Valley Zoo

Monday after Aunty Liz got off work she, Mom, Grandpa, Jonathan and I went to the Edmonton Valley Zoo. We used to go there when I was younger but we haven't been in a LONG time. Fortunately, it was much like I remembered and still a really fun place to go, especially with an almost three year old.

Some of the displays made us laugh, like this guinea pig enclosure on the left. I have never seen so many guinea pigs together and they were all different!

Hey V, a kookabura, just for you :) He was singing up a storm too :D

This is Jonathan looking at the ring-tailed lemurs.

The Valley Zoo recently welcomed two baby Red Pandas. My dad is obsessed with these creatures. He, Mom, Seth and Robert went to the Calgary Zoo and saw the pandas there so when we saw this guy, I had to call him. They are really interesting creatures. Apparently zoologists had a hard time classifying these creatures and finally dubbed them "pandas" because they eat bamboo.

We never did see the babies but this adult was pretty to look at.
My personal favourite animals were the gibbons. they were really hard to photograph because they were behind glass and swinging like crazy!!! It was so fun to watch them go back and forth and around and around.

Grandpa's favourite was the elephant. I can't make this picture rotate correctly but you get the idea. He was amazed that the trainers could get that close to such a large animal and that it would just stand there and let them wash it. They sprayed it and then scrubbed it with long handled brushes. It was fun to watch.
I don't technically have permission to post pictures of Jonathan so these "creative shots" will have to do ;) Aunty Liz bought him this tiger in the gift shop. At the end of the handles is a trigger you can squeeze and the tiger opens his mouth. Jonathan spent the rest of the day walking around roaring and biting things.

And this is the entrance to the zoo on our way out.

Blog Challenge: Childhood Vacations

The current SS Blog Challenge is very timely:

Childhood vacations – what one family vacation in your childhood stands out in your mind as the most memorable?

Who were you with? What did it mean to you? Whether you took a vacation once every summer or once every decade; whether it was a weekend trip or a 2-week trip...let us hear about it.

Whether you were the Griswolds or the family who had their own Cousin Eddy showing up every year to deal with, there has to be some unforgettable memories you'll never forget...good or bad...that you can laugh at now. And if there wasn’t just one trip that stood out to you as being “the trip” maybe there was just the shared time with family on several trips that impacted you.

I think the way we traveled as kids and what we did impacts how we choose to travel with our own children as adults. So blog away...let’s hear about those memorable family vacations!

I was born in Alberta, Canada as were both of my parents. We moved to BC when I was three and left all our extended family behind. Dad has five siblings and Mom has four. Because of that, our summer and family vacations almost always consisted of trips to Alberta to visit family. Each trip was a little different timewise but we always drove the 12+ hour trip each way. Sometimes it was just a long weekend, sometimes it was a week, a few times Dad took us there and left us at Grandma and Grandpa's for a month or more while he came home and worked. My parents and I tried to count one time and concluded that our family has made the trip back and forth across the mountains close to three dozen times. Minimum once a year, often closer to two or three times.

Knowing this will help you understand how odd it is for me to have not visited Alberta at ALL since the summer of 2005. For me, three years is an INCREDIBLY long time. I didn't actually realize HOW long until I arrived at Grandpa's this summer.

I had been planning to go to Alberta this summer since February (or even before). I just knew it was time to make the trip and with two of my brothers there now and my last remaining grandparent not getting any younger it just made sense. I looked at flights and concluded that since my list of people to visit were spread out some, driving would make more sense and, in the long run, be cheaper. I offered Mom the option to come up with me so I'd have a driving buddy but we didn't really finalize anything.

The weekend before Canada Day Dad got the same urge and since he got the Monday off, he and Mom packed up and drove to Crossfield. He came back on Canada Day and my brother Robert drove Mom about half way to Edmonton (Aunty Liz met them and took her the rest of the way). That left me to drive the whole way to Edmonton by myself, a trip of just over 1000 kilometres.

I was a bit nervous about going that far alone but I psyched myself up for it. I gathered practically every cd I own and put them in a carry case. I hit Walmart for snacks and made egg salad sandwiches the night before I left. I froze water bottles and I made sure to hit Starbucks on the way out. I even printed directions just in case 20+ years of driving the same route didn't stick and I needed reassurance that I was going the right way.

The trip was great. I haven't been to Alberta in three years and the last few times I always took the southerly route through Banff National Park instead of North through Jasper National Park. The weather wasn't always fantastic. I hit heavy rain just before Blue River (when my gas tank was on the low side) and minor construction near Mount Robson but other than that it was smooth sailing. There was very, very little traffic on the roads. Mostly just me, local traffic and a handful of RV's. I did take a turn in Spruce Grove (just outside of Emonton) and ended up coming into the city on a funny angle but once I hit West Edmonton Mall I was able to get to Grandpa's with out incident.
Once I got to Grandpa's (Grandma passed away in 1996 which is why I'm not referencing her) the memories started to come. My parents have always rented and therefore we moved a lot. Seven different houses while I was growing up. My grandparents on the other hand moved into their house in 1975 when my mom was 15 and Grandpa is still there. That makes for a lot of memories in one place.

Most of them were good memories, I just wasn't really prepared for how MANY there were. I also had some really frank talks with my mom which were great but I went to bed emotionally exhausted each night.

A big part of that was my "detective work". I've always had a passing fascination with geneology but I've never devoted any more time to it than what was required by school projects. I know there are others researching various branches of my family and so far I've been content to let them do it, mostly just because I know how all consuming research can be. While I was at Grandpa's I pulled out some old family photo albums and pressed for details on who the people are.

On Tuesday we visited the grave yard and got photos of stones and, the biggest thing, after Grandpa left for church one evening, Mom and I went digging in his closet and pulled out a valise that he generally won't let us touch and went through it. It has ALL their important paperwork in it. Half of it is in German so I just took pictures of everyting. Scanning would be better but this was a quick portable way to get the information without him knowing that I was digging in there.

