Updates from Krista

Wow...I got in! LOL

2012-01-20T13:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been sooooooooooo long since my last post! I'm actually quite shocked that I even remembered the password for this account, but truth be told it did take several tries.
Not a lot to post here, I'm still off work for a few more days so I'm seriously bored out of my mind. The pacemaker replacement surgery went well, except that when I came out of anaesthetic I could feel a pinching sensation just below my left classical, and I could even feel it through all the freezing and compression tape. The surgeon said it was just from the stitches and tape, I said OK, and Frank and Mom took me home. Several weeks later the pressure on my clavicle is still building and the pinching is still there, and my electro physiologist couldn't find my actual pacemaker in my chest at my last appointment! Turns out it is sitting really high in my chest and is resting against the clavicle. That means I can either live with the pain or I'll need to have it moved down, and that means another surgery. I thought about just leaving it alone, but the next time it needs to be replaced will be another 10ish years, and who wants to be in pain for 10 years? Decisions, decisions.
The time off work has been great for my writing, I have managed to get an entire round of editing done and am working on another round, so progress is being made there. Mom is working on some editing for me right now too, and her biggest complaint is the run on sentences. I don't see them, but I'll take her word for it lol.

The Hunt For The Perfect Trash Can:

2010-01-02T23:58:00.000-08:00

Who knew how tough it would be to find a new kitchen trash can? Just before Christmas our trash can bit the dust. When you stepped on it it used to pop open, you'd drop in your trash, take your foot off and the lid drops closed again. Well, now when you step on it the lid does not open and the can tilts forward as though its going to fall over. It was basic, simple and easy, and it was BIG. I don't usually mind house work, but I really HATE taking the trash out every day. Every few days OK, preferable once/twice a week, but not everyday. And I also hate pulling the trash bag out of the bin because the can is full, and when you get the bag out the bag itself is only half full. It seems like such a waste to me. So we went off to get a new trash can and have now hit 4 different stores and still have not got a new trash can. All the ones we have seen are either so small that they will have to be emptied daily, or they are cheepley made and will not last very long, or they have a $70 price tag attached whick I find WAY too much to pay for a trash can! So, the hunt for the perfect trash can continues...

Happy Birthday!!!

2009-12-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Frankie!! Hope you got all you wanted and so much more!

In Honor of my Papa.

2009-12-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

This post is in Honor of my Papa, who passed away one year ago. There are hundreds of things I'll always remember about my Papa from the smile that lit his dark brown eyes up like stars to his robust laugh. We miss you Papa.

A quick peek at what I've been working on...

2009-12-14T22:04:00.000-08:00

Nathans quilt is the Green and Blue one with the insects on it, I attempted a reversible quilt here and it's not too bad! Phoenix will receive the sports themed quilt with the beige and Blue squares with the Red backing, and Zach will get the one with the sculls on it that has the Black and Blue squares. When I started these quilts I planned just some small throw quilts to cuddle with, but while working on them they grew into full bed sized quilts! I have them displayed on the double sized bed in our spare bedroom and they hang about 3 inches over the sides of the bed, Lucky kids!!

It's pretty bad when...

2009-11-12T18:21:00.000-08:00

Its pretty bad when someone sees your blog ( and a remembrance day one at that! ) and decides to fill your comment section with sexual crap. For that reason alone I have adjusted the section that enables people to comment on my blog, sorry relatives, I know its a pain in the @ss, but I hope it will eliminate the problem with the crap.

Lest We Forget...

2009-11-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

While in elementary school I was asked to participate in a Remembrance Day ceremony, and my part was to recite the poem In Flanders Fields from memory. To this day I still remember the poem, and I recite it a few time a year to who ever will listen, just so ensure that I won't for get; not just the words of the poem, but also so that I don't forget the men and women it was written for.

H1N1.

2009-09-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Well, thanks to my loving older brother who shall remain nameless in this post ( ahem, but I do only have one older brother in BC folks!! ) I have been sick with H1N1, or swine flu as its more commonly known to most of us. Its been a long time since I have felt this totally crappy, and even though the fevers/nausea are pretty much gone, the joint/muscle aches, head aches and fatigue are still here in a major way. Needless to say I am off work because we can't risk some unsuspecting pregnant woman/new mom coming into my office with out an appointment and ( which happens frequently ) and getting sick. I am bored, tired, restless and really really really tired of feeling crappy. Hope everyone else stays healthy! Remember to wash your hands a lot and skip the antibacterial soaps etc as they also strip the good bacteria from you as well and can weaken the immune system!

The Birthday Boy Turns 6!

2009-09-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I wasn't sure what kinda day it would be for our Birthday Boy today. He woke up with a bit of assistance from his baby brother back home calling to wish NaNa a Happy Birfday, and refused to participate in anything at the Maratime Museum today untill...well, lets just say he had a very tall crew on board his pirate ship today! After that he perked right up and had a great day, so here is a review ( in no particular order because I have a tough time figuring out how to cronologicalize my pics on here! ) of our day:

Still more.....

2009-09-16T22:23:00.001-07:00

More Na pics!

2009-09-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pics of Nathan! We saw a jellyfish in the water as well as a starfish ( you need to look pretty close for that one though! ), we used a really cool hand dryer that you "dip" your hands into and they dry in 12 seconds, we have Daddy and Na in a hollow tree, a great shot of Nana, Unka Hikie and Na, and also one of Na and a giant hamburger!! More to follow as per Allis request!

