Last week of December

The last week of December...off today but worked on collating the Fitness Tax Credit for Wings for most of the day. I do go into work on Wednesday for the New Years Eve Bash but besides that I am spending the week trying to organize a few things for the new year. I am not going to make resolutions because more often than not, they always lead to frustration. I do know that there are a number of key things that need to change and in order to accomplish goals there has to be some plan put into action. I am going to give some thought on how I need to prioritize my 2009 objectives.
Yesterday, we spent a few hours with Sharon and family. Tino had Giovanna over and it was nice to visit with her. When Sharon's dad came in, it was heart-breaking to see how desolate and lost he appeared. He drank two glasses of beer and it didn't really seem to change anything... well, how can it? The service is set for Saturday since Karen is flying in on Friday. The older cousins will rally together and get alot of the arrangements taken care of. Stacey is organizing a Team Francine for Jan 25 - Walk for Memories and I got Darcy and I registered for that. I will try and let people at work know that I am doing the walk for Sharon's mum and if they feel they want to support it, it's a good way of doing so. Anyway, on the outside, Sharon seems fine but Tino told me that she hasn't had her meltdown yet and he is sure it will be coming. She has a ton of support and she is very fortunate for that.
This afternoon, I finally took the opportunity to stop by and visit Kari. Always worried if she is not feeling well or sleeping...just took a chance and called to say I would come by in an hour. I stopped at this little florist owned by a petite chinese lady and got a simple bunch of flowers...well I liked the pink stargazer lillies and carnations and cedar in it anyway. Ray was busy cooking dinner. We had a couple of drinks and it was great to see her...she really had quite a harrowing experience and luckily everything worked out...it could have been fatally bad. She is a very lucky girl! We didn't stay too long so that she could eat and rest.
So, its a very chilly night...oops here's Chrissy...she drove her car today for the first time in weeks and now she is back saying that its treacherous out there and if Darcy can drive her to work at 6am tomorrow morning...he has been her driver for the past 2 weeks it seems! Glad that she knows when its dangerous to be on the road!!!

Messy slush

Caiti got the last seat on the 1:00 p.m. bus back to Kelowna this afternoon...her suitcase weighed a ton. She has to work at midnight tonight so she had to get back. It was nice having her home for this very strange Christmas that we had. Chrissy and Sheldon skytrained it to Metrotown and probably wished they had not since it was crazy busy. Darcy and I were craving something different to eat like a Moderne Burger on Broadway...Darcy just wanted to drive around in the slush I think. The burger and fries were very good and hit the spot after having had turkey etc.
The roads were a mess with huge puddles everywhere. But the worst was just coming into our complex. We were stuck for 15 minutes just trying to get in. We would make sure we go as far to the side and hoped everyone would cooperate and take turns but of course not everyone was so obliging so it caused a bit of a mexican stand-off ahead of us. With the 4-wheel drive we were going up the snow banks to accomodate everyone. After that frustration, we came home to find out that Speedo had an accident so I was on clean up duty..YUCK!!! Sheldon and Chrissy are trying to dig out her car from under all the piles of snow. So, here goes another day of my vacation....another quiet TV evening I think for us.

Boxing Day

The snow returned today but only until the heavy rains descend upon us causing flooding I am sure. Sharon phoned me yesterday to give us the sad news that her mum had passed away at 5:27 p.m on Christmas day afternoon. We all know that it is a blessing since she was really suffering and the quality of her life had deteriorated so rapidly. Alzheimer's is a very encroaching disease and truly you feel that the person you know slowly slips away in front of your eyes. Sharon is such an incredibly strong person even in her grief she was already thinking ahead.
Chrissy had to work today so we dropped her off because the snow is back and her car is still buried deep. My glasses were ready so we had no choice but to head to the insanity of the mall to pick them up.
WOW...can I ever see clearly. It did not take me much time to adjust to the progressive lenses and since I do so much reading it was wonderful to be able to read so well. It did cost a fortune. I am back to the eye specialist in February for more testing on my early signs of glaucoma due to abnormally high ocular pressure....however, its a good thing that the optometrist caught on early enough for maybe something to be done about it.
We had T & T boxed lunch this afternoon which was a nice change from the turkey and the other seasonal type of food. Caiti has to go home to Kelowna tomorrow as her work schedule beckons. A few more days off for me but just not motivated to get much done. My thoughts with Sharon at the moment...and hopefully something I can do for her...although I have not seen her or spoken to her in such a long time as she spent every possible moment the past few months with her mum in the hospital. Dinner...hmmm...what shall we have tonight?

Merry Christmas

We made a change in tradition...cooked the turkey dinner yesterday...so today was a hassle-free day for me anyway. Time for us to make some changes. Being a very frugal year, Santa only had a few items in stockings and no presents under the tree for this year. We had leftover turkey for brunch and this afternoon spent it at the movies...we all love the movies so it was a perfect family activity and we usually always do a Christmas movie but this time on Christmas day...it worked like a charm. We went to see Marley and Me...I loved the book by John Grogan. We enjoyed it because we are a dog family and we love our dogs. There was not a dry eye amongst us...more than anything this movie was about life and how life happens whether you have a "plan" or not and you never know what unexpected things occur but you always have the love of your dogs and your family.

So now we are home settling in a for a quiet night at home...having chicken wings and caesars and chocolates.

Christmas Vacation

It is still snowing...Christmas is a very quiet time at the community centre as everyone is spending time with family so I am off now until Dec 31 when I go back for our New Year's Eve bash counting down to Athens time. It is still snowing this Christmas Eve. James drove back to Kelowna only to find out his flight was cancelled and so he is enroute on his way back down hoping to catch his connecting flight back to Ottawa for Christmas.

We went to Helga's last night as we have done for the past 10 years this time on Dec 23 as she is off to White Rock with her Grandkids for Christmas Eve. Dave brought me my "blue" drink in my pineapple as tradition dictates.
Thank goodness Kari is home for Christmas...just got word this morning...so her ordeal in hospital and her cruise vacation cut short, at least she she home now welcomed by the snowy weather.
Planning to cook my turkey tonight as opposed to tomorrow so that we can do nothing tomorrow! We had plan to go see Marley & Me since its opens tomorrow switching our traditional Christmas Eve movie to Christmas Day hence the switch in dinner plans.

Snowy Sunday afternoon

Yes..it is begining to look alot like Christmas! Snow is falling and its so pretty and I simply love the snow! Caiti and James surprised us by coming home a day earlier. I was at the festive line dance at work and did the entire event on my own which was busy busy! Tonight a whole crew will be coming over...we have a prime rib roast to celebrate Sheldon's birthday. I have sort of tidied the house somewhat but in such a small space and so many people for Christmas its a little challenging to have it perfect!!

Santa photos for the woggies

Here's Speedo, Sheba and Ben having their photo with Santa at Christina's work. It was quite a challenge getting all three to cooperate but they did it. Hopefully the photos from the actual photographer will look better than my quick stolen attempt.

They are such a funny bunch of doggies and they have taken over the whole house and we are quite the doghouse!
For years we wanted to have a dog and we waited until we moved out of the condo so that we could and within 5 years we ended up with 3 of them. They are the best pets and they provide so much love and though they can be a lot of work and sometimes they restrict our freedom to go places but they are part of the family.

