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.

Help! I Fell Down and Couldn't Get Up

I did this on Thursday night. It is a good one isn't it? I was helping Paul put insulation between our floor and the ceiling of the basement suite. We were almost done (isn't that when it always happens?) I was standing on one of Paul's Aluminum sawhorses and I was really focused on getting a piece of insulation to fit just right around the heating duct. It all happened so fast I am not even sure what happened.

I think my foot slipped off the edge of the sawhorse and I went down. I had no idea my foot was so close to the edge of sawhorse, one moment I was working over head and the next moment I was laying in a small bookcase that belongs to our renters.

I broke the top shelf on a little particle board bookcase and one of the screws holding it together left me with this beauty. Would you like to see a close up?



Paul asked me if I was okay, as I was getting up and I said, "I think so." There was a hole in my pants and I peeked through it and told Paul I scraped up my leg a little. I went upstairs and was feeling very shaky so I just laid down on the floor. I laid there for a few minutes and then I did not feel so good. I went right into shock, I asked Paul if he could come up and help me out.

I was cold and sweaty and started to vomit. Apparently I had fallen much harder than I had realized. Paul wanted to have a look at the scrape, so I took my pants off and the scrape was much larger and deeper than either of us had first realized. The top of it was pretty deep, you can see by the bruising around it.

My left foot is very sore and I was sore under my right arm into my armpit and across my midback as well. I have been to both the chiropractor and the accupucturist since it happened and I am feeling very good now. The cut is still a little sore at the top and my foot is sore at the end of the day, but mostly I am getting grumpy because I have not run since I did it. I get grumpy without my runs.



I feel like I got off easy. I have been injury free for a very long time. The law of averages said I was due for a clumsy moment. I am lucky that I was not seriously hurt and that I only have to miss a little bit of running. I am going to go Wednesday night and give the leg a test drive. I am sure it will be good as new.

Picture Time

I have someone I want you meet: Everyone this is Lola.



I hate to expose the soccer mom image, but now you have visual for the cold hard truth: I drive a mini van.




Mom, the laminate floor picture is for you. I love the floors, they are easy to keep clean and they make the whole house look bigger. I love the color, it makes me think of honey.

The following 2 pictures I took one evening last week of an amazing Kamloops summer sunset. It looks like the sky is on fire doesn't it?

Dog Money

I know you are all wondering what on earth is 'Dog Money', well I am here to explain.

You know that I adjust animals, mostly dogs. When I first started adjusting dogs in the office I did them all for free. And then one day I came into work and I realized I saw more dogs than people that morning. I also got tired of people asking me what they could do for me in return for treating their animals for free. I had one woman actually tell me she would be bring her dog in more often if I charged her for it. She felt bad for taking up my time and not paying me. I finally started charging the dog owners $20.00 a visit. They seemed almost relieved by this.

Any way I save the $ I make treating dogs and use it to enhance my yarn stash and to support my Main Street Clothing habit. Well I have been saving my Dog Money for a while and I paid off my visa bill with my babysitting money and tonight I bought myself an iPod mini. I bought the 6GB which holds 1500 songs, that should keep me running for a while. I was going to get the 4GB one but this one 'previously opened' so it turned out to be a better bang for my buck. I would show you a picture but it is currently hooked up to my computer blinking "DO NOT DISCONNECT" I am a bit chicken to plug my camera in at the same time that my iPod and my computer are meeting each other for the first time. I don't want to confuse any of the parties involved on the first meet 'n' greet, it could blow the whole relationship.

Book Worm

I am sorry! It has been awhile since I have blogged, almost a week.

We had a great time during Dad and Corinne's visit. They left Friday morning and were headed back to California with a detour to visit a cousin of Corinne's. They had a good time and so did we. We spent most of the time around here just talking and enjoying the company.

Remember the trip dad and I took to the used bookstore? Well that is the reason I have not been blogging. I thought I had read all of Diana Gabaldon's Highlander Series, but it turns out I had missed the 5th book, The Fiery Cross. I bought that one and then I figured it had been so long since I had read any of them that I should re-read the 4th book, Drums of autumn, just to refresh my memory. I had forgotten how great her books are and I have been sucked right back into her tales. I am almost done with the 4th one and I am not sure if I want to start the 5th one or if I want to go back and read the first three before I start number 5.