Pics.

2009-09-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, just a few pics of Nathans visit to Vancouver, so far we are having a great time! The vid in the next post is really dark, sorry, it was an under the sea mini golf course and very dimley lit. I told Nathan that if you want to have a good golf game you had to wiggle your butt as you stepped up to the ball, and he did it at every swing! Way too cute! But the best part is that he actually got a hole in one!!

Nathan and the golf wiggle!!

2009-09-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

Rod said it best...

2009-09-05T21:49:00.001-07:00

Rod Stewart said it best when he asked "Have you ever seen the rain, coming down on a sunny day", and boy did we ever! It came down so hard it was deafening and it bounced off the pavement! The sun was still shining brightly but there was no sign of a rainbow *L*.

Isn't it odd?

2009-08-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago when Frank and I returned from vacation, we were down in the laundry room at 10:00am getting things out of the washers when a fellow tenant came in to inquire if we had an emergency contact number for our building managers. The tenant had accidentally locked himself out of his 10th floor apartment, but the only phone # we have for management is their home phone number. I never gave it a second thought until about 8:30 pm when I was out on my balcony watering my plants and I happened to look down and see this same tenant sitting on the front steps leading to the lobby. I pointed him out to Frank who went to talk to the guy, and he had been calling management all day with no reply, and his pregnant wife and 2 sons were in the park across the street trying to stay occupied. Well, we invited them in of course, made some drinks & snacks, put on a kids movie and dug out the small collection of toys we had, and by 10:30pm with still no word from management, we brought out the extra sheets/pillows/blankets and made up the futon and guest bed, doled out some t-shirts to ware as jammies, dug out the spare toothbrushes we had in the bathroom cabinet and called it a night with 4 strangers in the living room and guest room. No problem, glad we could help, after all, we couldn't let a pregnant lady and 2 small kids stay outside all night! They just moved here form the stares a few months ago and have no family here, each parent thought the other had grabbed the keys, and all they had were the car keys...but the key to remove The Club" was locked inside their apartment with the house keys. The next morning we dolled out breakfast/coffee and morning cartoons, and by 9:30am someone had shown up to open the door of the family's apartment for them.
The odd part comes from the fact that we have not seen/herd from them since. Huh. No phone call to say "Thanks again", and no thank you card. . Its not a big deal at all, but if it were me crashing at a total strangers place I would have at the very least gone out to replace the toothbrushes and give a thank-you card, am I wrong??

The Souffle.

2009-08-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday night I attempted my first ever souffle, and it was quite a hit!! It was a lot easier to make than I thought, and since I had never even seen a souffle before in my entire life, let alone tasted one, I thought it turned out pretty good!! Here is how it's made ( including a few small changes I made to suite my own taste)
4 c mashed potatoes ( without any butter/milk added )
1 c skim milk
1 c shredded cheddar cheese ( I used medium light cheddar )
2/3 c shredded Swiss cheese ( again I used light )
1/3 c shredded Parmesan cheese (I was not about to pay $12 at the local store, so I used my can of powdered Parmesan and it turned out just fine, I used an equal amount )
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1 small onion chopped (I don't like onions, but find green onions OK, so I opted to use about 2/3 c green onions and omitted the actual onion called for )
4 eggs separated
Salt and pepper to taste

1) combine potatoes, 3 cheeses, milk, onions, salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix well.
2) Beat egg yolks with a fork and stir into potato mixture.
3) In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, and then gently fold into the potato mixture.
4) Use a spatula to scrape the mixture into a 2-qt souffle dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray
5) Bake at 375 F ( 190 C ) for 40-45 min, and serve immediately ( serves 12 unless Hike is invited to dinner, in which case it serves 4 with Hike complaining he didn't get enough ).

I served this with a nice pork roast seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper, and a side of steamed baby carrots, broccoli florets and cauliflower florets.

Hope you enjoy!!

P.S I didn't find out untill after it was too late that it is reccommended you put a coller on the souffle dish ( thanks Mom! ) but it turned out alright in the end as it didn't seem necessary, though I may have been using a larger dishthan reccommended.

Reviving the blog...??

2009-08-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about reviving the Blog and thought I should start by trying to see if I remember my password and how to actually add pics etc, and yep, I guess I do remember *L* So here are a few random pics that I have taken over the years...First is Alli about 8 and a half months preg with Nathan, then Sara at about 10 years old, Frank making lunch last summer while we were camping at Blue Lake, Sara on our dock at 7 am waiting for breakfast, and last but not least, Phoenix at 12 days old being subjected to his Auntie Krista's artistic whims *L*

What do you say?

2008-09-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

So many upsetting things have happened these past few weeks that it's hard to smile. It started a few weeks ago when someone very special to me decided that they were the only person that mattered anymore. This person has deeked out of their responsibilities to family and basically announced they no longer feel it necessary to comminicate with them. Its hurtful to their entire family and I feel a bit caught in the middle as I am close to all involved and don't know what really happened to cause this, but feel a very strong need to make things better in anyway I can.
A friend of Franks who battled cancer for the past 5 years passed away yesterday. He was origionally given 5 months to live and beat the odds by hanging in for 5 more years. He was a special man and will be remembered fondly by all who hand the great pleasure of knowing him.
Amongst the usual trials and tribulations life throws at us, we have the day to day tasks that are usually calming and plesant, but these days, the silver lining on the cloud is pretty tarnished and I feel the need to break out the Braso!
Hope everyone is doing well!

