before and after

So this doesn't show the trim - but we've used the same color on the mantel - dark brown - for the window and floor moulding. I'm really pleased with it. The only downside to the change over is that the laminate is slippery... some spots seem to get ultra slippy - I've talked about getting a rug, but I honestly wonder why we put the laminate down if we are just going to put a rug on top... We also changed the following...




So now the hallway where all the bedrooms are, is connected to the living room - it sure makes a difference to the feel of things.

In uploading these photos I looked back at what the house looked like when we first bought it - looking at it now I can't believe how far we've come...

updates

Today has been a ride... I had a high point in my day that was fantastic - I mean super duper fan-freakin'-tastic.. and then lows that made me want to turn into the hulk. Seriously I just wanted to start throwing things and explode in fury... and now I've had some sugar and I'm home working and I'm trying to feel better again... so since I never got to the photos I thought I would give a bit of an update on stuff.

one. Kyle lost his first tooth on Thursday Oct 29 - he pulled it out himself - he was very proud of himself - the tooth fairy was kind enough to leave Kyle $2.00 - the following day - he promptly told someone that he had gotten twenty five dollars and that person (family friend) darn near broke their jaw from it dropping so fast... because I'm extra stupid and would give my seven year old twenty five dollars for his first lost tooth... anyway - we cleared things up and everything was dandy.

two. Kyle was in the paper again. This time on the cover in last years costume - it was great! I'll send out copies for anyone interested.

three. Andy's parents are here for the next few days. Today we hung out in PG for a few hours and I was shocked and rather dismayed that Sears was playing Christmas music. I get it - cash in - make us all start thinking about Christmas now - damnit! But it made me just want to run away - plus it was playing ultra loud - stupid - more stupid nonsense...

four. I leave on Tuesday for Ontario - I am doing my best to try not to fret too much about this... trying...

five. Prince Charles and Camilla will be in Ontario at the exact same time as me - in fact, their itinerary notes them being in Hamilton the same day as me...

six. my tummy hurts from eating too many gummies

first some fun

Well I'd thought about going out tonight, but my stomach wasn't really into it... kind of thinking I let dairy into my life at some point today... I'm going to research the suspect food and find out...

So I'm going to load up my photos of the living room and a bunch more but thought I'd start with something fun. I think this is a warning sign for the area female horses... and no, I didn't photoshop this one... this is how it stands in Quesnel...



Please make up your own tag for this photo and share... :)

boobies

A great halloween email photo my aunti sent me... :)
Sorry to disappoint those who searched for really boobies tonight and got this... actually I'm not sorry...

illness

Well Kyle seems to be on the mend - he isn't coughing as much - which I hope means the antibiotics are working and now my big baby is sick... that's right, Andy is sick... it has come on pretty fast - he was pretty good this morning and now he is full on sick. Slight temperature and now he is drugged up and sleeping... hopefully he will be on the mend soon... I seem to be weathering through all this - I definitely felt like I was getting sick yesterday, but felt pretty good today - even managed to work out tonight... hooray! Didn't go very far, but still got a 40 minute workout in.

I watched biggest loser and boy was it sad tonight... I must have a nearly cried a few times... and even shed a couple of tears.
And now I'm going to go and shower and go read - I'm reading Eat, Pray, Love - great book - I'm not that far in it, but I'm enjoying it. I'm also reading that political book still which I'm enjoying, but I need a block of time to just sit and read and not try and read it before bed. I'm planning to take both books with me next week when I go off to Ontario - if you can believe that I'm going for training there...

On the worrying front - Kyle has upgraded to a loft bed and it has sent me into worry mode. Tonight I've put blankets on the potential risk side - I feel like he is a baby again and I need to build up padding. We've also put padding on the floor, just in case. I don't think I ever fell out of my bunk bed when I was a kid, but I remember my sister falling out of it. Stupid - I kind of wish we hadn't gotten it, but I also get that he really wanted it and that he is growing up - damn it! Now he has a desk, a little book case, a cool fort, and a bed up in the sky...

magic monday

Yes - the title is sarcasm...

