Life is Good in Penticton

My Gal Pal LAURELL

2010-04-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write about my gal Laurell for some time now ... so now seems like a good time.

This lovely singer/songwriter/sister-friend from my home town of North Van has been chasing and living her dream. It seems as though after many years of devoting her time and energy into her craft she is being blessed beyond belief.

Laurell is actually a VERY true and beloved friend of my sister Kim since our high school years at Argyle Secondary. Laurell's sister Chelsea was one of my BFF's through high school. We used to affectionately call Laurell and Kim - "The Twin Towers" as their height surpassed both Chelsea and I around 10th Grade. Laurell has been a rock for my sister over the years and even though they don't see each other too too much - both with busy lives ... they always seem to make time to catch up.

Laurell is currently travelling across Canada on her CD release tour. One of the first few venues on this tour was here in Penticton at the Cannery Stage. Of which she was brilliant and beautiful (as per always). Upon arriving to the venue we got an up and close tour of the tour bus which is also brilliant. We also got to see Moose (and Trev) ;) It was soooo awesome to be able to finally get out and see her on her way through this time. If you are out there and haven't heard her on the radio in your local town ... give your radio station a call. Her radio single is called "Can't Stop Falling". If she's coming through your town (you'll know because you'll probably see the bus - it's hard to miss!) get out for a night with your pals and check it out. And if nothing else ... log onto her Facebook, Twitter, You Tube or even her Website to see when she's rolling through your area. It's truly not to be missed.

Best of Luck Laurell. Drive safely Trev. And Moose ... you've got a play date lined up with one Kona-Dawg when you roll back into town ;)

Catching Up - Episode 2 (Olympics)

2010-04-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

A few months have gone by without any blog about our trip down the the Coast to the Olympics. It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision. Junior REALLY wanted to go down and see what all the hype was about as did I. We had watched the Olympic coverage night and day for the first week and then decided that the last weekend there would be some great going's on. There were to be a lot of medals predicted for the weekend and the final hockey game was on Sunday. Junior wanted to watch it with my Daddio so we packed up The Pack and headed down. The weather was pretty crummy - lots of rainy spouts be we were able to get in some good time down in all the action. We wandered around the City and saw all the cool spots. Took some pics and had some lunch with my family on Robson. Kim was working at BC Place at some of the gates and with the volunteers so she wasn't able to meet up with us. They were prepping for the closing ceremonies and so she was SUPER busy. It was really neat to see the City all done up in Olympic spirit. Flags everywhere and lots of Olympic garb on everybody.

We cruised down to the Molson Hockey House and the across from the Olympic Village.

We walked over to Robson Square and got to see a bit of an impromtu sighting of the curling ladies showing off their Olympic medals. We tried to get over to the HBC Official Store for some more garb (as the Penticton stores were pretty sold out) but the line was like majorly long and around the block. It's a good thing that Junior's Mom had gotten us some toques for Christmas and my Mama had sent us a 'care package' to kick off the Opening Ceremonies in style as there wasn't much left in any of the stores we had gone to.

We ended our day-long tour with a photo at The Cauldron which was pretty darn cool. To top off the weekend we got to watch Canada win the Gold Medal hockey match with my Dad and my Grandpa! All in all - a whirl wind tour but SOOOOOO worth it!

Catching Up - Episode 1 (Sister 'Stay')

2010-03-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

So ... my sister was here this past weekend and she said to me ... UPDATE YOUR BLOG ALREADY! So a sister's gotta do what a sister's gotta do :) This is my first post of many on catching up to speed. Probably the most obvious update now is that my sister was here this past weekend. We got to do lots of 'sister' stuff. Hang out. Walk the dogs. Watch a few movies and enjoy the occasional lunch at The Bench. Our favourite place in town. She arrived on Friday afternoon while we were both at work and got to relax a little 'til we got home.

On Saturday morning the dogs were driving us crazy from the start and so we knew we needed to get them out to blow off some steam. No better place than the KVR between Penticton and Kaleden. Relatively few people (and other dogs) and it runs right out along the lake with some good dog swim spots. It was a little windy to start but ended up not being to bad. The weather here has been beautiful as of late and the garden (update to come) has kicked in already. It was nice to have our full 'Pack' out for the hike/walk and when we got home ... everyone was tired :)

We recently purchased a Doggie Backpack from our friend Amanda who owns Tails Pets in Rossland. The idea is so that K-dawg has to work a little harder to keep up with us and Maximus. Tire her out a little more because she has to carry the pack. Don't worry we've kept it light with nothing in it to start. We are slowly going to add small items to it as she gets older and stronger. I think it's going to be ideal for The Farmer's Market this season :) The great thing about the pack is that it detaches from the underharness so that she can have the harness for running with us - which has worked out great! The leash is bungee style so she doesn't end up under our feet. Right now she's been carrying the Wubbas (our favourite distraction toys) on the walks. I think she's getting the hang of the pack and feels like she's got a bit of a job to do. She's probably thinking ... "Now what the hell are they making me wear!"

A Little Running Inspiration ...

2010-01-16T17:30:00.001-08:00

After reading all about my buddy AD's inspiring new goal of running the Death Race this summer - Don't worry, I won't register for any races with Death in the title :) - I decided it was time to motivate myself again and try another run goal this year. Having spent a few years off with little to train for ... it feels like time again. I started training with my Naramata buddy Elaine for her upcoming Flying Pig marathon and thought I might challenge the Calgary Marathon this year ... which will hopefully allow us to visit with our Calgary pals. Maybe even race with some of them. The Marathon training has been going pretty good the last two weeks ... we've been dedicated to the plan (once it was established) and have followed closely and not missed any runs thus far.

The weather has been nice and clear the last few days. Today it felt very springlike ... dare we hope it might be on the horizon. The sun was shining and it was 9 degrees on our dog walk today. Crazy! It makes me start thinking about some exciting garden projects this year and hoping our veg patch will be even bigger and better than last year. Doing a little research on trying to add some raspberries somewhere in our yard this year so we can have more fruit. As well as a separate kitchen herb garden and more flowers to the front where dog traffic is a little less predominate :$ I'll keep you posted on how our plan comes together as we go.

Shout Out to AD

2009-12-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to give a shout out to my buddy AD in GP :) She sent me a touque to keep my ears warm out here in The Mecca. Pic to be posted soon. Thanks my friend ... I'll be advertising it ALL around town whilst walking Maximus and K-dawg. Merry Christmas!

Green Stocking Stuffer

2009-12-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a stocking stuffer for someone who enjoys keeping their (your) house green clean :) I wanted to talk about Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap. It's a safe choice and we use it for washing our floors. We have some parts wood floor, some parts laminate and some parts tile and I wash the whole thing with this. I used to use Murphy's soap because it's what my Mom used. But when we converted and made our Green Pledge I had to find something more environmentally friendly and that could also be safe for our beloved four legged family members. I did try using vinegar water for a while but I just found I needed some more scrubbing power. This soap works amazingly and also smells like lavender. They do have other flavours. I have tried the almond. But to be honest I'm a sucker for lavender. The bottle says you can mix it with water for dishes and as soap for the bath room. I have tried all of that and I agree it works lovely. We also sometimes use it in the bath and shower but washing hair didn't do it for me :) The jury is still out on that one. I found mine at Whole Foods but they do have a website for those of you who don't have a Whole Foods or find that Whole Foods is pretty pricey.

Christmas Wish List :)

2009-11-22T07:49:00.001-08:00

I'm starting to put together my Christmas Wish list. But also putting some thought into what we can do a little differently this season to support local businesses for those on our own list. I'm attempting to be a little more thoughtful and creative in my gift giving this year :) If your wondering what's top on my list keep checking in. Dave's gonna be on mine for sure ... find it here :)

Earth to Body

2009-11-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

I have to give my sister the credit on this one :) She found me a great resource for trying some new 'green' hygiene products. Earth to Body has MANY healthier and greener choices when it comes to washing and cleaning oneself :) In the last few months I've been looking to try and find some new products for us to use that don't contain a lot of the chemicals that are hidden in many of the typical personal care products we use everyday. I've ordered a few things for us to try and we'll see just how it goes. They come with minimal packaging and are all very natural ingredients. I'll keep you posted once they come and do up a bit of a review but I'm thinking we're onto a good thing here.

Keeping it Local - Burger 55

2009-11-15T19:04:00.000-08:00

In my quest to be support our local businesses :) this past weekend my friend Kath and I tested out the new Burger place in town - Burger 55. It's a great little place that I hope makes it through the winter and manages to survive. Kath had a 'real' burger and I had the 'veggie' option (portabello mushroom). Both were great. I recommend tryin' em' out when you're in town. I know we'll be taking our visitors there when they come to town and hopefully make it a regular stop for us. They've had a few articles posted in the newspapers ... here's one of them. Just trying to figure out when we can go again :)

Catching Up

2009-11-09T21:46:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a long while since posting anything ... a lot has happened for us in the last little while. We've gotten back into the swing of school again. Though not working on any contracts as of this year - we have been working steadily for the last month or so TOCing in our District. Both of us were a little worried about the start up to this school year and the unknown work situation. It was a tough go for the first bit but seems as though things are coming around now that a few months have gone by.

Over the last month or so I've also started working for PacificSport Okanagan. It's been a great little part-time gig to help out. I have liked working on some of the different projects so far. Mostly I have worked on setting up camps for kids when school is on break. My next camp will be over the Christmas break. The ProD Day Camp I worked on a few weeks back ended up getting some good coverage in the local newspaper. Pretty excited about that.

On another note - we just got back from spending a weekend in Winnipeg because JR's Grandpa passed away a few weeks ago after a pretty tough go with some health issues. We headed back to spend time with family and say our final goodbyes to Grandpa Richert. I had only met Grandpa Richert twice over the last few years but both times I got to spend time with him - he was a very kind and accepting man. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

One thing about heading out to Winnipeg for the funeral was that we did get to see some other family and get to spend some time with Aunts, Uncles, cousins and also got to see Nana a few times. It was nice to get to know some of JR's family a little better. Because they are a little further away from us now we don't get to see them much.

Now that we are home we will be taking a few days to get things organized around home. Get a few jobs done and then it's back to work.

Being More Local

2009-09-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

One of my 'goals' (because it's hard for me to make resolutions) for this past year has been to be 'more local'. To me that means eating more local food and buying from local people more often. Keeping things local. After living here for a whole year now we've noticed that a lot of the buisnesses here really suffer when summer is over. Lots and lots of tourists in the summer keep the town alive and busy. But once we get it back ... and fall starts to move into winter and the Fall Wine Festival is over ... there is a quietness. Mind you, it's kind of nice. I like it. But it's easy to see how the local businesses slow down and even last year many didn't make it through the winter. It makes you really start to think about where your money is going and how you can support those little businesses more. Trying to avoid our 'big box store' (there really is only one) despite it's cheap prices and open late hours as best you can. Trying to grow your own veg and buy your groceries at the Farmer's Market when you can. Shopping local and keeping your money in town when you can. It's a challenge.

IMC Race Report Reflection

2009-09-07T09:04:00.000-07:00

Life has been good for us recently. In the months of July and August we have been blessed by the many visitors we've had. Lots of friends and family have gone through this little house :) Lots of laughs and lots of good times.

Ironman has come and gone for another year and Junior has registered again. I have not. I know what it takes ... a strong desire to challenge The Beast and I'm not sure I have it again yet. My buddy Elaine and I have tossed around 2011 as a goal together and that sounds reasonable to me. In the meantime I want to get my ankle healed up and do some run races this year. I think Junior is seriously thinking Vegas ... so hopefully we get some work ASAP.

Ironman was a big day this year and was exciting despite that I was not racing. Junior had put in a ton of work prior and we were both pretty anxious about how it would go - as last year was a bit disappointing - for both of us. On a side note, it was pretty crazy to move our lives here and then try to race a few weeks later. I think we were both exhausted.

Anyways ... Junior headed down to the swim start pretty early and then my buddy Amanda and I hooked up with AD for the swim start. It was the usual packed crowd down by The Peach and we managed to get a pretty good spot. Once the cannon went off we headed over to Main Street where the bike starts and looked to find a great place. We saw Mark and Ray and were able to get a clear view of the 'boys' coming out onto the bikes. We waited eagerly for them to ride past and were SUPER excited to see Junior around 58 minutes! Nice work! We cheered our guts out and then walked home to get ready to head out on the bike course.

Amanda, Amber and I raced out of town via Green Mountain Road and stopped to stock up on gas and treats for the day in Keremeos. We saw Gabs, Rita and Isla there and gave each other a cheer and wished each other a 'great race' ;) - knowing that our boys had a tough day ahead. The sun was getting hot already and we all knew it would be a great day for racing if it didn't get too hot. It was the usual game of cat and mouse along the bike course route but we did manage to see Junior a couple of times before we bid him a big cheer at the beginning of Yellow Lakes and then headed to a good spot for the run.

We managed to make it back to town in time to post ourselves 3/4 the way through town and got to see a few of our favourites heading down Main Street. EVERYONE looked to be having a tough day as the smoke from the fires had creeped into town and along the lakes making it tough to breathe. After some debate about heading out to OK Falls - Amanda and I committed to making sure someone was there to cheer 'our team' back home. I could tell Junior was having a tough run because he said nothing and didn't even smile. Key indicators that the run portion had taken a bit of a turn. But I knew he wouldn't give up and I knew he'd tough it out. That's the great thing about Junior - he won't just drop out.

Once he got back into town we headed down to the finish which was in all it's beautiful glory. Lots of people and lots of cheering. We were able to see him cross the finish line and then headed over to the area where you could go and pick them up. It was pretty clear right away that Junior wasn't feeling so great. He seemed pretty barfy and so we loaded him up and headed home.

It was a tough day overall - lots of friends had some trouble - but were able to finish despite their hurts. D ROCKED THE SHOW and pulled out a third place finish in his age group and a Kona spot leaving his heart out on the course :) Adrienne toughed it out with a solid effort and ended up getting her Kona spot. Both Al and Elaine finished their races on a high note. Jen (Mark's Jen) rocked her day with her Dad and they smiled their way to their first Ironman finish. Jen's got the IM itch now :) So I'm sure we'll be seeing them a few more times :)

It's been a few weeks since the race and Junior seems in better spirits now. He's back into setting some run goals for the year and we have planned a bit of a VACATION to Banff in about two weeks which is WELL DESERVED. I think it will be nice to have some down time.

It's been a good summer but school is on the horizon ... literally.

The Good Guide

2009-08-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

One of my besties from Calgary is in town this week and lead me to this little treasure!

The Good Guide

Apricot Jam - 1st Trial :)

2009-08-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

Today I made the leap into the canning world. It's been a goal of mine for a while now. I almost tried a few weeks back when the cherries I had picked off my friend Michi's beautiful tree had virtually taken over our fridge and entire counter top. But I didn't. We had been given a pretty big bag of Apricots earlier in the week and there was no way we were going to eat them before their expiry so I figured it would be a good try ... plus if I screwed it up too badly ... they were free :)

Here's how I did it ...

First I had to wash the glass canning jars that I had in the dishwasher to sterilize them. I had to put the lids into another pot and then I poured boiling water over them. Do this first so that they are ready to go when the fruit is ready.

Second I cut up all the apricots into small pieces and added them to my big soup pot. I added 1 cup of sugar for each pound of apricots. This seems like a lot but I was told it was the way it should be and so who am I to try and change it on my first trial. I also added the juice of 1 lemon to the mixture and 1/4 cup of water. Oh ya ... I wasn't sure how many pounds of cots I had so I weighed myself before and with the bag to see the difference :$ So it was a guestimate!

Third I left the mixture sit on the stove with no heat for 90 minutes to get juicy ... the liquid of the apricots gets pulled from the fruit by the sugar/water/lemon mixture.

Once the time was up I turned the stove on to around 7 or so and this just above medium heat. It starts to cook really fast and bubble. You have to keep stirring it the entire time it's cooking so that it doesn't burn. I could totally see how this could happen FAST. But it did not to me ... I was diligent :) I stirred and cooked it for 25 minutes.

Once the fruit was cooked I was able to spoon the mixture into the jars with a small spoon. The instructions said not to get any on the rim. And if you do ... don't wipe it away. Once the jars were filled with yummy apricot goodness I had to put the metal lids on and then the rims. Don't touch the lid and minimally touch the outer rim.

The last step was to seal the jars by flipping them upside down and setting the timer for 5 minutes. When the timer goes off ... flip them back over and let them set and vacuum seal the lid. You are supposed to hear a little pop to let you know but I had to do other stuff. I could see that the lids were sucked down when I went back to check on them. So no biggie.

So ya ... that's how it went down ... my first try. I think 3 jars was perfect. Of course I'll try again with something else but we'll see how this batch goes. I am starting to collect and freeze our tomatoes from our garden and will be trying to make our own tomato sauce with those eventually once I get a good gathering. I'll keep you posted.

Our Baby Girl is One!

2009-08-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

Our baby girl is turning one! I can't believe she's getting so big. She is easily as tall as Maximus now. Of course she's been a challenge and had her good moments ... and bad ... chewing a few not so good things in her little life. But for the most part she's been a good dawg. This morning we went for a walk down by the beach and sat for a bit outside the dog beach until there were a few less dogs for us terrorize. Once we were in there she did good and played nice without her big brother around to stick up for her. I love seeing her little happy face running around on the beach, jumping in the lake (burning up energy) and then crashing and burning for the better part of the day once we got home. Happy Birthday K-dawg!

Updates

2009-07-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well - it's been a crazy bit of a week but things are finally starting to slow down to summer pace around here. This morning we were woken by the sound of the big water bombers flying through and up to Kelowna. There are several devastating fires in the Kelowna area right now and the highway is closed until further notice between here and Kelowna. Apparently the fires have evacuated several thousand homes and several thousand more are on evacuation alert. The weather has be extremely hot here for the last few days and the wind has really been a problem especially for the crews trying to fight the fires. Friends coming through here to visit us are watching a waiting to here how things go before they head on their journeys.

Seems like most things are getting done round the house despite the weather - it's tough to work in the garden or outside except early in the morning or later in the evening. Even then the temperature is not really backing off until the sun goes right down. Because we have NO trees in the backyard we have to be carefully letting the dogs out for any extended period of time as they risk getting heat exhaustion. I'd be willing to be our deck is upwards of 40 degrees in the sun. Even though we've talked about delaying any back yard plans till next summer we may need to look into putting some trees in this fall to allow for some shade early next summer.

Junior's been on the Training Train the last few weeks MAJORLY but with the heat it's pretty exhausting. Takes a lot out of him every time he goes out but I guess it's good for training for the heat of the race in a few weeks time. We've seen lots of Tri buddies in and around town as the weather is good and the race gets closer. It's nice to see some familiar faces. We look forward to 'friends' coming into town in the next few weeks getting race ready and then of course the IMC week will be full of people we get to see during 'that time' :) Lots of commotion around the swim start area in the mornings and K-dawg and I have been heading down there early to see whose out and about. Her training is going well and seems to be doing A LOT better with occasional relapse - jumping at a road biker riding by - not so good :$ But the 'NO dog' command is starting to work well and she seems to be responding well to 'come' a little more regularly and quickly and the walking in the mornings is doing a world of difference. It's kind of nice to have some 'girl time' in the mornings before Maximus and Junior wake up a little later on (due to the late night work schedule at Hooded).

All in all the summer is starting to shape up well. Of course we are looking forward to friends and family visits the most. Junior's mom and dad are moving Grandpa Richert's apartment this weekend and then him in the next few weeks hopefully to a place closer to them. This is a big job. He's been pretty sick the last few weeks and moving the whole life of a person can be very stressful on everyone. We wish them the best and hope that they will be able to transition him quickly. We miss them and hope that they can soon come out and visit us. It's been hard with both Grandparents on Junior's side being so sick and our thoughts are often on everyone out there sorting things out and getting each of them better and stronger.

Yesterday - Race Day

2009-07-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent the day down in Osooyoos as Junior was racing the Desert Half Iron - his second big race of the season. A tough and brutal course in many ways especially on the bike. We headed down SUPER early in the morning to check in as it was a bit of a drive from here in Penticton. The weather was supposed to be hot as usual and of course it didn't disappoint.

The swim start was pretty great - we were able to watch right from the beach and it was a double loop swim. Junior was right up in front with the best of them and was out of the water quickly. It was nice to see some familiar faces racing yesterday and we got a mix of some Calgary friends (Scott Curry and Jen) and some of our new Tri friends from here in Penticton (Kevin, Olly, Aide and Jenny). Everyone working SUPER hard!

So right out of the lake the course heads up Richter Pass, over The Rollers, down the Out-and-Back Road and then ALL THE WAY BACK AGAIN. A ridiculously tough bike course. We were able to get set up with some great spots for cheering and Mark K drove us around the bike course so we could cheer on Junior and Jen. Once they were through the rollers a pretty discouraging head wind picked up and that's never really a good situation. Of course that head wind turned into a GREAT tail wind and the race leaders were FLYING on the way home. It was so AWESOME to see how fast they were going!

We saw parts of the run and were able to concentrate our cheering to a section where we would see them all run by a few times and then be able to see the final finish as well. It was a great day. Junior was disappointed in the results of the day as he had lots of gastro issues throughout and was unable to take in enough liquids. Something that hasn't bothered him for a while now. Of course the heat and the challenging bike course were troublesome but we kind of knew that would be tough.

I know he was really bummed out about the final time and results of the race but I hope he can put it in perspective over the next few days and learn a lot about what can be done over the next few weeks leading up to IMC. He has worked EXTREMELY hard this year (especially on the bike) spending a lot of time and energy doing the things he loves. Things that make him happy. There are a few weeks left here before the big race and lots of key workouts left. Lots of time to put in the remaining weeks of work as well as fine tune some little bugging injuries. I am not worried even though I know he is. I have seen him work hard and do a ton more training this year then I have ever seen him do since I've known him. Even though he is not happy about what happened at the race yesterday I am SUPER proud of him for being so dedicated and focused.

