My Little Angel

I had a post ready to send, well all but the proof reading was done. And my little angel, Quentin played with my computer while I was helping PJ. He managed to delete my post. I decided to post these incriminating pictures of a 2 1/2 year old*in*drag* to get him back.




It is a good thing he is so darn cute.

Not So Tropical

I woke up this morning to this:



And this:



And this:



By mid-afternoon it had clouded over and looked more like this:



We had no snow up here until sometime last night. It was a beautiful morning, but the afternoon clouded right over and cooled off a bit. I think it is about -3C right now.

So what do you do with 4 kids on a day like today? You put on your pretty clothes and you dance.





And when you are done dancing you put a hanger on your head:



And you read a book:



I played with kids today and they made me laugh my butt off. They sure are fun to hang out with, sadly the hanger did not fit on my head.

Lives a Beach

And here's mine. Okay maybe not my life, but a picture of it in time. A picture I tried my best to hold in my mind today as it blew snow for much of the day here in Kamloops.

I am trying to get back into the swing of things as far as my running goes. This winter I have been more inconsistent than I have been in several years. Running one day one week and 3 or 4 the next. I am getting back on my program as of today.

I signed up for a 100K relay race with a team of runner's. I will run one or two legs of the race. I have a couple of months to train for it. There are a couple of 10K's coming up soon, race season starts in the next month or so. I will sign up for a couple of those and pick a couple of 1/2 marathons to run. That should get me back at it again.

Time for bed. Goodnight!

Random Vacation Photos

It's just the beginning, I plan to share tropical pictures with you randomly for the next two years. I am hoping it will help my vacation last that long! The above picture is Paul enjoying his first morning in Jamaica. I got up early and went for a run, when I made it back to our resort I found Paul relaxing. There were places to sit and relax all over the resort. You could sit on a swing, recline in a hammock, or even find beds that are hidden in the bushes to 'nap' on.



The resort was pretty big, it was 1/2 a mile from the Giggle Queens door to mine. The Linfields had a beautiful room with a private pool (shared with 4 other rooms). Their room was cheaper than ours by a whooping $10 a night and there room was much nicer than ours was. They had a bedroom, living room, a kitchen and a balcony they could sit out on. They even had a big screen TV!

Our room was closer to the beach and that is why it was $10 more a night, we had a big room, but no living room and no kitchen, a small balcony that I did spend some time on. It was great that we were in different areas of the resort, we spent time exploring the place and split our time between the beach our room was close to and this beautiful pool that the Linfield's room was near. The swim up bar you can see in the above picture was one of our favorites.



I did mention that this post would be random didn't I? The above picture was taken at our first breakfast buffet. There were new carvings every day, these are done on watermelon, but we saw some out of squash, carrots, bell peppers, even one made out wax. The food was very good, you could eat at 2 different buffets, or there were many restaurants you could also chose from on the resort. We had some amazing meals and only one that was bad, don't eat sushi in Jamaica. It was the worst sushi I have ever had, but we thought it was pretty good that we only are one meal we were not happy with. You could eat 24 hours a day there and the food was pretty darn good.



One of my favorite pictures of the Linfields, this one is taken at the big pool pictured above.



One of Paul and I on the beach. Husband in one hand, a drink in the other...It was a good trip!

Back to Reality

Actually, I have decided I am not coming back to reality. I am just going to roll back the clock for all of you and for myself. I am going to pretend like I am still in Jamaica, I am going to pretend like I had internet access there and I am going to blog all about our trip for the next week.

Are you ready?? Grab a rum, sit back and relax. The name of the game in Jamaica is relax. The answer to every question, every request is no problem mon. I am hoping to ride the relaxed energy for months, maybe even 2 years, that's when I would like try the all inclusive thing again and recharge my batteries for another 2 years. No problem.

Filet and the Giggle Queen came by the house to pick us up on Friday around noon. We were all packed and ready to go. Grandma Judy was off to get her sister at the airport and Marianna was in charge of the kids while we were headed out the door.

We were loading the bags in the truck for the ride to Calgary and the phone rings. I had a funny feeling in my stomach and I said to Paul, "You need to go answer that." He did not want to, but he did. It was his mom on the phone...she had just been rearended in the van on the way to the airport! She was okay and the van was not badly damaged. Off to a great start!

We had a wonderfully uneventful ride to Calgary from there, stopping once at a pub for snacks and beer. The roads were clear and the drive through the Rockies was beautiful.



The temperature dropped as low as -19C but that just made it all the better, we had no worries, we would be boarding a plane in the morning and thawing out in Jamaica by dinner time.



We arrived in Calgary and checked into our hotel around 11:00 Friday night. Saturday morning we were up bright and early to catch the plane.