Today was a long day. First we kept the guys home today and I'm kind of debating what will happen tomorrow. Michael is doing really good - no more throwing up - no more anything really - today was just a day to hang out. Kyle has a throat and ear infection and now has antibiotics to take. Doctor said he could go back though... of course I can feel a cold creeping in - ever so quietly... I've been taking cold fx, but I gotta say that now I've been on it five days in a row it is causing my stomach to hurt. It gives me indigestion and doesn't sit well. If I eat that seems to clear things up - so I've been trying to remember to eat when I'm taking it.

So on top of the crazy illnesses I had a pile of work to do today. I did manage to get it all done, but I only finished working on it about 30 minutes ago. Then after sending in the work I found out that there are errors in the system and nothing is sending and on and on and ANGER CREEPING in... TAKING OVER FROM COLD..... I feel like I could turn into the hulk at any freakin' second.

Grammar police
Apparently the grammar police have been around and I want to send me sincere apologies to everyone for not using the correct there, their, or they're... I will try to make use of my enhanced grammar skills for future posts.

And that is it for tonight - I'm defeated and need to take a break. Good night my friends - good night and sweet dreams.

another day done

Well made it through another day of sick kids... I keep getting feelings of a cold and then it goes away... hopefully I can fend off the viruses floating around here. I'm pretty sure that Kyle is just dealing with Tonsillitus again and I don't know what the hell Michael has... so he barfs and cries like the end of the world has come and then he wakes up in the morning and it is like he was never ever sick - he spent most of the day playing and having fun - I mean he isn't 100% but he doesn't seem sick. Part of me is loathing going to sleep in fear that I will be up at 2:50am again to clean up my poor little guy, but the other part of me just wants to sleep... so that is where I'm going... good night everyone :)

oh dina

It is before 6am again and here I sit - this morning was worse. Michael ate like a regular little kid yesterday - and at dinner he ate a lot - even for him.... at 2:50am he woke up and threw up a little - but he'd remembered that he needed to throw up in the bathroom and pretty much didn't make too big a mess. It sucked, and he wailed, but it was ok. Then he woke up again at 5:20am and this time we weren't as lucky. I don't think he had much of a chance to even sit up... it was awful - and now I am up because I'm struggling to get the smell out of my nose... nasty x 10, plus acid...

And yes, the germiphobe is having a wee-bit of a meltdown - I guess nurses and doctors... and paramedics.. don't get everything they come into contact with and they just wash up after. This morning I feel like I should have been wearing a hazmat suit though... so yes I took cold fx - and yes I washed like there is no tomorrow and I feel like putting my clothes in a pile outside and lighting them on fire... along with all the blankets and towels and everything... aaaahhhhhhhhhh, boohoo...

So now what? Well I'm going to sit here for a while, see if PostSecret has their new batch of secrets up for Sunday, try to not think about the smell (HELP) and possibly fall back asleep... maybe.

still Saturday

Well we survived the day... Michael continued to get better, while Kyle started to get worse... his cough is terrible and he was just off all day.. booo... so we had a fairly quiet day. We did manage to get out of the house for a while... went to the Quesnel Library for the library book sale - it was great! We picked up a bunch of new books (new to us) and for a great price. I bought a few supplies for cookie making and then we watched some movies... well one movie - watched Monsters vs Aliens again.

Tonight there was a scrapbooking night in town and I actually packed up all my stuff to go - arrived and found out that it was $25 for a table... which I wasn't expecting - I was only thinking of dropping in for an hour and then heading home. So I went back to the car with all my stuff and came home and decided - what the heck - let's just get going here... so I finished three pages tonight, which is a very big deal because I haven't scrapbooked pages in ages. I've been doing more thank you cards.

And now it is nearly midnight and I need to get some sleep. My brother is here for the next few days - so hopefully I'll have some photos of him with the guys to share - plus the photos of the living room - which I fall more in love with by the day.

Good night my friends and family :) Love ya!