It's a bit overwhelming but it's also exciting. I'm not sure how far I'll take this research and I'm definitely just at the very beginning of my journey but I know I won't regret looking for information. I'll try and keep you posted on details.

Anyways, I kind of got off track. Bottom line is I spent my summers going to Alberta and I finally got to do this trip again. Now I have work to do :)

Alberta 2008

I'm back! I'm caught up on emails. I'm back to the grind. Now for a recap.

Everyone is asking "how was your trip?" The short answer is "wonderful". The long answer? Great but suprisingly emotionally tiring and by the time I got home my ears and head hurt. I'm just not used to being around that many people for that much time in a row. I was SO happy to be back in my quiet apartment (it reaffirmed my decision to NOT have a roommate) and even to get back to my quiet wood panelled office.

Here's the rundown for the week. I'll post separately with pictures for each events.

Sunday, July 6 - drove to Edmonton via the Coquihalla Highway and Yellowhead. Stayed at Grandpa B's where Mom was.

Monday, July 7 - Went to the Valley Zoo with Mom, Grandpa, Aunty Liz and my cousin's son (Liz's youngest grandson) Jonathan

Tuesday, July 8 - Visited with my Aunty Emily, cousin's Rhonda and Suzanne (and their kids) at Suzanne's house. Met with cousin's Ruth and Naomi (and kids) at Naomi's house. Dinner with my friend Lisa.

Wednesday, July 9 - Spent the day with Aunty Louise and Uncle Rick at Thunder Lake. Three of their kids and their kids joined us throughout the day.

Thursday, July 10 - Visited briefly with mom's Uncle Oskar and Aunt Helen. Lunch with Dad's Aunty Elsie. Drove to Crossfield which is just North of Calgary and where my Uncle Tim, Aunty Candace, their three boys and two of my brothers live.

Friday, July 11 - Went to Big Hill Springs Park with Canadace, the boys and Mom. Dinner at Red Lobster with everyone.

Saturday, July 12 - Mom and I went to the Calgary Stampede which culminated in my sixth Dierks concert

Sunday, July 13 - Visited the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller

Monday, July 14 - Mom, Brandin and I drove home and took MANY stops during the day. We had fun though.



So as you can see, it was a lot of visiting family which was the primary purpose of the trip. We fit in some fun sightseeing too which I hadn't anticipated so that was just a bonus.

Berrybeat Festival

I'm at my parents house briefly clearing out email before leaving so I thought I'd update you on what I've been doing for the past two days. This weekend was the 27th Annual Berrybeat Festival (I blogged about it last year too) and it was another successful event. I took Friday off so I could be there both days which was great but I am TIRED now!

Thursday was set up and it went well. Both mornings I started my day with a yummy pancake breakfast. I'm not really a fan of pancakes or sausage but some how, at Berrybeat, you just have to have them. It's tradition!

There was almost constant entertainment as always. One of my favourites was the little Mooshum Metis dancers. They did an awesome job. Other entertainers included fiddlers, singers (like Kristal Barrett), dancers from all the local dance academy's and the Mexican dancers at left.
The farmers' market was on today as well and these peppers were so beautiful I couldn't resist taking a picture.

I spent most of my time in the info booth again. We had lots of volunteers so I was able to roam quite a bit too. The group that puts on the festival are fantastic and I love spending time with them. It's also neat to see how many people attend the festival that I know. I guess that's what happens when you've lived in a town for almost 25 years!

Okay. NOW I'm on vacation ;) Don't miss me too much!

Canada Day "Weekend"

It doesn't really qualify as a "weekend" for me because I worked Monday but it's all kind of a blur so close enough :)


Mom & Dad went to Alberta this weekend so they asked me to stay at the house. Aaron was there but he's still "not making good choices" so they wanted me there too. It helped too because he needed a ride to work on Sunday morning so I was there and able to take him.


Sunday after church I came back to my place and hid in my apartment to escape the heat. It was GORGEOUS all weekend but I can only handle so much sun. I'm really focusing right now on completing my Philadelphia 2006 album and I'm almost there. In order to complete this album I've been doing a lot of research about the American Revolution and different events that happened in Philadelphia. It's fascinating. Not exactly "Canada Day"-ish but interesting.

Monday I worked and then I came home and completed a few pages in my album.

Tuesday was Canada Day and Meredith and I went to our local parade. It was fun and of course I have another pretty burn to show for it. (Some day I WILL learn to wear sunscreen) After the parade I went back home but on the way I had an...incident. I briefly mentioned back in March that I had dropped a toonie (Canadian two dollar coin) in my steering wheel. For the most part it's not a big deal. It rattles around and sometimes it connects with my horn randomly which is annoying. For the last few months it hasn't even really been moving but last week it came unstuck again. Tuesday it connected with my horn and I could. not. get it off. So I'm driving around with my horn blaring. Luckily I was close to home but talk about nerve wracking!

Dad drove home from Calgary that evening and as soon as I got home, I took my car to him. When I dropped the coin originally he said he might be able to get it out but he never got a chance to look at it. Tuesday I got there and told him that I was actually afraid to drive my car so something had to be done. He worked on it for awhile. Took out some screws, which did nothing. Moved it around and then finally pulled out this nifty pen shaped magnet that he has. We managed to pry the steering wheel open enough and he pulled the coin out!!! I didn't realize how bad it was to have it in there until he took it out and I almost cried. Sad but it's pathetic to be afraid to drive your car. Anyways, everytime I see him now I tell him he's my hero :)

So after the toonie incident I went back to Exhibition Park and watched the end of Canadian Idol finalist Greg Neufeld's concert and then the fireworks.

So that was my Canada Day "weekend".

This weekend we have the BerryBeat Festival and Sunday I'm off to Alberta to visit family. I'll report on that trip when I get back after July 14th.

Happy Summer!

