My Dyslexic Friends

Eagle Obsession 2007...

2007-03-14T00:32:00.000-03:00

... has begun and heaven help us all.

Ya know, I thought it was bad enough last year but this year it's begun already. Let me give you a little bit of history on how eagles became my obsession. It all started so innocently.

Those of you that hadn't witnessed it, had certainly heard me talking about it. There was a cam put up on a bald eagle's nest on Hornby Island, British Columbia last year. It was amazing. An up close and personal view of the day to day operations of a breeding pair of bald eagles. I watched them diligently turning those eggs and taking turns, giving each other breaks. What a beautiful pair they were. I was saddened when we reached around the 40th day and no little 'lets hatched. It turns out they were an older breeding pair and the eggs were infertile, hence the no hatching, there was nothing in them to hatch.

Sad days for a bit but thankfully, David Hancock and his team got a camera up and running on a nest that had two eaglets in Saanich, BC. As sad as it was for the Hornby pair, these guys turned surrogate for me and helped me see what I otherwise would have missed with the elder eagles, the raising to fledglings. Those two little 'lets were quite the characters to watch. At different points they were; marbly looking, looked like they were about to explode due to tumours (turned out to be crops), resembled Mini Don Kings and later developed personalities. I never would have thought that possible.

They affectionately became, "Big," (older of the two an most likely female) and, "Lil," (total underdog and likely male) to me and forever will be. Real original, eh? Lil probably wouldn't have made it if a few fellow viewers who lived in the area, hadn't gone out and left food for them. There were many tears, tantrums, laughs and heart stopping moments to be had. I watched those 'lets do everything from pooping to taking their maiden voyage and falling from branch to branch on some rough landings. I also got to see the day to day struggle of survival of the fittest, even though it was hard by times particularly when the Lil one was clearly not the fittest. Nature can be a cruel force.

On this day that I write this, it looks like we've got the first egg of '07 in the nest bowl. Three or four eggs are generally laid 3 days apart. They'll be incubated for about 35 days. So for the next couple of weeks you can tune in and expect to see Ma (or Pa, as they share incubation) in this position. This is Ma on the wide angle camera...

The easiest way to tell them apart is by their size, number one. The females are much larger than the males. Sometimes when it's only one in the nest though, this can be tough. I tend to go by their heads. This'll take more of a trained eye but Ma's head is much broader from eye to eye and front to back. Her beak is also much thicker and with a more pronounced hook.

If you click on the close up camera, this might be what you'll see. Ma loves to keep her eye on the camera. This picture really shows how broad her head is...

This next pic gives you an idea of what her beak's like. It could snap your finger off in the blink of an eye. These guys can have wing spans up to six feet...

The egg is placed wayyy down deep within the nest, so deep that the cameras haven't picked up on them yet. The nest is about 5' across. The parents seldom leave the nest unattended and if they do, it's usually no longer than 15min. Here they are on the close up cam, looking down on the eggs in what's known as the, "bowl..."

Even though things have been quiet with all the incubating, something exciting always happens when you go to the bathroom, even though you just had your arse plunked there for an hour with nothing going on. I got to see Pa come in, bringing Ma a fish, watched her mantle over it, driving him off and even got to hear her tearing apart the fish. All the while, the both of them screeching at each other. Now that's reality TV at it's finest...

Look at that wingspan...

There's also been past eaglets stopping in to visit the nest. This was likely one of the previous year's baby's coming in for a visit. Looks too mature for last year's (too much white, takes them about 5yrs.) but cool just the same...

If anybody's interested in checking it out, feel free to follow this link to go to the webcam. Scroll down. You're going to see a video loop of the two adults until you click on a choice on the right. One's the close-up camera and the other's the wide angle camera, same views that the above pictures are taken from. Feel free to click the advertisements you see as they're currently seeking sponsors (donate if you can) but also take in money for each hit the ads take in. You don't have to buy. Hey, any little bit helps when this is being offered for free.

Also, if anything I've said has left you a little confused, feel free to follow this link and you'll see our nest map and also a vocabulary of what things are called, no not all of them are technical terms, lots of slang we came up with on our own. This is also a website I go to. Observations are kept on nest happenings, with times, that'll help you catch up on what you've missed and also helps out with research.

No, not mating, just a changing of the guards...

Right about the time I was just figuring out we had an egg, I went out for a smoke break. While out on the step (which faces the river) I saw an eagle soar from one end of the neighbourhood to the other. It appears they're back around here too. That's cool, I haven't seen any in over two months. Now, if the snow'll go away it'll be much easier for me to chase them.

Hopefully I've been able to educate you a little on the life of an eagle. I knew nothing before I joined this website. Heck, I didn't even know we had any around here! It's opened my eyes to a whole new world and if I can get someone else as hooked on this crazy thing as I am, my job is done.

'Til next time...

Life On The 'Chi...

2007-03-05T10:35:00.000-04:00

Hey All, it's been awhile. Not much has been going on, with, "Franken-Liss," (Scott's new nickname since she'll be a donor recipient) incapacitated, we've been a little grounded. Our usual excitement consists of doing something immature (see post of us running up and down sliding hill) or trips back to the camp. Needless to say, crutches aren't condusive to any of that activity.

I did manage to go on a bit of a shopping spree in Moncton last week. After trying to find an external hardrive around here to hold my pictures and massive amounts of music, finding that I'd have to pay almost $200 when I knew full well they were cheaper, I figured the gas'd pay for itself. Caprice had also been talking about Moncton as she was now excited about buying bras off the rack as opposed to having to special order. A perfect excuse for a roadtrip, right?

That's the first time I've gone specifically for shopping in Monton in ages. I try to keep my shopping on the river for the most part but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Going the Rogersville way opened up a whole new load of shopping down that end. Five hours later, we finally made it to the mall. Tore the place upside down and only found one shirt for Caprice. Hey, when you go from a size G, to a C, your bras ain't the only thing that don't fit anymore.

We managed to end the day with 3 bras and 3 shirts for Caprice and I was thrilled with my purchases. I'm not exactly your typical girl, I guess you could say a bit of a technology geek as I was skipping out of Future Shop with a 250Gb external hardrive and a new polarizing lens for my camera. I ended the day with those two things and a shirt, all for less than what I would have paid for an 80Gb (more than 2/3rds less storage) at Staples on the river. Sheesh, and they wonder why we take our shopping away!

Work has also been going smashingly. I was starting to get discouraged, second guessing my decision to getting back to hair. I was slower than I'd expected, although still very busy. Holy, nothing like an ego burst. This week alone though I had three of my old clients show up back in my chair. Don't get me wrong, I guess they've been slowly trickling back all along but this week just re-affirmed it. I guess that's what I get for not calling any of them, even though I had their numbers. After having abandoned them for five years, I didn't want them to feel obligated though. The river can be a very small place when it comes to that sort of thing. Politics on any level aren't fun!

Also got some interesting news about my car. I'd been smelling prestone every now and then so I took it in to Girouard's Repair Centre (love Ronnie and Alan, never do me wrong or treat me like a stupid girl) on friday. Smelling prestone's never a good thing as that usually rules out lines 'cause it means it's higher up. Ever the optimist, I hoped for the best but prepared for the worst. I called them back today as I got the news at work when I had 1min. to talk with my next client sitting 10ft. away. Turns out it's the head gasket (sucks 'cause a re-built head would be cheaper) but nothing too serious... yet! It's now being sealed with a leak sealant but it's something I'll have to keep an eye on (watch prestone level and temp. gauge) and get replaced before too long. At least the oil changes have been looking good and nothing's getting in the cylinders... phew!

Guess it's a good thing we're not going to the camp as I'll be looking at about $500 in repairs. At least Girouard's is willing to do it as most aren't. Considering I just spent $300 last month (dang Wellington St. making me need shocks sooner), I'm now debating whether it's worth keeping this sinking ship afloat. It'll be a brand new car before too long if I keep replacing parts! At this rate, it'll be cheaper to buy a new car as those repairs would just about cover a payment and insurance. Might be time to start looking for the 4X4 I really need.

Speaking of Wellington St., not long after my last rant about it, I went out, with tripod, to capture some of this nonsense that's considered a road. Notice the shadows?

Right up the road from me is one of the worst spots so I got a few pictures there but the pictures don't sum it up quite as well as video. This video shows how much of a roller coaster this road is. Check out the neverending bounce of the headlights! This video shows a car hitting the above pictured bump. I wish I hadn't zoomed in so tight as you can't see how it truly launches on the off side. This street is such a friggin' mess. There's two other spots on it between here and the Irving that are a nightmare. The rest of the points in between aren't as bad but still enough to make me stick to the shore road.

We've been getting hit with lots of snow this winter and this weekend was no exception. Friday night we got hammered with about 20cm. but it stopped long enough to leave a beautiful day on saturday. They were calling for scattered flurries (5-10cm.) throughout saturday but then we ended up getting wailed again. I've now lost all faith in weathermen as they don't have a clue what's coming in! One storm came from the west (friday's) and the second one came up the eastern seaboard. We must've got about a foot of snow in that one but it's sorta hard to tell exactly how much as it was quite wet and packed down.

Thankfully the clouds stayed clear long enough on saturday to get to see the lunar eclipse. I didn't watch that much of it at night as I've seen (and photographed) them before. The cool thing about this one though was that I got to see it in the daylight. It was beginning when the moon was first coming up (and huge) on the horizon and I saw it on my way home from work. I must say, that was aweseome. For fun, here's a pic of a lunar eclipse I photographed in TN in 2003. This was pre-tripod days so I had my camera set up on a sawhorse at a construction sight. I also cut/copied/pasted all the individual moons in to create this collage. Unfortunately, the second half got rained out.

One good thing about taking the shore road on my Wellington St. boycott though, is that it presents me with nice night shots. This is similar to the other winter picture I took a while back at the first of the season. Quite a bit more snow now! Pardon the lack of tripod.

Forever the sunset chaser that I am, the Napan Bridge provided a perfect backdrop for these winter sunset scenes. For anybody that loves taking sunset pictures, this is a perfect place to do it.

Something that's a familiar winter sight around here is snowmobile trail groomers. I got lucky that this guy happened to be there for this picture. Once again, pardon the lack of tripod. I really need to start carrying it in my car.

This picture cracks me up as it's typical for animals to hang around looking for people food droppings. Darcy doesn't usually put up with it but I asked him to wait so I could get a picture of this. It's not too often you get to see a cat doing this but then again, Teddy isn't your typical cat. Gotta give him credit for smarts, he's the only cat I know that looks both ways before crossing the street.

Of course, what would Skidd animal pictures be without pictures of Jake. Ya know, it's hard not to make him a subject when he's such a goof. This picture was taken within days of Liss' incident. The animals were somewhat displaced as her new bed was then the couch, which was their usual bed. He did this after he tried getting up on the couch and we wouldln't let him. The lengths he'll go to find a nice sunbeam...

Other than that, not much going on for fun and excitement on the good ol' Mystical Magical. Liss is rolling along on her road to recovery and keeping up her great attitude. Her second surgery's been bumped up to March 16th which is 10 days earlier than once planned. She's started her physio and doesn't even hate the therapists yet, which I hear is a common side effect of physiotherapy. The bathroom's also been put back in downstairs to make life much easier for Liss, which I know I'm also thrilled about as I growled Darcy for years for taking it out. Comes in handy during kitchen parties. ;)

Oh, I've also joined an online dating site, Plenty Of Fish. Other than Mr. Bodybuild NB in his pink loin cloth, who lists one of his interests as, "tanning," and a really cute biker dude who has an interest in, "electromusic," (what the hell is that exactly?) there's been not much more there of appeal. So far, a new way to waste time and if nothing else, maybe I'll find, "Mr. Right Now."

'Til next time...

An Update On Liss...

2007-02-15T09:41:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, sorry for leaving yas hanging, been a hectic few days. I started to do a reply in the comments and when that started to be way too long (even by my comment standards) I thought it would be best to put it in here.

Nope, no pictures of Liss' knee. Until Liss gets some color back to her and stops looking like the color of snow, I won't feel so bad taking a picture. Let's put it this way, it was four times the size as the other one on sunday, now down to twice the size, with some slight bruising, can't see the knee cap (which is not where it should be anyways) and the leg angles out about 10 degrees from the knee down. How's that for a visual? It ain't pretty! Good news is that she's getting in for some surgery today at 4pm. I think this is the first time I've ever been happy about a surgery. Something has got to be done as she can't go on like this.

They're going to be doing it laproscopically (3 very small incisions) and she'll be knocked out for it which is a good thing. She can't move it even to straighten it so the doctor examining it (and surgeon, Dr. Vandalay or whatever the heck his name is, he'll forever be Vandalay to me) will have to put her under to spare her the pain. It's just now sinking in how bad this really is. We're praying for the best but preparing for the worst. Hopefully it'll be a quick fix that he'll be able to get at today and it won't require a more invasive surgery down the road. Man, "Everything's so scientifical these days," -Mitch

Thank goodness Mitchell took his day off of school (cancelled) to clear out the path and driveway as we got a fair amount of snow last night even though he's hating every minute of it. Stairs have been a curse for Liss, let alone throwing a foot of snow on it. Made even worse by the fact that she's already exhausted from trying to find some semblance of routine, hobbling around on her good leg.

Ya know, being the dark humoured sadists that we are, one thing that's brought us some entertainment is watching Liss perform this interesting little hop-step she's performing on the crutches. We talked about it this morning and it's the fear of free fall and momentum on to an already weakened good leg that prevents her from doing the full swing one would normally do. It turns out it's hereditary. Darcy and I got immense hilarity after watching Mitchell take a go at the crutches and it's the exact same step. Then when they went to the hospital yesterday for Liss' pre-examination, Marybeth commented on how she could never use crutches, then picked up Liss' and proceeded to do the exact same little hop-step. Hahahaha, it's almost too much! Sorry Liss, I couldn't help myself. Honestly, nothing's sacred around us.

Through it all, Liss is staying amazingly positive and I'm so proud of her. It's gotta suck. I'm just glad we're finally getting some answers and most importantly, some action being taken and not just falling through the nightmare cracks of what is our healthcare system. Go Marybeth!

Oh, it's also going to be awhile 'til we get to see the camp blog update as Liss had another little knee-popping (glad I didn't have to hear it this time, ack!) incident yesterday and is under specific orders once again, to keep her ass put. I wonder how long it's going to take before she gets sick of us breathing (I'm sure the snickering's not helping) down her neck. She's not up to it yet anyways, even being upright for too long's a chore for her.

Scott has also arrived home safe and sound. He arrived tuesday evening and stopped in to check on Liss for a few minutes before heading on his merry way home. Glad you got to try it out Scott, otherwise you'd always have a case of, "What if...?" Glad ya made it back though, we missed you.

Also, I'd like to thank Dean for the little creature identification (mousey thing in campfire) from my last entry. See Dean, wandering through the woods does pay off! :D Without seeing the full body of it, Dean says it's a, "meadow vole." For size comparison, that red thing's one of those plastic cups laying on it's side. Heehee, I thought I was doing good to see a mouse. He also had this to say and I'll quote it here as I found it to be very interesting...

"I think it's a meadow vole. Voles are very common in New Brunswick.
You see them in the woods more often than mice. More mice in the camps though. voles have stubby or mid-sized tails and fat little bodies. mice tend to have longer tails and slimmer bodies. Shrews are pretty small and have sharp teeth, they are not rodents. New Brunswick has voles,moles,mice,rats and bog lemmings. It also has shrews. There are a few species in each order in New Brunswick."

Speaking of Dean and without going in to details as they want to keep it private, I know not all of you are prayer sayers but Dean and his family are in need of some right now so please be with them in this time and keep them in your thoughts as well.

And just to keep this entry from being totally photoless, just a pretty picture I took a few years ago in TN and some colour that I've been desperately missing in my pictures as of late...

'Til next time...

Wow, Only 36hrs. Ago...

2007-02-13T00:14:00.000-04:00

... we were making our final trip out from the camp. What an event packed time it has been. So event packed that I can't believe it's only been that long.

As most of you already know, Liss had quite an accident this weekend. For those of you that don't know, no it wasn't a snowmobile accident. It's mind boggling how something that can happen so quick can totally alter someone's life. How a slip on ice can so drastically change how one functions day to day. How the isolation we all love, crave and cherish so much can be an absolute pain in the butt at the most inopportune time. How having a functioning knee can make trips up and down stairs easier. All things we take for granted.

Please don't get me wrong, Liss is being the tough trooper that she is, even getting a couple of laughs over the incident already and even fielding the gentle jabs we just can't resist getting in there. Needless to say though, the Skidd household is having a tough time adjusting. Heck, we all are and I can't even begin to fathom what must be going through Liss' head! I think we're all still in shock, at least I know I am. Hopefully she'll get in to see a specialist soon (it's on rush) and we can start getting some answers. This not knowing, "What the hell?" is the worst.

The weekend started out like any other camp weekend with Liss, Darcy and Mitch going up friday. I arrived on saturday after work and just got out of the car to get a sunset picture when the welcome wagon arrived...

We had a good fire going so of course, that meant rotisserizing which was made difficult due to the fact that the crazy cedar threw some wicked heat so we had to step away from the fire for fear of melting into a nylon mass...

left to right: Trenton, Andy, Tracy, Chris, Mitch, Darcy, Liss, Mary

And just in case there was a shortage of chairs, Darcy was forced (yeah right) to move the snowmobile over for a chair. Liss and Mary look so cute...

