and back

Well I survived another road trip. Made it back to Q-town this evening after a longer ride home from Lillooet. The roads were ok - normal winter conditions, but there were some yucky spots. I got to drive back with one of my staff who grew up in Lillooet so I got to visit her homestead and also hear about some of the history of the community.


This is a rock face that is along Hwy 99 which runs from Hat Creek (near Cache Creek) to Whistler. Now there isn't a pull out where this rock is - so you need to find a safe place to pull over and then you get yourself in front of the rock. So we are probably .5 km from the base of the rock where I took this picture. And then you shout at the rock... and it echoes right back at you... so I totally yodeled... yodel-a-he-who... This morning, before we got going, I went and took a few more pictures and also got some more GREAT coffee.... hooray!

Next trip - I leave for Saskatoon for more training on Sunday... I have to leave Quesnel at 4:30am for my 7am flight... blah...

And now a couple more pics...

This is the view from the east side of the Fraser River about 5 km outside of Lillooet on Hwy 12... beeee-u-teeee-full!


Frost covered rose hip - if you click on this one you'll be able to see the tiny crystals shooting up off the rosehip

back in L-town

So I had a regional meeting in Lillooet today so I drove in yesterday and then plan to drive home tomorrow. Roads were great coming here and now the snow has shown up.... this morning you could watch the snow line shift - it was pretty amazing to watch.

I don't really have anything enlightening to say... other than Lillooet has the best coffee I've ever had. This morning I was treated (thank you!) to a coffee that was very very good - it was coffee plus a shot of espresso - I was nervous that my body was going to just have a melt down over it but it didn't - it was great! Did I mention it was great coffee... plus they had muffins hot out of the oven and they were yummy too! What else is great... well I got 20 minutes tonight to take some photos... now the first one is on route to Lillooet - this is around Clinton (a cute town that has a lot of antique stores that are worth checking out if you are into that...) and then some of my night shots...

Oh and my room has one of those old style tubs - so I totally brought bubble bath with me... enjoyed last night and plan to enjoy tonight too :)



And now for some evening photos of this beautiful town.... you can see how the snow has kissed the hill tops... and yet the grass in town is green :)




This kind of took my breath away. I really do like it here. I don't think I ever thought I was a mountain person, but I guess I am... there just seems to be something to take a photo of at every turn...

crazy week

This has been a crazy busy week and I'm going back on the road this weekend for another work thing - then back for a few days, then away for quite a while for training.

I'll write more later tonight, but before I forget, a great moment happened today. I've got a new disk in the car and I'm singing along when I hear Michael saying something very quietly. I call back and ask what's up and he is still quiet... what's up...
and then he says "Mom, I'm just singing along." Well then I started to get all excited... how are you singing along - you've never heard this song before... "Mom, we listen to it before nap time at daycare." WHAT! Now I love daycare...

He was singing "If I had a million dollars" - tonight we sang it again because I can't get enough!
Hooray! This isn't the first time he has sang a song with me - but it is his first barenaked ladies song!

More later....

hold on to your pants...

Alright... today was crazy busy and amazing... first we met Chef David Adjey - he was very nice and was kind of like Ron White - very comedic and fun! And then... that's right - we met Trevor Linden. We were like a bunch of school girls - it was wicked! Andy gave me four of his cards and a 8 1/2 x 11 photo... it was great! He shock my hand and was super nice. It was weird because we were the only ones that came prepared... most people just got Trevor to sign some piece of paper - not us... we all brought stuff.... jerseys, pictures, cards... everything!



Here is Trevor talking about the Stanley Cup run and his fractured ribs.


That's right - that is me standing next to Trevor Linden! Hooray! It was awesome!

saturday night

The guys are out at Grandma and Grandpa's tonight as I'm heading back on the road for a quick trip to Vancouver.
Back on Tuesday... I'm sure I'll post over the next couple of days as I'm pretty sure I'm going to have photos to share... turns out that Mr. Trevor Linden is going to the conference I'm attending, if you can freakin' believe that... so Carmen - this time I'm definitely getting a better photo...

What else? I've been eating really well until tonight and now my insides feel like they want to escape... stupid fried food... damn you! I'm totally back on coffee - and I don't care - I love coffee! I love you!