Summer Livin'

2009-07-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well it's official ... summer is here :) School is out and the sun is shining. Gotta love it.

I spent a few days down on the Coast helping my sister get her new condo all ready. My dad and I spent a few days painting the whole place earlier in the week. It was quite the makeover and in the end it looks FANTASTIC. Lots of rich colours and beautiful crown molding. I'm excited to head back down later in the summer and see it all set up.

On the same note it's good to be home and finally relax and unwind from school being done. It was a race to the finish as it always is at the end of the year. Hard to balance life with school. Makes for a bit of roller coaster of emotions for the last few weeks. Now that schools over its been nice to be able to get up and walk the dogs and work in the garden most mornings. I think it's coming along pretty well.

The weather has been hot! Lots of sunshine ... which has done amazing for our veg. They are pretty much taking over and we are starting to enjoy a few fruits of our labour. Lettuce is ready and we are able to have salads everyday. I've seen some tomatoes starting to get big out there too. Pumpkin has TAKEN OVER and will be amazing in the fall. Yesterday I headed over to my friend Michi's to pick cherries from her tree. They now are covering my entire kitchen counter and I have to go back on Monday to pick some more. The tree is ready and if they are on there any longer ... they will start to go bad. I washed them all last night while Junior was at work and today I have to pit them and start to package them for the freezer. Of course some will have to be eaten right away :) But there are soooo many! And they are soooo delicious.

We have our first summer guests arriving next weekend so we'll be finishing up the yard cleanup and fence staining this week. Lots to do around the house but having the beautiful weather sure helps. Last night I took Maximus for a run along the beach and it was packed. Lots of people watching and lots of activities around town. My ankle is starting to feel a little better so it might be time to ease back into some running again. It's been a tough go with this injury but I'm feeling a little better now that I can spend some time getting it healed properly and the morning walks have also been better and less stiff.

Today looks to be pretty casual ... it's my birthday and I think Junior is planning to ride the IMC bike course ... so I'll get to really get into my book and relax out and around the valley as 'support crew'. It's going to be hot today so I hopefully he gets up soon so that we can head out.

The Story of Stuff ... WOW!

2009-06-28T06:39:00.000-07:00

What are you doing right now? Do you have 20 minutes? Click this link The Story of Stuff. I did ... and it made me think a little bit more.

Green Green and More Green

2009-06-22T08:53:00.001-07:00

Dare I say ... our grass is getting green! Mind you it's been raining for a few days straight and I don't want to jinx it. Kind of sad and slightly mellow because of all the clouds in the valley - but on the up side it gives our lawn a chance to grow again. Junior's done a great job of being on top of the watering of the front but we've kind of given up on the back now. So any rain will be AMAZING!

Yesterday Al and Carolyn brought over some of the veg from their garden next door as they thinned out some of their crowded stuff. We managed to aquire some carrots, cabbage and swiss chard. All in all our little gardens have been growing well. Despite Kona Dawg jumping into one last week and then Junior having to recover the dug garden before I got home. I didn't see it ... which is a good thing.

Dogs have been good the last few weeks after our big 'upset' :( I think its because we've ampt up our exercise, training and expectations again. We started some private obedience with a local lady here. We started with Kona last week and will gradually build into having Maximus join us. It's no big secret that they are better separate than they are together. I would say some of the aggro behaviours have been our fault. Our dogs have to be walked A LOT ... when they are not ... they are bad! I started running again this past week and have taken K-dawg a few times. She's good for about 5K and then she's done. About 30 minutes. We got a new leash as well last week and it's a gooder. Good for running ... attaches at the hip. Hands free! Should make some things easier.

Big week here. School is coming to a close and that means supervision and report cards. We are unsure of where we will fit into jobs next year but Junior has started at the Hooded Merganser working nights and I will be heading down to Van to work a few weeks for my dad this summer to help us get through the summer months. He's got a few jobs he needs help with. Next weekend is our first 'job' as my sister is moving into her new condo. I'm very proud of her. She bought it on her own and is making a bit leap to being able to afford her very own place. We will be cleaning, painting and putting up mouldings before she moves on the 5th. I would imagine there will be some last minute packing too :) I think this is great for her and a huge accomplishment.

PS - If any of my family is reading this blog :) I'd like one of these for my birthday next week :)

Making Bread and Home-Made Croutons!

2009-06-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks I've tackled on of my goals this year. Making home-made bread for us ... in our bread machine of course. I'm not going to pretend that I can actually have the patience to cook the bread in the oven ... the whole waiting for the bread to rise etc is CRAZY talk :) It actually worked out pretty good in the machine anyways :) I've posted the recipe below for those of you who want to give it a go ...

Whole Wheat Bread

1 1/3 cups milk
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp honey
4 tsps of butter or marg
2 cups whole wheat bread machine flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp of salt
1 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast

* I don't use the two kinds of whole wheat flour ... I just use 4 cups of bread machine whole wheat flour.

Apparently you have to add them in this order for it to work properly. Who knew! Anyways ... give it a go. I have a whole wheat setting on my bread machine and that's the only button I push. Seems to work well. It takes a few hours so I've been making it right before I go to bed so it's going in the night and is ready the next morning. It's a bit heavier that regular store bought bread but it also doesn't have as much 'bad stuff' in it. I like how I can make it out of a few simple ingredients. I'd recommend getting a good bread knife to cut it so you can get thin slices but I actually like the thicker slices. Also ... don't leave it on the counter like you normally do other breads. Because there are no preservatives in it so your bread will go bad faster.

I've been cutting the bottom off and making croutons with the left over part because we don't eat it fast enough. I cut it into squares and put them in the freezer. Then when I made salad I put a little olive oil in a pan and added garlic and then heated them on low for a while when I was making the dinner. They were AWESOME!

Once I've become solid at this bread thing I'm going to try and make buns for veggie burgers but that's a summer project for sure :)

In loving memory of Irene Margurite Nichols

2009-06-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today is the anniversary of my Grandma passing away. I'm feeling sad and thinking about her a lot today.

Grieve for me,
nor morn the while.
For happier would I be,
to see you smile.

Let no tears fall,
since I have passed away.
But miss me,
and remember me each day.

Live your lives,
as I would want you to.
And treat your fellowman,
as I would do.

And when the time has come,
your lives be through.
I will be here,
for each of you.

-Love Grandma

The Latest

2009-06-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

Apart from being totally consumed by work over the last few weeks I've been working my butt off trying to get some yard jobs done. We have made a significant dent in the fencing project. My goal was to do a few panels a day once I would get home from work and that's what's been happening. I've found myself trying to set some small goals each night and finish off one panel at a time. It's worked. I'm almost around the last corner and across the backyard this weekend for sure. It feels good to sit back and look at this daunting job and see that I've almost been able to get 'er done. The back side fence seems a little easier in that there is no lattice to paint - this slows the process because it's so criss-crossy. I don't think that's a word :)

In other news around here ... the chain link fence guys have started putting in the side posts for the fences. We are looking forward to this project being done finally. I think it will make a huge difference cleaning up the yard. Then I can plant some climbing roses or some clematis to cover it up. Getting rid of the terrible brown side fences has made a big difference on the one side of the house. Last week I just took it down in order to get the grapes planted and it opened the space right up. Not sure how successful we will be with these grapes but my new friends Jen and Dan (our fabulous dog sitters) donated free grapes from their part-time jobs at a local winery to add to our garden. So nice. Hopefully they take.

This weekend will be some more yard clean up along with more fence staining. We are struggling with our 'backyard plans' as the temperatures have been VERY hot here and the yard is tough to commit to watering the lawn/weeds. Being environmentally conscious people we find it a challenge to water regularly without feeling bad about it. Tonight a storm is looming in the Valley and I am looking forward to some moisture for the garden and the lawn.

Earlier in the week I tried making my first loaf of bread in our bread maker that my mom and dad gave us. It's their old one that they don't use anymore. It was one of my goals this year to learn to make our own bread as we were finding it getting more and more expensive lately. I waited until we were all out in the freezer before attempting - and this week was it. I had gotten a bread making book from a friend at school who said she had a good one and so I was excited to try it out. I was worried about the process as I've not made bread before. It wasn't too hard ... I just followed the recipe and made sure to add them in the proper order. I've made two loaves so far this week and it's been really good. I think we need to get a good bread knife because the ones we have are too dull but it's been good to have fresh bread. It feels good to be able to make this for us. Once the veggies start coming in later in the summer it will be excellent to be able to eat our own food.

I'll take some new pics of the veggies growing this weekend and post what's starting to come up :) Tomatoes seem to be doing the best and strongest so far. Lettuce is starting to fill in a lot too. Pumpkins look strong. Squash not so much and beans not so much. Not sure why.

Tomorrow morning I'm heading out on my bike with my friend Elaine for a long ride. It will be my first in a while since my ankle has been bugging me. I'm looking forward to heading out to OK Falls and enjoying a morning ride again. It's been too long.

Our Peter Rabbit Garden Finish Pics

2009-05-30T06:24:00.001-07:00

This morning was the first morning I was able to sit down and update the blog in a week. Work has really taken over the life balance right now. Part of this is due to my inability to just do the bare minimum for the classes I teach. I am trying to make my Psychology class 'great' and it has been a real challenge but I might be winning my class over one student at a time. Resulting in me coming home exhausted and not much energy to do much other than work in the garden or paint a handful of fence panels. But the weekend is here and I am going to take some time for myself. Hence the fact that I'm up at 6:00 this morning with the dogs and posting the final pics of the Peter Rabbit Garden as Junior is still fast asleep.

Welcome into our garden :) Originally we tried to keep our front gate (the pink one) but it didn't work out. To short and the Kona Dawg would have been able to sneak under. Al our neighbour had this gate in his recycle pile from his back garden so he donated it to us :) It fit perfectly - like it was meant to be. I took the latches off the other one and just had to get some new hinges but it does the job. Just needs a little paint.

So once inside the garden this is how things are. I started to make a little path on the inside with the extra stone we had gathered from moving the cinder blocks out of the yard a few months back. We had some left overs so I used them to create the little path down between the boxes. I don't have enough but I'll be on the lookout to recycle some more :) Going for the rustic cottage look :) It will probably drive Junior's OCD crazy ... but I think it's cute.

Three raised beds with seedlings and seeds all planted.

Waiting to grow ...

These are the tomatoes we bought from Jan's gals at the Garden Club.

When we first sketched out the design for the garden I knew I wanted three raised beds. Good things always happen in threes and I knew my green thumb was limited and I would need all the help I could get. This picture (below) is the view from the deck. We installed some solid fence posts to attach the little white fence to. In the beginning we were going cut them off but I am going to try and start the beans growing up them instead to see it we can make a bit of an arbour. Obviously the fence is recycled from the front of our house and it was just too cute to get rid of. We did have to put some lattice below to raise the fence a little as our 'troublemaker' proved her athletisism while construction was underway. It does need a little sanding and some fresh paint but that's a summer holiday job.

Remember that little fence ...

She now looks like this ...

And this ...

So in the end ... it's coming together. We still have lots of FUN stuff to do but we are taking a bit of a break. The fence has to be sanded and painted but it will come. We are trying to arrange for the chainlink guy to come and fix our side fences as they have seen much better days though it's proven to be a little more expensive than we originally budgeted for. But after all the work we've done on the house and the yard it seems silly to not finish that part off for the summer.

Our Peter Rabbit Garden

2009-05-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

After a very long long weekend of work we have been able to get our veg garden in ... thanks so much to my Mom, Dad and Grandpa who came up last weekend to get 'er done. It was a BIG job but things are started and now we can work around our growing veggies. We took a few pics as we were building but the finished product pictures will have to be taken in the next few days as we have had a VERY full week.

We started by planning out the location of the garden based on where we would get some good sun. We picked the side of the yard along Byron and Kerri's fence. Originally we thought it would be best to go against our back fence but with our neighbour's workshop going up in the back lane ... it was going to be hard to tell just how big it would end up being. And therefore would be a risk casting too much shade. The location we picked has some sun first thing in the morning and then has shade until around 1:00. After that it's pretty much full sun all afternoon.

We started by digging out the sod under where the boxes would go and then my dad cut the wood to make the 4X4 box frames. We used recycled wood that George gave us from the cement frames from the front yard fence. We cut them down and had exactly the right amount.

Grandpa leveled the boxes so that they would look even once we finished. Because our backyard isn't very level :( this took a while to do. We had to make sure that we had a good level frame to start.

This is a picture of the three boxes once we got them in ...

Then we placed landscape fabric onto the bottom of the boxes so that any remnants of grass would not grow up through our nice (expensive) soil and then dropped the compost on top of the landscape fabric. Unfortunately the compost did not breakdown very much this winter because I had the top on the compost. Lesson learned. We now have the lid off so that the rain water will keep the compost moist. So we just spread it between the three boxes so that it covered the bottom of each one.

After that we put the new soil on top of the compost about half way up the box. We then added a soaker hose so that we can attach a hose to it and water the boxes from the midpoint up and not always from the top down. The weather is so hot here in the summer that we thought watering from the bottom would be better. Less water would be used.

The final layer of dirt was added and then we planted a few of the seedlings we had raised earlier indoors as well as some tomatoes and peppers that we got from the Garden Club at the Farmer's Market. Jan's girls were selling and raising money for the garden club so we thought it best to support them :)

The second day of the garden project included putting up the fencing around the garden so that the dogs can't get it. George cut the fence off the front of the house so that we could reuse it and it worked almost perfectly. We have to change out the gate because it's too small but Al donated the gate from his old garden and it fit perfectly. With a few minor adjustments it will be great.

Tomorrow we have a chainlink fence guy coming to put up the side fences on the yard so that we can take down the old brown fence and then that's it for big yard stuff for now. It's been a few busy weekends but it's coming together. I'll try and take some finish pictures in the next few days.

Life is Good (Busy) ... in Penticton

2009-05-10T06:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to our Mamas! We miss you.

Blogging has been bumped to the back of the line in recent weeks as we've been so busy with life 'stuff'. To catch you up on a few areas I decided to write a little this morning. The thing that has been the biggest change in recent weeks is the fact that I am now working full-time again. It's been a big change since the part-time earlier in the year and then the no-time in recent months. I am now working at one of the local high schools teaching some Art 9/10, Planning 10 and Psych 12. Yes folks ... a mixed bag for sure. It's been a lot of work both inside and outside the class but I'm trying to take it one day at a time. I am filling in for a friend of a friend who is away on a medical leave and it's been good on the bank account to be able to pick up this little short term contract. It will be till the end of the year which is good. It means I may not have to work the summer if we budget well and are smart with our money. The hardest part of the job is the Psychology 12 portion which I have never taught and only did once in first-year uni way back in tha day. I've had to stay one day ahead of my kidlets to make sure I'm ready for them. The good thing about the job is that I love to create courses and the teacher that I'm replacing has a binder/template of what she did last time. I created a Ms. Halls Pysch 12 Blog for my class to make things easier and better for us all. Check out my blog here and let me know if you have any ideas :)

Training has taken a back seat ... on Friday I had my first physio appointment for my achilles which has been bugging me and she said 'it's bad'. So no racing for me this year. Possibly something at the end of the season if things go well. But I won't be doing Oliver (which I paid for). It's been a tough go with this injury and to be honest the mental portion has been the worst part. I feel very defeated. On the positive side I can bike (on flats) and swim (minimal kicking) and do some weight training. So my game plan this week is to set up a regular yoga and weight training situation for myself. At least it will help mentally ...

K-dawg and Maximus have also had a tough week. K-dawg managed to chew through a few things ... my Psychology Today magazine to name one of them. We came home to find it in a zillion pieces all over the living room floor. She did save me the bar code so that I could identify it when I tried to explain the the librarian at my high school that 'my dog ate my homework'. So embarrassing. As for our big boy ... he had his big surgery to remove 'his boys' on Thursday and has taken a few days to recover. It's been a few sleepless nights of Junior and myself on the couch to make sure he's comfortable. He has a HUGE cone on his head and is finding it hard to navigate our 900 square foot house. K-dawg has been pretty worried about him and is not letting him go too far without following which is tough on the navigating as well. Yesterday we spent a solid portion of the day outside getting some fresh air in the yard and working on our yard projects.

Speaking of yard projects ... our fence is finally up and done. All that is left is the staining which is taking me a long time. I want to do a good job so I've been doing it by brush but it takes much longer. There is a long ways to go but I'm trying to take it one panel at a time :) It's a bit daunting but having my sidekicks to keep me company helps. Our seedlings are sprouting like crazy in the back mud room so I think it's going to be right on time for the veg garden. I have a few more seeds to plant in the next few days but overall they are growing well. The beans are CRAZY big already. As are the pumpkin and squash. My mom and dad are coming up next weekend to help build the raised beds for the garden and maybe even stain some fence panels :) The front garden is giving a good showing as well ... the Clematis we killed off last summer is back and I even saw some life on Rose. Jan (Master Gardener neighbour) will be happy. When we put in the new fence there is a small garden at the front now and Jan suggested some Thyme and Hen and Chick to cover and choke out the weeds that will start to try and grow there. Good plan Jan. Junior said he thought a Rock Garden would be a good idea there so we are going with that :)

That's about it. Just going to take 'er easy today and relax a little around here. Maybe get a few more fence panels done and enjoy the beautiful and sunny weather we are having. It's pretty much summer here with temps around 20. The Farmer's Market was bustling yesterday when K-dawg and I headed down there to 'socialize' us. Have a great week everybody!

Starting the Seedlings ... Peter Rabbit Garden

2009-04-28T21:13:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I got my seeds organized for the new veggie garden that we are going to be putting in. It's going to be a bit of an adventure. I've never done a veg garden and my gardening skills are still being honed. But in the effort to grow some of our own food and try and cut costs we thought we'd give it a try. In the last few months I've saved up some of our plastic containers from the yogurt, puddings and apple sauces that we take for lunches as well as the egg cartons. My goal was to get enough containers to be able to start some seedlings for the garden because the weather has not been warm enough yet. I purchased the seeds on the weekend and then planted some into the containers to get a head start. They are now sitting on top of the dryer in the mud room so that the warm dryer will help them and the sun can shine in through the back window.

In terms of our garden design we are going with raised beds. We managed to get some salvaged lumber from neighbour George the builder. When he pulled up the 2X8's forms from the front fence he gave them to us to build the beds. They have to be cut down into 4 foot sections and then layered up to give us some depth but I think they will work and get us started. I think we are going to go with 4X4 beds. Nice and small and easy to work in.

One of the major parts of creating the garden is also to figure out where to put the beds. I've been watching the sun and I think it will be okay to go along the side of the fence by Keri and Byron's (our neighbours to the left). It also gives us the opportunity to plant the beans against the fence so that they can climb. When we took down the little white picket fence that went across the the front yard, George saved it so that we could move it to the back yard and create a fence around the veg garden to keep the dogs out. It kind of reminded me of the Mr. McGregor's Garden in the Peter Rabbit books so I'm calling it my Peter Rabbit Garden. The plan is to surround the garden with the picket fence and sand it down and repaint it to look nice again.

We are also going to try and put a bed right by the back door. This bed will get the most sun and it will be VERY hot. I think it will be the best for the tomatoes and peppers. Because it's right against the back of the house there is lots of room for beans to grow. Our beans are Red Scarlet climbers which apparently grow pretty high. I'm excited about them :)

Fence Done ... Pics to Follow ...

2009-04-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

It's been well over a week now since I've posted anything ... sorry. Lots going on here and I've been very exhausted. That's pretty much the word I would use EXHAUSTED. So I thought I'd sum some things up ... and catch up. I've been able to keep checking onto my blog but just haven't had time or energy to post.

We've been working VERY hard on our latest house project ... our fence in front. It was a few days of very tough labour but it's done and looks fantastic. It's cleaned up the front yard immediately and now there are no escape routes for any dogs to be able to get through. The new fence is cedar and smells lovely. We put the gates on yesterday and now all that's left is the staining. It was a big job done and thanks to our neighbour George we are pretty excited about it. We have plans to start working on the back fence soon ... it's been a while coming and we really would like to block out the view into the alley and all the stuff going on back there.

In the last week I've gotten some very steady work. I am filling in for a gal at the local high school who is on a bit of a medical leave for a few weeks. So far it's been two weeks but it may turn into more depending on how the next week unfolds. My position includes some Planning 10, Art 9/10 and Psych 12. I'm feeling okay about the Planning and the Art but the Psych is a stretch. I am super tired as a result and I am just trying to take it one day at a time. Everyone at home is suffering because I have no energy. I've been pretty grumpy.

I'm feeling a little down about this achilles injury which has seriously hampered my ability to run at all. And is also affecting my mood. Doesn't hurt on the bike but kills on the runs. I've cut my running mileage way down and almost to nothing. It's frustrating and it doesn't make me feel very good. I've done some massage on it but no physio yet. I think this is going to have to be the next step.

New Fence

2009-04-18T19:39:00.001-07:00

Before Pic of Our House:

Pics of Our House as of This Afternoon:

Digging Into the Garden

2009-04-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

Just checking in ...

I ended up getting a FULL week of work this week. All 4 days ... this is GOOD. It means that I get bumped up to my grid pay. I'm feeling a little more positive about the whole situation again. On the flip side ... Junior didn't get much. Seems to be working like this. Flip-flopping.

We've had some rain this week. The rain barrels are full. Overflowing. I was hoping it would take longer for this to happen but it goes to show that there is A LOT of water that can be collected for your gardens this way. This weekend there is an Earth Day sale at Canadian Tire and lots of good prices to be had. My plan is to head over and purchase our soaker hoses with the additional 20% off that they are offering this weekend. The soaker hoses will be attached to the bottom spigot of the barrels so that when the tap is turned on it can water the garden and empty the barrel. I'm hoping to also find a cheap hose to cut into 4 pieces and attached to the overflow spout so that the extra water can also be diverted to other places in the garden.

