Date night- Jan 28th, 2011

Tonight Ron and I went to see a performance by our local symphony orchestra (http://strathconaorchestra.ca/index.html). The program was called "A Salute to the Silver Screen" and included many popular movie themes. It was a very enjoyable evening, even if it was proved that there are still people you can dress up, but still shouldn't take out. Case in point; We have three friends who play in the orchestra, so when one of them took to the stage, Ron bellowed her name from the back of the theater and started frantically waving at her. When she looked up she found about 8 of us in total waving at her. I'm sure yesterday's complaint to our family "I'm being forced against my will to play in the concert this week end" had nothing to do with Ron's outburst. (She is a teen-aged friend of Kaili's). I am hoping our planned spring visitors will be here for their next performance on May 27th or 28th.

The kids were ripping it up on "Guitar Hero" (Video game) while we were gone and surprise, surprise, the fire was nearly out when we got home. I guess they will figure it out when they have their own kids!

Date night- Jan 28th, 2011

Tonight Ron and I went to see a performance by our local symphony orchestra (http://strathconaorchestra.ca/index.html). The program was called "A Salute to the Silver Screen" and included many popular movie themes. It was a very enjoyable evening, even if it was proved that there are still people you can dress up, but still shouldn't take out. Case in point; We have three friends who play in the orchestra, so when one of them took to the stage, Ron bellowed her name from the back of the theater and started frantically waving at her. When she looked up she found about 8 of us in total waving at her. I'm sure yesterday's complaint to our family "I'm being forced against my will to play in the concert this week end" had nothing to do with Ron's outburst. (She is a teen-aged friend of Kaili's). I am hoping our planned spring visitors will be here for their next performance on May 27th or 28th.

The kids were ripping it up on "Guitar Hero" (Video game) while we were gone and surprise, surprise, the fire was nearly out when we got home. I guess they will figure it out when they have their own kids!

January 26, 2011

Yesterday afternoon/evening was a whirlwind for me. . .

I worked on Kaili's dance blouse for a bit between my chauffeur duties-. At 1:00 it was time to deliver Kaili to her exam, come home sew for a bit, pick up Ellie and Kaili from their schools (2:30-2:45), and get Ellie back home in time for piano lessons (3:15), deliver Kaili to Dance (4:15), back home to pick-up Ron, run errands around town, pick up Kaili (5:15), run home, cook and gobble a quick bite, shower and get into my St. John Ambulance uniform, to be at the arena by 6:00.

Ron, Dax and I all volunteered at the "Battle of the Badges" Old-timer's Hockey Challenge last night (Cancer fundraiser). It was an ice hockey game played between retired professional hockey players and RCMP officers. Nearly half of the pros didn't even bother to put on helmets for the game. It was a bit like watching a cat play with a mouse before she kills it. There were a few "random" penalty shots thrown in by the ref (maybe in an attempt to even the score). There was a clown in the stands doing all kinds of goofy stuff and he nearly gave me heart failure. He decided to play his trumpet while perched on top of the glass. When he toppled over backwards and caught himself by one knee, he changed his mind. He may have shared my visions of blood and brain splattered all over the ice 15 feet below him (he looked a bit shaken up for a few minutes after that)!!! We also ran into an old friend of Mom's at the game too; Flat Stanley was having a photo taken at rink-side!

Today is a much slower pace, and much more to my liking (though I am concerned about my uncle's heart surgery in California today). I will continue with Kaili's blouse, taxi kids to school and exams, and hang with Ron. The hard decision for today should be- pork steaks with mushroom gravy or tortellini with marinara sauce for dinner?

Jan 24th, 2011

Not much exciting stuff going on around here. Yesterday I taught a lesson in Relief Society on "Of Things That Matters Most", a talk given by President Uchtdorf in the last General Conference. The main point of the talk was, the more stress and difficulty you face, the more you need to slow down. In our electronic age, we seem to be going ever faster and expecting to continue with a break-neck pace, no matter what is happening in our lives. President Uchtdorf said that we should remain focused on the 4 most important things in our lives, which are relationships; First our relationship with our Heavenly Father, second with our families, third with our fellow man, and finally with ourselves. We also covered a few of the strategies to accomplish strengthening those relationships. My lesson seemed to focus on my ever-present "to-do" list and where maybe that should be pared back a bit. The ladies I taught seemed to enjoy the lesson, and I hope at least a few will have found something useful in it.

Dax and Kaili have exams this week, so they will only be going to school for a few hours here or there. Today we ventured to Nanaimo and got some ghillies for Kaili to dance in. I also procured a tank top and some eyelet lace. The next trick will be to turn that into a dance blouse for her (along with some sleeves I will make from a scrap of eyelet from my pile o' fabric).

Today was gray and damp, with a little brightening of the clouds this afternoon. The temps are pretty mild, and it isn't really too bad out.

January 20, 2011

This week has been another interesting one, even if frustrating at times!