Alright - I totally need to get off my computer... I'm spending way too much time on here... I completed a survey for Stats Canada and the woman asking me questions kind of laughed at my total usage for personal time... lord... ok - off to get Trevor Linden cards ready for the trip - going prepared this time.

thursday

The vegetables got him...

Kyle was wearing this shirt when we ran into his kindergarten teacher who he still loves... she was telling us about stuff she's been doing and then she says "oh, kyle, what's that on your shirt and she reads vegetables are..." and then she goes silent... laughs but can't say evil... I think it is because she knows it is true... holy I could hardly contain myself though.

And in other news....

Jeff Dunham... yeah! Jay has great people on this week! Oh, but Jay didn't give Jeff enough time... booo - his stories were funny....

Dakota Fanning is on Jay too and she has the best shoes... seriously - did I just say that... yes, I did... sooo becoming a girly girl :)

i squish you

Ok - so beyond our shannagins and fun...

Larry the Cable Guy is on Jay tonight and he said the funniest thing... that he didn't get the halloween candy he wanted and it made him as made as a mosquito in a manican factory... you can hear the silence in the crowd and then slowly people caught what he said... gees that guy is funny...

star date 20091118

Caved....

Sitting, waiting for meeting to start - I bring the coffee for this meeting and I decided it was ok to have a mocha this morning... but I chose a (catch how lame I am here... ) grande soy decaf peppermint mocha with a little bit of lame on the side... and guess what.. it isn't good... it doesn't taste like coffee.. and now I wish I'd just pulled out the stops and gotten the drink I wanted.

That said, it is likely for the best that I didn't get real coffee or milk/cream or whip cream... ok - who am I kidding - I want to curl up into a ball in the corner of this room and cry... alright it is just that kind of day today. Well the meeting is getting ready to start...

I hope everyone has a great day...

crackberry

So I made the switch to the blackberry last week and have spent a week trying to figure it out. I've found a great site to get ringtones and stuff, but was wondering if anyone else has tips for a new user. Let me know :)

Tonight we went to the library and Kyle picked out a pile of books.. all non-fiction. So then tonight we read a sea monster book and I was surprised to read that the kraken was a real thing. That a squid with arms as long as a basketball court came out of the ocean off the coast of Newfoundland and tried to take down a ship (1873ish). The men on board cut two of the arms off and brought one of the arms to shore... no kidding... it also talked about giant octopus off the BC coast and that the largest one ever captured was right off our coastline... who knew? You should have seen Kyle's face when I said it was off the BC coast. He made this great face and then I could see his mind turning.. gees... we live there... gees... maybe we could catch one... so watch out octopus - summer 2010 may be the great octopus hunt for us :)

Final note - is it ok that I hate the new gap commercial for the holidays? is ok that I had a good laugh about the dork that falls at the end of the commercial after trying to ride a guy on the ground like a surf board?

Michael asked if we could put the tree up on the way home tonight (a house on our drive home has launched their christmas display and he is quite taken by it). I think I know why my dad left our christmas stuff to the last minute now - we usually put stuff up on the 22/23 and then took it down before new years... anyone else not feeling it this year...

Later that night... so I'm watching Jay Leno and they had the recent person kicked off of biggest loser... she looked fabulous - but she was wearing the wrong skirt - way too short - in fact they kept changing the camera view to avoid having the view... it looked like someone was trying to tell her not to stand at the end of the interview - but then she did - and well they tried to pan away... but they didn't do it fast enough... and there is my evening... screwin' around with my crackberry and getting flashed...

today

Nothing too exciting to report. A regular day at work - too long - that's for sure. One of my staff gave me some clarinet music, so he has tossed me a challenge... very kind of him... so now I'm going to try and learn it - of course he didn't give me something easy.. Clarinet Concerto; Mozart.. no less...

Ok before I run off and try to figure out how to play the concerto... I did want to share this great picture of Michael. Too much chocolate... I think this is what I look like after coffee... mmmmmmm coooooffffffeeeeee.... three days free... amazing... I totally miss it though...



Alright so after posting I decided I should go and listen to this concerto... holy crow... it is beautiful and reminded me why I wanted to play clarinet in the first place... that said... um... it is soooo beyond my skill level right now... and since I can't play clarinet tonight I'm going to go and grab my guitar and take a lesson on garage band....