Saturday

First of all when I got rudely awakened this morning I thought it was 6am... here I sit 15 minutes ahead of six am and I've already been up a half hour... Michael called me to his room at what I thought was 6am and then about 10 minutes later (as I'm sleeping in his bed) he starts throwing up. I can't remember the last time he threw up - it was not pretty and it was very very close to being all over me... thank goodness the kid has some kind of aim and didn't upchuck on me... anyway - it was bad enough - I won't try and explain the smell but that smell is definitely trapped in my nose right now and I could just cry about it.

Anyway, we get through the barfing that ends up damn never everywhere - bed, feet, clothes, wall, bathroom.... and then it is like he has transformed - not two minutes before he was crying about as loud as he cries and now he is asking me about his new bed sheets in about as loud a voice as he has - he is all happy to have a new bed... the kid is nearly singing a song about the new bed... I didn't know it was that exciting for him. Now he is sleeping and I'm up - I've washed down the bathroom, and washed my hands multiple times and taken cold fx - nothing like throw up to get the germiphobe up and running...

Heeeeellllllllooooooo weekend!

friday

Well like any fabulous friday after a long day of work I enjoyed some Kenny vs Spenny to unwind. It is the weekend and I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. Kyle is coming down with a cold, while Michael is getting better.

It rained here today and I loved it - nothing like a good rain storm. As a result of the rain though and the temperature I'm totally freezing.. I think I'm going to have a hot shower, curl up with my book - The Rise of the West - that's right a total political junkie book - and get some shut eye.

Photos to come this weekend and with any luck I'll have time to get out and take some fun photographs.
ttyl - hugs and kisses

and...

If you happen to have a clear patch of sky above you there is another meteor shower tonight... sadly we are overcast and rainy.. boooo... get out there and enjoy the show if you can! I know I would be.

got 20 minutes

If you have twenty minutes and feel like watching something uplifting check out... http://www.thedoorpost.com/hope/film/?film=4dd298f102c77b625cf37a9e7744ac68 Be patient, it takes a couple of minutes to load - or a lot of minutes if you happen to be on dial-up.

I shared this with my staff this morning - and I thought it was worth every minute of it.

the reno

Tonight I spent time painting and sadly I can see that I think I'm going to need one more coat on the window frame to get it right... maybe it will look better in the morning - but right now I'm thinking - one more flamin' coat... but that's ok - it is with love that I paint and enjoy the fact that my living room will finally belong to me and I will no longer have to look at a blue strip of stenciling that was done in a half-assed way in the first place and made me wonder what those people were thinking - did someone really think that looked good...

So it looks like the photos will be a few more days away... the floor needs about four more rows to completion... we did manage to load the tv back in and with any luck the couches will be tomorrow night... with any luck :)

On another note...
I've started a campaign on facebook and in the mail to help someone with their dream. I do not know this person - I've only met him once. I shook his hand, said hello and listened to him speak for an hour. After that hour I decided I wanted to be part of someone's dream and I honestly believe it is possible. I'm looking for people to help - which means being apart of the facebook page and if you really want - it means sending in a postcard.. see here for more details...

Discipline... arg...

So today on our way home Kyle starts talking about plans for the evening and then he says - oh wait - I can't play tonight, I need to be punished. GREAT! So why... well I get the following story.... so I was playing in the playground with my friends and we were digging a hole to china - another kid came over and started kicking dirt in the hole and we asked him to stop and he wouldn't - so I choked him and karate kicked him.

GREAT!

Now as soon as he said they were digging a hole to China I started to laugh on the inside which left me a bit off to actually talk punishment... now this is a serious offense - if that happened to Kyle I'd be pissed... so now I'm left with what to do - I told him I needed to think about his punishment... he then decided to write out a list to help me out... a 12 point plan on things I could do to punish him. All of them are significantly worse than anything I would have come up with... things like - never eat again, leave me in vancouver and never come home... lord...