Snowball fights seemed to be the order of the night and it didn't matter if you were inside or out. I thought for sure I was going to wake up to a skating rink on the floor of the camp after all the water that was on the floor at lights out. Here's Liss trying to remove snowball chunks from her drink after she got pelted with one. Don't worry, she finally gave up after she found black chunky things as well as snow. Paralyzer smoothie anyone?

Still, it didn't take snowballs to make things slushy as it was pretty friggin' cold too. Here's Trenton drinking his slushy Dr. Pepper...

Not long after Liss had her slip, we ventured indoors. Unfortunately I'll have to leave out lots of details 'cause after 2.5 drinks, I got the worst headache I've ever had in my life and had to go to bed as soon as we got in there. I did manage to stay awake through the majority of it though. Things like the indoor snowball fights (ducking for cover under my sleeping bag), toenails getting painted and people not being allowed to sleep. One good thing about being in the top bunk is it makes it harder for people to just drag you out of it. That wasn't the case for everyone though.

We did however, manage to get breakfast on sunday morning, believe it or not. Tracy was on a mission and made a point of making sure we got breakfast this time. She wipped up some great omelettes (an old camp trick of Andy's) where she pre-mixed them in ziploc baggies and to cook them, all you had to do was drop them in boiling water for 13min. What a novel idea! They were delicious too guys, thanks.

We were a little slow getting out sunday morning. Poor Liss was so incapacitated that she could barely sit up. She was under direct orders to not move until the last trip out and the joys of winter, there was a ton of them to be made.

While trips were being made I got to snap off a few shots. Here's a pic of a puffy gray jay...

Trenton entertaining himself...

Jake's always a subject...

Almost everybody's final departure...

How the two sleds made it back, pretty inventive...

It's about time, "M.Skidd," made it on something, heehee. This should look familiar from the curling funspiel photos...

As I was about to make a trip out to the fire, this little guy caught my eye in the firepit. He's got such a weird little face at first I thought he was a mole, then when he took off, he had a really long tail. He was a pretty brazen little fart, whatever he was. Glad he stuck around for the picture. Looks like he liked Mary's melba toasty things as much as we did...

On a lighter note, we got word that Scott's working his way back home and should be home by tomorrow evening or wednesday morning. Sorry that it didn't work out for him as planned (crazy cost of living unless in camps) but at least he got to do some travelling and hopefully he got lots of pictures for us to look at. Hey, maybe we'll finally get a blog update, hint-hint!

Sorry that I'm leaving out lots of camp details, (was horizontal remember) I'll let Liss take care of the rest of it when she's feeling up to it. They got some really good pictures too. I know she's going to be getting very shack wacky (pain or no pain) and crutches in the winter are a pain in the ass so she'll be looking for entertainment when she feels up to it. In the meantime, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

'Til next time...

I Don't Wanna Grow Up...

2007-02-05T02:20:00.000-04:00

It seems I may have finally figured out the way to organising an adventure for all of us... give them 24hrs. notice. We've talked about going sliding in passing a few times this winter. Friday night I mentioned that it would be a good idea to go sliding saturday night. Almost exactly 24hrs. later, we were at England's Hollow with tubes, sleds and Jungle Juice (new name for my blue raspberry martini stuff, thanks Tracy) in hand.

On my way in to work saturday morning, I stopped at Chatham tire and got them to dig up some tubes for me. The weather forecast through the day was a mixed bag. Some were saying warm, others were saying 70km/h wind. Throw that on with wind chill and that would not a sliding party make! Fortunately for us, it was the former and what a beautiful night. It couldn't have been any better if it had of been special order.

Everyone arrived at Liss and Darcy's by 7pm. rarin' to go. I don't think I've ever seen so many jackets, ski pants, hats, scarves, tubes, etc., piled in to one room in my life, not to mention all the bodies. We had a few totties there before putting the full plan in action. Janna brought along her half sister Tasha and her boyfriend Corey. They were great fun! Tasha's my newfound friend.

Mitchell and Trenton decided to go for a walk (likely to get away from the crazy adults) to the store and next thing ya know, Trenton's wandering around with this. Tracy must have somehow passed that trait on to him 'cause I seem to recall a time back the camp that she had an *ahem* extra large beverage in a can.

This started out originally as Tracy and Trenton, then Mitchell walked by, then I threw Liss in there (moms and sons kinda thing) when Jake decided he wanted to be in the picture. He is a son too...

Yup, it was definately close quarters in the kitchen, especially once Mitchell and Trenton got the tubes blown up...

Now that everyone had finally peed and gotten dressed, we loaded everyone we could (Liss, Darcy, Mitchell, Tracy, Andy, Trenton, Janna, Tasha, Corey, myself) in to the Skidd's truck and Janna's car, sliding gear included. Considering one piece of gear was a grader tube blown wwaaayyy beyond it's limit, it's a miracle we pulled it off in one trip.

Thankfully I thought to bring my camera, yeah, like I ever leave home without it. Children of all ages (13 and up) had the time of their lives. You don't realise how old you are until you have to get back up the hill you just flew down screaming at the top of your lungs. Made even harder when you and your friends get in to a giggle fit half way up, eh Liss? I'm amazed that grader tube held up, considering it was flung, flipped, rolled, dog piled and launched. Mitchell's mean green machine made for some pretty fast run fun too. No better seat was had though than the trip I took down with both tubes piled on top of each other. Nobody else attempted it once they realised that bringing the two tubes back up was no picnic. It was worth it though, they don't know what they missed. :D

Mitch taking one of the first runs down...

I think Darcy was the official pusher as well as testosterone limit pusher. Here he is about to launch Tasha and Janna down the hill on the grader tube...

After failed attempts at standing on sleds going down, they decided to go get a snowboard. Well that did it. It was bodies flying everywhere with Darcy (our supposedly responsible designated driver, at least he was sober) pulling the most spectacular face plant I've seen in some time. Made even funnier when it came at the very end of a perfect run. Darcy seems to be the main subject for the videos as he was the one that was willing to try anything. Man I wish I got that face plant.

Here's one of Darcy starting to go down backwards. Aborting was the right choice there. This one's of Corey and Mitchell. Mitchell's on the trail we coined, "The Bumpity Bump," and Corey decides to launch himself off the ramp. Too funny. Guess we should have told Darcy that you're supposed to sit on the tube and not in it. In this video, it's Corey pushing Janna and Tasha (I think) towards a ramp. They managed to stay on somehow.

And when us old, "geezers," -anonymous snot nosed kid, needed a breather, we could catch it on the guardrail that was sticking out...

Speaking of geezers! There were a couple of kids that invaded the party (dang that public place thing) and after Darcy's face plant snowboard attempt, Mitch overheard these kids (that he knew from school) calling him a, "Geezer." Poor Mitch got worked right up and that made it even funnier. Being the vultures that we are, we laughed and cackled at that for some time. I think the boys thought we were going to get them because when Darcy went to get something out of the truck, they beat 'er down the hill pretty quick. The kids left not too long after that, now that I think of it. Moral of this story boys and girls, "Respect your elders!" Hahahahaha! Darcy managed to show them up with this move though.

One good thing about drinking Jungle Juice (such a perfect name considering it was concocted for the first time back the camp) is that I mix it in bulk. It was the perfect drag along drink. Here's Liss sampling it...

A cute one of Liss and Mitch. I thought they were both oblivious to my picture taking but I now see that Liss was on to me...

A cute Skidd family portrait...

At the last minute, I thought to bring my tripod which I'm now glad I remembered as it enabled me to get this group shot of all of us. I'm not even going to attempt to do the left-right thing as it's just body parts everywhere, none particularly identifiable. The only one that may appear absent is Andy but if you look really closely behind my right shoulder you'll notice this whitish blob. Andy got to make it in the picture after all. I think that's his thumb. He said he thought the only chance he had of getting in the picture was to reach his hand way up and that does resemble his glove. The rest of us are all there and visible though so if you need a refresher, just scroll up and read the names again...

After at least 1.5hrs. of running up and down hills, sliding, going off cliffs, screaming, laughing, cackling, needing to pee and running out of jungle juice, it was time to go home. Everyone crammed back in vehicles again (made easier with tubes deflated) and headed for Liss and Darcy's. Janna, Tasha and Corey unfortunately had to be on their way but we still managed to push onward. What brave little soldiers we are.

I snapped a few shots around the table when we got back and this is what I managed to capture. Not bad considering I wasn't too far off of having to close one eye to focus.

This picture of Andy cracks me up 'cause it makes me think of that commercial, "Do you have a job for someone like me?" Hey, if I have to explain, you wouldn't understand...

In getting to know Andy better, it seems we haven't scared him off too badly, he came back. Atta boy Andy, you're a good sport with a thick skin. Two important traits when you're gonna hang out with us. It also seems that Andy's going to allow some snoring video to be captured. We do have a camp trip coming up this weekend and they're supposed to be joining us so I'll put my camera to good use then. Don't worry Andy, nothing'll be posted without your permission. So far though, even being allowed to take video's a step in the right direction.

Heehee, it also seems that Andy's the latest victim to fall in to the, "I'll make breakfast," trap. We called them at noon and there was no answer.

'Til next time...

Vatis...

2007-02-02T17:21:00.001-04:00

Vatis, "Vatis," you ask? Well, with, "24," back on the air there has been this really strange commercial that has caught our eye.

I noticed it on week one and decided it had to be recorded. Week two came and went with me missing it. Finally on the third week, second attempt, I got it. I know this seems extreme for one 15sec. commercial but I'll let you see and judge for yourself.

Porn furniture anyone? I wonder if they have any, "Easyboys," - Liss
Vatis

'Til next time...

I Have a Dream...

2007-02-02T17:21:00.000-04:00

Actually, it's more like a gripe and I'm not quite sure where/who I'm going to take it to but starting with the Miramichi Enquirer (aka. Miramichi Leader) and our City Council would definately be a start.

First off, let me fill you in on a little bit of T'ainville's history. We're between Chatham and Loggieville, "T'aint Chatham, T'aint Loggieville," T'aintville. We were a happily unincorporated piece of land, about one mile long for as long as I can remember. Even as a kid, they tried to incorporate us in with the Town of Chatham. I was too young for my signature to have counted but there were forever petitions going around to fight it. We knew, even then, that no good would come of it.

Unfortunately, on january 1st of 1995, the two former townships and outerlying communities became one sleepy city. No vote taken. By the time we realised what was happening, it was too late with budgets and councils divvied up.

Being unincorporated had it's benefits, one of them being that the property taxes were markedly lower, much, much lower. We were ok with that 'cause we didn't get anything for it anyways other than guaranteeing we'd be the last subdivision to be plowed in the winter.

Now that our property taxes have tripled, the only thing I've seen change in the 12yrs. we've been a city has been street lights on every second pole on Wellington St. (I mean, really, is that necessary?) and garbage pick-up, not to mention we're still the last subdivision plowed. Boy oh boy, aren't our tax dollars being put to good use? Oh yeah, almost forgot. We finally got our sewage hooked up last year which was at our own expense and we would have had to start paying for it the following year whether we were using it or not! No sign of water hook up for at least another couple of years either. It makes sense to me but apparently our council doesn't see that it makes sense to run through both water and sewage at the same time. Made even more interesting when the people that are doing it don't know where your underground wires are (even after telling him for the 10th time) and catch them, literally pulling them out of your fuse box, some even right out through the foundation... I kid you not!

Thought I was kidding, eh?

The latest thing to really gripe my ass though has been the state of Wellington St. Any of you travelling it can attest to this. I was going to try to stretch my shock replacement out 'til the summer but the mess of that road unfortunately made me spend $300 dollars not too long after vacation. The thing that pisses (pardon my swearing, usually don't) me off even more about it is the fact that they took all friggin' summer paving the McKnight road! For any of you not familiar with that route, it's the one that connects Loggieville to Napan. I know, pointless, eh? Rumour had it that it was supposed to extend and include Wellington but either time or budget didn't allot for it as it's still a mess. Yes, the McKnight road was a mess but nowhere near as bad as Wellington St. and certainly not used the amount that our main drag is.

I know, I know, I'm prone to exaggeration but I kid you not about the state of this road. Speed bumps have nothing on that mess. The bumps are so big that they have shadows... SHADOWS! So now I'm reduced to driving the shore road which would be nice if it weren't a bumpy, icy mess and I don't even get to enjoy all the lights on the poles. It also means I have to chalk on a few more minutes for my morning commute. That may not seem like much but when you have to be there 15min. before your shift and you got stupid people ahead of you that insist on ordering a sandwich for everyone they work with at the drive through, it means the difference between on time and late. Oh yeah, that's another thing that gripes my ass to no end so if you're one of those people, please stop doing it it drives those of us getting just coffee, crazy.

I guess a big thing for me to do is to write a letter to the editor of the local paper and work on getting some signatures and head to a council meeting. Frig, I can't even stand to watch them on TV let alone having to sit through one. Could be interesting but it'll be worth it as it's certainly necessary. I'll have to break out my tripod and get pictures of it or video would certainly get the point across. Unfortunately, that means having to drive it. Here's hoping I get it right on the first try as I won't be travelling it until well after the spring thaw.

Phew, that was like therapy, I almost feel better now!

'Til next time...

Road Trip Anyone?

2007-01-29T11:38:00.000-04:00

I'm not even quite sure how to begin this entry as my brain's swarming with so many things, particularly this week. I don't even have a title as I write this so be warned, there's bound to be extensive babbling broken up by some pictures.

I think the reality of being a 30 something singleton in a small, sleepy community that they have the nerve to label a city has hit home. From comments I've heard back, some of you didn't realise that Scott and I have been broken up for a couple of months. Don't worry, it's a good and mutual thing, we make better friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. But his leaving has made me realise that life as a single person on the Miramichi leaves something to be desired. Let's see, my options are; 1) Young men that like to play video games, 2) Married men or those that are in a relationship, 3) Someone who's gay or bi, 4) Someone that's strung out on drugs and spending their spare time at the methodone clinic. Needless to say, none of the above are relationships I'm interested in persuing!

I know I've spent five years travelling abroad but being back home has brought the reality back as to why. I've spent the last week trying to get some brainstorming done for a roadtrip. Thoughts of a trip to Ontario to get to see Matt, Brian and Brent seemed like a great idea until the voice of reality (otherwise known as Darcy) intervened. Yup, it could get a little costly 'cause no matter how much we kid ourselves, we're not going there without wanting to do, "things." We're also working very hard at getting a trip in to Gornish to see Coll and Dan but storms and days off keep rearing their twisted heads. We thought that during a trip to Gornish we could head over to Crabbe Mountain to participate in a little bit of skiing but Liss and her fear of heights don't make for a good ski trip. Of course, any time I'm ever skiing it's take a couple of runs then head to the lodge for a few cups of courage. I don't think Liss'd be real happy about being abandoned in the lodge all day by herself though. Wanna keep her company Coll?

So the best I could come up with was Italy. Needless to say, my friends won't be accompanying me on this, ummm, roadtrip but it's somewhere I've always been drawn to. My dating record has paired me up with three different Italian men (love them) and I love the food so no major culture shock. Not to mention the beauty of the place. It's a win-win situation, right?

Please don't get me wrong, I love all my friends dearly and any girl would thank her lucky stars to have been so blessed with such a wonderful motley crue for entertainment. But there has got to be more to life than this. I've come to the conclusion that we're going to have to take all the single women on the Miramichi (belive me, with the Alberta exodus, there's lots of us) and meet the Anchorage men somehow. I guarantee you, the ratio's got to be similar.

What does one do in the meantime for entertainment? Well, I do manage to find some but winter on the east coast can leave one limited which is why not so many blog entries in the last few weeks. One thing I did manage to do last weekend (even though I was feeling a little under the weather) was have a party with my friend Caprice whom I met while working at ICT. She's having a breast reduction surgery on the first of february so in true Caprice fashion, she had a going away party for, "The girls."

Another thing that has given me a great source of entertainment is the Skidd's animals. I've always tried taking pictures of their cat Teddy but my focus would never work on him, probably because of all his hair, where does it begin? My new camera finally enables me to get decent pictures of him. So now I present to you, the many faces of, "Teddy..."

In this first one, Liss opened a can of tuna. I like this one 'cause it shows how truly big he is...

In this one, he's examining the contents up close...

This one he's rolling around and half hanging off the chair. He's so social and loves sitting at the kitchen table with us...

Here all he wants is food and he'll even take it out of the dog's dishes. Poor starvin' thing....

And of course, no Skidd pet pictures would be complete without a picture of Jake. When we say he's a lap dog, we're not kidding. Here he is in my lap...

Just for fun, I thought I'd include some videos as picture don't truly capture the essence that is, "Jake." In this video, Jake and Kate have to go pee. We know what they want but it's still fun torturing them. Jake's so vocal when he gets all worked up. Even Kate's carrying on but I love how they're both jumping around. In this video, we're torturing Jake over the squirrels. Yup, he is a bird dog but he seems to like squirrels too. I love how it sounds like he's answering me back, you can almost hear the words.