Woohoo I tuned my guitar and played E, I'll be rocking it out to the Unicorn song in no time... yee ha! I love garage band!

ice waves

sunday

Yesterday we made cookies... I need to ice them today. I think we got about 100... ish... all different shapes and sizes. Right now the guys are enjoying a movie that I can't seem to get my head around or maybe I'm choosing not to understand - flamin' Pokemon. Can a guy please explain this to me... what is the attraction? What is so cool about pokemon? (I will also accept a girls explanation if there a girl that gets it.)

We were going to go to Nazko today but the weather is calling for snow and I don't have winter tires on yet. Kind of sad not to go because I wanted to get out and take some photos. I'll load some stuff later this afternoon once we've got some of the cookies decorated and if I actually get my crafting going... my crafting mojo has made a few appearances but lately the mojo would rather have a glass of wine versus actually producing something.

Day 2 without coffee... I'm glad that I didn't have a cup yesterday (survived) - today I would like a cup, but bought some tea to keep me going... ha - flamin' tea... FFS...

saturday

STOMACH - "Good morning, Brain. How are you doing?"

silence

STOMACH - "Look, I'm just going to say thank you for staying away from coffee today. It will help us both in the long term."

BRAIN - *sigh*

STOMACH - "I know it is tough - I know - we've been here before, but let's just let it go... this beautiful thing wasn't meant to drink coffee every day - it makes her sick and crazy... she could hardly form words yesterday and was in a roller coaster mood at work... I don't think those people even knew what hit them yesterday..."

BRAIN - *sigh*

STOMACH - "I'm not saying no coffee ever again, I'm just saying we can't make a habit out of it. It can't be every day. Ok?

BRAIN - "Fine."

Brain exits, stage left, mubbling small words...

a laugh

Sex is like air. It's not that important unless you aren't getting any. anonymous

That was something Mr Tony Robbins - world renowned speaker and motivator - posted on Twitter tonight.... I just thought it was funny because he usually posts such serious stuff and then he posts this... maybe I'm the only the one who will find that funny...

Looking forward to Saturday... hooray for the weekend! Yippee!

And in case you are counting it is 41 days till xmas and 45 till my b-day... why is that important - well it isn't... but I'm putting it out there... can't say that I'm into christmas this year... I'm not impressed with the stores that got decorated early - I mean isn't Remembrance Day the signal for decorating season ... I guess it it ok to put up your Christmas stuff... I guess... but seriously - I think a month of all that is enough... and even that... well some years I've been extra excited about xmas because of family and being together... this year I just want to survive it and feel no stress... so ideally there will be little focus on the commercial stuff and it will just another day to celebrate laughing and love of our friends and family... and with any luck the break will include some wicked sledding and x-country skiing... see that is something to get excited about!

poor choices

BRAIN "Stomach, hey, what ya doin'?"

silence...

BRAIN "Stomach, come on.... pleeeaassseeeee, can we talk?"

STOMACH "I'm not talking to you... look what you've done... you've created a monster. Two cups of coffee today. TTTWWWOOOO!"

BRAIN "Look, I'm really sorry. Can you forgive me?"

silence

BRAIN "Come on, I screwed up, I love you stomach. We are a team. Please. I need you."

STOMACH "Look - you gotta get control up there... she is running amuck because of you. Get her back in line, or I won't talk to you anymore. Do you hear me... no more discussion... this means no more coffee.... none - this has to stop."

silence

more silence

BRAIN "Can I think about it?"

and today...

How about some lasagna?






And now the kitchen is clean and I'm going to read some more Eat Pray Love in the tub... hooray!

craft

So here is the business card holder. I bought the silver holder and then applied a couple of layers to get the art on top. One of my favorite paintings by Klimt - I also love the Kiss but went with this painting instead.

Tonight we spent the better part of an hour trying to build a lego thing that Kyle really wanted to build - it is crazy - all the parts and pieces... madness... but it is coming together. Sadly, after an hour we were not finished and the guys had to get ready for bed.

Now I am going to enjoy a movie and glass of wine (tee he he) and I might even get started writing... something finally compelled me to start really writing... a twig, a feeling... it has begun.

Wine notes....

