also going to get a algae eater and see if it doesn't commit suicide - in university I had multiple fish suction their way out of the tank only to find them exploded on the other side of the tank - was the tank that bad... maybe it was living with all the girls...

Alright I'm going to go and get Kyle (he's watching a movie) and finish the cleanse in my scrapbook room... I should actually be able to effectively scrapbook again... amazing! Go Canucks Go!

i forgot

well I didn't really - I've just been swamped and little under the weather... or something like that - to post.

What I wanted to do more than a week ago was say thank you to Paula and her family to taking my crew in for Easter. The boys had a great time and Paula's grandparents are always a hoot :)

I also didn't talk about our trip to Kelowna. It was great, but I was a train wreck. All I could think about was leaving and how much that was hurting my guts. I just wanted to soak up every ounce of my husband and... really I just wanted to stay... but that just isn't in the cards right now. He had a lot of fun together and he might even come home this weekend. (Of course I'm already getting a knot over it, but trying desperately to just enjoy the time together and not dwell on our apart time.)


So this is the tub in the motel room Paula and her family graciously put us up in - this isn't a slam to them at all - they didn't realize that the motel hadn't been taken care of over the last year - what made this experience worse was when I ran the water and filled the tub for bath time - I walked away and came back to a black tub - Okanagan (OK) falls has had a water ban in place for a year and... well I don't think I'd even be boiling that stuff.... blah :( I know... Paula would say - it was fine after it ran for 30 minutes... but I didn't risk it - we waited till we got back to Kelowna for baths.


The room was a two bed suite... one of the beds was split in half though... odd - Paula being the great friend that she is slept on one of these - the boys slept with me on a full size bed... I was later told that more bugs were found under one of the "bed" covers the next morning... blah and double blah


Here is the start of the easter egg hunt... on your mark's, get ready...


Here is Michael picking up some bunny loot.


Here is Michael dragging his easter loot. His basket was so full that he was losing all the treats.... but this turned into a great game because he kept finding more. The endless supply of treats.


Here are the boys and me Paula after the easter egg hunt. Again, it was great fun and we can't say thank you enough for your families hospitality.


Here we are at the Chapters in Kelowna


This is a photo I took while we were driving under a willow tree in Kelowna. Kelowna was blooming up during Easter Weekend - very nice - we even got to go to Farmers Market - I'm really looking forward to go to future markets there.

Willow,
weeping for a lost love,
weeping for the pain of a friend,
weeping for the world,
the weight has pushed your branches down,
you drag and touch the ground and weep for us all to see,
you carry the load so beautifully,
your shape, your form,
your generous nature to take such a burden on.

Sauerkraut disaster

Today was my breaking point with the kids - I lost my mind and Kyle just stood there like... what mom? ... or momma as he calls me when he wants to piss me off that little bit more - he definitely knows my buttons... kids.... anyways I lost it and then like a cool wind it went away - I had my meltdown and I felt a million times better after. Kyle was just being his non-listening four year old self - fun... nothing really happened - I yelled more than anything (extra loud... even for me) and he could have cared less - of course 20 years from now he'll be like my mom is a psycho cause once she freaked on me - I played it cool but I cried inside.........

we had a good afternoon together and then we went outside for fun with grandma and grandpa - Michael decided it would fun to do a faceplant on the driveway... he was "running" down the driveway and I got behind him to stop him when he crashed - he actually just fell down quite softly - no problem - then... he decided to pull his ostrich move and smack his forehead into the ground - it sounded bad - he cried for a couple of seconds (he cries harder when I drop him off for daycare) and then we saw his goosebump and scratches - no blood... and he was off running with grandpa shortly after.... but then he was a grump the rest of the night - things that would typically cause me great stress like two hours of whining and complaining caused me none, since my meltdown I'm feeling better about everything.

So we had sausages for dinner (rice and sausage for the boys, sausage and salad for me) and I chose to have sauerkraut with my meal - mistake number one was thinking this wasn't going to react poorly with whatever the heck is going on with my mouth - it actually feels like a layer of skin is coming out of my mouth when I eat some food (bacon, chocolate and now sauerkraut) - I'm casually putting the top back on the bottle of my lovely sauerkraut when I launch it - it goes everywhere - all over the kitchen, all over me... I guess it is all for the best because the first mouth full destroyed me... maybe it was foreshadowing...