I started cleaning up the front garden this week and a lot of 'Easter flowers' are starting to come in. I just call them that because I don't know what they are - much to my Mom's dismay I'm sure. All those little colourful flowers that pop up right at Easter. I cut back our two roses right down to the bottom and to be frank I was glad to clean those up. After Jan and I moved them last September they didn't look so good and now it's just a matter of waiting to see if we killed them :( Jan says they might come back ... Last year when we moved the Clematis she didn't survive the move well either but I noticed she's starting to grow back again :) I'm really excited about her. Clematis was one of my Grandma's favourite. That and Sweat Peas - so for sure we'll have to have some of those.

I think the front garden needs a bit of a boost or shot of some healthy soil. It just seems so dry. Like powder when you're working in it. I don't think that the family that lived here before us got a chance to do much in the garden. It also probably has to do with the dry climate that we are in. I'm hoping that some compost and some mulch will help get in back into a more productive garden again. The base layer of the garden is good. Other than the June bugs and larvae I keep finding there are not many worms or critters which is not such a good sign. June bug larvae is a major killer of the garden and eats all the baby roots from the plants and the lawn. Plus not to mention that they are HUGE and totally gross. Jan and I are waging a war on them ... we now throw them on the road for the cars to run over or the birds to take. It kind of makes me feel a little better knowing that they are dying a death by bird. We don't have many birds in our yard at all. We don't have many trees or shrubs so that's why. Birds and worms = a healthy garden ... this much I know ... so I'll let you know when they start to arrive :)

On a totally unrelated note Kona has caught some kind of cold. She has an ear infection and congestion in her little nose. She must have picked in up in Van when we were out there. It started around Wednesday night and so yesterday we took her in to see Tyson. She was a very good girl for him. Long of the short is that she's on some ear drops and we are just going to ride out the snotty nose to see if it goes away. She seems really energetic and still her lovely and charming personality so I think she's okay. We also had THE CHAT with Tyson about getting Maximus fixed. Since Kona has been around he's much more protective and he's still a very healthy dog. Tyson said it might be a good time being that he's not old and he hasn't had much trouble back there with Cancer type things. It will also prolong his life in terms of Cancer-related problems and with the scare earlier in the year ... it might be a good thing. We are still chatting about the final outcome of this. Tyson did say he was THE MOST laid back full-boyed rottie he's ever seen. I think he even called him a Teddy Bear :) We had thought that at some point we would breed him ... you know ... to carry on his legacy when he's gone - but this might still be an option but we have to do a little more research. Ultimately and healthy Maximus is more important to us and if he doesn't get to play with other dogs (other than Kona) ... then that's not so healthy.

Summing up the Weekend ... on Wednesday

2009-04-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Kona-dawg and I spent the weekend in Van with my Fam :) We headed down there for my Mama's birthday and were able to help out around the house with some projects and things my Mom and Dad needed some help with. But also because it was a chance to do something special for my Mom.

We did most of our 'clean up' jobs on Friday spending the morning cleaning out my Dad's garage. My dad owns his own construction/renovation business out of their home and so it tends to get a bit ... shall we say ... crowded in there. It was hard to even walk around because of how much stuff gets piled in there. So we unloaded the tools from the truck and reloaded it with stuff to go to the dump. We had a pretty full load and when we got down there ... it was pretty busy. Got me thinking more about how much 'stuff' we throw away. I mean ... that 'dump' was pretty packed full. I was glad to see that there are some different areas to put stuff ... like metal, paint, and gyproc but there is still so much that could be recycled.

In the afternoon I helped to clear out some bamboo that had crashed over into the garden from the neighbour's yard. Vancouver had a pretty snowy winter and it has damaged A LOT of the plants in the garden. As a result a lot will have to be cut back and hope that they will recover. My parents have a pretty big and complex garden in the back of the house and so we got a start clearing out some of the leaves and damaged branches.

We also went on a few hikes this weekend into the rainforest by my parents house. It was a good chance to get Kona a little tired and let her run off-leash. She was a really good girl and had a great time. Mind you, it was raining pretty darn hard and now I think she has a bit of a cold. Her nose seems a little stuffed up and wheezy last night so we'll have to keep an eye on her.

On Sunday we made dinner for my mom and despite our best efforts to keep her out of the kitchen she also helped. It was a very yummy dinner and I was able to bring lots home for Junior. We did have turkey et. al. but my Mom always does an awesome job of having loads of veg for us :) My Grandpa and Uncle were there as well and Kona was a little weary of their presence ... she had a few good barks at my Grandpa and Uncle ... for some weird reason. After everyone got to relax a little she also did and crept up sneakily to say hi.

I got to spend some time with my sis as well. Even though she was just here ... it was still nice to see her. We got to do a few runs together but her neck was bugging her and my achilles was bugging me. None-the-less it was nice to get out for a few runs around N.Van despite the rainy weather. Monday's run was around 9K and was sunny and nice so that felt good.

Junior and Maximus made out okay without us but it's good to be home. We don't have a very full week of TOC days yet which is good and bad. We are working on the downstairs room and getting things finished up down there and then the new fence is coming up this week as well. I am starting to work on the front garden today and then seriously thinking about what we are going to do for the Veg. I have to get the seeds started this weekend and start figuring out what's going to happen with the beds. I think we have an idea of where we want to get started ... now it's just a matter of attacking it piece by piece and not getting overwhelmed. It is a little overwhelming.

Easter Weekend - Road Trip

2009-04-09T07:32:00.001-07:00

When we were little ... Easter was the weekend we all (cousins) headed up to Kamloops for a long weekend at Auntie Margie and Uncle Alfred's. It was a lot of 'Easter Dresses' and My Little Pony. This year Easter falls on my Mom's birthday and so I've elected to head down to the Coast to help out around my parent's place and help them get some jobs done. They've been up here a few times on Work Weekends now and it's time to repay the favours. The road looks to be clear so far and I think it's probably good timing. Work has been slow and it's also a chance to work a bit with my dad around the house and make a few extra bucks :)

Junior will be training all weekend no doubt. He's been piling the the miles on lately and he's been tired as a result. Kona has had a few restless nights and early mornings making it tough to sleep in. It will be nice for him to have the house to himself and train, eat, sleep and train some more. I'll probably take Kona with me for a girls weekend and Maximus and Junior can hang out and watch movies :) We'll miss them ... we always do. It always seems weird when we spend a length of time apart. I have to work this afternoon and then the plan is to hit the road. I'll be spending the morning getting things ready for the trip as well as for Junior while I'm gone.

On a side note ... I watch a new Food Channel Show this past weekend The 100 Mile Challenge. It's good! I've been reading/watching/curious about this kind of thing for a few years now. It's not new to me but it's pretty interesting. I like the philosophy/idea behind it but I know we couldn't accomplish anything close to that.

Since moving to the Okanagan we have:

Committed to eating more local fruit and veg - this part has been pretty easy.
In the summer we hit the Farmer's Market almost every weekend.
We also buy our eggs farm fresh from a woman at my school.
We are planting a Victory Garden this summer.

It's a start. I admire the people who are taking this challenge full-on and finding successful ways to follow it through. I will be investigating more strategies for us in the future. One of our spring/summer goals is to plant our own Victory Garden in our yard that will see us through the summer and into the fall. It will hopefully provide us with some things we can 'can' through the winter. We have a huge yard. It just makes sense. Unfortunately our neighbour is building a HUGE workshop behind our back fence that will affect our sun and kind of threw a kink into the original plan. So we are just waiting to see how that goes up. Next week we'll be heading to Art Knapp's to pick out our seeds and to get Junior his apple tree :) We got a gift certificate from my Aunt and Uncle this past Christmas and so that's the plan. I also cashed in some of our Air Miles for a Rona gift card to help pay for the materials to build the raised veggie beds. And I am going to hit up George The Builder for some help by making him some cookies :) I'm trying to be smart and economical about it. Hopefully it will help to cut our grocery costs as well over the summer months when we aren't working ... as much.

This past week Junior got a tentative confirmation that his mom and dad are coming out this summer to see us. This is pretty exciting because it's a pretty long journey and we haven't hosted them yet. It will be a good time of year for the weather and wine touring which is a highlight for them :) We have lots to get ready for their arrival. It would be nice to have a few of our 'projects' finished before they come. Of course ... we also might put a few good ones aside for when they get here. Possibly contemplating the SHED ;)

Summer seems to be just around the corner here already - it's crazy. The recent weather has been so great and has erased any doubts from our minds about our decision to be here. Despite the concerns over how much work we are getting or not getting. A close Calgary friend of ours (Lori) said that we've Paid it Forward enough times in both our lives and careers for it to come back around for us. I think this is pretty true. I hope it is. The next few months will be tough but there looks like some solid opportunities for the both of us coming in September. We'll have to work together but I feel like it will be okay. Besides ... it's pretty hard to stress out too much when you can jump on your bike and head out for a ride along Eastside Road and the lake.

Happy Easter Everyone!

16 Degrees Today - Gotta Love It

2009-04-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend this past weekend. The weather did not disappoint AT ALL! After all the worrying about work last week I finished off the week at Pen High with Junior. We both got TOC jobs for Friday. I was in Phys. Ed which will hopefully be something along the lines where I'll eventually end up once I've done my time a bit. It was nice to go to school/work with him. It's been a long time since we've worked together (in the same school) and I enjoyed having lunch together in the middle of the day. My classes were pretty low key and things went well.

Yesterday we both planned on doing our rides. Junior had a biggie and I was heading out to OK Falls along Eastside Road and out to MacLean Creek Road. I'm not a fan of riding by myself so I called Al and Elaine (another Calgarian couple) who have recently relocated to the Okanagan. They met me at The Bench and we headed out from there. It was a great day for a ride. I didn't bring my camera but I wish I would have. The lake was like glass and the sun was shining. I think it was round 15 ish. It was hard not to stop smiling. I had a smile almost the whole time :) It was my first ride outside and it was a gooder. I was exhausted from the ride and the wind and crashed and burned around 9 o'clock. Kona had other plans last night and proceeded to keep us up ALL night pacing around the house and would NOT settle down. I tried all the tricks but nothing was going to work. She kept us up the entire night. Around 6 am I gave up and got up and tried to get some things organized and done.

Today Junior did his big run and a bike and I had a ball game. I'm playing slo-pitch on a local ball team with my friend AJ and it was a beautiful day for our first game of the season and the sunshine felt very summerish. We lost by one run in the end but I think it was a pretty solid effort none-the-less. I think it's still 16 degrees right now and it's 8 o'clock.

I made a new slow cooker recipe tonight for dinner to get us off to a good start for the week with leftovers. I'll try and post it tomorrow. I got it from my friend Michi.

Tomorrow I'm back at McNicoll for a full day which is a good start to the week. Our neighbour George is starting to put up our new fence in the next few days as well so that's going to be exciting. I'm not sure what the rest of the week has in store but it's my mom's birthday so I might try to head down to Van to see her this weekend. It depends on the work situation near the end of the week and depending on what happens I might be able to help my dad out for a few days. The weather looks FANTASTIC this week/weekend so I'm excited about that too! Might be a good chance to get some really good runs and bike in. Still have to get to the pool soon. I don't know why it's been such a challenge this year. I just don't want to go.

Keeping Busy

2009-04-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

It's going to be an inside day today :( as it's snowing here again. What a bit of craziness we are having. But I don't think we are the only ones. Seems like both our families on the Coast and our friends in Calgary have had significantly more SNOW than usual. We haven't spent a winter in the Okanagan but neighbours have said this is the first time it's been like this. It does seem to be day to day. On Saturday it's supposed to be 15 degrees and sunny. A great day for a ride ...

The last few days Junior has had some TOC work but I haven't had much. I had a half day yesterday for my friend Deb who's class I love. I heart them :) A half day for a week is not going to pay the bills I'm afraid so I'm contemplating some other options. This past week I submitted my application to work at Rona part-time. I figured if my dad is Halls-on-Homes that I might as well use my knowledge from being his apprentice to get myself some kind of job. I also figured if I was working at Rona I could get us a discount on 'projects' that we want to do. So we'll see. The Rona store here is beautiful. So clean. I am also contemplating going down to work for my dad for a week or so. He always needs someone to help and he'll pay me right away. The down side to this is that I have to block book away from TOCing and commit to going down there. That means I'm not going to get any days working up here. It's also pretty risky because I don't know if I'll get work while I'm gone that could be more money than when I'm working for my dad.

The reason we are feeling a bit of a money crunch is because we had two weeks of Spring Break here and our contracts both ended right before. It was not so good for us because we didn't get paid for Spring Break. We also have a big fence project going in in the next two weeks or so. Our neighbour George is going to put up our new fence and it's going to be large purchase. We have done pretty good for ourselves up until now. Our main goals were to find some work and pay down some debts. We have managed to do a good job of both and it's feeling a lot better in that aspect.

I've been reading a lot about sustainable living and working to keep costs down in this economic crisis that I'm sure we are all feeling. I think we have also really cut back. We have even Craigslisted some items we don't really need to make things cleaner and simpler around here. We are not going out for expensive dinners we can't afford and we are watching what's going onto our credit cards. I think it kind of a good lesson learned. I mean you never really know what's going to happen to your job which is a big security blanket. I feel more stress about it I think. Junior is taking it in stride. I have to keep myself busy with jobs and things around the house (which is why I am blogging a ton lately) or I start to think too much. The good thing about this whole economic crisis is that it's bringing people back down to a reality. I think things are more real. We seem to be living in the 'now' more so. We are taking care of our things and we are being more organized. Spending our time training and working together to keep living our dream. I mean what else is there to do? I hope that it makes people think more about what they are consuming and what kinds of things they are spending their money on. Maybe more about not consume consume consume and more back to the basics. Like our grandparents and parents did.

In the next few days off I am working to clean up the extra bedroom downstairs because it's going to be 'guest' season soon with the warmer weather coming. Last night I used up some of our leftover paint can from upstairs to start painting. I cleaned up the dressers and the closet and today I am going to finish painting. It looks 300 times better down there already. I have some leftover drop sheet curtains to make for the closet so it's not wide open. And that's my plan for the next two days and then into the weekend. I think it will feel good to get that done and cleaned up. I'll post some pictures as soon as I'm done.

That's it for now. Dogs are going out for a walk and then it's marking for Junior and cleaning up for me. Possibly a run this afternoon when it hopefully warms up.

Mixed Vegetables in Spicy Peanut Sauce

2009-03-31T17:12:00.001-07:00

Wow - Tuesday already. I'm just relaxing in the kitchen and enjoying some quiet time. Maximus and Kona are chillin' on the kitchen floor and resting as well. I started the dinner and just thought I'd enjoy the quietness. Dinner tonight is leftovers from the weekend as I think it's probably a good idea that we finish the last of those up tonight without risking poisoning ourselves :) I wanted to post the recipe that we made on the weekend with my sister because it was FANTASTIC. It was also in relation to my 2009 goal of using our slow cooker once per week. I think we've managed to use it most of the weeks so far. Anyways ... the recipe goes like this ...

Mixed Vegetables in Spicy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:
1 tbsp of olive oil
2 onions chopped
6 medium carrots peeled and sliced thin
4 celery stalks diced
2 tbsp gingerroot minced
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 cup vegetable stock
3 cups frozen green beans
1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter
2 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp red curry paste - but I would add more
4 cups shredded cabbage
2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts

How To:
Cook the onions, carrots, celery into a frying pan ... heat these up until the veggies are soft. Add your gingerroot , garlic and peppercorns. When this is mixed and a little soft add it to the slow cooker. Add your vegetable stock as well. Cook this on low for 6 hours or 3 hours on high. The veggies will look very cooked but that's okay. It also doesn't look like it's going to make enough but it does. Don't worry. We worried and it was for no reason.

In a separate bowl make the sauce. Add the peanut butter, soy sauce, lemon juice, maple syrup and red curry paste together until it's blended. Add this to the slow cooker about 10 minutes before you serve the dinner. Also add the cabbage and the sprouts last (we also added broccoli) and stir up the sauce and cook for about 10 minutes with the lid on. Garnish with green onions and chopped peanuts. Serve on rice or noodles.

At first we didn't think it was going to make enough but it did. It made tons. We served it on brown rice and it was really good. We also had lots left over and made it into tupperware containers along with the rice. The next day we made wraps with the leftovers and it was great. It would have been really good for lunches the next day. The recipe said it served 8 and it was about right. I got the recipe from my Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook that I recently got from school. It was the first recipe we tried from there and so far it was a hit.

Sister Sunday and Week in Review

2009-03-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

Spring Break is officially over and tomorrow we are back into the swing. As of right now I don't have any jobs booked but Junior has a full week. All he needs is Wednesday and he's in the big money :) 4 days in a row here bumps us up onto the grid.

It was nice to have the two full weeks of break to relax a bit but we had some visitors to keep us going. My mom and dad followed by my little sis. We were able to do some training as well. Junior started his program with Coach Olly and was pretty focused on that for the most part of the break. Some good long workouts and even a bike ride outside - the first of the season. It's pretty crazy that it's March and we are going to be able to ride outside - mind you we have to bundle up pretty good as so not to get too cold but it's outside none the less. We were thinking about how last year one of our first outside rides was actually racing at the Wasa Lake Tri. Crazy!

This last past week we had my sister here to visit us. She was able to take some of her vacation days around now and it timed well with us being off school for a bit. It was nice to have her out here and be able to have some fun and relax at the same time. We managed to keep her pretty busy between running, odd errands and jobs and then walking the K-dawg and M-dawg on a pretty regular basis. It's nice to have the extra pair of hands to walk them. We were able to hit the beach a few times with the dogs and that is always a great start to the day.

On one of our walks we did get yelled at a little. We were walking the dogs off-leash down by the Channel in this area where we always go off leash. As do lots of other dogs and owners. Anyways ... the dogs were running around and being VERY good at coming back (surprisingly) - we didn't notice that down the embankment a lady was taking pictures of a beaver ... we didn't see the lady or the beaver to be honest. She got really mad at Maximus for chasing the beaver into the water. I don't think he even saw it but whatever ... she yelled at us saying we were disturbing the wildlife. It was a little frustrating because there are not many places to walk your dogs off leash here ... not like Calgary ... and this is one place that we often go. Anyways ... there are always dogs when we go. Some people let their dogs chase the birds and ducks on purpose. We don't let them do that. We always try to stop them from bugging the birds too much. It just wasn't a nice way to deal with it. As soon as we saw her concern we did leash the dogs up no big deal and both Kona and Maximus were listening. I didn't feel good about the confrontation and struggled a little with what the right thing would have been to say. So I just opted not to say anything.

It was nice to have my sister here for my runs this week. We did a great job of sticking to the run plan. We even got our hills done. Our long run we headed up onto the KVR to do. It's one of my favourite places to run long runs. We managed to go further than I had ever run on the trail and into some new and neat territory. Wow there are some fantastic places up there. And the view was amazing. We forgot to bring our camera but we did take some time to enjoy the view at a couple parts. We ran 16K and it was a good run. We were both hurtin' a bit because we had gotten some massage the day before. I had a painful achilles and she was having some back/hip pain. It didn't bug me too much on the way out but on the way back it was acting up and I was glad to be done.

We finished off my sister's trip with a couple of games of Cranium at Kath and AJ's place. Now my second time playing Cranium and still a ton of fun. Met some new 'locals' and had some good laughs. We played boys versus girls this time and tied at one game a piece. We killed them in the first game and them us in the second. Highly recommend this game as an ice breaker ... so funny! Anyways after we went out on the town for a bit of dancing. It was ... interesting ... seeing all the people who were there. Weird mix. We even saw our neighbours Al and Tammy there. Random but fun! I think my sister had a good time and I was glad she did.

It was nice to have her visit ... it's been a while since we've been able to hang out so much kind of like when we lived together a few years back. I've missed her company a lot. She's planning on making a summer trip out here so looking forward to that. I think it was good as well for Junior to get some time to himself to get in all his training this week. He's done a great job and it will help to kick start some things for him. His shoulder is still VERY sore and bugs him to do the simplest things (like throw a stick for Maximus) but he's doing the physio to help it so I think it will be okay.

Run Focus

2009-03-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

I got ALL my run workouts in this week. It felt pretty good to get the miles in. Honestly it's the first time in a long time that I've logged that much. Hopefully I'll be able to do it again next week too. It sure helps that we are on a two week Spring Break. The bad thing is that schools back on Monday. Kinda has to be though because the bank account is suffering. Haven't been on my bike this week. Down side to running so much I guess. Now ... just got to get to the pool eventually. My achilles is acting up from the runs but I got it worked on a little today so hopefully it will help. Man it's painful.

Catching Up

2009-03-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

The last few days ... we've been doing some training, hanging with my sis and gettin' some jobs done around the house. It's been pretty productive actually. It's been nice having my little sis around to hang with. She's been helping out around here too.

Last weekend my parents were here for a visit and work party if you will. We did the rain barrels and measured up some curtains for our windows. They look great.

This is a quick pic (above) of the ones my mama made up for our kitchen. She made them so that the sun can still come into the top part of the window but blocks the bottom part of the window. We put them up last night and it makes a huge difference. Before we could look right into Al and Tammy's kitchen and them the same to us. Sorry guys ;)

These are the ones she made for our front foyer so that we could take down the towel we had hanging there. It sure cleans things up. We have a pretty ugly window hiding behind those curtains that we can't see anymore :) It also prevents everyone outside seeing straight into the bathroom when the door is open and the light is on :)

We also motivated ourselves to post some Craigslist items this week as well. When we moved in last summer we had HUGE stacks of cinder blocks all over the back yard. It was horrible. Because they were stacked on top of each other they made a giant cinder block wasp hive. On some summer days the pile was swarming. I figured we should just get rid of them and Junior agreed so I spent the day on Monday stacking them all along the side of the house and then took some pics. Posted them and VOILA they're GONE. The next day. We looked at those stupid blocks for almost a year now and it took ONE day. I should have done it last summer. Oh well ... they're gone now!