Whoops!

2008-08-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

Whoops, forgot about the colour of the background, you may want to highlight the words before you start to read in order to save your eyes!
Oh yeah, and Les, your new glasses look great! My optometrist also told me my glasses were mainly for reading/driving and computer work, but I ware them all the time or else I am always looking for them when I need them!

Oh so busy!!

2008-08-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

Its been such a buys summer that I have fallen way behind on the blog, so here is a short summary of what we have been up to, though I'm sure I'll have forgotten a few things!
I was contacted by a local paper to do an interview for work and they sent a photographer over to get a few shots of me and our product. I was expecting a short column, but it turned out to be a full page spread of the interview and photos, and the front page header had a picture of me splashed across it holding up a cloth diaper. Thanks to the interview, we have been SUPER busy at work, and being busy at work has made the move a lot harder ( we moved on Aug 1st ). I get so tired out that by the end of the day I am too tired to do a lot of organization at home, but things are slowly coming together. We have a great view of the mountains and Metr0t0wn skyline so its nice to sit out on the balcony at night and look at the lights.
We took a camping vacation out to Blue Lake near Boston Bar. We had our own private dock that we swam off and had a great time. It was 38 degrees in the shade while camping and even though we had on SPF 45, I still managed to get the worst sunburn I have had since Mom, Hike Alli and I went to Disney in Florida with Robin and Stan.
We spent a week end at Harris0n H0t Springs in a great Hotel that had a heated pool and a fire place and kitchenette in our room, and on the way back home we stopped in Kilby to see a heritage farm and village. We also stoped to get some local peaches and cream corn that I believe will be tonight's dinner.
I have re connected with one of my "long-lost" brothers which is really special as I have been in contact with one of my older sisters for about 8 years now and its always nice to hear about how every one is doing.
Frank had a bad flare up of his arthritis a few weeks ago but seems to be coming out of it nicely now, although I'm not sure his new meds helped any better than the old ones.
Anyway, I know there is a lot missing from this up date ( including pics! ) but I still have a lot to do today so I better get going! Pics to follow as soon as I have a min to spare.

Much anticipated pics of the kids!

2008-07-07T19:32:00.000-07:00

So here are some pics of the kids from Hikes Vacation. I can never seem to put captions with corresponding pics, so forgive me if they don't make sense! Frank and I bought Fefe a pool for his birthday, Hike bought him a huge RC truck and there should be a pic of the Cake on party nighht too...I hope! *L*

The BBQ.

2008-06-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Frank and I purchased a new portable BBQ for our up coming camping trip and decided to test it out tonight, so we packed up a few items and took our small picnic out to a local park. We no sooner had our spot picked out and our BBQ heating up ( we walked quite a ways away from the most heavily populated areas so we could have a nice quiet dinner ) than a strange couple came and plunked them selves down less than 40 feet away from where we had set up our dinner.
It was a bit odd because there was this HUGE empty area and they could have sat anywhere, but they decided that we had the best spot I guess. Anyway, as soon as they spread out their blanket, she lay down and he jumped right on top of her! Umm...hello....we were there first and they had to have seen us because they kept looking our way. We turned out backs on them ( it was too late to move because our dinner was sizzling away on the BBQ ) only to have them get up and actually move closer to where we were.
Um.
Awkward.
So we ate our dinner with them getting VERRRY cozy behind us. I guess they like an audience because they were quite noisy, and as soon as our BBQ had cooled down enough to move, we made a hasty exit!!

Spiders.

2008-06-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

Not much to say except "watch the video". The kids might enjoiy it!

Why is it.....

2008-06-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

Why is it that every time you are not feeling well ( bad cold/flu, surgery, allergies etc ), your period has to start to make you feel even worse?? I had my remaining 2 wisdom teeth pulled on Tuesday and all went pretty well. On Thursday, I was in such excruciating pain I had to go back to the oral surgeon and be squeezed in between patients. It turns out I have what's called dry socket, meaning the clot never formed over the surgical site and my nerves are exposed. He packed it with a nice clove paste that numbed me again, but then I spent 6 hours in emerge. last night because of the pain. Now we all know I have a pretty high tolerance for pain ( after all, you are awake during pacer surgery ), but they pumped me full of morphine and sent me home with a prescription for Demerol. Today I had to flush out the clove plug from the dentist and WOW, the pain started up all over again! Thank goodness the emerge Dr. told me to take double doses of Demerol until the nerves are protected again. Until then, it hurts to eat, drink, brush my teeth and even breath, and I am on an all soft food diet of only lukewarm items ( nothing hot or cold ).
I have to admit I am a bicth when in pain, and the pain prevents me from sleeping as well which makes me even worse, so I have to say THANKS to my Honey for all his patience and his loveing care. He warms my yogurt and cottage cheese to room temp, brings me my medication and rubs my back when I am hurting so much I cry! What a great guy!! Thanks Frank, I love you!!

Its back!!

