Seasons

I put some photos of Quentin's Birthday celebration in this post for you. They are there for your viewing pleasure and have nothing to do with today's post. I just thought you might want to have a piece of cake with us while you read along.



It has been Fall here in the Loops for weeks now. I think Fall is my favorite season. The colors are wonderful, the air is crisp and alive in the morning and it warms up as the day goes on. The sun seems to shine more brightly on the days it chooses to peek out.

When I get up to run in the mornings the first thing I do is go to the window and smell the air. This way I can decide what to wear for my run and see what kind of day it is going to be. The air in the fall smells of falling leaves, dampness and change. It is a good time of year.



One thing that I find funny about this time of year is the way people dress. On my drive to work in the morning I pass by a thermometer that is posted outside a mortuary, today it read 9C, that is about 42 or 43F for you Americans. I was wearing linen pants, a sleeveless blouse and a light weight leather jacket, and a pair of strappy black high heels. Perfect for the weather.

I stopped by Cowboy's for a cup of coffee, the man in front of me was wearing shorts and T-shirt, the woman behind me a wool pantsuit, the woman behind her was wearing jeans and black down puffy NorthFace parka. It is funny to me that all of those people in all their layers, or lack of layers were all dressed as they deemed appropriate for the weather today.



Okay enough rambling about my favorite season.

Knitting: I have 6 rows, count them only 6 rows left on my sweater and then it all done, except for sewing two dies seams. I can't seem to get those last 6 rows done. They are rows of 286 stitches in K2P2 ribbing. I don't know why I have stalled here but I have.

PJ's hat is coming along, it will not should not take to long to get finished, it will be one of my easy projects to spell me off when the the color work on the baby blanket gets to me. I will post a photo of the baby blanket once there is enough work on it for you to see some sort of pattern developing.

Mom, Quentin loves his blanket, he drags it everywhere with him. I thought I had posted a big thank you, but I must have just thought it very loud. (Do you ever do that?) I like the dresser, it is going to do some work for me here at the house soon and then I am going to re-finish it and take it to the office to use as a desk/storage in my exam room. Paul is not happy with it living his garage right now. It should not be there for long.

We are hosting the Kamloops West Rotary exchange student for a few months and I am going to rearrange the kids rooms, so she can have one of her own and I will put the dresser in her room for her. It will give her a place to do her homework too. Perfect! I will tell you more about her, when I know more about her. She is from Brazil and her name is Mariana, she is moving in the end of October or early November and staying for 3 months. That is all I know right now.

Q's Birthday

Happy Birthday Quentin! Today my youngest turns 2 years old. I can not believe how fast the time slips by, I was just waddling around with him yesterday. I try to treasure every moment with my children, they are growing up to fast for me.

We had a good, but busy weekend here. Saturday was work as usual and then I got spoiled with a rolfing appointment. The kids had gymnastics and then Sebastian had hockey. Paul is in charge in all that stuff while I work.

Sunday Paul did some work for Canadian Ski Patrol and ran a race out at Scotch Creek while a babysitter watched the kids for us. The race was beautiful it was a trail run along the Adams River the Adams River is well known for its Salmon run, it is where to Salmon come back to spawn. The run was technically challenging for me, lots of roots and rocks and stairs to get around, up and over, it was fun. My time was not as good as I had hoped but I felt very good afterwards. There were portions of the run where the trees were changing color for the season, and then you would run through and area where the ground was soft and spongy because of the pine needles, then you would run along the river where you could spot some of the Salmon spawning. I will be sure to run this one again next year.

New Houses: I am not the proud owner a new house, but Debbles is. She bought a place up here in Aberdeen, just at the bottom of the hill. It is a great house with a big backyard for Layne to play in and it even has a sand pit. She has her old place rented already, so now she owns 2 homes and is a landlord. She is doing lots of work on the new place, new floors and new paint, and she is turning the downstairs into a basement suite to help her cover the mortgage. I am excited for her and I can't wait to see the place once all the work is done. I know this will be a wonderful place for her and Layne. Help me send her a good moving vibe will you?

Shannon- I did post a picture of my other sweater when I finished it, I don't remember how long ago I had it finished. Let me see if I can find the photo for you....


ah, here's one, it looks like it was just waiting for binding off in this picture. It came out great. I wore it just the other day. I will try to remember to have Paul take a photo of me wearing it for you.

