Gettin' Ready for Summer Camp

Tonight I went with Cheryl to the mall to get her all cowgirled up, she's going to be going out to a riding camp in August and required a few items which are not a part of her everyday ensemble. This hat I asked her to try on and it was a fit! Now she's going to have to get used to the cowboy boots, I'm going to have to leave the house for a few hours a day while she does this... clomp, clomp, clomp was all I was hearing tonight!

A Little Bit of Kid In All Of Us

I found myself in a gunny sack today bouncing across a field with kids much younger than myself (if prizes were given for last, I would have won), then it was a tug of war, and there was also a feast available. I was also swinging (I love the swings!) after we had pitched in and did our bit assisting with the clean up. We ended our day stopping off at a kids water park on the way home. I really wanted to run right under the water but it was a tad bit chilly for this, instead I allowed my niece Cheryl to take a few photos. I tried to avoid the water yet somehow I didn't come home dry! I allowed my inner child to have a bit of excitement tonight and was it ever fun!

The school which Cheryl attends hosted this event, it was phenomenal to see not only the kids have fun but the adults as well. I know that there's a little bit of kid in each of us, it's just a matter of allowing it to come out to play once in a while!

The Russian is Found

Yesterday I noticed that the Russian Hamster, who has taken up residence in our home, was not in his cage! This fancy named mouse was on the loose, and I had no time to do a search and rescue so off I went to a speaking engagement and took my sweet time getting home, I DETEST mice! Cheryl was with her Dad, I didn't even have her here to find her critter and it was her that left the cage open! Needless to say I was not impressed.

Last night I sat up at my computer until I darn near fell asleep, I then spied the couch hoping that this mouse wouldn't come into the living room, if he did I didn't notice, I was too tired.

This morning I heard him scurrying in the kitchen, I thought he was in my cupboards and no mouse is going to take up residence in my kitchen! I put on my gloves and shoes and I went on a mouse hunt. The faint noises were coming from under the stove, well think I could pull the stove out! I just got ready for my day, took in a meeting, went to visit a friend, did a bit of shopping and eventually made my way home. Once Cheryl returned we managed to find this varmint, he was under the stove and all I had to do was pull out the oven drawer!

What was I thinking when I agreed to let a mouse live in this house? God only knows! Never a dull moment in my world!

My Baby is Driving!

Michelle, my youngest child, went out and bought herself a car! I have nothing but pride for what she has done for herself. Shortly after Michelle obtained her drivers license (about five minutes) she started expressing how badly she wanted a car. Michelle put the word out, we tried to recruit a few men to assist her with finding a decent vehicle yet nothing was happening fast enough for Michelle. She finally found some of my blood and grabbed the bull by the horns, she found something which is affordable, called around for her insurance, went and purchased her registration and now she's behind the wheel!

Way to go Michelle, I am extremely proud of you!

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

I was over at my middle child's place today, he works from home and was working while I was there, he was assisting an IT with an issue. In case you cannot make out the writing in the photo, it goes like this: The IT says something to my son, then the conversation becomes dominated by my son. Here are his responses: "cancel this, run it"... "I'll stay connected but run and grab a drunk" ..."drink"... "although the other would have hilarious consequences."


Yup, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Early Morning Surprise

I arrived at work this morning to this wonderful surprise! I have officially finished my first year of Social Work, practicum complete!

The company I was working alongside of is the ideal group of people who have come together and make work a fantastic, fun, place to be. I am extremely grateful to have been with this company for this past two months. I am walking away with a new perspective, many more ideas are now dancing in my head and the fun times I will treasure for many years to come.

So see you later AWHC, thank you for the experience, the wonderful flowers and bamboo plant, the gifts, as well as the fantastic lunch and a huge thank you to the board of directors for showing their appreciation!

Synthetic Drugs

Today included a trip to what used to be my favorite pharmacy at my nearest Shoppers Drug Mart. The place has changed not only location, the owner is gone as well. This was so apparent today, the service there was so bad that after ten minutes of waiting for one of the three behind the counter to come over and give me my medication, I just gave up and left.

