And We're Off!

Tomorrow morning we're leaving bright and early for a wonderful 10 days at our cottage. I'm so excited! We've never stayed that long at one time before. Moses is joining the pack, they both have their bags packed. How can 2 dogs have so much stuff?

On another note, through the wonder of googling I've become reacquainted with a girl I used to babysit in Hawaii. She was about 9 years old then and lived with her dad. They were a great pair and I loved living with them. Her dad was a Navy Psychiatrist. She's married now and has 2 girls of her own and is a professional photographer and was excited to hear from me. I don't know where the years have gone but it's nice to see people again even just in pictures.

Here's a shout out to my good friend Barb, hope all goes well and know that we're praying for you.

Take care blog land, peace out.

Dakine Maggie

As many of you know I lived in Hawaii years ago (Aloha) and my heart is still there in many ways. Because of the Internet we have access to so much knowledge! Dakine fo' yu brah!

Anyways, I looked up Maggie's Hawaiian name and here it is

Maggie: KuuMomiMakamae

Now imagine yourself at a ballpark calling that name! to this dog...

Camping

As children we didn't have a lot of money but I don't think we ever thought of ourselves as poor. My parents worked hard and always took us camping every summer. It was something we all looked forward to every year. There are so many places to camp in this beautiful province I live in and lots of great memories.

Now that I'm older and have a cottage to go to I thought it'd be fun to get some of these old photos out and have them framed and hung up as a reminder of years gone by and good family times.

Both my brother John and my Dad have passed away so these photos are especially dear to me now.

The Big Rock

When I was a kid (about a billion or so years ago) my mom and dad would take me to Harrison Hot Springs, a small resort town about a 2 hour drive away from the city. We would enjoy ice cream cones, camping, swimming, pedal cars, cycling, you name it. One of our favorite places was called (at the time) Green Point Park. Around the lake was this rock.
In my mind this was the biggest rock in the world. I would sit on my dad's shoulders and survey our kingdom.
This is one of my most favorite memories of my dad. This picture was probably taken when I was about 5.

Coffeeholic

Those of you who know me know what a coffee fiend I am, especially in the morning. It is not a pretty sight for me to stumble out of bed and not have coffee. It doesn't happen often but every once in awhile something goes amiss with the auto coffee pot, i.e. I forgot to set the time(arrrgggghhhh) or the power was off in the night, anything...............

Anyways I have found the answer to my coffee addiction. It's what I said years ago, if only they could come up with an IV Coffee drip.

If I'd invented this I would be rich by now.

Does My Dog Look Like This?

I'm pretty sure if I could get Maggie to say her prayers at night she might look like this dog. Now if I could just get her to pray...



Here's our beautiful Maggie. She's 4 years old now and has been with us since January/05. She loves to catch balls and play with her cousin Moses. Moses is coming to stay with us for 3 weeks...better behave himself!

Cottage in the Winter

This is a photo taken of our cottage last winter. It's so peaceful up there with snow laying around. You can almost hear the stillness. It's a quiet, serene place for us to go and hang out as a family. Maggie loves it there so much and enjoys hours of playing catch with a tennis ball.

We're still fixing things up inside but it's coming along. We haven't done too much to the outside other than create a rock wall by the front entrance. I've been working on the other 2 rock gardens and want to build an arbor to go on the pathway in between. In the future I'd like to have benches and seats on the property just for quiet times.

We bought the lot next to us as well though it's all treed. I'd like to create some pathways through there.

Lots to do but we can see so much potential and find it rewarding looking at what we've already accomplished.

The Best Blonde Joke Ever

A plane is on its way to Cape Town when a blonde in Economy Class gets up and moves to the First Class and sits down. The flight attendant watches her do this and asks to see her ticket She then tells the blonde passenger that she's paid for Economy and that she will have to go and sit in the back The blonde replies "I'm blonde, I'm beautiful, I'm going to Cape town and I'm staying right here!"