The freeze

We were supposed to get snow yesterday but there were just a few flakes and nothing really stuck except on the local mountains that look beautiful. I love the chill in the air as there is something very fresh and crisp but when you have blowing winds as well...its maybe a little too cold for words. We took the dogs to the off-leash and in less than half and hour we were pretty frozen. Well...its two weeks to Christmas and we are still in our holding pattern with no plans to do much except keeping things simple. Chrissy is having a difficult time with a very loopy store manager who is behaving badly towards all the staff at the store so she is contemplating looking for a new job elsewhere. She still has the choice of going to Douglas in Jan but more and more she is looking to take advantage of the free upgrades to better marks. She is taking Biology 12 again to improve the grade she graduated with and thinks she will take chemisty and the difficult math as well because she is leaning towards a career in the medical sciences area like Caiti. The time off from school has been a great thoughtful process and I would tell other parents that taking the time to contemplate and make choices after high school is not a bad idea if they don't really know what career path to take. With the cost of education so high, it is a wise move so parents don't need to feel that post-secondary is totally out of the picture should the decision to take some time off be considered.
Caiti wrote her last exam but will work as much as she can before she heads home next week for Christmas and then back to work after Boxing Day.
Work has been a little stressful with some very tense times with the situation at hand. I do not envy Helga having to deal with things. My anniversary of moving down to Glen Pine is also coming up on Dec 24...how this entire year has flown by.

Mammogram madness

Every year for the past 4 years or so, Joanne books an annual mammogram appointment for us...me and Lori. She tries to bribe us with a sushi lunch after. So today was the day we all went to the screening clinic and one by one we got our mammaries squished and tortured through the machine. Discomfort and pain is only temporary and its all for good so we should actual thank Joanne for keeping us "abreast" of our health. We didn't have a great deal of time to spend on lunch but still it was a nice perk!
It is December, already hitting mid-December and still nothing to celebrate as yet for Darcy ...it would be the best Christmas gift ever to be back on track but who knows. It will be a very quiet time for us...no conspicuous consumption, no splurges and festive frenzy. With the economic downturn, everyone is cutting back I would think.
So...a few special events at work and then time off to relax at home and do nothing. Caiti should be home on the 21st and at least we will all be together for a week or so. The Christmas lights are up outside and we still are in debate mode about a tree...we shall see.

My 45th birthday

Well, here it is my birthday!...I love facebook and all the messages that I got...that is exciting to see who cares enough to send along birthday wishes!

What did I do...well, Darcy had an interview downtown so I tagged along and while he was in his meeting, I walked around the area, went to the Winners, to Pacific Centre and then sat in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver to wait for him a little while. Took a picture of the 2010 countdown clock and the lobby of the hotel.
On the way home we stopped at Fujiya for their awesome but cheap sushi rolls as a snack. Went to Costco to buy a hunk of beef so that I could make my own roast beef dinner and mashed potatoes.

Shannon stopped by with a spa gift...imagine me being pampered like that? Not likely but what the heck, might be incentive so thats a good thing...bust as always the best part is that bit of Purdy's chocolates because it would NOT be a birthday without the chocolate so I am glad that Shannon had it in with the card!
Anyway...birthday wishes and all...I hope for a much better year...and it also has to be back to counting WW points...tomorrow!!!!
Now the christmas lights are also allowed to come on because it is a month to Christmas Eve...I hope that we get some good news so that it will not be such a bleak holiday season. We will still continue with our frugal budget but that has been good for us.

Day before my birthday

Today I actually slept in until 8 a.m. Spent the morning just lounging around. Chrissy went to see Alicia so called in to start work a bit later.
Rene invited us over for a Grey Cup/Pre-birthday party which was really nice of her. Terry had some people from his office and their wives over. It was nice to be invited out. Rene got me lots of Smirnoff ice. Darcy had fun playing snooker. Their new house is quite lovely and great for entertaining. There was a ton of appetizers, and lasagna, salads for dinner. As always, are a little too much so am now feeling quite bloated. Helga called to see if we would stop by for wine on the way home but Darcy didn't feel like it and I was quite agreeable to going home and changing into jammies and watching TV. It was nice of Rene to invite us and to want to do something for my birthday.

My birthday weekend

It is my birthday on Monday...my 45th...thank goodness...out of the double 4's, 4 being really bad number in chinese so I am hoping that things will start to look up for me, please!!!

So far...went to an afterwork social...Heather and Helga each bought me a drink and I won a plant as a door prize. Today...well, Kari stopped by with a little Lilac quilt she had made for me.

Photo included. Then we drove Chrissy and Sheldon downtown as Chrissy had an appointment with Jon's new girlfriend at the Axis Hair Salon on West Pender. We went to Macfalafel near Dunbar for a lamb donair and then we came home. My sister Jocelyn called long distance and it was nice to have a laugh with her as she was heading out to lunch with mum and dad and Dennis' parents. Now...I am going to have popcorn and play games on Facebook...such excitement...not!!!

Municipal Elections

Another election under our belt. Yesterday I was up at 6:00 a.m. and got myself ready for another full day working as an election official for the Coquitlam municipal vote. I was assigned to Mountain View Elementary school on Smith Avenue. Polls opened at 8:00 a.m. Coquitlam was very innovative...we had laptops and a central database for the Voters List and those who brought their Election cards, we had a hand-held scanner to beep. The ballot was marked like a scantron exam and fed through the machine for an automatic count. When the polls closed, it was my job to run the memory card and the results tape over to city hall. There was already a crowd gathered at the main council chambers to watch the results come in. Lorraine and I stayed for a while. Looks like we have Richard Stewart, a new mayor at the helm...new "boss" for us at City Hall.
I was exhausted but Darcy had packed me cut up barbecued steak, mashed potatoes and steamed brocolli to eat enroute to city hall so I wasn't starved to death when I got home. It is such a long day and fine when its busy with voters but so boring when there is a lull. I brought a book to read but didn't even crack it open.
Today was a home day. Chrissy was at work by 9:30 a.m. We took all 3 dogs to Barnet Marine park and we even let Ben-Ben off-leash and all he did was chase after Speedo like a maniac. We then went to home depot to find a replacement part for the garburator under the kitchen sink that was leaking, and then we stopped at Costco for a few things. We shared a hot dog and a slice of pizza.
Doing bedding laundry and the dogs are all snoring away from their play time and walk. Darcy is fixing the kitchen sink and Chrissy doesn't get off until 6:00 p.m but she is going to Sheldon's for dinner as his gramma is visiting....so a quiet evening for us. I have tomorrow off from work so its a 2 day weekend but tomorrow I think I will try and do some housework and look to see what I can do to help Darcy out of his depressed state.

Remembrance Day

November 11...we have always gone to the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Port Moody cenotaph, Even the year I had sprained my ankle really badly, so we went early so we could park as close as possible. Always fitting that it is usually rainy, wet, cold just like those trenches. For years and years we were in the parade with Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders and cadets. Uniforms have changed but the spirit has not. We met up with Sharon at Starbucks and later in the crowds found Tino and other friends...thats the small town thing about Port Moody. Just before 11am we got a text from Caiti askingus if we were there as she was at a ceremony in Kelowna asking us to tell Kirky, Danie and Meghan (girl guide mentor) that she was there with them in spirit. The pipeband played, the parade took place, the bagpipes and the canons, and the 2 minutes of silence...all the traditions of Remembrance Day played out. Chrissy had to open up the store so she was at work.
We are home now warming up and contemplating going to see Passchendale at the movies.
Speedo had his 5th birthday this week, and he didn't get to go to Buntzen as we were not feeling well to take him. Helga came home from Germany yesterday so there was lots to debrief. From now until my birthday and Christmas, time flies by and I have a lot of time off that is owing to me. Darcy is still plugging on and nothing has panned out as yet that suits him.
So, here's to the men and women in the past, the present and the future who have put their lives in jeopardy for our freedom. Here is also to the change in the USA with Barack Obama leading the way, and while expectations are so great for him, I believe he has the tenacity to make some momentous decisions for the better if only others will remember that it will take more than one term to see things transform.
Sometimes when we are so focused on our own tribulations we forget to recognize the global view.