So that was how my day ended - well work day - now I'm looking at finishing my pant job tonight - once the guys are sleeping and then probably doing some work as I've got gobs of project work to complete.

hives - take two..

Today at lunch and dinner Michael started to get hives - it appears to be unrelated to food - I've been told that it might just be that whatever set him off yesterday might need to run its course and so he'll need Benadryl for a few days to recover.

The renovation is moving along - I painted the rest of the fire place today and was very pleased that the color matches up and then we laid the foam underlay - we started the floor - first row is nearly finished and then Andy had a call and since I can't (don't want to) use the saw I'm waiting... what I decided to do was look at other people laying there floor and I'm totally glad I did because I had a different idea of what to do with row two... so thank you all you funny DIY'ers for posting your videos on youtube - that was totally helpful.

What else? I think I'm experiencing too much stress right now as an element of my anxiety crept back in yesterday. I'm not feeling anxiety but it is just one of those muscle twinges that eight months ago would have sent me over the edge and now I'm just mostly annoyed with it... why... why... that's right - I know why - because I'm doing too much and getting stressed out and my body is now saying - hellllllloooooo - STOP! So that is what I'm going to work on this week... probably head in for a reiki session... plus getting the reno done will help - most of the living room is in our kitchen and bedroom and it will be nice to be back in order... can't wait to load pictures!

impetigo

No I didn't sneeze - impetigo is a staph infection that becomes a rash and a little kid at daycare got it... so then today Michael gets a rash and they start to panic - because of course - it must be the same. So I go and pick him up and take him to the doctor. The doctor pretty much laughs at me and tells me to tell my daycare that they are nuts! And repeats it and tells me that I can totally tell them that. We leave...

Fast forward a few hours and his rash is worse and covering more of his body... it isn't impetigo... turns out our little trooper is having an allergic reaction. Now the only thing I can think of is that he changed shirts at daycare and someone washed it in something Michael can't tolerate... or who knows what else... he has some benadryl and things started to settle down. The hives are now gone and he wasn't itchy anymore...

Being at the doctors office at this time of year is terrible though! There are all kinds of sick people... and some are angry. Kyle and Michael were being there happy go-lucky selves and this nasty old lady just wanted to get mad at them... we tried to just sit and be quiet but I mean - really - they are kids - and there is little that can stop them... chocolate... that is about it - and that is super short lived!

life of a soccer mom

Tonight I'm trying to wrap up some work for a meeting tomorrow night but before I close up shop I wanted to write about my day. It was a tough day... and there were high lights and low lights - but right now I want to rant... tonight we went to soccer - I had some of my worst anxiety at soccer at the beginning of this year - so just being in the building set me off a bit.. and then we sat down and found ourselves next to a little boy who was being completely ignored by his family... he was given his dinner while his parents screwed off to watch there other phenom child play soccer... so he sat there and did the following and... people - I am not making this up

1. He kicked the metal seats - it was loud and annoying
2. He made a giant mess on the metal seats
3. He put his straw in the sweet and sour sauce and actually slurped it up his straw
4. He then used the same straw to put it into all the other containers that were near him from his dinner
5. He blew his nose into his hand - multiple times
6. He then touched other things ( and we wonder why people get sick)
7. He put his mess in a bag and then tried to stuff into the metal work of the building - at this point I suggested that the garbage can that was two feet in the other direction would work...

This little guy was maybe four - alone - and I just felt bad for him... but it did give me a learning opportunity with Michael because for every bad thing he did - I made sure to say to Michael - wow - that's bad.. and then Michael started to echo me and then when we left he asked me where the bad boy was...

you know it

Yes - I had two turkey sandwiches for lunch and yes - I will totally have one for lunch tomorrow... I will make sandwiches and enjoy for as long as I possibly can. I'm also planning on taking my shoes to work tomorrow and going on a walk... managed to get in 4.25 miles tonight...