The flight attendant goes into the cockpit and tells the pilot and co-pilot that there is some blonde bimbo sitting in First Class that belongs in Economy and won't move back to her seat.

The co-pilot goes back to the blonde and tries to explain that because she only paid for economy she is only entitled to an economy seat and she will have to leave and return to her original seat. The blonde replies, "I'm blonde, I! 'm beautiful, I'm going to Capetown and I'm staying right here.

Exasperated the co-pilot tells the pilot that it was no use and that he probably should have the police waiting when they land to arrest this blonde woman that won't listen to reason.

The pilot says, "You say she's blonde? I'll handle this, I'm married to a blonde, and I speak blonde!"

He goes back to the blonde, whispers in her ear, and she says "Oh, I'm sorry- I had no idea," gets up and moves back to her seat in the economy section.

The flight attendant and co-pilot are amazed and asked him what he said to make her move without any fuss.

The Pilot replied "I told her First Class isn't going to Cape Town"

Chris and Me

Here's a recent pic of Chris and me over at the Big House. We were celebrating Diana's sale of the home. Now it's time for her to move on to the next stage of her life, wherever that will be. We're going over there tonight to enjoy our last few visits in the mansion.
Maggie's coming along despite being sick with a cold the past week or so. We've been giving her children's cold medicine to help her not be so congested and to get the boogers under control.
We went to see the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" last night. Great movie, as always Meryl Streep is brilliant.

Hop Along

We came home last night after spending a few days at the cottage. This time my Mom came along for the ride and to see just what we were talking about. She was really impressed with what we've already done and our plans for future renovation. It was nice to have her there.

I was surprised on Monday to have my brother and the marmot show up for a visit. They arrived just after we did...hmmm, were they spying? haha. Anyways the 2 of them were pleasant and we had a nice visit. Maggie wasn't too sure about their little dogs that were nipping at her. One good growl from her and they went shaking.

Home again and dealing with Drs. and Work Safe and all of that. Today we're going to Vancouver so Chris can have her CT scan done at St. Paul's.

I Wanna Be a Star

You gotta love the little guy............I've been watching waaay too much tv. I can't believe what people will do to get on TV. We need lessons from this little guy. Just do what comes naturally people....

This Is What It Looks Like

I'm Bionic

Just came home from the hospital where they re-xrayed my ankle only to find there'a bone chip. ouch, no wonder it hurts so darn much! Anyways, no more silly bandage, now I have an Aircast, waaaay easier to walk around with. Won't be able to work for awhile so hopefully WCB will be kind and generous.

Respite'n and Relax'n

I did some respite work this weekend with Danae and Michelle. Danae is a former client of mine and a real sweetheart. She's very bright but non verbal. Michelle is very verbal and not as bright. It was a great weekend and both girls were wonderful. Last night we went to Red Robin for some dinner and then to the movies to see "Garfield, a Tale of 2 Kitty's" very funny.

My ankle is still very sore and swollen and blue so I'm going to go back to the hospital tomorrow for more xrays and exams.

Then....off to the cottage on Monday with the Mother in her car (automatic) yeah! Chris and Maggie, my family...awwwww

From the Other Blog

Ok, I left blogspot because I couldn't work the photo thing...went to msn for awhile. A couple of days ago my blog there went caflooeeyy (I'm sure that's a word) so I'm deleting that one and here I am again. Arrrrgghhhh

August 01
Bad Betty Turns 80

When Chris and I first got together we were discussing parents. Not sure how it all came about but right from day one Chris has called my mom "Bad Betty" even before they even met. From the beginning they have gotten along famously. Chris refers to her as "my mother-in-law" and my mom calls her "Chris, Joan her friend". She always gets her sentences backwards, speaking English as a second language of course is her excuse. I'm not sure what mine is...

Anyways my mom turned 80 on the weekend. She's in great shape, still power walks around the neighborhood, drives her car around lamp posts, and talks to inanimate objects. Sharp as a tack too. We had a nice dinner in Delta and a good time was had by all. My brother and the marmot came from Kamloops, Paul's kids from the island, my niece and great-niece from Vancouver and of course the Surrey girls.