We've also had a co-op student that joined us from MVHS. Sherrie usually takes one kid in a semester. Katie, our girl this year, really hit it off and has actually gotten accepted to hairstyling this fall. Our association makes tough regulations, so tough that we couldn't even let the poor girl do shampoos. I'm sure the days got long for her as there's only so much hair you can sweep, towels you can fold and observing you can do. I asked her if she actually learned something. She said she learned that it was something she'd like to do for a living. That's good enough for me. She was so sweet and funny to have around, miss you Katie...

l-r- Me, Katie, Ashley

I would have to say, the most entertainment I've seen the last few weeks was a curling funspiel that Marybeth got Liss, Darcy, Kari and Nick signed up for. I'll let Liss give more details on it but I know one thing, I sure wish I didn't have to work that day as it looked like lots of fun. Instead I got to see them play their last game, go back to their place while they got freshened up and go witness some of the most *ahem* interesting karaoke I've seen in a long time. The Dawson boys had nothing on some of these numbskulls.

Before karaoke could get under way, we had to sit through the awarding of the prizes. Marybeth did a great job as MC (think we have some video of it on her camera, wonder if she found it yet?) and everybody got to go home with something. Nick practically got a standing ovation at one point. They drew names out of hats for the remainder of people and his was one of the first names drawn. After twenty more names were called and he still hadn't found anything, we began to wonder. Finally he trundles back over with a $5 gift certificate for Tim Horton's, proclaiming he already had everything else. By this point, everyone else had noticed his lack of decision making as well.

The rest of the crew got some interesting prizes. Liss came back with a hot pink rubbermaid container that may be the first thing that Darcy doesn't initial, "D.Skidd." Good thinking Liss. Kari and Darcy also come out with some cool aluminum stools. You can never have too many places to cop a squat, I guess.

"Gordioke Karaoke," was in town to put together the entertainment portion. I must say though, I have to agree with, "Garioke Karaoke," -Kari as it seems to roll off the tongue so much easier. With such hits as, "Staying Alive," (don't worry Liss, vid's deleted) and, "Twist," it was almost like I was at a wedding. But when three doctors got up there to sing, "Summer of 69," totally out of key, we knew it was time to go home. Thank goodness Mark (Liss' Dad) arrived when he did as I think I would have been walking home from French Fort Cove. Hey Mark, have I said, "Thank You," yet?

A few random pictures as we're sitting around the table. I had about 5 seconds to prepare for this picture Darcy took. I'm still trying to heed the warning, "Don't forget to smile," which is the warning I got after posting the last few blackmail pictures of them. Future note to self, don't take it to the opposite extreme...

Not sure if Marybeth finally discovered all the pictures/videos on her camera here or not but I like how her and Darcy are framing the dancefloor...

I must say, Nick has now become my favourite candid subject as it seems that every picture the boy takes is hilarious. In this picture, Kari's in the middle of telling him something, "naughty." They still won't tell us what it was though...

I can't for the life of me remember what song was playing here but with this picture, I don't think it really matters...

With this next picture, upon review later in the evening, we've now dubbed Kari with the title, "face of vogue optical." I love this picture of the three of them as it sums up how good of a time we had...

This next picture we tossed around whether to post or not as we don't want to hurt anyone but it was a big thing for all of us so I feel it should be included. Winston did this in memory of Marilyn and it was beautiful, as emotional as it was. Every time Liss threw her rock, she did well with it...

I guess when you put it all out in words and pictures, life on the Miramichi isn't totally boring, definately monotonous by times yes but life is what you make it. I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up for awhile and hope that maybe it's just the winter blues as it's definately winter here now. We've already gotten more snow now than we had all year last winter. I love the snow though so that's not it.

In the meantime, I'm going to try going back to volleyball on mondays and wednesdays in hopes that it'll get me through the dolldrums.

At least Newcastle's closer than Italy and I don't have to pack a suitcase.

'Til next time...

Human Projectiles and Other Camp Zaniness..

2007-01-15T11:00:00.000-04:00

Ah what a great weekend. Then again, any weekend back the camp's better than no weekend at all. It was a weekend of surprising firsts as well. You guys might want to write this one in on a calendar 'cause on saturday, january 13th, Liss actually caught something for the first time I can remember. Her catching's so bad it has been a big ongoing joke for years. I lost all train of thought when it happened too, it was like a freeze frame moment out of, "Chariots of Fire." I could even almost hear the music. Another first? You know he's exhausted when Mitchell goes to bed last night at 8:30pm. Mind blowing, that is!

I'll leave the details as to who got where at what times up to Liss on the camp blog but there was one detail in particular that has to be left up to me as it was another, "life flashing before my eyes," event. Well, not quite that bad but lumber was definately flying before my eyes.

Winter time at the camp's always lots of fun. The sixteen layers (eh Scott) aren't always as fun or the trips it usually takes to get everything back there by sled (attached to bikes or snowmobiles) can be a little trying but when you have a great weekend that allows you to drive right in to the camp, anything's possible. Friday night was just such an example.

Since it wasn't snowy enough to need the snowmobile, the bike was brought. The Skidd's have a sled that allows you to stand on the back, like you're driving a team of dogs. I love getting on that thing even though it's not as much fun with the runners on it, ya can't quite, "crack the whip," like you used to. We loaded up with Darcy driving, me on the back of the sled and Scott and Liss on his bike.

We started out leading but of course, a bike pulling a trailer goes much slower than a bike not pulling a trailer. First opportunity, Scott had enough and passed, laughing the whole way. This is an ongoing battle between Scott and Darcy. Personally, I think they do it to see who can get the other riled up more.

Going, "Round back," seemed like such a good idea at the time. The trail's weren't overly broken but the bikes were pulling along fine. With Scott and Liss further up the trail, we were climbing speed and going along at around 40km/h. I know I've had a couple of posts on here about stopping in the blink of an eye, well this is right up there with them.

Everything's going splendidly and I'm having a blast until, "Ka-pow," we then came to a dead stop... well, the sled did anyways. As I was flying through the air (a la Superman) wondering where the hell the sled is... in front of me, all I see is the bike going with the bar that hooks the sled to it and a few bits of lumber. After Darcy and I laughed 'til it hurt, Liss and Scott came back across the brook to find that all hell had broken loose. I don't know how they didn't hear us howling like buffoons. Needless to say, the sled wasn't moving for the rest of the weekend.

Unfortunately, the cold weather we were supposed to get on sunday, settled in saturday evening. So fortunately for us, that kept outdoor activities to a minimum, which was probably for the best anyways. We migrated indoors and had a dandy time with some sing alongs and preying on the innocent. We had Andy (Tracy's man) join us for his first camp adventure with us. Hopefully we didn't scare the guy off too bad with our vulture ways. He seemed to be having a good time. Even while sleeping he kept us entertained with the loudest and craziest snoring I've ever heard. I'm glad I no longer hold the title... thanks Andy!

On to some random pictures of the weekend. This one was taken for Dean who always asks how the camp road was. Even used my new tripod for ya, good buddy!

Now this thing's really strange. This isn't the first time we've seen it. It takes on a humanoid shape. Dunno, must have something to do with the drafts along that outer window or something.

Some party pictures. This one's of the girls who were the official, "Shaker and Woo Woo," section. Jake was there, even though you can't see him. He wasn't much for the party after the guitar took over his bed...

I love this picture. I have no idea what song we were doing but the girls really do seem to be getting into it...

Now this next picture's not supposed to see the light of day and I'm quite sure I'll be made to regret posting it in the future but hey, it's too funny to not share with the rest of the world. Check out the look on Darcy's face...

Darcy decided he wanted to have a go at the shaking and that's just what he was doing on either side of my head as this picture was taken...

Of course, no camp weekend would be complete without pictures of the most photographed dog in the world. Those Weimariner dogs got nothing on Jake. Here's Jake all peeved that the guitar's on his bed. It was too funny, he wouldn't even look at it...

He finally gets the bed to himself...

This one we were trying to get him off the bed and he really didn't want to come so he was crawling along. The look on his face is such a typical Jake look, he's so expressive...

Apparently we weren't exciting enough for him...

After all the blackmail pictures, I thought I'd include a nice one of the girls even though Tracy thought she looked like a floating head I think we look just fine...

This picture's just too funny, sorry Andy. Needless to say, Tracy wasn't in bed and Andy rolled over to find Jake in her place...

That pretty much sums up the weekend's events in a nutshell. We finally figured out how to get our breakfasts. Take advantage of the drunks with the munchies the night before. Thanks Darcy, it was delicious.

'Til next time...

Comment Relocation Program...

2007-01-11T09:55:00.000-04:00

On my way in to work on tuesday I noticed something that I was very surprised to see. Since coming home I noticed the river's finally frozen so I thought for sure that would put an end to my eagle sightings. Surprise surprise, as I'm going through Douglastown, right by the marina, there's a mature bald eagle soaring away.

I'm really amazed as I thought for sure they'd follow the river freeze out towards the bay as the river's their primary food source. Yaayyyy for me, I may get to watch them a little longer yet. I do know the bay's not frozen over yet though as I had a client in from down there yesterday. What a weird winter. It's like the coasts have shifted. I know we got a freak storm here yesterday that hammered Chatham and Newcastle (about 9") but then as I work my way home to T'aintville, they only got a couple of inches. Go figure. Must've been another one of those crazy cyclone bomb things again.

On another note and as the title says, we have a game that's in need of relocation. It's waayyy down in an old topic and is about to drop off with any of the new posts and also has a few in between that have ended. It's a game that seems never to die and potential to live forever. It's not fair that we should kill it before it's time, is it?

It's the, "Guess the song game," and you'll now find it in this comment. Man, ya know I'm lazy when even scrolling's too much work.

'Til next time...

My Own Dyslexic Ways...

2007-01-08T12:23:00.000-04:00

I was contemplating how to start out this entry and in light of recent developments in the comments, this only seemed fitting. The title of this blog is rather misleading in the sense that it's only my friends that are dyslexic (even though they're really not) but I'm here today to fess up. I'm the queen of dyslexia but the fact that I'm the holder of said list means that my entries conveniently get left off of it. My friends are very aware of this convenience and have started making their own lists. One of which I found sunday morning, stogged in my purse. Thanks Liss!

It all started out rather innocently. Saturday night was sorta my welcoming home party since I missed Festivus festivities and got home through the week, it was our first opportunity. Liss and I had discussed that night and thought it would only be us but we were ok with that. Of course, things naturally snowball with us and what started out with Liss and I, turned in to us being joined by Scott, Mary, Chris, Tracy and her significant other that we finally got to meet... Andy. The more the merrier. Good thing there was lots of company as I turned out to be a lost cause and was in bed by... hmmm, I don't think I made it 'til 12. Just so everyone knows, I had a great time up 'til then and thanks for the entertainment.

Try as we might, we could not get Darcy to play the guitar for us, (too sober? too on call? both?) even though he took the odd stab at the electric. There's not much singing along you can do to the electric guitar though, particularly since Christmas as it's now hooked up to a Marshall amp that rules out any chance of thinking, let alone being heard. Acoustic guitar or no, we carried on anyways, singing familiars and we somehow got on to that song, "Delta Dawn." You can only imagine what came next. We may have gotten one verse out of the normal version but the bad version quickly took over. I made the mistake of being overheard singing, "Porcelain Penix," - Me, and it was all downhill from there. Will we ever learn to keep our mouths shut when preying vultures are perched waiting for fresh kill? We are slow learners, that's for sure. We still haven't learned not to believe drunken promises of breakfast or from friday night camp syndrome, just to name a few.

At some point during the night, we started noticing these strange flashes. Darcy, just having returned from an emergency trip to Carter's, came in explaining the crazy thunder and lightning storm going on. All of us had heard of this phenomenon but none had witnessed it. It's very rare to have a winter thunder and lightning storm. The flashes of bluish purple reminded me of seeing a squirrel being fried on a transformer oh so many years ago or the guy that tried to cut the live electrical wire at the substation, but that's another time, another post.

Next thing you know, it's jackets and boots flying everywhere as we're all now going outside in the rain to see it, putting the Skidd deck to it's maximum occupancy limit test... which it passed with flying colours. I, of course, grabbed my camera to get some video. With video now rolling, we're all standing around waiting for the next flash. Listen closely as I find this rather amusing too. The video's only 1:43min. long but it seemed so much longer than that. Right after you hear me asking to see another flash, Liss proclaims, "It's probably over!" Ask and you shall receive! We got three cool shots of lightning (second one's the coolest) as well as some great thunder, immediately after that, which literally shook the deck. It really is a neat phenomenon and I'm glad I got to witness it as it's a very rare occurence. To check out the video, click here...

Last night I also got to see another rare occurence. Not necessarily a world-wide phenomenon but one that occurs regularly in our own little world. Anybody who knows the Skidd's dogs, also know how much Kate and Jake detest each other, well mostly it's just Kate detesting Jake, well, everyone for that matter. But you know that it's crammed for space in the livingroom when you see this occur...

This next few pictures are carrying on with the couch potato theme. Geez I love the focus of my new camera. Here's Jake taking a nap...

This next one's of Meg and Kate. I love the expression on Kate's face in this one...

I did manage to fire off a few pictures before going to bed saturday night. There's people missing from them so for those, we may have to get some pictures from Mary.

This first picture's of Liss. Not quite sure why she felt the need to strike such a pretty pose but I like this picture and after the pics on Matt's blog, I felt sorry for her, hahahaha...

This next one's of Scott. You all might want to save this to your hardrive as I think this is one of the few normal pictures we have of him without a beer or some other crazy thing to screw up his picture...

And of course, another close up of the most photographed dog in the world. This was funny 'cause he kept trying to sniff and lick the camera. He's such a sniffer so it's only appropriate that we get an extreme up-close of his nose. I apparently thought it very funny, judging by my expression in the background...

Ok, these are totally out of order and backwards yet but these pictures were taken saturday day which later turned into the crazy thunder and lightning storm. I thought this all so weird and cool as well that I decided to snap a few pictures of it. It was so foggy later that night that when I was trying to drive to Douglastown for my mix, you couldn't even see the lights until you were almost across the bridge. You'll hear Scott saying in the above video that it was like driving off the edge of the earth. It was...

I love the way this picture turned out...

Needless to say, it's been pretty eventful since I got home. We woke up this morning to a heavy snowfall warning and the radio has been announcing cancellations all day. Mitch'll be happy as he got to extend his Christmas vacation by a day, even though it wasn't even snowing when they cancelled it. Probably a good idea though as the roads would have been messy for them coming home as we've now got about 3" accumulated. So far no rain as it was predicting but hopefully we're on the cusp enough that it'll just stay snow.

This could make things interesting for travelling up to the camp this weekend though. I can say I'm not feeling quite so invincible about travelling through the Plaster Rock highway after the last trip but surely I've significantly decreased the chances of hitting another moose. Here's hoping the camp roads will be ok as I'm not going to be making it out there 'til saturday and of course everyone will be arriving friday so please have the search party ready. It will be fun but sad as this is going to be Scott's going away bash. We're going to miss you Scott but you'll have a great time.

This'll be my last post 'til I have more blackmail pictures of the camp this weekend. Those always produce blog worthy entries. Liss came up with a good game idea for the comments so feel free to jump in one and all!

'Til next time...

Home Safe and Sound... Kinda!

2007-01-03T17:08:00.000-04:00

Well, we made 'er back to town after a wonderful trip to TN. It's hard to believe the trip went by so fast. It didn't seem like enough time as there was still things I wanted to do but yet in other ways, it was long enough and good to be back.

The trip home went uneventful and perfectly smooth, for the first 3/4ths. of the journey. All layovers were caught and luggage arrived in one piece. All hell broke loose though just as we were about to land in Presque Isle. Now I've done my fair share of flying and Dad's done probably double that again. We were on a 45 seater and for those of you that don't know much about planes, that's not very big and are known for their turbulence on the best of conditions. Yesterday was far from, "Best conditions," with extremely high winds. The whole trip was rougher than most I've seen but I love the bumps and jolts, that cool butterfly feeling you get, borderlining on weightlessness beats driving really fast over a bump in the road any day. There's bumps and jolts but this was something else!

We were about 20ft. over the runway, just about to make contact when this huge sidewind comes along and threw us at about a 45 degree angle from the runway. I felt like I was in a toy plane in some kids hands. The crazy part is I was taking a bunch of pictures and some videos for Ashley and Cole. They've never flown before and I thought it would be cool for them to see as you can't quite describe flying to someone who has never experienced it, let alone to a 6 and 7 year old. Well, that landing was one of the videos I took. The video's rolling, you can hear me commenting a little as I wanted to explain to them what it was all about. Right after you hear me say, "Here's the landing," you'll notice a big jolt, the runway practically disappears and you'll hear me saying, "Oh my!" Oh my was an understatement but I now have two things going through my head, "We're going to die or at the very least become a plane crash statistic," and believe it or not, "Try not to sound too scared so you won't freak Ashley and Cole out while they watch the video."

I've since determined not to send them this video. Needless to say if I do, they'll be walking to Canada when they come. I will however put it up here for your perusal as I finally have a video that I don't have to worry about passing Darcy's inspection. Obviously none have passed inspection before... you've likely noticed there's none on here! For the video, click here...

We finally get off the plane, gather our luggage and then head for the border. Had I known that cigarettes could only be purchased at customs, I wouldn't have drug along the two cartons I did from TN. Future lesson learned there, the $21/carton ended up costing and extra $15/carton Canadian at the border. Other than that, all was cool, no strip searches.

We're cruising through the Plaster Rock at a very reduced speed and in four wheel drive as the roads are an absolute nightmare. Made even worse by the fact that we'd already seen 2 deer and four moose. We're just about to the Half Way Inn when we come around a corner and there in the middle of the road, about 20ft. ahead of us was a cow moose and her calf. It was one of those situations that happened so fast that there was absolutely nothing you could do about it yet was totally slow motion, almost like a freeze frame movie.