Vancouver

Next to Victoria, Vancouver is a favourite city of Meredith and I. We love just going in for the day and hanging out. Saturday, June 28th we did just that. Our first stop was in the fun, funky shopping district of Kitsilano. I`ve driven by there many times but never stopped. Saturday was a perfect day for shopping. We didn`t buy a whole lot but we had a great time exploring all the shops. Book stores, chocolate shops, clothing botiques and more. We also stopped in at Capers market and while I was drooling over the cheese, one of the staff gave us a sample of this one. Yes, you read that right ``Drunken Goat`` Goat`s Milk Cheese. It`s a wonderfully smooth cheese that has been soaked in red wine which gives it a burgundy rind. Yummy.


After shopping we walked a couple of blocks to Kitsilano beach where we had a picnic lunch. For some reason, I didn`t take any pictures (aside from the one of the cheese which I actually took at home)


After our picnic we headed over to Robson Street for more shopping. Mere bought a dress at the Gap and I got a cd at HMV. We had drinks at the Cactus Club and then decided to get out of the city. My solution was to drive up Burnaby Mountain. There is a *beautiful* view of the city and the inlet there. It gives a great apprecation for Vancouver as a port city.

So there, nothing earth shattering, just another pleasant day enjoying one of the best cities in the world :)

CP Spirit of 150 Rail Tour

This year British Columbia is celebrating 150 years as a Crown Colony. There are many events being organized around the province and the first one I was able to take in was the CP Spirit of 150 Rail Tour.

From the website: From June 12 to July 6, the CP Spirit of 150 Rail Tour will visit British Columbia communities along the Canadian Pacific route. The tour is co-sponsored by Canadian Pacific, which will operate, staff and maintain the train.

The CP Spirit of 150 Train includes the vintage CP 2816 Empress Steam Train and support cars, two vintage passenger coaches, a vintage business car, a heritage baggage car converted into a travelling museum and a vintage stage car.
The train rolled in to my hometown just before 5pm on Thursday, June 26th. It's previous stop was the town where I work so I actually got to see it travelling between the two. (That's the picture above, the train merrily steaming it's way across the flats. I took it while I was stopped at a red light.)

The train was in town from 5-9 and I spent the first two hours of the evening volunteering at the BerryBeat Festival booth (BerryBeat is next week. Watch here for updates :)) The best part about being in the booth was that I had a front row seat for the stage show. Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures :(

After my shift in the booth Mom and Dad came down and we toured the museum car together.

The museum car will feature a compact version of Free Spirit: Stories of You, Me and BC, the BC150 exhibition currently on display at the Royal BC Museum. A stage show and costumed performers depicting some of B.C.’s most entertaining and notorious historical figures will help bring history to life.

There was looooong wait to get on the museum car and frankly, I was pretty underwhelmed by the display. There were a few neat things though. Right is a copy of the original declaration establishing BC as a crown colony.

This picture shows the infamous "Flood of '48" when the Fraser Valley was covered in water. (It's a big historical deal around here)

The train is CPR's Empress 2816 Steam Locomotive
CP's 2816 is a class H1b Hudson type locomotive built by Montreal Locomotive Works in December 1930. The CP Empress is now the only surviving H1b Hudson and is one of only a handful of preserved and operating CPR steam locomotives in North America.

Initially the locomotive ran westward out of Winnipeg to Calgary and eastward to Fort William, Ontario (now part of Thunder Bay). Locomotive 2816 then moved into service on the Windsor-to-Quebec City corridor. Its last assignment was at the front of a Montreal-Rigaud commuter train, making its final revenue run on May 26, 1960. Having logged more than two million miles in active service, 2816's fires were extinguished.

It's an impressive machine. Note that the wheel is taller than my dad!

They also had this engine which Google tells me is a "Passenger Extra 1401 South", the Canadian Pacific's luxury passenger train.

I love trains so it was neat to see these beauties in the downtown.

What happiness looks like

Coffeeeeee!

I didn't plan this but I'll take it.

11:30 - lunch with Meredith at Starbucks. Grande-no-water-no-foam-extra-hot-soy-tazo-chai
1:30 - mid afternoon coffee from a fresh (very STRONG) pot that my coworker made
2:45 - double double from Tim Horton's courtesy of the auditors

That's my first double double ever. I usually drink French Vanilla Cappacino's there. This was good, sweet in a sugary sort of way (obviously since Double Double means two cream, two sugar). The donut didn't help either!

So now I'm on a sugar high and I should have a carb crash coming but will be over-run by the caffeine high. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Stuff that doesn't get it's own entry...

As I was coming down the hill on the way to Mike's on Saturday the traffic coming towards me was stopped. The SUV at the front of the line was flashing his lights at me and I realized it was because this momma and her babies were crossing!

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I am sporting my first official sign of summer...well...second if you count the burn I got in Victoria. Anyways, the next official sign? BUG BITES! I have a huge one on my ankle. Actually, it might be more than one. It's nasty though and ITCHY!

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I met my dad for lunch yesterday and Meredith today. I love meeting people for lunch. It's not a lot of time but it breaks the day up. If you're in the area, look me up!

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I got my meet and greet with Dierks approved for the concert in Calgary at the Stampede. I can't wait!!!

Melissa & Jevon

Saturday Melissa and Jevon were married in a simple fun ceremony at Minoru Chapel in Richmond. I drove in with Mike and we found the Chapel relatively easy (there's something about Richmond. I always get lost there. It's very annoying).

Minoru Chapel is very popular for weddings and we saw at least two other brides waiting for their turns. There was also a large graduating class getting their pictures taken in the garden beside the Chapel.
The ceremony was wonderful. It was very simple. Just a brief message by the pastor, the vows, exchanging of the rings and the signing of the registrar. They had a harpist playing and after the ceremony the bells rang out which was a nice touch.

The reception was at the Delf Room in Richmond. They had cream puffs instead of a cake and, since cream puffs need to be kept cold, they actually did the cake "cutting" first! That was different for me but it worked. I've been to so many weddings were the cake was forgotten. This way the kitchen staff had time to serve it and it was enjoyed by everyone when the desserts were put out.

