as promised.. the canning photos

So these are the bread and butter pickles that I made... these do not require canning - processed just like jam...


So here is the great big giant pot that I use to can in...


Here is the nasty steam that burned my flippin' hand... for which I will curse about for a while to come... I know, I know - it is my fault... so I curse myself...


And lastly the finished canned beets... hooray... I did it!

And will I do it again... well like everything else... I'm sure that it gets better with practice.. :)

canning and more

So the canning went ok - the cans (all four of them) are popping -which means I did my job :) Now I will have beets this winter to enjoy... mmmmm... beets. I got a nice little steam burn on my thumb as a result of my canning exercise today... live and learn, right... followed this up with making enchilladas... easy - came out of the Chatelaine magazine for this month... but of course I made numerous alterations... like - holy - do you really need four cups of cheese... and then gobs of sour cream... so we used light sour cream and didn't double coat everything, we used about 2.5 cups of cheese (still too much) - but I lived outside of my box and followed the instruction to put cumin in - I didn't use beef - went with chicken instead - 'cause that's what was out - and I think it turned out just fine... the guys, however, hated it - Kyle could hardly put a drop in his mouth and Michael actually put some in his mouth and gagged.. his face made me want to throw up as well... good times at our house...

wish me luck

Alright friends... so I'm canning for the first time... hot water variety... it is wear you (in basic terms) cut up all the stuff you want to keep for later (after first cooking it) putting it in a jar, putting a lid on the jar and then you place the jar in water - then you have to get all that boiling - so glass jars boiling along inside a big pot - and then after a set amount of time - you take them out of the water and hope it all went well and that you didn't just waste a lot of time... ok - that was the pessimist - hard to keep them away...

I'm canning beets because I love them and then I want to try antipasto... because I love that too! And hello - it is way cheaper to make it yourself then buy it in the store. Alright - so I'm going to go back and see if we are boiling and then I can start timing - photos later :)

Note to self - in the event that you try to can again - remember to have canning vice to get jars out.. using tongs and a cloth SUCKS! And now you have a nice burn on the thumb from your stupidness.... Now off to buy a couple of things for dinner and think about whether or not I really want to proceed with the antipasto...

i have a few apples

It is Friday -- so let me just first say - hip hip hooray... long week... and now for the weekend - we started the weekend with a boy battle in safeway - the guys decided to pick on each other while I picked out a few things for dinner... a few reminders later and it seemed cleared... then I try to pay and they have an all out battle... Michael ends up getting pushed to the floor - which was funny to him - until he noticed he was bleeding... flamin' fabulous! He was fine - I wasn't... we go home, eat dinner and then it was off to bed for the crazy pair... and then I thought of something...


First... I noticed the beautiful sun, shining - and I remembered that life is too short for anger and then I also remembered... that I needed help..


Friends.. this is what more than 3,000 apples looks like... and the boys - lucky them - helped me pick ALL of them up... my hands are pretty sore now... and I actually think I found some muscles in my quads and other areas that I didn't realize existed...


And here it is... all cleaned up - notice the light change... it was all pretty and sunny and now it is getting dark... it took us more than an hour and half to clean up - and how do I know it was more than 3000... well I was filling up a 10 gallon bucket and I counted how many I tossed in one of them...


And here are the guys after - of course as we were cleaning up - more were falling - so we saved the ones that just fell... they actually had a good time and I'm happy that a chore is complete


And here I am - goofin' around again... livin' it up...

Now I'm going to watch Kenny vs Spenny... sad... but still true... tonight's episode is who can make the best porno... AWESOME!

Wait... what was that... I think I hear some naked grapes call my name... mmmmmmm - an excellent way to cap off a week

Oh my god... poor Spenny.. good lord - that was nasty... and call me sick - but I totally laughed at it... for some reason with every sip of wine Kenny and Spenny gets funnier... lucky me there are two episodes on and the second one is who can catch the biggest fish...

um, I didn't make it to the tub

For some reason I didn't end up in the tub tonight and took myself down to the "office" to do a little work and scrapbook. Scrapbook is a word that hasn't entered my vocabulary in a while - so I decided to just work on one page and finish it tonight.

Ok but wait, before I share I thought I would give one photo from my "trip".

Now this looks like the sky.. yes - it definitely looks like the sky, but I want you to look really hard at it and see if you can't see something... I'll give you a second...

Ok - so you are right - it really is only the sky... this was me taking a photo of a bridge (um.... so maybe I was driving - I mean.. no I wasn't - at least I didn't try to look through the view finder while driving - this was just me snapping to the left while still looking at the road.... ok - I'm terrible - and I'm going to hell... but seriously - most of the people reading this are coming with me... you know who you are) There is a beautiful train bridge just outside of McLeese Lake that I couldn't pull over and take a photo of because some unpleasant stupid person was trying to see if the front of their vehicle would fit into the back of mine.