Happy Belated Birthday to Jen - we hope you had a great day.

Andy was studying for his birthday - we sneakaly (yes it's a word) left a couple of treats for him when we visited - saved me postage :) He teased me with a possible trip home... but I guess we will see. We are in Vancouver on May 9-16 - so we will have to get together - that is an open invitation to all the vancouverite friends - and also - congratulations to gary and yoshie on the birth of their little boy :) HOORAY!

I'm going to go be a like a vegetable - night all :)

another day another dollar

well today was not as traumatic as yesterday - I didn't even cry today - freakin' amazing! Michael cried when I left but I stuck around in the boot room for a minute and it was under a minute and he was playing - so I didn't feel as heavy about it - work was busy - I've got so many meetings and phone calls and grant proposals - it just doesn't stop - and I know I'm missing things - I really want to focus tomorrow but the reality is that it is one of my staff members last days with us and I've got a grant due - I just want my desk to be clean before I leave for Kelowna... HOORAY!

I'm meeting Paula in Penticton and can't wait to see her... and of course the whole family is itching to see dad...

We went to my grandma's tonight - she had some easter stuff for the kids - and - well my grandma has a wee (major) temper about some things - Kyle touched something I think I actually say smoke come out of her ears - it wasn't anything significant but I guess you have to know my gran to understand. Kyle doesn't understand so we didn't stay long. I took them a treat from the bakery and wished them a happy easter.

Well I need to go and finish lunches for tomorrow. Here is my picture of the day.
This is the christmas project I was working on. I need a much better adhesive for the stickers - my first batch are not holding up as well as I had thought - well mine are but my mom-in-laws started peeling right away, as did the others... I think... I used my regular printer and costco photo paper, shrunk the photos with word, (I did a set of kids pics, I've got some cartoon ones that are Kyle's favorites, etc) adhered them to a regular charm bracelet with double sided tape and then coated them with clear nail polish (4-6 coats) I know there must be a product out there that does this better and if you have suggestions I'd love to hear as I would like to do more and would be happy to make them for other people - for as a little as the cost of the bracelet.... (one hundred million dollars - I bought it off of dr. evil :) )

good lord

Today was another suck day.

I thought I was doing fine but it all went in the crapper for me when I left Michael at daycare. As soon as I said I had to go he started to cry and he has a terrible cry - I got outside and cried and cried - I cried in my car and on the way to my office. This isn't why I had kids. This is not fun. I'm not a crier either and that makes it worse - it just makes my insides hurt.

I managed to get through my work day - busy busy busy - and then after work I picked up the boys who had - of course - survived. Kyle had a great day and was asking to stay longer and Michael was pleased to see me and had been great in the afternoon - I guess the morning was full of tears. I caved on McDonald's and now I have to go and finish making lunch for tomorrow.

All I can hope is that the weather gets better and that we can start spending some time outside and I can regain some happiness... I hate being sad. I'm trying to get through the gloom because we will be in Kelowna on Thursday night but - well as I mentioned it is soft comfort because it is short term. I took another job today (yes - I don't have enough to do) so I've got some additional time commitments for that but it should be good pay for easy work - of course those are famous last words. :)

I'm going to watch some crouching tiger tonight - I didn't make it to the end of Potter last night but got my fill of it - night my lovies :)

ultimate sniffy face

Kyle and Michael's aunti wendy emailed me this today and she was right - it is definitely one to share.


On a crappier note today is only day 2 of 183 without Andy in our house. Today sucked! I just wanted to curl up in a ball and roll down the hill - the hill I was already sliding down... ARG BLAH BLAH ARG!