The next few days looks to be much of the same. Walking the dogs and getting some good running in this week for the first time in a long time. And just takin' 'er easy until school gets going again on Monday.

Green Cleaning Maniac

2009-03-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

I was a Green Cleaning Maniac this afternoon. I attacked that shower and bathtub with vigor. It's so sparkling clean now I'm going to have to take a bath tonight :) After all was said and done ... it actually felt good to clean it. I used Borax and a scrubber sponge. I sprinkled some into the tub and then added a little water. I did the tub first and then the shower tiles. It was the first time I didn't feel woozy while cleaning the bathroom from the chemicals. In fact Junior came it to inspect about half way and said it smelled CLEAN. Like nothing :) Anyways just wanted to say IT WORKED. Our shower and bath has never been so clean. I'M IMPRESSED.

I also went through the cleaning cupboard and picked out 3 chemicals to be recycled. They are lined up in a row on the counter to go to the place where poisonous chemicals go. Still have to figure out where that might be here but at least they are committed to leaving this house :)

Hallsy's Famous Lasagna

2009-03-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

Sauce List of Ingredients:

1 - 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 - 19 oz can of Italian tomato sauce
1 small can of tomato paste
1/2 cup to 1 cup red wine :) depending on your taste - That leaves the rest of the bottle for the actual dinner. Use a wine you would drink for dinner not just an old wine. My mom taught me this!
garlic cloves to taste - I use around 6 but that's just me. We LOVE garlic.
1 pkge of veggie ground round
1 yellow onion - Yellow is sweeter than white.
2 tbsps of worcestershire - Make sure that it's a veggie one ... most have some kind of animals in them. I found that the Safeway brand is good to go for veggies.
basil
oregano
salt and pepper
2 tbsps sugar - It takes some of the tomato acid flavour away

To Make the Sauce: Empty all of the cans of tomatoes/tomato sauce into a large sauce pot. Add the wine, worcestershire and all of the seasonings at the beginning and turn the stove to low ... maybe 2 or 3. Cover and let all this simmer. In a frying pan start the veggie ground round and the garlic together. Chop the onion into small pieces and add to the veggie ground round. Cook until the onions are clear. Add this to the sauce pot. Let the sauce simmer covered on low for AT LEAST an hour before you make the rest of the lasagna so all the flavours mix together.

Spinach Layer Ingredients:

1 pkge of spinach
1 pkge of extra firm tofu
garlic to taste
2 tbsps of lemon juice
1/4 cup rice milk
salt
oregano
basil

To Make Spinach Layer: Crumble the tofu into a bowl in small pieces. Cut 3/4 of the bag of spinach into pieces and add to the tofu. Add garlic, lemon juice, rice milk, salt, oregano and basil. Cover and put into the fridge until the noodles are cooked.

Ingredients to Make the Layers:

1 box whole wheat noodles but you only really need 6.
1 large pkge of low fat motz
parm for sprinkle
9X13 baking dish or 3 little ones (you'll have to use more noodles then).

To Make the Layers: Cook 6 lasagna noodles in a large pot. I use whole wheat noodles because they tend to stick together better. Layer the pan with a little sauce. Add 3 noodles to make 1 layer in a 9X13 baking dish. Add more sauce to cover the noodles. Dump all of the spinach layer onto the sauce. Cover with motzarella. Add more sauce. Add another layer of noodles. Cover with sauce totally and then add your final motz cheese layer. I also sprinkle with parm to fill in the holes. And always add your last ingredient - LOVE!

Cook for 50 minutes at 400 degrees UNCOVERED. Let it sit for about 15 minutes after to make sure it sets.

Just a side note ... I usually don't make the lasagna on the day I'm serving it. It just takes too long and then it's hard to relax and enjoy it. I find it easiest to make the sauce one day ahead and then it's kind of out of the way. Recently I tried to make it in 3 smaller pans so that it would last us longer and I could freeze some too. This has been the best though it only feeds about 4 people then. The larger pan can feed around 8 or more.

Green Cleaning Recipes

2009-03-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

I found this while looking at my favourite site last night ... David Suzuki Foundation - LOVE HIM - and think he should run for Prime Minister (see previous posts). Anyways ... it doesn't get much better than this for Green Cleaning. Today my project is to tackle the shower and the tub and give them a good scrubbing and Spring Cleaning.

I forgot to mention that the reason I'm on a green cleaning kick is because I read this on the back of the bottle of our old bathroom cleaner I was about to use ... "CAUSES BURNS. DANGEROUS FUMES FORM WHEN MIXED WITH OTHER CHEMICALS. DO NOT MIX WITH OTHER CLEANERS. DO NOT SWALLOW. DO NOT GET IN EYES. DO NOT GET ON SKIN OR CLOTHING. DO NOT BREATH FUMES. HANDLE WITH CARE. KEEP OUT OF REACH WITH CHILDREN. WEAR A MASK. WEAR RUBBER GLOVES, SAFETY GLASSES. USE IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA"

So yah ... I guess that's out ... no-brainer really. It got me thinking about how Kona-dawg tends to come into the bathroom while we are in the shower and the bathtub and licks the sides of the shower and the shower curtain because she likes the water that runs down. So yah ... the old cleaner is OUT.

Saturday Stroll

2009-03-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

We are really enjoying our time off ... Spring Break is two full weeks here. So nice! The weather has been great pretty much the whole week and the temperature is warming up. I think the last few days it's been around 10 ish. Our snow is all gone and the sun is beginning to be warm on the face. It's so nice. It's starting to make me want to work outside in the yard soon. A few of the neighbours have started some garden beginnings ... I'll have to check with Jan (Master Gardener neighbour) to see what needs to be done as I'm a bit new to all this garden stuff.

As you may have read earlier in the week we are doing some projects around the house ... we finished the barrels when my parents were out here. If the weather is nice tomorrow I will probably head out and paint the downspouts so that job is totally finished.

Kona dawg had done some serious chewing destruction to both of the dog beds we have over the last few months. One is Maximus' and one is hers. She chewed up BOTH :$ She got into a bit of a bad habit chewing the zippers off the ends of the beds that hold the inner bed/foam inside the cover. Anyways ... we were contemplating getting some new beds but thankfully my mom came up with the idea of cutting the zippers right off and sort folding the two sides over so that they hold the bed together without a zipper. Nice work mom! Saved us a bunch of money.

Today I put some time aside to paint our mudroom baseboards as they were driving me crazy. We had left them since we moved in and it was bugging me almost every time I went in there. So this past week I bit the bullet and bought a small can of trim paint and got to it this aft. They look so much better and cleaner now. I can believe Junior let it go that long :) without wanting them painted. They are done the first coat and waiting to dry before I put another coat on tonight. Of course the dogs were outside ALL afternoon and are now dog tired :) On the way in Kona smudge the trim paint ... ARRGGHH.

This morning I took the dogs up onto the KVR with some 'local' friends of mine - Deb and her husband Craig and their beautiful little girl Makara. It was SOOOO nice up there. It was heavenly. A perfect view of the lake and tonnes of room for the dogs to run around. I was a little nervous with Maximus and other dogs and not listening but Craig was a lot of help. He took Maximus for a run up ahead a little ways to tire him out. Deb, Makara, Kona and I all walked behind and enjoyed some chit chat. When Craig came back he said that Maximus was pretty good but kept looking up at him thinking 'Who are you ... not my dad'. Seems like they had a great run cause Maximus has be lounging around all afternoon. I love the days when we can just do some odd jobs and rest and relax. It just seems like we have more time to do this here.

Converting Our Wine Barrels to Rain Barrels

2009-03-17T16:02:00.000-07:00

Back in November I found some Oak wine barrels on Craiglist for a pretty good price. We paid $60 for each of them - we bought 4 - one for each corner of the house. We kind of had thought about this project for a while. I had been researching it on and off for the last few months. The best sites I found to help with this project were ... The City of Bremerton #1, The City of Bremerton #2, and MC Conservation.

Anyways, the plan was to convert them to rain barrels to use for the garden over the summer months as it's pretty dry here and we have to pay for water. Makes sense to try and re-use Mother Nature's gift :) Up until this past weekend we haven't had the chance to set them up and convert them but my mom and dad were coming up for the weekend and so we made it a project :) I took some pictures of the process to post so that we can remember how we did it and so that if anyone out there is thinking of taking a similar project on they can use our ideas. So here goes ...

Here's a picture of my mom modeling the barrel before we got started.

STEP ONE: DRILLING THE HOLE FOR THE OVERFLOW

We had to drill a hole at the top of the barrel so that when the water filled the barrel it had somewhere to drain to. We used a 7/8 wood drill bit to make the hole. It fit right between the two top rings of the barrel.The finished barrel will have a hose attached to this overflow so that we can drain the water away into the yard where ever we want it to go instead of it pouring out onto the corner of the foundation of the house.

STEP TWO: PIPE TAPPING THE HOLE

After we drilled the hole we had to use a PIPE TAP to thread the hole. The pipe tap cost $30 but was one of the most important tools to this project.The pipe tap had to be held straight onto the barrels so that the threads were straight. My dad bought the pipe tap one size smaller that the drill bit so that it didn't make the hole bigger for the spigot.

This is a picture (above) of the hole after my dad tapped it.

STEP THREE: ATTACHING THE OVERFLOW SPOUT

This is a picture (above) of the overflow spout that we used.

We had to put some tape around the threads before we used some really sticky caulking to seal the space around the overflow tap as we turned it. It was clear so it wouldn't show after the job was done. We added a little around the edges of the spout after it was on to make sure it wouldn't leak around the spout.

STEP FOUR: DRILLING THE HOLE FOR THE TAP

Between the rings at the bottom of the barrel we drilled another 7/8 hole for the tap. We pipe tapped it again. It was important to make sure that the hole was a good distance from the bottom of the barrel so that a hose or a bucket could fit under the barrel. The idea is that the bottom tap be used to empty the barrel if it has to.

Again we sealed the threads on the tap with the tape and then the caulking again. This is SUPER important on the bottom because it's going to hold the weight of the water once the barrel is full. I think this would be the most leaky part if it was going to leak.

STEP FIVE: MAKING A HOLE IN THE TOP

One of the last things we had to do was to make a hole in the top of the lid of the barrel so that the downspout from the gutter has somewhere to drain the water into the barrel. We had to make sure that there was a screen in the lid so that the debris from the gutter and the roof wouldn't end up in the bottom of the barrel and create a gross sludge. It was tricky figuring out how far from the edge of the barrel to make the hole ... it was totally dependent on where the downspout ended up.

STEP SIX: FINAL INSTALATION

These are the last two pictures of the barrels all hooked into the system and ready for some RAIN. We had to build a small base at the bottom so that we could fit a bucket or hose to the bottom. It was also to create a bit of gravity so that the water would be able to push its way through the soaker hose that has to be attached.

To finish ... there are a few things we have to do before this project is totally done. We have to attach a cheapy hose to the overflow spouts. We are looking for a garage sale hose that we can cut into sections and not worry about how expensive it is. We also have to paint the elbows we attached to the downspouts so they match back to the house again. We also have to get a few soaker hoses to attach to the taps at the bottom of the barrel but they are pretty pricey and we have to wait till they are on sale.

Things are Rolling Along

2009-03-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already Saturday and almost a week since posting last. Holy moly! This cold is still hanging on ... it's been officially two full weeks. I'm surprised at how long it's going because stress is low right now. Usually when I'm stressed out or SUPER busy colds seem to hang on but that's not the case with this one.

Lots of good days this week. Life is going good. Last weekend I went to Kath and AJ's place to meet up with some of my new 'local' friends to have dinner and play some Cranium. Which I've never played before. SO FUN! Lots of good laughs and a few competitive moments :) had by all. It was really nice to get out on and do something different and fun. I made my famous lasagna and it was a hit. It's always so good :) And VEG ... for all those meat lovers who think that good lasagna has to have meat ... well it doesn't.

Monday I had off work. My first official day of TOCing and I didn't get a call. SecretIy was kind of glad. I got a lot of life jobs checked off the list which was nice. I felt good about getting some things done at the start of the week knowing that I might be working the rest of the days. Who knows.

Tuesday was my first day I got a call and I was going to Pen High for the full day. I got to go with Junior so that was nice. Kind of eased into it. It was a low key day and I got to meet a few other important people there (like the Principal). Which is good.

Wednesday I was back at my McNicoll and covering for my friend Nancy - the day went really well and I got to spend some time with my kids (Grade 6's) again. I think this whole TOCing thing will be okay. I do know that I feel a lot better about things when I know where I'm going. It takes the stress away a little and makes me feel more at ease.

Thursday was all about my favourite class ... my Grade 7's. I love them. I'm covered for my friend Deb and it was a great day. We did a math test and some silent reading for most of the morning but it was fun to hang out with them.

Friday I got to go skiing and get paid for it :) Deb's little one was really sick the night before and she ended up calling me first thing in the morning to see if I could go up to Apex for the day. YES! We skied and spent the day with my Grade 7's again and it was beautiful up there. WOW! So sunny and warm. It was like heaven at the top. The snow was nice and it was clear so you could see so far. No injuries and lots of kids smiling. A few times I thought out loud... I actually get paid for this :) My life doesn't suck :)

The parentals are coming up this weekend to spend some time with us. The Connector is always the questionable part being so high. The Coq is usually pretty clear being a major transport route. We've had some good dumps of snow the last few weeks so who knows what the highway will look like. My dad has driven it a lot in bad conditions - he used to commute between Kamloops and Van every weekend but that was many many years ago. So now it's trying to rest and relax until they get here.

Oh yah ... I also read and ENTIRE book this week. I got it from AJ on Saturday night and finished it by Wednesday. It's called 1000 Splendid Suns ... from the same author as The Kiterunner. It was AMAZING! I read it so fast. I couldn't put it down. For sure onto my Favourite List.

Feeling Like Spring ...

2009-03-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

Another week gone by and lots of things on the go. Spent the last week with my kids and enjoyed pretty much every minute of it. Played some fun games and just took the time to sit back and enjoy their company. Kind of took a laid back approach to the week and just let it happen. Sometimes I forget to enjoy it and get wrapped up in the craziness of the school scheduling. I also had a bad cold all week that kept me (and Junior) up some nights with the coughing and stuffy head. So I have to admit I was a bit tired too. I got some really neat 'Thank You' books from some of my classes and it was a nice way to end. I am really going to miss having a 'home' school as now I will be added to the TOC list and will be called out on a daily basis to the schools in town. Always a bit nerve racking considering you never really know what the day is going to bring. I do have a few days this week at McNicoll which will be nice.

On Friday I got to go up to Apex and ski with some of my new teacher friends (Deb and George). We took the grade 7 classes up for their ski day and it was beautiful. Lots of sunshine and lots of good snow. It's been a VERY long time since I've been skiing (maybe 5 years or more) and I kind of forgot how ... fortunately everybody was really great about waiting for me and it was kind of like riding a bike. It was a beautiful sunny day and a great way to end my job. I felt very lucky to have had this great opportunity and I will miss the friends that I've made through working there and kids I had in my classes a lot. It was a great time :)

Training this week was pretty weak. Having this stupid cold for the whole week now. I did manage to get to my bike workouts but no runs this week. As I am writing this I am feeling a little guilty about not doing my long run but I don't think I have much strength. I walked the dogs this morning for about an hour and still felt yucky so I'll rest up and see how I feel this afternoon. Here's a pic of Kona dawg chillin' and relaxin' in the sunshine :) after her walk.

This week looks so far to be pretty low key going into Spring Break which is two weeks here. So I don't think I'll get many calls to sub. The bad thing is that we won't be working for the next few weeks so we'll have to tighten our belts. My parents are going to try and head up here next weekend to help us with some spring projects we would like to do around the house and we need my dad's help. We are planning to install the wine barrel rain barrels to our downspouts to catch the rainwater to water the garden this summer. My mom is going to bring her sewing machine to help make some new curtains. We have a few little odd jobs that we need tools for that we don't have. After that my sister is coming out for a bit of a holiday as well. Looks to be a bit of a busy time around here for us but looking forward to getting somethings done around the house with both of us being off work for a few weeks and the weather supposed to be nicer. Though I'm having my doubts considering we've had snow almost every other day. It's not lasting very long ... I guess it's too warm :)

On a side note this past week I applied to work at Red Rooster Winery but haven't heard anything back yet. They posted an ad in the paper for some work for the summer so I figured that might help us through the summer months. We'll see I guess.

My Crafting Escape

2009-03-03T17:57:00.000-08:00

This is a picture (below) of the crafting space that Junior helped me make in our basement. As you can see we painted out the old dark cement walls with a light blue sealing paint to help keep some of the water out. I bought some cubbies (and got some as gifts from Junior's Mom) to hold the scrapbook papers in. These are the best I've found so far by far. I bought a little magnetic white board to attach the spice containers to and got a few extras to hold all those little things :) that go along with crafting. I bought a little cheapy table from Canadian Tire to use as a desk for now and also able use if we decided to have people over for dinner type things.

This is a picture (below) of the old ugly crawl space that you can't really see anymore. I made the curtains from drop sheets that you buy at a paint store and cut them and hung them with grommets and a wooden rod. I had to hand hem (because I don't know how to sew) the bottom to make it look nice but it was worth it. It also hides the furnace and the hot water tank.

Before We Moved In ...

Now ...
CLICK THIS LINK to see more Basement Transformations

My Idea Book - Creative Inspiration

2009-03-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

So this is a picture of my IDEA BOOK. I use it to put together my ideas on things I find that I would like to do in our house. I've had my idea book for a long time actually. Long before we ever had the house. I think I actually started it when I was in university and dreaming about owning a house. I have never dreamed about a big house but I've always dreamed about owning a small little house and fixing it up. We have now been in our house for 7 months and we have made a lot of improvements. As you have read in my blog over the past few months you've probably noticed notes on fixin' 'er up :) We have worked hard to improve our little place and enjoy spending time together and doing projects.

One of the reasons I like to keep an idea book is because I like to gather the creative things that give me inspiration. Plus it helps when I'm trying to explain to Junior or my dad how I want to change or make something different. Sometimes they think I'm crazy when I'm trying to explain - but then I can show them kinda how I want it to be.

Junior's been really good about some of my crazy ideas and has pretty much given me free reign downstairs to make things MUCH nicer down there. I'm lucky to have my very own space to create and relax and not have to totally clean up my CREATIVE messes :) Of course I do try to make sure it doesn't get too crazy creative down there.

Loving the SUN-day

2009-03-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Of all the days of the week ... my favourite is becoming Sunday. I know ... I know. Don't we all. Today just seemed like it was going to be a pretty good day from the start. K-dawg slept in till 6 YAY! For the last few months since Christmas she's been getting up at all hours of the night. We are not putting her in the kennel at night. Just doesn't seem right to me. I feel like she needs to sleep with the Pack :) and she does stay on her bed the whole night. The down side to this is that she's just not SLEEPING the whole night. She sleeps on my side and so it's me she wakes up to go outside. Today she gave me a break and slept till 6 which was nice. Junior gave us a little warning that we were going for a walk and then it didn't seem so bad getting up. It's getting lighter here now which is nice and so we bundled up and headed out and about the morning. We also got treated to a Tim's :) and then headed down to the dog beach for some good times. Stopped by the Peach for a bit of a photo opt on the way home.

YESTERDAY my friend Dawn brought her rottie-cross Winnie over to to go for a little 5K run with the K-dawg. Partly to tired her out and partly to get some dog-time. I know that Kona is good with Winnie because they have played before and I know that Winnie is fast and so Kona can't really catch her. I think this is going to be important because Kona is not used to other dogs. She tries to play with everyone else how she plays with Maximus and it's causing some 'trouble'.

Today it was out for our long runs for the both of us. We are starting to build up to some long time and distance now. It was another 10K for me. It was a beautiful sunny day and it felt good to have some warmth. Yesterday when we ran I recruited my friend Dawn Walliser to come with me again. It was so AWESOME to run with someone again. And she's fast. She has a track background and so she really pushed me. We did the 10K in an hour and it was great. I had to work really hard to keep up with her. I hope she comes with me again. We did some stretching and then it was in for a shower and a nap. It was nice. When I woke up I had a bit of a sore throat. Yikes! I hope it's just post run sore throat ... not a cold. I only have a week left of school and I don't want to get sick. No way man.

After an afternoon of scrapbooking on my school book I'm now resting and relaxing and getting ready for another week. Probably going to take the dogs out while Junior does his marking. I don't know how he does it. I hate marking. I do have some report cards to do this week before I'm done on Friday. Finishing up the wrestling classes with my kids and doing the final Beep Testing with my classes on their fitness and then that's it. It's on to the TOC/sub list. I'm sad about it. Trying to see the positive side of it. Maybe more money? Maybe a chance to get into some more schools? Maybe medical benefits might get paid once we are getting more consistent days? Maybe a chance to wear some 'non' PE clothes again? I know dumb but it's true ... I like to wear my 'professional' clothes sometimes.

That's about it for now. Have a great week everybody!

The Three Questions Cont ... (Author: Jon J. Muth)

2009-02-27T15:54:00.000-08:00

When is the right time to do things?

Who is the most important one?

What is the right thing to do?

"Remember then that there is only one important time, and that time is now. The most important one is always the one you are with. And the most important thing is to do good for the one who is standing at your side. For these my dear boy, are the answers to what is important in this world."

"This is why we are here."