Ok and now for the scrapbooking...

I'm going to put this up in my office - and hopefully frame it with my medal - yes a real bronze medal... special point number three hundred and twenty one... and now twitchy eye is bugging me and I should really go and read something to put me to sleep... nighty night :)

another...

And another long day is under my belt - I took a nice drive to Williams Lake for meetings and then stopped at a rest area on the way back to take some pictures... they were all goofy... it was a nice break...

So it was an early start and then I had a meeting tonight that went until about 7:45... fun... all good though... right... (this is where you say yes...)

"life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, Its about learning how to dance in the rain." algie

Now I am going to go and write - time to release some angry vibes that are swirling - looking for a place to stay - they've been on my shoulders all day and I need to go and get them off... if it wasn't so flamin' hot tonight I'd probably have a bath to unwind - ah, to hell with it - I'm going to have a bath...

Alright - so did I do anything fun today - can't I share some fun story - something that will put a smile on your face... well while I was being my goofy self on the side of the road on the way back from Williams Lake I started taking photos of myself off the car... so I set up my timer and then snapped photos of me making funny faces - amidst a pretty background.. like I said - I was just having a few minutes of fun... well genius that I am I decided to sit on a road side barricade... I was trying not to look like too much of an ass while traffic went by so I was timing the photos... if I'd kept the photos you would have seen one where I slipped like a moron - lucky I didn't go ass over tea kettle down the mountain side... and a bunch of others that showed FAR to much cleavage for your eyes... I mean it wasn't porn... but good lord... so sadly I don't have anything to share.. and if I did - well I'd only be sharing those on my other website where people pay by the minute :)

with love - hugs - smooches

creepy sleep walker

And in walks our scary sleep walker... he appears to be completely awake and yet he is completely gone and in some other dimension. In tonight's episode our little sleep walker has decided to make three guest appearances in the living room to scare the crap out of me and make me want to lock my own bedroom door so he doesn't loom over me in the night - zombie style.

This evening he attempted to describe something and upon a request for him to repeat it he did several times, but I could not make heads or tails of it. On his next visit he told me that his brother was punching him (he is sound asleep), but was trying to run walk... gotta see it to understand it - it is crazy... and extra creepy.

Why does this bother me... because a little piece of me fears that I'm doing this same crazy shit at night, but no one is around to see it - I could totally be walking around outside at night, talking to trees, howling at the moon... I thought about taping myself because I know I was sleep walking for a while as I started waking up in different parts of the house and having no idea how I got there... but I was terrified to see myself like that... of course that was during significantly stressful times - when I sleep walk - right now is just code blue for stress - nowhere near code red...

aaaahhhhhhhh

Hooray - good and vented... aaahhhhhh

I went as hard as I could on a 9 km ride.. managed to finish in about 40 minutes... it was great because I only had time to think about riding and not crashing - which I damn near did about 10 minutes into the ride... much better... much much better...

What was that... queen of the negative... ok - one complaint... what the hell happened to summer... the sun was setting and it was getting dark out as I rolled back down the drive way... I mean - seriously... it was exactly 9pm when I walked into the house and it was dark - too dark for cycling in... I need to fall back in love with walking indoors - or finding some other sport to do in the house... hey - binder - how is the wii fit... are you still using yours... is it worth it?

Now if I only had someone to have a red neck margarita with I'd be set...

pardon

Tonight we went out to dinner. I've been pretty high on myself all day because I wore some new shoes... think first day of school and people keep asking where did I get them from - plus they were high and must have made me 5'9 - so I'm rocking it out and I've got my theme song going (I gotta a feeling - that tonight's gonna be a good night... that tonight's going to be a good good night... it's even my ringtone now.. sad, but true) And then we are at dinner and I guess I gained 20 years because the waitress says "ma'am" to me.. what... what was that... the combination of swear words rolled through my ears... they were on the tip of my lips... (lips not tongue.. it was that close to coming out) oh right - I'm with the kids and really most of that stuff usually just stays in my head and causes me to have twitchy body parts... and then it happens again and that's right friends... she says it again when I'm paying.... people I don't know what I am - but I am not a ma'am NOT NOT NOT! Today was hot and sexy day, not frickin' ma'am day! FREEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKIN' HELL!

Ahhhhh, now I am good and vented... off to work out to blow off a little more steam.

since I can't leave that ass photo up for long

A beautiful little flower that has taken months to get to this stage... I was looking for something short - low to the ground.. which is how this little beauty was labelled... it, in fact, is more than a foot tall... I mean -gardening people - get your shit together.. please - us stupid people who don't garden need your guidance... it was probably a trick the gardening centre played on me "Yeah, I'm looking for something short and beautiful... can you hook me up with something like that?"..Hey Bob let me take care of this one... "oh sure we can help you with that..." I detect a slight sneaker but think it is probably just a personality flaw and nothing about our conversation.. "Thanks for your help... ".... and months later I add asshole to my last sentence... I guess I should be thankful that he didn't give me a beanstalk... but really could that be that bad.. I could climb up to the clouds, see a giant, bounce on jello - seriously - how could that be bad...