After the cake cutting there were a handful of speeches. Melissa's dad did a wonderful one that had everyone (including himself) in tears. Then Jevon's mom shared some stories and lastly, the maid of honour, Chelsea gave a toast to her friend. After the speeches we had a wonderful buffet dinner and then visited and danced all night. I even caught the boquet (that's the fourth time if anyone's counting)

L-R: Highschool friends forever. Jenna, Heidi, Melissa, Kimberley and Mike.

Three weddings down, one to go, this year.

Don't Blink

Last night I had the priviledge of attending a retirement celebration for two men who dedicated their lives to our industry. I didn't know either of them very well but, as I posted before, one of them was on our board of directors for over 10 years and I have associated with him on a few projects since I started with this organization. Mostly my boss and I were there to represent our company.

Anyways, after a buffet dinner there were a number of speeches and then an open mike time. Every person that got up thanked both of the men for their hard work, dedication, sense of humour and mentoring over the years. They ribbed them a bit and shared stories (some of which were probably best left UN-repeated) but all were shared with lots of respect. There were even a few tears shed and they were all genuine.

After everyone had a chance to share their thank you's, the two men who were being honoured were called upon. The first one was very uncomfortable with public speaking but his words were so heartfelt. Basically he said thank you to everyone for their kind words. Then he paused and said "it all goes by in a blink of an eye. I will miss coming in to the office each morning but I'm excited to experience some new things".

It made me think of the Kenny Chesney song "Don't Blink". But here I was, witnessing it live.

The second gentleman, the one I am familiar with, also said thank you and pointed out that this would have been the 41st wedding anniversary for himself and his now-decesed wife. Everyone choked up and we all raised our glasses in a toast. Very cool.


At the beginning of the night, one of the first people I saw when I walked in to the banquet room was my grade one teacher!!! I was able to visit with her for almost 20 minutes and we caught up. She's still teaching and absolutely loving it. She was an incredible teacher. I still have wonderful memories of that class. I told her that Sara just got married and that I am still friends with Meredith. Both of them were in that class together. It was neat to be able to see her again. Sort of my own "Don't Blink" moment!

I could get used to this

Last night was Melissa's bachelorette party. We met up at The New Revue Stage on Graville Island in Vancouver for a night of Improv. There were two shows starting with "Raiders of the Lost Improv". A semi scripted stage show that incorporated suggestions from the audience. The story line was "Windy Stones" and various other characters searching for the sacred flamingo. They had to get it before the RHINO's (they made that into an acronym) got it and assembled an army of monkeys. It was really well done.

The second act was "Ultimate Improv Championship". It's described as "Vancouver's most dangerous improv is part wit, part fight club. Every Thursday two blood-thirsty teams of improvisers go head-to-head - each team improvising for 30 minutes nonstop. The audience determines who will be the Ultimate Improv Champion, with the winning team returning the following week to defend their title."

The second team was fantastic. They stuck to one story line for the entire 30 minutes and had me doubled over in laughter.

After the show we headed back to Rachel's (Melissa's future sister-in-law's) where we watched "Never Been Kissed", ate pizza, drank pina coladas and did our nails and stuff. It was a late night but it was really relaxed and fun.

Today I have a work dinner thing to go to. Because it qualifies as work time I was able to come in late this morning. It's kind of nice to just show up whenever you want to :D I could get used to this!

Thought of the Day

If you're smoking I'll assume you're on fire and put you out!

That is the sign that Grandma M had hanging in their entry way. I love it :)

Looking for the silver lining

I lost my library card. I know it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of thing but it's *weird* because I use my library card ALL the time and I have NO idea where it is (which is why it qualifies as "lost") Anyways, I finally broke down and got a new one. Now I think losing my old one was divine intervention.

Our library has an excellent online system where you can view what you have checked out along with due dates, renew items, search the whole catalog and request books and have them delivered to whichever branch you want to pick them up from. It's very convenient and I use it all the time.

The library also has internet access and I've been using it more and more because it's really convenient, especially on the weekends.

For both of these functions you have to log into the system using your library card number and a pin number. I could not for the life of me memorize my last library card number. I tried, I practiced, I couldn't get it so I finally gave up and just pulled it out of my wallet every time I needed it.

This new card though? I had the number memorized the second time I used it!!! It's very logical with lots of repeating numbers. Having the number memorized is so much more convenient and I now no longer mourn the loss of my old card.

Gotta love the silver lining!

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was exactly how weekends should be.

Friday evening I packed up some supplies and went scrapbooking at Terri's. Most of the time I prefer to work in the comfort of my own home but sometimes you just need to tap into the energy of having other scrapbookers around. I'm slowly working my way through my Philadelphia album and I was stuck. Terri inspired me on a page and now it's "good enough" and I'm able to move on. That is a great feeling.

On the way home I took advantage of the fact that the grocery store is open until midnight and I got my shopping done. It made for a late night but I was so glad to not have to worry about it on Saturday (and to have milk for my coffee in the morning!)

Saturday I got up and went down to the Farmers' Market. They were having a western theme so everyone was decked out in cowboy duds and all the booths were decorated. They also had a local group doing (really good!) Johnny Cash covers and the Rod and Gun Club did "shoot out" demonstrations. A bit cheesy but super fun. My brother Robert called during one of the acts and I told him what was going on. His answer? "You're such a tourist!" I informed him that I was only three blocks from home so it didn't really qualify but, if it did, what's wrong with that?

From the market I made my way up to the mall where I stopped in at NR to visit my old co-workers. It was nice to catch up with them briefly but I sure don't miss being there, especially on a sunny Saturday.

Next stop was my friend Leah's where we held a surprise birthday party for her. She just had her third baby so her husband convinced her to stay upstairs while we all gathered in her front room. When she came down, we yelled surprise. Of course she promptly started crying but it was good tears :) I stayed there for a few hours and got my fill of babies. There were three under three months!