Takin' My Baby Runnin'

2009-02-26T20:20:00.000-08:00

Well after I was singing praises about the better weather we were starting to get ... IT SNOWED again last night. And it's staying on the ground. It's been cold as well. After a short teaching day I came home and made some spaghetti sauce and then took my baby for a run. She's been driving us crazy as of late. She definitely has a crazy side to her. I've been taking her on my shorter runs the last few weeks but nothing over 4K. Today after our 4K - she wasn't even tired. We headed down to The Peach and then along to the Sicamous and then doubled back to come home. As we turned around the corner of our street to come home she looked up at me ... as if to say 'it's over?' Little brat. She kept up along side me the whole time and didn't fall behind. I guess she's starting to build her little base :) The last few times she's tried to bite the leash for the first few minutes but I figured if I ran a little faster she'd have to concentrate to keep up and wouldn't be able to bite at the leash. Today she was good the whole time. No tugging at all ... just full on running and keeping up.

Nice work baby girl!

The Three Questions (Author: Jon J. Muth)

2009-02-25T15:51:00.000-08:00

I had a moment today ... I was with one of my new friends Nancy Wyse who teaches at McNicoll with me. In fact we team teach a PE class on the Day 1 schedule together. I admire Nancy's reflective nature and ability to connect and look at the big picture with the student's we teach. She has been a rock for me and has offered support when needed. It has been great getting to know her this year. A very wise lady.

Anyways, Nancy was showing me a book today that she had. It is called The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth. It was a life moment for me. Something just clicked.

The Three Questions are ...

When is the best time to do things?

Who is the most important one?

What is the right thing to do?

Before I write about it ... I need to think a little more about what I want to say about it.

Wow ... Wednesday Already

2009-02-25T08:26:00.000-08:00

I really don't know why these last few weeks are flying by. Man ... it's been crazy. Maybe it's because the weather is starting to turn and warm up really nice here. The sun is starting to shine more (though we've had a few nights of snow). The backyard destruction is starting to wear on me. I'm hoping to get some plans going so that we can have a nicer back yard this summer. I think my parents are coming up in the next few weeks or so to pick up the couch that we are giving to my sister. Can't wait to have our living room space back. Plus when my parents come up they can help with a few bigger projects we have. I think my mom is going to bring her sewing machine so we'll be able to put up some curtains. Looking forward to that. We also have the wine barrels ready to convert to rain barrels for the garden this summer and my dad has done some research on how to do this. I think this will be a great project and help to eliminate some of the water into the foundation which has been a problem we have worried about for a while.

Gotta go to work but I'll post more later.

PS - WE HAVE A SNOWFALL WARNING TONIGHT ... AAARRRGGGHHH!

Sunday Run Day

2009-02-22T18:33:00.000-08:00

What a great Sunday ... Junior woke us up early and we all got to go for walk together. This is something I love. We headed down towards the little off leash area I found a few weeks ago. Junior bought us a hot chocolate on the way down. We had a little off-leash time but Maximus was being a bad boy and was taking the opportunity to run a little crazy chasing the ducks. Kona has been pretty good at coming back when we call her. I think she's still scared that we might leave her there. After a bit of time down and around the beach area Kona took a dive off a little retaining wall and gave us a scare by majorly crying like she had broken her leg. She was holding it pretty awkwardly. I kind of felt it and then gave her a treat and she recovered after a few minutes but not without giving us a bad scare. After that we walked along the beach and then home. They both crashed and slept the afternoon away. It was nice.

After a bit of down time I headed out to do my run. 10K. Not too bad. I haven't been doing a great job of my run plan and I'm hoping to change that this week and do a regular run schedule. I have been taking the dogs for LONG walks (over an hour) when I get home from school and then when I get back I'm tired and then don't really feel like running. It's kind of a catch because if I don't walk them ... they drive me crazy and if I do walk them ... then I'm tired.

This week looks to be exciting. Our school play is this week at the theatre here in town. The kids are doing Midsummer Night's Dream. They've had lots of coverage in the local newspapers this past week which is pretty cool I think. I think we are all going to see it on Thursday as a school.

Week in Review

2009-02-20T17:00:00.000-08:00

This week just flew by. It was crazy fast. Maybe because it's getting close to my contract ending and so I'm getting caught up in that feeling. I'm not looking forward to it ending. I wish it was getting extended but the lady who is away is for sure coming back and so Lynn is coming back to her position. I will be done the week before Spring Break here which is a full two weeks. Good to have the time off off but at the same time it won't pay the bills by any means. So two weeks off work with no pay.

The last past week the cycling classes are kicking up a little harder. They have been killer workouts. Olly moved my trainer up another notch and it just about killed me on Monday night. Wednesday night it was a little better but the workout was HARD. The hardest one yet. But I was able to keep up and didn't get dropped. After that I had two volleyball games to play that night and that was a bit crazy. My legs were so stiff the next morning.

This week at school I started my wrestling unit with my classes and it went really well. Rollie was in and watching some classes and doing my evaluation. They want to get something onto my file so that I have a record of the work I've done here so far. I'm hoping that will be a good thing because I want to get back into the PE again and there isn't too much movement here. I think it depends on the whole retiring thing. Next week we'll work on some more wrestling and then it's my last week and there is a lot of things happening at school. Our school play is next week as well so I think it will be a busy.

The weekend looks to be nice and sunny and the snow in the yard is almost melting. It's created a bit of a swamp back there and so I'm hoping it will warm up and dry out. The dogs are making a mess out there in the mud and tracking it into the house every time they go out. I guess that's a by product of having very little lawn :( Our neighbour behind us has started on his own backyard clean up and build a fence to fence off some of his property. He also has some plans to build a new workshop/garage in the space behind our house. So looks as if we will be looking into the side of a shed now when we are in our backyard. The up side of this is that it will be a little cleaner and we will get some shade from this. George our other builder neighbour who is helping us put up our new fence came but today and let me know it's a go and that we will be getting some plans going to get that project done. I think this will really clean up the yard.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-02-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

1. RIght now I'm living my dreams. We are living in Penticton BC and loving this small town life. We are excited about the summer months to come and even though our jobs are a little unpredictable ... we are embracing and enjoying the freedom that comes with that. This is something that I never thought I could really do. Quit my full-time job and take such a big risk. This is very unlike me. But I feel like we made the right decision and we are supporting each other in a different ways than we have before. I don't feel scared.

2. I was friends with JR many years before we were 'officially' a couple and I think this is what has made our relationship so strong. I admire what a great teacher he is ... I always wish I could be as book smart as him. He knows a lot about the world. We are both good at teaching the unwritten curriculum. Life's lessons :)

3. I love my dogs. I've never been a cat person. I think that is because my dad has always been allergic. My family has always had a dog and I think they make life so much better. Right now we have Maximus and Kona and they are quite the pair. I love them. Maximus is a good dog - and Kona is still cute :) She can be bad but she has gentle eyes.

4. My sister is my best friend. We have had ups and downs over the years but right now we are up and enjoying being closer to each other. I admire her fashion sense and her ability to shop - something I'm not good at. Junior says that I'm a Chinese Grandma and save all my pennies for a rainy day. But I do like to buy nice things.

5. I have no debt. And I am proud of that.

6. I work hard at EVERY job that I do. I like the feeling of doing a good job. I like that people respect me for doing a good job. I think that I get this from my dad. He's a bit like Mike Holmes in most ways - no more explanation needed :)

7. I'm good at doing projects around the house. I know how to use most tools. I can paint well. I got at 18 volt cordless drill from my mom and dad for my birthday a few years back and it was one of the best presents I've gotten.

8. I'm very crafty and creative. This I get from my mom. She can pull off a craft project or dinner party in a minute. She's an amazing cook. I'm amazed at the kinds of dinners she can make with random things from the fridge and pantry. Junior helped make me a craft room in our new house and I love it.

9. I wish I could go back in time to high school and change some things. I would have made some different choices.

10. I have had my heart broken twice and felt like I would never be able to love anyone else again. I was wrong. Twice.

11. I can play most sports well. I don't throw like a girl. None of us Halls girls do.

12. I've done 2 Ironmans. None of which were perticularly fast ... I'm average on the swim. I am not strong on the bike. This last time I ran most of the marathon. I have raced with the Nun both times.

13. I have curly hair that I straighten EVERY day because it makes me feel better.

14. I watch the Young and the Restless because I'm a Halls and that's just what we do.

15. Things have not been the same since my Grandma died. This is true for both my Grandmas.

16. I miss my Grandma a lot. After she passed away (in the hospital) I slept in her bed in the nights following. One night she came and tucked the blanket over me. There was no one else there and I wasn't even scared. I told her I loved her and that I wasn't scared. My sister told her not to visit her in the night because it was too scary.

17. I have never smoked or done any kind of illegal drugs. Not once.

18. I dream that one day I will own a VW van.

19. I always vote Green.

20. I don't like wine or beer ... I don't like the taste.

21. I like to cook and make good food. I really like to make nice dinners for Junior. My best recipe is Veg Lasagna. It's good. I make it when I feel like I need to have some time to myself because it takes a long time but it's worth it.

22. My first car was a Jeep YJ and I wish I never sold it. I loved that Jeep. It was cool!

23. I recycle because it's important.

24. I make friends easily. I don't forget things easily.

25. I feel very blessed. I have a great and loving relationship and I have a loving and caring family. We are healthy. We are loved by our families and our friends. We have a good thing going right now and we are embracing it. We can accomplish almost anything together because we are both strong and have a lot of supportive family and friends around us. We are good and honest people trying to make good things happen by teaching young people and trying to make a difference.

Back on the Horse

2009-02-05T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well ... training is getting back on track. I've dived into my run training program again with the goal of Peach City half marathon as my goal. Hoping/working towards the 2 hour goal. Leading of course to the half iron in Oliver. I've been motivated a little by my sister who is also training for a half. Vancouver. She's been doing a great job of sticking to her run plan. Nice work sis!

Took a little bit of a break on Tuesday night as my legs were tired from both running and cycling on Monday night. So I decided to take the dogs for a longer walk. I was feeling like I needed to go and they were definitely ready. We made out pretty good on the way out on the walk but as we turned the corner near our house we saw a guy walking towards us with a lab. It was lunging and barking aggressively at us so I decided to walk on the other side of the road to avoid them. Maximus and Kona usually whine a little from afar but Maximus decided that he had enough of this (protecting his pack from afar) and decided to take a us for a closer look. Once he decided to pull - Kona was in their as well - and together they both pulled me over the road and because the road and sidewalks here are so slippery I couldn't hold them. I ended up falling about half way across and they dragged me across the rest of road and over the curb :( I banged my knee, elbow and shoulder on the curb. Once we were close the lab went right after Maximus and he didn't back down as both me and Kona were tangled and flat out on the sidewalk recovering from being dragged. Once I was able to get my footing I pulled them off and the guy was able to pull his dog aways away. It was so scary and it happened so fast. I managed to keep the tears back until I got home and then I couldn't stop. I think I cried for like 3 hours. Junior was pretty worried. As was K-dawg who was consoling me as I sat and cried on the bathroom floor :( Maximus was looking sorry and sad in the living room for most of the night. In the end ... we were all okay. No one got bit. Just had a bad scare and were pretty shaken up. Considering that Maximus is not aggressive I think he really has had enough of other dogs threatening his pack. Plus he was defending both me and Kona.

I feel a little shaky taking them both out now. My friend Deb from school is going to come tonight to walk the dogs with me so that we can get back on the horse and double team them. I have always loved to take them both but seems like after the pitbull attack a few weeks back Maximus has just had enough and has been different. It will be good tonight to get out again. I have some bruises and a bit of whiplash but I think it will be okay. Mostly just shaken up. It makes me sad and upset that I couldn't stop it but I didn't really have much of a chance it happened so fast. I try very hard to make sure they don't scare people (and reinforce the breed stereotype). I think that's why I was so upset.

Anyways ... on another mroe happier note ... Michi thinks she might be going into labour as of yesterday but we'll have to see today. Best wishes Michi ... thinking about you.

Sunny Penticton :)

2009-01-31T13:39:00.001-08:00

Well it's officially sunny here in Penticton. It's blue sky and 7 degrees. And as previously wished and posted - the yellow snow is melting a little today :) YaY! I went for a little run this morning with K-dawg seen as though she was driving us crazy. Not sure what's up with her the last few weeks or so but she been a bit of a devil. We had a rough go last week as she was not feeling well and ended up with another trip to see Tyson. Seems like she's doing better this week but still doing little barfs all the time. Weird. Not sure what's going on there. This morning when I went to inspect the backyard I noticed that she dug an huge hole beside the house the last week or so. Ambitious little thing ... as she got it down pretty far and it wasn't there last weekend. She also went out with Junior and Maximus first thing and then came home and chewed the front door jam :$ I managed to catch her before she did too too much damage but I will have to sand it and repaint it. Bad girl. Oh well - it's a job that needed to be done anyways. Now it just moves to the top of the list.

I've been taking her out on my little runs now for the last week or so. Junior is still worried about her little joints so the limit is about 20 minutes before she starts to drag her butt. I feel like saying ... I know little sister :) I feel like I'm dragging my butt as well. It's good to have company on the runs and I'm looking forward to her getting a little bigger so she can go with me longer. But she's a good size right now - about 45 lbs. She's not big and budgie like Maximus. Plus she doesn't stop and pee five million times on the run like he does.

Today my friend Michi is coming over to work on her baby scrapbook in my new craft room. I got some pretty good stuff (papers and cutters) for Christmas and it will be nice to get to use it. Michi's pretty creative too so I'm looking forward to seeing what her book looks like so far. I think I'm going to work on my Sansom scrapbook as well. I'm out of a few things but I can plan the pages and cut the letters with my new Cricut - which I LOVE by the way - now that I've actually got to using it last weekend for the first time.

On a side note my contract got extended to the week before Spring Break. Which is the end of Term 2 for us. A good/natural time to finish I think. I'd like to be there longer ... but I've been lucky to be there this long so far. I really like where I am and I am loving being back in PE again. I'm trying to see the positive side of it. I've gotten a lot of work so far this year when we didn't anticipate getting much at all. I was lucky to fall into this great school and meet and work with great people. It feels like a little family. I have been able to de-stress from working and teaching in Calgary and feeling burnt out. I feel good about school again and have a more positive and renewed energy about kids. Now I will also get into some of the other schools in the district and get to know some other teachers and Principals. All this being said - I still am sad to leave my kids and my classes :( It makes me sad when they ask me when I'm leaving ... but I'm trying to spend a little more time connecting with each of them these last few weeks and focusing on enjoying their company while I'm there. Plus I will get to sub there regularly once I'm done - so that's not so bad.

It's Been Awhile ...

2009-01-29T20:40:00.000-08:00

It's been a week or so from my last post ... the weather seems to be looking up here again. We had a really cold patch through here last week and it was a tough go. Lots of wind and chilly temps. We have had lots of fog/clouds for most of the month here so when it cleared up this weekend it was nice to see the sunshine. The mountains (or hills I guess is more accurate) around here are still covered in snow. As is our yard. We are looking forward to the snow melting. I'm tired of yellow snow in the backyard :(

Our cycling classes are going really well. I have been able to commit to the two days a week and it feels good to feel stronger on the bike. I'm looking forward to getting out earlier in the season and at least mentally feeling better. Now I just have to settle into my run plan. Next few weeks hopefully that will come together a little easier as the weather warms up and the sidewalks and roads start to get clear. They are sheets of ice right now. Seems that shoveling sidewalks here is not a priority. Surprising really considering how many older people live here. I would not want my Grandma or Grandpa to try to walk anywhere in town right now. Maximus and Kona have learned new commands recently "Icey" and "Careful".

On Monday I got to go to a baby shower for one of my new friends Michi here in Penticton. It was out at Poplar Grove Winery because Michi works in the cheeserie there. It was a great little party and she got some very cute and lovely things for the new baby. I like Michi because she's a bit of a hippie :) She and I both see similarly on many things. Environment for example. We are both pledging to be more careful about our Mother Earth. Michi has a beautifully renovated house that her and her husband have worked really hard on to get ready for when the new baby arrives shortly. I think her due date is February 14th :) How cool is that?

Everybody at work has been great about getting me some extra periods over the last few weeks knowing that my contract is due to end at the end of February. I've really enjoyed my time there and am going to be sad to leave. Knowing that I've made some great new friends at my school since starting there.

On the Mend

2009-01-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

Well after a loooong we at school this week (scheduling issues) I was really looking forward to the weekend ahead. I had plans to get a start on my run program and work in my craft space as well on a scrapbook I started a while ago. I also wanted to take Maximus and K-dawg on a walk on the KVR to scout it out. Unfortunately Junior had the flu this week and was off for a few days of school I was hoping it would skip me but it didn't. It started Friday night and didn't really hit full on until yesterday. Today I'm exhausted. I'm hoping to try and get up and around today and maybe even outside to get some fresh air. Maybe that will help.

In other news ... Junior took Maximus out for a run yesterday and he got attacked by a pitbull. Maximus that is. They were running on the Channel (where I go all the time) and a teenager boy was walking his pitbull off leash. He came over to Maximus and Junior (who were on leash) and was sniffing and then flipped out and attacked Maximus. Junior said the kid didn't do anything to stop his dog once it started and Junior tried to jump in between them to stop it. I guess another couple who was walking near by came over and the guy kicked the pitbull and it let go of Maximus. I guess a few choice words were exchanged but in the end Maximus was okay. I think they were probably both a little in shock. Maximus is definitely a lover and not a fighter. Junior said Maximus had some blood in his mouth but he thinks it was from the pitbull and so needless to say they were both pretty lucky to come away with little damage - other than emotionally of course. Pretty scary considering I run Maximus there all the time and we walk Kona there as well all the time. Junior said if it had been K-dawg she would have been dead. Started me thinking what I might do if that happened when I was walking/running with them. Junior said he was lucky that the other couple was around because he didn't think he could have stopped it :(

Time for some relaxing and recovering.

Sunday Summary

2009-01-11T18:50:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day! Started off by relaxing and watching a new show I've been wanting to see. Dogtown. It's on the Discovery Channel ... and on after the Dog Whisperer. It's about this place in the States that rescues really bad cases and helps to give them a new life. After that I went for a run with my big boy ... Maximus :) I just wanted to get out there and go. I was aiming for around an hour but I knew that he would have to make like 100 stops. We headed down to the Channel and over the first bridge. Then down along beach to the Peach and home. It was about 50 minutes and felt okay. We got into a good groove for the last 30 minutes or so and didn't have to stop much for the rest of the run.

I was pretty exhausted after that and crashed out while doing some homework for Junior and watching The 11th Hour. Pretty depressing how we are destroying our beautiful Earth. I recommend watching it ... though it's not really a feel good movie. Lots of pretty graphic images. Basically ... we need to consume less and ultimately drive A LOT less.

After my cat nap :) I woke up to dog commotion as Junior was heading out for a run. Anytime runners are put on now a days it seems to be a party in our front foyer. Everyone crowding in trying to get a piece of the fun! Now that there are two of them it's double the trouble. We can't take Kona yet for runs because she's too small and Junior is worried about her little joints. As for Maximus it was his second run of the day. Though when he runs with me it's not so fast ;) so it hardly even counts. After they left I felt bad for my little girl so I decided to gear up and take her down to the dog park to see if there was anything going on ... nothing. Winter in Penticton is pretty low key. We decided to head down around the 'round about and explore a little. We found a little road with no traffic and I decided to work on some off-leash recall. She did awesome. I also took our new ball my sister gave them for Christmas and we played some fetch. She did awesome. She's pretty smart. Maximus will chase the ball but he doesn't bring it back. After about 1/2 an hour on the road we headed home. It was nice to spend some time with my little K-dawg one-on-one and I didn't feel too bad because Maximus got two runs today too. Needless to say everyone got their exercise and it should be a pretty quiet evening :)

PS - Junior updated his blog. Finally :)

Kelowna Field Trip

2009-01-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

I've often thought since moving here ... how we lived in Calgary. A quick trip this afternoon to pick up Junior's Jeep from Kelowna reminded me of this. You see ... for those of you who have been through Kelowna ... there's this bridge. And then there's the main street (not sure what it's called) ... let's just say it's Main Street. You cannot pass through Kelowna to Penticton or vice versa without traveling along both of these. Up until recently they were working on the bridge but have finally finished. My point being that when you have lived in Penticton (which takes 10 minutes to drive from one end to the other) it's a bit of a shock to head into the big Kelowna hub-bub :) Traffic for one is significantly more dense and in fact ... the Main Street even has 3 lanes going each way at some points. Once we got back onto the highway towards Penticton it felt good the de-stress from the driving. It's the little things we sometimes forget. Remembering that it took 30 minutes to drive anywhere in Calgary. And for 6 years I drove 45 minutes each way to Sansom everyday. It takes 45 minutes to drive to Kelowna.

The draw of Kelowna is of course that it has SHOPPING ... and more amenities. Penticton doesn't have a Michael's and for those of you crafty cats that means I have to drive to Kelowna to get necessities for my projects. I try to time it with the 40% coupons but today I was trying to avoid going at all. Junior made the call and pulled over on the way back through :) We shopped a little but only got a few key items I usually run out of when making my cards. Plus we saw a great organizing cubby for some of my ribbons which was great. It did require some finite assembly but Junior helped when I was starting to spaz out.

After a quick stop at Future Shop for a few things for Junior we headed home. Not too much damage at all :)

TGIF

2009-01-09T14:48:00.000-08:00

So glad it's the weekend. Really and truly ... I've been so tired this week. Been struggling to get up every morning. Thing is ... we've been going to bed at 8 pretty much every night. It's been brutal. I think it's the holidays catching up with us.

Both Junior and I have had our contracts extended. Junior's will go until Spring Break ... which is two weeks here :) And mine is extended until the end of February. So we are lucky to have some more steady work.