Binder - have a safe trip back to PG... I also hope that it doesn't snow... people keep telling me it is coming - I keep telling them they are wrong.. and I tell them that they aren't following the right weather network - I have become my own weather network - if enough of us believe we can postpone winter... maybe we can... I also keep wearing skirts to make sure the mother nature sees that I do not agree with this sharp change in the weather... I'm also trying to entice a little bit more fall to come out... I will wear shorter skirts - if thats what it takes... go away winter.. please... give us a little bit of fall... just a little bit... three days was not fall...

and at 2:04pm today I got older... Kyle turned seven today... we took him for dinner - his choice... he picked Mr Mikes and then we got birthday cake - it was pretty cool - he is getting so big and grown up... every day it is something new - my newest joy is that I've introduced the newspaper - he seems pretty keen to look through it and ask questions and I could just about jump for joy ... to talk current events and newspaper stuff is awesome - I always wanted that when I was a kid - I wanted my parents to talk about politics or something... something beyond global news... but very few times did it happen... well see if it lasts - I'll enjoy it while it does... seven...

hooray for turkey

Well we made our way out to Nazko today for some yummy turkey... and pie... oh yeah! It was great!

I will point out a few things that I totally laughed about (inside... of course)

1. We just started eating dinner (at 2:20pm... - yes we totally ate again tonight) and Kyle takes a bit of his dinner, keeps eating and then Grandma asks how it is... now I was totally thinking this as he says it out loud... it's good, and chewy. My Dad chuckled, 'cause I think we all realized that we were eating some dry bird... but turkey is turkey - it was good - and gravy made the dry go away...
2. Michael likes cranberry jelly and calls it red jello... he asks for it on sandwiches - and not just on turkey day (sadly tonight he is little under the weather...)
3. And then there was pie... yummy huckleberry pie - berries that we picked just a few weeks ago - Mom says - I guess I should have added cinnamon - there is agreement from both me and my dad - except my dad actually says it - and then she asks what does Kyle think... well - it is bitter... ha... it was... but it was also mighty good - let's face it - I've wanted a good dinner for a while... craving turkey and turkey sandwiches and if you can throw me some pie too - that doesn't have dairy - wicked!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone - I hope you all had a great day with your friends and families!

yes or no

So I was looking for something to do tonight... so I'm doing one of those grand old surveys from facebook

Rules
1. You can ONLY answer Yes or No.

2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages or comments you and asks. -- and believe me, the temptation to explain some of these will be overwhelming nothing is exactly as it seems.

Now, here's what you're supposed to do. . . Copy and paste this into your notes, delete my answers, type in your answers and then share it somewhere.. FB or on your own blog...

------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Kissed any one of your Facebook friends? --- Yes
Been arrested? --- No
Kissed someone you didn't like? --- Yes
Slept in until 5 PM? --- Yes
Fallen asleep at work/school? ---Yes
Held a snake? --- Yes
Ran a red light? --- Yes
Been suspended from school? --- No
Experienced love at first sight? --- Yes
Totaled your car in an accident? --- No
Been in a vehicle at more than 100 mph? --- Yes
Driven a vehicle at more than 100 mph? --- Yes
Been fired from a job? ---No
Fired somebody? --- Yes
Sang karaoke? --- No
Pointed a gun at someone? --- No
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? --- Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? --- Yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? --- Yes
Kissed in the rain? --- Yes
Had a close brush with death (your own)? --- Yes
Ever feared for your life? --- Yes
Seen someone die? --- Yes
Played spin-the-bottle? --- No
Sang in the shower? --- Yes
Smoked a cigar? --- Yes
Sat on a rooftop? --- Yes
Smuggled something into another country? --- Yes
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? --- No
Broken a bone? --- Yes
Skipped school? --- Yes
Eaten a bug? --- Yes
Sleepwalked? --- Yes
Walked a moonlit beach? --- No
Ridden a motorcycle? --- Yes
Dumped someone? --- Yes
Forgotten your anniversary? --- No
Lied to avoid a ticket? --- Yes
Ridden on a helicopter? --- No
Shaved your head? --- No
Played a prank on someone? --- Yes
Hit a home run? --- No
Felt like killing someone? --- No
Cross-dressed? --- Yes
Been falling-down drunk? --- Yes
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? --- Yes
Eaten snake? --- No
Marched/Protested? --- Yes
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? --- No
Puked on amusement ride? --- No
Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? --- Yes
Been in a band? --- Yes
Knitted? --- Yes
Been on TV? --- Yes
Fired a gun? --- Yes
Skinny-dipped? --- Yes
Gave someone stitches? --- No
Eaten a whole habenero pepper (or other hot peppers)? --- No
Ridden a surfboard? --- No
Drank straight from a liquor bottle? --- Yes
Had surgery? --- Yes
Streaked? --- Yes
Taken by ambulance to hospital? --- Yes
Tripped on mushrooms? --- No
Passed out when not drinking? --- No
Donated Blood? --- Yes
Grabbed electric fence? --- Yes
Eaten alligator meat? --- No
Eaten cheesecake? --- Yes
Eaten your kids' Halloween candy? --- No
Killed an animal when not hunting? --- Yes
Snuck into a movie without paying? --- Yes
Written graffiti? --- No
Still love someone you shouldn't? --- No
Think about the future? --- Yes
Been in handcuffs? --- Yes
Believe in love? --- Yes
Sleep on a certain side of the bed? --- Yes
Have a tattoo? --- Yes
Have a piercing(s) --- Yes