November

What a crazy turmoil of a week...I have never felt so burdened and stressed by the amount of work and demands made upon me for a long time until this week! It's a rainy Sunday and I am very tired!
This week was Halloween...at Wings, at work and then on Friday giving out treats to all the kids in the neighbourhood. Chrissy was at work and Caiti came down (had to be picked up at 4am at the Greyhound Bus depot) for a party at UBC with Danie and Kirky. Friday was a particularly long day for me as we hosted a United Way Halloween Party for all city staff so I was at work at 6 am. We catered the breakfast so it was a lot of running around. I wore flannel PJs to work...
I gave out candy but that was pretty much all I could handle on Friday night for Halloween.
Yesterday, we went to a Celebration of Life for our friend Brett at the Alderson school gym. It was a great tribute to a much loved person. It was nice to see so many familiar faces from the old PMA crew and catch up on old news. 2010 will be PMA's 40th anniversary we were talked about what sort of party we would have for that celebration. There was a eulogy from Brett's long time best friend, tables full of memorabilia for all stages of his life, a powerpoint of photos, a live performance of "Here comes the sun" and we listened to a piece of melodious music from Star Trek of which Brett was a fan of. We all brought "deck food" so there was lots to eat and his mates brought all Pepsi products from his work before he left due to his illness. After this, we went to the John B pub with Caiti, Rene and Terry to catch up on other news.
When we got home I had to get a roast beef dinner on as Chrissy would be home after work with Sheldon and Jon for their Rockband party...Tulsi even came by so it was pretty rowdy over here last night. The roast beef dinner was awesome but I was too tired to really savour it.
Now its Sunday, and we are home...too wet to take down the Halloween decorations, another week ahead, the last week before Helga gets home from Germany.

This week...

This week a very courageous man, a good friend Brett Davies finally lost his battle with cancer. We met Brett 15 plus years ago when we decided to join the Port Moody Aquarians Swim Club. Brett and his wife Colleen and their children Meghan and Evan were already a part of that family. Brett was a stroke official and he was part of Darcy's mentoring team. Brett used to work for Pepsi and so we seem to always have lots of pop on deck in the early days.
Brett made sure he lived his life to the fullest. Despite aggressive treatment, he weathered it all with a sense of humour. He would write newsy emails on how he was doing and what he was doing and he made sure he made the most with trips and adventures right up to the end. I had the pleasure of having Brett and Colleen become members at Glen Pine. I was glad to see him in the last little while still trying to be active even with his scooter and his oxygen tank in tow. I knew things were changing when Colleen called to say that Brett was not going to make it to the Book Club to do is presentation on the book they were reading. I am glad that I got to spend some time talking to him when he came to visit the centre. Meghan says they will plan a Celebration of Life which is what he would have wanted instead of a funeral service.
Helga also left for Germany a week before her planned trip as she got a call that her mum was in the hospital and possibly on her death bed too. This left her scrambling to catch a flight which she did on Wednesday afternoon. Her mum is 85, stricken with Alzheimers and really has seen her quality of life steadily decline in the last little while. For Helga, her passing would be very sad but a little relief from the worry of being so far away. I have not heard an update since Thursday.

This leaves me acting for Helga at work so on top of my own work I am doing hers too. Unfortunately this decision was made with no choice for me but to take on the role leaving Karen feeling a little upset that this stint was not shared between us as it was last time that Helga was away. I hope Karen does understand that this decision was made with the support of management and HR and not Helga alone...she has had a little rough time at work and her issues dog her but this has to be her test and her awakening to continue to make changes that will positive affect her work life. Anyway, its a very busy time for me between work, wings and home. Darcy has an interview on Thursday that we pray will work out for us...if not...back to the drawing board once more.
I was debating about Halloween decorations or not, but finally decided that I would for the little kiddies and because its what we have always done. So while it was not raining, I got the lights and the decorations out.
Plus Caiti is coming home next weekend so she will be happy that life at home is the same. Chrissy has been working steadily her 35+ hours a week and taking on an online/correspondence course in Biology to prep herself for a comeback to school when the time comes around.
The dogs are all good...all 3 of them. Sometimes I wish we only had just one but they are all good dogs with their own personalities.

Thanksgiving Weekend

This was one of the strangest Thanksgiving weekends I have had.
On Thursday we had a Thanksgiving Themed Lunch at Glen Pine with entertainment to follow. It was very well attended and the singing after enjoyed by all....it was oldies that the seniors love and grew up with.
Darcy had testing at HR on Friday morning so I went to work for half the day because on Monday I worked a 12 hour day. So on the way home, we decided to buy a smaller turkey and have a mini-turkey dinner that would be ready when Chrissy got home from work. On Saturday, we lounged around the house and later in the afternoon went out for some errands and to get the ingredients for the infamous Cheesecake that Darcy was bringing to Connie's on Sunday.
On Sunday, we did absolutely nothing until we had to leave for Connie's around 5pm. Madga's parents were invited and Chrissy and Sheldon joined us after she was done work but still in time for Thanksgiving dinner. So today is another day off to read up the DRO manual for tomorrow's long day working for Elections Canada. Took my EDO day to work. Darcy is also doing a poll and as always Sharon is our supervisor over at Seaview. It will be like a 15 hour day so we need to pack food and be prepared for it. I always enjoy this stint as there is something good about exercising this democratic right and enabling others to make the vote.
Caiti is not home and Chrissy worked Sunday and today so it was not like any Thanksgiving past. It has been difficult to think of things to be thankful for at this time because everything seems to have been such a challenge so far. I just want things to get back to normal and me not having to feel like I am bearing the burden of everything. Chrissy bought the dogs a special Thanksgiving in a can din-din and they never get that sort of food ever but they if anything have enjoyed Darcy being around for them much more than usual.
Anyway...it is rainy today and thats ok with me. I have indoor things to do.

Quiet few hours

Well...Caiti is on the road to Kelowna, Chrissy is at work...Darcy is doing his stint at Elections Canada...and I am catching up with the laundry. We had a really fun evening out over at Shannon's and Cal for dinner and then to play cutthroat chicken foot...ok, it wasn't that cutthroat but it could be if we were very competitive. It was nice to have something to do besides lying on the couch feeling exhausted and zombie-like.
This morning was a little dramatic. Sheldon and Jon came by as Sheldon left his dress shoes in Chrissy's car which was parked blocking Darcy...they took off with her keys so she could not move her car to let us out or to get herself to work. We were supposed to drive out to UBC to pick up Caiti who was out there partying and celebrating Danies' 21st birthday. Luckily...Caiti left her car keys in her room. So off we went to pick her up, then to Canada Place to pick up keys from Sheldon and Jon from the Cruise Ship Terminals. Chrissy ended up taking the bus to work. Now I have a few hours of quiet time...to do laundry.
This week ahead is pretty busy again. My eyes are a little wonky so I must try and make an appointment to see the optometrist. We also have dentist appointments on Saturday and we need to look into some bridgework for me too. Just falling apart a little with the stress and working the 2 jobs back to back...3 nights a week is a little too hard on this aging person.

So glad its Friday!

I have had a cold and cough for over a week and its been dragging to ny dismay. Working 2 jobs back to back is so exhausting but got to do it until we are back on our feet again. Caiti is home for a visit...came in late Wednesday and leaves on Sunday morning. It is nice to have her home. The weather seems to be making the change to Fall now that our little summer spell is over. Well...the trees are turning red, orange and yellow!!
Anyway...let me het through today and then try and regroup over the weekend!!!

September is sunny!