My kick off to my run season and goals has been looming over me. I know I want to get back running but my body has been exhausted so this weekend might be the time. The bike sessions have been going really good and consistently.

This weekend also looks to be some relaxing and rejuvenation ... something we both need. I do have to make a few plans for some upcoming units but it's not too much. And of course there is my all time favourite job to do ... grocery shopping :(

"The Way the Crow Flies" by Anne-Marie MacDonald

2009-01-07T12:53:00.000-08:00

I finally finished my last book of '08 going into '09 - The Way Crow Flies by Anne-Marie MacDonald. I was given this book by one of my very good friends Julie Miller who is a very well read friend. She is a friend from Sansom and I miss her very much since moving to Penticton. A very 'crafty' scrapbooker and card maker as well as a very talented and organized teacher. I think I got this book from Julie two years ago. And it's been on my library shelf 'To Read' since then. A shame really ... but I have had so many books on my To Read List for so long. One of my goals when I moved here was to stop trying new books and start to clean off my personal library shelf. As mentioned in my post yesterday one of my goals was to clean up my library and pass books onto new friends to enjoy. In doing so this past year ... I was able to read 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult and the Kiterunner by Khaled Hosseini. Both books that I had wanted to read for years and finally had the chance to sit down and enjoy.

The Way the Crow Flies was a little daunting at first but I had organized it to be up next knowing I would have some time over the holidays. My goal was to get at 'er. I am a slower reader but I am committed once I get into it. I have to say once I was in ... I was hooked. It surprised me because the subject that was in the book really made me uncomfortable. Sexual abuse is not enjoyable to read. It had some really dark parts. Especially the abuse. I loved reading about the life on the army base and how this family grew up together. How the mom embraced her life as an army wife. I enjoyed the young girls perspective growing up but struggled with the story at the end. The moral challenge of telling truths. I don't want to give too much away but the ending completely surprised me. Wow.

After waiting two years to read this book ... I was glad to be done it. It took me the entire holiday to finish but I'm glad I did. I think this book will stick with me for a long time. There were many different things that challenged my thinking. A sign of a good book.

Taken from the back cover: "The optimism of the early sixties, infused with the excitement of the space race and the menace of the Cold War, is filtered through the rich imagination of high-spirited, eight-year old Madeleine, who welcomes her family's posting to a quiet Air Force base near the Canadian border. Secure in the love of her beautiful mother, she is unaware that her father, Jack, is caught up in a web of secrets. When a very local murder intersects with global forces, Jack must decide where his loyalties lie, and Madeleine will be forced to learn a lesson about the ambiguity of human morality - one she will only begin to understand when she carries her quest for the truth, and the killer, into adulthood twenty years later."

Starting a New Year

2009-01-06T21:35:00.000-08:00

We are now getting back into the school routine. It's only been a few days back but it includes planning out the next few months. Junior has had his Pen High contract extended until Spring Break. Which is good. He' s been working hard to do a good job of all his classes and lessons. As for me ... another month or so at least on my contract and then we shall see what happens.

With the new year comes some new goals. I'm not a big resolution person but I like to try and set some new goals. Some of my 2009 goals include:

To read more books.

To not purchase anymore books but to go the library to take out my books. This is part of my green pledge - reducing the amount of books on my shelf at home.

To pass on my books that I read to other people who I think would enjoy them and if not ... donate them to the library.

To use my canvass bags to do my groceries ... more often - We do this a lot but I want to do it ALL THE TIME.

To train for another half marathon. Peach City.

To do another half Ironman. Oliver.

To find a good yoga place to go to here.

To use my slow cooker more often.

To have some 'creative' time.

To grow a veg garden in our backyard.

To be a calm and assertive pack leader :)

Conclusion to the Western Canada Christmas Tour

2009-01-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

We just go home late last night so I thought I'd post a few ...

After spending yesterday in Cowtown at Mark K's place for the night we headed home for an night of driving. Junior was determined to get home and back to our own bed after being on the road for our entire holiday. I knew the drive would be a tough one but I was also game to be home and to have the dogs back in their own house.

Night driving is always hard for me because I just don't have the perception and focus. Junior finds it much easier. I was a little hesitant to be driving through the mountains at night but the bottom line was that we just wanted to be home. I can't believe we made it ... the driving conditions were terrible. Blowing snow and limited visibility through the hardest part of the drive. Roger's Pass. We sure lucked out on the way out but on the way home it was pretty unbelievable. At least 4 feet of snow on either side of the road. I couldn't see anything in front of us but was unable to rest and sleep because I was so scared. At one point we following a freight truck because we could see his lights and then the snow totally blocked us seeing anything in front of us. I tried to keep focus on our Harry Potter audio tape but in the end my fear won over. I just had to force myself to close my eyes and fall asleep. Junior did a great job getting us through the drive but I was so glad to see that when I woke up ... we were in Armstrong. I do remember waking up slightly to see a deer crossing the road around Mara Lake which was a little bazar and random. I thought to myself ... 'this is the second deer with a rack I've woken up to see on the road.' The first one being when we drove home after Seth and Gabs' wedding. It felt a little creepy and majestic at the same time. Kind of gave me a chill.

Our plan is to just chill and DO NOTHING for the next few days. I want to get the tree down and our new couch arrives tomorrow or Saturday. Really exciting. I bought Junior a sectional couch for his birthday because he doesn't fit on the couch we have so when we watch tv or movies he has to sit on the floor. His legs are too long.

As for the weekend. I am getting some crafty stuff organized as well as starting to set my goals and make my plan for the year. Planning out my run goals and getting my race schedule together.

Looking forward to having some down time at home and spending the last few days hanging out with Junior, K-dawg and M-dawg. I'm sure there will be a few trips to the dog park to burn off those Christmas treats we have ALL been sneaking.

Western Canada Christmas Tour '08

2008-12-29T15:26:00.000-08:00

We are into the final stages of the Western Canada Christmas Tour :) and have finally had some time to chill out to ourselves for few hours. Sorry I haven't posted much ... we've been ridiculously busy and a little out of touch with the amount of travelling we've been doing.

We spent the beginning part of the holidays with my family out on the Coast which actually resembled a Christmas in Calgary more so ... tons and tons of snow and storms made for a bit of a hairy drive home. We heard that the Coq might be a better route to travel this time round and we decided to make that plan. The roads were totally clear all the way to where the toll booth used to be and then from after that ... SKETCHY to say the least. The road was sheer ice. We passed a bad accident that had a big truck rolled over in the ditch and there was an ambulance and fire fighters on scene. We both took a deep breath as we passed. The high mountain pass was also very snow covered. Lots of icey driving conditions but it was sunny and very beautiful for the most part. We got home and unloaded the Jeep to do laundry and relaxed for a few hours.

We had our Penticton Christmas Eve together with our little Penticton family :) and turned our tree lights on and watched The Polar Express :) which is my favourite Christmas movie. We went to bed pretty early knowing that the next day Junior would have a big day driving us to Calgary. I got a new digital camera so I can now post pics on my blog.

The drive to Calgary was really good actually. The roads were clear even through Roger's Pass ... I took a few pics and looked forward to getting to Calgary. We arrived in Calgary pretty late in the evening and looked forward to crashing at Michelle and Pete's place who graciously offered their house to us for the night. In the middle of the night Kona snuck out and down the stairs and chewed the stair rail. What a brat! It was her first destructive chewing incident and it was not even at home :$ We were so upset ...

We headed out early in the morning to get to Brandon on time and it was a long drive ahead. A full day of driving. We checked into the 3rd floor and it was a great room. We were so tired from not sleeping the night before and the long drive we crashed and burned. I was very worried about being on the 3rd floor with a peeing puppy but she ended up being great. No accidents! No chews! Go figure. In the middle of the night at approximately 3 ... she licked my nose to wake me up to go down for a pee. I was half asleep and partly in shock I think ...

In the morning we got a bit of a sleep in and then headed for the last stretch of our EPIC journey to Winnipeg. We arrived and checked into our hotel on the ground floor with an outside door. Doesn't get better than that. We had a short afternoon visit with JR's parents and went for dinner at HU's on First (which was so great).

Yesturday was full of visits to Winnipeg Grandpas, Nanas, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins et al. and then home to rest. We got to see JR's Grandpa's place at his retirement community which is pretty swanky ... I think. Nana entertained us for the afternoon with some tea and a backyard for Kona and Maximus to play in for a few hours and despite the cold temps I think it was well enjoyed. By the time we got back to the hotel to get ready to meet Auntie Wendy and Uncle Karl et al. for dinner. Olive Garden. A favourite of ours for sure. Lots of veg options.

More to post later ...

Winter Wonderland Van Style - Part Deux

2008-12-22T14:15:00.001-08:00

Junior's french is wearing off on me ... just joking ...

We are well into the holiday and the visiting out here in Van and are looking forward to an afternoon of resting and relaxing. We are EXHAUSTED! For those of you who are teachers out there you know what happens. After the first few days of holidays your body catches up with you and then you crash and burn. I can feel it coming. Junior is well overdue. Since it's snowed so badly here we have been in shoveling mode ... did the driveway a few times and then headed down to dig Grandpa out. We haven't been able to do much official exercise so that's been it. Plus walking the dogs a few times a day in the deep snow has done us in. Kona has been waking my sister up in the early morning hours to go for her Starbucks run. We are three for three morning Starbucks runs since we've been here. Ahhhh the Vancouver life.

Dogs have had lots of SNOW time. Which equals sleeping time. I think we've had one minor accident since we've been here but it wasn't a big deal. Kona has been bagged tired because she's been trying to keep up with all the holiday action as well as Maximus. Maximus has been really good with all the visitors around. All in all it's been a great trip so far.

Junior is spending the rest of the afternoon resting and sleeping and getting ready for the big drive tomorrow. The weather is really nice today with sun to melt the snow. Unfortunately Junior says it's better if the snow doesn't melt because then the roads won't be as icey. Tricky. It's supposed to snow sometime tomorrow so we are packing up tonight and heading home around 11 ish to beat the night driving.

We are doing our morning Christmas celebration breakfast tomorrow before we head out. We dug out the old school antique waffle iron this morning in prepartation. So it will be presents, waffles and then time to head out and get back to Penticton.

Looking forward to having a few days to ourselves to relax and rejuvinate before we head out further to MB for a second round of visiting. Lots of winter driving ... lots of snow. Makes for a tense drive but Junior has done an amazing job so far ... I guess I just have try and sleep most of the way so I won't freak out. We are stopping over in Calgary for the night and then on to finish the drive. Two long days. Here's hoping the weather holds well for us.

Kim wants me to mention her in my blog so ... Kim ... YOUR MENTIONED. Ha Ha Ha. Merry Christmas Sis.

Winter Wonderland Van Style - Part 1

2008-12-21T15:12:00.000-08:00

Well after a long week of school before the break ... we finished off and had the Jeep packed up in under an hour or so. I had worked pretty hard the night before trying to get everything sorted out and organized for us to leave on time. I was worried about the road conditions as the days leading up to our departure were very snow filled. Temps dipped down to the lowest in years in our area and the snow and wind were making our lives a little chilly to say the least. In the few days leading up to us leaving our furnace was playing some tricks and needed some TLC. Temps were dropping pretty low during the days and the nights when we weren't home or were at work and we were unable to adjust the setting. In combination with our back door being without weatherstripping ... the resulting chills were getting the best of us. I bit the bullet and went over to our Contracting Neighbour GEORGE to ask for some help. He had his furnace guy over within the hour and proceeded to show up the next day to help install the new weatherstripping. We are pretty lucky to have some amazing neighbours to help us out.

We had the house all ready to go for AJ one of our newly acquired 'local' friends. AJ worked a few months in a PE class of mine with one of my students and we were able to chit chat and have some pretty good laughs on occasion ... of course they were not related to work ... but mostly just enjoying making friends with new people and starting build a bit of a new network. AJ volunteered to help us out and watch the house and has been prepped for future dog sitting and house sitting occasions in the future. A pretty fun and easy going dude :)

We headed out of town in the early afternoon hoping to make it a good ways before the light was gone. Junior wasn't really too worried but I was scared SHITLESS. I don't do much snow driving let alone driving on ice or black ice. I was easily convinced to sit in the back with Kona and Maximus as the front seat would have probably did me in. Junior settled into the drive and I tried not to watch. I tried to sleep without avail. My stomach was in knots and I eventually just had to close my eyes and hold onto my baby. Junior was a CHAMPION on the drive. There were times when I couldn't even see any road. It was entirely snow. Roads were totally covered. Temps were around -25 at the top of the Sunday Summat which I was so glad to reach though I knew it would be downhill from there pretty much till we got to Hope. We had heard the road from Hope on was closed earlier in the week but it seemed clear the entire way.

We arrived around 8:30 pm and it was nice to be home safe and sound.

Midweek

2008-12-10T19:47:00.000-08:00

Well ... I skipped my biking tonight. I still have a bit of a stomach issue from yesterday's sushi. Junior didn't sleep well either. Same issue. I guess my surprise sushi dinner had a few surprises of its own.

I had a bit of a rough day at school yesterday with some stuff that happened in my class and so I was glad today was my short day schedule. I managed to get us a new tree after school because we had no room to bring the one from Calgary and had to leave it behind. I spent the evening sorting out the lights and getting it decorated. Junior set up my new Stained Glass Christmas DVD with 'Heavenly Carols' as I decorated. I also started the Christmas cards today too. I got a few done but we have a pretty long list. I love to make the Christmas cards every year. It's kind of my thing to do. I have some new stamps and paper and I kind of did have a plan of what I wanted to do this year. I think I might need to make a run to Michael's this weekend to get some envelopes. Seems I have none :( Kind of a problem when you are sending cards. We also ordered the new return address labels to include Kona so hopefully they arrive before I have to mail the cards.

My mom and dad might be coming up this weekend but there is quite a bit of snow on the Coq so it's a tentative plan. We have a few jobs that need to get done here that require my dad and they are taking my old couch back to Van for my sister. I got Junior got a new couch for his birthday. A brand new sectional so he can veg out and watch football and actually fit on the couch but it doesn't arrive until January 3rd. We want to make sure there is lots of room for the new one.

Looking forward to Soup Club tomorrow. Always a favourite day of the week :)

I have invited some of the girls from work to come and christen the new craft studio on Friday.

PS ... No peeing in the house for 2 days ... YAHOO! Is two in a row a winning streak?

Lights are Up!

2008-12-09T21:28:00.000-08:00

The lights are up on the house as of a few weekends ago but Junior just took the pics this weekend.

It's hard to see in the day but it looks great at night.

Wishing for More Weekend Time

2008-12-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke up not so bright (as it was still dark out) and early ... Junior was up and ready to walk the dogs. I agreed to come with the promise of Tim Horton's hot chocolate. We headed down Main Street and it was nice and quiet. The Christmas lights were on in the trees and it was a nice way start to the morning. We headed down along the beach and walked towards the Sicamous all the way. We found a little dog trail along the Canal and followed it for a while. It was nice to be out and about before many other people were even up.

Once we got home it was off to do groceries (my very least favourite job EVER) and then dog food. We are changing Kona over to Maximus' dog food to make things easier. She's almost 6 months now and his food is supposed to be an all ages. We have been through a few kinds of dog food because Maximus was having some stomach issues. When we were in Calgary he had regular barfing issues but since we've been here he's been pretty good. He went through a spell of eating grass and making himself sick but he's over that now that he's on the better food. He hasn't been sick in the house once since we've been here which is a major improvement. We tried a few different suggestions but his new food has been great. Transferring Kona over from the 'puppy' food makes things a little easier for us when it's time to feed them because she tries to eat his.

Got out for my run tonight. It wasn't long but it was okay. Felt okay. I took Maximus with me for 'protection' :) It was raining pretty good but I like to run in the rain. Must be my Vancouver roots. Junior did his bike workout tonight.

It's been a great weekend. We've had lots of 'dog time' and we got to spend time with Junior away from his marking and prepping for his courses so that was really nice. We also got to make a call to Grandpa Richert to check in with him on how he's feeling and doing. Sounds like he is pretty limited in his ability to do much of anything now. He's got a mobile chair to help him get around which is nice for him. He seemed glad to hear from us and catch up on the latest. We hope to get out there to see the Manitoba crew pretty soon.

Beach Bums

2008-12-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

As per usual we headed out for our Saturday walk. We thought we'd head down to our favourite dog beach spot to let them burn off some steam. The weather was looking pretty clear but there was a cold wind blowing a little off the lake to keep things interesting. It was the first real day Maximus could get wet from his stitches but mostly we wanted to tire Kona out. Lots of sticks to be had as the water is down quite a bit and Maximus could walk out a fair ways and it didn't drop off. It was nice to be the only ones down there an we were able to hang out on the beach for about 30 minutes before we decided to head home.

Heading home down Main Street usually takes a while as Kona gets a lot of 'cute puppy' pats and Maximus gets the odd one. It's pretty hard to go anywhere around here without someone stopping to talk to us about them. Now that we're home Kona is snoozing on her little bed but Junior took Maximus out for a run. He hasn't had much alone time and now that his stitches are healed up he's ready to go.

Shout out to JR's 'Uncle Bob' who called a few days ago to check on Maximus and make sure things are good to go. We seem to be out of the woods but we are checking him more regularly to make sure. Everyone seems healthy now and good to go for the holidays which are fast approaching. Looks like we are in for some traveling.

Tonight I'm heading out to a birthday party for one of my new friends I've met here. Her name is Michelle and she is having a birthday/house warming tonight. Her and her husband have been working extremely hard at their house reno's and it looks AMAZING. I met Michelle when I was helping in the school library and we started chatting. We have become quite good friends over the last few months. We seem to have a lot of things in common and I am really enjoying the company. Michelle is also a very creative person and we bounce ideas about house projects off each other. She is also going to help me sew some new cushion covers for the wicker chairs that we acquired for free a few months back. We chose some great new outdoor fabric that should match to the house pretty good. I'm excited to learn how to do this. Another project off my list. I'm glad she offered to help me out because I don't know how to sew. I can do a lot of things but sewing isn't one of them ... it's something on my To Learn To Do list for sure. Anyways, I'm really looking forward to the party tonight and it feels good to be invited.

David Suzuki for Prime Minister?

2008-12-04T18:59:00.000-08:00

So I'm not very good at 'politics' per say but I've managed to find my way through a few elections in my 'grown up life'. I feel a little bit bad about my lack of knowledge in this type of thing but Junior makes up for it. Every time an election comes around I always think that I will figure out how all this works but then Junior says you have to vote for a MAJOR party in order to make your vote count. This confuses me. Shouldn't my vote count no matter what? I feel like I have to vote for what I believe in. So I usually vote Green - no matter what.

So then ... what if David Suzuki could run for Prime Minister? Wouldn't that be so great. I love David :) I have read a lot of his books and he seems so ... logical.

Check out this link ... so awesome. The Suzuki Diaries: The Nature of Things.

One of my recent pledges is to continue follow more closely the Nature Challenge. I have tried to follow the Nature Challenge as a part of my life for a few years now. For those who have never heard of the Nature Challenge it goes a little something like this.

The Nature Challenge
* Find ways to reduce your home heat and electricity use by 10 percent.
* Replace household pesticides with nontoxic alternatives.
* Choose an energy efficient home and appliances.
* Eat meat-free meals once a week.
* Prepare your meals with locally grown food for a total of one month a year.
* If you buy a car, make sure it's low polluting and fuel efficient.
* Use transit, carpool, walk or bike one day a week.
* If you move, choose a home within walking or biking distance from your daily destinations.
* Support alternatives to the car by urging improved public transit and walking and bike paths.
* Learn more about conserving nature and tell your family and friends and political and business leaders.

Seems that more recently our little pup has become our most recent NATURE CHALLENGE :) Seriously ... what's up with the peeing in the house. She's driving us crazy. Doesn't she realize that it's not environmentally friendly to use THAT MANY PAPER TOWELS :( We thought that by walking her more and longer that it would help but ... NOT SO MUCH. It's hard to be mad at her for very long when she tries to snuggle up to you. We spent the afternoon walking and hanging out in the back yard. She slept a long time until Junior got home and then we went for a long walk with Caroline again this evening. Right now she's sound asleep like a little angel.

Keeping Up

2008-11-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

We had a great weekend ... Junior was ON THE BALL with the morning dog walking for the last two days and it's made a world of difference. The number of pee accidents were few and far between. The dogs have been content and quiet for the most part. Not counting the random crazy wrestling in the front room. Spurred on by the 'monster' we got for Kona on her first night with us. By far the cheapest toy we've bought for her and - of course - her favourite. It amazes me that the arms and legs have stayed in tact ... the eyeballs have not. The 'little monster' (who's name ironically could be interchangeable) gets dragged in and out of the house on a regular basis and a few days ago I recovered him face down in the mud pit of a backyard. She dangles him in front of Maximus to try and get a reaction. This usually works. Soon to follow - a wrestling match.

I had to do some quick recovery on the 'squeaky bone' that Junior bought for her last weekend. After tearing a hole in the side I was able to surgically remove the SQUEAKER (THANK GOD) and then sew it back up. Another toy that might make it through the week.

Maximus has recovered pretty well from the surgery and his hair is starting to grow back now where the stitches were. He isn't taking any of Kona's crap anymore. The honeymoon period is officially over. She's tried to nip at him as she's running along side of him (where his stitches are) and he wants nothing to do with that. He's been a very patient boy and is now starting to put her in her place. When we are lying down to watch TV or play with her he edges her out. I love that he shows her what to do when getting ready for walks or getting ready to have their dinner - waiting patiently. What a good big brother.

The weather here is officially changed. Snow earlier this week, cold temps and wind. The wind is quite cold here blowing off the lakes depending on what way it comes in. The snow didn't last long on the ground but it's been pretty cloudy on the sides of the valley and the snow on the valley sides seems to be more permanent. For those who wondered what it would be like in the off season ... this is it. It's a lot quieter here now. There is no traffic :) It's so nice.