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow - first day of full time daycare - LORD! I've made lunches and snacks and can only hope it goes well. Three days and then we head to Kelowna - I'm actually not looking forward to it right now because it means that I'm a week closer to having an even lengthier time away from Andy... I'm totally reconsidering my once a month idea - I'm thinking every other weekend after this one... alright - enough complaining - I'm off to watch some Potter and crochet my heart out.

pikipimp

I subscribed to Poplar Photography for this year and read about this website on the most recent copy. You can "pimp" up your photos and have a little fun. Maybe not as much fun as the M&M creation - but pretty darn close and this was easier and less time consuming.

march 31

so Andy left for Kelowna this morning - it was terrible - we were both pretty upset and I've been a wreck all day - the boys are doing pretty good right now but I don't think they realize what has happened - Kyle has been asking all day about Kelowna and school... we did some shopping this morning nothing overly grand and then played most of the afternoon away - and went for a walk this evening - and, I will admit that I'm feeling nervous about walking around near my house with the recent drive by - yes, Quesnel had a driveby shooting - it wasn't random - they were targeted but it is unnerving and it all happened near my house... it makes me anxious - but I'm not going to be trapped in my house because of the stupid people

Andy should be in Kelowna by now - still haven't had another phone call - I've called his cell twice and get the - out of range crap... must be patient - I'm sure he's just being kind and thinks that I didn't get the kids to bed - meantime they've been down for 15 minutes.... alright - I'm going to go find something to do... I've got a pretty cool blanket on the go that should be quite amazing if I ever complete it.

Congrats to my sister on the move - I look forward to post about your new digs :)

more offers

Another offer for another job.... what to do what to do - this one is better... better money - less to do... less invested time and energy.... also offered another contract work - less money - more to do... funny how contracts are like that

we will see

What else did I want to say - not sure - just wanted to post tonight and say hello! :) I have renewed interest in my scrapbooking - aunti jenni delivered my christmas presents today and gave me some cool ikea jars for knick knacks and assorted thing-uma-doodles - I've been reorganizing the whole scrapbook department as the past system was not working - ARG! She also got the boys some cute clothes. The boys were quite happy to spend some time with Jenni and Derrel - never long enough :)

Andy leaves in two short days and that is not putting me in a good mood. I can't believe he is going to be gone for six months - boooooo! But cheer up right ;)

my desk guardian

as promised

Here are me and the boys at Andy's hockey game.

Here is Andy - black, centre man taking the face off.


Peanut butter +


cheese (cheddar) +


banana =


Kyle Sandwich


Still looking for fruit and veg records - here is my first find for 2007 - a 3 inch wide strawberry - yes I have little hands and I've joined the Loucks club :) - Post your fruit and veg records and receive points

let's all ride vegetables

Andy had a hockey tournament over the weekend, so me and the boys went and watched the second half of one game - the other team was a true team and Andy was on the - everyone else who didn't have a team - team... it was pretty clear the other team had plays and strategy.... in any case Kyle had a grand time (I'll post pictures later this week) - the game was mostly at the other end of the ice and Kyle wanted to be like the other crazy kids and run on the bleachers - when he looks at me and says "mom, where is the zucchini?" this coming from a kid that hates vegetables and says matatoe and momato just to egg us on... I'm like "what?" the zucchini mom, where is it - and then it dawns on me - right - the zucchini comes at the end of the game - darn ice cleaning zucchinis... :)

I can't recall if I've posted this before but Kyle has an odd taste in sandwich combinations right now too - his favorite sandwich is... peanut butter, banana and .... cheese - I'm not kidding - he loves it - and because I think he may be the first of his kind I'm officially declaring it the Kyle sandwich - unless someone else posts and says they love it too - in which case - please expect comments like - EEEWWWWWWWW! and BLAH! and How can you eat that?

News - well since most of Quesnel is blabbing about it now - I'm working on getting a film here. I've been working with the City and Wells (www.wellsbc.com) on assisting a film crew in working in the area for a little while. Things were quick to happen last week and now it has calmed down... with any luck we will have the film crew here in three weeks - of course the rumors were/are madness and I had one business put up a highway sign welcoming the unconfirmed crew... but it's fun and it has been a good couple of days. Jen - is this the life of film crews - busy busy, quick in and out times short schedules, or am I just too new to the whole film scene and should have different expectations...

Andy leaves on Saturday and then the real madness will begin in my life - kids start full time daycare next week - short week though - we are heading down to see him before the long weekend starts and meeting Paula in Penticton over the weekend. HOORAY! small vacation! hooray! hooray! good night my lovies :)

oh and sarah - happy belated birthday - i completely forgot until I checked your blog tonight and realized that I was way past the ides of march - hope you had a good one!

pictures

Here are me and the kids in Kelowna. This is also me with my shorter hair cut. I liked it two weeks ago and now it's at a funny length so I keep putting it up in the afternoon - ok - really it is more than I get sick of batting it out of my way and by 3pm it is so DAMN staticky that I'm go bonkers!