While in Ontario I wanted to try wine from the area and found a (4)... I know for all you dry people that it like drinking sugar water but that is what I really like... sweet, yummy... drinkability ;) Anyway - the wine was from Pelee Island Winery and I've sent them a request to try and get my hands on some more... in the meantime I went to the local wine store today and picked up some wine from Salmon Arm, Larch Hills Winery - it is ok - (2) - so it is sweet, but not super sweet.... right now I don't think I'd be buying another bottle right away - but I will say that I like it better than the most recent Naked Grapes I drank.

crepes

Kyle helped make the crepes and make handy dandy signs for each of the types we made.....

a day off during the week.... booyakka

So far today we've made crepes - wildberry, apple, and peach and then I made mini pies - wildberry, apple and lemon... I'll share photos this afternoon along with a crafty business card holder I put together... but that isn't all... I've got another craft on the go for this afternoon... hooray! hooray for a day off....

what else...

Well making crepes has lag time... you see it takes about a minute or so per side... or just enough time to carry on with some reading - then flip a crepe and then carry on reading and flip a crepe and carry on reading... you get the picture...



And no, I'm not naked in this photo... or maybe I have discarded all fear and have started cooking in the buff.... ha

Eat Pray Love is one of the best books I've read... I'm thoroughly enjoying it.... I've laughed out loud and wanted to cry and wish I could find more books exactly like this...

what else do I have to do

Making crepes.... looks like this will be more than 100....

coffee

And another day with fantastic big "O" coffee. This morning I was a bit delayed in drinking it but having it first thing this morning kept my evening headache away. For those of you that despise coffee, well I'm sorry that I've been so pro-coffee this week. I've never had this kind of experience with tea and I definitely didn't get this excited about steamed soy.. which I enjoy, but seriously - how is soy a drink... pressed nuts - that alone should be a deterrent from drinking it... (alright it is a bean.. but please - a pressed bean... and I've had almond milk which is a pressed nut and unless almond milk is in a chocolate form it is terrible and even then people should read the label cause you might as well be drinking sugar water 'cause those are the first ingredients)

BRAIN: "Living high on the hog with coffee, man this is the life, why didn't the DEVIL convince April to jump back on the coffee train a while ago."
STOMACH: "Brain, you should just shut the hell up, coffee might smell fantastic, and taste great and the sounds of it brewing are enticing and it makes April think about all the people she loves who drink coffee... BUT... it is hurting her insides... and Brain, since you are on the inside I thought you should know..."
BRAIN: "Stomach.... can we live it up for a little while... pleaseeeeee?"
STOMACH: "Brain, you are the thinking part in this organization, use your skills... make the best decisions..."
BRAIN: "Um... Stomach - I think I'm going to ignore you for a little while... "
STOMACH: "Ok, Brain, but don't get all pissy later on when you start hurting and whining and twitting... hey Brain, btw, thanks for getting April off dairy, that has totally made a difference in this department - that kind of forward thinking is great for our organization."

o.... coffee... i love thee

First, for my dear friend Carmen...

Mr Trevor Linden was in Prince George today for the grand opening of the hockey department in Canadian Tire. There were a lot of people there and it was really cool to see him. I wished I'd brought my bigger lens, but we didn't get any closer than this. There was a huge line up and really I just wanted to see him in person.. I didn't need to shake his hand or have him sign anything. Kyle was excited, but didn't know why... I explained that we were going to see a hockey legend and that was all he needed to hear... so there you go... freakin' Trevor Linden...

Then we did some shopping in PG... I got a Klimt art book which I'm going to pull apart and use for other things and then we were on our way home... oh wait... we stopped somewhere first...


EVIL - "Ok... time for Starbucks, it is the ritual and much needed fuel for the ride home to Quesnel."
DEVIL (see how evil is in devil...) "Yes, evil... it is time... I wonder what April should get tonight."
EVIL "Well she can't have anymore coffee... crazy... one was enough for a while."
DEVIL "Right... one was enough... you're right... I'm sure she doesn't want one... wait - do you smell that... oh that smells like coffee... mmmmmm."
EVIL "Stop that... right now... stop it... April, order a steamed soy."
DEVIL "Yes, April.. order the lame blah suck steamed soy... you go girl - order the crap out of that."
EVIL "Stop it... don't make me come over there... I'll kick your ass... she doesn't need anymore coffee.. DOESN'T!"
DEVIL "I know she doesn't need it... she wants it... but I won't stop you... she should definitely have that crappy sack of a drink... soy steamed... mmm that must be just as good... I'm sure of it - I'm sure she just loves drinking that CRAP."
EVIL "That's it - I'm coming over there to kick your ass... what's your problem... she was doing fine without coffee."
DEVIL "You call that fine.. you're letting her drink crap... her friends are laughing at her for drinking it... what kind of partner in crime let's anyone drink a crappy drink. That hot soy is like hot ass... just stop it ok - it isn't a real drink - suck it up and get over yourself.. it is a poor excuse for anything."
EVIL "Look... I know... you are right... "
DEVIL "What?"
EVIL "I know... I was hoping you would get her to drink coffee... what the hell took so long."
DEVIL "What? Is this some kind of trick?"
EVIL "April, get the soy... get it... get it... soy... soy... soy... soy... mmmmm you love that hot soy...."