Sunday after church Mom, Dad and I went to Swiss Chalet for lunch with a bunch of other people. For Father's Day I gave dad an Imax video called "Cosmic Voyage". We saw it as a family *years* ago and Mom and I have been wanting to buy it for Dad ever since because he enjoyed it so much. He was really, really excited to get that It's always nice when you find a winning gift.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Dad and Aaron came over and helped me move furniture and then Mom and Dad stayed for coffee (Aaron left to go to a friends house).

The weekend wasn't anything spectacular but it was a good pace and wonderful. Just like a weekend should be.

Now, if I can just keep my head above water with all the things I have planned for the week, we'll be doing well!

Heidi's Hole

It's official. I have a craft room/ office/ junk room/ happy place now. It's a mess but the bones of it are there and everything that will stay in that room is there in boxes. Now I just have to set it up, arrange it and clean it up so it's functional. I did sit down yesterday and do some scrapbooking though. Even in the middle of the mess. It's a super functional room and I know I'm going to love it!

Pictures to follow when it's presentable and you can tell what is what :)

My Decision Making Process

As I get older (you know, because I'm SO old :P) I recognize that I have a pretty standard decision making process. When I'm given two options I think it over for myself, get as MUCH input from others as possible, mull on it for a day or two (or 60) and then make my decision. This is mostly for big decisions but I do it for smaller ones too. Generally I just need TIME to get used to a new concept.

The latest item that I've been gathering input on is the debate of roommate or no roommate (and BTW, I'd say "housemate but I don't HAVE a house so roommate it will be).

I won't go into detail because it's long and boring but suffice to say, after lots of input, I'm leaning towards no roommate and I'm hoping to take advantage of that decision either this weekend or early next week. I'll keep you posted.

The Other Side of the Table

Hello poor neglected blog. It's been almost a week since I blogged anything sorry :( So, what have I been up to? Well, this week it's been interviews. Not for me, I've been the one DOING the interviews! It's been an interesting experience. Late last week we got notice that our part time receptionist is going back to school. My boss has been out of town all week but, in the interest of expediency, in her absence, she had my co-worker and I do initial interviews. We utilized the service of a placement agency so that we wouldn't have to do advertising and wait for resumes to come in. Sharron (my co-worker) and I did five interviews this week. Four from the agency and one from word of mouth.

Being on the other side of the table in an interview is very interesting. A lot of "what not to do" stories from applicants being 45 minutes late(!) to not being dressed appropriately, to just things you really shouldn't say if you truly want the job.

The other interesting thing was that both Sharron and I had the same gut reaction to each of the applicants and we agreed on the final "ranking" system that we used to recommend applicants to our boss. My boss and I have second interviews booked for tomorrow and hopefully our gut reaction will be correct.

Interviewing is very time consuming though. I'll be glad when it's over. It's another skill to add to my own resume though...which...I think I'll go update. After seeing the ones I did, I have a few changes to make :)

My first un-supervised pie

I made pie last night. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. I've made pie plenty of times before but this was my first time doing it ALL by myself without Mom there to superivise. I did have to go out and buy a rolling pin (do you know how much they cost?!?) but I made the crust according to Grandma M's recipe and I made the pumpkin filling according to Grandma B's recipe. The first one probably could have baked a bit longer. The crust on the second one burnt a bit. It still tasted good though and I'm happy to bring it to dance tomorrow as requested :)

I also made a turnover type thing with the leftover dough and some fruit mix my mom gave me. I'm eating that for breakfast. Yummy!

Love is Never-ending

Births, marriages and deaths are arguably the biggest events in many people's lives. In the last three months many of my friends have experienced these milestones.

Three babies have been born to women in my church (and another is due in July).

Three people have passed away. All were older but it doesn't make it any easier. The latest was my dance partner's wife. I'll be going to the service on Friday.

I've been to two weddings so far and I have two more to go to.

I was listening to Brad Paisley's "Time Well Wasted" cd yesterday and I think the words from this song are so appropriate:

Love is Never-ending
Seasons come and seasons go
One day sun, the next day snow
Flowers die and flowers grow
But love is never-ending

You can't kill it with goodbye
It always finds a place to hide
Inside your heart for your whole life
Love is never-ending

(Chorus:)When the lights have all gone down
It'll still be hangin' 'round
Even when you think it's lost, it can still be found
When every memory has been made
And the pages start to fade
And every prayer you ever prayed is heaven bound
When you think the ride is over
You're back at the beginning
Love is never-ending

Greatest Joy

This comment was posted on Lee's blog

What is your greatest joy about scrapbooking?

For me, it is organizing all my pictures, memrobilia, stories and memories on a page that can sit happily on my shelf. I am a packrat by birth (my mom and paternal grandmother are both horrible so I come by it naturally). Scrapbooking gives me a place to store all the bits I pick up every day and and it gives me permission to throw out anything that doesn't make it into my album. That is my greatest joy.

EAT! Vancouver

I have a bad habit of, when I've attended an event, waiting until I've uploaded the photos before blogging about it. Sometimes, like with this one, I upload the photos and find out that I didn't have half as many as I thought I did, or any really super good ones. Deb has a few from this event but I need to just blog this before it becomes *really* old news.

Saturday, May 24th I met Deb at her house in Vancouver and we took skytrain to BC Place where the sixth annual EAT! Vancouver, Everything Food and Cooking Festival was taking place. I had been once before, with Robert, in 2005 (before I started blogging) We had a blast and I've always wanted to get back. For various reasons, it didn't happen until now.

Deb was a perfect festival "partner". She's adventerous when it comes to food, she appreciates quality products and nifty gadgets and she's comfortable either working the show floor together or separate. The picture of her is when she was trying an oyster.

It's hard to capture the event in words. It's a delight for all the senses though. You get to taste a wide variety of food. Most of the booths have samples that they served up at no charge. Everything from chocolate and home made marshmellows to curries, smoked salmon, tomatoes, different friut juices and anti-oxidant drinks, sausage, chips, ice cream and everything in between. You can also buy food tickets and many of the local restaurants had booths set up where you could buy samples of their menu. The idea of course is to familiarize yourself with different places so that you go visit them later.