There is nothing worse than being sick and having to wait around while it is visibly apparent there are people who could serve me and let me get home to bed! I know that it's "not all about me" but when I'm sick, damn straights it is all about me! So now my prescription sits in this drug store, I sit at home and am trying some organic remedies, hot lemon tea, are Halls organic?..... don't think so (oops), maybe I should be sucking on a cinnamon stick, no licorice roots here...the heck with the synthetic crap, just for today!

Moral of my story, never get in the way or annoy a Momma Bear when she's sick, she just might go a tad bit insane!

This is way too much, I was just googling organic remedies and thought that you all might like to know that "For clarification, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana are in the organic category", maybe it's time to head downtown and find me an organic cure! NOT (This must be true, I just saw it on a site I googled your honor.)

Acquired Tastes

I stopped off at the tea shop I've been driving by for quite some time now and what a fantastic little shop! These small jars are the loose teas they carry, only a portion of what they stock in this quaint little tea shop.

My purchase included Raspberry Rooibos loose leaf tea (which is claimed to help with inducing labor in pregnant ladies...NO WAY, NOT ME!) as well as a Caramel Rooibos loose leaf tea. I also purchased an organic decaffeinated Green Rooibos tea (Sweet African Red) and an African Sunset Rooibos. I was offered a sample of a tea to bring home and try which is made in our far north, the Inuit produce this fantastic tea which is called Arpiqutik (Cloudberry), the company is Northern Delights. I will definitely go back and buy a box of this tea, it is fantastic! If memory serves me correctly this company has five different flavors, each of which I will try.

The shop is called Acquired Tastes Tea Company, the address is 12323 - 102 Avenue, for all of you tea lovers this is a must stop shop!

My Car Loves Me

One of the first things on my "to do" list today was to wash my poor car, it's never been so dirty! The back roads to get into North County Fair were dirt and gravel and with very little moisture in the air, my car took a lickin' but kept on tickin'! I love my car and today my car loves me back!

Children's Parade

Sunday June 21, 2009
My highlight of Sunday at the North Country Fair was the Children's Parade that pranced right by us as we were packing up to head home. The children were so cute; some were shy and bashful while others danced and pranced as mischievous smiles decorated their faces. A perfect ending to a interesting weekend.

More Hippie Days

Saturday June 20, 2009

Night time at the fair became almost mystical between the fires, lit up concessions , never ending music and the lack of darkness it was time to get the heck out of there before any real partying began. I headed back to the rented house, leaving my work mate behind to do his own thing. I was exhausted and in dire need of sleep.

North Country Fair, June 2009

Friday June 19, 2009

Small town Faust, this is the hamlet where our accommodations were situated, a small two bedroom house, my choice! I love this small town, one bar, closed store, lake right across from the hotel, atmosphere!
Our trip:
After a long morning we finally arrived at the North Country Fair, aka "Hippie Days", around 2pm and began to set up once we were situated. The work of setting up the tent was laborious, it was extremely hot.

We finished work for the day around 11pm and then ventured out to enjoy in some of the entertainment. The smell of marijuana was so strong I think that I got a buzz just sitting there! I had enough of that nonsense after about half an hour and we headed back to our camp. The "camp" was a two bedroom house which was approximately a half hours drive away from Driftpile where the festival was held.

It was so nice, I listened before I closed my eyes to hear what I could and I heard nothing, absolutely nothing! I slept like a baby!

Oy, oy, oy, oy... What a Day!

By no means was today a good day! It all began last night when my 14 year old niece who lives with me didn't come home until 11pm! Needless to say she didn't want to get up to go to school today and I had opposite plans for her.

Things happened, the police were involved and my niece was arrested under the Mental Health Act. She was taken to a hospital and put under watch by a security guard until she could be assessed. She arrived at the hospital around 9am and it was 3:30pm before I finally went to pick her up. Our next stop was to her psychologist who works through Children's Mental Heath, then we attended a function at her Life Skills school. Now I'm mentally and emotionally exhausted and need some sleep. I made a huge decision today, I have to let this girl go, she needs some serious help which I cannot give to her. My heart is sad tonight yet my head tells me that I am doing the right thing.