The very cute boys... enjoying the summer... getting bigger all the time :)


Cute and cuter... I leave it up to you on how the dice falls on that... Kyle is starting to learn how to use my camera - and I couldn't be happier about that...

that kind of day

So what good is this internet thing if you can't have a little fun...


Can you spot me in the photo... that's right - three asses... and no this is not some tricked out photoshop-ed picture - them's are giant horses... they were like dinosaurs - it was awesome.. so I made my fabulous aunt take a photo of me with my friends :) Now looking at the photo again someone might think that I'm extra short.. in fact I am 5'8 (ish) so the asses behind me are easily at the 6 foot level... really... ok - so maybe this is only a big deal to me...


So then this weekend I was playing around in the garden with dad and he gives me this giant cabbage - bigger than my head size and he starts peeling all the outer leaves off and says, in an off hand way, gees these look like elephant ears... so then I made him take a photo of me because I'm "special"

available

One copy of the Time Travelers Wife... I will gladly hand this off to someone else for reading...
I will not share any of the details since a lot of people haven't read the book... I will say that I managed to cruise through this book rather easily - finishing the more than 500 page novel in record time for me... I believe I started reading Thursday night, read a bit on Friday night, read occasionally on Saturday, and polished the rest off tonight

This is the first fiction novel I've read in ages and now I want another... suggestions.. something romantic, or something like Bridget Jones... help :)

Ok - it is nearly 1am and, sadly, I must be in my office being productive in less than eight hours... night night my loves :)

star date 20090815

My retarded neighbours have decided to shout outside... asses.

Today was pretty uneventful... we did manage to get Kyle a fish - we had to let his new tank stabilize as the first round of fish didn't last long.. so we now have a beta - (fighting fish) a beautiful red one - Kyle has named it "Long Tail". Maybe today was too much though as he has gotten up and pulled his fantastic sleep walking.. I hate that - I hate sleep walking... because he is definitely in another place - he was actually singing a bit tonight... CREEPY!

Ok - stupid neighbours - I give you permission to go in your house and F-OFF!

We did go to Farmers Market this morning and I got some fancy beets... which I cooked and then wasn't hungry enough to eat.. but they will be great with salad tomorrow. I also got 10 lbs of pickles for bread and butter pickles... mmmm.... also picked up potatoes and beans.. woo hoo - we followed up our trip to the market with a visit to the bakery where the boys picked out a cookie and a custard filled long john - the long johns are an old fav for me but I can't eat them anymore as they make my stomach hurt... boooooo.... I did manage to eat some cookie though :)

gotta share this...

So while I was in Dawson Creek I uploaded some of my aunts photos.... she took the amazing one below - this was from a storm that blew through Dawson Creek in the middle of the night - WICKED!

a few more photos from last night

So these don't have amazing meteors passing through them, but I enjoy looking at them and thought I'd share... hoping to take some more photos tonight... charging my batteries right now :)

a like it, a lot

Well the meteor shower is going on right now... are you reading this and it is still dark out - go outside - take in a few minutes of it - you will probably see one...

I spent the last 90 minutes outside - enjoying the show - I must have seen about 50 meteors and heard about three (burning across the sky.. IT WAS AWESOME!) Now I'm still working on my night time camera shots... but here is one out of 200 that caught a little something tonight...

the sky

If you happened to be in a part of BC (or really anywhere in the northern hemisphere) and you have a clear view of the night sky - tonight, tomorrow and Thursday night are nights to look up. The best meteor shower happens over the next few days. Tomorrow is probably the best night for it - but it picks up steam tonight. (google Perseids for more info)

If there happens to be a break in the sky tonight I'm heading out on the deck to try and get some photos... but of course - there is a nasty storm that has rolled in here and I'd be surprised if it breaks between now and midnight (that's when I turn into a pumpkin... well on some nights).

And now for some more trip photos... we went to Edmonton and took in West Edmonton Mall - the guys went to the water park and we also went to the Royal Alberta Museum - which was great - the guys loved it.


Here are the boys at Alberta Government House - a beautiful building in front of the Royal Alberta Museum... the gardens are very nice that surround the building... Edmonton should consider how they can stretch that beauty across the entire city...


A goat in Jasper National Park


An Elk in Jasper National Park

rested

I went back to work today... only 325 emails - woo hoo... and then we had interviews and work, and more work... but hey.. that's how the bills are paid :) And now that that is out of the way I'm back here to share a few more photos from my trip to Dawson Creek... um... I've loaded one below that isn't for the squeamish... yes - it's a photo of my nasty blister... I'll make it the last one so you don't have to look at it... but I know you are going to look at it now anyway... (insert evil laugh...)