the reno

Well it looks like this renovation (unlike past projects) will actually be completed in a timely manner. We finished painting the walls tonight (we... Andy painted the walls) - me and the boys tackled the fire place which took WAY longer than I thought it would take... too much cutting in... and it soaked up paint like a sponge... it needs one more coat though... the ceiling needs a paint job... so I may do that tonight - or I may just read a book... we actually read the instructions for the flooring and realized that the floor needed to adjust to its new climate - so I packed all the flooring upstairs - (my workout for tonight - need to add some sit ups)... what else - well first we are adding to the subfloor by a 1/2 inch because there is a clear drop between our kitchen and hallway into the living room as it stands right now... once the subfloor addition is completed then we can start putting the new laminate down... once the laminate is down we can put things a little back in order and then put the molding back in... there was molding on the ceiling which is NOT going back in - only floor molding will return - hooray.... can't wait to see this project complete... it feels like we really own our house.. crazy!

Photos just as soon as I can show you before and after...

Hope everyone is having a great long weekend...

ps. Didn't get my turkey - turns out the bird that I ordered had grown a little bit too big and was way more bird than the four of us could handle - so we are invading my parents house tomorrow night (night... ha - we've been asked to come and eat at 3pm... that's right - we are officially starting to eat on old people time...)

pps. For the forth consecutive night it is going to below -10 outside... brrrrrr.... thankfully - no snow... and apparently we aren't due for snow for a whlie... GOOD!

Birthday celebration

Today we celebrated Kyle's 7th birthday. He had a few friends over and they had a good time playing and eating and just having fun. Below are his cake (a pokemon character that he picked out and I just did my best trying to make it look like something) and then him blowing it out...

birthday

Well tomorrow is Kyle's big birthday party... he asked me to make a Pokemon cake... I took some creative license and managed to get a fish-looking creature done tonight... I'll share photos tomorrow. Of course we are still in the middle of our renovation, but with any luck we'll be back in order for Monday night... one coat of paint has been applied... at least one more to go, then the fire place gets a coat (2-3) and then the floor can go back in ... the change is dramatic! Photos of that to come - just as soon as we get to the finish line and I can show you before and after...

What else - well I'm done with winter and it hasn't even really shown up yet. My hands started cracking about a week ago and now it is COLD! Not as cold as Calgary - but it is cold... -10 over night and just getting above freezing during the days... hopefully it will be nice during the day tomorrow so after birthday lunch we can go and play outside... I think I'm going to run out first thing in the morning and buy little mitts/gloves for each of the kids... I also have to go out and get my fresh thanksgiving turkey - yeah! Photos of that to come too.... night my lovelies and happy turkey weekend!