Dad slammed on the brakes but the joys of a truck, it just started fishtailing. The cow would have been on the yellow line (if you could see it but it was snow covered) with the calf on her left. There was enough room for us to squeeze between the cow and the ditch on the right and we would have made it too but moose being as stupid and blind as they are, she took one step to the right at the wrong time. POW! It's the only word I could use to describe the sound of us hitting her. It was like hitting a really large rock.

Her shoulder slammed in to the bush bar on the front of the truck and her head hit the windshield. She put some not so nice dents in the door and somehow took off the handle which is really odd as the handle barely stuck out. She hit that bush bar so hard that it slammed it back in to the front quarter panel of the truck leaving a perfect outline. We pulled over once we could get stopped and I hopped out to assess the damage. I looked back and couldn't see her or the calf on the road and Dad really didn't want to go back. I feel bad for that but being the animal lover that I am, I will forever have that image in my head that I'd rather take a big ol' eraser to. The main thing is, nobody was hurt and the truck, although sustaining probably close to $5000 in damage (by my estimates) came out of it remarkably unscathed. Gotta love those Chevy Silverados, they really are, "Like A Rock!" I just shudder to think of all the trips we made through the Plaster Rock with our Trans Am with the T-bar roof. We're extremely lucky. Matt, I'm also some glad you took the other way home. There was no blood (a few hair clumps) so I hope her and her calf are going to be ok. I am stiff today though, I must say!

The bush bar, notice the perfect outline on the quarter panel...

The door, cab and edge of the bed with some hair...

The windshield and mirror. Thank goodness she didn't smash out the windshield or driver's side window as we only passed a handfull (6 actually) of cars on the way home. It could have been so much worse in so many ways than it actually was...

Leave it to the Dickson's... we don't do anything unless we go out with a bang! Other than that, the vacation was a blast and couldn't have gone better. It was really great to see the kids again. I can't believe how much they've grown and how much they've learned since I've seen them last which was only 1.25yrs. ago. It was really tough parting with them, goodbyes are never easy. Sheesh, you'd think I'd be used to them by now.

Now, I finally got everything installed and uploaded from my new camera. I still have a ton of unpacking to do as it looks like my suitcase has exploded in my bedroom. I probably should get back to that but I'll most likely be going up to the Skidd's tonight as I probably wasn't making too much sense and definately wasn't taking in too much while there last night. 2.25hrs. of sleep the night before and a few naps on the plane, not to mention almost dying twice will do that to you. I know I still have to get caught up on stories that can't quite get summed up on e-mail. Apparently one story provided me with further dyslexia blackmail by Darcy (surprise surprise) blaming it on being tired, coming up with, "Tomorrow we're turkin' a cookie." - Darcy. Holy frig that's funny. That's up there with my favourites.

Since I got more pictures uploaded (not to mention video) I'll use this as a chance to put up some more. Enjoy...

I know I've told some of you about the cat my friends Jim and Cathy in TN have. For a refresher, just in case, he's hairless, just to prepare you. He's so cute with the most amazing personality of any cat you'd meet. His name's Ptrinko (a Russian breed) aka. "Trink."

This next picture's in a Harley Dealership in Murfreesboro. It's only a few years old and I always loved it there as there's a ton of bikes. I got myself a really cool camo hat there but this is what I really wanted...

A bike that was used in WWII. It was this that helped bring Harley Davidson back from the edge of bankruptcy...

Some of the Harley Dealerships have really cool diners in them and this was one of them. I loved these stools so thought it would be cool to compose a picture of them. Notice how they look like bike seats...

You may remember, "Princess," stories. If not, she's this cat that's not even theirs but has adopted them even though she already has a perfectly good home. Santa had to bring her something too, of course...

As promised, more pictures of the hockey game. This one's of a mad scramble, almost fight in front of the net...

This next picture's of the scrap that Tootoo was front and center for, notice the officials trying to break it up...

I took this next picture just a moment too soon, this goal actually went in...

This is a picture I got of Tootoo on the jumbotron when we thought he had the goal, turned out he didn't as it was deflectected by another player. He still got third star of the game though which I got on the jumbotron as well. That was a great source of entertainment. Being in the nose bleed section at center ice, it was right in my face...

This picture's of the sea of people or at least that's what it looked like when looking around...

Now, this next one is a video I took for the boys. The Nashville Predators Cheerleaders, click here... Sorry so short but I started recording, they finished... doh!

Some flight pictures. The clouds are always great entertainment for me, particularly when you get to watch a sunrise come up over them or fly through them...

This was just plain (or plane, either way, pardon the pun) too pretty to not put up with the fuselage, engine, blue sky and mountains in the background...

The clouds as we're starting to come through them...

And a cool video of coming down through the clouds. Click here...

And last but certainly not least, a family picture of us the night before we left. I thought it turned out pretty good considering I'm not really in to portraits. I prefer things that you don't have to worry about making sure they're looking at the camera, have a cool pose and are smiling niceley...

left to right, front to back: Cole, Ashley, Cindi, Mom, Me, Dad and Steve (Cindi's hubby to be)

Hopefully you've all enjoyed the pictures and it's made up for lack of updates while I was gone. It's great to be home again as I really did miss all y'all.

Ya know, it's really nice to be able to put up as many pictures as you want without having to worry whether each picture you add's going to take or not. Particularly when you have this many to put up.

As for the game, you'll find it in the comments section, as always. Feel free to throw out new ideas for games too guys as I'm running out of 'em. Off to visit Liss now!

'Til next time...

Happy New Year...

2007-01-01T01:48:00.000-04:00

Well, here it is, 10min. from New Years (as I type this) and it seems like any other day. I've passed up two party invitations and strongly considered going to one of them in my jammy pants at one point. Probably a good thing I changed my mind even though I'm sure nobody would have minded. Mom, Dad and I are sitting here, awaiting our count down. I'm surprised I'm even still awake, let alone writing a post on this thing. My how times have changed. So as you may have already guessed, I didn't ask the Staples guy for a date.

On a good note, Cindi decided she wanted to upload my pictures to her computer 'cause I've been snapping non-stop since Christmas morning and I must say, I got some good ones. That camera takes a fabulous picture. She didn't upload all of them and in turn left out some ones I really wanted to put on here but I'll get to them when I get home and can see them all as opposed to her picking the ones she wanted. I guess she wasn't as impressed with the hockey game pics as I was... heehee!

It's hard to believe that this time two nights from now, I will be home. As fabulous of a trip this has been and great to see Cindi and the kids, I'm ready to sleep in my own bed and unpack my things. After years of travelling, living out of a suitcase has lost it's lustre. Lugging bags to and through the airports should be interesting as a few hours ago, I broke my little toe... again! I've lost count as to how many times I've broken that toe. I'm now wishing I packed more sensible shoes. There really is a recurring shoe pattern here and once again, I'd planned on wearing the shoes responsible for my winter wipe out and losing a great chance at an eagle picture in previous posts. Anybody wanna buy a pair of black Nine West boots with a 4" heel?

The hockey game went great last night. The Predators had a 5-0 shut out against the Bruins, giving Mason, their second string goalie, his 5th shut out of the season. They were even out shot 35-28. It was a bit of a sloppy game in the fact that there was lots of missed passes and dump ins. Any NHL game is better than none at all though so the whole experience itself was outstanding. I haven't seen one live in at least 12yrs. I guess I'm getting too old for hockey games too as they don't even do the wave anymore. You can't tell me that they changed the rules to accomodate the people that don't want to see fights. Every time one started to break out (broken up pretty quick, mind you) the fans were yelling for blood, almost as loud as when we got a goal. Bah to the new rules, I say. If ya can't play the Canadian game the way it's meant to be played, start your own dang league. Tootoo, our Canadian player from Nunuvit showed them how it was played though. He's a scrapper but he can hold his own with a stick and puck too, I'll tell ya. He was one of the three stars with lots of assists.

We also had a little bit of a scare after the game. Of course, the game lets out and immediately you have just under 17,000 people hitting the streets. We were all together 'til just before our parking lot. I'm loading in the van and do a final head count. Somehow we lost Mom! Now, anyone who knows my Mom knows that she's the worst possible person to have lost, wandering the streets of Nashville with that many people loose, not to mention drunks, druggies, crazies and homeless! Needless to say, I lost it! Now bawling, I somehow managed to keep it composed enough to formulate a gameplan, found her then gathered the rest. I thought I was holding it together pretty good but I noticed a few people muttering things like, "She's crying." We can laugh about it now but last night, it was no laughing matter. That could have turned in to a really bad situation in no time flat!

When we got out of our pre-game dinner, it was starting to drizzle and by the time we got out of the game, it was a deluge. That kind of put a damper (pardon the pun) on any downtown wandering festivities so we didn't get to Coyote Ugly which I was a little sad about at first. But after losing Mom, it was forgotten pretty quickly.

Amazing, for someone who posted just yesterday, I can still find this much to babble about. Enough babbling and on to the pictures.

I'll try to keep these in order as they happened. The next few are of the limo bus tour we took to look at the Christmas lights. This is me sitting in the back, taking a picture looking towards the front.

The only pictures we really got that night were of George Jones estate and lights and another place that wasn't a star(I don't think but hey, it's country) but still really nice. This picture's is at George's. That's his house waaayyyy back there!

This was the gate to his house. Must be rough, eh?

Anybody remember that song of his, "I don't need your rockin' chair?" Well, that was the reason for this and it was the biggest rocking chair I've ever seen in my life. I felt like I was in an episode of, "Big Comfy Couch." That's Mom, Cindi, Cole, Ashley and Dad.

I have no idea who's place this was but it was beautiful, huge and amazingly decorated. Notice the Charlie Brown Christmas in the foreground? Man, why didn't I bring my new tripod?

Now, on to last night. While wandering looking for somewhere to eat, the signs caught me eye. These are just a few of the ones that I took. I love night shots and thought these turned out really well considering once again, I left my new tripod home. I even tripped over a sign 'cause I was too busy looking up. Ooopssy!

This is the, "Wildhorse Saloon." Most of you should have heard of this, even if you're like myself and not a country music fan.

Where I was hoping to go after the game. You may recognise the name from the movie, "Coyote Ugly," which it's loosely based on. It's much wilder than the movie though. They're dancing on the bar, bartenders and patrons alike, bras are hanging everywhere and the bartenders are half dressed. My first time in there, 10 of them got up on the bar doing a line dance kind of thing, crawling and slamming their fists on the bar to a Linkin Park song. Highly entertaining.

This is where we ate. Had a divine beer battered fish and chips that was to die for.

Now, this picture's taken on Broadway which for anyone who's a country fan, this is the place to be in Nashville. Many stars were discovered up and down this drag, particularly at Tootsies (the purple place) where the likes of Willie Nelson, (passed out in the back alley there) Waylon Jennings and even Terry Clark took a turn waitressing there. I owe those bits of trivia to Mom as I wouldn't have had a clue.

Gaylord Entertainment Center... home of the Nashville Predators. I really like the architectural design of this place. Man, it's massive!

In to the game we go. We were literally in the nosebleed section but center ice and I was quite impressed with the seats. I think we got one of the last few seats in the building. If you look very closely, I'm actually above the jumbotron. This picture's of the anthem.

They even played the Stompin Tom song. I was so impressed! I was on a search for the smoking section when it came on. I was all by myself, singing and clapping. I'm sure everyone thought I was a nutcase but I didn't care. Stompin' Tom playing at a TN hockey game, how cool is that?

Last but not least, me enjoying the game. Nobody could figure out what I wanted them to do to take the picture so I took it myself. That's pretty bad when that's the only way you can get a picture of yourself on your own camera. I'm gonna try Matt and Liss' trick to get this up for my profile pic too.

All in all, it's been a great trip so far. I definately won't be getting any posts in tomorrow and will be lucky to even get to play the game. I got a lot of last minute visits I've got to get in, not to mention trying to figure out how to pack all the new stuff that I'll be bringing home. Can't wait to try out all my new hair stuff too. 4:30am. will come waayyyy too early tuesday morning, I'm afraid.

Check out the comments section for the latest fun and I'll be seeing everyone in a few days.

'Til next time...

"The Good Ol' Hockey Game...

2006-12-30T11:53:00.000-04:00

... Is the Best Game you can name.
And the best game you can name,
Is the good ol' hockey game"
-Stompin' Tom Connors

That song has been going through my head all morning. Why, you ask? Well, we're going to a Nashville Predators game tonight. I can't friggin' wait! It's been years since I've been to an NHL game and these boys are really on their game this year and kicking some royal ass so it should be a fast paced game with lots of scoring. Maybe we'll get to see some blood shed but the crazy new rules have really put the kaibash on that. It's a great chance to tease the Americans (Cindi's fiance in particular) about seeing a live game and how the puck's not going to be hilited. Remember that? If you have to watch the game and have the object of the game hilited, it might be time for you to find a new game to watch. They'll be playing Boston which is a team that's also up in the standings so it should be great. I haven't seen a live game since Vancouver which was so many years ago I can't remember. Hopefully they'll let me bring in my new camera.

Speaking of new camera, that brings me to what everyone got for Christmas... eventually! Merry Belated Christmas, BTW! Things have been so busy around here, running the roads daily, that updates have been slow coming, my apologies.

Everyone seems to have done pretty well for goodies and Santa was good to us all. So good that we may have to borrow a suitcase of Cindi's to get it all home. The kids got lots of things, they're in to Star Wars now and of course, you can never go wrong with crafty things. The biggest thing this year though was to get them some games for their, "Playboy Advance," - Me. Hey, I might as well include that friggin' quote of mine since I'll never hear the end of it anyways even though it's not even on the list. Made even worse when you're telling clients what you're getting the kids for Christmas and it slips out. Why does that sound so right?

I know I'm going to be a nightmare going through security at the airport as I'm going home with a lot more electronics than I left with. I've stocked up on hairstyling implements as there were things here that I just can't get around home. My blowdryer that I got in Miami is now being held together by nail glue and on it's last leg. Tourmaline and far infrared technology's big in hairstyling now and literally cuts your styling time in half. So with my new blow dryer, flat iron, blow brush iron and 1" iron, all of which I plan on carrying on... security won't be happy. I'm not chancing it with the way they throw your luggage around. Hey, I've gone through three sets of luggage in about as many years, I've learned from experience.

The biggest thing that has been keeping me occupied though this Christmas has been my new camera! I'm so thrilled, particularly with all that's gone on with my cameras in the last few weeks. My sister had picked this one up (a Kodak Z650 w/manual controls and a killer lens which can be changed) in april. I wanted a dock that makes transferring/charging a breeze. I found a kit I wanted and after a trip to Staples, got my latest addition to my technology family. Upon finding out it didn't work, returning to Staples and trying another off the shelf and it not working, it became apparent that the problem was with the camera... not the dock. I was devastated 'cause of course, the receipt was long gone.

I have however made a new best friend at Staples. They said they could do a straight exchange but of course, they no longer had any left for sale. My new best friend came to my rescue though and pulled a camera out of a bundle package they have, exchanged it with that one and even gave me a receipt which would make my warranty good from this date, as opposed to april. Cripes, Cindi didn't even buy it there! It was funny too as Dad and I had gone in to that same store earlier in our trip. He wanted a printer dock for his camera (my Christmas present to him) and gave us a really great deal. Someone had forgotten to take a price tag off the shelf. Hah, I told him I could kiss the floor clerk for forgetting it. He mumbled something about it being him. Not sure if it really was him or was looking to score a kiss. Either way, I definately owe him one now. He's really cute too. Wonder what he's doing for New Year's?

We also got to go on a limousine tour last night to look at Christmas lights, some of which were stars like George Jones, Jo Dee Messina and Little Jimmy Dickens. We were mostly in an area known as Brentwood where the really posh people of TN live. Wow, I can't get over the size of some of those homes let alone the Christmas lights. I must say though, George Jones' lights kicked ass! He even had a huge rocking chair out front (most might remember that song, "I don't need your rocking chair") that we could all pile on. I was also somewhat disappointed at first as I thought I'd finally get to get a tour in a limo. Around the corner came this big black bus. Somewhat despondent but always the one to try to make the best of a situation, we persevered. We weren't disappointed. Brad, our limo driver, hops out, dressed in his tux and we piled on to the bus. Inside it was just like a limo. Posh leather seats, a bar, tinted windows and light fixtures just like in a limo. Apparently it was a limo party bus. Party we did, well me and a few others anyways. It was arranged through co-workers of Cindi's so lots of them were there too. I forgot how cool the people she worked with were. I even got to hear an accent from Manchester, England (picked up on it too and asked them if that's where they were from) which I hadn't heard in quite a few years. We had a great time!

It's really hard (not to mention sad) to believe that our trip's days from being over. Tuesday we'll be heading back to the mystical magical. Barring all unforseen circumstances, we should be home some time tuesday evening so Skidd's, expect a visit if it's not too late.

I've been taking pictures just about non-stop since Christmas morning but didn't install any software so I'll update with tons of pictures when I get back. Hopefully I'll be able to get my camera in the Predators game tonight. I love you and miss you all. Hope everyone had a holly, jolly Christmas and Festivus. Can't wait to see all y'all. Sorry for the Southern euphamism slip there but hey, when in Rome (or Tennessee in this case)...