• The bouts of teen drama/angst/'tude have been present (but not overwhelming)
• Dax and Kaili have finals this week and next, they seem to be under some stress
• A computer bug on Saturday lead to me breaking the bank with the purchase of a new one (computer, not bug!) Good riddance VISTA!!!!
• Kaili has decided to begin Highland Dance competitions now. . .Awesome! . . .wait. . .that means Kilt, socks, shoes, vest, etc. etc. to the tune of $1000.00+!!! Fortunately, we may have located some decent used stuff for about half that. . . .wait, that is STILL 500 bucks!
• Wonder why my insomnia is kicking up again?!?
• I have now moved Adam out of my sewing room a.k.a. the laundry room. I have set up my office in there now, maybe I can get some of the sewing projects taken care of now. (He is in the back corner where my desk used to be, since he REALLY only does school work about 1 day a week and is at work the rest of the time anyway.) This also means I can hide behind a closed door now too. . .if I want to. . .but I usually don't. . .

On the plus side, the weather guessers seem to call for some sort of precipitation nearly every day, but fortunately it also seems they tend to be wrong most of the time. The picture is what yesterday looked like here; note the heron with the Comox Glacier as a backdrop.

I shot it when Ron and I ate our lunch at the beach. We saw a seal swimming around just offshore, the water was glassy-smooth and the sky was clear. There were about a million ducks and geese floating around (maybe not a million, but there were a bunch of them). Today is a completely different story. . .blustery and gray with the trees blowing around. I LOVE this place!

Elizabeth's 13th

Elizabeth had a pile of girls over here this evening to help celebrate her 13th birthday. We got her a new comforter for her bed and a bunch of books. She seemed to like her "bookworm" birthday cake, it was chocolate with a layer of mint/chic chip ice cream.

The house is still standing and she has some very nice, if loud, girl friends. They made pizzas for dinner, watched movies and had popcorn. A couple of Kaili's girlfriends also came by for the evening and helped clean up, so the house is in really good shape, considering the crowd.

The older teens entertained themselves for quite awhile by defacing one of Ron's newspapers. It is amazing how a couple of bic pens and the newspaper could cause such laughter and jocularity for them.

Jan 12, 2011 "Snow Day"

The kids have been praying mightily for a "snow day". We got nearly a foot of wet, sloppy white stuff last night and they got their snow day. The sun was out and it was gorgeous day out, but they mostly played on the Wii and watched movies today. They did do a minor amount of shoveling and wood fetching, but they basically just had a day off.

Ron got to sleep in, but my insomnia was spurred on by the snow bombs dropping from the trees on to the house last night. Isis and I watched old movies and dozed in the family room after I spent some of the wee hours filling out an online job application for a census job with Statistics Canada.

Not much else to report here. We had an awesome sunset again (of course the photo doesn't quite do it justice) and we are supposed to get rain for the next week or so.

Jan 10, 2011

Yesterday was nice, the sun shone brightly and it was crisp out. After church some good friends came over to help celebrate my birthday. It was very comfortable and low-keyed. My dad sent me a heartfelt ,but still humorous email reminding me in part that my first word was a swear word directed at another child who was misbehaving. Mom phoned and we had a nice chat. I also got numerous good wishes via computer, it is amazing how much the electronic age has brought us closer is ways, even while distancing us in others.

The sky has become quite gray this afternoon and some are predicting some flurries. . .we'll see. The kids are fervently praying for snow to close school without realizing (or caring) the time they miss would be have to be made up in some way.

Now we will begin the preparations for an invasion by a bunch of 12 and 13 year old girls for Elizabeth's celebration on Friday. . .which I'm sure will be neither quiet nor low-keyed!!!

Date night- - Jan 7, 2011

Ron and I haven't had an actual date night in quite awhile. We finally made it out together tonight and saw "True Grit". It was very well done, and not the usual Cohen Brother's fare. Jeff Bridges does a good job with Rooster, and there were actually some pretty funny moments in the movie.

Nothing much else has been happening around here this week, Ron and I have both been pretty lethargic with whatever this cold-thingy is that is going around. My ears are still plugged and the netty pot has been working overtime keeping my nasal passages somewhat clear. We did poke around down town for a little while the other day and found a really cool (unique and quirky) German/Dutch deli and gift shop. We had just eaten, but Ron says he will be trying a sandwich there someday soon.

It has been mostly rainy all week, but is supposed to be clearing for the next few days. I even noticed a few stars on the way home this evening.

Jan 4th, 2011

We got a bit of white earlier today, now we are getting some wet on top of it (much to the kid's chagrin!).

Ron and I endured a bit of chilly waterbed syndrome over the week-end. Our waterbed heater seemed to give-up the ghost last Friday night. Being a holiday week-end, we were out of luck until Monday as far as replacement went. After locating and purchasing a new one, we realized that the heating pad had simply come unplugged from the temperature regulating unit. It is amazing how well it works when everything is all hooked up!!! It is so nice to climb between warm sheets again.

The kids are back in school as of today and life is quickly returning to normal. I continue to have sinus/ear issues with the cold the kids brought home for vacation, but it is manageable. While the kids were at school today, Ron and I tried a fish and chips place we had never been to before. We were pleasantly surprised and even delivered a cup of their clam chowder to Adam at work for his lunch. He only had one complaint when he got home. . ."there wasn't enough"!

I am now studying my How to be a Canadian book that Immigration has sent to me. In a few months, they should be getting back to me with a test date/time/place and I am hoping to be well prepared before then.

I guess that's all for today. . .