2008-06-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

Back when I was in College, there was a television show on called The Mole, and I really enjoyed it. Its kinds like Amazing Race with a twist because the entire group of people work as a team doing various tasks in order to win money that gets pooled into one pot. The twist is that one team member, the "mole", is trying to sabotage the teams efforts to complete tasks and win money for the pot. Anyway, I only ever saw it one season, ands last night while channel surfing.....I saw it!! And the best part was, it was the first episode of a new season!
Now if only I can find it again to see the next episode....

Yummie Dinner.

2008-06-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Frank tonight's dinner was delicious! He made Fajitas and Mom came over to join us for dinner. We had a nice ripe and juicy "water melting" ( in the words of my eldest nephew ) for dessert and a bowl of creamsicle ice cream too!
I finally picked up my new glasses and BOY do they make a difference! I knew my prescription had changed, but I didn't realize by how much my sight was affected! Anyway, loving the new glasses and prescription RayBan's that came with for free!!
I am looking forward to Tuesdays surgery, something I never thought I'd ever say, but the pain is driving me nuts and the pain meds are only doing so much. Who'd have thought that wisdom teeth could be such a pain? I had 2 pulled a few years ago but the others never bothered me till last week when my jaw fractured due to the fact that my wisdom teeth all grow horizontal instead of vertically. They grow into my molars, pushing into all of my teeth and creating pain in the entire face, not just the wisdom teeth. Bummer, but soon to be over!

Random Pics.

2008-05-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd post some random pics taken this week. That is Frank with his niece Sara on her 16th Birthday.

What a day!

2008-05-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

The past few days we have had AMAZING weather! Friday was 30 degrees, yesterday was 31 degrees, and today was 28 degrees, and we made the best of the sunshine! I cleaned up the balcony and put together my balcony flower boxes which look pretty good and will look a lot better once the flowers settle in and start to grow more.

Frank and I went shopping yesterday and I managed to pick up some pretty amazing deals which included a pair great jeans that were on sale. I thought I was getting them for about $20, but when they were scanned at the till, they rang up as $2. Someone must have entered the sale price wrong, but the cashier gave them to me for that price anyway, isn't that great??

Mom and I spent most of the day shopping, and I am happy to say that tonight will be spent on the couch like a lazy bum watching a movie.

Hope every one else is haveing a great long week end as well.

The rest of the story:

2008-05-06T19:34:00.001-07:00

Alli's version is a bit too mellow, so here is how it actually happened:

The phone rang at 7 o'clock on Monday morning, and when I picked it up I heard Alli screaming hysterically. My first thought was that something had happened to one of the kids, and after a few min. of trying to yell over her screaming, I managed to get from Alli that the kids were all ok ( and by this time I could hear Na in the back ground). She managed to get out a few "Kali's" so my next thought was that she (Kali the cat ) had been hit by a car, and after 10 min of her hysteria I finally concluded that the cat had simply brought a mouse into the house. I was finally able to establish through Allis sobs that it was not a mouse or a rat, and I had to convince Alli to take a GOOD look at the animal and tell me what it was so that I could tell her how to proceed. As soon as she figured out that it was just a harmless baby bunny ( as opposed to the killer mouse or rabid rat she was so convinced that it was ), the hysterics stopped. Next came the very calm and rational conversation on how to get the bunny back out side.
I am so thankful that all of my nephews and the cat were ok, but I think it was ME, and not Alli that suffered the heart attack when I was awoken to her screams of panic. I mean honestly, from 3,000 km away, what did she think I could do for her??? She has a really nasty habit of forgetting about the three hour time difference between Ontario and British Columbia, so I figured it was her calling, but the screaming was scared me awake better than an ice cold shower!
Thanks Al, you have succeeded in ageing me about 10 years in about 10 min!!

Hikes newest toy.

2008-04-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...here are a few!

Mama Mia, post #100.

2008-04-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Post number 100 huh? Who'd have thought I ever had so much to say? We say Mama Mia on Sunday, and It-Was-A-maz-ing!!! We laughed so hard at times that tears were rolling down our cheeks, and we had awsome seats as well. We were the seventh row of the dress circle in the very corner. No one in front of us, no one beside us, a perfect, unobstructed view of the entire stage. Wow. We have decided that if we ever see another show or concert at that theatre, we'll get the same seats.
Hope everyone has a great week!

Concert review ( a bit late! )

2008-03-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

On March 9th, Frankie-o and I went to the Matchbox 20 concert, and it was AMAZING!! We had great seats, and the seats in front of us were empty, major bonus! Some highlights and low lights...
Highlights: the seats were great, there were 2 opening acts - the opening act had her own opening act - Mute Math was the first act ( they were ok, but I would have been fine without seeing/hearing them ), and they were followed by 75 min of Canada's own Alanis Morrisette ( probably spelled wrong, but too tired to look up correct spelling ), and then Matchbox came on for a couple of hours of hit after hit after hit. We also ran into an old friend of Franks both before and after the concert, so he caught up and they promised to stay in touch via e-mail, but probably never will. Frank was thrilled that the group sounded just as good live as they do recorded, and didn't mind me singing and dancing along to all the songs.
Low lights: before Mute Math even came on stage, some idiotic lady a few rows behind me ( and I mean at LEAST 2 rows of seats separated her from me ) some how managed to dump ( toss?? ) her beer over the empty rows in front of her, drenching me and the lady seated next to me. Nothing like sitting through 4+ hours of concert stinking like beer, especially when you consider I don't drink. I was pretty sick during the concert with that sinus infection thing, but I enjoyed myself so much I didn't mind having a purse stuffed full of tissue that I had to dig into during every other song!