We are having a comeback summer...usually happens in September. So, what a crazy busy week. The most fun was the line-dancing Luau. Joanne and I decorated and May did a good job with the fruit punch and fruit platter. She even pulled out bread and a spinach-artichoke dip. 50 + dancers in the Great Room. The local paper was out so I am excited about seeing the article when it comes out. It was a short week because of the stat on Monday but it did not seem like it.
On Saturday I went out to dinner with Kari and then we went to see Mamma Mia. I completely enjoyed that movie. It was uplifting and fun...even though Pierce is great to look at but he sure can't sing...I would go and see this movie again.
Plus Kari gave me some assorted shoes that I was thrilled with seeing how the budget is so tight at the moment that it was really a nice treat.
This evening we went to Red Robinson for an Al Green Concert...it was pretty good. Sharon and Tino came along as did Connie and Dave plus Helga, Roy, Tom and Starr. He was pretty soulful and it was a short concert but great sound as always!
So another week begins....and it looks like it will be pretty hectic because Wings starts up on Tuesday evening...and here I go again working 3 nights a week,

Labour Day!

Another long weekend has come and gone...once again no idea where it all went. On Thursday evening we had a great little BBQ party at Helga's...a staff summer wrap-up. It was very nice being invited out somewhere. Friday was my EDO day so I went with Darcy down to the CGA office to drop off his transcript to see where he stacks up should he return to school. On Saturday, we did some errands and just hung around the house. On Sunday, we took the dogs for a walk down at the Barnet Marine Park...once again totally do nothing but watch TV and cooking some nice meals together. Chrissy worked on Sunday and today. We stopped off to see her at work to buy dog food and then took all 3 dogs for a walk on the PoCo dykes. Did a ton of laundry and now its back to work tomorrow. We did speak to Caiti on the phone as she settles into her new room and board and 3rd year all lined up for her. Chrissy is going to take this semester off to work and to just relax a little since school was very stressful for her, she decided that not rushing back into that environment would make more sense for her. Already she has been making some positive adjustments to being done with high school and moving onto real life. Her little scholarship money can wait until she registers for a course down the line. It would even be OK if she took the whole year off as long as she gets back to things on her own time.
Anyway...so no back to school shopping...no crazy schedules...freedom from that at last. Most exciting, John and Tracy welcomed a little Chelsea Anne Geary...finally a girl to their clan so the first of friends to have grandkids! The baby pics were very sweet.
I am glad it will be a short week...but then its also been crazy wings work and that starts up on the 9th!

A week plus of solitude

I have spent a week pretty much on my own. Off to work early in the morning and home in the evening to spend it watching the Olympics. Darcy is in Trail for the BCSSA Provincials and I chose not to go this year because it is in Trail and I didn't want to go to the Lake either. So...I have worked on my new hand-quilting project which I must take in every Friday to show the Quilting ladies...read a book and watched a lot of Olympics...too much almost. Played Scrabble on Facebook, worked on Wings registration...thats about it.
Anyway...thunder storm and rain today but still extremely warm and humid. The summer is just about over and I really have not done anything significant or fun except go to work daily.

Love the Olympics!

I must confess I could not sleep so I was up at 4:30 a.m and watched the opening ceremonies live; but sort of snoozed a little. However, got to work early to find our entire system was down so we had no choice but to watch TV in the Hub. What a spectacle...such artisty and synchronicity. It would be tough to match this event. Nothing was held back in the magnitude and the scope of this celebration. I like to watch the Malaysian team come in, songkok's and golden national dress and sarongs. I have always been an Olympics junkie and just enjoy all the events. We might have thought once we would be sharing in this experience but there's nothing wrong in supporting a dream once upon a time. I plan to watch as much as I can. At work I created an Olympic spirit promotion to get our members excited about the whole universal and multicultural aspect of the games...we have a large world map with flag pins to mark birth places, a poll about favourite sports to watch and a medal count contest. I even had an Olympics venue bus trip to Whistler take place today.
Anyway...wanted to make sure that I posted on this auspicious day.

BC Day long weekend and Regionals

It does not feel like I had 4 days off. On Friday I was doing Wings registration work, and then we went over to Spani for set up for the weekend. Weather wasn't that great so on the first day of regionals it was a little chilly and wet. However, the weather cleared up by the afternoon and all was good. I spent the entire weekend in the office as the asst. Chief Meet Recorder for Nicole. From the moment I arrived at 6:45 am to when we left around 8:30 p.m both days it was extremely busy. For the most part, everything went really quite well. All swimmers swam their best and were awarded accordingly for Bs as well as Provincial Qualifiers. Chrissy even stopped by to make sure none of her still-standing meet records were broken. If only my left hip was not still so sore and even the pain-killers were not really effective. We only had the one unhappiness about the B awards on Saturday but we fixed that immediately. On Sunday, it was extremely sunny and quite warm. Anyway, its all wrapped up for another year and next year is supposedly our last year doing this meet and then we are officially retired (I think).
It was also our 23rd wedding anniversary on Aug 3...no we didn't celebrate but we did a very bad thing and bought a huge bucket of KFC chicken as we were too tired to cook or eat healthy. That is so awful...to eat all that fried chicken and then felt so gross after...Today we can't do much until all the entries are entered for Provincials. Already we are having some issues since the file give to us was corrupted and Rosemary and Frank are not in the office.
Anyway, time to get some laundry done and figure out where to start to tidy up the mess of a house that we have.

Cait's quick visit home

Friday evening, Caiti arrives home around for a short little visit to make sure she has some time off since she is doing her practicum at Kelowna General Hospital as well as taking as many shifts as she can at Hawthorne. So Friday we had a houseful for dinner with Chrissy after work and Sheldon and Jon. The kids left for the night market after dinner so we had a quiet friday night.

On Saturday, Darcy, Caiti and I were up early to stop by the Barracudas swim meet at Central Park, They were going cardless...it was such a tiny tiny meet. As Darcy was running around doing business, Caiti and I ended up place judging for a while. We left and drove down to the farms on Marine drive for fresh veggies, then to Kirin at the new Starlight Casino for dim sum. $26.00 for the 3 of us to have such a lovely breakfast.
Darcy dropped me off at Sharon's at 11:30 a.m as she was hosting a special luncheon for the seniors who volunteer at Dogwood who have helped her out for the last 10 weeks. Wow! It was like a gourmet feast out of Bon Apetit magazine. It was just an incredible spread of summer fresh food from pasta to salads and roasted vegetables and apricot cheesecake. She also made pitchers of the most delicious sangria. I have not seen everyone in ages so it was so much fun chatting with all the ladies...they are a fun bunch of old gals! They brought Sharon some beautiful flower arrangements from their own gardens.
We were going to the fireworks but my back was killing me and it caused a great pain all down my side to my foot so I decided to bail. We ended up having a light supper withy Caiti, Chrissy had a temper tantrum and went to the fireworks anyway. We watched a couple of movies we had taped on the PVR...so easy to get back-logged with stuff to watch.
This morning, I was first up and made a pot of lamb curry for Caiti to take home. We decided to go for a later lunch at the re-opened Moderne Burger Diner down in Kits...love that place...awesome diner decor and great milkshakes. First we stopped at Metrotown as Caiti wanted to use an Old Navy gift card. When we got there, I realized I had no wallet...thank goodness for a daughter who could pay for things! I wasn't sure if it had dropped out when I was locking the door so we went all the way home...but I guess I had left it out on the chair in the dining room. Well, we headed back out then again for our burger lunch. We were so stuffed and full. So we got home and were going to laze around when Caiti got a call got work and so decided to get on the road back to Kelowna.

