rural life...

I've been kind of sick today. Just not feeling good. So what could make me feel better. How about a little fishing?
5 minutes and we are loaded with rods and in the car driving... and driving and then of course... gas light comes on - now I know I'm past the point of return on trying to get back to town for fuel - no way was I going to make it - I'm within about 10 minutes of Sylvia's - so we chug on... no cell service, and what's that... no wallet - AWESOME... yes - that's what happens when you just decide it is time to go fishing and get your rods and gear and not your wallet... so lucky me - I happened to have a twenty on me and so I got 20 bucks in the tank... phew and then we went back to the lake - and we fished it up for an hour. Now what does that mean? Well the boys have been practicing how to cast off the deck with weights and so they are both getting pretty good at it. So they did all the work and I stood around and took pictures, while Max decided to swim and then dig a hole to china and get completely disgustified... wet, disgusting dog... what happens in this situation.. ah well that is when he gets to go on another swim.. but not by his choice....

sleep soon

Alright - I'm going to bed, but wanted to share a few photos...


My brother bought Michael a skateboard... yes - a four year old a skateboard.... but hey - he loves it - tonight he took it on our walk to the mail box (that's right... rural life means we live 1 km from the mailbox - it is not delivered to the door)


Here is Kyle last night helping me clean up the brush in the front yard. It was during this clean up session when I lifted up some discarded carpet and find a nice big wasp nest... wicked!


And here is what happens when there are fires going and lots of smoke in the air and the sun is setting... ahhhhh - there is a cluster fire 23 km from Nazko - 11 different fires at a lake we use to fish at...

what ya doing

So you have five minutes and you want to learn something... something that may change you - go to www.thestoryofstuff.com and watch the video on bottled water. There are other videos too - I watched the bottled water one a while ago and the video actually got me to stop buying bottled water. Not that I was this massive consumer of it, but the short video just makes you think twice about buying a bottle of water.

What else? Well did you know that right now there is an assumption that every square kilometre of the ocean has 13,000 pieces of plastic in it (bottles, containers, etc) and while this assumption seems a bit (a lot) obscure and highly unknown since no one is actually tracking every square inch/km of the ocean we do have a major problem in the Pacific - there is something called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - this is an invisible mass of plastics waste that is somewhere between the size of Texas and continental US (yes, 48 states worth of plastic waste) It carries high concentrations of pelagic (means open sea) plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris. 80% is waste from the shore - from our coast line and Asia's and 20% is from ships (cruise and commodity). You can't see the 'patch' from space because it represents large pieces of plastic and plastics that are breaking down into polymers.

Did you learn something new?

vent

CNN had a comparison on their website tonight. And what could be so important that it is showcased on the front page of CNN, something about the oil spill - well that was there... how about something on bettering ourselves and our communities - I know - try and hold back your laughter... nope - they had a story about pets that look like Hitler. Yes, I'm serious.

STUPID

happy wood

and today

Adventures

Kyle has been asking to find a salamander (Mom, what does one look like? and since he hasn't seen one I feel like a bad parent for not introducing him better to nature). And I keep telling him that we will find one. Tonight I said let's go try at Bouchie Creek... and was I in for a giant surprise. We get down there and we find about a million little fresh water shrimps - and leeches... GROSS! I hate leeches - I'm all about nature and showing the kids stuff, but freakin' leeches.. ewwww! Of course, I totally let them poke around though and check things out. Max was starting to get crazy though so we decided to go into town and go to Baker Creek to see the fish.

We arrive at the house and give Max, the dumbest dog in the west, a bath. Then we went to the creek, and then we gave Max another bath. You see it was his first time in the creek and he kind of liked it. We splashed around a bit and cooled off, caught a couple of fish and released them... it was a grand ole time... then we get back to the car and I'm chasing Max and I finally catch him and am about to put him the car and as I'm opening the car door I under estimate my space because I'm holding this wet, slow dog and smoke myself as hard as I ever have right in the forehead. Black. Still standing. I must have let out some kind of weird yelp out 'cause the guys think that I've gotten stung by a bee... nope, just smoked myself in the head.