Busy Day.

2008-03-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

Because I have been sick lately, I have not done a lot, and that includes Easter preparations! So to catch up, today I crank the stereo and get busy! Its only noon and already I have planned and shopped for tomorrow nights dinner ( serving 7 people, possible 8 ), made a birthday cake for tomorrow ( Hikes girlfriends birthday is tomorrow ), wrapped birthday and Easter gifts, done a load of laundry and a load of dishes in the dishwasher. I still have to vacuum, dust, make pie, do the rest of the general cleaning, and pull out the Easter baskets. Hope everyone else is having a more relaxing day than I am!!
Oh yeah, and Zach, here is a good one for you: What is Black and white and read all over???

A NEWSPAPER!!!!!

Sick again.

2008-03-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

About 5 weeks ago I was down with a nasty flu that caused me to miss 2 days of work, and about 3 weeks ago I was slammed with a killer cold. I still have the cold so on Sunday I went to see the Dr, and as it turns out it's not a cold at all, but a bacterial sinus infection that has moved to my larynx giving me laryngitis ( no voice at all folks ), affected my lungs so that I wheeze all the time and can't get a nice deep breath of air, I sneeze/cough all the time, and my eyes are so swollen/red from the sneezing that I need to put drops in several times a day as well. That leaves me on 4 prescriptions and several days off work because I can't answer phones with no voice. It seems that since I moved to BC I get sick every year about this time and I can't figure out why. I take my multi vitamins as well as Vitamin C every day, I wash my hands frequently to avoid bringing germs home etc, but I still get pretty sick when every one else I'm in close contact with ( Frank, Hike, co-workers etc ) seem to be fine. What could be causing me to get sick like this when I never used to get sick at all???

Contact Hell.

2008-03-01T20:58:00.001-08:00

I hate my glasses, but I hate contact lenses even more. I never have trouble putting them in, but getting them back out is another story all together. Most times its no big deal, but occasionally they just glue themselves to my eyeball and refuse to come off. Today I had to peel the lens off my right eye, and the left one wedged its self under my eye lid. What gives? I use drops during the day that are designed to lubricate the eye and lens ( as advised by my optometrist when I mentioned this problem ), my lenses were properly fitted by the optometrist, so I know I have the right ones, but I struggle with getting them out sometimes, and its been like this for years. Today I actually gave up after a 30 min struggle to get it out and Frank had do sweep his fingers under my eye lid while I held it open, just so he could pinch the lens and pull it out. Is it just me, or has anyone else experiences contact hell??

SORRY!!! LOL

2008-02-19T18:22:00.001-08:00

Woops! I forgot that I had changed the backdround theme on my blog, so the post is really hard to read! It'll help if you hilight the text and then read it...sorry *LOL*

The Gift.

2008-02-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

Mom's birthday is on Sunday, and I was searching for the perfect gift, but what do you get for someone who says she doesn't want anything? I thought about it for a while and decided that she needs a digital camera. Now, you have to understand that my mom ( and I say this in the most loving way ), is NOT technically inclined in any way. She can't/won't use a computer ( and so I have no fear that she will see this post before Sunday ), struggles with the DVD/VCR combo unit, and can't load film into a regular 35 mm camera so uses the little disposable ones all the time. The digi I got her is soooooo basic and user friendly, I'll be stunned if she can't use it. I plan to have it all set up so that when she opens the box, all she'll have to do is press power, point, and shoot. Its the easiest camera to use that I have ever seen, and I really hope that she likes it.

Sick...or more?

2008-02-17T20:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I started feeling ill, you know that feeling you get after spending the day at the beach/pool? You are tired out, muscles feel heavy, head throbs and you get that nausious feeling? Well, that was me, and also Frank. There is no fever, so I am pretty sure its not a flu, but we did go out for dinner Friday night, and both started to feel ill Saturday morning, and by Saturday afternoon we both felt terrible. Today we both felt so bad that we took an afternoon nap - for 3 hours. Possible mild food poisining? Who knows, I hope it passes before work starts tomorrow morning!
Hope everyone els had a better week-end that we did!
Oh yeah, and Thanks Heather! It was driving me nuts thinking about what kind of ship that was!

Does Anyone Know...?

2008-02-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

Last week end Mom, Frank and I went out to Stevest0n, a small fishing village just outside of Vanc0uver. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we broused the fishing boats that were docked selling fresh fish and shell fish. We had fish and chips for lunch at a local resturant, and then wandered over to a little candy store we like to stop in when ever we are in there. They sell all the old stuff I remember from my childhood, you know, that tri coloured taffee, the flat stuff that is pink, chocolate and white? They had the little chicklet style purple gum that always tasted like soap, LickAsticks, mini garbage cans full of candies etc. but they also have fresh homemade fudge. Yumm!

Anyway, we also saw this ship sail past while we were looking at the catch on the boats, and I couldn't figure out what kind of ship it was. It doesn't really like militar y, its not a cruise ship and definatly not a fishing boat as far as I can tell, but it was pretty neat to watch sail by. Does anyone know what kind of ship it is? I even googled it but didn't get any helpful results, its called the Andr0meda Sp1r1t.