I am terrible when I get into a book, I will stay up reading in bed until 3:00 in the morning, I will spend every free second I have reading until I have devoured the book cover to cover. I have neglected my knitting and my blogging. The good news is I am on page 953 and I only have about 100 pages to go. I will finish soon and we will return to your usual programming. Until I start book 1 or book 5. Which one should I read?

Dad is in the House

Dad and Corinne arrived on Monday afternoon. We have been having a great time. We hung out around here and had dinner on Monday night. Tuesday morning I drug Dad down to Cowboy Coffee and too some of the used bookstores downtown. We had a good time just browsing for books, all three of us managed to pick a couple out (Quentin was with us too) Corinne stayed at the house and rested, she was pretty tired from the drive up.

Sebastian and PJ have been going to Adventure camp every morning this week. They are having a great time. Today they went to the Westsyde animal park were they got to feed the goats and have a nature walk. They are worn out by the end of the day and they fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow at nap time. This is wonderful thing, can we have summer camp all year around?

Last night we went to a buffet dinner and show. It was a lot of fun, it is a performance they put on for the people riding the Rocky Mountaineer. You learn a little about Kamloops history and the talent on the stage is pretty impressive. There are only 5 actors/singers in it, but they all have amazing voices and one guy plays 6 different instruments. We had a good time.



Dad tried to go the Highland Valley Copper Mine today, but there were no openings for the tour, we did not know you even needed a reservation. He was bummed that he did not get to see it. We will have to make reservations next he comes for a visit.



The last photo is of Paul, Doing what he does best, eating a homemade chocolate chip and peanut butter cookie. He was getting ready to go out to dinner.

Camping

We took the kids camping this weekend. We left Kamloops after I got off work on Saturday and we drove a bit out of town to a forestry site and camped overnight with the kids. We had a great time.

The drive there was a bit of an adventure. We were towing an old tent trailer behind us, the tent trailer is older than I am, and only has a table and some beds. It is perfect for us, just enough to get us off the ground and have a clean, bug free place to get the kids ready for bed and what not.

As we were crossing the Overlander Bridge just heading out of town I heard a big "CLUNK" and Paul looks out his side mirror just in time to see one of the tires off the tent trailer go sailing by him. "We just lost a tire!" Paul pulled over down a little side road and got out to inspect the damage. We watched the tire go sailing across 3 lanes of traffic, while praying that it did not hit anyone.



We watched the tire roll into the parking lot of a church, it finally stopped when it struck the retaining wall that surrounds the sign announcing Sundays topic. (Sign from God?) While Paul surveyed the damage I ran across the road to retrieve the tire.

Canadian Tire (the name of a hardware store, hmmm, another sign from God?) was right up the road so we disconnected the trailer and went to get some the parts to put the tent trailer back together. Another run up the road and I found one of the bolts on the street so we knew what size to get when we got the store.

Did I mention it was 100 degrees out and there is no air conditioning in the truck???



It only took us about 15 minutes to get what we needed and to get back to the tent trailer. I asked Paul if maybe this was some sort of omen and perhaps we weren't supposed to go camping this weekend. He shook off my suggestion and had the tire on in no time at all.

We were ready to hit the road again. I did make him check all the bolts on the other tire before we set off again. The bolts off the tire we lost were stripped. We made it to the forestry site without further mishap.

We were the only ones at the campground. Just us and 9 million bugs, comprised mostly of mosquito's and wasps. You could hear a constant drone in the air, the buzz of the bugs overpowered the sound of the river. I have never heard or seen so many bugs in my life.



I would reach down to smack a mosquito that was biting my leg and I woulds kill four in one swipe. I put jeans and a long shirt on everyone and that seemed to help. It also helped if we kept moving. The bugs settled down in the evening and we had a nice night out there.

The kids watched the first stars come out and then PJ said she was tired and I put her Quentin to bed while Sebastian stayed up and helped Paul find some fire wood.

Sebastian stayed up quite late a watched the fire with Paul and myself. It was lots of fun hearing Sebastian ask his dad a million questions: "Daddy, where did the sun go?" "Is it daytime where Grandma Judy lives?" "Why are there stars?" "Where is the moon?" "When will you put out the fire?" "How" "Can I watch when you do it?" and on and on it went.



Around 10:00 at night Phil and Leanna came by with a bottle of wine. We drank that and talked around the fire until about midnight and then the Linfields headed home and we went to bed. We had a good nights sleep, the tent trailer is very comfortable. The drone of the bugs woke up early in the morning.