I think I have figured out this whole short row thing for the Bolero sweater I am working on. I just have the ribbing around the front and it will be ready for blocking. I may get that done today. I think I know what I want to do for the traveling cream colored sweater that mom sent me yarn for. I figure I better get at it or I will have the green sweater at my doorstep and the cream one just hoping onto my needles. I want to knit winter hats for all the kids too. So much to knit, so little time!

Lists

I am a list maker. Anyone else out there write lists. I love those super sticky post it notes. I use them for everything. Grocery lists (then I can stick it to the handle of the cart while I shop), to do lists, lists of music I want to download, knitting projects I would love to get to someday, wish lists, I love lists.

I have a list that lives next to my computer, it is my "To Blog" list. Things I think about or do that I would like to blog about, things I am up to that I would like to share with you, pictures I promised I would post for you and I haven't yet. Here is my current list:

• iPod
• knitting
• new house
• The Wheel
• Bike Riding
• gymnastics
• Hockey

Now you don't need to read my blog for the next week or two do you? I am telling you about the list so you know that The Wheel post is coming, I am getting to it, it's on the list. It is not today's post. You are welcome to start a new list for if you like, things I said I would post photos of or tell you about that I forgot.

I wish I had a list of things I have forgotten about that would help me a great deal, but alas those things are forgotten. Now you understand why I make lists.

Knitting Front: Here is a photo of the sweater I have been working on. All I have left to do is the ribbing on the front and the back and then sew the side seams together and then it is done. I am loving the sweater. I did notice that one of the fronts seems larger than the other, I knitted it a little looser than the first side, I am hoping it will block out.

Mom did you receive my fax? I sent it twice, once from Debbles and once from the office. I am not understanding how to do the short rows that shape the ribbing on the front.


Also on the needles: (Oh look a list!)

• A hat for PJ
• A little felted purse
• the lace scarf
• a baby blanket for Theresa
• Lucky Lace Wrap
• mittens

Hockey:
Look at Sebastain's smile, he is very excited to start his first hockey lesson.

Paul is taking him to hockey class on Saturday afternoons. The kids learn to skate and learn how to handle their sticks and hit a puck around. I think in a few weeks they will even have some fun games.

Sebastian is the kid in the red jersey



Paul is taking Hockey lessons too, he and Phil start them in October. Paul is very excited, he has always wanted to learn the sport. It will be no time at all before Sebastain is out there hammering on his daddy. I will sit in the stands with a hot chocolate and watch.
Matbe Paul should have been a dentist, how many hockey players do you know that have all their teeth?

WOW!

Sebastian and I have not been feeling well the past couple of days so I did not have time to post or check comments on the blog. This morning Sebastian and I are feeling much better and Paul has already whisked the kids out of the house and over to Denise's where he is fixing the roof. I thought I would take a couple of minutes to check my blog and do a quick post to let everyone know I was still kicking.

I was amazed at the comments! Thank you all for such an outpouring of support! I wondered if I was being a little a crazy when I posted it and as it turns out I am surrounded by understanding and support. Thank you all so much.

I have decided to take matters into my hands. Paul said he would call the airline for me sometime this past week and he never found time do it, funny he found the time to book the flights. I will call Alaska airlines myself and see what I can do to fix things. I will try a sob storey first and see if they have a heart. If that does not work I will see if it is cheaper to just change the return date on the tickets instead of both ticket dates and then I could return with the kids in time to do the wheel and perhaps spend less than $800. If that option does not work I will just change the dates to one that works for the kids and myself and Paul learns a very expensive lesson.

Just so you know I think to some degree Paul's intentions were honorable:

1. He feels that is it is important for me to remain close to my family and wants me to go visit them once a year.
2. He wants the kids to have time to get know the family too.
3. The dates of the Wheel Weekend had changed, he booked the flights around the weekend (it was mid November) and then the folks who put on the seminars changed the dates.
4. He asked Debbles if she wanted to go to, but she declined.
5. He was trying to take advantage of a 2 for 1 seat sale.

Paul is still in hot water:

1. He knew full well I was apprehensive about traveling with the kids without help.
2. He failed to communicate with me (this is huge)
3. It was a big commitment both financially and in time and energy that he was making for me without even caring how I felt about the matter.
4. If he had told me about the ski weekends, I would have sought some sort of compromise so he could get some skiing in and we could all have some family time on those weekends as well.
5. Instead of realizing and admitting he made a mistake he has chosen to be defensive and accuse me of not wanting to see my family and saying things like, "I did not realize the kids are such a hardship for you to take care of for a few days."
5. He has made no effort to set right what he screwed up.
6. He has not, will not or can not apologize.