And then out loud as I hear myself saying soy - it crossing my lips it comes out as a grande peppermint mocha soy... see I did say soy...

DEVIL "I WIN! You big loser... coffee wins again! Hooray, hooray!"

Ok so that's the first part of my story....

The second part was drinking this great cup of coffee.... because I know I really shouldn't be drinking coffee it is like a forbidden thing and today's coffee... I don't know... it just kind of chucked me over the edge. I took one sip and wanted to dive into my cup covering myself in coffee and the smell of peppermint. I wanted to make out with my coffee mug like there was no tomorrow - I didn't want that smell to ever come off me. So it will come as no surprise that I have a paper cut on my cheek from rubbing the cup against my face and that I must have tried to french kiss the lid 'cause my tongue is cut too...

I LOVE COFFEE.... may you never leave my side again... (I say this and realize this is a love/hate relationship and at some point my stomach will come in on the discussion about whether or not it is good for me.)

must stay awake....

So here are the photos... took a little while to get them sized properly for blogger...

Beautiful Niagara Falls, when we drove in you could see the plume of water from outside of town... the wind was picking up the falls and dropping it all around the walking area... this is the smaller water falls
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Niagara Falls, the big falls... very impressive and amazing... the sound of the crashing water was unforgettable
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And here is the wet rat... the falls poured... I was drenched and I loved every second of it. I actually splashed in puddles and just lived it up... fantastic...
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Here I am at my hotel... this is off my balcony.
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The entrance to the building I stayed in at Benmiller - there were two buildings with rooms, which was about a 2 minute walk from where the training was...
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Entrance doors to the Benmiller Inn... I just really liked the doors... big beautiful red doors... so I'm a weirdo - I've been called worse...
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A lion guarding the entrance to the Benmiller
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The forest around the Benmiller.. I went on a little photo expedition before class one morning.. hiked up a hill for this photo...
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This photo was also part of the hike - the color of the sky and the trees... the setting was amazing...
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And here was the sunrise this morning at 7am in London Ontario - beautiful! It is hard to believe that that was today. I was in transit for 16 hours... and with that I'm going to go shower and go to sleep... hope you enjoy the photos :)

stupid nonsense of someone who hasn't gotten enough sleep

I'm tired - T I R E D!

I went in to PG to look around after my flight for 45 minutes... getting more tired by the second.... but I've been tired for a few days - so what the hell. And then I'm thinking - gees - driving home is going to suck... so I stop to get a drink. Guess what I got... a very special treat... a grande peppermint mocha - my favorite hot drink... that's right COFFEE... I haven't had coffee in months - literally months... but man did it taste good - oh man - I was just living it up.. and then about 35 km outside of PG the coffee kicks in and relays a message to the part of my brain that is working...

COFFEE "Hey, Brain..."
BRAIN "Um... yes... hold on one sec, April needs to finish singing this song, then we can talk..."
COFFEE "Um... I don't know if this can wait, can you tell her to hurry up?"
BRAIN "What... what could be more important than singing super loud in the car?"
COFFEE "Well - you know - I'm great - I'm the most fabulous coffee in the whole world, right?"
BRAIN "Yes, coffee... she loves you.. she worships you... did you need an ego rub tonight or what?"
COFFEE "No, smart ass, I don't need an ego rub, do you know what else was in that yummy fantastic coffee tonight?"

A long pause...

And I blurt out... crap, there is chocolate in my coffee.... my first morsel of chocolate in 10 weeks...

So then I'm nervous... nervous that my guts are going to implode and I'm going to really regret this fantastic yummy coffee.... oh how I love thee, wonderful, fantastic, amazing, coffee....

I managed to get home ok - now I have the feeling that both coffee and chocolate may not have been the wisest decision, but what the hell... I'm living once...