By the time we had breakfast and a walk down to the river to throw stones for a while everyone but Sebastian had been stung by a wasp. We were tired of the bugs and ready to go home.




We packed everything up and headed for home. We got home around one in the afternoon. We all had a great time and everyone wants to go again when the bugs have settled down a bit.

I have so many fond memories of camping with my family as a kid. It is very cool to be passing on this tradition to my children.



The kids started Adventure Summer camp this morning, they have a week of it from 8:30 to 12:00 every morning. They had a great time. PJ is so worn out from playing softball and running around in the water park that she is actually napping. Let's hope she doesn't wake up grumpy.

Dad called last night. He and Corrine got as far as Belingham yesterday and they expect to be in town sometime this afternoon or evening. The kids are looking forward to seeing them (So am I!)

I will post some pictures of their arrival for you, if you are lucky I will even get a picture of the ever elusive Lola posted for you.

Smarties vs M&M's

It's the big Canadian debate: Which is better the made in America M&M or the Canadian Smartie?

They are the same idea really, chocolate covered in a hard candy shell. It seems most the Canadians I have spoken too (read: Paul) prefers the Smartie. They (He) claims the candy shell is thicker, crunchier and just better. The chocolate is better in the Smartie on this I will agree, the thicker candy shell melts in your hand and is to crunchy for my liking.

The smarties biggest downfall: no peanuts. We all know about my addiction to the peanut M&M. Whoops...did you all think I had successfully passed that 12 step program. I made it through a couple of steps:

1. I was (and still am) able to admit to myself there is a problem.
2. Sh*t, what was step two???

Now I found these:



And I hate to say this, but they are better than M&M's. (I know that if Bush gets a hold of this information that my American citizenship will be revoked, please don't pass this blog posting on to him.)

The Smarties have better chocolate and the colors are better too (yes that matters) there are pink and purple in there! Check out that web site, I learned that almost 17,000 Smarties are eaten a minute in the UK, that puts my M&M addiction to shame.

Okay enough sweet talk.

I know how much you all loved my Superman shirt, here is another one for you, this one may be better. I tried to find it in your size Mom but the sizes ore screwy (of course) the large fits me and I think PJ could wear the small:



I took the kids out shopping today (a nightmare, they were on their worst behavior) and must have been asked about 3 times "Are all of those kids yours??????" Like I had 30 children out with me (I only had the three, it just felt like 30). This got me thinking, I should have a T-shirt printed up that just says: "Yes, they are mine" Of course the testosterone group out there would think assume the shirt was referring to my breasts not the kids. Trust me if I bought new girls they would look better than these do!

Company's Coming

I could not resist posting this picture of Paul being such a good dad. Yes he is painting PJ's nails for her, no he is not wearing a sweater. He gave me a dirty look for taking this picture, but I have to say it one of my favorites.

Sometime next week Dad and Corrine will arriving from California for a visit. We are looking forward to seeing them. We have not seen them since Christmas and we are due for a visit.

I get homesick every once in a while and I am feeling that way now. Missing Darryl's 50th birthday is making me homsick. Sometimes I just miss everyone, I can't help it. I guess it is normal for me to feel this way now and again.

George and Judy (Paul's mom and dad) will be here for the first week of September so hopefully all this visiting will make me feel better.

Is is me or is the summer just flying by? The kids will be back in pre-school in just a few weeks. This will be Sebastian's last year of pre-school then he will be off to Kindergarden. This will be my last school year with Quentin at home to keep me company, I think he may even be old enough to start half way through this school year if he wants to.

I can't imagine having all of them in school 5 mornings a week, I will be able to lay in bed in eat bonbons get lots and lots done then. I am sure I will find ways to keep busy, of course I have a year yet before that happens. I will start my to do list now so I don't forget anything.

There will be a year when Quentin is in pre-school and PJ will be in Kindergarden and Sebastian in the first grade, when this year rolls around all three kids will be done at school at diferent times and I will spend all day driving back and forth picking up kids at school. That will be a hoot!

Okay enough rambling here, I will take my scattered thoughts and go do the laundry. Anyone need any whites done?

A Good Hair Day

About 4 or 5 weeks ago I gave the boys a haircut. Well, I gave them a buzz cut, for the summer cool, easy and free. It costs me about $40.00 to take them all down to First Choice and get their hair cut. I decided to save a few bucks and do it myself.