Special thanks to Liss for helping keep me entertained with the games for the few moments I did get to check in on the computer. The boys are going to be so far behind in the points that there's no way they'll have a chance winning those rounds... muwahahahaha! Don't think we're keeping score now anyhow. Check out the comments for the next game! After the next few days, everyone should be back to the grind.

'Til next time...

Take 'Er Away Matt...

2006-12-21T19:34:00.000-04:00

I told Matt he could have the honours of starting this one since I cut him off in the comments and he's (as well as the rest) been chomping at the bit for something a little more challenging. I'm not much of a movie buff as I rarely watch them but I'll try. If nothing else, I'm sure it'll be highly entertaining, as usual.

We'll do the movie one this go round. This one has endless possibilities so I'd say there's no need to do round limits. As for the rules, we figured it out in the last comments. Let's go with quotes for this one and we can mix it up for future ones. If you guys do have other game ideas, feel free to post them in the last post so that way I can keep track of them.

Have fun, 'til next time...

What Day's Today...?

2006-12-21T13:42:00.000-04:00

This is day who knows what of vacation (4 or 5) and I think it's thursday. The joys of vacation and not having to worry about what day it is. Hopefully we'll figure it out by the time we need to catch a plane home. I fear it's only going to get worse.

We've had the kids home with us for the last two days and so far so good, they're still alive, fed, clean and entertained. Guess I haven't lost my touch. The routine's coming back faster than I expected. It's really nice to not feel obligated to be the Molly Maid but some habits are hard to break, particularly when your sister's a slob.

She's not going to have to worry about her pack rat ways for much longer though as she told us some great news the other day. Her new boyfriend (not so new now, about 2yrs.) is soon to be her husband and they're buying a beautiful new home in a neighbourhood not too far from here. They'll be eloping to somewhere warm and getting married on the beach, most likely. I really like her new husband to be (also a Steve which is really strange) and the kids love him (and vice versa) which is the most important. Mom and Dad will finally get to meet him over the holidays which is awesome as we never got to meet her ex until she was already married and it was too late. I never liked that guy. Another marriage and another chance for me not to be a maid of honour. Ah well!

Christmas shopping's going swimmingly well considering it's only a few days a way. Heck, there was no way I was going to be lugging all the stuff with me. It'd be just the time my luggage got lost particularly with how my luck has been going lately.

I've been getting caught up with lots of old friends with drop ins so not even having to run the roads. Plus getting to spend lots of time with my buddies Cathy and Jim across the street. We always manage to have lots of fun and endless laughs. No set date for when we're going to go to the Double E (biker bar I love down the road) or Coyote Ugly but I will persevere. We also want to go to the Opryland Hotel which is always incredibly decorated for Christmas and they're supposed to have changed alot this year so it'll be a great way to kick the mood in to gear. It's really hard getting in to Christmas when there's no snow on the ground and temperatures anywhere between 15-20 degrees. The kids are extremely excited so that's helping immensely.

Now, this comment suggestion's going to be dedicated to games but in a different sense. I'm hearing mention of a movie trivia game and a few other things. Liss mentioned one in one of the comments but do you think I can find it now? I'm at a bit of a brain freeze for new ideas so what I'd like you guys to do is leave a comment on what you'd like to see, how to do it and rules, if any. Matt had mentioned something about a 2 round limit which is probably good for most but if you look at the games like song or movie titles, they should be endless so we can always adjust that accordingly and make that part of the rules. Movie trivia I'd think could be endless. A big rule I would like to add and I know I've only been using it if we're absolutely stuck, (like the now finally dead slash pusher) is the google. It just makes it more fair that way. So please, feel free to throw out any ideas that you have and we'll go from here, k?

Please leave suggestions for different games we can use for future posts and we'll continue the games in the next post.

Now, it's time I got my butt in the shower as Cindi left Dad and I the van today and Dad's looking to run the roads which estimated time of departure is, "Less than an hour by alot," - Scott. It's been a long time since I ran these road, here's hoping I can remember where everything is. Geez this place is growing in leaps and bounds. All part of that being only 20min. East of Nashville. The burbs are no longer the burbs.

'Til next time...

I'm Alive...

2006-12-19T09:50:00.000-04:00

Here I am, my first morning in TN, fighting with a laptop that has a key pad as opposed to a mouse but man it's great to be here. Everything went smoothly, got to show Mom and Dad the camp road on our way through the Plaster Rock, ran in to a little bit of snow and had some unnerving moments with Dad in the wrong lanes once we got to Presque Isle but eventually found the hotel room. If I see one more thing on CNN about those poor guys lost on Mt. Hood, I'm gonna scream. Gotta love the fear base in America.

All the connecting flights went amazingly well. We had about enough time to get to our next gate, plunk our butts down and then they boarded. Thank goodness there were no late flights even though the first flight was 10min. late leaving. He musta had a wicked tailwind as we made it up in the air. We even got to be on a final flight with a retiring pilot who had 40+ years and 25,000hrs. flight time. They came on the intercom forewarning us about our arrival that there'd be water bombers waiting for us and to not fear, there's no emergency, it's tradition to spray the plane with these things (glorified fire truck) of the retiree. I expected a smoother landing with all that experience. ;) This is the first time I've flown with anybody since I can't remember when and I'll tell ya, my parents weren't the best to start out with. Thank goodness for the smoking section in Charlotte, NC or I'd have been walking to TN.

Once we got to the airport, we had a brief panic as we couldn't find Cin and the kids. I called her cell phone and after finding out she was at one gate and us at another, we found each other and I'll tell you, I wish I had videod this moment. I hung up the phone and came around the corner (they weren't very far away) and Cole saw me. We might as well of been the only two in the airport. He sprinted about as fast as I've ever seen a 6yr. old's legs move, blew past Mom at 100mph (American conversion) and flew in to my arms. Needless to say, I started bawling.

We made it back to the house and as is tradition, I'm good with riling up animals (eh Jake) and small kids and pretty much had the kids screaming and running through the house, driving everyone crazy. It didn't matter, I was so glad to see them. Nobody said anything.

I got to go to Darla and Bruce's wedding this weekend. Darla walked hand in hand with Grace (their 5yr. old little girl) to, "Oh Holy Night." Can you say tears, boys and girls? And I thought I'd be strong. They all looked fabulous and other than a few chuckles and forgotten rings (which kept it very Darla and Bruce) the sermon was made about Grace, not only their child but the Grace of God. It was so personal and beautiful, any wonder I was a wreck.

Ok, this post has been interrupted a gazillion times with turning on the satellite, (to find CNN to find out about the climbers, sheesh) finding oats, butter, frying pans and toaster, not to mention a million questions, this is all I'm going to have time for. We're going to the kids school for their Christmas parties in less than 2hrs. I need to be getting my butt in the shower.

Check out the comments for the latest game and hopefully I'll be back on before too long. Miss you all. Try not to have too much Festivus fun without me.

'Til next time...

The Movie Game...

2006-12-13T22:00:00.000-04:00

"It's officiable" - Liss... we have a request and it sounds like a great idea. Check the comments, details inside.

Adopted Family shopping's still not totally done but we've managed to scrounge some money up and got to finish some bigger (but not necessary) items on the list.

It's been extremely busy at work but I'm loving every minute of it. It's good to be back and loving what I'm doing again. I really gotta start wearing more sensible shoes. I actually had a colour cancel at 3pm. on saturday so I'll get to go to Darla's wedding... big bonus.

Packing's getting done... or at least starting to resemble an organised pile. Wow, this time next week, I'll be in TN.

Other than that, not much excitement going on. Don't think I'll be getting another post in before I go and I'll do my dangdest to get some in while I'm gone.

'Til next time... :)

Penises, Birds And Adopted Family Shopping...

2006-12-11T11:28:00.000-04:00

Well what a weekend! It never ceases to amaze me how much entertainment one can cram in a two day period on the 'Chi. This weekend was crammed in to 24hrs. I literally finally crashed last evening and barely stirred 'til this am. I think my body was trying to tell me something. I'm gonna need those two weeks in Tennessee just to recupe from the month of december, particularly with how busy it has been at work. One more week to go!

After a long day of work on saturday I had 1.5hrs. to come home, eat, wrap, get ready then off to pick up Kelly to head up to Darla's engagement/bachelorette party. Hey, she's trying to do this in 3wks. so we have to combine events by this point. Shopping for this event was very interesting as I was on a mission and I'll tell you, shopping on this river really leaves something to be desired. Who would have thought that finding a wedding guest book would be so challenging. I did manage to find one however so that was the engagement thing. But there had to be naughty as well as nice, right? Being that we have so much lingerie selection on the river, (insert sarcasm here) believe it or not, I found a lovely little teddy number for her at Zellers. It gets really tough shopping around here as I try to keep it on the river. Now if we could only do something about the selection maybe everyone wouldn't leave to shop in Moncton!

Kelly and I knew the street we had to go to (by Newcastle Tim Horton's) but not the specific address as the houses weren't marked. We just figured we'd look for the cars, forgetting that there was a Timberwolves game on the same night! We ditched the car in the vicinity of and started walking. We eventually found it (thanks to a cat and an obliging neighbour), found Sonia and Brenda along the way and we were off. It was a fabulous time as it was a collection of old and new Glamour Girls and I'll tell ya, we always knew how to have a good time. I got to meet the new blood there and even got to see Sonia and Brenda whom I haven't seen in years. Everyone was worried we'd be late (it was at 7pm. and was now pushing 8pm.) but they seemed to forget that this was a party for Darla... she showed up at 8:30pm. :D Also, the Glamour Girls were infamous for being late. The party never started 'til we got there.

I just went through all my pictures of the evening and it's going to be hard to decide which ones to put in as they're all hilarious, even if you don't know these people. Dawn has to be the best bachelorette party thrower I've ever seen and I don't think I've ever seen a future bride get picked on as bad as Darla did but she hadled it like the trooper she is. I couldln't help but laugh when she made the comment, "I always used to hate these things and never wanted one done for me!" She had a great time. I think the Fireball really helped ease the pain though.

Darla came in dressed to kill which surprised me, did she really think she wouldn't get a new wardrobe? She's even re-arranging her new penis like most men do on a regular basis.

Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, Darla's not a Ho but the girls found this cute Bachelorette poem and re-arranged it accordingly...

A picture with her penis cake...

The arrival of her, "Penisata," the look on her face (not to mention Libby's) says it all. What a great idea for anyone looking for a different idea for a bachelorette party. Dawn made it with papier mache. That's Dawn with her creation. She hung it off her ceiling fan. Don't worry, no ceiling fans were harmed in the smashing of the penisata...

The, "Penisata," in all it's glory...

Another couple of pictures that totally sum up the moment. "I need another drink," "Penis bashing," and, "The Fallout." Who said penis envy's lost...

The evening also progressed in another very surprising way. It seems that Dawn and I may have been separated at birth. Darla has talked about her lots, mentioning she's, "One of us." It's rare that you can find female friends in today's world. They're a catty lot and would claw your eyes out as quick as they look at you for the most part and if they're not able to look at you, they're stabbing you in the back. I feel very lucky to have some normal, not overly estrogeny females as friends. Dawn being the latest addition.

I'd heard that she was in to birds (primarily parrots) but had forgotten all about it. I was sitting there yik yakking when all of a sudden this loud screech pierces the air. Needless to say, I then remembered. It was really cool as she's not one of those people that sticks them in cages and shoves them in a corner. When her daughter moved out, she converted a whole room for them. It was really hard to get a picture of said room as the lighting wasn't the best for my camera but it was filled with big rope nets, lotsa hangy play toys and three parrots. One of which was a beautiful Macaw named Sydney, you'll see her in later pictures. She also had a parrot named Casper who loves to have his picture taken and as soon as he saw my flash, was instantly in my face. He also got a hold of my lens and smeared it so excuse the bluriness of the following pictures. The downfalls of macro, heehee.

The bird room, that's Sydney in the back...

Up close and personal with Casper...

Here's Sydney in all her glory. It's truly amazing how gentle she can be with her beak around your face, considering she could break a finger with it. She's like me, distracted by shiny and pretty and loved my nose ring while perched on my shoulder...

Dawn now has 7 parrots in total. As of about a month ago, she rescued a breeding pair of macaws (a different kind than Sydney and even bigger again) that were badly neglected. They arrived with all their feathers pulled out. It's pretty sad to think that someone could let an animal get to that state, thinking it's ok. This was not an overnight occurence. They both arrived in a single rubbermaid container with airholes punched in the top. The human race absolutely sickens me by times. She didn't think they'd live through the first night. One month later, they're starting to regrow their feathers, produced two eggs and are still going strong. I would have gotten pictures of them but they're still very reclusive to everyone else but Dawn. She's quite exceptional with them.

It was funny 'cause it's another case of not being able to go anywhere for any length of time without a responsible sitter. Being Kelly's official barn sitter, she mentioned to Dawn that I could do the chore. I suppose if I can handle 7 - 1000lb.+ horses, I could manage 7 parrots, right? They asked me what I'd do with them all? I laughed because I can see it now. There's three of them now that already get along really well in the bird room. I'd be camped out on the couch with one on my head, one on my toe and another one at some point in between. Now wouldln't that be a picture?

Apparently mornings are quite the event in her house. One wakes up singing opera while another likes to make the sound of her doorbell. That's just a few of the many sounds, as you can imagine. Top that off with a cat that screams like a kid and you got a regular zoo. Yeah right, screams like a kid you say. If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed it either. It was that cat that helped Kelly and I find the place as he was climbing up on his neighbours step when I heard him. I was looking for a kid too... very strange indeed!

It was also a great weekend in the sense that I got to get the shopping done for our adopted family. Surprise, surprise... have I not learned to stop organising things? Apparently not, as it started out as being three shoppers but after new boyfriends intervening and the other losing one, I was on my own. I tossed around the idea of still going to Moncton as one of the girls was going anyways and thought that it'd make for a fun adventure but since I was now on my own and like to keep my shopping local, that got nixxed.

As I was pulling up to Tim Horton's (yeah yeah, can't shop without it) I pulled up behind Ashley at the lights. Her plans had changed as well so we teamed up and hit Wal-Mart. They didn't seem too obliging to give us a discount as I'd heard they would be but I'm going back today to speak with the manager. Hey, we dropped dang near $250 dollars there and it's for a good cause.

There were a lot of things the family needed (17yr. old girl w/ 1mth. old baby) and it sounds like the girl's trying to move out on her own. She's from a very rough family and it's remarkable she turned out as well as she did. I got to get a little more details on her as her Interventionist was in for a hair-do on saturday and of course, you go through the, "Where do you work," thing and it turns out she deals with our family. I wish I had the chance to do her but I was booked but Ashley did and she was beside me so I still got to pick her brain a bit.

So needless to say, a 17yr. old girl trying to get her own place... she needed everything. We got her pots and pans, dish set, utensil set, glasses, etc. It's very tough buying for a 1 mth. old baby as there's really nothing you can get them for toys so we got necessities like formula, diapers, pj's, socks and the one thing she asked for which was $60 alone was an activity play center, jumper kind of thing. It was worth it though 'cause I know if I was a baby, that's exactly where I'd want to be! So all that stuff plus things like boots and a winter coat for the Mom, our money didn't get to go as far as I'd hoped. I'd still like to get baby bottle stuff, bedding and towels... I'm going to have to do more fund raising. It gets extremely hard when you have to budget and pick what's needed most for a family who needs absolutely everything. Good thing they weren't looking for, "Any Pacific Brand," - Darcy. As for the wrapping, the girls will soon find themselves wrapping at our Christmas party next weekend even though most don't know it yet. I literally shopped 'til I dropped. Any wonder I slept for as long as I did.

Here's a picture of Ashley with all the goodies. Man, we make a good team. I can't believe we managed to get all that we did get! We had two carts full and that was at Wal-mart alone. My trunk and backseat were full! :D

Looks like I'm still going to have to clean my lens too as that one even still looks a little blurry. I guess I can be thankful that I still have my lens, considering the beaks on those birds.

Hope everyone had a fabulous week. Make sure you check out this entry's comments as there's going to be a new game to play in there as well.

'Til next time...

An Eagle and Game Filled Day...

2006-12-06T00:39:00.000-04:00

As I was scrolling through the, "Next Blog," option I noticed most were updating daily. I also noticed they were primarily boring. I worked/went to school today. Hello, welcome to the rest of the world. I see no point in re-hashing those details. I have days and days where nothing particularly exciting happens (this is the 'Chi after all) but then there's days where a whole bunch of stuff goes on. Today was one of those days.

It all started innocently enough, tuesdays are my late days at work so that gives me the day to kill... and kill it I did! Got money exchanged for the trip, got Mitch's birthday present (had to give it to him right away too, as is tradition) and even had a totally unexpected surprise to start all of the above with. Answering a question Dean, Winston and I have been pondering.

I often take the shore road because it's surprising how there always seems to be something exciting going on down there. Just as I come around the turn I noticed some birds along top of the cliff. Next thing you know, in comes a gimungous wing span soaring as fast as I've ever seen a bird soar, being chased by the now dwarved crows (and we grow them big around here)flapping madly along behind it. I've heard of this happening before but had yet to see it, the crows were bullying and chasing a bald eagle! :D

They flew off out of sight but not for long. Apparently the eagle figured out how much bigger she was than the crows (with crazy beaks and talons too) because within seconds they were back but this time the roles were reversed. Lost her prize (fish?) mebbe or she'd had enough? They flew back down the river so I, now with new destination in mind and in the completely opposite direction, proceeded to try to find them again. It wasn't hard as she perched on a pine tree not far down the road. Man they're huge even when perched.