Ok - wait - one more thing... on the crazy and mental front my mom got bit by a bug at the hospital - she thought it was deer fly or something like that - but it caused her to have an allergic reaction - she was in my office tonight and I could tell something was wrong - I guess if I hadn't asked she wouldn't have told me - she had hives over her entire body and now has to take benadryl every day twice a day for a few weeks while whatever the bug put in her leaves... madness... she actually swelled up and couldn't hardly talk and still drove herself home rather than turning around and going to the hospital... PEOPLE LISTEN - if you are having an allergic reaction get your ass to the hospital - DO IT! Don't think that you'll be ok - you COULD DIE! I guess she'll recover - it was creepy today because she kind of looks like she had a stroke - as her right eye was all messed up - she's all - oh it looked much worse... great... freakin' great!

before i forget

Last night I went out to a networking thing for work and our great family friend took care of the guys. They were making there way home and Michael looked out the window and said he say a star and said he was going to make a wish. Rather than a quiet wish he let's everyone know that he wishes that he never had to wear pants again.

Kyle promptly told him that that wasn't a wish, he should be wishing that robots came to life like transformers.

Ah... to be three and nearly seven again....

a post a post

Busy time of year for me - lots of meetings piling up...
Tonight I got a pleasant surprise from a group I was speaking at - they gave me a big thank you basket and you won't even believe it - a mug that says - I kid you not.... "Queen of Everything".... it was great! I also got piles of hugs and even some cheek kisses... it was great!

Kyle is getting excited about his birthday party. We are having a few of his friends over this weekend to celebrate. Lots of pokemon talk and lots of ideas... we were talking on the way home about who was coming and it didn't sound great... and then Michael says that's ok - if no one comes you can play with me... it was one of those very sweet brotherly moments - I love those guys!

What else? Well I'm on the road in another week and a half for some training and a conference in Terrace. I'm kind of excited about driving out west - I haven't been out that way in quite a few years and always thought that area was one of the best in the province... people rave about the Sea to Sky Highway and the scenery but it doesn't really hold a candle to the drive between Terrace and Prince Rupert - that is a beautiful drive!

And now I share the love with you....

excellent gift idea

I don't think I mentioned that we bought the "marble run" and it is awesome... for Kyle's age it is great because he completely understands how to put it together and Michael likes to help when the "run" is built. Chapters sells "marble run" and if you happen to be looking for a great and fun gift for that 5-8 year old age group this might be something to check out.

angry people

Yesterday we went to Prince George and while at lunch I witnessed the stupidest angriest person I've seen. The manager at the restaurant (fast food joint) we were at has a full blown three year old fit and seriously that's an insult to three year olds. It looked like the manager had injured himself and was having a fit and throwing his hands around... it was quite the sight... it looked like attention seeking behavior which no one was willing to give. Then the manager starts shouting at his employee. There were more than 20 people witnessing his behavior, but the manager didn't care - didn't care who saw the performance. Then the manager tells the employee that they need to switch positions from cooking to running the till. They switch and immediately things start working better as the manager couldn't run the till. Then the manager starts having another fit... he is trying to cook and just starts swearing and shouting and then he gives his employee the bird. Seriously - I witnessed it with my own eyes. At this point I actually left and went and sat with the family and waited for the madness to go away... stupid - stupid to get so upset and for what... it looked like the guy was naturally like that - naturally explosive and attention seeking. Note to others - live life better than that... try not to get caught up in anger... it is never worth it...

sucker for punishment... i hope not

Well the last renovation in this house caused me a nervous breakdown... so I'm hoping this next reno goes painlessly... we are gutting our living room. We've just put up with how it looks for nearly three years and now it is time... so tonight we are removing the carpet and then repainting the whole room and the fireplace... the previous owners thought it would be cool to paint a single sloppy stencil line in the room - it is butt-ugly - and I can't wait to roll paint over it... oh and we are also replacing the ceiling fan.. I love doing electrical - it is my favorite part of the renovation...