I'm contributing this photo for Kyle. He took this picture and I love it. It says so much about Michael and his personality. 14 months - CRAZY!


And finally a photo from the 'what's this file'? Any guesses?

music trivia

Alright so I was looking at BNL's website tonight (hey Connie thanks for introducing me to them in the first place... thank god you got me off of the jo-ho tapes and other general crap I was listening to) and Steve wrote... "like a death row pardon two minutes to late..." oh - ok - so it took me writing it down to remember who that is... points for guessing the right artist(s)????

pay it forward

From a previous post by Jen
"Something you once did, if I remember correctly, and don't know if you still do, so I thought I'd ask.

There was the "pay it forward" craze a few years back. People would do nice deeds in the hopes of making the world a better place, etc. I'm not a "big gesture" person, but figured I was doing my part by doing the little things constantly. You know, letting people go first, holding a door, that sort of thing. (The rare times I don't, I feel sooooo guilty for not.)

So, I hold the door going into Starbucks one morning a little while ago for a woman coming from the bank. She's in line before me, but I'm not in a rush. She buys my beverage for me, and then says that it was her day to do something nice for someone, and because I was nice and held the door open for her, it was me. Now all I had to do was do something nice for someone else.

Am I confused about this methodology because it didn't make sense, or am I just a confuzzled person?

Just thought you might be the one to ask. It's been bugging me for months now. :) "

I do believe in pay it forward, and I'm a door opener for sure. In fact, I've been known to hold it open too long. I was also confused by the situation you noted - I would say that you had paid it forward because you initiated the good deed. I don't think that good deeds have to mean you must pay for something or use cash to do something good.

This whole pay it forward thing makes me think of Stephen Covey and the 8th habit. The whole idea of the book is to live your best life and encourage others to do the same. He suggests that each day you think about these four things - (my edited version)
1) Live like you had a heart attack (this one I'm not sure about - I think we should live like we want our children to live... something like that might be better)
2) Believe that your profession will end in two years - prepare for it - which I think means he wants you to work better - not work like you want to screw over everyone you work with.. as much as some of us might like to....
3) (my favorite and hardest one to practice) assume that everything you say about someone else is being over heard by them - speak accordingly
4) Believe that you meet with your creator every four months - live accordingly - this one is hard for me because I'm not overly into God and holy stuff. I'm reading one of the dali lama's books right now - but everytime I read it - well I get worked up about something - he is all about kindness should be given to everyone - even your foes and I start thinking about my foes and then I have to put the book down.... so I'm working on it.

(Hi Gary & Yoshie - in case you are reading here... thanks for the chat tonight)

Do others pay it forward? Are you kind without question?

On another note I'm also reading Allison Dubois - the medium - anyone else read this? What do you think.... and now I will share this - this happened before I started reading this book - I was sitting with Michael - getting him dressed for the day - he was saying hi, hi, hi and then he looked over my shoulder - he smiled and (for the first time that I saw) put his hand to his mouth and proceeded to blow a kiss. He was definitely NOT looking at me or blowing it to me and when I asked him to blow me a kiss he looked at me like I was chopped liver. I immediately thought Andy was behind me but when I checked we were alone. Now I know this is going to sound stupid but I used to blow kisses to my grandma from the car all the time. Our routine when I was a kid was to say goodbye a million times and then 'see you later alligator, in a while crocodile' and then blow kisses from the car... now it could all just be coincidence and just off that he decided to blow his first kiss to the wall/door frame but when it happened it made me think of her and made me kind of hope that what I'm reading now might be true. Her book also creeps me out because... well who is watching you during those intimate moments - or those not so pleasant moments in life... do they watch then? is this all crap and we all just go into the ground and that is all there... I can't believe it - I need there to be more.... alright - I've ranted - I'm off to bed - thank you jen and sorry for my delayed response.

home

So we broke the return trip home up - took the Kelowna, Vernon, Falkland, Westwold, Monte Lake, Monte Creek way to Kamloops and spent a night. That is a terrible road! It is about 60km less than the Merritt to Kelowna way but it took the same amount of time! WHAT THE HELL! So I'm not going that way again. I was actually a little disappointed with all the cities - Vernon has some beautiful murals, but that was about it. Kelowna is like Langley stretch about 10km and Kamloops... well we were quite unimpressed. It seemed to have the most visible homeless and is super unorganized - it was like the planners couldn't decide whether the valley or the mountain top was better so they decided to build everywhere.

