Happy New Year...

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...

... 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...

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...?

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...

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...

"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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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...