We like it when she comes home...when we were at London Drugs getting allergy stuff and creams she was so knowledgeable on the products.
Anyway, another weekend gone. Short week ahead for me as I have an EDO day on friday before the long weekend and its also Regionals so helping Darcy with that meet for the weekend coming up.
The flowers above was one of the arrangements made for Sharon.
If I was wealthy I would have fresh flowers in every room that I owned including bathrooms!

A weekend of nothing

This was a very quiet weekend with not much happening. We didn't have any plans at all. On Saturday, Darcy and I just ran errands. Went to the farm on Marine drive and had the best fresh peas. We picked up groceries and just did nothing too exciting. Darcy made strawberry margaritas from scratch and it was really good but there was just the two of us at home. We watched "Becoming Jane" and that was our Saturday. Today, we stayed home catching up on laundry. Terry and Rene stopped by to sign cheques needed to pay for the pool rentals for regionals and we sat outside on the patio for a little while. Sometimes its nice to have a nothing weekend but it would be nice to not feel so isolated.
Caiti is a little stressed out. She started her practicum but hates her living arrangements at the moment because Al (James friend who owns the place) is being really mean and...so she has given her own notice and is looking for a place to live on her own.

Shark Weekend

Sometimes I have no idea how a weekend comes and goes. However, it was a good weekend as the weather was nice. On Saturday we sauntered over to Spani pool just to visit a swim meet hosted by the Coquitlam Sharks...it was a very small sprint meet. After that we went down to buy a pie from Uprising breads to take over to Shannon and Cal's since impromptu texting on the Friday night resulted in an impromptu BBQ. It was such a pleasant evening to sit outside for a very casual hamburger meal...couple of glasses of wine and a couple of fireballs too. It certainly beat lying on the couch for another quiet evening of nothing. There was a message from Tricia asking Darcy if he would not mind doing an official start of the aquathlon and hand out the special landyards to the littles swimmers/runners. It was actual a great idea and I had fun at the finish line yelling out the numbers as the athletes came across the line to the recorders.
We came home and I lounged on the couch watching TV...we watched mindless Miss Universe contest and that was another weekend come and gone. We are having a really late dinner tonight as we watch the Blue man band on HDnet that Darcy had recorded. July is now almost half over too....wow...So this week we did go see another movie "Wanted" with Angelina Jolie, James MacAvoy and Morgan Freeman. It was action-packed and interesting. I really want to go and see "Mamma Mia" next weekend!!! I just have one more of those cineplex passes so that has helped us with some entertainment.

Jewel- Solo and Acoustic at Red Robinson

My contact at the Red Robinson Theatre came through...tickets for tonight's Jewel concert. There are no bad seats at this theatre and the value of the tickets I got were over $70.00 each. I gave away 30 tickets. Even the seniors who went raved about it and said they loved it. Red Robinson, the man himself, came out to do an introduction on her and how pleased he was to have her sing in his theatre. Love this man and his familiar voice as he is a legend himself. It was phenomenal...she sang with just her guitars or with no music at all. Opening with "Somewhere over the rainbow". It was very personal and intimate. There was no band, there was just a pretty background, a carpet with a side table with a large vase of beautiful flowers. She stood the entire 2 hour concert with just a simple spotlight on her and her guitar and her flowers. She was very entertaining and told very funny stories about her life and how she lived such a very tough life and how her lyrics and her songs got her through. The range in her voice is incredible and for fun she demonstrated her yodelling skills which is not easy but she made it seem so. She sang all her key songs...albeit being live she changed the tempo and the style but no matter what she gave an amazing live performance...the sort of concert worth every penny. I would have paid for this but luckily it came with no price. I love her song "Hands" and it was poignant her telling how the song was used after the 9-11 attack, and how it made her feel. I also love "Song of Freedom", "Foolish Games" and "You were meant for me"...There's no doubt that she is a poetic and a highly thoughtful artist, and has fought through poverty and hardship to be able to relate her feelings and emotion through her music. This was a totally satisfying evening for me.

Mrs. Bishop's Retirement Party

Mrs. Bishop is on the left... with Mrs. Stanley and Mrs. Santone.

15 years ago, Caiti started Kindergarten at College Park and here new teacher was Mrs. Bishop. She was a little older starting out in her career having gone through a divorce and was up for a new challenge...taking on these little kids all ready to learn. Caiti adored Mrs. B and she loved the Summer Memories Project they did the first week they started school. It was an extremely great year for Caiti as she learned how to read and write and such a solid foundation.

Now Christina had Mrs. Bishop for 2 years, Kindergarten and Grade 1 as she was in a split class. Only Mrs. B had the patience for a very social and very difficult learner like Chrissy. Charlotte Diamond and Raffi songs was what carried her along in these two years.

These old photos were the little faces that she knew. Anyway, a very nice retirement party was hosted for her at the Easthill Complex party room. It was an open house with everyone bringing food and also a page for her Retirement Advice Book where all her former students could fill out a sheet updating her on old they are now and what they are doing. I hope that there were many pages for those really old students...her first students.

I didn't stay too long as it was very humid and many others wanted to have a chance to wish her well. There were only a handful of the familiar faces and a great many younger parents from more recent years.

Teachers are very important and for Caiti is was Mrs. B and Ms. Creelman. For Chrissy...it is Mrs. B all the way.
Today was a little humid and hazy as we got some drizzle over night but even though it was a short week it seemed like a normal one so thank goodness its Friday tomorrow. I need to really try and clear off this dining room table as it is so full of clutter that needs to be removed.

Happy Canada Day!

I actually had 4 days off and here it is all gone and really have nothing to show for it. My neck and ridge along the shoulder has been killing me and I was hoping that the pain would have gone away by the time I was heading back to work tomorrow.

So...happy canada day 2008. We drove by the Golden Spike Days down at Rocky Point and didn't even venture much farther than a drive by.

Well the summer heat came this weekend...just in time for the Golden Spike swim meet. Darcy and I were there for both days...Darcy as the Meet Referee and me as the Chief Meet Recorder although it was meant to be more in a training capacity. It was nice to be back on a very familiar pool deck. New pop-up tents instead of the large ones that were a pain to erect. Mike Wilson led the team cheer, and it is a very young Port Moody Aquarians club with only very young swimmers.
On Monday, Darcy and I went to watch Ironman to escape from the heat. He really wanted to see this movie so I went along because any movie on the big screen with air-conditioning is a lovely afternoon. Ate movie popcorn and drank pop...so much for my WW points.
And then today....spent the morning getting organized for my summer Wings workplan and getting an upgrade installed for the Clublink program. Went to Sears to exchange a few items and then home and an evening of quiet. Darcy has been working on de-cluttering and we are slowly cleaning up and getting ourselves a little less full of stuff. We really have too much junk and clutter and we just need to simplify our lives.
Anyway...the summer weather will stick around for a while and hopefully this summer will result in good things for us.

Last night at Wings

I am actually sitting in the lobby at Cameron, my Wings office, on the last night before the summer break. I have been wanting to retire from this part-time job (sometimes its almost full-time) for a while now but circumstances keeps on preventing me from doing so. Anyway...we changed our format for the year-end show having it over two evenings and it was a brilliant new format. Parents rotated clock-wise as their children moved from one station to the next with the usual "whoo -hoo" performances on the big floor in between rotations. Parents watched their children the entire evening and it was great. We did it twice on Tues and again on the Thurs but it worked. So on this last week, we do try-outs and assessments for next season and gymnasts say farewell to the coaches and friends at the gym for the summer. With the very long wait-lists we are doing registration earlier for the returning members. It is an Olympic year and you can bet that my phone will be ringing off the hook come August for potential olympians...but we may already be full...kids just don't leave the club and the siblings come and we have that endless waiting-list. I have a family that have been waiting for 2 years now but there is never space in the program they want or the age category. Those competitive gymnasts are so bonded and attached to the hip that the only way they retire is to become a coach. Such is Wings...a huge part of my life...sometimes a very tedious chore but maybe its just giving back to the community. So...there we go...on another note...Chrissy brought home a little rescue puppy. She has named it Benji and he is very cute but three dogs arrggh....the bunnies need to go...thats what has to happen. She picked up her final report card and I have to admit it was stellar for her...the lowest mark in her 4 courses was a 79% and the highest a 95%. She also received a letter that she has won the 2008 RH "Slim" & Margaret Davidson Award for education excellence...no idea how much this scholarship is worth but it is for going to school next year when she gets around to deciding what she plans to do...so it must be worth something.