I tried getting a picture of her perched but had to crawl over a guardrail (in 4" heels and full length coat yet) to get a better shot. Of course, bull in a china shop made a clunk on the guardrail and that set her flying again. One of these days, I will get my eagle shot. In the meantime, all I got was this...

She's the blob in the middle of the shot, behind the pine. Moral of this story... dress more appropriately when chasing eagles. At least the nest stood still.

I guess we can surmise that snow definately doesn't deter them around here and they're still active. Was it ever cool (not to mention hilarious) to watch that turn of events. It must be like you said Dean, they just follow the river freeze out. I noticed today that it's starting to freeze too. I wish I could see the pair courting, seems they should be too. Hopefully there is a pair and nothing happened to her mate.

We've been getting a fair amount of snow here lately and that's sure made for loads of fun. Already had my first wipe out. I came down the front stairs at work after closing and whoosh, right flat out on my ass. Thank goodness there wasn't any witnesses. Hmmm, still had the same heels on too... I'm starting to see a pattern.

I really like the mood of this picture (while taking and now) and makes me feel like snuggling up next to a fire. Oddly enough, this was taken about 50ft. from the eagle shot, different times obviously.

As I'm sitting here contemplating how to work in the fact that these games have become such an addiction for me, Rogers notifies me that I just got a message from Brian from here. Gotta love the notification option. Now I know I can play when this is done! I'm also glad to see that I'm not the only one addicted. :D There'll be a new one going in this comments too, feel free to join in all! I'm having a great time and thanks for making it so much fun. It has been a trip down memory lane, (not to mention 80's lane) cheating and chuckling. Wouldn't have it any other way and we'll continue to see how far along we can push this slash that is, "Comments." Surely there has to be a limit, doesn't there?

Ya know, looking at our list and trying to work in some dyslexia, one comment got me thinking as it likely relates to the eagles as well. It's also a comment that I forgot all about (would be on the original list, if I could find it) but it came to me the other day as I was looking at those rings that hold cans of beer together. All birds that are in any way associated with water can be affected by this so please, "Rip this apart so the ducks won't die." - Coll

'Til we meet again...

The Big Switch Over...

2006-12-03T16:40:00.000-04:00

Alrighty then, this'll be my first post with the beta version so here goes. It couldn't possibly have gotten any worse than the last version. I know there's way more options for playing around with the layout (as you may have noticed) so that alone was fun but the true test'll be when I upload some pictures.

Hope y'all like the new layout and please let me know what you think about the font colours and background as I want to make sure that it's not too hard to read.

This picture was taken in Hilton Head South Carolina one day I was wandering along the beach. I love the varying shades of blue. This was one of a row of vibrantly coloured houses along the beach. Man, what a pile of money there.

Cool, it even showed me the picture in the, "Your pictures has been added," pop-up to show that it works. Still carrying on with the Hilton Head theme, this was taken from the balcony of the condo. The picture above was taken of the row of houses in the background... see the blue one? There was some fancy photoshop editing done to remove the guy on the boardwalk that would not get off long enough for me to take the picture. Betcha can't tell where he was?

Still in Hilton Head, I scoured the beach for hours looking for the perfect umbrella scene. This was the last day and I'd given up and left my camera back with my stuff and was just out looking for shells. I stumbled upon this one and had to go all the way back... it was worth it though.

Another beach wander in Hilton Head. Living in Tennessee sure did make me appreciate the ocean. You don't realise how much you miss it until you see it and smell it again.

This chick had no idea I took her picture. That's a shrimp boat in the background. There were always lots of them out there. It made me think of, "Bubba Gump Shrimp."

This is pretty much self-explanatory. Found this on one of the days I was wandering looking for my above umbrella scene.

Ok, well I must say, beta wins my vote. I'm doing it at what's usually the busiest time of day and with pictures that haven't been resized and it took them no problem and uploaded them even faster than the compressed pictures I used to put up... that was if it even took them. Alright everyone, it's a need to upgrade. I just recommend saving your HTML format of each of your posts to word perfect before upgrading because in the help forum here, there were people that lost their posts so just make sure you do that to prevent if from happening. The userface is a little more user friendly than the old version but if you could figure that one out, you should be able to figure this one out. Any questions, feel free to ask me.

Off to have coffee with Liss. Check the comments as I'll get another game going in there too. Feel free to still play the old one too as I know I will be. ;)

'Til we meet again...

It's a Festivus Miracle...

2006-12-01T00:33:00.000-04:00

Well, it's now 12:34am., Dec.1st as I type this so it's beginning to feel like Christmas. My profile has migrated to the bottom of the page and doesn't seem to want to come back. We're supposed to be getting snow tomorrow and if the temperature drops like it's supposed to, this rainy drizzle will be flurries. Most of you aren't going to like what I have to say next... Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy and Yippppeeeeeeeeeeee!

I paid a visit to the Skidd household tonight and while raving, we somehow got on the topic of the Christmas song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." You never know where our conversations are going to go or where they'll end up. Somehow we got on to the Rickard's beer and the free glass (it really doesn't take much to amuse us, does it?) and a song began. I kept Liss up way past her bedtime but we figured 'er out and for your perusal, the grand unveiling, first time in the world, never before seen (or heard), new and improved, "Twelve Days of Christmas."

Feel free to sing along, you know you know how it goes...

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The Twelve Days of Festivus

*just in case you forget... a start*

On the First Day of Festivus My True Love Gave to Me...

A Free Glass With the Case (where it all began)
Two Rum and Nog (don't forget to change to the second day)
Three Shots of Berries (the third day, a blue raspberry cocktail mix)
Four Shots Of Vodka (three + four + mountain dew = good drink mix)
Five Par - a - lyzers (oh yeah, fifth day... distracted by my favourite drink)
Six Pack of Alpine (if you don't get it by now, you never will)
Seven Days a Week (dum-de-dum-de-dum-dum)
Eight Pack of Bud Light (thank goodness for different amounts in beer)
Nine More Sips of Soju (I'll personally be passing on that one)
Ten More Grievance Airings (didn't think we'd forget Festivus, did you?)
Eleven Feats of Strength (log rolling anyone?)
Twelve Pack of Rickard's (we've now come full circle)

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Like I said, easily amused. Speaking of which, check out the comments. We were having so much fun with bananas, I thought a game might be fun and help give you guys something to do while you're at work. ;)

Just A Test...

2006-11-30T00:13:00.000-04:00

It's good to know that I'm not the only one having troubles with these blogs. They've almost become a support group for us as well as a way of keeping in touch because it seems that hardly any of us make a post without running in to problems. I'm gonna try Brian's advice here and use another browser. Hello IE, I haven't used this in ages.

Without further ado, hopefully there'll be some random pictures appearing here. Guess I can't complain too much, it is free hosting after all.

Well now, looky dat... a picture appears without cursing, swearing, beating the keyboard or trying a gazillion times. This is also a picture taken back Terry and Kelly's and will be a true test of your powers of observation. Anybody see what's wrong with this picture? This is their youngest baby Koko on the left and Nicole's (in picture at birthday bash in previous post) horse Bunny on the right.

Ok, now that's two for two... in a row yet! Ok, don't get too excited. This picture was a beach picture along the cliffs down from my place. Poor caterpillar got plunked in so many places...

A picture of the bridge from Middle Island

What does one do when you hate grocery shopping but Kelly drags you along with her? You bring your camera of course. Powers of observation again... who knows what store this was at? Geez, I should be charging them for advertising! Heehee, did I ever get some strange looks that day.

Bah, I should have known better than to get too excited. At least I got four in this time but it stopped the last three attempts. It definately helped Brian but it seems to like acting up mostly when I'm trying to go to work anyways so that will be the true test but it's an improvement, that's for sure. Internet Explorer best so far but I may have to install that Fire Fox browser yet.

Thanks for the helpful hints all...

Kelly's Birthday and Anonymous Visits...

2006-11-28T13:01:00.001-04:00

Another great weekend has passed and between anonymous visits and Kelly's Birthday, I managed to survive yet another. Saturday night I arrived at the Skidd household and Liss and I contemplated whether to have a tottie or not. After much consideration (believe it or not) the tottie prevailed... surprise, surprise. I really wish I had my camera on me when Liss and I went to the liquor store because the look on her face when she decided what she was going to drink was priceless. It all started with a free glass, a Rickard's sampler case and a look so euphoric that you could almost hear the choir singing like in the Rickard's commercial. I was jokingly commenting on banana popsicles but the hangover that follows those isn't exactly pretty. With plans on going to church the next morning, that didn't seem like a great idea. I ended up settling for something bananany anyways, some kind of drink called Mixx which had banana, pineapple and raspberry. Still ended up hungover anyways so that's the last time I'll be trying that particular cooler. You guys make fun of my raspberry drink concoction but at least I don't feel like a bag of crap the next day.

Liss and I were pretty much getting started when Scott arrived for a sit and say. Darcy was behaving as he was on call. After a brief detour of having to buy cigarettes for the second time, I finally got to get a drive in the new, "Fancy Truck." I must say, she be pretty fancy even though I feel like I'm running a fever with those seat warmers on. Man, for an SUV, that thing sure hugs the turns.

After Scott pulled his abrupt departure (still not sure what that was all about) we had another visitor about 1/2hr. after that. I wanted to get pictures but apparently that would make said person feel bad. Too bad though as he was great company and it was really good to see him. This person knows who he is but as you may have guessed, wishes to remain anonymous and I can respect that. Turns out he's a blog reader as well (got a raking for lack of updates too) which is funny as we were just discussing the amount of hits our blogs have gotten, largely in part to friends, family and most recently, Matt's mention in, "Bread and Molasses," a fun Miramichi newspaper. The blogs are a great way for us all to keep in touch, particularly since we're scattered all over.

Our anonymous friend drug out Darcy's guitar though and we had a great little sing along. He even provided me with some quotable quotes, which is always good. He had a friend with him and his friend even asked (after first quotable quote) if we ever considered keeping track of these things. Apparently he's not a blog reader... heehee! He did however get to see the list first hand though after I broke it out to add the quotes from our anonymous friend. Our anonymous friend even set a new record! Two quotes in 10min. With playing the 'tar, that brought up bands and artists, I don't remember what we were playing (Hip mebbe?) but our friend liked the music, "As long as it's not the lad that singis it!"- Anonymous Friend. I have no idea how the next falls in to context (remember banana/pineapple/raspberry crap involved) but that's not important, it's what was said that matters 'cause, "It's my flavourite,"-Anonymous Friend With New Dyslexic Friends Record. After falling asleep mid-conversation (sorry Liss) on the couch, 7:30am. came too early indeed. I did still make it to church though.

Last night turned out to be a great time as well. It was Kelly's birthday so it was a perfect excuse to get the girls together, have a say and eat. It was a day that had a lot to get done and not much time to do it in, I finally trundled back to Kelly's around 5pm. Surprise, surprise, I was a little late but not the last to arrive as Cathy and Darla arrived after me.

left-right; Kathy squared (Kathy and Cathy), beaming birthday girl Kelly, Nicole, newly engaged Darla and Kelly. Yup, we get confused with the names sometimes.

Arrival time didn't matter, there was plenty of food for everyone. Kelly's one birthday request was a boiled icing cake and I'll tell ya, she'll be eating it for a week (I'm sure with no complaints) as I brought one and Terry's daughter Kelly brought one along as well. Kelly also had her son Colby with her (gosh it's nice to have them home again) so that helped Terry not feel so overwhelmed by females. There were also a few dogs on the scene. Bless their hearts, they always seem to be dogsitting for someone... and with two dogs, two cats and eight horses, they really don't have enough to do. Kelly and Terry have two gimungous labs of their own, Terry's daughter Kelly had her lab (sweet Lexus) and Kelly and Terry were dogsitting for friends of theirs. A cute little brindle boxer named Piper. Good thing we didn't have it the night before though or it would have been all of us, all of the dogs plus a big Newfoundland named Claire. She departed that afternoon though. Needless to say, the kitchen was packed.

The night was spent eating, discussing perpetual virgin queens, eating, chasing Piper any time she got outside, eating, solving all our problems, eating, taking pictures and eating. I ate so much that I was actually sick and had to lay down for a bit, phew! When I got back up; Darla and Nicole had departed, Kelly was finally going to bed and the dynamic duo of Kathy Squared and I sat up for another hour having a say. All I can say is I'm some glad I didn't drink or I'd really be hurting today. My belly's still protesting food. Cripes, I could not eat for a week and I'd be fine. It's always a great time when we get together though. It's amazing how you meet people that feel like they've always been a part of your life. That's how it is with us.

You may have already picked up on my comment on, "The newly engaged Darla." Her and Bruce have officially set their date and will be getting married on Dec.16th. Darla has two weeks now to prepare but at least she has her dress. It'll be a small ceremony at the Boom Road Pentecostal Church. Hopefully I'll be able to rearrange my schedule to attend as I'm already booked trying to squeeze clients in before I go. Congratulations you two, you've gone through so much and come so far. Best wishes on your future together.

Dean and Jade have made it back home, minus one bag... it may turn up yet guys, don't get too discouraged. I got up to see them on thursday before they left. Had a sit and say and coffee in Winston's kitchen which I haven't done in years. It was so great to get to see Dean again and to meet Jade finally. There's a big hole here with you guys gone. It's amazing how with you being gone so long but yet when you were home, it was like you never left. And it's like Jade was always here with us. I'm sure Dean's got a million pictures to go through but I'd expect a blog entry from him before too long... hint-hint!

I feel like I'm forgetting something and this bloody thing's only going to let me put in one picture for this entry. I'm going to try to put another entry up with mainly pictures. Oooh, I know what I'm forgetting, particulars on the adopted family that Genesis is arranging through, "The Early Intervention Program," in town. This makes my Christmas and I used to organise it at Glamour too so I was thrilled that the girls were gung-ho to do it here too. We've got a 17yr. old girl with a 1 month old baby. Cripes, I couldn't imagine having a baby at twice that age! When you see things on their, "needs," list such as similac and mop and bucket, it truly makes you thankful for what you have and being able to help someone who so desperately needs it. I know, "Early Intervention," still has lots of families in need of adoption so if you can find it in your hearts (and wallets) to help them, please contact them at (506)778-6532. It's never too late and they sure can use any help you're willing to offer. Help give the gift of Christmas.

Oh my gosh, how could I forget, the most exciting part. I'll be going to Tennessee for Christmas... leaving the 18th and back on the 2nd. It's going to be great to be able to spend time with Cindi, Ashley and Cole and wake up Christmas morning to Santa Clause again. Last Christmas was great but it's just not the same.

Ok, that's enough for now, hopefully I'll be able to put together a few picture in the next post (and hopefully in the right order) as I've got to get ready for work.

Kelly's Birthday and Anonymous Visits Continued...

2006-11-28T13:01:00.000-04:00

This is Colby (Terry's Mini-Me) and Piper. They were great buds last night. Notice Piper's tongue. What a gangster... Piper, not Colby.

Poor Terry was estrogened out and couldn't have been crammed any further in the corner of the livingroom. Remember the Simpson's episode when Krusty sings, "Send in the Clowns?"

One of my favourite pictures of their babies. This is Woody and Stryder. Woody (palomino) has since been sold and is now residing in PEI. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of him on the show circuit.

For those of you that think you have doggy couch potato problems... try having 2-100lb.+ black labs that have claimed their own couch. This is Milly and Chevy in all their glory.

Now this picture's just waayyy too funny to not include. Chevy's really good at playing the poor starving dog to guests and I'm always more than willing to oblige. They'll even do a little dinner dance if you ask nicely. That is one satisfied looking pup!

Seems to have taken the pictures ok in this post. It seems to have worked better since I left it at the default of placing the pictures on the left and medium... go figure. Worked this time, that's all that matters. Now I can publish this and copy/paste the original post that I have saved to my notepad. Where there's a will, there's a way.

'Til we meet again...

As Per Request... Sorta

2006-11-22T09:25:00.000-04:00

In one of my comments, Liss had mentioned something about the, "Hot Dog Bun Tree." The one I think she's talking about... I didn't get pictures of, it wasn't as photogenic... too much glare off the window. I said in a previous post about how Dean took time out to put together a great little smorgasborg of feeders. He literally drove trees and logs in the ground to make something to support a critter buffet. It's not uncommon to look out and see Dean out there with a jar of peanut butter smearing it everywhere and sprinkling seeds in it. He also showed me a way to make a suet feeder with a can, seeds and bacon grease and there's almost always bacon grease on hand. As mentioned in a previous post, I don't trust night before breakfast chefs... I've learned the hard way not to trust drunks with promise of breakfast. Aaron, you're not alone anymore, Liss and I joined the ranks sunday morning.

The joys of the camp, there's always something perishable to feed the animals. Particularly these last couple of weekends as it was quite literally everyone and their dog in da hood. We tend to do community meals quite a bit so there's almost always something left over. I know before I left this time, I stogged about two loaves of bread and a chunk of cheese on a particular log. There was waayyy more I could have used but yet I didn't want to give the bears that like to trash BBQs and moose heads... any more excuses. The rest got dumped way the heck out the road where we have to go to get cell phone reception, nowhere near the camps.

So sorry that there's no hot dog bun tree but hopefully these'll give you an idea of what we had going on. If it helps to get a visual (of said tree) it was a big branch, stuck in the ground right in front of the window which had perfect smaller branches to flop hot dog buns on. It held itself on... 'til the rain hit, that is and lord knows, there was no shortage of rain that week.