Will is right, I am not as angry after blogging about the whole mess. I will find a way to get things settled, hopefully it wont be to expensive to set things right. I was thinking I may schedule the tickets around Shannon's birthday, or during Spring break. Anyone in California have a request?

Shannon- Paul loves everyone in California as much as I do. Paul's strong point is not showing his emotions. His whole family seems to keep things bottled up pretty tight. They are changing gradually and they all seem to working to express themselves and their love better all the time.

If Paul stays here then we can better afford the tickets and the whole trip. We have to pay a doctor to take care of our patients when we go out of town and then we don't make any money. This more than doubles the cost of any trip we take. There is no vacation pay when you own your practice. Paul always feels bad about being allergic to everyone's animals and there is not to much he can do about it. He knows that everyone keeps clean homes and does there best to minimize the dander, but he gets sick whenever we go to Nevada or California.

Well, I had better get off to work now. I hope to get in some knitting this afternoon during quiet time. The sun is finally shining today, so perhaps I can get a couple of decent pictures of what I am up to on the knitting side of things.

Thank you all so much for being there! I feel much better after reading all your comments and suggestions.

No Choices

I am angry and frustrated today. I am so angry that I am currently in tears as I type this.

Paul took the liberty of booking a trip to California for me and the kids. He is going to stay home and work, oh yeah he has a couple of ski weekends planned while I am gone too.

I welcome the opportunity to go home and visit my family. I am upset because he booked the non-refundable, non-transferable tickets at his convenience and did not even ask me when I would I like to go, or if I was up to taking 3 children, 3 car seats and all our luggage through two airports and a rental car agent's with no help at all.

Airports scare the shit out of me, I am so afraid that someone will grab one of my kids and hop on a flight to nowhere before I even realize one is gone. Now I get to do all of this by myself. I am stressed to the nines just thinking about the whole travel mess. Airports are places that are too busy and I just don't have enough hands to handle everything on my own. Last time I flew on my own I was pregnant and had 2 kids in tow, I requested help at the gates when I booked my flight and the help was not there even when I had requested it ahead of time.

How about the fact that I was going to start The Medicine Wheel on the the weekend of December 9, 10, 11th? Thats okay, I guess I will just put that off a couple of years, when the next one starts.

Or how about the chance to check with my family to see when it would convenient for them for me come for a week or two. Or how about not having the trip two weeks before Christmas when I want to be home getting ready for the holidays? How about the fact that if the tickets were booked for sometime in April or May Quentin would be fully toilet trained and I would not have to deal with diapers and all that goes with them on the trip?

I hate more than anything that Paul has taken away my choices and my control over my life and the kids. I will miss their Christmas special at school and so will they. I told Paul that I was nervous about taking then all by myself and that I would like to check with my family first. He paid no attention to my feelings and booked the flight anyway. Spending $1700 on airline tickets without talking to me was wrong. I welcome the chance to see my family, but I would have loved to have some choice in when I got to go.

Paul has chosen to be defensive about the whole thing: "I can't ever do anything nice for you it always backfires." "If I had known you did want to go see your family I would not have booked the flight." He has chosen to not take any responsibility. I am even angrier that he will not take even a moment to see it from my side, to understand how bad the timing is for me, how important The Wheel was for me, how rude it was to book the flight without talking to my family to see what their plans are, or take into consideration how stressful I find traveling with 3 young children during the holidays by myself.

I am sorry for the ranting. There is little that makes me feel more frustrated than someone taking my choices away from me. I would love to take the trip after the holidays, but not in December when everyone is so busy and I already had plans that were important to me. I am stuck with timing though and will have to make the best of it, it will cost $200 a ticket to change the date, that would cost me an additional $800.

Paul will even talk me about the whole thing. He just keeps telling me, "This isn't the time to talk about it." "Let's change the subject."

I don't want my family reading this to misunderstand me, I want to come and visit, I am feeling very disappointed that I don't get to start The Wheel and that you don't get any choice on when I come to invade your lives. I will stop ranting and try and cool off.
I am sorry to posting so much frustrated energy today.