In training news ... I went for a run today. Maybe around an hour or so. Tough go. Seen as though I haven't run in A LONG TIME. It felt okay. Legs seemed tight but I didn't walk. Feeling the run itch again. Let's try to get a regular run situation this week.

THIS WEEK'S GOAL: RUN - no sorted details ... just get out there.

DAY TWO of a Peeing Pup :)

2008-11-26T21:01:00.001-08:00

YAY! It's 9:00pm and dare I say it's Day Two of no peeing in the house. Not counting yesterday :( We had a small accident around 8:00 last night which ruined our winning streak. But so far so good today :) I don't want to jinx it ... but things are looking up. I'm not sure if it's because she's catching on to this house training thing ... or that my pee radar is now just starting to become more finally tuned. I think I'll give credit on both accounts seen as though it's a team effort.

I can't believe it's Thursday already tomorrow. Man this week has really flown by.

Starting to think about making a run goal ... half marathon? marathon? Feeling the craving again so I must finally be rested. Getting a 'groove' on the bike recently is feeling great. Might I say I'm enjoying the bike training? I am starting to feel a bit of an attitude change in regard to the bike - weird - especially right now so early in the preseason ... hmmmm. Could have to do with the fact that I'm not working full-time right now so I am not SUPER tired when I get home. Making the cycling classes much more enjoyable. I can ride to and from Kevin's training centre because it's only 3 blocks away. And the classes are early in the evening so I don't feel like I'm exhausted around that time of the day. If I could get a regular run situation happening right now life would be great.

UPDATE on JUNIOR: For those who have been loyally following our blogs but have noticed JR hasn't posted in a while ... a long while ... I thought I'd fill you in. He has been working at Pen High (which is a really great place to be) on a short-term contract. It's a full-time position teaching Socials and French. The Social is quite intense dealing with the World Wars, the Cold War etc. Too much for me to even imagine. It's been a lot of late nights and early mornings trying to prep for classes. A matter of staying just ahead of the students. The French has been a bit of a challenge but he has managed to plug through which I am very proud of him for - not an easy adjustment to make. This type of course load is very heavy to teach. Especially when you are filling in for people who have taught these subject areas for years and years. The good thing about the move here is that he only has to work one job full-time instead of the additional jobs he's had to work when we lived in Calgary. I know he's a little disappointed that he hasn't the energy to do much training - but it's pretty normal around this time of year for him to be super busy with school. The weekends are usually our down time to walk the dogs and do some stuff around the house. Getting school organized on the weekends for the upcoming week makes the week more manageable and the stress easier to deal with. The constant battle of marking that goes along with these heavy courses can really weigh you down and makes it feel like you can't ever get ahead. He's managed to avoid any kind of colds or illnesses so far this year which is also a big difference in being here. Neither of us has been sick yet! Knock on wood.

Updates

2008-11-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Junior and I put up the lights on the house ... with a little help from Caroline the little girl next door. They look great. We opted for the icicle lights - a good choice I think.

Maximus is recovering well from his surgeries. His spirits seem back to normal. We found out that the little bump they removed on his side was a Grade 2 Mast Cell Tumour. Which means that it was not perfectly benign and was low to moderate in terms of risk. When they analyzed the skin that was removed it showed that they got it all out. We have to watch the site for regrowth and check him for other bumps that might turn up. Dr. Tyson said he wasn't too worried about it but we should watch it. He's been so great about talking to us in our most worried time. I have to say we had a pretty emotional week dealing with this. There were a few tears shed on a few occasions ... it was a scary thought to think that Maximus would get sick.

Kona on the other hand has been a handful. It's a good thing she's still really cute. She is growing like a weed and has doubled in size at least. It seems like when I leave in the morning to go work she's bigger when I get home :) She's been a little pee-pot in the house and we have been kept busy trying to get her house trained. She's been really hard to predict. During the days we have been putting her in her kennel when we are at work. She' getting better about the kennel. Yesterday was the first day we went pee free :) YAHOO!

I went over to see George (our newest neighbour who is building two new houses next door) to see if he would do the new fence around the front and the back of the house. He confirmed that he would help us out and when he orders the panels for his new properties he would factor us into the measures. Which is really good news because our little girl has escaped twice now and caused some major panic moments pour moi ... because of course she never tries to escape when Junior's home.

Halfway Through the Week

2008-11-19T21:15:00.000-08:00

Tonight was another training session with KC's indoor cycling class. Another killer workout. Tonight we did a simulation of the Green Mountain Road Ride we all know and love. Kevin has the virtual drawing posted onto the back wall for us all to follow along as we set out on our 20km Uphill Ride. We did the ride in one hour as Kevin was coaching us on what gears, cadence and rear wheel speed we should be setting for ourselves. We managed the simulated ride in 60 minutes and I was able to keep the cadence goals for the entire ride. It is starting to feel a lot better. I feel like I'm accomplishing something by being able to manage my cadence more easily around the 95 range. Something I really struggle with.

Maximus seems to be doing better the last few days and had landed back on his feet. He still shouldn't be running crazy in the backyard with Kona but it's pretty tough to keep them down. We have to be careful of the stitches for the next few weeks or so until they absorb away. We are still waiting to get the test results back on the weird skin thing.

Today I had a short day and managed to knock some of the big jobs off the list. I also was able to finish off my new wreath that I was working on making for the front door. I've also started thinking about Christmas gifts etc and it's going to have to be a pretty tight Christmas with the new house but I think it's going to be neat to have our first Christmas here. We've managed to balance the families on either side of Christmas so we get to have a few days to do our own thing.

The weather has held off so far here and we are enjoying spending the afternoons in the yard. It helps to get the dogs out there for a few hours while I'm working so that they can burn off some steam. Kona has already become very protective of the yard and is not afraid to voice her concerns about passers by. Good and bad. We will need to invest in a new fence along the front of the house soon as we had a close call today when she snuck under the gate and I almost lost her.

Worried About Our Big Boy

2008-11-17T20:44:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy day for us because both Maximus and Kona were going into the vet for some what seemed to be easy procedures. Maximus was going in to get his hernia fixed which seems to be a little bigger since we moved here. He's always had it but I noticed a few weeks back that it was a little bigger. Tyson said we could go either way with the surgery and so we decided to get it done. I'm glad we decided too. Then Junior discovered a little bump on the side of Maximus' tummy which just didn't look right. When I took him in today Tyson said he didn't like the look of it and so he took it off. He's sending it to analyzed because it just didn't look right and he wanted to make sure it wasn't cancer. Which totally freaked us out. I picked up Maximus around 3:30 and he was still pretty drugged up. His legs are still a little shaky and he's having some trouble keeping standing. He's pretty unsure of what happened and hasn't really moved from his spot on the living room floor all night.

Kona got all her stitches and staples out and is now good to go. She's not sure why Maximus is down for the count but she was pretty happy to see him when we went to pick him up. Her tummy is all healed up and only a few little bumps where the staples were but Tyson said they should go away within a week or so.

We had a rough day with our big boy but he did get up when I opened the cheese earlier so I think he's going to be okay.

Van Trip (The Drive)

2008-11-14T22:33:00.000-08:00

Today Maximus and I drove out to Van to visit with my family for the weekend and for my Uncle's birthday party. I had a half day of school and then we headed out. I was a little worried about the road and the weather but we took it nice and slow and made it safe and sound. He was great on the drive. A little restless at the beginning but once we got a while into the drive he settled down into his usual deep slumber. After that ... sound asleep.

Tomorrow morning we are going to head into the forest for a morning walk so Maximus can stretch his legs ... it looks to be pretty rainy. After that some errands with my mom and then dinner with the WHOLE family.

I'm wondering how Junior and Kona are doing ... being on their own tonight. It seems weird for the both of us to be away from them. I think this is the first time Maximus and i have been away from Junior in a long time. We miss them and so I think Maximus will probably sleep on the bed tonight. I do think Maximus is enjoying the time on his own - being able to chew his toys without being bugged :)

Remembering Day

2008-11-12T16:29:00.000-08:00

We had a lay low Remembrance Day yesterday. Junior spent the day working on school stuff and catching up on the Cold War Era. So complicated. I can't even imagine trying to teach that topic. I spent the day in the backyard working on cleaning out under our deck. A real mess. There was a tonne of crap under there. I called a local guy to come around in the afternoon to pick it up for us. I finished off the project by covering up the 'escape route' with some new lattice. Pretty good project trying to keep Kona out from under the deck. There was some pretty nasty stuff going on under there that a fresh new puppy shouldn't get into.

I forgot to mention that when I was working in the backyard it was a really eerie feeling over the valley. It was misty and cloudy and in the distance I could hear the bagpipes from the ceremony at the Convention Center. It was a good day for a project in the yard despite the rain and wind but I had a good time hanging with my dogs.

PS - I don't know why my full post wasn't up ... I think it was our wireless glitch we've had for a few weeks.

Rainy Saturday Morning

2008-11-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

Woke up nice and early this morning to quiet little puppy whining and rain hitting the window. Junior picked up the morning duty so I could get a little extra sleep time in. It's been a little overcast and rainy for the last few days. Which has not been so nice for puppy potty training :( Standing in the rain and saying pee-pee over and over again is not fun. But has to be done.

We had our first visit with Kona to our vet here Dr. Tyson Bull who is FANTASTIC. We love him. Maximus was going into get his hernia checked for a possible operation next week to get it fixed. Kona went to get a quick check over and is going in on the same day as Maximus next week for her stitches to be removed on her tummy and her tail. It's been a busy week making sure everyone is okay and in top form for the upcoming holidays in case we have to travel.

This afternoon I am driving down to the border to pick up our new kennel. And then I might have to have a nap. Live is good in Penticton.

Life is Good in Penticton

2008-11-06T16:19:00.001-08:00

Since we have moved here ... life has been good.

Living your dream life seems a little unreal. Working our butts off in the early summer months to save up enough money to make things happen, we spent most of our time working jobs we'd rather not have had to work. The payoff being that we could take a risk and make it work. Buying the house was a big risk considering that we didn't have jobs nailed down like we would have liked to have. But since we've been here we have really lucked out with the contracts we have been offered and really it's been a dream come true. Junior's had some challenging contracts but we've both had steady work so far. We have somehow made it into the mix and are embracing the challenges. It's made for some long days but have been able to make some good connections with other teachers here.

We've finally started back at some kind of training. We have both joined Kevin Cutjar's cycling nights that he offers here. Another perk of being a Penticton local. World class training in your backyard. The classes have been really tough but really great. I've always had trouble with the bike. I can ride pretty long rides but I never have the cadence I need to have to move quicker. I'm hoping that some focused training on the bike this year can really help.

In terms of our new pup ... she's been pretty good ... but our big boy Maximus has been AWESOME. Often times she is the antagonizer and starts the rough play and Maximus has been very patient with her. Only on a few occasions he has let her know enough is enough. It's strange to have a little voice in our house ... Maximus really doesn't bark at all. Unless he's worried about skateboarders coming a little too close to his front yard :) and well ... that's okay I think. She's got lots of energy and has been a pretty good girl. The house training situation is off and on ... some days pretty good some not so good. And then sometimes when you think it's going to be good ... :( It was a big deal for us to do this all over again but we think it's a great time for Maximus and he's done a lot to help us out - it's funny to see him showing her what she's supposed to be doing. Like when we go for walks. I'm looking forward to a time when her stitches are out and we can let Maximus loose on her to tire her out or when we can take her to the dog beach. She has started to try to snuggle up to him and affectionately tries to nip at his face. They are quite a pair.

Our New Little Girl :)

2008-11-04T15:42:00.001-08:00

I figured I probably should post a bit on our new little girl.

After several months of talking about it we finally took the plunge and added Kona to our Penticton family. Junior had been emailing back and forth with Maximus' breeder for a few months since we have moved here to see what might be able to make happen. In the last few weeks we confirmed that she would have a good match for our Maximus. We didn't just want to go with a random choice but rather wanted to match up Maximus with a puppy that would transition well into our family. Nancy (Maximus' breeder) emailed us back to set up a match for our big boy.

Originally named Flora Von Z Max and now newly named Kona, was picked up in Washington over the weekend and brought home ready for lots of new adventures with her big brother. We took Maximus with us to ease the transition and it was a good idea I think. Nancy also got to see our hansome boy. Kona took well to her new big brother and began to play right away. She is quite the little personality already and seems like she's going to give Maximus a run for his money. She still has stitches from getting her girl 'bits' taken out and so she's not SUPPOSED to play hard yet but I don't think it will be long before she is giving it right back to him.

On the ride home both dogs slept for the whole ride mostly with Maximus keeping one eye open at all times :) Kona seemed to settle into the car ride well minus the three times she barfed on me but it was to be expected. Maximus is a seasoned traveller now after all the rides between Calgary and Penticton so it wasn't too bad for him at all.

The last few nights have been pretty good. Kona has slept through the nights really well and seems to get Junior up in the mornings with her little voice. This is opposite to our boy Maximus who has always come to my side to wake me up in the mornings. Karma :) Junior has been AWESOME about getting up and going for early morning walks and then getting the gang fed and back to bed. A nice treat. Thanks babe :)

Kona has found her little voice already which is quite different from Maximus who tends to keep quiet and observe from afar. She has already barked a few times at the neighbourhood German Shepherd across the street to warn him of her arrival and teases Maximus in the backyard to egg him on.

We are awaiting our crate to arrive in the mail and then Kona will have her own little cave to go to and escape. Maximus has been a good big brother and has shared his toys and his bed with his little pain in the butt sister without much problem at all. As of right now she's been in the Laundry Room during the days when we are at work. We've been setting the washer and dryer before we go out and I think it's helped to distract her until we are gone - another plus to having front loaders. The last few days I've come home after school and she's been sawing logs in her little bed :)

Will post more soon ...

Catching Up

2008-10-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

I hadn't realized it was so long ... oopps. We've had some really busy weekends the last few. My sister was out here a few weekends ago to have some rest and relaxation and to rejuvenate her batteries. It was nice to have her here to hang out. She came up on the Thursday night by Greyhound (a little long) but she made in and had Friday to herself while we were at work. Saturday and Sunday was resting and reading while JR and I were working on our basement redo.

We have painted out the floor and the cement walls to make things a little brighter. I made some curtains to cover up the large opening to the scary crawl space and now it's a scrapbooking and cardmaking sanctuary. Junior set up the old tv and surround sound speakers for me so I can watch tv and scrap. It's great. I love it. We did some errands last weekend and got some organizers for the little stuff and I got my paper organizer yesterday with my coupon. Once we have it all finished up I'll post some pics but it looks AMAZING. Thanks to Junior for helping me get my space organized. It feels good to have somewhere for all my 'stuff' and have a place for things. I've started my Sansom scrapbook to get all the things that I've accumulated from my teaching there and some things from Wise Wood as well. Pictures, cards, student things as well. It's been a big project on my mind for a long time and it feels good to have something on the go.

Last weekend Lori and Gary were out and we had a blast with them. It was nice to see some friends. It's what we have missed the most being out here. It's hard to start from scratch again. We did some wine touring and some chillin' and relaxin'. We hit Red Rooster, See Ya Later, Blasted Church, Hillside, Elephant Island, Lake Breeze and Therapy. A full day for sure. Lori and I chatted about everyone and getting caught up. It was nice to hear news about everyone back in Cowtown.

It's starting to be cooler here now too. Mornings are getting a frost and needing a warmer coat now. It's a damp cold. I'm trying to get my kids outside as much as possible because the weather is sunny. I'm really enjoying my job right now. It's still a part-time gig but I like it a lot. I like the school I'm at and I like the people there. They are really friendly. I do miss the busyness of the big high school but I don't miss the stress. If I was still in Calgary I would be right in the middle of volleyball season, very busy with my courses, tonnes of kids in my class and a bunch of marking and report cards. I don't miss that.

Junior got a month long job at Maggie which is one of the the high schools here. He's pretty tired at the end of the day but he's also doing a really good job for the teacher who is away. He had some resistance from some his kids at the beginning but they are now starting to come along. He's set up a really great Election project for them.

So this weekend we are taking it REALLY casual. I've really hurt my neck and haven't been able to do much of anything. Can't really work hard in the yard which needs to be done. Too bad. So I'm resting and mostly just doing stuff around the house. We are looking forward to heading to Banff for Winterstart in a few weeks and seeing some Calgary crew. Plus it's always a great and beautiful place to be in the pre-winter. I think it will be cold there. The highlight is for sure getting to sleep in the cozy hotel that we stay in.

Shout out to AD and D who are getting hitched in Hawaii and enjoying the Ironman scenery out there. Congrats you guys!

Bitting Wedding

2008-09-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we headed to Rossland to attend Seth and Gabs wedding. It was so beautiful. The ceremony was down by Nancy Green Lake. The day started off very warm but just as the ceremony ended the wind started to pick up. Gabs looked BEAUTIFUL and Seth looked REGAL :) After the ceremony we went to a place called The Ram's Head for the reception. All and all, it was a great day.

We decided not to stay the night and drove back very late. Junior sold one of his bikes and the guy is coming by today to pick it up on his way through ... so we needed to be here for that. The drive home was tough, the rain had started and there were a ridiculous amount of random deer on the road. I'm sure if we had counted them it would have be close to 45. At least. It was crazy. I gave up looking for them because I just couldn't see them until it was too late. Junior had an eye for them and spotted them for most of the way. I have never experienced something like that. It was weird. At one point we saw this amazing one with a HUGE rack ... it was crazy beautiful even in the night. I made me think about how someone could even think about shooting something so beautiful. I'm glad we made it home safely and without incident but for sure at some points I felt like we were dodging fate. It seemed impossible that many deer could avoid getting hit by a car. Why would there be so many? Maybe it was the rain?

Casual Sunday ... working on some house projects and relaxing. Junior is watching football ... of course.

6 Buckets and not Even a Dent

2008-09-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

Yes folks that's correct. 6 buckets of dandelions this afternoon and not even a dent. We decided that chemical fertilizers were not the way for us. Too terrible for the environment and too risky with Maximus. We purchased ourselves a dandelion popper and went to work trying to do some damage to those little buggers. It's actually not hard process but rather a tedious and frustrating one. I filled those buckets and man-o-man that is ridiculous. Tonight we are going to water the backyard because it's our day today and then do some more once the soil is a little damp. That might help the process.

Here is our decided upon strategies:

1. The Weed Hog Dandelion Popper - a tool that goes down into the ground and gets around the main tap root and then pops it out when you push the lever. Very effective.

2. A Screwdriver - Once you get tired of standing and popping the weeds I resorted to sitting on a stool and inserting the screwdriver down beside the root and the levering it to pop it out.

3. Going around and picking the yellow flowers and the seed bulbs that I can see so that no more can grow and the ones that are there will die without the flowers. Not sure if this is an actually effective strategy but the thought that more might grow because of the seed bulb makes me more frustrated ...

Ahhhh ... the Weekend

2008-09-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

I am excited about this weekend because we have a lot of great things to do. I think we are going to start off nice and early and try and get out to a few garage sales. One particularly close to home has an ad for patio furniture and a bistro set - two things we would really like to get for our little place. We also have intentions of heading down to the Farmer's Market on Main Street to get some fruit and veggies. Junior stocked up on apples last week so we are good to go there but our number one item tomorrow will be eggs. I'm guessing the afternoon will we will be starting on our backyard weed situation and coming up with our Attack Plan for that. I'm going to call it an attack plan because it's going to have a to be a full scale War on Weeds. It will have to include some weapons of mass destruction :( Who knew weed control was such a hot topic. I have been researching a little this last past week to come up with a strategy and it seems to be pretty controversial. The whole weed killer versus no weed killer ...

Apart from that I think we are going to try and get on our bikes and ride up to the Apex Ranch maybe in the afternoon. It will be good to break the ice and get on 'er again. Sunday is the Terry Fox Run and we are avid participants every year. I think it's important to continue to support Terry's cause. It's a legacy. Get out on Sunday and run/walk the Terry Fox Run in your town/community.

That's about it today. I did some back to school shopping tonight and got a few new things. I'm heading to Kelowna on Tuesday to meet up with Snuggles and do some unit planning for my new job. I'm also going to hit Home Depot when I'm out there to get a brass kick plate for our newly painted door. I think it's going to look SUPER! We are tossing around the shed building situation and will hopefully be able to come up with a plan for after the lawn is done. We really do need some storage out back and we aren't sure how that's going to work out.

Maximus Takes the Plunge

2008-09-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

Since we have been laying low and enjoying our recovery ... we have tried to spend a little more time with Maximus. JR has taken him to the dog beach and on walks almost every morning since we've been back to a school schedule. I think he really misses his walks now that we have a yard he can run around in. And to be honest ... we have been so tired and busy with the house we haven't gone as much as we used to when we lived in the condo.

On the weekend we wandered down to the dog beach here and threw a few sticks out for him. I have to admit that most of the time my strategy is to throw them a little out of reach so that he has to try and reach for them ... I know that he won't go until he can't touch any more but I still try to encourage some kind of swimming by throwing them a little further than I know he will go. Thing is ... this time he actually took the plunge and swam out there. I was SHOCKED and so excited :) So I tried it again. And he swam again. Each time after that I threw it a little further and further until he was full out swimming. It was so great. He loved it and he actually brought the sticks back to me even. Yay!

Updates

2008-09-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

A couple of updates ...