In this picture, you'll notice there's a squirrel on the bottom left. In front of him, stogged in the bottom of the upright log, is a block of cheddar. You'll also notice bread hanging off of it and seed everwhere. The white's bacon grease that dripped all down the log. On the top right, you'll notice a moose bird with a chunk of bread hanging by him and in the nook to his left, is a loaf of bread stogged in there. It was a great laugh the morning we saw the moose bird take a whole slice of bread and then flew off in to the woods with it. You couldn't see the bird so it looked like a slice of bread flying away. Was the squirrel ever telling off the moose bird in this picture.

Grrrr, apparently today I can only add one picture! I've noticed there's a beta mode you can switch over to but once you do you can't go back. Has anyone tried it yet? I wonder if it's any easier to upload pictures to because this is getting really old. Even resizing my pictures isn't helping.

I have to go to work... don't have time to mess with this nonsense. Hopefully it'll help give you a better idea of what's going on there. The day Jamie and Kevin came over for ice they seemed impressed. Jamie had mentioned about how he was trying to figure out what it was from the road! The things we do for amusement in the woods, shack wacky and by times bored.

See all y'all tonight as it's Dean and Jade's last night. I don't know what I'm going to do! I forgot how much Dean used to add to the, "My Dyslexic Friends," list and he managed to provide me with a few during his stay home. If it's any consolation Dean, Darcy seems to be taking up the slack quite nicely.

With such quotable quotes of Dean's as, "If I go over there to check on that fire... I'm going with me," -Dean any wonder I'm hanging by with pen poised. Oh, BTW Skidds, I think that's what happened to your log pen, it's Dean's fault! :D

Gottagotawork...

The Deer Week That Wasn't Meant To Be...

2006-11-21T11:34:00.002-04:00

Interesting Night. I'm sick to death with a friggin' cold but do you suppose I can sleep? Nope, 3am. comes and I'm wide awake. Non-drowsy alright. Apparently I should have bought the drowsy kind.

Sick or not, I managed to survive through a few weekends back the camp and with all that went on, it appears to be a miracle. Between the skunk incident, keys getting locked in cars and chickadees in camps... any wonder I'm sick.

Hmmm, apparently I'm in HTML format... am I awake enough for this? We'll soon find out.

It was all a lot of fun however and there was lots of company trundling in and out all hours of the weekends. It's too bad that the gang's primarily around during deer season. Man, the traffic on that road on that month makes up for the lack of traffic throughout the rest of the year. I can't believe how many more people are back there now, compared to before I left. It seems our little undisturbed piece of heaven is becoming more disturbed... heehee, as if we're not disturbed enough! The boys didn't get to get their deer this year (which is somewhat ok as the trophy rack for back there is on the Skidd's camp wall) and there was actually only one four point that went out. With all the people back there, it's hard to believe. The weather really was crappy for a good portion of it though. The boys (not to mention those of us few girls that love it back there) persevered like the brave little soldiers we are.

It does seem that all creatures big and small, with two or four legs (not to mention winged) were cause for a great source of entertainment for me this weekend though. I managed to drag out my old, crappy, beat up camera (can you sense my disdain?) long enough for a few blog worthy shots though.

A head and shoulders shampoo commercial? Nah, merely too much rotisserizing around a cedar fire. Check out Liss over Gammie's shoulder... heh! Darcy and Aaron also in the shot.

Now, I'm not exactly sure what's going on here (other than Gammie going to call Coll on Aaron's bike) but as to why Mitch is running...? He asked me if his hair was really that wide? Me thinks he likes big hair. It looks great Mitch.

It's been really great having our friend Dean back in town for a few months and finally getting to meet his wonderful wife Jade. Man she's funny and it's very reassuring to know that Dean's in capable hands while wandering around loose in Korea. Anyone that knows Dean knows how much of an understatement that is. :D Sadly their stay is coming to an end as they'll be going to stay up at Jen and Aaron's thursday night to depart out of Moncton airport for their long journey home... just about 24hrs. in planes and airports only to lose half a day. Wow!

Jade acclimated wonderfully although we'll have to see if she can leave the rain home for her next visit. Honest Jade, it doesn't always rain here. Even her, "Sheep shaggers,"- Winston's saying for rubber boots (adopted by Jade) barely kept her dry this time. They got out for a visit to the barn today and Kelly was working with a 3yr. old that's only been ridden 15 times and after about the 10th horsey temper tantrum we told Jade we'd get her up for a ride on that horse. Jade wasn't having anything to do with that. I think poor Jade was waaayyy too cold to get up on a saddle today anyways. Not to mention they were supposed to be doing their Christmas shopping.

Ah yes, it's taken me two entries back in blogger world to remind me of one of the reasons I got out of it in the first place. I'm tired of fighting with getting a blasted picture on the thing! It obviously has nothing to do with too many pictures (as my blog's not that big) or anything to do with the time of day and people using it... it's the friggin' middle of the night for pete's sake! Screw it, I'm too tired right now... I'll save it as a draft and try later.

*Many edits/drafts/deletes later* finally got it to work and in order even though I published the last one first, it still came up the top one... sheesh!

Let's Try Putting The Pictures Here...

2006-11-21T11:34:00.001-04:00

Ok, since that's obviously not going to work, let's try adding pictures in another post. Let's also see if I can do this without pulling a Liss and Mel and I'll try to publish them in order. ;) Here we go! Geez, after getting up at 3am., back to bed at 7:30am. with blog still unpublished, up at 10:15am. and still can't add pictures but yet this seems to work? Go figure...

I'm impressed with my timing on this shot. Not sure what was going through Dean's head to walk by during this time (he was the wood to be split retriever) but hey, we've never been known for our best judgement. I'm just glad I caught it, look at the wood splitting! Notice my distance...?

Now, people often ask us how we make do back there without any running water or electricity (although that's changed with the Skidd inverter)? Propane and the open fire's great. I've never had food taste as good as it does back the camp. That was one yummy pizza on the barby. Darcy was holding the flashlight for this shot. Could have gotten a better shot but I was getting in trouble for letting all the heat out... hehee! Looks done to me anyways.

With a fire like that, how could we not cook anything, it even managed a meat pie? Look at all those sparks. Gotta love cedar... and the smell. Any wonder we all looked like head and shoulders shampoo candidates.

The four legged creatures were also a great source of entertainment for me. Jake still being barred from the great outdoors due to him being a dog at large during deer hunting season (albino deer anyone?) and a prime skunk target, I had to make new four legged, photographic friends. Jake's still my #1 subject though. Dean made a great bird/rodent buffet smorgasborg in front of his camp. There's always something to photograph there. Winston even discovered a little mouse living in the stump just in front of this feeder. This squirrel really liked Scott's Kirkland peanuts.

Well, that seems to be all the picture's it's going to allow me to upload this time, so much for some, "Just a pretty shot." It may be that I need to resize them before uploading them which doesn't particularly make sense as it has a built in image resizer but if you click on it, it still shows the original. That must be it 'cause technically, blogger's still hosting it.

Hope this finds all of you well. I'll continue to muddle my way through this program that they call blogging in hopes that one day, it will all make sense. I'll be back when something fun and exciting happens.

'Til then...

It's Been Awhile...

2006-11-07T20:34:00.000-04:00

Well, after hearing for the umpteenth time, "When are you going to update your blog," I finally threw in the towel and here I am. Don't worry, my friends have still been saying things that don't particularly make sense and are still being recorded. Not to worry Coll, Darcy has totally taken over the list. I'm sure he was test driving a new tongue this weekend because it was his turn for an interpreter.

It has been a very eventful year since I last updated and it seems I was going straight out all summer... absolutely no complaints. It's what this ADD chica needs. I finally had enough of telemarketing (surprised it took me a year) but the last gig with trying to explain to people that it's not Equifax's fault that their score's so low but the fact that they just took out a million dollar mortgage two months ago... might have something to do with it. I had better conversations with rocks, let's put it that way.

I'm now back to doing hair which is where I should have been all along. "Genesis Salon and Spa," has been a very welcome and refreshing change. It's amazing how well a place full of women can get along. Sherry, our spa owner, is continually updating or renovating something so it's nice for our clientelle as well. They go above and beyond the call of duty with teamwork and catering. It's not uncommon for our clients to chill with a glass of wine and homemade goodies.

Here's a picture of it with the new red siding... Doesn't it look fab?

It was also a great summer in the sense that I got to see, "The Rollings Stones," in concert. After a badly botched attempt at trying to see them years ago in Montreal (botched, correction, my pipe dream) in the winter, I finally got to see this much raved about and controversial band. Melissa, Darcy, Brian, Scott and I all trundled to Halifax. Scott and Brian got to see them last year in Moncton. I just missed it, literally finding out about it as I'm flying in to Moncton, the weekend after. There was no way I was missing them this time. I don't think I was ever so willingly wet and cold in my life but I'll tell you, it was worth every penny and ounce of water accumulated on my body. And to think I was grumbling about not having as many good opening acts this year as they did last year. I take it all back. Brian's got most of the pictures on his blog (reminds me, need to update my links) so I'll just post a few here.

Have some "Sympathy" for us...

*stage during, "Sympathy For The Devil"*

...Poor wet bastards!

*left to right- myself, Scott, Liss, Darcy, (Brian's taking the pic)*

It would not have mattered what you had on... you got soaked. Earlier in the day I noticed there were people wandering around in flip-flops and tank tops. These people were either very dumb (likely) or not Atlantic Canadian (benefit of the doubt here) because I was dressed in a gazillion layers of wool, including long johns and was still numb by the end of it. Hello people, it's Sept.23rd in Nova Scotia! The Stones sure know how to work a crowd though as it was quickly forgotten. We were just under 50, 000 people but a well behaved lot. The only sirens going was the ambulance crew picking up the underdressed idiots with hypothermia. I will never be able to hear, "Paint it Black," their opener, without closing my eyes and seeing that stage turn the most amazing purplish/blue (going for black) and, "Miss You," will forever have Stage B getting closer and closer to me. They were so close, I could see their wrinkles.

Let's see, the summer also turned in to a suprising and exciting adventure for me in another way. Those who know me well also know that for a few months I had an *ahem* certain webcam addiction. No, no... get your mind out of the gutter. It turns out that I've become obsessed with eagles. And to think, they've been all around me for the 33yrs. (minus a few travelling abroad) on the Mystical, Magical Miramichi. Holy crap, I don't know how I missed them, they're friggin' huge! After a few misattempts at sightings (I'll never hear the end of mistaking a black winged gull for one... thanks Scott) I'm now on track and the river's thick with them. I even got to see my first golden eagle on the way home from the camp this weekend and they're even bigger again. It's amazing for how big these raptors are, how graceful (and silent) they are while soaring through the sky.

My camera isn't exactly eagle capturing material but I managed this one. It just swooped off that pine tree on the right... this was on the shore road right at the bottom of my subdivision... go figure.

But no-no, it wouldn't be like me to not take my obsessions to the extreme. I'd heard of different nests in the area and was able to track down one in Millerton. Hah, I'm not going to need to watch the webcam this year as I got my very own nest to watch! I examined it and it looks like there was signs of at least one eaglet there this year. Hopefully next year will continue to produce successful offspring.

This picture really doesn't do justice to how huge this nest actually is. This is about 4/5ths up a mature pine along the river.

Now, it wouldn't be right to be putting up pictures without including some of my macro shots. I'm still in to photography and tried a new camera last month but wasn't overly impressed with it so sent it back. When my old Kodak 3.1MP takes a better picture, why bother spending $300, right? Maple leafs proved to be worthy subjects this year and being a Canadian, this one fell right in to place.

What does this make you think of, my fellow Canadians?

This one I just thought was pretty and keeping with the theme.

Well that should certainly be enough to make up for lost time. I'll do my dangdest to get back on track with this. I know the next two weekends will be spent back the camp with lots of people for entertainment. Most of crazy camp pictures you can find at the camp blog and I'll just stick with the pretty pictures and things I find amusing. That way I don't take away from the camp blog.

We'll have to start watching what we're saying and doing back the camp from now on as it seems the, "Council," has taken it upon themselves to make up rules as they go along and with such rules as, "You don't have to listen to me, just do what I say," -Darcy... how can one win?

'Til next time...

The Trees Were Like Diamonds

2006-02-13T01:43:00.000-04:00

I love this picture. It's of Scott coming down the road from next door. Some of the nicest picture opportunities were right in front of the camp. It looks like it should be in some tourist magazine.

What a great weekend at the camp. Managed to get some much needed alone time (the joys of snow and conflicting schedules) but also managed to have a ton of fun. Pillowcases rock!!

This next picture's still on the road in front of the camps.

I got in about midnight on friday. Good thing, it was way too cold for a search party. I drove by the road and as I was driving by it I was thinking that sure did look like it. It wasn't 'til the bridge that I knew it was so. My fingers were instantly numb once I stepped out. Future note to self, get dressed before you drive out and you won't have to dig your ski pants and boots out of the trunk, already ice cold and then have to put them on in -40 weather (with wind chill). The joys of Atlantic Canada in the winter. Only made worse when you're a woman with the aforementioned clothes on having to take a pee in the snowbank.

The next day, Liss wasn't feeling too well so Darcy, Mitch, Scott and I went in search of wood. Darcy's new wood sleigh makes for great mushing fun until it jack-knives. Ya wanna be quick to land on your feet, I'll tell ya. It was beautiful out (even though cold) and as the title says, the trees shone like diamonds. The freezing rain our area got, obviously it didn't warm up enough to melt off back there. The ice was over an inch thick on the trees in most places. The new radios gave great reception and we were out almost to the lake the last time we harassed Liss with the, "Can you hear me now," nonsense.

Kevin and Jamie were in the hood. Friday Kevin came over and it seems I was his interpreter for the evening. Maybe it was my state but he was making perfect sense but apparently only to me. With such comments as, "I'm so wild, I'll take off and I'll be gone,"-Kevin only I could figure it out. Not exactly sure what the heck he was trying to say now, but hey...! Jamie finally made an appearance saturday evening but after cracking my first drink somewhere between 1 and 2pm., it's a little blurry. We did manage to make breakfast at 10pm. that evening though which pretty much put everyone to bed. That was ok, after the night before, or shall we just simply say, "Way too friggin' late?"

Many stupid things were said through the night, we were in grand form. Either we were in no shape to be talking and making sense or just the usual camp giddiness, who knows. Whatever the case may be, I managed to make a few notes throughout the weekend. Just wrote them over to the cigarette pack, actually.

Must remember to get Scott to bring his constellation book the next time we go back 'cause there seems to be a discrepancy about the constellation, "The Little Dipple."-Darcy. That of course, being one of the problems, trying to break it to Darcy that that's not what it's called, heehee. I also wish I was a betting woman 'cause until someone can show me which one the Little Dipple (it just gets funnier every time I say it) is, I know it's the one I pointed out and that's why nobody can show me which one it really is.

Alright, everybody keep their eyes peeled on their inboxes as the pictures should be there. I'm off to Google the Little Dipple...

One More Sleep... Wheee!

2006-02-09T13:02:00.000-04:00

I thought it would be cool to try to capture one of people's worst fears, pardon my darkness. Don't worry, I checked the gun myself before taking the pictures. I really like the DOF on this one and ya gotta love the subject, hehee.

Geez, I'm now offcially to the point that we have to have silence when the friggin' funeral announcements come on. After they're done, the phone immediately rings, Mom's sister Joyce calls up, apparently they know someone. Please, if anyone knows, tell me why CFAN (excuse me... The River) had to go with an FM band? As if it's not bad enough with anyone who wanders in to our sleepy community having to listen to it, now we have to expand our range? Gotta love the Miramichi. Thankfully I got my 20GB MP3 with FM transmitter so I don't have to listen to that nonsense, particularly since it was the only station you could get while driving through the valley where Moncton's stations don't even dare to tread.

I wrote another test yesterday. This one I got 100% on it and it was the hardest one we'll have to face. Not bad for a girl who fell asleep while studying it, eh? I normally don't need to study. If it interests me, I retain it, store it in a file to be retrieved as needed. Nope, this stuff doesn't even make sense and this is where the bitching about the acronyms (and lack thereof) comes into play. For example, an Equifax Credit Report, when we code our calls we have to enter it as CPO. Heaven forbid it be a nice little acronym like ECR... nope, that'd be too easy, right?

I've also come to the conclusion that my training class is officially demented. I love it! They really are vultures just like us and when we say stupid things, the rest of us pounce on it and beat it into the ground and wait for the next one to screw up. You guys'd love 'em. For example, we were talking about people making inquiries on your credit report. Well, Trente has gone down in MyDyslexicFriends history. We have hard and soft inquiries. With such a comment as, "Sard and Hoft,"-Trente, really, how could I pass that one up?

Apparently we're going out wednesday night to Dooly's. I can't remember the last time I darkened their doors. I must say, I'm a little reluctant after the stabbing there a couple of weeks back but hey, we're harmless as long as we keep our pouncing, vulture ways to our own kind. It should be interesting 'cause we got our trainer going and Jackie, who's in her mid forties and we thought there was no way we'd be able to convince her, coming as well. Ya gotta watch those quiet ones... heehee!