It was a long travel day with the flight being delayed and we were late getting into montego Bay. Off the plane and through immigration we were greeted by our Air Canada vacation representative who sent us into the Sandals lounge right there at the airport where we could pour our own Red Stripe beer right from the tap. Our bags were immediately taken care of and we did not even see them again until they were delivered to our room at the resort.



The Bus Ride:
Once our bus was ready to hit the road (it was still a 2 hour ride to Ocho Rios) the driver turned to us and gave us the rules of the road:

In Jamaica we drive on the left side of the road, our highways are very narrow and we often pass oncoming traffic with only 6 inches to spare, my name is not Oh Jesus, or Oh Shit, don't scream unless you hear me scream first. I know you are hungry and tired, no problem, grab a few beer for the ride.

Jamaican highways are little more that dirt roads, they are narrow with ruts in them you could, well you could lose a bus in. As a matter of fact, our bus was lost into one of these ruts.

We were bouncing along the 'highway' doing 65mph and there is a loud bang and wobble in the ride, I thought we had blown a tire, but it was not quite that simple:



Say goodbye to the front axle on the this bus. No problem they would have a new bus sent out as soon as they could. Did I say bus? I am sorry, I meant pimp mobile. Oh yeah baby, red curtains, mood lighting, sound system, and wonderful musty odor, sweet.



The curtains, they were there so you could not see the road, this was the ride of my life. I couldn't watch! Filet and Paul look thrilled, I think they ran out of beer.

We did safely make it to the resort and it was an entertaining beginning to a great trip.

Jamiaca Mon

On my way to Calgary at noon today and then to Jamaica tomarow, I will try to post a bit from there if I can. I need to go shower and finish packing.

Vancouver

Here are some Vancouver pictures like I promised you last night. I may be a little more on my game today and give you a post that is at least readable. The picture above is on the way there, it is about a 4 or 5 hour drive through the mountains to get there. I am not sure but this might be around Chilliwack, which is about 45 minutes or an hour before Vancouver.



Vancouver city hall. I just liked the building and we were stuck in traffic so out came the camera. You see that wonderful blue sky in the background, we had wonderful weather the whole day. That was a blessing, this time of year snow can make the drive a bit of nail biter.



Here are the washrooms at the toll booth on the Coquihalla, this is almost the top of the pass. You can see there is tons of snow up here, but the roads were dry and clear. It was -13C at the washrooms.



It seems odd that I would post a picture of the inside of the washroom. Odder yet is the sign posted above every toilet. Need a close up??



The sign was only posted above the toilets, not the sinks. Apparently this is a problem??? People getting up here and being so parched they dip right into the toilets for a drink?

I did not...

Fall off the earth. I was waiting until I had a quiet moment so I could post and tell you what I have been up to. I wanted to have a few minutes to post some photos for you.

As it turns Blogger seems to be on the fritz and will not let me post photos at this time. I will save the pictures for tomorrow.

Thursday I went to Vancouver to help out a patient of mine, she had a couple of appointments with a specialist on the coast and asked me if I would come along with her for moral support and to ask any questions she may not think of herself.

It was a good, fast trip and we both had fun. She had good news at her doctor appointment.

I did not get back until late Thursday night.

Friday night we took the kids to see Curious George, it was a great movie to take young kids too, we all loved it! Saturday I worked and then raced home so Paul could get Sebastian to hockey on time.

Saturday night we went to a Surprise Birthday party for Filet, he turns 40 while we are in Jamaica. Sunday Paul patrolled and I played with the kids all day.

I did not even find time to start my Olympic socks until Sunday evening, I am starting the race two days behind. That is okay with me, I am a tortoise kind of girl, I will win the race in the long run. I finished the cape for Sebastian last night too, I wanted to get that done before the trip.

I am rambling here aren't I??? I am tired and my mind is humming a hundred miles an hour. Judy gets here Wednesday morning and we leave Friday afternoon. My mind is full of all the things I need to get done in the next few days. I am looking forward to the sun and warmth, there is an arctic front coming into Kamloops and it is supposed to be -30C by Wednesday. Our timing could not be better.

I will post some photos for you tomorrow and I will try to settle my mind and write a post that makes some sense!

Short Row Heel??

Two knitting posts in one week? It is almost like this is a knitting blog, weird.

I am working on PJ's toe up socks and I have made it to the short row heel. I am a bit confused by the directions at this point.

I find most of the time when I am confused about a pattern it is because I don't really understand the shaping and I just need to have faith and follow the directions without questioning to much and see what evolves. Unless of course my project begins to look like a mess.

I think I have a mess. The pattern tells me to place a stitch marker at the end of each short row to help me keep track of where I am at. The stitch markers are only adding to my confusion, they are just one more thing to juggle while try to learn a new technique. Secondly they are short rows on the heel of a sock, as I understand it that would one less stitch on every row until I reach the desired length and then I need to make the rows gradually longer to shape a sort of cup for the heel to fit into. I need markers for this? In between every stitch??

