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.