Here I am hoofing it at the summit... awesome views... not that I really took it all in... we had time to make up at this point... I believe it was right around this point that my aunt noted that we were about 20 minutes off of where we should be... and then we rocked it out down the other side... I get a rush just thinking about it - woo hoo... I even shouted hell ya (gretchin wilson style) a couple of times because I was so completely in it...


This is Bijoux Falls (Provincial Park) in the Pine Pass... lots of outhouses for those needing a break and of course these beautiful falls...


Beautiful Chetwynd BC... they have amazing chainsaw carvings all through town - I did a mini tour and got some great photos of about a dozen of the carvings.. they even have star wars ones... there is something for everyone


Two bucks... this is what should be on the toonie... (oh, I know... that was terrible... but come on.. did it put a smile on your face...)


Yep - here's my nasty blister - this was taken immediately after the 3km falls hike... tonight it is bright red, but healing...

a brief update

K - so we left the house at 6am ish - stopped for some timmies... then made our way to Tumbler Ridge... 90 minutes later we were at the start of the race... at 9am we started the half marathon and it was freakin' awesome! I mean there were terrible parts where I just wanted to throw up or crawl back down the mountain in defeat, but I knew it wasn't in me to fail today... we made it to the 13 km summit (2000 ft elevation gain) to some beautiful scenery and then started the trek down. BEAUTIFUL!


(Kicking ass and taking names... not only did I complete a half marathon - the scenery was amazing) This is about 800 ft up... maybe a bit more...

I jogged for about 5km of the race and we made up for time I'd used at the start dragging myself up the mountain... we ran through the finish at 3 hours 38 minutes and I couldn't be happier about it... it was the best experience! We got bronze medals for completing in under 5 hours and then because we just couldn't get enough we did an additional 3km hike to some waterfalls... more beauty - more wonder- more nature... FANTASTIC (said like the princess in the paper bag princess)


Here is the steepest incline on the entire race... I actually didn't mind this that much.. there was a full kilometre that was all up hill and not a little uphill like heart thumpin' uphill... that was the worst section for me... the incline in the photo was steep enough to require a little bit of hands on to get up to the top... over the last few steps.

I got a bit too much sun for me... but I'm managing... I have a extra nasty blister that exploded at about 13 km and then got worse on our last 3 km hike to waterfalls... and then, upon further inspection, I found another five or six little ones... but other than that I don't really have much to complain about... the weather was good (super windy at the top), the company was great and the scenery was... say it with me... FANTASTIC!

We saw three moose on the way out in the morning, and a bunch of deer - two mom's with twins.. amazing!

Now I've had a healthy dose of red neck margarita and I'm ready to sleep... long day! Long day ahead as I'll be driving back to Quesnel early...

t-minus 12 hours

Well in 12 hours time I should be in mile 2 of my race... lord... today I got a great tour of Dawson Creek and did a bunch of new stuff... first I'm in Dawson Creek for the first time and it is a beautiful place, second I went on a golf cart - I actually stood on the bumper while being shuttled into the Dawson Creek Fall Fair - it was awesome - I was such a rock star :) ... ok and then I watched a chuck wagon race for the first time and it was crazy...



Here I am at the Dawson Creek museum/art gallery - and man was it nice... and free.... anyone coming through here should definitely stop there... DEFINITELY!

Alright - so I'm supposed to be sleeping, but can't - but I'm going to lay down and try to get some shut eye... we leave at 5am for Tumbler Ridge... I'll have photos to share tomorrow night... and I'll be celebrating the completion of my first half marathon!

just me?

So as we drove through Jasper National Park I noticed this beautiful mountain... now what I see in this photo are two hands coming out of the earth... I don't know if you'll see that or not... but I just felt this weird connection with the mountain and took a few photos as we got closer to it...


two hands
reaching towards the sky
hoping to stretch their fingers to the heavens

(In case you can't see it....)

another, cause I can't sleep

So here is another photo from tonight... can't sleep... it was a pretty good fireworks show and Dawson Creek has a great hill for viewing... the bugs decided to come and feast on us... but it was a small price to pay... :)

ok - one more photo

Another moon shot... can't wait for the sky show on the 12th...

crazy stuff in the sky...