I will tink back to the start of the heel, remove all the stitch markers (they aren't helping me at this point) and then I will google 'short row heel', I will come up with a site (like This One) and fry to figure it out using different directions. The same pattern, just different wording and some photos. I already tried a great book that Shannon gave me for Christmas, I helped a bit, but I think I need more pictures for this one.

If surfing doesn't do the trick, then I pull the Ace out my sleeve. I call the knitting guru, the needle master, the woman who is changing the world one knitter at a time; I will call...MOM. She has magic powers, she can see through the holes in the phone, she seems to know how my mind works and exactly what I am doing wrong and somehow talks this visual learner through the fix.

I am not sure how she does it but I think I am on to her. I think she has made every knitting mistake in the book and therefore has figured out how to fix them all herself. I think she remembers being a knitting beginner and when I read her my pattern, she nods her head and knows exactly what this knitting greenhorne has done to get all tied up. She rocks. Thank you mom ahead of time for the phone call you may be receiving this afternoon.

I am in a hurry to figure out this heel, I want to use the technique on my Olympic Socks. It would not be an Olympic challenge if I did not pick a pattern I was new too would it? I also need to swatch the yarn I want to use and do some math. My Olympic socks are Debbles birthday gift, so I need to figure the measurements for a size 7 1/2 sock.

A Foot Long

Here are my finished socks. I finished them a while ago but never posted the pictures. I enjoyed making the socks but I am not all that happy with the results. They are a bit to big for me. They fit length wise but they are to loose around the ankles and the feet. I think this was just the pattern. I used the free pattern that came with the sock yarn.

I enjoyed making the socks so much that I wanted to learn more about them and learn more about shaping and making them custom sizes. I bought the book Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in sock knitting. You could knit a 1,000 socks out of this book and not have 2 alike and you can figure out how many stitches you need for any size foot. I wanted a book that would enable me to make socks for the kids and for adults. This book fit the bill quite nicely.



Here is PJ's sock with the book. I am trying a toe up sock, which I like so far because I can try it on her as I go. I am going to attempt a short row heel with this sock too, I will let you know how that goes.



Birthday gifts:

Shannon the gifts your ordered from Toy's R Us arrived already. Sebastian was very happy about the legos, he loves them. PJ has played with the tea set every day since it arrived. Toys R Us cracks me up, they send small gifts in these huge boxes with tons of packing paper. They must only have one size box they ship in. When PJ's gift from mom comes I will take a picture and show you how silly they are.

Knitty Gritty...We don't get the DIY station here in BC. I can't even add it to my satellite package. I wish I could get it, I understand the show is quite good. I will try to remember to bring the book with me so Shannon can have a look at it and see if there is anything she might want to make for Taylor or Morgan.

Am I Clean Yet??

I am on day 8 of the Wild Rose cleanse. If you are looking for a quick way to drop 10 pounds this would do the trick for you. It is not to hard to stay on, but I am getting tired of it. Mostly I am tired of taking the supplements you have to take with it. You take 6 herbal pills with breakfast and with dinner, one is an herbal laxative, one increases your bile production and I don't know what the third one does.

Basically you eat no dairy, no sugar, no flour products of any kind and no tropical fruit. You can eat brown rice, so I eat brown rice cakes instead of bread. Tonight for dinner I am cooking baked potatoes, steak and salad. So I am not suffering or anything. I have lost 6 pounds in 8 days, weight loss was not my goal, and I was worried about losing anymore than that. But I figure I will put the weight right back on once I begin to add some of the foods I usually eat.

I miss cheese the most. I often eat cheese and apples for a snack and an apple without the cheese just is not as filling for me. I also miss cream in my morning coffee. I feel good on the cleanse except when I work out. I find running to be a big challenge, we did a 6 mile run on Saturday and it wore me right out. I would like to do a speed work out with the running group on Wednesday, but I don't know if I can go fast enough to push my group into a good workout.

Friday is the last day and then I will slowly add foods back in. I am afraid if I just start right back at eating like I usually eat it might upset my stomach after so long without flour and sugar. I will add cheese first and then a dab of cream in my coffee. After a day or two of light dairy I will add other stuff.

Shutter Bug

Here is the picture that came back on my camera. My mental image of an electronics repair shop was much messier than that. Where are all the parts, and the tools? Where is all the mess? I am very happy to have my camera back and working fine. I did not really realize how much I use it until I did not have it.



Here is a picture of the front of the baby blanket. I am very happy with the way it turned out and I had a great time learning the color work. After that piece I would not be afraid to try just about anything on the needles. It surprises me how much I enjoy learning new things.



A picture of the back after I covered up the mess with flannel. Angie I wish I could take credit for 'craptastic' it is one of my favorites, but that one was coined by Norma, you can click her link there on the right side of my blog. She curses like a sailor, knits up a storm and often makes me laugh out loud while reading her blog.