I know, I know - Quesnel is stretched out all over the place, but there is just something different here... (I know - it's the air.. ha ha ha ha)

So we found Andy a basement suite fully furnished all inclusive - other than food and internet. He will have an amazing view of Okanagan Lake and after just two days in Kelowna we sounded like locals - 'yep, we are in the village - oh yeah Rutland - not great - it's like surrey' There were Quesnel people there and Prince George people - it was like we didn't really leave... which was odd... we saw a guy I've seen working at costco in prince george since I went there for university.

Kids - well Kyle is nearly himself again and Michael is definitely better. Michael slept the whole way home today which was great. I stopped in Cache Creek to gas up and get some slurpage - and then we carried on and got home in time for dinner. My grandma gave us a gift certificate to Savalas for Christmas and we used that tonight - and it was actually good. Why actually? Well I just didn't know what to expect - the management changed a while ago and - you never know - and well before the management change it wasn't great. So we did some grocery shopping tonight and now we are all adjusting to the time change - again - WHAT THE HELL! Can't us Canadians do anything on our own - are we really going to save energy - that's it I'm going to leave all my lights on while I sleep tonight just to protest... ok I won't - I want to save the planet too... damn Al Gore :)

sick kids

Michael was sick on Sunday and then has carried whatever flu it is around all week. Kyle was fine.. was... on Wednesday morning he woke up at 5:30 and said he was hot and not feeling good. He was still feeling up to watching a cartoon though so I told him I was going to go and lay in my bed, but he could come and get me if he felt sick. Sure enough I put my head on my pillow and I heard him get up. Then I witnessed him make a run to the garbage can to throw up - I told him to come to the bathroom and there I found out I have an iron stomach as he threw up everywhere.

After he was cleaned up and sitting down I assessed the damage - now remember I just did my carpets. He started throwing up in the living room and then continued to throw up to the garbage - about 20 feet between two places - he then turned back for the bathroom and throw up all over the toilet. It was like Ruggles all over again... ok it wasn't that bad...definitely missing 1997 (ok it was far worse than ruggles - but not as bad as that night in res when carmen thought it might be time to take me to the hospital for alcohol poisoning - lord) anyhow... I did the trademark April toilet paper stuff up my nose and got cleaning. I used so much bleach on the toilet that my rag changed colors. He continued this throw up routine all day. Not all over my house - after he understood the toilet was the place to go he completely got it - this is the first time he's had the flu.. I feel terrible for him - I slept on the floor beside him last night - the stuff they don't tell you about being a mom. Of course I wouldn't have it any other way :) You know you love someone when.

Right now he has been throw up free for 14 hours... I'm hoping it lasts. He is only doing fluids at this point... and did I mention we need to drive to Kelowna today.

Oh and here is a question - why are there soo many different ways to get to Kelowna - and why does no one seem to know how long it takes - I've been told that it will take us between 5 and 8 hours.... hello - I'm thinking of going through faukland, vernon and into kelowna. I haven't been in 15 years... no.. longer - but I never drove then and probably slept some of the way. I know I've driven to Kamloops in abou 4 1/2 hours. So I think I will stop at the visitor centre there and see what they suggest for routes.

I need to finish packing - I'll let you know how the drive goes and I will hopefully have some pictures.

FOUR

Taken from me sista's site

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. A & W Line Cook
2. Project Manager
3. Advisor
4. Office pee-on

Four Movies I like:
1. Last Holiday
2. Muppet Treasure Island (yes, they made a treasure island movie...)
3. White Chicks
4. Love actually

Four places that I've lived:
1. Houston
2. Prince Rupert
3. Quesnel
4. Prince George

Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Hell's Kitchen
2. The Amazing Race
3. Global News... (I'm boring - I've accepted it)
4. Ace of Cakes

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Victoria
2. Penticton
3. Queen Charlotte Island
4. Bermuda

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Strawberries
2. Dried apricots
3. Macaroni and cheese from Granville's
4. Andy's moms beefy noodly goodness... not sure of name - just in case that wasn't obvious enough

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. 1998
2. Fall of 1997
3. At Paula's house - sitting on the deck enjoying some nice tea or alcohol...
4. A beach with the family

spunky cats

Alright - I will warn you now that this post is a little repulsive and deals with animal sex...