After we got back home, it started to snow, and man did we get a dumping on! We got home just in time to avoid the snowfall, but it was quite pretty.

Sorry that these pictures are not likley in order, but I can't seem to figure out how to put the pics in the order I want them when I post on here.

What's Wrong With People?!?!

2008-01-31T21:29:00.000-08:00

With all the bad weather latley, you'd think that people would be a bit more patient waiting for deliveries, no? Our delivery driver started out earlier than usual the past few days because of the storms, and when there is a blizzard out, you have to expect delays. I had dozens of people calling me asking if we were still doing deliveries or if we had to cancel because of the weather, and most people were quite patient when I explained that we were delayed due to weather, but that he would be there eventually. But one woman was so angry that it was 2:25 and the driver was usually there by 2:00! I mean, really! When you make 76 stops in one day, and its snowing like crazy, residential streets have yet to be hit by the plows and customers have not shoveled their driveways or sidewalks, what do you expect? I enjoyed asking this woman if she wanted to cme into the office to pick up her order so she wouldn't have to waite the 2 or 3 hours till the driver arrived, and you can guess her answer: 'The roads are terrable! I can't go out in this weather!'. I enjoyed even more telling her that the very roads she refuses to travel are the same roads our driver is traversing to bring our customers their orders. I told her that if she didn't want to waite, she could skip the weeks service and I could call the driver and let him know there is one less stop to try and make ( mind you, I was being VERY polite during the entire conversation, but I really wanted to be nasty and match my tone of voice to her less than friendly one! ). Needless to say she decided to waite for the driver to come.
Sheesh.

Classic # 1.

2008-01-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight I saw my first classic movie: Irving Berlin's White Christmas. The movie starred Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney ( George's Aunt I believe ) and Vera-Ellen ( a Rockette).
I thought it was a pretty good movie, but I think that for a movie that has been out for decades, some one would have noticed some of the inconsistancies and fixed them. In one scene, Vera-Ellens character is pouring coffee for herself and her sister, then she places the coffee pot back on the warmer. The camera cuts to a new angle of Vera-Ellen and all of a sudden she is holding the coffee pot again, filling her mug ( again ).
The dance numbers were frequent ( as were the songs ), and I was pretty surprised at just how fast these ladies could move!
All in all, I enjoyed the show!

The Moves.

2008-01-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

Its started out as a lazy Sunday here at home; some laundry, a few phone calls, the usual week-end deliberation about what to do today. We finally decided to go out for a buffet brunch and then to brouse for some good used books. Brunch was fabulous, Mom, Frank and I all left feeling satisfied and enjoyed the leisurley walk down the street to look for some books. After a few min of fliping through some titles, I look around for my Mom and what should I see, but her being hit on by some guy! I watched him flirt with her for a few min before I walked up to them ( I had no idea if he was bothering her or if she was enjoying the conversation ), and I was totally ignored!! Anyway, by the time she found Frank and I again, he had asked her for her number a few times, finally gave up when she turned him down, and gave her his name and number! How cute is that?!?
Way to go Mom!

What I Resolve:

2007-12-31T16:38:00.000-08:00

Every year I always make the same New Years Resolution: To loose weight. Every year I fail at this resolution, only to make another attempt later on in the year. This year, I am making a whole new resolution that I feel will be earier ( and more fun ) to stick to! My resolution is to watch at least one Classic movie a month. I have always wanted to see some of the great classics like Gone with the wind, Sabrina and My fair lady. If anyone can suggest any movies they think I should see, please let me know and I'll add them to my list!
You know...I just can't not attempt the weight loss resolution again this year, so I guess it will be my secondary resolution! *L* And I also resolve to surprise someone I know this spring by sending a package to them in the mail. I always thought it was nice to get surprise packages in the mail, so I decided to do it to someone else!
Happy New Year Everyone, Hope It's a Safe and Happy One for All!!

Guess Who???

2007-12-30T12:30:00.000-08:00

We had a Christmas Guest that we almost didn't even recognize!!
Any guesses?!?

What a Sale.

2007-12-29T23:26:00.001-08:00

I rarley partake in Boxing Day Sales, I just never seem to find anything that seems to be an amazing sale, so when I got to my favorite sewing store today I was amazed to see that they were having a huge Boxing week sale, the entire store was 50% off. This store is great because it has amazing prices anyway, but for half price I felt like a kid in a candy store! I bought 5 large balls of crochette cotton for a lace table cloth, a new zipper for my fav old fleece jacket, a new measuring tape, a pattern storage box, 2 large balls of yarn for an afgan, and a few more odds and ends, and I spent a grand total of $8.47. Isn't that great?! I just wish I had a few more future projects in mind because I could have gotten the supplies today and stored them till I needed them!
A note to my cousin-in-law Aaron, I feel for you with your strep! I am batteing a nasty cold/sore throat that I am just putting off a visit to the clinic about, I hope you feel better soon!
Also a note to my little cousin Gary, congratulations! We are all so happy for you!

I got it!