The smells are incredible. The curries had the strongest smells but as you'd walk down the aisles, something else would grab your nose and tempt you. It's wonderful :D

For the eyes, there is tons to see. Everything is vying for your attention. The monkey looking things left are completely made of chocolate!

The Food Network, Celebrity Stage has shows going on all day. On the left in this picture is Iron Chef, Rob Feenie. I didn't stay for very long but it's fun to hear what they have to say.

Deb did humour me by attending a seminar by the Canadian Dairy Foundation on CHEESE. We sampled seven different cheeses and learned about their properties and about pairing them with fruits, breads and wines.

There was a section dedicated specifically to pet food and while Deb visited the vendors there, I sampled some wines in the Tasting Pavilion.

Throughout the day you are collecting samples, literature and other bits from the different displays. When you first walk in they give you a bag with items in it (like the rice, tooth past and razors). This is a picture of all the "loot" I cam home with. I told Deb "it's better than Halloween!"

There is an admission fee for the event but if you get a chance to attend, I highly recommend it.

And the best part? I found out that in September they're holding EAT! Fraser Valley!!! I can't wait!

Only 40 years to go!

Uggh. I just finished scanning 10 years worth of minutes (a task I've been putting off for a week or so). I was looking for details of what one of our ex-board members was involved with along with the details of his service term. I had to go all the way back to 1981 to find where he was first elected and when I got to 1990, I found a paragraph summarizing everything he's done with dates and anecdotes!

Think about it though. He was on the board starting the year I was BORN. Of course that's why he's retiring and I'm still looking at probably 40 years of employment!!!

Indiana Jones

I convinced my parents to go see "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" this weekend. It was good. About what I had expected.

It's funny to look back over the franchise though. The first installment, "...Raiders of the Lost Ark" was released six weeks before I was born. "...The Temple of Doom" was released in 1984 but I only watched it for the first time at Hemlock in 2007. (Mom didn't like the monkey brains part so we were never allowed to see it as kids). "...The Last Crusade" was released when I was eight and I can't count how many times I've seen this one. Probably more than any other movie except a handful of Disney ones and "The Sound of Music".

The Indy franchise is a good one and it was neat to see it continue.

Of course having the projector stop right at the most exciting part of the film kind of killed the momentum but at least we got free passes out of it!

It is done

I've been thinking about cancelling cable for a week or two now. With the weather getting nicer and the days getting longer (it's light past 9pm here) I don't want to be sitting in front of the tv. Unfortunately the only way I will ignore it is if it doesn't work. If I cancel it I can save more than $30 a month and on my current budget, that's a lot.

Today, I finally did it. My $35 package was the lowest available. I put it on hold which means that I'll need to pay a $19.95 reconnection fee on September 1st if I want it back. That's the day my internet comes back as well unless I call and cancel it totally. (I don't have a computer at home though so I don't see that changing right now). Initially not having the TV will be hard but I'm pretty sure I'll get used to it really fast. I already like the idea of not being controlled by what time it is and what's on. I'm not strong enough to overcome that without feeling like I'm missing something so cutting the feed off is the only way. I have a busyish weekend planned and next week I'll start reading more and actually completing pages in my albums instead of just moving stuff around on commercial breaks.

Word of the day #37: draconian

Dra·co·ni·an
/dreɪˈkoʊniən, drə-/ Pronunciation Key - [drey-koh-nee-uhn, druh-] –adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Draco or his code of laws.
2. (often lowercase) rigorous; unusually severe or cruel: Draconian forms of punishment.

This is one of my director's favourite words. I love it :)

Progress!

Remember back in November when I was working on completing my collection of historical Bylaws? Well yesterday we hit pay dirt. I now have an (almost) complete collection dating back to 1990. I also have many copies of the 1986 Bylaws. Only 15 more editions to find!

And, if anyone is wondering WHY I am collecting these? It's because people reference them. Before the last board meeting I had to look up various incarnations of specific clauses going back to 1992. I don't just collect them for the sake of having them, we use them...but collecting is fun too ;)

May Long Weekend Report

My first full, no-work weekend. It was so nice. Really relaxing and wonderful. Friday I just puttered around. I ran some errands, hung out at home and mostly just enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Saturday I met mom at the Farmers' Market in the morning for a pancake breakfast. It was the official kick off for the season and they couldn't have ordered better weather. It was beautiful out!

That afternoon I went to the wedding ceremony of a girl I worked with at NR. It was really nice and I am so happy for them.

Sunday after church Mom, Dad and I went out to the Cloverdale Rodeo & Country Fair. We didn't actually go to the rodeo part because it's an extra charge over and above your gate admission. We did browse all the booths and exhibits though. I didn't take any pictures at all. Can you believe it? There was just nothing photo worthy. I could have filled a scrapbook with pictures of sunburnt people though. I haven't seen so much red skin in a long time.

After the fair we drove into White Rock and walked along the water for awhile before stopping for some fish and chips.

Monday morning was a statutory holiday (Victoria Day). I was up at 5:30 (there's something wrong with that!) and I drove into the Vancouver airport with Meredith's parents to pick her up. She's here from Australia for awhile. When we got back I went home and went back to bed for awhile. Then I puttered around (tidied my house, scrapbooked, checked emails etc) before joining Mere and her family for dinner.

So that was my long weekend. Quiet and relaxed just like it should be.

My brothers made the trip up to where my extended family (Dad's siblings and their kids) were having a reunion. No one was expecting Seth and Robert and they said when they walked into the hall everyone went quiet for a moment until they realized who they were. The boys haven't seen that side of the family since my Grandfather's funeral a few years ago. They had a nice time and I'm glad they were ready to go.

Today the weather is miserable. There was thunder and lighting so loud this morning that it woke me up and I thought for sure we were having an earthquake. It scared me so bad. It's supposed to get nicer later in the week but right now I'm back at work so it's not that big a deal.