Also Corey is known for streaking down University Ave. and standing on top of his car chucking beer bottles in front of the Opera House. His claim to fame is being searched by the cute female cop on the 'Chi's force and seeing the inside walls of the drunk tank 5 times. Guess that means we have our entertainment portion of the evening. Shouldn't be too costly of an outing, free pool and cheap drinks at Dooly's and it's lady's night at the Opera. The most costly part will likely be the cab home... or chipping in on Corey's bail. Whichever comes first.

One more sleep and we're off to the camp again this weekend. I just e-mailed Scott who's going to gather my grub and booze for me. That'll make life alot easier since I'm not going to be arriving at mile marker 201 'til about midnight. At least we're done at 11pm. friday instead of the usual 12am. Hopefully the Plaster Rock highway's decent... friggin' thing's treacherous on the nicest of days in the summer. I'll have to be sure to get more blackmail pictures to share with y'all this weekend.

Hopefully I'll be able to find it no problem. This is my first trip back alone since the new camp road and the new overpass in Renous. For anyone who really knows me knows I'd get lost in a wet paper bag. I might need a search party. That should be interesting since if you read a few blogs back, we tend to get totally inebriated on friday nights. I know we said we learned our lesson but this is the first weekend back since we admitted to having learned that lesson, I have a feeling it won't be on anyone's minds as they're slamming back beer, Aaron's pink drinks and paralyzers, waiting to come out and get me on the bikes. Ah well, admitting's the first step towards recovery.

Unless anything terribly exciting happens between now and tomorrow (this is the Miramichi, not too bloody likely) this will be my last entry 'til monday and we're back from the camp.

Oh, the car's now officially signed over in my name now too. Wahooo, I'm in debt again. At least this time, it's being done sensibly. Equifax would be proud.

*EDIT* If I see the, "This page cannot be displayed," one more time when trying to add my pictures, I'm gonna go postal. Once again, I'll have to try back later although the later doesn't even seem to be helping. Just might be time to search out a new blog spot, this one has too many bugs that continually piss me off. And not even a cut/copy/paste option to be found. Double Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

*EDIT AGAIN* finally worked.

An Apparent Musical Comedy...

2006-02-06T11:53:00.000-04:00

I went to see Lucienne last night. Great laughs were had by all, it was fabulous. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't just him doing a stand-up routine but you can't knock the ensemble he had with him. They certainly did their Miramichi homework, I'll tell ya. Lots of songs dedicated to UPM, Tanker Malley and our wonderful Liberal MLA, Charlie Hubbard. They also took into account that everyone (except me, wasn't home yet) went to the Stones concert and the majority of their songs were parodies of Rolling Stones songs. Bravo and well done. I left my camera home (thinking we weren't allowed) and it turns out, I could have taken pics, doh! I'll have to dig through my hardrive and see what I can come up with. It really sucks that I can't put a pic up with the post, I have to wait to do it in the edit.

Apparently I'm now getting flak from Liss and Darc about MyDyslexicFriends not having enough about their dyslexic ways. Can you believe it? I'm not doing enough making fun of them, I love it. This is one of the many reasons ya gotta love my gang. Guess I'll have to start making more notes particularly since my original copy's still missing (although I haven't really looked for it yet) but Liss, I'll tell ya, the harassment's not really, "Helpening," - Liss me increase my search. Heeehee, you asked for that one baby. May have to include more blackmail pics though. That's ok, that'll be my focus this weekend back at the camp. Be warned, there'll be enough of them to be found... I just haven't tried yet. Muwahahahaa!

I went back to Kelly's this weekend to have a sit and say and cut hers and Cathy's hair. Some interesting job opportunities have been in the works the last couple of months and it seems like the ball is now officially rolling. Can't say too much right now but let's put it this way, it's gonna look some good on my resume. I'll keep y'all (sorry for the Southern slip of the euphamism there) posted as it evolves and as I can talk about it more.

In the meantime though, there were lots of drinks being had. Kelly was originally going to be the DD but I knew better. The chocolatinis took their toll and Kelly became officially inebriated, with Cathy not too far behind. I knew I stayed sober for a reason, made that much easier by a bad dizzy spell in the middle of it. Dag nab it, just when you think it's safe to sit back and enjoy life, another dizzy spell comes along. Ah well, one every couple of weeks is nowhere near as bad as the six weeks I had to live with it on a daily basis.

That's about it for now. Gonna go get ready 'cause I'm starting the ball rolling of transferring the car to my name. First stop, the bank to get one of those slips for direct deposit/withdrawls and then off to Tozer/Jones Insurance. Hmm, I wonder if Liss went in today, she wasn't feeling too good last night. Hopefully I left her contagion back at their house of quarantine.

Hope your hat's fitting better Darcy (or should I say Kramer) after the haircut. More later...

96%... Woohoooo!

2006-02-03T12:12:00.000-04:00

This picture was taken on Tyrell's Point (by yours truly) of a sunset (obviously) this past fall. So much beauty around us, we just need to stop and appreciate it.

As you may have already gathered, we wrote our test yesterday for work and I got 96%= one wrong. Man, I rock. Actually, there's 3 in our class of 9 (well, 8 now 'cause one clocked out and left last night) that are doing really well. It's the Rain Man abilities in me, she tells it once and I remember it. Except for those blasted codes for the products. For example, if you sell them a, "3-in-1 Credit Report," the code to be entered in our sale is, "TRI," or something like that. I don't know why the hell they can't just make it an acronym like, "TIOCR." Ah well, guess I just may have to actually study those, heehee! Old habits of a non-studier die hard. Cripes, best get used to it if the plan is to become a Psychologist down the road. Ah well, guess we can't all be, "Albersteins." (Albert Einstein, get it?) - Colleen

Two nights ago, I got word we could wear hockey jerseys today (casual day and $1 going towards the social committee) and I got way too excited. They're doing it to show support for the Pond Hockey tournament this weekend at French Fort Cove. I actually have an excuse to wear my Provincial Team Ringette Jersey. I can't remember the last time I had it on. Took me about an hour to find it too. It was buried under our team's splash suits, which conveniently (inserst sarcasm here) was the first and last place I looked. Don't let that fool you though, there were many other searches in between. I just didn't see it the first time I looked 'cause it was zipped up under the jacket. Man, those splash pants are just as ugly now as they were then. I think I'll wear the team jacket but the pants can stay the hell home.

I was telling my class last night about going to see Lucienne. It's such a small world. It turns out that Aaran (my trainer) is Lucienne's neice. I never even thought, she's from Dalhousie too and it's not like it's a real huge community. She said he's just as crazy when trying to carry on a normal conversation. So I guess that answers my question as to whether that's just his persona, he really is an Acadien frenchman.

Also, one of the girls in my class, Sarah, is a huge ghost buff too. I was browsing through http://www.ghoststudy.com (check it out, best paranormal site on the web) and she saw it over my shoulder and from there, the stories started. She's experience lots (me too, I'm a friggin' magnet) and would be interested in getting a Paranormal Research/Investigator's team together with me. It's something that's also on the back burner right now but the existence is there, it's the evidence that's lacking. I'm just tired of those in the paranormal community trying to dupe us all. I want to do it the right way and this is the only way to do it. Apparently there's a hotel room at the Wharf Inn that's haunted (she used to work there, must ask Liss, she used to too) so that would be one place to start. She also knows and can have entry to a PR (private residence) in Wayerton that's really active, in the house and on the grounds. I also have full access to another PR that's extremely active. Might be time to start getting history's. Heehee, I could also try to get Liss & Darcy up for one. Just ask Darcy's neice Ashley if their house is haunted. Actually, not much has been happening there the last couple of years. I'd hate to stir it all up on them again.

Anybody interested in checking out my stories, pictures and false positive collection (for rule-out) can follow this link... http://groups.msn.com/RedrumsPictures Also, if anybody's interested in helping fund the future PRT ("Paranormal Research Team," our name, say it out quick and it sounds like Purty or Pretty, my idea, thanks, see, acronyms can make sense) can follow the ghoststudy link and buy us some equipment, the stuff's ridiculously expensive. First on my wish list, an EMF meter...! Hey, can't blame a girl for trying, can you? My birthday's on April 1st if you'd rather have an occasion... lol.

Alright, must stop babbling and get ready. Got some calls to make and due to hitting too many stores in search of my belt clip, didn't get to talk to Jenni. Wonder what went down? I'm actually done an hour earlier tonight. Not really sure why and don't particularly care, for that matter. What matters is 11pm. instead of 12am.

In the meantime folks, keeping with today's hockey theme, "Keep your stick on the ice." - Red Green.

Another Day, Another Dollar

2006-02-02T13:00:00.000-04:00

Heeheehee Dean...

Life with Equifax seems to be going ok so far, we have a test today to see if the knowledge has actually stuck. Our trainer Aaran is awesome and my class of trainees are a hoot. All we do is laugh all class. It seems that the training's working though. There's alot to be learned, I was quite surprised. I guess when you're dealing with people's credit ratings, there's more to it than meets the eye. It certainly explains the high security and having to sign my life away on the first day.

Ya know, sometimes I have to shake my head and wonder why I still live with my parents but when you look out the hall and see Mom strutting down the hall, testing the decorative twigs that she stuck in one of her arrangements, it all makes sense. They look lovely Mom but Geez, they're kinda hard to walk by without tearing them apart. Apparently the adjustment made is better, none of us have hit them since. It only took a month of bitching about them from all parties to get the problem rectified.

Speaking of parents, we decided yesterday to go see "Lucienne." I had never heard of the man 'til I got back home and he was on, "The Comedy Network." If you've never heard of this guy, a ticket of $20 from Centennial Foods will be money well spent. He's coming to the JMH theatre on sunday and I can't wait! He's from Dalhousie but his persona is an Acadien Frenchman. OMG he's funny and if he isn't Acadien, he sure has it nailed. It's almost like watching an episode of Acadieman but much, much better. I'm truly looking forward to LMAO on sunday @ 7pm. "Oh Bain, oh bain, oh bain," I just can't wait. We'll likely be going with, "Two or three chunks of people." - Darcy.

I have to say though, as excited as I am about Lucienne, I'm so jealous of Matt getting to go see the Blue Man Group. Oh Matt, it's so amazing. It's just such a rush and it's amazing the music they can make just by beating on a bunch of garbage cans and stuff you'd normally throw away in them. Man that's got to get hot up there with those latex costumes they wear.

Ok, I can honestly say, I'm truly amazed by how addicting this blog crap is. Either that or with my new schedule (the temporary night shift) has given me way too much time on my hands. I don't see my add a picture icon. Hmmm, mebbe it'll be there when I try to edit it. So much for displaying my photography if I can't even find the bloody icon... grrrr!

I don't know if you noticed the new pic in my profile but that's the guy we named, "Billy Bob." He came about one camp trip in november (I think, could check the EXIF data if I was really concerned). It was a desperate weekend of trying to find dry wood on saturday. We really need to start carrying more oil and Cumbustible De Camping with us, me thinks. Billy Bob was originally a 3' diameter hollow tree that Aaron, Darcy and Rene hunted, gathered and hacked up with a chainsaw. He was making a great chimney but it got better once Darcy started up the chainsaw and made a face. I really like this picture.

Oh, speaking of pictures, Matt, I was reading through your archives and noticed your comments about your first pictures with your new digicam. They were pictures of your house/lights and you were playing with the modes on the dial and you said you weren't sure which one it was... 'emember? Judging by your picture, it was, "night mode." Night mode sucks 'cause it leaves your shutter open longer to adjust for the low light conditions and this way it allows in more light. If you're ever going to take pictures at night or in night mode, be sure to use a tripod. That's one of the huge drawbacks of today's instant cameras... they over-compensate.

Alright, now that you've all learned something that you never really wanted to know about photography and a glimpse in to my world, time for a shower. Gotta go find one of those extendable beltloop things for my security card because the neck strap thing's a pain in the ass and has got to go. Darn, guess I'm going to have to go to Staples, any electronic junkies dream store.

Then I'm off to see Jenni at MLHL 'cause it seems that something has gone down and I MUST get the scoop on it.

Now, where'd that picture icon go...

*EDIT* There we go. Apparently I can only add small pictures. Likely because I haven't compressed them at all but you all know the drill, wanna see full-size, just click on the picture anyways.

I was going to put something artistic but this picture really needs to be shared with the world. This is of my friend Dean (of the, "Sporks and Foons," claim) who's now living in Korea. Him and Darcy were having their daily gab session on the webcam. I wanted to capture the moment and told Dean I was going to take their picture. He decided to pose... heehee. With how bad the streaming is between here and Korea, I can't believe it turned out that clear. Apparently we timed the pic pretty good. Check out that expression.

I'll try to get some artistic pictures on here but sometimes the blackmail pictures just might prevail. Sorry Dean but it is too funny.

Gammie For Prime Minister

2006-01-31T08:19:00.000-04:00

Interesting, apparently I have two blogs registered and somehow yesterday's entry went to that one. Today's first entry is actually yesterday's. Future note to self- delete other blog so it doesn't happen again. Hmmm, this username thing is apparently trickier than it looks. These blasted blogs aren't the most user friendly things, I'll tell ya and I'm not stupid when it comes to computers.

I made it through my first day of training at ITC. Two weeks of training with the third week being on the floor. We didn't do a heck of a lot last night but managed to divide into teams, do some creative artwork and apparently we'll be using our art to keep tabs on points. What the points are for, I couldn't tell ya but we're gonna win! Not particularly sure what the prize is either, for that matter. It's actually way more security than I expected, with a scan card required for entry. Wow, I'm really gonna feel like Madonna now between the headsets and now this. My God, how'm I gonna get my head through the door.

Stopping at Carter's yesterday for cheap smokes turned into a reunion of sorts. Scott pulled up to the intersection and Michelle and Cleve were also buying cheap smokes on the way to Moncton for a hockey game. Michelle's now happily unemployed and looking to join us on a lush binge. I'm sure that can be arranged, particularly since it turns out that I have the next couple of weekends off. We'll have to see if Cleve still has his Heidi Santa hat.

Next trip back to the camp with Danny, remember to save him some room for rotisserizing by the fire so we don't have to hear him utter such phrases as, "Move over, I don't have as much meat on me as you guys."- Gammie. We need to be aware of Gammie's potential because you never know when he just may, "Go off on all you guys." Gammie for PM... Go Gammie, Go Gammie, Go Gammie!

For anybody wanting to know more about http://lifeatthecamp.blogspot.com/ can feel free to follow that link to Melissa and Darcy's blog or if you're in the loop, you can sit down at the table and feel free to read the log book back at the camp for yourself.

It seems I have an entry or two... heehee!

60-0km/h In The Blink Of An Eye

2006-01-31T07:43:00.000-04:00

Well, another weekend survived back at the camp, as you can see, it was quite warm and that was about 5pm. on saturday. It was an interesting one, to say the least.

We've learned a lesson and that's to stop getting so bloody wasted on friday night, saving little to no energy for saturday night. Although, I did somehow manage to muster enough energy to get on Darcy's bike and with him on the skidoo and Scott on his bike, we had a great trek. I forgot how much fun quads could be. We've also learned that 60-0km/h in the blink of an eye is nowhere near as fun as 0-60km/h in 3sec. Blast those bikes in soft snow and ditches that are still there.

I got to spend my first weekend next door and great fun was had. Interesting how you manage to spread your personal belongings all through one camp in the span of a couple of days, even moreso when it now becomes divided between two camps. I think I managed to find everything.

Ok, today's the day I start my job. Sheesh, to be going from campaigning for the Conservatives (not willingly of course but for $11/hr., I'll campaign for Ossama by this point) to helping people sort out their credit rating. It'll be interesting, to say the least. I wonder what my training will hold. Hmmm, where's my portfolio.

Hopefully this'll keep Matt appeased for a bit. Hey Matt, don't expect too many entries. I only signed up for one 'cause I had to to leave a comment on yours. Hmmm, I'm starting to see the blogging conspiracy here.Next trip will be to get a few more pictures up as I'm a bit of an aspiring photographer but right now, a shower is needed and a criminal background check. Hmmm, I wonder if they know about the illegal alien thing, heehee!

To all of you who venture forth, beware of telling the difference between your, "Sporks and Foons." -Dean

Aha, it's finally here...

2006-01-11T20:37:00.000-04:00

Now I finally get to share my book of sayings compiled through the years, created for your enjoyment, by my dyslexic friends. We're a great assortment of vultures, you know the type. We sit around, waiting for someone to say something stupid, then we pounce, tackle and beat it into the ground. Then we just , "Sit back and, "Relax-ah," (Mark) until the next one screws up. Ya gotta have tough skin to hang out with my gang but I wouldn't trade 'em for the world.

The original book is currently missing. It may be home in my keepsake box, it may have gone on a three month vacation, return trip, to TN but it also may be buried in the bottom of one of my purses. There's lots of memories and we can all tell you a story (they may not all match, but hey) for each addition made. With all the years at the camp, basement, multiple kitchen tables in multiple kitchens, road trips and wherever else we may have gathered, there has been some amazingly stupid things said, considering that we're a fairly intelligent lot.

The list is now residing in my current purse on the inside of an Export'A' cigarette pack. It was a tie for some time between Darcy and Colleen as to who had the most but Darcy has taken quite the lead. But don't let me fool you into thinking that they're the only holders of such honored titles, I've even had to add my own name to the list after a protest and overthrow. With such a word as, "disamappearing," I've gone down in the history of my own making. But due to the fact that we're all such vultures, not even Mitchell's safe.

This is just a taste of what's to come. I'm sure there'll be more to babble on about as time goes on but right now, Lost is coming on and apparently I need to see it. I'll be back...