Relaxing Weekend

We had a nice relaxing weekend. It was the last bit of our time with George and Judy and we spent it well. I had Saturday off, we were going to go out of town for a wedding but we decided to stay here and spend it with family.

We were going to go golfing on Saturday, but it rained all day. It was a grey wet day and we spent it relaxing and watching Incredibles with the kids. We went out to diner with a bunch of George and Judy's friends on Saturday night. We did not make it to bed until well past midnight.

Sunday George and Judy left for home around 10:00 and Paul, the kids and myself headed over to Denise's house. She torn some ligaments in her knee a couple of weeks ago and now her husband is out of town and she has twin 18 month olds and no help. We took her pool down for her for the winter and Paul fixed a leak in her roof. Then it was home for lunch and a nap. We relaxed around the house the afternoon and evening and that was that. I think I was in bed by 9:30.

The kids had pre-school this morning and I went to work. I took Quentin with me as Debbles was to busy to take him, he was very good. The kids and I had a great afternoon, we did art stuff and cooked dinner together and then we went for a bike ride. Sebastian is getting so good on his bike that I had to run to keep with up with him. It is a good thing I am in decent shape!

He has training wheels on his bike right now but I think he is getting confident enough to take them off and try biking without them.

I was going to post some knitting pictures for you but it has been so grey here with all the rain that I could not get nice lighting for a good picture. I will give it try tomorrow for you. I will try to have a more exciting post then. Tonight am feeling a bit tired and I am ready to plop myself on the couch with a good book or some knitting, it will depend on what is on the television. Good Night!!

Now That's a Burger!

Sunday on our way home from our trip we decided to stop for brunch right before we crossed the border. We stopped in at a tiny restaurant called "Fat Boys" it was a little hole in the wall that looked just right for an omelet and hashbrowns. As it turns out they were no longer serving lunch but claimed to serve a great burger. This is a picture of of the burger Phil ordered. The waitress said it was a lot of food, she was not kidding. This burger and fries was $8.00. That seems cheap to me for so much food. 1/2 pound of beef, ham, bacon, 3 kinds of cheese and a salad on the burger. It was huge.

See how excited Phil looks:



Here's the after picture. Phil is not looking quite so happy in this one is he. We all ate so much we did not eat again until dinner at 6:30 or 7:00.

I have been knitting a bit too, I will post some knitting pictures for you tomorrow.

Tonight we start a new Wednesday run clinic. I always like the first night, getting to meet new runners. The first night I always make an easy run, so it won't be much of a work out for me, but it will be good time. Turning regular people into runners: one of my favorite things.

Leanna (Phils better half, also known as The Giggle Queen) is celebrating a year of running tonight. Very cool.

Tom Petty

I am back and I did not even have a chance to tell you I was leaving.

Paul and I went with the Linfields (Filet and The Giggle Queen) to The Gorge to see Tom Petty.

We left here on Thursday afternoon and left the kids with Debbles for a sleep over. George and Judy (Paul's parents) happened to be visiting from Las Vegas and they showed up to rescue Debbles around lunch time on Friday. George and Judy watched the kids for us until we got home Monday afternoon. It is only the second or third time we have ever been away from the kids and definitely the longest time away from them. I think it was a good break for everyone.

We took the ForeRunner and the tent trailer and our golf clubs. We crossed the border late Thursday afternoon here is a picture of the boundary line for you. I took this picture because I thought it was funny that the grass is actually greener on the Canadian side.



If you can't see that clearly in this picture here is further proof:



Don't tell me it's due to the shadow from the building casing shade on the green side, the sun is behind me in the picture, meaning it moves parallel to the building, not up and over it to cast a shadow.

We camped a little off the highway the first night, we never saw a campground so we just found a quiet spot and set up. We got up and drove a bit more, stopping when we wanted for food and for a round of golf. We golfed 9 holes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, just stopping at whatever course we could find that looked good to us.

It was relaxing and fun. Tom Petty was on Saturday night. The concert was great and the venue was incredible. The pictures on the link at the top of this post are better than mine, but I will post a couple for you.






As if the concert is not treat enough you get to watch it with amazing view. Those tiny people on the stage are the Black Crows, they opened for Petty. Petty did not start until after the sun went down.



We even managed to get in some wine tasting on the way home. I will post some more pictures for you tomorrow. I wanted to get a quick post in tonight and let you know what I have been up to. George and Judy are still here visiting, so I am going to pour myself a drink and enjoy the company.