It is sad that us, as parents or in a parental role cannot discipline children today. I remember that we HAD to be polite, we did not swear at our Mother, we knew that there were consequences and that we wouldn't sit down for a very long time. Today this would be classified as child abuse. It's no wonder the group homes are so full, I am sure hoping that there's one bed somewhere out there for my niece, it's over. I am am choosing to look after myself which might sound selfish, maybe it is selfish but without my health and sanity, what good am I to anyone else? Pray for this child please, anyone out there who believes in the power of prayer.

Broken Hearts

Tonight I was in attendance at a seminar hosted by the Creating Hope Society, I learned so much in three short hours. I didn't realize that it costs $22,500 per month to keep a child in a group home, that is an astronomical amount of money!

My interest was peaked when there was a discussion concerning removing children from their homes and placing them 200 miles away with complete strangers. Instead of removing the child(ren) from their home, remove the parents and leave the children in their schools, amongst friends and in an environment which is familiar to them. Once (or if) the parent(s) become healthy enough they can move back into the home. Now doesn't this make sense all the way around? The children would still be in their environment, the parents would be able to fend for themselves until they get the necessary help to become healthy parents AND this would be much more cost efficient. There was much more discussed, the short movie "Broken Hearts" was presented which was also extremely interesting but I will not go into detail, it's time for me to call it a day pretty darn soon!

All in a Days Work

I went into the office of one of my co-workers today and this was his view. I asked him what the heck this man was doing, he told me that he had to watch him for a while to figure it out. As it turned out this man was hard at work fixing something in the parkade.

I guess that somebody has to look after the maintenance in parkades, I had never thought about this until now. I also think that this man deserves a raise, he looks so dedicated and into his work, he sure was focused. So here's to you Mr. Parkade Maintenance man, where would the parkades be without people such as yourself?

A Gentle Reminder

I was going to stop at this quaint tea place on 104th ave today and it appeared to be closed, kiddie corner to this tea shop is this church. It caught my eye and something compelled me to take this photo, maybe I need a gentle reminder to continue to turn it over to the big guy. It appears to me that when I live within my own will that my life does not run quite as smoothly as I have known it to. I have concluded that for today I will continue to turn my will over to the care of God and see what happens next.

I Love Chinatown

Today lunch was a get together with some family members, we went out for dim sum and I had such a good time. My oldest son has the greatest sense of humor, he's funny without even trying to be! My sister has this monster of a camera, brand new fancy dancy type and she was taking photos, I felt that everyone was staring at us in the 400 seat restaurant, probably cause they were! But I didn't care, we were the tourists!

On the way into the stripmall there is this one small shop, it's a quaint place....OK I'm being nice, it's cluttered and full of junk but some nice junk I must add! Anyways...at this shop I spied this dress (the black with yellow) and fell in love with it. I proceeded up the stairs to go and see if I could get us a table, the meal was fantastic and I ate a tad too much forgetting about the dress.

Once we were on our way out I just had to push it and try on the dress, unfortunately they did not have my size in the yellow, (size: I just ate too much and I know that I'm going to look fat in whatever I try on but I want this dress...) so I tried the red one on. I think that I might be learning...DO NOT eat just before trying on anything, you'd think that at this age I would already know that but nooooo!

The photo that I want to bring to your attention is the center one, this was their changing room! I had to laugh.. the storage room doubles up as the changing room! I didn't buy the dress, it fit but showed off the wrong spots.... maybe after I don't eat for two weeks I'll go back and buy the yellow dress and skip the changing/storage room and bypass dim sum! Yup, that's what I'm gonna do!

Tourist

Today after work I went out in our city and played tourist, for the sake of my P365 I might add. I came across the darnedest sight, I saw that our legislative building is good for something other than poor decisions made by our politicians, I saw people outdoors having a great time! Kids were splashing joyously in the fountains, parents were lazily watching their children, couples were doing the couple thing and I was taking photos, real touristy! It was great to see that our legislative grounds are at least being put to good use!