Greek Day at Kits

Today's adventure on my transit pass was down to Greek Days in Kitsilano. We parked at the University/Production Way skytrain station, took the skytrain to Broadway, and then took the 99-B line down to Kits. Like all summer festivals there was the smell of food, loud music, bustling crowds and street vendors. Several city blocks on 4th Avenue was shut down for this event. We went for greek food at the Olympia Restaurant just outside the main stage so could see and hear all the entertainment.
We listened to Premier Gordon Campbell (in the pink shirt) and Mayor Sam Sullivan (guy in wheelchair) give their usual public speeches (see photo). It was a fun way to enjoy a summer day just the two of us and we will be doing this on Sundays with my transit pass. We took the bus back to Granville Station, and back on the skytrain.

Commencement 2008

It was ...thank goodness...a sunny day. It would have been awful for all those grads in the caps and gowns congregating on the Granville street entrance of the Orpheum Theatre to get drenched. We got there just before 6pm and the line-up had already stretched down the block but we still got the seats we wanted on the balcony where we sat for Caiti's commencement. Finally, this day came and is over! Chrissy fussed about the cap and gown. She did get her hair done again. I liked the speech by Iain Black, not too fussed about the rest and completely enjoyed the valedictorian address -the funny thing was the book he read out was the same book that Auntie Connie who also came this evening gave to Christina when she was first learning how to read. It was actually nice sitting up in the balcony and watching the grads go by, one at a time. There was really not much opportunity for photos after the event. We were all so starved so we headed to Tanpopo for late-night sushi. Ate too much and then it sat in the tummy all night.
Anyway, this marks the end of the public school system for us for now. Now we hope that real life will come into play and Chrissy will find her way to the best of her abilities. She frustrates us so much at times, we hope she does make some decisions and moves on ahead and forward on her own steam since does have some issues with this.

Lonestar Concert at Red Robinson

It's free ticket time again...got my email from Tracey Oake asking me if I could help unload tickets for Lonestar at Red Robinson around Noon today and by 2pm she had dropped them off to me at Glen Pine. Gave away all of them. Came home from work...we had steak for dinner and then off we went to the concert. Dogwood had also been given tickets so it was like a reunion there of all the members who still miss me so much! It was fun waving at everyone. The concert was pretty good...knew many of the songs. It was a little louder than I wished. It was over by 9:30 p.m. We walked through the casino but it has been a long week and so we headed home.

We have seen two free shows this week which was awesome!!! Now, in jammies waiting for Chrissy to get home. Today was the last day of school, and tomorrow is Commencement so once that is done then its all finished for us with children in the school system....thank goodness!!!!

Corteo -Cirque du soleil was awesome!

What an amazing evening on the opening, full dress rehearsal of Corteo...free tickets in seats that tomorrow someone would sit in the same seat paying $125. I have always wanted to go to a Cirque du soleil performance, and this was as close to the stage as anyone could be, and it was stunning. Darcy and I went with Chrissy, and her friends Rita and JJ. The music was wonderful, the acrobatics and gymnastics were breath-taking...a nice way to spend an evening.
I am so glad that we went and I switched work days with Karen so that I could go. I am looking at the website and my hunch was right...almost the entire cast have eastern european, russian-like names. It was so chilly but thank goodness inside the big top it was pretty warm.
The weather has really been cold and wet and does not feel like summer time at all. Just wanted to make note of a spectacular show.

Transit outing

I am on the transit pass program at work and on Sundays and holidays I can take one adult and up to 4 children on the bus, skytrain or seabus anyway on the Lower Mainland. We never tried to use it before but today Darcy and I did. We parked at the Holdom station and then off we went first we switched at Commercial to the Expo line and got off at Granville. Walked around and ate some pizza slices. Then we walked down to Canada Place and caught the seabus across the water to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver...see the photos from the seabus. We walked around the market and then we came back across back to Canada Place and on the skytrain to Stadium station where we walked over to Tinseltown to watch a movie called the Children Of Huang Shi with handsome Jonathan Rhys Meyer, Chow Yun Fatt, Michelle Yeoh and Radha Mitchell. We enjoyed the tale of dedication and based on a true story it was great. Then we took the skytrain back and took us all of 15 minutes to get back to our car at Holdom. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

It has been a rough few days for me. My sisters all called and I just found out that my dad never told my Mum about what had happened to the girls until a few days ago. All along I thought he had spoken to her and that her way of being supportive was to not speak of it now that the girls are moving ahead and holding up so well. Needless to say, it has quite emotionally draining. I do need to make a visit home and I would like to go but am afraid of the difficulties that will come about. My dad has pretty much isolated me from everything because of his inability to come to terms with the traumatic news. As my sister Joce said...everyone needs to move forward and let the past behind...of course easier said than done. I need to work out my passport and see when I can make this trip home. Life has not been easy for me...I know that!

Dr. Henry Jones

So...for 2 hours or so, Darcy and I escaped to the cool comfort of the theatre to watch the newest Indy Jones movie. Loved it...always the same story and the same outcome but still exciting and thrilling as it has always been. Loved the ending but know that there is obviously plans to carry on with this series with fresh blood in the wings. Harrison Ford is as grizzled as ever but still handsome in a rugged way.
This was a tough week to recover from last weekend. It was so busy at work that I felt like I was in overdrive all week. I did have yesterday off as my EDO and it just went by in a flash. Darcy and I went to the dykes out by Minnekhada for a walk with the dogs...then we came home and just lounged around all evening. Today, it was still really nice weather-wise so I was up with Speedo and we did our usual Glenayre loop for a wonderful 80 minute walk. I am glad I did since we went to the movies in the afternoon and I had movie popcorn. Tonight I am making a low-fat high fibre lean turkey chili. I had a good WI this week but am still disappointed to have only lost just over 6 pounds since we started our WW@work. Guess its better than nothing at all. Have to stay focused and stay on track. Next week, we have an invitation to Awards night at the school so not sure what Chrissy has accomplished but we are pleased anyway whatever it may be. Then I got dress rehearsal tickets for Cirque de soleil that I would like to go to. Darcy is still waiting for some news so we wait with bated breath. It is now June...we went on Wednesday to assist with the PMA Time Trials and I did the office, well some semblance of office with Andrea and Joni which was fun because we got it a great visit! It is the Coq. A/B meet and Darcy planned to drop in tomorrow just to say hello. It is now a few seasons since we had to be up at the crack of dawn for warm-ups and all that...can't say I miss that too too much but still we will stop by and smell the chlorine a little!

Grad weekend is over!

And thank goodness for that...it has been nothing but craziness of the dress, the shoes, the hair, the make-up etc...but it all culminated in a beautiful sunny day for a very busy itinerary ending in the early hours of this morning. Caiti and Jon were wonderful supporters. The day started with Chrissy having appointments that caiti and i tagged along to so we could do her other errands. She had to be at sammy's house to get dressed by 1:30 p.m. with Sammy, Laina, and Rita. Caiti was so good in doing up the new lacing on the back which actually worked out better than the original in my opinion. The dress was spectacular and very beautiful in every way. Luis came with flower corsages and dressed matchingly.