Ok and if you need a laugh today - you should definitely go and visit peopleofwalmart.com - I nearly cried looking at some of the photos.

education system

Ok - first I want to say that I know there are some good teachers out there.. I know it - I know I had them... they exist - it is not like Santa... and Jen... please feel free to tell me how things are now or that I'm crazy...

Today we had our parent teacher interview. The teacher was mildly late which I wasn't that worried about but then she was frantic and couldn't even respond to us in sentences - she was busy trying to find the form she'd filled out for us to review... can't find... can't find... gives up and starts writing out a new form as we are sitting there... no really comments - nothing to worry about... we ask to see some of his work and that's when my tourette's started to flinch... it was hard to contain myself... it was just trying to rip right out of me... with every ounce of me I just tried to listen and not get mad...

His letters were ok, but he had no comprehendible words... well - mostly... it was like a crazy madness kind of writing... she says kids don't need to know how to spell yet - that they should just focus on getting their ideas out... and goes on to say that she uses herself as an example with the kids. She tells them that it is ok to be messy/spelling things wrong because she is... and no kidding she is... she sent a note home and I thought Kyle had written it out and then realized it came from the teacher. I thought she'd been in a rush, nope, just a poor writer - those are her words... mine would be littered with other four letter words...

So is that what has become of the education system. I remember my teacher in grade 4 making me write out 'because' hundreds of times because I got it wrong... hundreds... does that happen any more... I make Kyle write out a word three times when he gets it incorrect when we are practicing - only to find out that at school... anything goes... really... really... WTF! What I don't understand is why wouldn't they be learning the words the right way from the start rather than the completely and totally wrong way and then have to work at getting them out of bad writing skills... why don't we just give up on the english language and just start writing out words the way they sound - let's drop phonetics and phonics and everything...

AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

Ok - vented.... not over it, but vented...

today

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

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

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

um...what about fall

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

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


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

anxiety

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

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

a little bit of fun

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

back to the spawning grounds...

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






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

salmon run

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

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


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



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

tired

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

trip photo

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

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

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

return again

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

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



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


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


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


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

back on the road

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

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

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

Hugs and kisses :)

yes-sir

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

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

need a run

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

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

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

a painted sky

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



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

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




Ok - one more...

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

hell ya

Yah - Biggest Loser is back! HOORAY!

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

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

i know, i know...

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




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

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

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



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


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

ROAR

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

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

fun and fabulous

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



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

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

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

kamloops photos

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


Bald Eagle


What you lookin' at?


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

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

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

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

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

no photos

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

um, yep, holy freakin' awesome

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

another friday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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






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


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

crap

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

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

another day, another beautiful sunset

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

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

hello sunshine

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







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

Ok - happy September - hugs and love :)

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

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

cassiopeia

Tonight I had to go back to work and finish some stuff and on my way home I noticed how beautiful the night sky was. So I decided to go snap some shots...


Cassiopeia


Same photo - just added some lines in case you can't make it out or don't know what cassiopeia looks like...

Cassiopeia is in the northern hemisphere - meaning the majority of my readers can see it any night they want to look up and find it... the constellation is meant to represent a Greek queen - Cassiopeia. Now many people know it as the "W" in the sky. I want to plant a seed with you tonight. I want to suggest that we see it as a "W" because we look for the easy things in life - we look for simple explanations for things in our lives... I want to suggest that we look for more in the skies and in our lives... the next time you look at the sky and see Cassiopeia I want you to take a deep breath and think about all the positive things you bring to the people around you - I want to suggest that from now on we should refer to it as a crown... because we are looking for more and that each of the five points on the crown are five reasons why we are fabulous. We all have great and amazing things to offer others and we deserve to wear crowns and be treated well in our lives (male and female).


Ok - and one more fabulous photo of the moon - Waxing Gibbous - 89% full

Good night my friends, my family - love you!

Ok and one more thing... this month I blogged more than any other month before... I can't believe it - there are more posts then days in August... crazy... thank you for continuing to read...