2007-12-15T09:08:00.000-08:00

I have a love/hate relationship going with Ze11ers. I love the sales I see in the flyer's, but I hate that when ever there is something that I REALLY want, its sold out by the time I get there, or there is one left and the box is all tattered and torn and the item damaged.
So.
Last night, when Frank and I returned from the bon fire and carol ships, we stopped at Z to see how many they had in stock for the sale that started today, and they had 5. When no one was looking ( he he he! ) I hid one behind some other boxes at the bottom of the shelf ( I was really determined to get one! ). The store opened at 8 am today and we were waiting at the door at 7:55 with about 10 other people. When we drove into the parking lot, there were about 25 people waiting at the doors to the lower level, so we opted to park at the upper level and as soon as we reached the doors, lots of people started showing up.
Any way, to conclude my story, the item I hid was still there when we finally got inside, as well as one more left on the shelf ( I sware that employees purchase things before the store opens on the morning of a good sale, because we were the first to hit that aisle, and there were 5 last night and only 2 this morning ). So I now finally have my George 4-man grill after a year or so of humming and hawing over the price, because it was 50% off today!

DONE!

2007-12-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

With only 15 days to go till Christmas, I am DONE all of my shopping! My Holiday baking is well underway ( let me know if you have any recipies I should give a try! ) and Papa's gift has been packaged and sent. My Christmas Tree is decorated and packages are starting to appear underneath it. I'll post pics another day of my Christmas Village and Tree!

Would you drink this?!?!?

2007-12-08T11:07:00.000-08:00

We have been under a boil water advisory now for about a week, and we are told that is we boil our water, it is safe to drink. Humm...would you drink this? Or feed it to your kids? Your pets? Your plants? Ewwwwwwwww!

It was hard enough just showering in it! I had to heat up bottled water and use it to rinse off my hair and body before I stepped out of the shower just to feel some what clean! I would have been dirtier than I was before I went into the shower, thats not good.

Hike and I both drink a lot of water at home, but we have now switched to soda and juice for thr time being.

Got fresh water?!?

Oh to relax!

2007-12-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

Poor Frank has been under a lot of stress these past few months with his father being ill, and is pretty drained. I wondered, what could I do to make his day more relaxing and streee free? Well, I tucked him into my bed today when he came over and had a bunch of movies and video games scattered across the foot of the bed. He must have played games and watched movies for the better part of the day while I got started on my Christmas baking. When I peeked in on him around 4:00pm, he was fast asleep! I made him a nice stir fry dinner, followed by a nice hot bath ( I have a portable DVD player that I set up on the toilet for him so he could watch a DVD while he relaxed in the dark! *LOL* ), and then he sampled all the treats I made while flaked out on the couch tonight. What a posh day huh?!? I wish I had time to do that for myself, but hey, we need to spoil our guys from time to time huh?

Awwww....so cute!!!

2007-11-20T14:50:00.000-08:00

Did it work?!?

2007-11-20T14:10:00.000-08:00

For your viewing pleasure!

2007-11-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

Updated pics of the kids, me, Mom and Frankie. Phoenix in 16 months in the pics, Zach is 7 and Nathan is 4. Hope you enjoy them! I tried to post a video for you as well, but for somereason its just not happening, so I'll try again later on.

The hair fiasco...

2007-11-20T12:45:00.000-08:00

As all of my friends and family know, I have a hair cut phobia! When I was 18 years old, my hair was so long I could almost sit on it. I decided to get it cut so had it chopped right off, it came just slightly lower than my ears. Exactly one week later I was in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. The Dr's told my mom half an hour later, and I would have died. No biggie right? Just a coincidence, right? When I was 21, I decided on another hair cut, and again, exactly one week later I was in emergency surgery again! this time it was to have a cyst removed that was the size of a grapefruit. Hum...ok...maybe it was just a fluke. When I was 23 years old, I chanced the cut again, third times a charm, right? Yep, you guessed it, exactly one week later I'm haveing a pacemaker implanted in my chest. Needless to say there were far too many "coincidences" concerning the length of my hair and the inside of an O R, so I never got my hair cut again. Just the regular trims for split and dead ends.

Well, call me a sucker for punishment, but I was getting really tired of the same old style and so I decided to hit the Spa and get the royal hair treatment, cut included. This was on Wednesday, and so far so good! If tomorrow passes with out any form of emergency occurring that lands me in an operating room, I can safely say that the curse has been lifted! Wish me luck!!

Oh yes, so here is a pic of the new cut, not too dramatic ( lets not tempt fate here! ), but be warned, I was in desprate need of sleep, so ignore the luggaghe under my eyes!!

The New TV.

2007-10-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, as mentioned in my last post, we need a new TV. The bad news is that Hike doesn't get the ginormous one that he wanted. The good news is that he only has to pay $100 for the one he is getting. Turns out that his work was holding a silent auction for several televisions, everything from Projection to Plasma to Flat Screen and everything in between. Hike made $100 bids on each unit, and he WON!!!!! Isn't that incredible? And what luck, the auction was just at the time when we needed one and were planning to go shopping for one this week end. I'll post a pic of the new Television when it arrives, hopefully it will be delivered this week!

Needing a new TV...