A few posts ago I noted that we were having cat pee issues and bought a carpet cleaner to solve the problem and be prepared for future incidents. It was a good investment, my living room carpets are proof of that.

Last night at 3am I was sleeping. I kept hearing a cat and I thought it was mine because they were sitting in the room. I told them to buzz off, but then the crying got louder. I tried with all my strength to just lay in bed and ignore it, but I finally caved and went to see what the heck was going on.

Well a lot was going. It was get busy time outside my window. Two cats were screaming their love for the world to here and they chose my window to be the spot where they would make the most of their noise.

My windows are still plastic-ed in to keep out the cold, but Michael's window wasn't. So I went in his room and started making hissing noises - LOUDLY! very very loudly! My hiss wasn't loud enough as they continued on their merry humping way. So I pulled out a big hiss and that apparently freed their hips and they pranced off, fully puffed and continuing to share the sounds of their love with the neighbourhood. It was at this second that I could smell their love and realized that these damned cats love session was the smell that we'd thought was cat pee in our bedroom. FREAKIN' FABULOUS!

So here is what I'm looking for now - how do we keep cats away from our house - short of killing them. Any suggestions? I'm open to all ideas.

I hope everyone has a great afternoon. I'm off to make some chili.

away

So the boys are in Kitimat visiting family and friends and I'm home... cleaning. I couldn't get the time off work, as I'm trying to save days for going to Kelowna throughout the summer (Andy is going there is a few short weeks...) and thought it would be best to stay now and take time next weekend.

What does this mean? Well I have the house to myself and I'm cleaning. I steam cleaned the living room over two nights because the furniture had to stay in the room, and I've cleaned nearly everything in kitchen. I still need to do the fridge and couple of dishes, but other than that it is looking... F-I-N-E! The boys bedrooms are nearly clean and our room is clean. The basement still needs some assistance but I've got tonight and all day tomorrow. I spent the morning cleaning and then headed out to help a friend with some moving of boxes. At the time I was all "this is no problem - it's a great cardio work out!" and now I'm like... holy crow my arms are sore and my legs are wobbly... I also recycled today - HOORAY! (Yes, I have officially joined the totally lame club.)

On the 'me' front, I had a pedicure this afternoon with a deaf staff member. It was kind of odd... the other thing was she was new to the whole practice. My heels were brutal - one has cracked REALLY BAD - and I went in to cancel, but the girl at the front said "you'll be fine, I would get it done because of the crack" - sure - so the new girl didn't really know she could press harder and really get that dead stuff off so the other girl had to help... outside of that she did a great job - (Paula - better than vancouver with you and Wendy... WAY BETTER!) she doesn't speak and I know a little sign... so I apologized for my terrible heels - I guess when I go for that I expect to have a chat with a stranger about all my shit and I didn't get that... it was a double bench so I was sitting with - as it turned out - a past summer student, so it wasn't bad, as I could talk with her and her esthetician...(is that right...???) I felt like the third wheel though. So I sat there and just enjoyed the minty air and enya :)

I've been to the library twice in two days and got all the books I never get to even look at when I take the boys - that has probably been the best part of the weekend. I went over my lunch break yesterday and browsed - and then today I went to pick up a couple more. Anyone know how to quilt? I'm left handed and retarded (for a lack of a better word) and really get lost in patterns and instructions - I will admit my faults. I'm looking for where to go for quilting help and how to get started. The library had nothing for beginners and I'm starting to think that quilting is an exclusive club and I haven't been invited yet. (Like I need more to do... I've just always wanted to learn and I have scrap fabric from pants and other projects.) Please don't put my comments -april just google quilting for beginners - I want something specific that has worked for someone else... :)

Well I'm going to go and read. I hope you are having an equally enjoyable weekend!