I ask Kyle to check my face, see how it looks, I'm checking for blood. No blood, just pain. So I drive us home. On the way Michael starts gabbing about the incident, telling me how he thought for sure that I was stung by a bee and then he says "mom, you are sure gonna have a chicken bump" - a chicken bump, a what? And then I put the lines together - a goose egg... lmao - holy I pulled over and had a laugh - that kid is sooo funny. So friends, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a chicken bump in the middle of my forehead tomorrow and laughs to last a life time.

fire

Well tonight the guys are all sleeping in the tent trailer (that is for sale - FYI) - we built a fire tonight and they had hot dogs and s'mores - I ate blueberries and marshmallows - mmmm toasted marshmallows... mmm - so my favorite thing. We tried to go fishing at the lake (3 minutes or less from here) to find it is disgusting and you totally definitely for sure need a boat to make use of it.

So what am I doing? Well I'm in the house, getting ready to sleep and just wanted to send out a quick hello and also send out a fire warning. I'm sitting there tonight, roasting weiners (LOL) and I can smell something. I'm sitting there thinking about, what is that smell, man, that is familiar and it doesn't smell like weiner at all. I know, says my brain, that smells like the last time you washed your jeans in cold water in the sink... then my brain comments - that's funny - why would you be smelling that right now - it is at this point that I realize my pants are on fire. That's right friends - another first in the life of April, burning pants... the fire popped and it threw a chunk of a log onto my pants, small enough that I didn't feel it land, large enough to start my pants on fire... so I only blew on it once and then remembered that fire plus oxygen equals more fire and then put it out.

Lucky for me I had a fire man sitting across from me
Kyle - 'mom, your pants are on fire'
Yes, thanks, I can both smell and feel my leg burning
Kyle - 'mom, stop, drop and roll'
Wicked - glad everything they teach them at school has a practical use

Ah, yet another priceless moment.

jasper

I can't believe how much a single hour of time change has done to me on this trip. I head home soon enough though.
Tonight I got to see baby elk dancing around and chasing each other - it was crazy. They are huge. Tonight I was also reminded of how lethal dairy is to me. I had this amazing vegetarian meal - I mean - AMAZING! - and I said no cheese - great... no problem - then she says we put a little milk in the mashed potatoes and I go - oh that will be fine - can't be that harmful - HA - I barely make it back to the hotel - I mean barely - my stomach was done and ready to kill me - it was all ugly and terrible and I'm still sick from it - four hours later.

It poured today and snowed - snowed like you wouldn't believe.

Anyway - I'm beat - and I got electrocuted tonight so my hand hurts and I need to just sleep.

(How did you electrocute yourself... ah - well I decided to force an electrical cord into an outlet upside down and didn't realize I was messing it up completely until I was getting shocked - awesome... gotta be a first for everything)

aaaaaaaaaaa

Queen of the Universe Land of Stupid

So I'm eating lunch, eating lunch, enjoying a yummy bowl of soup and it is in the first couple of bits that I remember... what is in borscht... beets, carrots, potatoes... cream... aahhhhhh - and I had a conference call in 30 minutes. Luckily I didn't consume piles of it - it was a 1/2 a cup - but a tbsp of sour cream had nearly done me in a few weeks ago so I was nervous. I definitely had problems with my stomach for the rest of that afternoon.. I just need to pay better attention to stuff. blah....

tuesday

Alright - so I've left a few details out lately... and I haven't had evening internet in a while... that's because we are moving. We are still living in Quesnel - we bought a house in Bouchie Lake (10 minutes ish out of town). The guys love it. We've seen deer every night on the way home and last night we saw a crane. We are sleeping at the new place (sans fridge/stove/microwave) and then eating at the old house at least for a week - we have new kitchen stuff coming later this week and with any luck we'll have most of the furniture moved by the end of the week and then I'm on the road again - off to Jasper for a conference.