Word of the day #36: petulant

pet·u·lant

Audio Help /ˈpɛtʃələnt/ [pech-uh-luhnt]
–adjective
moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, esp. over some trifling annoyance: a petulant toss of the head.

[Origin: 1590–1600; < L petulant- (s. of petulāns) impudent, akin to petere to seek, head for] —Related forms
pet·u·lant·ly, adverb
—Synonyms irritable, peevish, fretful, pettish, touchy.

I used this in a sentence the other day and then realized that I didn't know if it was really the right word. I looked it up and it was *perfect*.

"Her attitude is petulant. Don't let it bother you."

Yeah me! My vocabulary is better than I though! LOL

Update

So the most exciting part of my weekend was the Alan Jackson concert but that's not all that happened. Let's see, Thursday was the board meeting followed by a dinner in the hotel. I was up until 11:30 drinking with my Directors. Fun but then it's hard to fall asleep.

Friday I didn't have any trouble getting up but by the time the meeting was over I was exhausted. I was home by 3ish which was good. I laid down for a bit but I still couldn't sleep. I ended up going over to my parents house and having pizza for dinnner with them.

Saturday was my last day at the store. It was a good shift. I had great sales and we had a contest going so I got some free clothes. It was a nice parting gift. I turned the keys in as well so I am officially finished. I'm happy with that decision too.

Saturday night was the concert.

Sunday after church we had a catered Mother's Day dinner at the church which was really nice. Then I went home and tidied up a bit and then just scrapbooked all evening. It was nice and relaxing.

Get this though, this is my schedule for the coming week.

Monday - Nothing
Tuesday - Nothing
Wednesday - Church
Thursay - Nothing
Friday - Nothing!!!

I'm so excited! LOL This coming weekend is the Victoria Day long weekend and it promises to be busy but I am loving not having to work when I get home from work and not having any other obligations.

Alan Jackson

Nothing like a last minute decision. Doc Walker was scheduled to come to town this coming Wednesday. This is the second time they've been scheduled and it's cancelled. It sucks big time but what can you do? Friday night I was at Mom & Dad's after the board meeting and I casually asked Mom if she would be interested in seeing Alan Jackson in concert. She seemed open to the idea. We asked my dad and he flatly refused (the concert scene is SO not his thing) So, Saturday morning before my last shift at the store, I returned my Doc Walker ticket and purchased two for Alan Jackson. That concert was Saturday night! I can safely say that I have NEVER bought tickets to a big event, the day of but I am SO glad I did.

I've been trying to be all fiscally responsible lately. Picking and chosing my concerts (because they are my biggest weakness) and only going to the ones I really wanted to see, or the ones that are cheaper. That's what I learned in Texas. Go for local musicians. You get a great show for half the price. I had talked myself out of seeing Alan because I just went to the Deric Ruttan show and Doc Walker was supposed to be on Wednesday. Plus Alan's opening acts were Johnny Reid (who I'm not a huge fan of) and Miranda Lambert (who opened for Dierks in Everett. I like her but I don't LOVE her. Once would have been enough).

Anyways, we drove in and stopped for a high class meal at Ikea on the way. Hey, it's good food and it's cheap! :) When we arrived at the Pacific Coliseum "The Johnny" (as they like to call him on CMT) was already on stage. We must not have missed too many of his songs because we were able to hear him sing quite a few including "Darlin'" (my personal favourite) and "Thank You". Thank You is a song that I don't particularly like but I have to admit, listening to those lyrics with my mom there beside me, I cried :)

One of the drawbacks of buying tickets at the last minute is that all the good seats are gone. We were WAY up in the nosebleed section but, it wasn't really that bad. I was further away when I saw Kenny at Qwest! I did employ my not-so-wonderful-digital-zoom but I also limited the number of photos I took. Especially during Miranda's set. I only have a couple of her.

It was really interesting to see Miranda again. It's been what, 14 months since I saw her last? Well in that time I can definitely see a progression in her performance. She seems a lot more comfortable on stage and in her skin. Mom and I both thought that she could have dressed better (her outfit was pretty blah) but she looked good. Very subtle make up and I didn't think she did as much head banging as last time. I was comparing concert notes with my co-worker this morning and she said she definitely wasn't impressed with Miranda. I guess I knew what to expect so she didn't bother me that much. She is more of a "rocker" though and I just think she's fun.
She sang all of her singles like "Kerosene", "New Strings", "Famous in a Small Town", "Gunpowder & Lead" and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend", which she explained was dedicated to bringing attention to domestic abuse.

She also sang my personal favourite "Dry Town", as well as "What About Georgia" and acoustic "Desperation" and a fantastic version of "I Can't Be Bothered" which she introduced as "real country".

This is Mom and I waiting for Alan to come on stage :)
And this is the countdown for the last two minutes.

After I saw George Strait in 2005 I made a mental list of the top five acts that I wanted to see live. George and Dierks topped that list. Next was Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney and lastly Alan Jackson. I confess though, I hadn't heard great things about his live show so I didn't *really* try to get tickets. I am SO glad that I did though (even if I did leave it to the last minute) and I encourage anyone who is even slightly a fan of his music, to attend a show if you can. He is a VERY "low key" entertainer but he has a way of drawing you in and really engaging the audience. My coworker said it was because he opens the show with pictures from the "Jackson Family Album" so you really feel like you know him. I'm not positive how he does it but he does it well. I think it comes from being Hall of Fame maaterial and in that "superstar" category. He just has "it". I didn't time his set list but it went by fast. He has fine tuned the art of balancing up tempo songs with ballads and giving both their due. The up tempo songs are a blast but the ballads still get the reverence they deserve. He opened with Gone Country and, in no particular order, sang:
- I Don't Even Know Your Name
- Chasin' That Neon Rainbow
- Livin' On Love
- A Woman's Love
- Little Bitty (Mom's favourite)
- Small Town Southern Man
- Love's Got a Hold on You
- Good Time (the new single)
- Like Red on a Rose
- Pop a Top
- It's Five O'clock Somewhere
- Don't Rock the Jukebox
- Remember When
- Drive
- Chatahootche