Alright - and now I will post the photos...

another day in the airport

Well today has been (is) a long day. This morning in Ontario I got up at the great hour of 5am (2am in BC) and got ready to fly. I then boarded my flight at 7:15am (4:15am) and made it to Calgary, sat in Calgary for 90 minutes and then flew from Calgary to Kelowna, Kelowna to Vancouver and now I'm hanging out waiting on my next flight... about an hour away. I had great intentions of loading my photos - or some - of the trip but I packed my camera cord in my luggage and don't have it...

Let me say that my short visit to Niagara Falls was amazing and fantastic and everything I needed. I wish I could have stayed forever. I then headed up to Goderich, about three hours from Niagara Falls in a cab. We made our way through small communities and I got to fall in love with brick houses and churches - very amazing! The hotel (inn) that I stayed at was in a beautiful setting and we caught the tale end of fall - which you'll see in my photos. The rooms were big and it was a good stay. The time change kind of ruled my life and I didn't get enough sleep because by the time my body wanted to go to sleep it was nearly time to get up for class - but it was well worth the trip. I picked up a bunch of lessons that I can apply in my work and I got seven points towards my designation completed - now I have nine and I'm getting my next 10 in December in Saskatoon...

I should be in PG around 5, then driving to Quesnel and with any luck I'll load some photos tonight - going to try and stay up and not get too bent out of shape by the jet lag... I'm actually feeling ok today, tired, but I managed to sleep most of the flight from Calgary to Kelowna (actually slept through the landing... very uncharacteristic of me - usually there is panic... but my panic disappeared - I felt like a regular flier as soon as I boarded the Calgary/Kelowna flight... I just found my happy place... I think maybe my happy place went on vacation during previous flights... and off we went...).

Well my loves I'm going to spend the next 20 minutes surfin' the net, board my flight and get home to the family - I hope everyone is enjoying their saturday. Hugs, smooches and more hugs :)

Ok - one more story from the flights today... flying and adjusting to time has been brutal. This morning when I boarded the plane I immediately changed my watch to Calgary time - great.. initially I thought I'd screwed it up because I couldn't believe how long the flight was taking... I was right though. So I get to Calgary and am sitting there... I board at 11am... now I'm sitting on the plane and I can't get it through my head how I'm going to get to Vancouver for 12:15... how could that be... my brain was still pushing the clock forward... it really bugged me - I started thinking I was on the wrong flight and then I started thinking what was wrong with West Jet that we weren't on time... and on and on and then I slept - slept well... when I woke up on the runway in Kelowna the attendant notes that the current time is 11am something er' other and I let out this big "O" - that is how tired I am today... extra super honkin' tired... it may also be that I'm a little slow... but for today, let us just blame it on the lack of sleep.

alive

Well of course I made it but just haven't had a second to say anything... I'm headed off to training in a minute but wanted to post that I arrived in Goedrich. I have some great photos to share - to be honest, I've been surprised by how beautiful Ontario is... I know to someone from here maybe they already knew that, but it really is now - loving the brick... love it!

calgary

So I've landed - quick flight and I guess we just missed some winds coming in from the west.. so hooray for that. Calgary also has free internet so hooray for that too! My sister lives here and she is going to bust out here and join me for a drink before I leave for Hamilton.

Can someone tell me why YYC has giant stuff animals in the airport... I will post pictures tonight... it is too funny because everyone I've seen totally stops to look and then takes pictures with them... I'm going to pull out my little travel companion - mr. barker and get him in a photo...

Ttyl... :)

on the road...'er in the sky

So I'm on the road. I made it through my first flight from PG to Vancouver and now I have a short layover in Van. Vancouver has free internet so that makes it a great place! I couldn't believe that PG was a pay service... seriously... how can they justify that.... don't we pay enough for everything....

So I wandered around for a few minutes and now I'm preparing to board the flight and thought I'd update you on the adventure so far. I spent the first flight reading - not power reading - I was absorbing all the words - I'm reading Eat Pray Love and have now fallen in love with the book - there was a section that I could have written and now I am all consumed by the book and don't want to put it down... lucky me I've got a day I dedicate to reading a great book... my goal is to complete it for my arrival in Hamilton... I've got a three hour layover in Calgary - so I should get some reading in there too...

Alright - ttyl my friends and family - all my love! Have a great day!

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)