What else.. well as my sister texted me... 'um, did you get a dog - send pictures' - well in fact, we did get a dog. I don't love him, I'm actually in full on dislike of him. He has destroyed multiple pairs of fancy shoes of mine and is on a rampage to destroy more. We agreed a long time ago that when we got a new house, we'd get a dog and so we did and so I'm learning to adapt to life with a dog. His name is (hold onto your creative seats) Max - Michael named him and has definitely fallen in love with him, he is a maltese/pomoron. Kyle wanted a lizard - I should have agreed. I'll post photos - just as soon as I take one of him - that's right - me, the photo taking fool, hasn't taken a photo of him - not one... it is that kind of hate/hate relationship. Anyway - I'll post a photo of him eventually - maybe...

Ok - so that was a brief update - I'll load photos as soon as I take a few and once I have evening internet at the new place.
Love to all of you. :)

more sleepy

I need a good nights sleep - I think I will get it tomorrow night... I'm turning on sleep cycle tonight to see how good/bad my sleep is. I have lots of photos to share, but I'm lazy tonight and not plugging in my camera... so you will have to check back tomorrow night for adventure photos. :)

On top of that I'm running out of hard drive space - 22,000 photos will do that... even to my perfect mac... but my new mac is three times bigger for space. I'm waiting for my brothers arrival to open it and get it going... I've had it a month and I haven't even taken the tape off of it... see I can be patient... occasionally

Alright my lovelies I'm done like dinner... love to you!

ps. Do not roll both your ankles - it sucks - I have bruising on both feet and one of them is actually quite sore. I know - boo hoo for me - I'm an idiot - I shouldn't have been wearing stupid flippy floppy crappy shoes in the first place... this would have largely solved my problems...

sso tired

I'm going to be quick tonight - I'm tired and still have work to do.

1. My arms are no longer itchy. hip hip hooray
2. I saw four dead deer today and a dead horse. (tragic)
3. Kyle accidentally slammed Michael's head in the car door last night... later that night Michael accidentally slammed Kyle's head in the closet door... bitter irony
4. And that is it for tonight... I'm beat...

Love to you! xxoo

tonight

So how's that itch.. not better... ok that's a lie - it is not as itchy tonight as it was this morning. I got some soop-ed up medicated itch stuff and my doctor suggested claritin - I said I'd taken it and she was like... oooohhh and that didn't help... hummmm, ok well try this goop and see if that works... I've scratched through a few spots though so the goop freakin' hurts... but it is worth getting rid of the itch.

And now... well tonight I'm doing some writing and trying to make cookies. Of course I can't just make a dozen cookies - I need to make a million cookies - I'm on batch 10 - maybe more... so there will be cookies a plenty for a while - not that anyone eats them around here but I like making them and a few friends like eating them...

And a show... well the crack shack was busted two nights ago and the cops came again tonight and busted a few more - they could sit at the end of the driveway and just wait for a month and they'd never catch them all - they just keep coming. Tonight two of the crack-tards are screamin' and yelling at each other - they probably cussed it out for 30 minutes... and now it is raining and I'm hoping that will shut them up... probably not... but it is worth hoping for... the upside... it is raining, which means there will be more puddles tomorrow! hooray!

On the scary front... I was baking the cookies and one of the area resident native guys came right up onto our deck tonight and asked if he could buy chips off of us... a number of things ran through my head when I heard his voice - where were my knives, what was he really after - I simply said no - which is the truth - no chips in the house - and he turned heel and left... now we actually talk to this guy on a regular basis because he is in the neighbourhood and he likes to talk but this is beyond weird and disturbing. I even had a heavy piece of MDF blocking the way onto the deck tonight which he moved out of the way to get on the deck... so I'm locking up good and tight tonight. I may even pull a performance of my dad off tonight (my dad has/had OCD about our house - he would check and re-check the locks in the house over and over again every night - I don't blame him and it is no wonder both my brother and I developed the same problem - we had an attempted B&E plus he was a fire starter when we were kids and that pretty much started us down the path of OCD)