For most of the songs he had either snippets of the music videos playing, or other images that reflected the themes of the songs. During "Little Bitty" the camera focused in on children in the crowd. It was so sweet.
He closed with "Where I Come From" and they played a montage of "Vancouver Views". They had shots of everything from Science World and Stanley Park to local theatres, eateries, construction workers, army personnel, hockey teams and many images of the flag. He got a huge response and rightly so. It was pretty cool that a "Small Town Southern Man" like Alan could make ME feel patriotic :)

For an encore he sang "Mercury Blues" and then signed probably two dozen cowboy hats and shirts from the stage. His last number was "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning). The simple image of the candles flickering on the screens was really impactful.

All in all, the concert was amazing. I am so glad I didn't pass up this chance. I asked Mom what she thought (since this was her first major concert) and she said "It was fun. He did a great job. I don't think I'd want to make a habit of going to something like this though." Not making a habit of it was referring more to being around some of the people that make concert experiences NOT as fun. We witnessed a drunken brawl during one set change and we were treated to some nasty cigar smoke. Plus there was the regular issues of people standing up and dancing when the people behind them want to sit. It's par for the course though. I've gotten to the place where I can block it out but yeah, it can be a pain. Anyways, I'm glad we went. I'm glad I could share it with her. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Wordy Wednesday

The calendar says it's Wednesday. I'm not exactly sure how it got to be Wednesday already but my co-workers assure me that the calendar is right. So, what have I been up to lately? Here's a quick run down.

Thursday, May 1st
I had in my planner that I was scheduled to work at the store so after a mind-numbing day of filing with my boss, I ran home, at a quick dinner and arrived at the mall to find two of my co-workers looking at me with a puzzled expression.

"Uh...am I not on tonight?"

"No, your on tomorrow"

"Oh, uh, okay then"

So I wandered around the mall for awhile, went to the library and then went home and vegged.

Friday, May 2nd
I did work at the store. Busy night...until 8pm when traffic absolutely died. I had lots to do though so the shift flew by.

Saturday, May 3rd
Leisurely morning at home. I slept in to after 10am. When I got up I took my time getting ready and having breakfast and then I called my mom and we went for a drive. Stopped in at Terri's Croptoberfest to say hi. Visited a used book store that I kept meaning to go to when I worked out there and finally was able to locate. It's really neat. Stuffed full of books and other neat things. We found a couple of books to complete some of the series that Mom is collecting too. Next stop was an LSS to check out their National Scrapbook Day sales. I walked out with two (TWO!) pieces of paper. I was very proud of me :D Last stop was another used bookstore where we found more books. It was fun.

Oh, I forgot our FIRST stop. At Zellars! A few weeks ago was Administrative Professionals Day (or whatever it's called now). Everyone in the office got $50 HBC gift cards. HBC (Hudson's Bay Company) means that they are good at The Bay (big Canadian department store like Sears), Zellars (like Target), Home Outfitters (like...what? Linen's and Things I guess) and another store.

Now, those of you who know me, know that I am the worst decision maker on the planet. Especially when it comes to spending gift cards. It's HARD. Do I buy something fun? Something useful? Something that is $50? Something more? Something for work? What do I want? What do I NEED? These are all the thoughts that I have to fight with when spending a gift card. (Don't get me wrong. I love them. Feel free to send them to me ;) But be aware that they'll send me into a state of mental gymnastics).

My wandering in the mall on Thursday mostly consisted of making my rounds in The Bay to see if there was anything there that I would want. I started in the clothing section.

"A nice new blazer for work would be good..." Didn't find any.

Shoes? None that I liked.

Purses? "LOVE this red one...it's FOSSIL...it's $200" Not going to happen.

Upstairs. Furniture...nothing for $50.

Electronics. Appliances. Kitchenware. Crystal. Pictures. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

So Saturday I dragged my wonderful mother to Zellars. Same deal. New bedding? Nope. They only have horrid colours. Kitchen stuff? Nothing I NEED (this was right after I had picked up the microwave so I was feeling pretty good on the kitchen front). Foot stools? End tables? Nothing I liked. All of a sudden, BRAINWAVE! LUGGAGE I NEED luggage. I WANT luggage. Can I find a decent set for $50ish? First one? $200. Next? $150 for a set. Deeper and deeper into the jungle that is the luggage section of Zellars.
Do you KNOW how many different kinds of bags there are? Black, blue, red, green, black, purple, camo, orange, black and on and on. I was down on my knees looking at one set when a kindly older gentleman drew my attention to a sale set. I think he regretted it afterwards because I pounced. It's awesome (I took a picture for you) 60% off so it was EXACTLY $50. Teal (not black!) And, four pieces. Probably not super awesome quality but it will be sufficient for the amount of travelling I do. Isn't it pretty? :D

That was pretty much the best part of my weekend. Saturday night was bible study which rocked as always.

Sunday, May 4th
Church in the morning. Lunch with friends afterwards. Then I went to Mom & Dad's typed up minutes for the committee I volunteer on and then we went for a walk. I got a nasty blister from that but it was nice to be outside anyways.
I went home and tried to clean one of my tables off...three hours and six cards later I had a bigger mess then when I started!

Monday, May 5th
We were supposed to start the day with a conference call but it got postponed.
Worked on board meeting prep all day.
Stayed home that night. Actually got that table cleared off! Now I don't have to eat on the couch anymore :D

Tuesday, May 6th
Had that conference call. Got really stressed out about the board meeting. Ended up staying an hour later to get prepared.
Mom came over and dropped off/picked up some stuff and stayed and chatted for awhile.
Took a bath, went to bed early.

There. You're up to date on my life :) Hopefully I'll have something more interesting than luggage to report on in the future.