I had them sit on a stool and used the clippers with a short gaurd for the sides and longer one for the top, so it had some shape to it. The cuts came out nice, the boys sat still for me and they both liked it when it was done. PJ asked me if I would do hers the same as the boys and told her I was worried she would not like it and convinced her to let me trim her bangs and leave the rest alone. She was happy with that.

Today was haircut day. PJ watched as I got both the boys all trimed up, asking once or twice if I would do hers next. "I want mine like Sebastian's and Quentin's." she said. She tried this line to: "I will be able to talk on the phone better." She was trying to get me compromise to just cut it short around her ears. There will be no mullets for PJ.

I put her up on the stool. I told her I would take her to see Kenny for a big girl hair cut like mommy's. She shook her head no, she was adamant that her hair should be cut like the boys.

I got down on my knees, eye level with her, and I told her: "PJ, I will cut your hair to look just like the boys if you are sure you want it that way. That means no more pony tails, no more long princess hair, no more barettes. Grown ups will tell you what a cute little boy you are (I know this from experience) are you REALLY sure that you want you hair cut like the boys." She said, "Yes." in a firm voice.

I said, "PJ, it is nap time, I am going to put Quentin down for his nap and you sit here and think for a few minutes, if you still want it done when I get back I will be happy to do it for you."

I left her sitting on the stool for about 5 minutes (this is like 10 years to a 3 year old). I came back just in time to see her take the scisors and cut a large chunk of hair above her right ear. "Never mind Mommy, I can do it by myself."



She sat as still as could be...



It was far more traumatic for me than for her. I don't know why, I don't care how long or short her hair is. I have had short hair most of my life. I was afraid she would realize what we had done and she would cry, that she would want me to put it back. To "Fix it" I was worried she was not sure what she was asking for.



When I finished and she was sitting on the stool with a buzz cut, she looked at me with those big brown eyes and said, "Mommy, how do I look?" I said, "PJ, you look beautiful." She said, "But, wanted to look like a boy!" My hats off to my beautiful daughter, who knew exactly what she wanted and made sure she got it.



She is as happy as she could be. There has not been one tear, not even a trembling lip. I have not even seen her reach up to feel for the hair that is no longer there.



Debbles was shocked when she saw it. She said she would not have been able to cut it if it had been Layne.
I got a chuckle out of that!



Paul seems to like it too. I have heard him muttering to himself about how shocked Grandma Judy is going to be when she comes to visit next month.




I know my mom won't be surprised at all, it would take for more than this to surprise her. Mom bucked my hair off when I was quite young too, I couldn't be bothered to take care of my hair so Mom
cut it. The best part of the whole day is that PJ loves it, she is just as happy as she can be with her painted nails and her pretty dress. She is now calling herself Daddy's bald princess.



She is beautiful.

Check This Out

Check out this article: Click Here!

And I thought I was doing well to knit in the movie theater.

Great Big TOYS

Here are some pictures of the tiny trucks you saw in the bottom of the mine. This thing was massive. That picture I posted on Monday was me looking up the arm of this thing and into the sky I think it is 65ft tall, but I am not sure if I am remembering that right. A lot of this heavy machine runs on electricity, if you look close you can see the power cord hooked up there in the photo. Highland Valley Copper is BC Hydro's 3rd largest consumer. WOW!

Would you like one of these for your very own? This baby cost Highland Valley Copper $12 million in 1989. Save your pennies, big toys cost big $$.



We were lucky we got to take the tour in this 12 passenger van instead of on the bus with 50 other people, there were only about 10 of on it and only 5 were adults. I took this photo so you could get an idea of just how big the scoop was on this thing.



Scoop of Ouimet Family anyone? You could hold a party in this thing.



Here is a photo of one of the dump trucks. Remember the big scoop the Ouimet family was standing in? That can fill this dump truck in 4 scoops and it only takes 3 seconds a scoop. This thing is full in about 12 seconds. That's a lot of rock!



Quentin sitting in the tire. When I saw the big oil stain on the tire, all I could think was that must be one big dog!



A better view of the tire. Apparently there is a big rubber shortage right now and the mining business is at an all time high. These tires only last about a 6 months on a truck and the run about $27,000.00 each. That is what Highland Valley Copper pays for them at bulk rate, some mines pay as much as $47,000.00 each for them.



Another view of the dump truck from the back. I don't really think I had an idea of how big these trucks were until I stood next to one.



A happy boy on the ride home, digging in his very own bag of rocks.

I am sorry for the delay on the post. I finished my year end for the accountant yesterday and never made it to Blogland. I hope it was worth the wait!