I have started a few small projects to mix it up a bit after the blanket. This one is for Sebastian. He wants to dress up like a prince and fight dragons. I thought this might do the trick for him, it is from Vickie Howell's book New Knits on the Block, a guide to knitting what kids really want. The book has some really great ideas. It has a crown pattern in it as well, which I will use for a guideline to make one for Sebastian, every prince needs a crown.

I am knitting this out of the yarn mom sent Sebastian for Christmas. I am going to leave the lighting bolt off the back, I have another idea in mind. I thought I might cut some different shapes our of felt and he could put different things on it depending on what he wanted to dress up as. I was thinking I could cut the shapes out of felt and they might stay on, or I could put a small piece of velcro on the pieces and that would stick to the yarn. I thought we could cut out the shape of a crown, a shield, dragon, lightening bolt and Sebastian could decorate the pieces of felt with some glitter glue.

I am working on a pair of socks I will show you tomorrow (I have to same some pictures for later!) and I am thinking about what kind of socks I am going to knit for the Knitting Olympics 2006 . I don't know if I want to make a pair for myself or for someone else and I am not sure if I want to do a plain pair or something with a pattern. I will be in Jamaica for a lot of the time and I don't know how much knitting I will be there. I was thinking of a simple self striping pair that would keep me busy on the plane, but would not take to much brain power. What do you think? Shannon and Mom are you going to join??

P.S. On the spell check velcro=vulgar and craptastic=craftsman. Heheheh, I love the Blogger spell check program.

Picture Attempt

I know it is a craptastic picture but you get the idea. It is the back of the blanket, I could not get the one of the front of the blanket to post on the blog.

The good news is my camera is repaired and they are shipping it back to me overnight mail. It should make to the office tomorrow. If that is the case I will post a better picture Friday night.

For Bonnie

Here is a picture of Theresa, she looks great she is all baby and that little one is right out in front. If you look closely at the picture you can even tell that the baby's back and bum are on Theresa's right side and the feet are curled up on the other side. She is getting very uncomfortable and impatient at this point.

Her due date is February 5th, so any time now would be fine by her. I called her today and gave her the good news. The baby blanket is off the needles and all the ends are sewn in. The baby can come anytime now as it has a cozy blanket to be wrapped up in.

I bought the fabric for the back of it and it is in the dryer now. I hope to get it sewn on tonight and then I will post a picture of it for you. I am going to ask Mariana if I can use her camera, it will take a much better picture than my phone will.

Paul's cousin had a baby last night around around 5:30, 2 weeks early. A healthy handsome boy weighing in at a little over 7 lbs. I think a SMALL pair of booties might be in order. We may go to visit them after I get off work on Saturday.

One more thing and then I may go start a new project. Paul and I started a De-Tox program, it is called the Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox. It is for liver, kidneys, lymphatics and colon. I am to lazy to find a link for you now, but I will try a little later. I am off to check the laundry and browse through knitting books!

New Hardware

Friday was Paul's birthday and I wanted to get him a BlackBerry for his gift. I was not sure if we could afford it or if he could use it.

As it turns out a girl I run with works at omega Cellular and she set me up with a smokin' deal. I got him a BlackBerry for $150.00, they have a new model in that was very fancy and way more than Paul would ever need. They were clearing out the old ones, so that is what I got for Paul. This meant a change in our service provider and new phones for myself and for Gran and Harvey who we keep on our family plan. My phone and Gran and Harv's phones were free.

Wait it gets better! Our bill will be $60 less a month than it was with our previous server and that includes the fees for the data stuff on the BlackBerry. How cool is that. Kim took great care of us and threw in a bunch of extras, she set us up with chargers for home and for the car, free cases and everything else you can think of. I would send anyone to her, she is well informed and very helpful.

My new phone is a camera phone!! This means I am no longer photoless for you! I took a picture and emailed to myself via the phone and here I present to you my very first phone photo:



The quality is not great, but it far better than nothing at all. It takes video too, but I have not tried that yet. Truth be told I have never even made a phone call on it or put a phone number in the memory yet.

Yawn, Stretch, Race!

I am trying to come out of hibernation mode today. I need to pick up my boot straps and just get going round here.

I have not actually been idle. I did get in a work out both Wednesday and Thursday. I even worked on Thursday. I have been playing with the kids and shopping for Paul's birthday gift. I have been knitting my fingers to the bone in an effort to finish the baby blanket by the 31st of this month.