And there is a night in the ghetto... hooray :) Good night my loves - hugs, kisses and all my love to you.

update... 5 minutes later... and now they are screaming again and... there is thunder... WICKED!

just another magic tuesday

1) Apparently the hedge in my front yard is something I'm allergic tonight. Last night we trimmed it and then packed all the left over limbs into the truck - this morning I wake up to an itch that will not stop. I've been scratching at it all day and even sitting here tonight it aches and I just want to rub my arms with sand paper... soooooo not fun! (I laughed a lot writing that because the perv side of me just finds it amusing that I'm complaining about itching because of my front hedge... at least I didn't call it a bush... oh there come the giggles again...)

2) The 5-0 were at the crack shack tonight - it was awesome! They finally nailed someone that comes and goes from there all the time. We pulled into our alley and saw the undercover crew waiting and what's funny is the car we followed in is a regular to the crack palace - so we didn't hang out for the whole thing - but Andy did watch as they approached with guns out... so thank you rcmp - can you come every night and then just take a match to the house and burn the sucker down - it would add value to our neighbourhood and make our community better.

3) Oh the itch won't stop - arrggggg!

4) Work stuff is insane right now - just when I thought it was going to get better... stress, stress, stress - but it is ok - I've been through WAY worse and I know the light is on at the end of the tunnel and it isn't an oncoming train... this time

5) I'm sleepy - so I'm going to go play with my new toy - the ipod touch and get some shut eye.. night all
Hugs, smooches and special little something something to make your day magical :)

alive

Sorry friends and family... I suck - I took a brief hiatus from the blog... I totally miss writing here but have just been swamped lately... so yes, I'm alive, and just to prove I've been doing stuff for the past 18 days of non-writing I'm sharing some photos..

This is at the entrance to Spirit Ridge in Osoyoos - it is a spectacular resort! Great for families and couples... I was surprised by how much I liked Osoyoos - plus there are wineries everywhere... you could spend a month just trying out the wineries between Summerland and Osoyoos


Bridal Falls - this is just outside of Chilliwack - if you've never stopped here on your travels along highway 1 you definitely should - it is worth the 10 minute hike to the falls and beautiful all the way up...

More bridal falls - yep - it is beautiful here....

Dominion Observatory is just outside of Okanagan Falls - it is a windy road off the highway. They give a great free tour and they have some pretty cool gear - like this (photo) - around the site... you have to walk into the site from the road - so wear runners - and turn off your cell phone... you'll mess up their fancy gear with it on...

Other highlights... that have no photos...
- Kyle is getting ready for the end of grade 2 - hooray - looking forward to summer
- Michael is having fun at daycare and is really loving the water park - the weather has been good the last few days so they've been going
- Kyle and Michael took swimming lessons and Kyle is doing another two weeks of lessons in class right now...
- Summer plans... well nothing confirmed right now... planning to do one trip to Van in August - but still confirming dates and timing - what is everyone else doing?
- My sister is pregnant and due in November... and apparently getting married - this I didn't know... so Mel - are you getting married...
- My brother is coming to spend the summer with us - he'll be here in a week-ish
- I bought an ipod touch and LOVE IT! I have learned that apparently I don't sleep - my eyes are shut, but I'm in awake mode... all according to that fancy little sleep cycle program.. it is wild... love to hear other apps that people think are great and I should have...
- Work... meh

Ok - so there is the quick and dirty version - more photos, fun and stories soon :) Sorry for the delay in writing.

ps. No I haven't had any really great coffee lately... in case you were wondering... Starbucks is ok... but it will never match Piai

pps. My nails still haven't grown completely out - rrrrr - darn gel nails...

Stupid gel nails

I hate gel nails and will NEVER get them again! NEVER!