Maybe, just maybe, some of our politicians should get out there and spalsh around a bit, they might experience real people and this might influence some of the insane cuts they are proposing. And then reality set in, I woke up from my fairy tale and was at my computer typing!

National Peanut Butter Cookie Day

This morning at work the lady I work with informed me that today is National Peanut Butter Cookie Day, this began an extremely interesting conversation between us. The office where I work in was being used for a meeting and seeings how I forgot my glasses at home I decided to come home to pick them up, this is when I got this brilliant idea! I thought how could we have National Peanut Butter Cookie Day with no cookies, so I whipped up a small batch before heading back to the office. The cookies were well received, we had a good laugh, then back to work as usual.

Baking somehow is extremely therapeutic for me, what it is about it I don't know but so far I haven't had any complaints when I do decide to bake!

Over Priced Coffee

At work there is this cappuccino machine, personally I feel that it is a waste of hard earned money. An extremely strong cup of coffee to kick start the day or to keep a person going is something that I have never quite grasped the concept of. I guess that would be the espresso, I obviously am not a connoisseur of coffee or machines that cost a small fortune to buy to brew them with, but to each their own. Now if this were some type of a specialty tea machine, one that would steep a wonderful blend of herbal tea, I might consider this a "must have" in my home or office.

Trial Run

Here it is, the Workus Tent. The concept behind the tent is to collect stories from people who have been injured on the job, the stories are then put into a database where others can listen to them and possibly connect. The general idea is to have communities connecting. Eventually the goal is to create supports for one another and eventually have various communities come together to create awareness of job safety. This is a long term proactive project and I find it interesting. I will follow this up to see how far it goes and where it leads to. This is the second season the Workus Tent is operational.

Today three of us put the tent up for a trial run, we wanted to ensure everything was in order, make a list of what might be needed for next weekend when we will be taking this on the road. Our destination, the North County Fair! I am looking forward to this trip, I am wondering how many old hippies I will see there that I knew back in the day. The North Country Fair is about a half hour from where my old home town is, so ya, this trip will bring back a few memories from when I was a teenager!

Chaser

It's rather hard for me to believe that something such as "Chaser" is on the market, anti-hangover caplets. These caplets claim to help "prevent hangovers by absorbing harmful elements in beer, wine and liquor."

When I look back into my past, the money I could have made from such a product with me being a bartender, I tell ya! In my drinking days I found that the only real way to avoid a hangover is to avoid over consumption of alcohol period. The avoiding hangovers by staying drunk method sure did not work for me, it landed my butt in the hospital is about all that did. Today I choose not to buy into the latest pills, concoctions, old wives tales, or other methods to avoid that dreaded hangover, I abstain from alcohol entirely and intend to remain this way.

Amazing

Tonight I attended a follow up BBQ/get together that was held for those of us who attended the Leadership Workshop in April. I spotted this eagle and was admiring it, I was informed that this was made out of a moose antler, amazing!

I really enjoyed this follow up, meeting with those I met two months ago and I have learned that we will most likely have another meeting of the minds in about another two months. I love this concept, I have taken a few workshops yet have never kept in touch with those who I have met and at times have wondered what became of them, with our meetings we will have the time to share what is occurring within our lives. A really cool concept and excellent networking in my opinion.

Planting Season?

I planted these flowers and a few others unsure if I should yet or not, it snowed Friday night and there was still snow on my car on Saturday morning. I didn't go overboard out at the farm with plants, who knows what we're in for with this season going the way that it has been!

The work never ends out at the farm, once the house is back in shape the deck needs to be stripped and stained. This is a huge job with the deck now wrapping around half the house and I fully intend to take the month of August off. This means that I will only want to garden and do my canning, staining the deck will not be in my daytimer! Come to think of it, my daytimer will be left in the city and forgotten about until September.