The Baby Blanket
You remember the schedule? 6 little rows per day and the knitting will be done by the 31st. It sounds so easy doesn't it? Only 32 rows to go and the whole thing is done. Then it is the the simple matter of blocking it and sewing a back on it. I have been weaving the ends as I go so that little dirty job is done already. The problem I am having is this: The last row of blocks is the hardest, it is the same as the first row of blocks (How on earth did I ever think I could do this after I did the first row of blocks?) The first and last row of blocks involve the dots, the dreaded dots. They are only dreaded because I think the baby will be here at the end of the month and would like the blanket done by then. I have 23 different strands of yarn per row right now, it makes the last set of blocks a little slow going. I have only 22 rows of color work to go and the last 10 rows are of a single color, a simple seed stitch. I can hang in there.

I also seem to fight this weird energy when I am almost done with a large project. It doesn't matter if the project is knitting, it could be painting the kitchen or doing the accounting at the office. When you get down to the very end and you have cruised along at a good pace the universe suddenly slows things down. It increases how fast the time goes go by and throws obstacles in my path to slow me down. Am I the only one that feels this?

Let's look at last night for example. Paul had hockey and I had the kids. They usually go to bed really well, but I was feeling anxious to sit down and get some knitting done. The kids did not settle down until 9:00, at which point I realized I had a load of laundry sitting in the dryer that needed to be folded. I got that done and sat on the couch to knit. A look around the front room and saw that a tornado had struck and the room was a mess. I could not relax until I had that cleaned up some...And on and on and on and on it goes. The good news, I got in 7 rows!

The bad news: today is busy and we have plans this evening for Paul's birthday can I get 5 rows in today? Do I dare dream of 6 and stay a row ahead of schedule. Forgive my obsession, I am in training for the Knitting Olympics I will be knitting a pair of socks for the games. Mom, Shannon have you signed up yet??

Someday I will have my camera back so I can post pictures for you.

Shhhhhh

I am catching up on much needed sleep. I hope the snoring does not bother you.

Need a Smile?

Here take two:



This is Mary with the Snowman. He may be the best snowman I have ever seen. He lives across the street from up. I saw a little girl out with her mom building one day, they only had the bottom done. I love him, he makes me smile every time I drive down the street.

Paul should be back from his visit with his family tonight. He will not get in until after the kids go bed. That is to bad, they are missing him. I ask the kids every night when they go to bed to tell me what there favorite part of their days were and what the sad parts were.

Last night went something like this:

"What was the sad part of your day?"

Kids: "Dad not being here."

"What was your favorite part of your day?"

Kids: "Dad being home tomorrow."

"What am I chopped liver???!?!"

We had a nice laugh and a snuggle after that.

I am a bit tired, but other than that things have gone well. Quentin has a terrible cough that wakes him up quite frequently in the night. He comes and gets in bed with me to keep me awake for a while. I think I have gotten about 8 hours sleep in the past 4 nights. I am ready to go home and go to bed.

I am busy at the office today, so it will go by fast. I am just taking a break for lunch. Tomorrow things should return to normal. I need a good nights sleep and work out and I will feel better. I feel funny today. You know how you feel tired from no sleep yet restless because you have not enough exercise. My body is in a bit of a catch 22. I figure a good nights sleep tonight (I will ask Paul to get up with Quentin) and get up early and exercise tomorrow and I will be back to my usual self.

I don't have my camera back yet. That picture is one Marianna took. I may ask to take a few pictures with her camera so I can show you my socks and the progress on the baby blanket. I am trying to finish it by the end of the month. I think I will see if I can get in a few rows during the rest of my lunch hour.

Trading Up?

Or down? Paul had to go out of town for a few days and so I am working at the office today.

We had quite a bit of snow last night so this morning has been a little slow. Not the good kind of slow. There is slow where you can actually get some work done on the accounting and there is slow where every time you sit down to get something done a patient walks in. Slow enough to be bored and make the day very long, but not slow enough to get anything productive done.

We had to ask a few friends for help with the kids. I know I am blessed with good friends and a wonderful family, but it really helps you when you are in need and so many people offer to help you out.

The Giggle Queen has the kids today and tomorrow too, she just volunteered when we said we need a helping hand. I also have help from Debbles, and Miss Model Mac. Theresa even offered to take the kids if we need it, she is 38 weeks pregnant with her first baby and is at the uncomfortable stage. All our staff and friends at the office have offered to help with the kids. I even called another hockey dad and asked is he could take Sebastian to hockey for me tomorrow and his response was, "Is it okay if I pick him up around 2:30?"

The giggle queen met me at the office this morning to trade cars and pick up Quentin. She teased me a little bit. She said, "Let me get this right, I am handing you the keys to my sports can and I get your minivan and 3 kids in return." I told her I am not sure if I trading up or down, but I think it's down in my book. You all know how much I miss the kids when I have to work all day.

I had better go eat lunch, this afternoon it may get busy. The snow just stopped falling, people are going to get out and start to shovel their driveways. That means sore backs and busy afternoon.