It was a chance to take lots of photos and for the grads to meet up before they headed downtown to the Renaissance Hotel for their banquet. We went to Queen Elizabeth Park and took more photos and then to the hotel as well. Then we took Jon and Caiti for sushi before we headed home for a quick rest before we were back at the school for the after grad event. I think my area worked really well with my new idea of checking the kids in and it was quick and smooth unlike the first year I was placed in that area for caiti's grad with the one table. After 2am I was assigned to the Prizes area as I also did a ton of work helping Sharon out, and at the end of it all...it was done at 5am with clean-up to follow. The only drawback, hardly any fresh help and many of us where past exhaustion at the end of it all at 6:30 a.m I had to pack my self off.
Slept until 10:00 as best as I could but Caiti was planning on driving back to Kelowna so she could sleep again before her night shift. She has since arrive home so we are glad she was safe. We took Chrissy out to a new for us malaysian restaurant called Tamarind Hill in New West for lunch as she is not going camping...already she has had text messages from friends about kids being so drunk they were already barfing so she wants to stay away from it all and I am very glad for this decision. As much as I want her to fit in socially...this is one advenure I don't mind her missing out on. So this was grad weekend...expensive and pricey but worth it for memories I hope and thank goodness for digital photos!!! Darcy took over 200, I did 150 and Chrissy had her camera too. Posted some on facebook for family and friends to view a sampling.

Countdown to Graduation

Caiti surprised up by coming home Thursday night...she hopped into her car after work and drove in and showed up at Wings to our delight! She has been such a wonderful help as we prepare for tomorrow's big day for Chrissy. Already today was a whirlwind of exhaustion. I did go to work until 1:00 pm. The girls at work bought Christina a bouquet of roses to match her dress with a lovely card signed by everyone. Chrissy already got her nails done on Tuesday, so this afternoon it was for a pedicure as she is wearing a pair of very blingy sandals. Darcy picked up the dress and altered so it now fits perfectly...so we hope and pray. Tomorrow morning it will be hair and make-up and then over to her friends where they all plan to get dressed together and such. Luis is making his appearance to this event so we hope that there will be no drama and that it all works out. Chrissy has been a little cranky but out of stress and the fact that her car in in the shop and has been for a couple of days. We would rather that it stayed in the shop so that it prevents dumb things from happening in vehicles.
Caiti and I was at the school from 4;30 p.m...hauled tables, did everything we could until my feet were also sore from all that running around. We left around 8 as I still had to buy poster board to write out all the list of prizes and make up some more certificates and such. The registration desk area is all set to go as I printed and laminated the signage at work this morning. It was good that everyone knew what we were working on and just came together. Darcy made a wonderful roast chicken and it was almost 10 by the time Caiti and I sat down to eat.
Now the girls have gone out with Jon and a few friends to Joey Tomatoes for Bellini's and some quiet time for us.
Tomorrow...part of me is looking forward it to being over....

Happy Birthday Queen Victoria!

Thank you for the beautiful sunny skies and the warmth although it was a little too hot yesterday but today it is perfect!
Started out the long weekend with a good 1.5 hour walk with Speedo first thing in the morning. Did my first College Park and Glenayre look for this first time in ages. Got home and Darcy was just getting out of bed. We went for lunch and some small Chinese Restaurant and it was so MSG-laden we were suffering all afternoon. Went to Uprising bread to get bread and then off to T & T for chinese groceries. For good karma we donated to the China earthquake fund.
This was going to be an extremely busy aftergrad workload day. I had made up the Grand Prize Draw tickets and all the numbers on labels for all the prizes that needed to be organized, wrapped and listed with values. I also sent to printing those little draw tickets that had to be cut up and that was the most tedious job ever. I brought home the skookum paper-cutter from work and that was a godsend. Anyway, Sharon was hosting a worker-bee for the prizes and this was the best opportunity to collate the full list that Nadine wanted me to send to Anne Fabbi this weekend for the gaming license to run the casino games.
Anyway...started at 5pm and did not quit until 11:00 p.m. Had a very quick dinner break as Darcy and Tino BBQed for everyone. It was intense and by the time all was cleaned up and we headed home by midnight. In value just over $17, 300 to give away and 116 little jars for the kids to stuff with those little tickets. I am glad its the last time I do this but already Andre has already asked me to help out when his turn comes.
This morning...was going to go for a walk but then we got side-tracked so I did my window-box gardening and Darcy is cleaning Walter and fixing for him to get sold..he needs to go...must go. Darcy invited Ryan and Robbie over for BBQ - chicken. Chrissy works at Bosleys a full day today but we really have not seen too much of her this past week.
Anyway...off to enjoy more of outside...glad we still have tomorrow off as I haven't tackled laundry yet for this week!!!

Mummy's day...

Not! Still did laundry and attempted to tidy up. Caiti called from long-distance from Kelowna first thing in the morning...I can always trust her to remember. It was nice to hear all her news and that she has been working several shifts a week so has her rent and food covered easily enough. Chrissy stayed over at Rita's so didn't see her until later in the morning...was supposed to be at work at Bosley's but they called to cancel her shift due to the fact they were closing earlier for Mother's Day and weren't that busy.
I did go for a nice walk for an hour on my own...the entire College Park loop which was good seeing how I have done poorly eating this past 3-4 days...
I had to drop off the Walking program kits to Dogwood and then we drove out to spend the afternoon at Terry and Rene's new home in Maple Ridge...what a lovely spacious home. The finished the renovations so it looks fabulous and even had an interior designer do all the colours and the decor and the furniture. The house is HUGE sort of like a Helga-type home. In the gigantic basement they bought a pool table with a bar area and all. HD Tvs on both floors and hardwood flooring through-out. The girls are still at the old townhouse and will move out when they succeed in selling the place. Once Darcy gets into his new career, we must start contemplating moving into some spaciousness where we can entertain but most of all eliminate all the clutter that we have accumulated. I had to attend that 3 hour workshop last week at City Hall...the time is now to get going on it. We had a nice visit knowing that we won't see too much of each other with this move but not that we did when they were in Coquitlam either.
Chrissy met up with us at the White Spot for dinner and such was my Mother's Day. We don't do gifts as both girls are on their own for alot of their expenses...I am content with a phone call or some time spent.