We saw this after the fire works at the Dawson Creek Fall Fair... turns out it was a paper balloon with a fire bag under it... it was crazy to see...

no stench

Alright so the smell has cleared from the campsite ... thank GOD! Today we just hung out in Edmonton - spent some money at West Edmonton Mall and went to IKEA... and caved on buying a new mattress for the tent trailer because we just were not sleeping well.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Dawson Creek for the big race... which I'm pretty nervous about right now... I bought a bear bell in preparation for it and I'm picking up a new pack tomorrow before I head out. I should have bought it today but just wasn't really thinking about it - well that's a lie - I've been thinking about it a lot... mostly my thoughts are positive though and how freakin' cool its going to be to cross the finish line of a 1/2 marathon... I'm also focusing on the miles and not km... because 22 (ish) km sounds dreadful, while 13 miles... see where I'm going with that... I know - it's retarded - but that's why you keep coming back to read here.. expect no less than my stupidness :)

Love to all!

from the depths of hell

Next time I'm staying in alberta can someone remind me to ask what the place smells like - I'm so hyper sensitive to smells that I'm pretty much in pain every second we are the RV site.. it smells like ass x 20 x something that got burned... AHHHHHHHHHH! I just want to get the hell out of this campsite.

Other than that - we are alive - kids went to the water park yesterday and just hung out today... we went to the zoo, but don't even get me started on that... I'm not really sure how they can even call that a zoo... Calgary and even the Vancouver one are better...

Alright - there is some good old fashioned venting... now if I could get my email to send I'd be way better... back to trying to make that happen...

and while i'm thinking and not sleeping

In just a few short days the best meteor shower is on... so mark Aug 12 on the calendar - find yourself a nice place to sit and watch the sky come alive... with any luck I'll have photos to share as I'm planning to get outside that night and snap a few off... but don't wait for me to post pictures - so it in person - it is worth the look up!

no topic

So close, no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
and nothing else matters

Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don't just say
and nothing else matters

Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
and nothing else matters

never cared for what they do
never cared for what they know
but I know

So close, no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
and nothing else matters

never cared for what they do
never cared for what they know
but I know

Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don't just say

Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us, something new
Open mind for a different view
and nothing else matters

never cared for what they say
never cared for games they play
never cared for what they do
never cared for what they know
and I know

So close, no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
No, nothing else matters

(Just on the off chance that someone doesn't know where that comes from - this is the lyrics to nothing else matters by metallica... and I just felt like posting that tonight... I've been humming it all night and have decided that I shouldn't be the only one humming it...)

a little bit bigger

Some fun moon photography... man - I just need a converter to double my range... oh then look out...

photo fun

Half moon, July 29 09

oh what fun

Alright... so here is a job perk.... we managed to get Mantracker in Quesnel for a couple of episodes and this afternoon our office got to meet him - it was AWESOME! We just tried to contain our excitement.

gee willackers...

This month has been full of drama. My grandmother decided to move with her boyfriend and then things at the new place didn't work out - eg the place was a slum... so she decided to move... then after a few days she decided she needed to move back.. you guessed it now she decided to move away... and so tonight she is sleeping in my guest room upstairs. Now I actually didn't come on here tonight to complain about that - I actually think this is an important thing and believe that these are exactly the kinds of situations where families are meant to pull together - regardless of the retardness... (I know my word loving friends that isn't a word, pretend it is) And then tonight she goes to bed early - like right after dinner early... tired, hasn't slept in days/weeks - ok - night - even though it is SO DAMN hot upstairs that I'm actually working in my office... sad - but true... then gets up a couple hours later and then pretty much goes right back to sleep - or at least I think she is - for whatever reason I look down the hall and there on the counter in my guest room are her teeth in a bowl... yuck right... flash to me thinking about how that sucks and I don't want that and... oh it gets better - I see her hands and move out of the way thinking she is coming to the door... nope - she has spied (with her little eye) a pile of papers.. and she is making her way through it - looking at our old bills and crap, that is now part of the re-use pile of paper... - part of me wanted to open the door, but I would have bonked her in the head... I mean - what the flamin' toilet paper is that... thanks for letting me stay at your house and while I'm here I'm going to perform a full audit...

What it made me think - is what did she look through while I was out of the house all day... there are few items/things/papers that would be bad in the wrong hands... even in good hands... :)

What else - tomorrow is garage sale day at our house - I picked the hottest weekend of the summer to have a garage sale - fan-freakin-tastic..., my sister is here tomorrow - woohoo - ok - time to turn the water off - gotta get up at 6am to start setting up the garage sale... or earlier..

cold battle

BLAH - the cold is not improving - AT ALL!

I'm sick and need a place to whine - so here I am...

My throat is no longer sore - so that is a positive note. However, the cold has relocated in my sinus. I'm not really feeling like I have a real cold and have to wonder if I'm having some kind of stupid allergy. I guess I'll see how the rest of the week goes... I may also try a allergy medicine and see if that alleviates the symptoms.

Ok and now for a beautiful flower photo from Lillooet...

photo

This was taken at 7am from the Seton Rest Area in Lillooet. If you look closely you'll see the moon above the mountain top.