Quote of the Week

I am trying my best to get back into the swing of things. I did not forget about the quote of the week, there was just nothing that really made me laugh, until yesterday.

Yesterday was Sebastian's 5th Birthday. He had so many wonderful things to day that I have two quotes for you courtesy of Sebass:

"Mom, now that I am 5 I am in kindergarten aren't I?"

Try to explain the whole school year thing to a 5 year old that thinks he should be done with pre-school now that he is 5. He had me laughing all day. I did not realize how much he was looking forward to being 5.

"Mom, now that I am 5 how many numbers are you? Are you like, 15???!?! That is so many!!"

I wonder if he can even wrap his mind around the fact that his poor old mother is 35.

I am sorry to be pictureless for this post but I had to send my camera into the shop. The back light on the LCD display has died. Apparently it is an easy fix, but the closest electronics place that works on a Canon digital camera is in Vancouver. I asked them to rush the work if they can so I can have the camera back before we go to Jamaica.

I would love to share with you pictures of Sebastian's gifts, but there aren't any. His favorite was from Grandma Elayne and Grandpa Darryl, they sent him this very cool sleeping bag with a blow up mattress he loves it. It was the first thing he opened and it had to be all set up and played with for 20 minutes before we could open anything else.

He got a great hockey shirt from Marianna, this he immediately put on. He also got an I-Dog robot that listens to music with him, and a set of legos that builds animals. Layne got him a Spiderman action figure that he has spent a lot of time playing with as well.

We had a great day, I can't believe he is 5! Happy Birthday Sebastian.

Advice and Rodent Doctor

Today I am following Mom and Shannon's advice, my family is very wise.

Paul was out of the house by six this morning. Quentin woke up and crawled into bed with me around 6:30, he snuggled with me for a little a while and then I got up and turned TreeHouse on for him. I went back to bed, not to sleep, but to follow the advice above. I just laid there snuggled under the blankets for a while.

The next thing I knew it was about 7:30 and PJ came in and had a snuggle with me. She got bored and went to join Quentin. I snuggled back down to get more of doing nothing in and then Sebastian woke up and came in and snuggled me for a few minutes. What a perfect morning.

I did finally roll out of bed around 8:30. I did what any well snuggled mom would do, I brewed a pot of coffee and made chocolate waffles for the kids. It's 10:30 now and the kids are full and happy and I am drinking my last cup of coffee. I will round up the kids to run some errands with me I think we are in for a relaxing day. All in all I have to say my family gives the best advice ever!

Remember the guinea pig? Well the little girl brought her guinea pig in to see me yesterday. Can you imagine waiting in your chiropractors office with 4 other patients, 2 of which are people, one who is a boarder collie and one guinea pig? It was a busy, fun day at the office.

The guinea pig had somehow hurt her back, she was sort of all scrunched up, you could see in the midback where there was a lot of muscle spasm and she was very sore there. Sadly she has some nerve damage into her lower extremities, she has bowel and bladder control, but no muscular control over her back legs. She is very frustrated with her body, it won't do what she wants it too. I used the activator to adjust her and there was immediate improvement in the muscle spasm, you could see her back level out right away. She also gained some control of her right back leg, but I think there will permanent nerve damage, especially on the left side. She is otherwise quite healthy and happy. I told the girl who brought her in to watch for improvement and if she felt the guinea pig was getting better to continue to bring her in at no charge.

It is interesting treat animals and see how they respond to chiropractic care, they respond very quickly and very well. I can tell you in one or two visits whether I can help an animal or not. Animals tell you exactly what is wrong with them and they rarely carry any emotional baggage, so you can see them clearly. By that I mean how they physically represent is how they actually are.

People tend to carry so much with them, they may come in complaining of midback pain, but that midback pain is not always due to an injury to the midback. It could be anything from the crappy food they are eating, to the mortgage payment due yesterday, or from grief they have not dealt with from a loss 15 years ago. There is a physiological response to all of our daily experiences, whether that experience is physical or emotional in nature. We store so much in our muscles and our bodies, health comes from so many things in our lives, minds and hearts.

Animals tend to have less variables, they have a good consistent diet, they are not worried about money, how the car is running ect. This is not to say that they don't have an emotional component or a stress factor, but it is not near like we put on ourselves as humans. I enjoy working with animals in my practice and have learned many valuable lessons from them. Of course I enjoy and learn from my two legged patients as well.

Spent Weekend

I have not blogged for a few days, this is not because I was terribly busy or anything. I was having a bit of a tune up done on both computers. I took in our home computer and my laptop and had our computer wiz move some programs around for me and recover some lost music files and get everything I wanted moved from the home computer onto my computer.

I had all our photos put onto an external hard drive and now I can delete all the pictures off the computer (that should free up lots and lots of space) and I can store the external hard drive in our safe deposit box and if the house burns down I will still have all my treasures. See, I was not busy but I was keeping the computer wiz busy.