The House: So the house painting is finally finished as of today. We have been working hard most days to get some kind of painting done. Junior took on most of the painting and has done a great job. I was able to help once I got home from work and together we finished it up today. It looks AMAZING! We are really liking it. It was a bit risky with the darker colour choices but now that it's all done I think it was really worth it. Everyday that we have been out working on the yard and painting the house our neighbours have come over and introduced themselves and commented on how nice the house is coming along. It feels really good to take pride in our little place and see some real benefits of our hard work. We are attacking our lawn situation this week/weekend because the weeds are completely out of control in the backyard especially. Both of us are pretty keen environmentalists and try to do our best to reduce, reuse and recycle when possible so we have struggled with the idea of 'weed killer'. Plus we need to be careful with Maximus around and putting anything on the lawn. Now that the house is painted the yard needs to come next. The front is okay but the back lawn is pretty much non exisistent ... the weeds have completely taken over.

The Rose: This past weekend our neighbour Jan came over to dig up and move The Rose in the front garden. If you have seen the first pictures of the house there was a HUGE rose right up to the front door. We had talked about moving The Rose since we first moved here but I have never moved a rose before. I knew it would be tough and sought out the expertise of our neighbour Jan who has a BEAUTIFUL garden across the street. I did not know that Jan was a Master Gardener nor did I know that she is the President of the Penticton Garden Society. Jan came over on Saturday afternoon and together we dug up The Rose and moved it. Jan commented that it was easily 50 years old and THE BIGGEST ROSE she has ever tried to move. Hopefully it does okay and survives the move. She's looking a little weepy right now and a little in shock. It is now located on the other side of the garden and is hopefully going to add balance to the other side of the house. The part of the garden where it was is now pretty empty but will hopefully be better once we have taken a little time to figure out what should go there now. Jan has a few suggestions ...

The Job: I headed back to school last week for a full week of work(Teacher-On-Call)for a PE and Home teacher here. She took another job for a few months and they needed someone to fill in while they were looking to hire. I knew it was a slim chance that I might actually get the job because I don't know how to sew. I was able to apply for the PE portion and was offered the job which works out to be just a little more than half-time. It means that most days I will be working in the morning until lunch time. I can choose to sub in the afternoons if I want to but I think for now I'll stick with the part-time until we are settled and getting used to living in a whole different city. I can sub in the afternoons at my school as well so that might also be an option too. I have acquired this gig until December break which is nice to know that I'll have some income and work for a while.

Training: No training. :) But starting to feel like maybe running this weekend ...

Weekend Project - Paint the House

2008-09-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

We got to some house painting this weekend after a bit of resting after Ironman.

This is the original picture of our new house. We took it when we were out here scouting out places. As you can see she was a lovely shade of pink and white. We were not partial to pink so we decided one of our first projects would be to paint ...

This is the front view coming up the walk to the front door. As you can see we still have a pink front door but will be soon to be black.

A view of the right side. The biggest wall on our house and took pretty much almost all of Sunday to paint. We didn't quite get to the top - the extension ladder was a little sketchy for our liking so we decided to postpone this portion to another day when we weren't so tired or in case any of our visiting friends might be inclined to scale up there :)

So far we think she looks fantastic. We've got a few comments from the neighbours about the 'Nice Colour'. And The Nod from Jan's (who we recently found out is an award winning gardener) husband. It's starting to feel more like ours and less like we are visiting. I'll post more pictures once we get a bit more done :)

Last Weekend Before School Goes Back

2008-08-29T18:40:00.001-07:00

Today was the day to get some of the car insurance and registration issues started on as Junior's jeep is up first. His insurance runs out at the end of the long weekend. We headed down to BCAA to get our complementary fire extinquisher from Jan our new insurance gal and decided to get some car questions answered. Short of the long is that we need to get our vehicles inspected, our driver's licenses renewed for BC and insurance records (from the last 8 years) done on the jeep before Tuesday ... thankfully the Canadian Tire guy slipped us in for an inspection tomorrow to get 'er done.

I got a call today from one of the middle schools here to come in as a TOC for next week for a lady who is going on to work in another position until December. Half-time Phys. Ed and half-time Home Ec. Great news about the Phys. Ed but the Home Ec is cooking and sewing. I think I can figure out the cooking ... I have managed to survive till the age of 32 with my culinary skills but the sewing is a no go. Our first recipe is popcorn :) I think I can manage okay until eggs :) Junior might have another opinion on that but I think I can do it :) They are going to interview for the position but I will be covering until the position is filled - not sure how long that will take. Maybe a week or so. I might also be able to apply for the Phys. Ed half-time portion so that might be okay too. The contract goes until December I think. Stay posted.

The Little Things

2008-08-27T18:47:00.001-07:00

Lots of jobs checked off the To Do List today ... Maximus and I laid low this morning as Junior slept in pretty late. And then we headed out to get the last of our paperwork done at the School Board office. The good thing is that it's now done and so all we are waiting for is our BC Certs to finalize. Man it was a lot of paperwork.

It feels a little weird that we aren't going back to school quite yet. All our Calgary teacher friends are all back to work now. Tomorrow I think we are going to crash the local teacher's PD days that they have here before school starts which is open to TOCs. We are thinking it might be good to meet a few people that could use us this year. A little networking :)

We also sent in some registrations for races this year so stay posted for the new race schedule. We have tentatively registered for IMC next year but I am still contemplating my 'every other year' policy when Ironman is concerned. Not sure how I feel about it yet. Still tired from the race and struggling to keep from getting upset at the little things. I'm pretty emotionally exhausted right now.

Back to Reality

2008-08-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

We are back to life again as normal as it gets here now. We are moving around a little quicker and able to do some cleaning up as our house looks like a bomb went off in it. Yesterday we spent most of the day napping, eating and reflecting. Not much happened here. Junior is still moving slowly with the IT band situation but up and watching movies today. I did some gardening and kept it low key with Maximus not far from my side the entire day. We moved some plants to get ready to move the Rose that has lived outside our front door FOR EVER and has grown too large and scary to live there any longer. Jan (one of our new neighbour friends) came by to say that it was okay to move it and that it was not good Feng Shui where it was currently residing. Unfortunately where it is going had some other garden residents that needed to be moved so I did that today and was feeling okay.

We are going to paint the house this week and so we need to prep the house for that. We have to take the gutters down and then sand the window frames but that's about it. Good bye pink house :) We'll post some new pics as soon as we get some done. Shouldn't be too long a job considering that it's so small and 'environmentally friendly' :)

IMC Race Report

2008-08-25T15:19:00.001-07:00

Where to start ...

We woke up early this morning and walked 3 blocks down to the body markers :) We were able to jump right into the line and then headed to drop off our bike gear onto our bikes. The night before we had to drop off the actual bikes and our 'local' spots were SUPER close to the gates. Our transition bags were in the second line and VERY easy to spot. We saw some of the stickers of fellow racer friends at the bike racks and Junior wrote little messages onto their tags wishing them well ...

After that it was into our wetsuits and the onto the beach for the start. The swim crowd looked much thinner that last year and it didn't look to be overly congested which was a little easier to digest for me at least. My usual panic before the swim seemed a little less this time and I even did a few little strokes before the start to get some water in my face before the gun went off. This worked well and when the actual gun went off I was able to get a pretty good spot. I didn't get banged around too much and decided to swim the buoy line (not my usual strategy) but I looked like a lot of people were going to the farther side. I'm not a particularly straight straight swimmer so I find it easier to swim the buoy line. I got tucked in behind this other girl and she was swimming well and at a my speed and I just followed her until the second turn. At that point I thought I could swim a little faster (or at least it felt faster) so I pushed myself a little. I got out of the water in 1:29 which was a great time for me and a little faster than last time I think.

I opted not for the change tent (far too busy) and got ready outside. Because our bikes were so close to the gate I took Junior's idea to run to the bike with my shoes in hand and then put them on once I got there. Good decision. I saw my friend Kath head out on her bike and we wished each other a good ride.

Heading out of town is so exciting and everyone was pedaling so fast. I decided to take until MacLean Creek Road to try and get my heart rate down and drink something. My stomach was uneasy in the morning and I wasn't able to eat much at all and was feeling hungry right away. I ate my first gel and gatorade by 45 minutes at the top of MacLean Creek Road. At that point I was a little ahead of my schedule buy my legs were feeling tired right away on the bike. I was hoping they would have felt fresher because I wanted to have a good pedal to at least Osooyoos. Didn't happen. My legs were tired the whole way. I tried to pedal slower (if that's possible) and that didn't work - I tried to pedal faster to get them warmed up and that didn't work. The head wind STARTED at this point as well - so I opted to just try to pedal whatever I could manage and still feel okay.

I hit Richter at my normal time and then was REALLY looking forward to seeing my sister and Sommer because I was not feeling great. I had to dig deep a few times to get up some harder parts. I saw the girls right at the last stretch where it gets steep and they were very excited to see me. Probably because they had been waiting for HOURS :) I asked if they had seen Junior and they said yes but that his leg was sore. I knew his IT band had been bugging him but didn't know how long he would get before it was too painful.

Life was good through the rollers as I counted them down. I always had thought there was 7 but when I got to 7 there were a few more (????) The road to along Cawston was brutal. I was feeling tired ... I was getting some major foot/shoe pain. My feet were killing me and I was thinking that I was going to have to take my feet out to pedal it hurt so bad ... maybe related to my back/hip pain earlier? Not sure. I managed to loosen the velcro on my shoes right off without having to take my foot out and that helped. I had to pedal the rest of the bike without my shoes tightened.

The out-and-back was the MOST brutal ... always a tough go. I was feeling super tired. As I was just about to reach the Special Needs when I felt some major stinging pain on my forehead and sure enough I had got stung. What are the chances? I reached up to try and get my helmet off and then proceeded to get stung two more times in the fingers. It was too much to take at that point and the tears began to flow ... along with some choice words for that stupid wasp. The ambulance driver was driving back at that exact time and thought I had crashed because my helmet was lying on the road and I was crying ... she stopped to ask if I was okay and gave me some ice to help. IT HURT SO BAD. The good side to this was that I really didn't think about all the other pains I was having because my head and my fingers were killing me. Once I got to the Special Needs I picked up my Ms. Vickers Salt and Vinegar chips and ate them all. I was so hungry and very tired of gels and gatorade. Once I ate them I felt like a champion. Seth was so right about the salt.

I made it to Yellow Lakes in due time but the rain had started. At this point it was slightly welcomed. I knew I had gotten sunburned on the earlier part of the day but the rain felt good on the hill. I was approaching the 8 hour mark by the top of Yellow Lakes and knew I would be close to the cut off. The decent from Yellow Lakes was a little sketchy in the rain and my bike was a little wobbly being wet. I managed to get in just under the cut off by like 15 minutes I think. Too long to be on the bike. The longer you are out there ... the more tired you get. This is for sure my weakness. I need to have stronger legs.

As I went into the run tent it wasn't raining too hard but as I came out it was pouring. The lady in the tent was so nice. She helped me change and get my shoes on and as she did the tears began to flow. Not sure why ... tired and disappointed from the bike, the 3 bee stings and the overwhelming feeling of knowing that now I have to run a marathon. I was glad it was raining hard when I headed out because the rain hid tears. I just wanted to get out onto the run course so I could see Junior and then I would feel a little better.

It rained for the entire marathon. Hard at the start as I ran through town but I was surprised that my legs felt okay to keep running. In my mind I wanted to run halfway. I thought I could probably do it. I felt good. I was able to run a long time and just kept going. I was looking for Junior to pass me going the opposite way and I kept looking and looking. I passed him almost at the same spot I saw him last time. He had to walk because his leg hurt but I had no idea how bad it was going to be. I could see in his eyes that he was in pain and that he was disappointed. I ran to the halfway point and was so excited that I was going to be able to keep running. Or so I thought. I felt okay and more of sorts than last time. Sommer ran the back half of the road with me and then we met up with my sister coming back into town. We all walked/ran the last part down Main Street to the finish. The rain was pouring so hard the entire last half of the marathon. The finish was raining even harder. I crossed the line at 16:45 which was a little disappointing in terms of time but overall the race was way better this time than last time. I of course wanted to do better and cut some time off but it wasn't meant to be I guess. I did do better on the run and was able to run so much more than last time which was REALLY good. It was the bike that did me in ...

My sister and Sommer were Super Fans and did such an amazing job of cheering us both on. They were so positive and I don't think I could have done a good job of the day with out them. Junior was happy to see me when I got home but turns out he really injured himself bad. His leg seized up at the second buoy during the swim and raced the entire day in serious pain. He couldn't kick in the swim without sharp pain or put any pressure on it during the bike. No arrow the whole time with a head wind. He pedaled with one leg the entire bike. I don't know how he did it. I am so proud of him. I know that he is disappointed with his results but I think he is taking it in stride. That is a pretty painful injury to continue to race on and I have no idea how he managed to keep going. I knew when I saw him on the run I knew it was bad - I just didn't know how bad. I am so proud of him not giving up. It shows amazingly strong character.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and positive thoughts. It was greatly appreciated. To Junior for his positive mental attitude, love, support and patience :) in the training leading up to the race as well as his strength during the race. To our families who continually love and support us towards our goals. To some of our friends who think we are CRAZY and to those others who are pursuing similar goals :) And especially to Seth to endured coaching us for the whole year despite all our challenges and changes that we were going through. THANK YOU!

That's it. Time for another nap :)

So Close ...

2008-08-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

What a day! Woke up pretty early this morning knowing that Krista and I had planned on a bit of a ride. Headed out on the Naramata Road to get our legs spinning. It was so nice to ride with the girls today (Me, Krista and Mel). The road seemed like it flew by and my legs felt good. It was a beautiful morning and we had a great time.

After that I got home and Junior was feeling up for a bit of a walk down to the Athlete's Village. It was a pretty good day and the rain was staying away. We stopped for a Starbucks along with almost every athlete in town and then headed down. Being such a nice day we took Maximus with us and he got quite a few 'pets on the head' during the walk. While Junior was in the swag tent Maximus soaked up the attention from his adoring fans :) This is actually when I spotted PETER REID casually walking through the village. Cool! I'm not sure who was getting more attention - Peter or Maximus - maybe a draw ...

After that we did a quick stop at the dog park for a swim and then headed home around the back of the Lakeside Resort. Here is where we spotted the Pros doing their media clips and we were able to get a quick look at DESIREE and JASPER. Wow - what a great morning this was turning out to be ...

Headed home to put our legs up and rest a bit before my sister gets here and then it was over to the Carb Dinner at the Convention Centre and now home for a rest. A long day but kind of good and exciting.

Tomorrow we'll get up early and get our bags ready. I spent a little time tonight doing some bike prep to get my Grandma's eagle feather taped on and then did a little bike clean up. Tucked in some extra tubes and CO2 cartridges for extra measure and race stickers will go on tomorrow morning first thing. It's so close ...

Locals :) #108 (Hallsy) and #134 (Junior)

2008-08-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well - she's getting down to it. The last few days here have been VERY stormy and rainy which is adding to the anxiety I think. We have been trapped inside our place trying to avoid overthinking things. Tough to avoid. As for The Taper - it's been determined by the weather. Not sure how that will end up. Haven't been able to ride or run due to the lightning and MAJOR rain we've been having. So decided to hit the pool last night and get some swimming in to relieve the anxious feelings more than anything else. My arms felt really good and not tired at all which was the first time in a long time. Felt like I was able to pull some really long strokes. Not sure if I was - but it sure felt like it :)

Paul, Krista and Jake arrived yesterday and so today I headed down to the Smith and Co. coffee place to hang out with them for a bit. It was nice to see some familiar faces. The sky looked to be clearing up later on and so I headed home with one thing on my mind - hit the bike and get my legs going. Junior must of had the same idea and had left a few minutes before I got home. I hurried to get ready and headed out along Eastside Road hoping to make it before any more rain/lightning could hit. I managed to get to McLean Creek Road and up the hill before I turned home. Rain clouds were looming. Good choice as the rain and dark clouds rolled in just behind me and onto me. Legs felt good and I tried to keep it in an easy gear and spin.

I felt a lot better after the ride (like I actually did something today) and got home and made us some yummy veggie burgers. Now I'm feeding my Olympic Addiction as I watch the ladies beach v-ball final - chillin' and relaxin' with Junior and Maximus. Pretty low key.

Tonight/tomorrow I have to map out my 'detailed' game plan. Seth wants me to write down some mental cues and things I'm going to say to myself during certain parts of the race. Any suggestions?

We also got our numbers. Junior managed to sneak us in just in time and got us LOCAL numbers for the race this year. Very cool. Early numbers means that we are real close to the Pros. Cool. I might even get to see Desiree up close :) Well ... before the race starts maybe :)

Sleepless in Penticton

2008-08-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

After a few nights of restless sleep I woke up again this morning not feeling rested - AGAIN. Junior tried to keep my spirits up but I was not feeling my "A Game" what-so-ever. Restless dreams and then race anxiety - not a good combo. We headed down to the lake this morning to try and get another good swim in but there is a storm on the forecast for a few upcoming days and the lake was just too rough for me. I tried to do a bit of a swim but was getting tossed around pretty good. I couldn't see over the waves so after a few minutes I called 'er quits and walked back down the beach and rested till Junior got back in. I'm not a strong swimmer by any means and I figured I just better take it easy instead.

Once we got back home we got ready and headed out for some major stocking up ... our cupboards have been pretty bare since we got here so we decided to go for the big one. Planned out our dinner plans for the week and loaded up. Another big job done.

After that we got home and crashed for a few hours. I was so tired from not sleeping I think I actually slept 3 hours this afternoon before we got up and went for a little bit of a run. 30 minutes and my legs felt like cement blocks. Thank goodness Junior set us up with massages for the evening at our place. So cool. Our new massage gal come to our house. So great! I feel so much better - hopefully I will sleep a little better tonight. My body is feeling achey all over right now and it's making it tough to sleep which is making my days tough to bear because I'm kinda cranky. Junior's been great at trying to keep me going and I'm greatful for his positive mental attitude during these days leading up. I tend to start to shut down a little and worry a lot to myself as I reherse things in my mind and he's good at distracting me.

Bear-ly Made it Up the Hill

2008-08-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

Last night we spent much of the evening watching the Olympics. I have to say we were trying to see if Phelps would dominate for the last time. He was amazing in this Olympics. We also watched the Jamaican runner blow the field away in the 100m - and jogging the last 20m. I thought to myself that both of these men did such amazing things - but they seem so different. I find myself embracing the accomplishments of Phelps because of his ability to celebrate gracefully. I also find myself turned off by the 'in-your-face' celebrations of the Jamaican runner. Two totally different attitudes of champions.

Today we did a swim, bike and run workout. We headed down to the lake again early this morning and then came home and I rode up to the Apex Ranch and then home, and finally then headed out for a 30 minute run off the bike. I saw another bear on the side of the road and it was a good motivation to pedal a little harder :) My legs were so tired on the bike today but felt okay on the run. It's so random how sometimes after a killer run my legs feel great the next day on the bike or when the bike is crap - the run is good. Sometimes makes no sense.

We are settling in pretty good now and enjoying our time here. Not really wanting to head to work anytime soon but also looking forward to the new challenges of being in new schools. My sister is coming on Friday as our Top Cheerer for this year's race so that will be nice to see her. Lots of friends are heading out this week as well to support their friends and family and as many are also racing. As it get closer to the weekend the anxiety tends to build and I know I am getting nervous. Junior has done a great job of trying to reassure me that it will go well but there are so many factors. He has done some great training and I am really looking forward to his race being successful as well as mine. It's tough when you don't get to see him except maybe once on the run. Tough to not get those visual cues as to how he's doing and when he's going to hit the key points along the course.

Tonight we are heading to our favourite pub for dinner before the flood of people get here. Soooo hungry after today's workout. Another big day of workouts tomorrow.

Chased down by the Ogopogo?

2008-08-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was pretty warm again after a few welcomed cloudy days. Maximus and I spent most of the day doing yard clean up and getting our garbage situation ready for our major pickup on Friday. We had to stop by City Hall and pick up some extra bag tags because we are only allowed 2 bags of garbage but with the move and cleaning up the yard we are a few bags over. Plus all the cardboard had to be cut down to a specific size and organized to be pick up with the recycling. It was a pretty big job but we tackled it pretty good. Junior was setting up our 'command centre' - I think our computer could launch a space ship :)

Once the day cooled down a bit we walked down to the lake to do a swim. Out to the Sicamous and back. It wasn't too bad actually. The second lake swim of the week and I am starting to feel more comfortable in the water. That panicky throat feeling is easing. Yesterday was the first time I felt like my wetsuit is now a little big. I had some major water rush in on the way back. Maybe time to scout out a new one. The last two times I've swam the lake I have chosen to swim closer to shore so that I can touch and see the bottom. I think this has worked well for me as a strategy. Seeing the bottom makes a major difference but you have to go when the beach is less busy. I made it down to the boat and then headed back. The sun set pretty quickly and on the way back I could see the water changing to be darker. Just as I started to pick it up a little I felt my leg grabbed around my ankle and it MAJORLY FREAKED ME. Thank god I was in the shallow water cause I jumped right out of the water and screamed. I don't think I'm the only one who occasionally thinks there really might be an Ogogopo. Am I? It was just Junior being a jackass and had lapped me twice on the swim and came back around to scare me. It worked :$

Apex Ride and Starting to Taper

2008-08-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we headed out for one of our last long rides before IMC. It's been really great being out here and getting on the bike. It seems so much easier. As for the ride it was a tough one. Up to the Apex Ranch and down and over, out to Olala and then back up to Yellow Lakes and then home. Total riding for the day was 4 hours with some tough hills. It was nice to get out later in the day after a bit of resting around the house. The horses were out on the Apex road and it was nice to see them up so close. Just casually hanging out as I road past. I could have reached out and touched them it was so close. Neat. After a quick bath for those tired little legs we headed out for dinner at the Thai restaurant here. So yummy - and then home to rest and relax.

Today we are going to head down to the lake for another swim. Seth wants me swimming in the lake everyday we are out here to minimize the panic at the start line. Then it's home for our last long run before the Taper.