The Great A&W Root Bear

Saturday June 6, 2009

Contrary to popular belief the Great A&W Root Bear is still alive and doing quite well. He does appear to have lost a few pounds, yet overall he looks quite healthy.... or is it Colonel Sanders who is dead? hmmm Anyways incase some of you believe that the Great Root Bear is in Root Bear heaven, here he is!

Sight of the Great Root Bear: Barrhead, AB
Approximate time: 2:25pm

To see is to believe!

Back Alley Delivery

Friday June 5, 2009

All of us from the office went out for lunch, the lady who works the front end of the office is now officially on a three month sabbatical. We went to this wonderful, quaint Thai place and the food was fantastic! Once our lunch was done we all headed across the street to the Italian bakery and talk about temptation! A cake was decided upon and back we all headed for the office.

The two guys who were traveling with me noticed this back alley delivery, I looked and was extremely grateful that we ate about a block up from where these sides of pork were being delivered. I am still shocked that meat is delivered this way to some restaurants, I would venture a guess to say that there is no government stamp on these slabs of pork! No wrapping, just up and over the shoulder and lunch is served! Ewwww

First Aid

Today I went and received my St John's Ambulance First Aid certificate. The class was fast paced, no messing around there... much! We did have a few chuckles yet I took what I learned very seriously. I never know when or if what I studied will be put to use. I pray that I do not have to use my new found skill set, yet if I do I now have confidence that I might be of some assistance.

The most interesting part of our training today was the AED, Automated External Defibrillator. If you have never seen this small, compact machine in use or do not know what it is I suggest that you google it to see what it can do. It is astounding what our modern technology allows us to do these days, sometimes I wonder what will be happening in twenty years from now at the rate technology continues to advance.

Photo Booths

I was at the mall tonight and I was amazed that they still have these photo booths! This photo booth brought back a memory of one of my old photos that I had taken quite a few years back, ok so it was 36 years ago! And I can tell you that it was not $5 to get photos taken back then.

What really amazes me is that these booths are still in existence; they can't make much money at all, not with all of the technology today. Everybody has a cell phone that takes pictures, or a camera that holds 5,000,000 photos on it, so why would anybody pay $5 for a few photos today? This makes no sense whatsoever to me!

Days Gone By

Today I was going to walk to a place to pay my registration for a seminar which is coming up this month and I passed by the Gas Pump. This brought back a few memories, one's which included short skirts, handsome young men, carefree summer nights and many fun times. The Gas Pump is downtown Edmonton, it is hard to believe that my memories go back just over 20 years ago now. What is really hard to believe is that all of my children are now of legal age and can now frequent one of my old haunts if they so choose. Where does the time slip away?

I really enjoyed my walk even if I did end up going back to the office to get my car, I had the avenues and streets mixed up. I was walking to 112st and 101ave, I needed to go to 112ave and 101st, huge difference! My fifteen minute walk would have taken me approximately one hour one way~ I am so redneck sometimes! Mind you once I did finally return to the office I asked the "boss" why he didn't mention that it was that far, he told me that he thought maybe I really liked to walk! Good thing that this is a practicum and I am not on the clock!

Venting is Normal

Today out back where I work I was walking behind this truck not paying much attention when out of the corner of my eye I spotted all of this steam billowing. I walked a bit faster not knowing if this thing was going to explode! I noticed the words on the back of the white tank, it said "Nitrogen" on one side and on the other "Venting Is Normal". Well the way that I define venting and the venting I was witnessing are two extremely different definitions obviously. I got as far away from this truck as I could quite quickly. This was not one of my take twenty photos of my subject days that's for sure, I snapped one photo quickly as I passed by and didn't really care too much at this point in time if this was my P365 photo or not!

The truck didn't explode, we were all safe and I finished my day at work without incident. Now I feel compelled to know what the heck they use this Nitrogen for, anybody have any idea? I work in an office in a professional building. On the first floor there is a pharmacy, a massage therapist, and a beauty salon. On the second floor it is a doctors office and the third floor where I work there are two offices.