I wish we had taken the digital camera so I could put the great niece Alaia's photo up. What a doll! She wore the muumuu we brought home from Hawaii, it fits her perfectly. The grandchild had a photo of themselves taken at White Rock beach and framed for their Oma. What an awesome gift!

My mom never goes near computers so she'll never read this but,....happy birthday anyways Mom. You look good for 80!


My Left Foot
So after a busy week of work, I'm at Handy DART looking at my manifest for Saturday, going downstairs at the same time...not a good idea. I miss the bottom step and WHAM! I'm sprawled in the lobby of Handy DART, how's that for graceful? Not!

Fortunately for me I hadn't driven my car to work (standard) and Chris was picking me up to go to Diana's to celebrate her selling the big house. We made a little trip to the Hospital en route...no broken bones, just one big fat swollen black and blue mess, ouch!

Diana loaned me her crutches but I'm not coordinated enough to work them so instead of pitching forward or falling on my a**backwards I'm using Chris's cane instead. Good thing my friends have had 'incidents' themselves and have all this medical equipment around!

Anyways...we did go to Diana's afterwards and opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Looks like I'll be off my feet for a few days.

Have a great weekend!

Yesterday and Today


Ten years ago: July 24, 1996

I was working at Image Media Services downtown Vancouver and getting ready to buy my first condo. I had just gotten my little dog Sunshine in June and was looking forward to moving to my own place with her in September.

I only was in contact with 1 member of my family at that time, my brother Ralph.



Five years ago: July 24, 2001

My job with Image Media ended and I had my nervous breakdown in 1997 which led to almost 2 years of unemployment and eventually bankruptcy that same year. I lost my condo and Sunshine died in November, 2000. Those were tough years.

I started working in August at Bethesda working with people with disabilities and discovered something new about myself, that I really enjoyed - I like to work with disabled people!

My brother John had come back into my life and we got to be good friends. We started hanging out together and he was always around to help me with car troubles and offering to change the oil in my car 'in exchange for food', i.e. ' can ya cook me dinner?' Good times. My mom had gotten remarried and turned back into a human being and we re-established our relationship.

I had gotten a new whippet - Flannigen! What a joy. Handsome too.



One year ago: July 24, 2005

I had applied to Handy DART for a bus driving job and they had just called me for an interview. I got hired the same day and had to give 2 weeks notice to Bethesda and gave up my full-time position. I now had 2 part-time jobs, how to coordinate both? hmmm, still working on that one!

I'm living with Chris, my partner of 2 and half years in Surrey with our dog Maggie. Flannigen died in '04, (I still cry sometimes) and my brother John of VW fame died in December '04.

Yesterday: July 23, 2006

I drove Handy DART all day in very HOT weather.


Today: July 24, 2006

Same thing as yesterday, got called at 6:15 am for a shift starting at 7:00.


Tomorrow: July 25, 2006

Who knows?



Home Again
Saturday I took the bus up to 100 Mile House. It was a pleasant ride, the scenery is beautiful especially when you're sitting on the front seat and can look out the big window. The bus driver was my age and we chatted all the way to Cache Creek where we had a break and switched drivers. The new driver never said a peep.

I spent a quiet weekend with Chris and Maggie enjoying long walks around the 'hood' of Deka Lake. Maggie went for a swim on Sunday night, what a happy dog!

We came home last night to hear the news that the Big House has been sold! Diana is now a millionaire for real...well the cheque isn't in the bank yet but the papers are signed so as of October 1 she's without a home but a whole lot richer.

I went to see Shima, Jennifer's new dog. She's beautiful. Maggie acted like a ninny and welcomed her by barking her face off. Then they settled down and crawled under their mom's chairs respectfully. Dogs...go figure. Just like teenage girls.

Hope to work a lot this week...Mother's 80th Birthday is coming up.

That's all for now...until next week...blog on, peace out.