So glad its the weekend

It has been a crazy crazy week...but today is Move for Health Day and I was at work at 10am with Joanne to lead a group of seniors for our event - a stroll around nearby LaFarge lake...a walk that takes me at most 15 minutes took us 45 minutes. Those walkers just don't go as fast. It was pretty chilly and felt more like Fall than Spring but it did not rain so all was good.
Last night we had our first Pub Night and we feature that handsome Tony Prophet and the Mid-life crisis band...we bought tickets and I wasn't supposed to be officially working but Heather and I and Joanne could not help but do our share. The band was AWESOME...played all the music we could really dance to and we knew all the lyrics too as well...CCR, Beatles, Elvis, eagles, beach boys, Bob Seger etc...it was so much fun. Terry and Rene came out and responded to my invitation for a fun night out. Where can you have a bar serving cheap booze, a wonderful meal catered by our Food Services in a brand new banquet hall and dance dance dance. Poor Darcy couldn't get up and boogie because we had some clothing malfunction which required the use of duct tape on his rear end but it really should not have mattered. I had a great time...and here is a photo of me, Joanne, Heather and Helga (the Glen Pine crew partying away at work while we are off work -shows you how much we love being there!!!) I put together a baby boomer trivia quiz for each table to work on...there were prizes. Our next Pub Night will be Glen Pine Idol night!
So, today I went to Move for Health Day and we kicked-off our "Every step counts" Campaign as part of the whole Active Coquitlam initiative. In the afternoon, I had to go to the Burquitlam Funeral Home for Ruth Bull's celebration of life. Frank was pleased to see such a turn-out from all of us at leisure & parks as support. They had a whole life-time love story and she died just weeks away from their 64th wedding anniversary...there was an article in the local paper in February for Valentine's Day on how they met and how they stay so deeply in love...it was very touching and her loss will be so huge for him but he has his family surrounding him. It was suprising but there was no service, just a get together of friends and family just in the room beside the chapel.
After we went and got Chrissy's shoes and clutch for grad...don't want to mention the fiasco of the dress drama which hopefully be rectified this coming week...grr...so mad I cannot even begin to write about it. Put it this way, the dress manufacturer's messed up and sent the wrong size when measurements were correct and should have been loose as weight has been lost but it was 2 sizes too small! I really am looking forward to this being over...even the the whole aftergrad is bogging me down and perhaps I should have just sat back and let other parents step forward since I did my bit 2 years ago. The only good thing about Grad for Chrissy is being done with High School and on her way to other things (good I can only hope and pray).
Caiti is back in Kelowna...wonder if she will call or text tomorrow for Mother's Day.
Had a good weigh-in this week but yesterday and today were very poor eating days so I must get back on track better the rest of this week or else!!!!

A day off

Today I had to take my EDO ...work an extra 25 mins a day to get an extra day off a month. It was tough trying to sleep in so I was up working on Karen's website. We planned to go to Bellingham to pick up some books Darcy had ordered from Amazon to the mailbox. We stopped at a wonderful grocery store called Trader Joes and I really liked the food that was there...trendy and healthy-like. We only had a stop at Target for the best prices for my WW frozen food that I take for lunches. We stopped at the Jack-in-a-Box for lunch and I had a nice salad. We were home by 5:30 p.m. which was good since we only left at noon. Not having any extra money to do any shopping is rough but until things work out again we are sticking to our budget. Caiti is planning on going back to Kelowna tomorrow. Chrissy is all crazy-wrapped up in her stuff so we hardly see much of her. So tomorrow, we have to pick up Chrissy's grad dress and hopefully it will fit nicely without too much drama.

Another week ahead

Yesterday was a gorgeous day...Darcy, Caiti and I took the dogs for a 2 hour walk. This time we started at Minnekhada and walked all the way along the dykes. Sheba gets to go off-leash without too much worry about running away. It was sunny and warm and I got a little bit of a burn on the front of me. Caiti found out that the Eagle Ridge practicum is not panning out so she was almost all ready to head back to Kelowna today but James wasn't too thrilled since they have not quite figured out their summer accomodations so she is going to hang out at home a little longer until she actually gets called into work at Hawthorne.
Today it was rainy so we didn't got for a walk. We went to Crystal Mall and bought Chinese baked goodies and then came home for a quiet evening. Cait and Chrissy went to the movies with Jon and Jake which was nice for them. Chrissy worked a full day at Bosley's today and said that she would be working again tomorrow from 3-7pm. Another Sunday and its back to work again in the morning!

So glad its Friday

I have had a rather terrible week all in all...it sort of came and went and was so crazy. It was the first day of registration but it went with no glitches...bus trips are always such a high demand. I went for a College Park walk after dinner tonight on my own. It was a very nice evening. I had a little too much dinner so had to make it up with the activity points. I have such a mess happening around the house that i have no idea where to start picking up.

Back to Weight Watchers

Today was our second Weight watchers At Work Meeting...it is good to be back on track but a challenge to try and stay on the program. I need to try and find more time to work-out. This past week we did go for 2 long walks and I also made Kathy Bramley's Lunch crunch but I really do need to get up to the Alpine Fitness every day for at least 20 minutes. I only lost 1.4 pounds which really is minimal...I had hoped for a little more than that; however, I will have to try a little harder this week coming up. We only have 12 weeks in this current set and my aim was actually for 2 pounds a week.
It has been a really rough week. So busy at work and a little stressed. We have the Volunteer Appreciation event coming up on Tuesday and Helga has us singing an improvised Beatles song so we are calling ourselves the Glen Pine Beetles so I need to find us some antennaes for us to wear. We had such a laugh practising for it today. Anyway...at wings and then home and thank goodness its Friday tomorrow but it is also the first day of registrations!!

We walked and walked!

So we went to the PoCo dykes again and walked for 2 hours solid. The dogs had such a fabulous time. It was really wonderful getting out there and getting the fresh air and the exercise. I also bought a new purse today from Winners...a nice RED leather one as my old purse was the dumbest thing in the world...everything got lost in it and I had to dig like crazy through it to find anything. It was a little more than I had intended to spend but sometimes when you buy something of good quality...it looks good and lasts longer.
We stopped by to see Chrissy at her new job at Bosley's Pet Food store. Then we went to T & T to buy ingredients for me to cook noodles for dinner.
Now Darcy and the dogs are snoozing on the couch. I have to get some laundry done and enjoy the rest of Sunday evening!!!

After the snow comes the sun

What a beautiful day today...after the chilly cold wintery weather comes the sunshine and spring time. Yesterday, Heather and I went to work on our own time to help with the Seniors and their garage sale. I also went to deal with my ever-growing line-dancing program that has grown to crazy proportions. It was so busy! Mayor Maxine came they do love her! After Darcy picked me up we went to Uncle Weng's where I had veggie curry on rice. Heather and I started WW at work that Andrea got organized and we are determined that we are going to try our best to stay on track...but I already blew all my flex points on Friday night up at Sharon's with the wine and the appies...grrr...sabotaged again!!! After lunch we did take Speedo and Sheba for a 1.5 hour walk along the dykes in Poco. The wind was chilling but it was sunny and so refreshing really. Chrissy had a pile of friends over but they were upstairs. We watched a good movie version of Les Miserables with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush. Other than that not much else on the news front. Caiti picked up some shifts at work but since she has not had any confirmation yet about her practicum she is staying on in Kelowna to work as much as she can. Her finals are over and she is done 2nd year!
Just waiting for Darcy to have his shower so we can head out for a little while just to get out of the house.

A very slow weekend

We drove up to Kelowna yesterday for Caiti's birthday and also to bring home as much of her stuff as we could. She has 2 more exams and then she will be home for her practicum which will be at Eagle Ridge Hospital...we hope! This means she will be home for now and then after June 12 she finds out if she has a placement with Fraserhealth for the rest of the summer as an undergrad nurse or she will return back to Kelowna to work at Hawthorne. It was a beautiful day for the drive and it was very nice in the Rav. It was a big day as we also officially made Caiti the owner of the Honda...so now she owns her own car and is completely responsible for her own insurance and so forth...a big step on the road to independance and adulthood.

Here is this year's photo of her at lunch at Moxies. James met us there and we celebrated with a lovely afternoon meal.

Cait's 20th Birthday

Today is Caiti's 20th birthday...now that is very hard to believe that we have a 20 year old. Hoping that she has a nice day. Texted her a message in the morning and then we called her before she was heading off with friends.
Not much news to really share. Not much else except work and worry about things too much. Blood pressure has hit a bit of a high but its all good. Haven't read my Oprah book lately so not making any new awakening changes!
Tomorrow we are going up to bring home Caiti's belongings as she prepares to hit home for the summer. If it all works out she will be at Eagle Ridge Hospital and doing some undergrad nursing for Fraserhealth and able to save some money for school by living at home.