I'm working at fighting off the cold I have right now - I'm also trying to get my distance up for the emperor's challenge. I definitely need some great socks and bandaids. I have a pretty bad blister on one of my toes and I'm just hoping it will heal up - I guess I should be taking better care of it - plus my left heel is really cracked - I mean more than a .5 cm wide and at least that deep... all from shoes - any time I wear backless shoes my heel cracks... why... why... why does fashion have to bare such a heavy price ;)

Oh and I got another piece of funny mail. I asked that some coupons be sent to the attention of the "Queen of the Universe". Since they sent it to the house it must be true! Damn straight!

Has anyone else been selected for a Stat Canada Labour Market survey before? They make it out like it is such an honour... they track a household for six months and you have to do it otherwise they hound you like bill collectors... apparently it is part of being a proud Canadian. I think I missed the fine print on that one.

a little camping

So we went and spent the night at McLeese Lake Resort last night... unbeknownst to us a nice storm came through - so we ended up looking at each other for a few hours while the storm passed over. Tent trailer held up well - but it was freakin' cold. I know I'm getting old, but come on. Now I hear it is supposed to really get hot for the next few days - which I'm actually looking forward to... that's right - I just said I was looking forward to warm weather... insane!

The guys had a good time at the lake - despite the weather - found some snail shells - the only shells in northern BC (ok - Prince Rupert and Kitimat have some shells... ok - only shells in the Cariboo - happy...)

We are heading to Edmonton in two weeks. I haven't been there since I was 15 so if anyone knows what we should do there - outside of West Edmonton Mall - cause, yeh, I've heard about it - then please let me know 'cause I don't know what the hell we are going to do for five days there. I'm leaving the family behind on Aug 6 or 7th and heading to Dawson Creek for the Emperor's Challenge - and yes - that actually does make me insane... half marathon through the bush... I'm actually really looking forward to it.

Ok - onward and upwards, happy thoughts onboard :)

i gotta say..

I'm sure that some group of people sat down together and thought this was a brilliant idea... I'm sure they patted themselves on the back and cheered... but seriously... naming your product bumpits... seriously... maybe I'm just watching too much late night television - but really - that's the best they could do... now they say it hyphenated - bump-its... but the website is just bumpits.. so we've got armpits... and... that's right bumpits...

I've also got Roxanne stuck in my head - it has been in there for a few days... the version from Moulin Rouge...

a work trip...

Ok first....

This was one of the lightning strikes I managed to catch during the great storm that rolled through Quesnel on July 12.

So yesterday I drove to Lillooet for a meeting. I'm not sure what I was expecting - but I definitely got more than I what I expected. Lillooet is in this amazing location between Cache Creek and Whistler. I really couldn't believe how breath taking the scenery was and how friendly the people were (are). Definitely a place to go back and visit... they've got an apricot festival next weekend... should anyone be interest in making their way there... and now for some pictures of this beautiful place...

so much for a sunny afternoon

THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS THIS AFTERNOON. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES TAKE IMMEDIATE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AS AFTERNOON SUNSHINE HEATS AN UNSTABLE AND MOIST AIRMASS. A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF HAIL UP TO 15 MM..LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS..AND STRONG WINDS GUSTING TO 70 KM/H.

I also like how the weather network writes in caps... we might not take their warnings seriously if it weren't for the shouting caps...

So that storm has finally arrived - they've called off the warning - but the storm came anyway. Lots of rain- nothing hitting here yet, but you can see it rolling over here. I tried to take some lightning photos but it isn't striking... or at least - isn't yet - so I'm waiting to see if the storm picks up, or if it just stays flashing... better go get my tripod out of the car

Did you know you aren't supposed to put the following in microwaves - (these can cause a fire or explosion) grapes - grapes cut but not completely sliced through and you can get a fire, a raw egg should not go in - it will explode (less than 20 seconds)
Good old Food Network - how I love with you :)

Cariboo Safari

Well I couldn't resist - I had to share photos of April's Cariboo Safari.


Here is a nice bull moose that Stephanie spotted about 20 km from my parents house. This was on our way home.


Here is the bear we "chased" down... he stuck his head out as we were driving out - so I did a four point turn on the highway and went up a little forest road to see if we could see him. Then we waited while the bear decided which direction he was going to go in. He started to head back towards us and then cut in front of us.


And here is me taking Paula on her first ever ATV ride... woo hoo!

a break

So I've been on holidays for a few days... I took off Thursday/Friday while Paula and then later, my aunt visited. Everyone packed up and left today... which was sad and the older I get the harder it is for me to not cry... my aunt picked up her two puppies last night on our trip to Nazko. We had a nice drive out and we got to see some bears, deer and even a moose... April's Cariboo Safari was in full motion - it was great... we even chased down a bear (a bit) so we could get a photo.