And what else is new.... well tonight I've got a heap of work to complete - so I'm doing that while listening to Fantasia (yes, the Disney movie) because it isn't distracting and I love the music. I was going to watch Cast Away again this week but that is just for the music. Alright Fantasia is distracting - just watching one piece and it totally looks like penis castles... so then of course I have to check it out online and then.. see - distracted...

Alright - best be working... hugs and smooches to everyone!

freakin' bob flay

A few nights ago I watched Bob Flay in a "throwdown" for sloppy joes. Since then I've been craving them - they made them look soo good. Now I've been off the red meat train for a long time now but tonight I threw all caution to the wind and had a big honkin' sloppy joe! Woohoo...

I don't think Kyle has ever had one, but he took to sloppy joe like a duck to water. He asked for it for tomorrow night too! Michael even ate it - and there are red vegetables in it - so that is amazing!

Now - we'll see how I feel in a few hours... but what the heck.. only living once :)

On the mad parent front: I got a "note" home today. It was an "informal" report. In the report Kyle is asked to judge himself and then the teacher judges him on a bunch of categories like: independently finds materials and begins work (initiative), works well with all students in the class, mathematics, socials/science.... you get the picture... the judging is based on the following: nearly always, sometimes and rarely.... nice scale (insert sarcastic face) Kyle further evaluates himself and sets goals for the next few weeks - ha - the write off weeks as far as I can tell - why even have school in June if it just going to be crap (Jen - I know not all teachers are like this - I pray for one that will actually use every day for learning and not take off half of September, all of December, the last week of May and all of June - ok - I exaggerate - alright everyone subtract a few days... that is, if you were taught how to do that... )

Anyway - he notes what he wants to work on and then I get a note from the teacher. I'm critical, I know that, but shouldn't teachers be spelling wizards! I want to have faith that my guys are going to learn to spell and not rely on spell check, I want them to use the brains they were given, I want them to think freely and make good choices - when I get a note home that has spelling mistakes from the teacher I want to put a red circle around the error and send it back to school. I know this is the a-hole side of me coming out in true form, but come on... please... please spell properly - the next Australia Zoo biologist needs to know how to spell - he needs that!

And while I'm in full vent mode... stop sending me notes home on freakin' bake sales - just ask me for an extra $100 a year and I'll give - that is a good cause - me buying crap that we don't eat, don't use, don't like - is a waste - you lose by making us buy crap. If I give you $100 you get $100, when I buy crap like chocolates I give $100 and you get $25 because the chocolate making people are screwing you and everyone else. Seriously a $3.00 box of chocolate almonds, seriously!

Best place on earth... Kyle thinks so

Michael kissing a 'gold bar' - of course it is chocolate...

Two cute kids + one ground squirrel = good times

I got my sister to take this photo of me - I chucked a bunch of snowballs at the car - hoping to catch one of me throwing - this was taken on Saturday May 23 - between Jasper and Lake Louise

home

I'm home.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Happy long weekend.

Love to you!

good morning

Hello world - I'm in Second Cup in Edmonton (one of hundreds - seems like Second Cup is bigger than Starbucks here) enjoying a lovely soy carmel latte and a muffin (the muffin sucks) - they have free internet if you give up your facebook account... I have to catch the train soon and managed to weasel a free umbrella from the front desk staff since I wasn't smart enough to bring a jacket. I remember looking at my jacket and thinking - take it, don't take it... don't take it - you'll be fine.. and here I am in a great big rain storm jacketless... but the umbrella helps :)

I enjoy this part of the commute. Looking at people - seeing what they are like, what they are wearing - I'm people watching.

Anyway - just wanted to wish everyone a good morning and hope that your Friday is amazing and for those going away for the long weekend - enjoy and have a great one - and for those who will be home - I have no doubt that I will have some amazing photos from the drive back to Q-town tomorrow.

Hugs & smooches - love to you!

ps. insecurity #256 - I'm wearing yellow today - this is a phenomenon... I feel like I look like a chicken - I'm working to get over it :)