I dislike when my weekend is spent before it even gets here. Here we are on Friday afternoon and my weekend already feels like it is gone. I am taking the kids to a Blazer game tonight, we will meet Paul there.

Saturday morning I start training for another 1/2 marathon at 7:00 a.m. from there I am off to work until the afternoon. Paul has plans to go to a Blazer game Saturday night and he has Ski Patrol all day Sunday. Mary has plans for a sleepover at a friends house tonight and will be staying over at a different friends house on Saturday night. She has some homework to get done in between all that, including some cooking projects for school.

I think I will get downstairs and see if I can get in workout while the kids are having quiet time and then I will try to get in a few rows on the baby blanket. I am still trying to get it done before the baby comes in about 1 month. If I can finish another row of blocks this weekend I could have it done on time.
The kids have gymnastics Saturday morning and Sebastian plays hockey Saturday afternoon. I will take the kids skating on Sunday morning and out for hot chocolate afterwards. And that is my weekend gone before it has even started. It does sound like fun though doesn't it?

Guinea Pigs and Jamaica

A funny storey for you:

Today while I was grocery shopping my phone rings. I answer it and it is the receptionist from our office. She tells me a patient of mine just called wanting to know if I could adjust her Guinea pig, it seems he has a sore back and knowing I worked with dogs the patient figured I might be able to help the Guinea pig out. I told Hennie to tell the patient I have never adjusted a Guinea pig before but if her Guinea pig would like to volunteer to by my Guinea pig I would give it try free of charge. Dr. Doolittle at your service, I will let you know if I adjust the animal and how he responds to care if I do get the chance.

For the past year Paul and I have been saving money to go on our honey moon. I know that we are coming up on our 6th anniversary but never mind that. We booked our trip last week and we are going to Jamaica. I have always wanted to go there and I am I so excited I can hardly wait.

Judy and her sister Noella will be here to watch the kids together and Paul and I are off to Jamaica. The Linfields are joining us for their honeymoon too, they are not as on the ball as we are they have been married for 18 years, (they were 9 and 10 years old when they got married ;0 ) We got a great deal at www.vacationselloffs.com here let me show you where we are staying click here to check it out . The trip was cheaper than I thought it would be, we are going for $2000. Each. That includes airfare and well everything. How wild is that?!?! We leave here on the 16th or 17th of February and will be gone for a little over a week.

I have never done anything like this trip in my entire life and I am very excited. Did I already say that??? I am worried that I will miss the kids the kids something awful, but they will be in good hands. Worst case scenario is we come home and find Noella and Judy tied to the kitchen chairs and the kids jumping on the couch and eating all the chocolate chip cookies they could get Grandma Judy to make. I will ask Debbles to check on everyone and see if they need any help (she likes chocolate chip cookies too and probably ties a better knot than Sebastian does)

Manic Monday

Today has been an odd day. First off I have felt weird since I had the flu. I feel okay in the mornings but by mid afternoon my stomach is one big knot and I feel like I need to curl up into fetal position and stay that way for the rest of the day. I have not been able to eat much since I have had the flu so exercise has not been happening. I will be glad when this thing has passed entirely and I am feeling myself again.

While Debbles and I were picking the kids up at school this morning a crazy thing happened. Debbles was helping Layne get into the mini and all of the sudden a van slammed into them. (Not me!) I guess a woman was ready to drive away with her grandkids and she threw the van into reverse instead of drive and slammed right into the front of the mini.

By some miracle no one was hurt and the only damage done to the mini was a shattered window and it needs a new license plate holder. I have no idea how the passenger side window was shattered when the mini was hit from the front. Maybe the the door slammed shut, but I don't think it did. Needless to say it scared the heck out of poor Layne. She rode to the house with me she was not very excited of climbing back into the mini just then. She will be over that in a day or two.

As if that is not enough of the oddities for you Miss Model MacKinnon was fired from her job today! She was given two weeks notice by her boss, would you like to know why she was given notice? She was given notice because she asked that her hours be cut back because she was not making enough money to support herself and her family and she wanted to explore some other career opportunities and still help out the store owner. The store owner by the way is an old friend of hers!!! I don't even think the owner has any legal grounds to let Miss Model go. I will spending my shopping $$ in another store from here on out.

If today held this much weirdness what will the next full moon have in store for us?

The kids played a funny game today too, PJ dressed in Sebastian's clothes all day long and Sebastian wore PJ's clothes all day. They even traded underwear! They had a great time and made each other and me laugh quite a bit over it. They got along really well today. Perhaps tomorrow I will win the lottery.

Foul Illness

We had a foul flu in the house the past few days. Quantum had it on Tuesday and he threw up a few times and then was done with it in less than 8 hours, the lucky child.