I managed to stop clenching my jaw over the last few days and now I sit here tonight wishing that I had another week off. I am going back to work as the acting executive director - that's the big news that I haven't been able to talk about. What does that mean? Well really it doesn't mean much - it is a title. It is exciting though - I've got a great staff right now and I'm excited about the direction the ship will go in for the next six months - as that is how long I will be "acting" in this position... and then we will see what happens.

After my best friend and favorite relative left today we went on our saturday garage sale and picked up a rock polisher, a new to us spider man car (Michael is sleeping with it), some pokemon books and a batman lego set... which sadly didn't have batman in it but it had the joker and some other cool stuff - so we spent a good part of the afternoon playing lego and building different batman airships and boats... I also spent some time reading the polishing manual and found out that it takes 11 (that's 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11...) DAYS to polish rocks... you leave this little rotating cup rotating for 11 days and at the end of the three different cycles you get pretty rocks - I gotta say I was a little bit more than shocked when I read the instructions - I mean - no wonder it isn't a popular item... I thought I was getting this great deal... I'll be giving it a try... I need to pick up a few supplies in order for it to work.

Well that is about it. I'm a wee-bit low tonight and I know I just need a good nights sleep... we'll see how that goes. I've been getting less than six hours a night and that never does anything good for me.

a long day

Well work was busy today... I actually asked some of the staff to stay late to help me out - bought pizza - kept them a bit longer and then let them go... then I kept chugging along for another 90 minutes - finished all my immediate/pressing work and then came home and cleaned up my office... which was great - I can actually see my desk and might even been inspired to get some work done this weekend now...

Now I'm watching the matrix.. because that's the kind of fun I'm having on a friday night... next friday night though... hmm.... me thinks I might be having a lot more fun... a lot more ;)

How could I not post about it

By now you've read all the headlines that Michael Jackson has died. I shouted at a Staples employee (in a good way..) to "shut up" that Michael Jackson was dead. I refused to believe her - I went out to my car and called my office and asked if anyone had heard this madness - this lunacy.

There are a lot of things bothering me about his death. I'm not one of those hard core fans, but I was/am a fan. He did have some great songs and he was an amazing performer. I can sing loads of his songs, can't moonwalk - but wished I could, can't break dance - but tried, have grabbed myself (even though I lack the essential physical attributes) to MJ songs. I'm bothered by what I was reminded of - that I should get use to it - this is going to keep happening. That the people we loved as kids and young adults and even as adults are going to die. That is bugging me a lot! I mean, I know it is true... but that sucks.

I guess there isn't much one can say about all that. The issue of death is a lurking part of my anxiety and it drummed it up a bit today. (Think Jumanji and when you get close to the game the drum gets louder and louder and louder, but then when you open up the game and the drumming stops, you realize that your problems have only just begun.) Always pleased to hear others thoughts on this... I'm reading Tony Robbins right now to continue to work on my anxiety issues - I've been following him on Twitter for weeks and finally borrowed one of his books.

more new puppy photos

Another round of puppy photos are up at nazkopuppies.blogspot.com

Didn't sleep much last night - too much activity too close to bed... lesson learned... something else also chewed the crap out of my leg... so now I have these terrible burning bug bites - ARG!... and there is a short whining session

night all :)

I did it

Well I was aiming for 20km... and I surpassed that tonight - it must have been around km 20 that I started to get all - what the hell am I doing... I road up to Pinnacles - now in my head I was like - hey - no problem - it is steep, but it isn't that bad.. HA - I'm an idiot! I also thought that the ride down (back over Pinnacles through to Bouchie Lake) was flat... HA - stupid - there were hills and I started to think - man... I had lots of moments where I was just super pleased though... then there was this moment - I got off to walk for a few minutes to get my heart rate down about 2 km from the top of Pinnacles hill and out comes a bear.. GREAT - I was about 100 yards away - a good telephone pole to telephone pole distance apart - I stood there for a second thinking - ok - I can turn around and go back or see what happens - so I wait and see - the bear stops to see what I am - I'm wearing white - so he turns and looks and then I figure - ok - better protect myself a little and I put my bike in front of me - the bear then turns and walks off into the bush. So I wait - thinking - now what... I don't want to ride back down because the Pinnacles ride down is steep and I just didn't want to - so I watch the bear roam off - climb back on my bike and a second bear comes out... so I pull over and wait... and wait - he isn't interested in me and just follows the other off in the bush... there is a clearing so I just watched them head off... and so I climbed back on my bike and went on.... had to get to Pinnacles... which I totally thought was closer than I really was at this point. (Yes, Paula, I know - I'm retarded... )

The other moment that got a good scream out of me was a scene from "Aristocats". Remember those dogs that got the butler... so I'm riding and this little barker semi-startles me - lets out a couple of barks. I see another larger dog ahead and try to pick up speed. He waits on the side of the road and as soon as I pass he is out for the chase - then I give'r - I'm going hard - thank god it wasn't a hill - and so I think I'm clear (see ' I think') and then it was like my sixth sense kicks in... and I turn to my right shoulder and there is he is getting ride to pounce on me and I let out this scream and my legs found some new speed and off I went... blah.... I'm sure those a-hole dogs had a good laugh after - see that retard go - I wonder if she'll come back - that was fun... I was so close... so close - I could taste those gray yoga pants she was wearing... no, really, I swear....

So tonight's ride was 23.8 km (according to google maps) it took me about 110 minutes (or just shy of two hours..) - and now I'm going to go and shower and continue to unwind... woohoo... if I can get my cell phone to download photos I'll share my photo of me at pinnacles.

knee

Everything appears to be better - I think it was the foot wear I'd been wearing that day and it just tweaked something. How do I know it is better - well I launched into a good long ride tonight. Well again I thought I was going to be right at the 20 km mark - I went up to Marsh Rd which is where I grew up - so that was a challenge - pretty steep and long to get to the top - its about 2.6 miles from my house to the worst part of the hill - so that took me the longest. Then I took a logging road back down to West Fraser and looped back. It was a good ride... once I got past the thundering heart part :) Turns out it was about 16km... that is, however, my farthest cycle to date - so I'm pretty pleased with that - I'm also pleased with the time it took me - I was back in less than 90 minutes and when I first started biking I did a 3.5 km cycle that would be easy now that took me 30 minuntes... so I'm improving and feeling good about it. Now if my ipod shuffle would cooperate on these treks...

a new found love

So I've been biking over the last few weeks and initially I was thinking - why - and then I got into it and now I'm actually planning for farther and farther routes... well until tonight - I think I've strained something in my knee - nothing terrible - it causes pain when I do some moves - I took the guys on a quick ride tonight - about 1.5km - so for Kyle that's a big deal. My knee wasn't too bad... but it was an easy ride - nearly all flat and I still had hiccups in pain. Then we get back to the house and I tell Kyle to slowly go down the driveway and he just goes full on and rather than braking, drives right into the house - hard... He was totally fine. I wouldn't have been :)

I'm definitely busy at work - and I'll have a better update on the work front soon - lots of top secret stuff... on the not so top secret front Mantracker will be coming to film two episodes in the Quesnel area - which is awesome! I can't wait for them to be in Quesnel - they'll be here next month - Very exciting! Our first filming opportunity!

Hope everyone is fabulous! The rain has been with us for a few days, but we needed it - and as my faithful readers know - I love the rain!

something smart

Got a minute... have a look at this... thank god some people are really thinking about changes that can make our world a better place...

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/06/12/dnt.wa.paper.water.bottle.king

Friday night

New puppy photos have been posted over at nazkopuppies.blogspot.com...

ohhh...

I was just saying today how I wasn't really into watching movies and then low and behold a good one is on tonight - good old Sleepless in Seattle - "Well I'm going to get out of bed every morning, then after a while I won't have to remind myself to get out bed and breathe in and out and then after a while I won't have to think about how I had it perfect for a while. It was a million tiny little things - I knew it, I knew it the very first time I touched her - I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew it."

It helps that I also love the soundtrack... love it!


Ahhhhh - fabulous! This is the best way to finish a day...

another weekend

Ahhhhhhhh - yup - we had another great weekend... until about 60 minutes ago... and it was at that moment I wished that the gravel in our backyard was made of marshmallows. We just got back from a bike ride - Kyle is biking and loving it now and Michael is in his little blue trailer behind me. We get back to the house move the water around so the lawn can have a drink and I'm just about to put all the gear away when Michael runs full on, into the ground. He didn't move and didn't speak - I thought he was ok and just gathering himself up and then he starts up the blood-chilling scream. I bust it over to him and he doesn't want to move. He is just crying as loud as I've ever heard him cry. I turn him over and it is a rough, bleeding mess on his knee and he is wailing over it. Then Kyle comes up and says "oh my god, his knee is gushing"... now really it was a trickle - if that - but that set Michael off again. He then cried for the next 10 minutes - progressively louder and louder still when I cleaned it out.

We made it through story time without tears and then he'd settled down enough to sleep... phew. He seemed to be pleased to hear that the band-aid had some magic cream on it.

It must have been the day for damage - I smashed my middle finger (the most important one) this morning - smashing it and at the same time cutting the crap out of it. So there you go - another weekend done - another week starting... Kyle starts his level 1 swimming tomorrow after successfully graduating from pre-1 on Saturday... hooray! I hope everyone else is doing well and enjoying fabulous weather wherever you are! Oh right - exceptions - sorry my calgary friends - I hope you are doing well and I'm sorry you live in a place that would snow in June :) (ok - so I'm secretly laughing... oh wait - now it isn't a secret)