Paul was the next one to get it. I worked for him on Thursday because he was feeling so poorly. He was so sick he even failed to watch the hockey games that were on TV while he was home. Now that's sick.

I got home at 5:30 in the evening just in time to miss Paul and PJ getting sick together, one in the toilet and the other in the bathtub. Not pretty. By 6:00 I was getting sick myself and Paul was helping to get everyone else cleaned up. Poor Paul, although he was not feeling well himself, he was the best off so he got stuck helping the kids as I could not get away from the toilet long enough to be of assistance.

Sebastian started the game about 9:00 that night and Mary joined in the family fun around 1:00 in the morning. We ran completely out of clean sheets somewhere around 2:00 am and I spent the entire night on the bathroom floor. A good time was had by all.

Friday came to find Paul and PJ feeling better, but sleepy. Paul went to work and stayed home with the sick family. I started to feel better around 5:00 last night and was even able to get a couple of crackers to stay in me. Mary fell asleep about 6:00 last night and was still sleeping when I left for work this morning at 9:00.

Everyone seems to be feeling better today. I am very sore from laying down so much. My back is killing me. I think a day of work should do the trick to get me feeling better. I just need to move around and get the blood flowing. My stomach does not feel great yet but I am sure we will all be top notch after one more good nights sleep.

Well, I am off to go to work now. I wish this post was not quite so gross for you! I promise to do better tomorrow or maybe even later today. I have to go to work now.

Gifts

I have been meaning to share with you some of wonderful Christmas gifts before it gets to late. I was spoiled this yeat by my faimly and freinds. The gifts seen below are from my mom and sister. They sent me some great knitting books, I love knitting books. The yarn you see in the picture is my mom's gifts to the kids. She sent the yarn and a pattern for a hoody. The rest is up to me. I think she is sending me a valuable lesson in gauge. Big yarn=fast knitting. She is still teaching me things I need to know.



These beautiful champagne glasses are from my mom. She sends Shannon and I a set of Waterford crystal glasses every year, it is always one of my favorite gifts.



Paul surprised the heck out of me and bought me a lap top. I have started blogging from the laptop and I love it. It is fast and wonderful and I am using the heck out of it and enjoying every minute of it. See how spoiled I am.


Thank you all for your wonderful gifts. I had a wonderful holiday season.

Gifts

I have been meaning to share with you some of wonderful Christmas gifts before it gets to late. I was spoiled this yeat by my faimly and freinds. The gifts seen below are from my mom and sister. They sent me some great knitting books, I love knitting books. The yarn you see in the picture is my mom's gifts to the kids. She sent the yarn and a pattern for a hoody. The rest is up to me. I think she is sending me a valuable lesson in gauge. Big yarn=fast knitting. She is still teaching me things I need to know.



These beautiful champagne glasses are from my mom. She sends Shannon and I a set of Waterford crystal glasses every year, it is always one of my favorite gifts.



Paul surprised the heck out of me and bought me a lap top. I have started blogging from the laptop and I love it. It is fast and wonderful and I am using the heck out of it and enjoying every minute of it. See how spoiled I am.


Thank you all for your wonderful gifts. I had a wonderful holiday season.

Ski Bunnies

We took the kids up to the ski hill yesterday. We got up there around 10:30 and played with them until about 1:30. This first picture is of Paul helping Sebastian into his skis so that he can hit the slopes while Paul teaches PJ. I came along to play with Quentin and take some pictures of everyone.




Sebastian amazed me by taking this lift, called the carpet, up to the top of this little hill and hopping right off and skiing down all by himself. He was at the bottom ready to go again before PJ and Paul had even made up the carpet. I have video of Sebastian skiing down the hill if you want to see it just shoot me an email and I will send it to you.



Here is a photo of PJ and Paul getting ready to hop on the carpet, Quentin rode on the carpet loft too, he liked to ride it up and run down the hill. PJ skis in a harness with Paul. She can ski on her own but she doesn't stop. Paul puts her in the harness so he can slow her down until she gets better control. She had a great time, but wanted a rest after about 45 minutes.



Here is my favortie part of skiing, the hot chocolate. Sebastian wanted to do a few more runs and PJ was ready to rest so Quentin, PJ and I hit the pizza place and the coffee house. We watched out the window for Paul and Sebastian to meet us. We were so busy looking out the window for them and people watching that snuck up right behind us.



Does Sebastian look like he had a good a time? He loves it. It would be great if Paul can get him up to the ski hill a few more times this winter. The kids are such a good age to learn this kind of thing. They need to learn while they are fearless. It scares me a bit just watching Sebastian fly by me. He goes so fast!



After all the skiing (or being pulled around on a sled by your mother) all the hot chocolate and all the fun it seems a nap was in order for Quentin. I took this picture on the ride home, that kid knows how to make the most of his car seat.



A good time was had by all!