2007-09-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

So, we are now in need of a new TV. We currently have a 27" GE television that goes on the fritz from time to time. Sometimes the volume just dissapears as if its been muted, or the sound just goes straight to static, but the picture is just fine all the time. When the sound goes we have to unplug the television and then plug it back in again to get things back to normal. Not a big deal, but a bit of a pain in the neck when you are watching a tv movie or your favorite television show and they are just about to reveal the twist in the plot.
Hike has been saying for the past year now that he wants a big screen tv, and now this is the perfect excuse for him to get one ( and he is already shopping around for one! ).
Now you have to imagine our place to understand my unease over this, we have a really nice oak entartainment unit that will accomidate up to a 32 inch television. It has a shelf underneath that for the DVD player and a drawer underneath the shelf to store videos, games, manuals etc. Also, this unit has a nice cabinate attached to it thats got 4 shelves behind a glass door that we use to display items. We both love this unit and don't want to part with it, but what do we do with it when we get a 42 inch television? Put it on top of the unit? But then what do we do with the 20 gallon aquarium that we already have set up on top of the unit? And what do we do with the hole that will be left open from the old TV? Maybe put the aquarium down on the television shelf? Just suck it up and get rid of the unit? I tried to post a pic of the unit, but at the moment my computer is not connecting properly to the camera...will try again later...

Papa Pics.

2007-08-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

As you can tell by the pics I had a great visit with Papa in July, we went for dinner one night and just sat and chatted another night.
This post is short and sweet, nothing much to say tonight except that I an thinking about you and I miss you Papa!

A quiet August...

2007-08-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well, now that the hecticness of summer is winding down, I may find myself with a few extra min. to start blogging again...who knows how it'll go!
So nothing really exciting has happened latley, I had all of my carpets steam cleaned yesterday, and they look great. I got rid of all of my old bakeware and bought a lot of new ones, I like to have a matching set and my old ones were quite eclectic to say the least! Now they are all a nice matching clear glass.
We just bought a new 7.2 cf freezer and now I am looking for a new coffee table. I like teh one I currently have, but its square and I would like a rectangle one that has at least one drawer in it for storage. When I am working on a project it would be nice to hide it away someplace close to the couch where its easy to pick up again while being out of the way. I have looked at several places and have not yet found one that I want yet...wish me luck!!!

Happy Birthday Fe-Fe!!!

2007-07-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

Today Phoenix turned one, I can't believe he is one already, he grew up waaaayyyyy too fast! Alli hooked up the web cam for us today so that we could be there for the cake, Frank and I had some cream pie here so that we could participate and had a few good laughs at the kids. Fe-Fe managed to get totally covered in cake, and Zach and Nathan entertained them selves watching Frank and I on the computer and chatting with us with the microphones. All in all it was pretty fun and it was a great idea Al! It was great to see every one today!

A twin for Alex Beck!

2007-05-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

Last night Hike, his girlfriend, Frank and I all went down to China Town to the Night Market, we usually go two or three times a summer, and it never fails that a lost little kid latches onto me and I begin the hunt for the missing parent. Last year it was a 3 year old East Indian girl who was standing in the middle of a crowd crying her eyes out, her fingers in her mouth and incoherently calling for her mommy. I watched her cry for a min as dozens of people filed past her and nobody seemed to be claiming her so I went over and bent down to her level and asked if she was lost. She nodded and threw herself on me in a death grip so I picked her up ( because she wouldn't let go of my neck ) and we stood still in the middle of the crowd while I scanned for an East Indian adult ( almost as rare as a Caucasian adult at a Chinese Night Market ). Almost 20 min passed and I was about 60 seconds away from having Frank locate the Police who patrol the market to take over the lost parent search, when the mother wandered to claim her child. Now to get to the Twin of Alex Beck part, my cousin Lesley has a son named Alex, and if they didn't live in Alberta I'd swear it was him last night who found me in the crowd! A little boy named Alex replayed the same scenario as the little girl from last summer. It was so strange since I have never met my cousin Alex, only seen him in several photos, but WOW what a resemblance! Anyway, Alex' mom managed to find us in under ten min last night and was so panicked I thought she was going to faint when she found us. The funny thing was, she had the nerve to ask him right in front of me if I had tried to steel him! Imagine my shock! But the kid was smart and quick to tell her "No Mommy, she helped me find you when you lost me"! I was pretty smug while she apologised!
Anyway, off to Peddle Boat for an hour or two, hope you all have a great day!

Summer Road Trip:

2007-05-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

So Frank and I have settled on the dates of our Alberta road trip for the summer and made several reservations already ( and a good thing we did because the places we want are booking up fast! ), and here is is so far:

July 11th: Pack up and hit the road about 9 pm, we prefer to drive at night when its cooler and a lot less traffic!
July 12th & 13th: Stay at the Ramada Inn, visit with Papa ( hopefully take him out for dinner ), shop a bit and then visit Papa some more.
July 14th: Make our way to Calgary via Drumheller. No real specific time frame here but plan to be in Calgary by late afternoon early evening.
July 15th: Spend the day in Calgary, make our way up to Edmonton, plan to spend the night as close to the city as possible.
July 16th: We have reservations to spend the night in the African room of the Fantasy Land Hotel in West Ed. We were given water park passes with our room so plan to take full advantage of them!
July 17th: Take a leisurely day for shopping and fun.
July 18th & 19th: We have reservations st the Inns of Banff where we plan to take a canoe trip ( thanks Lesley! ), ride the Gondola and be tourists.
July 20th: Pack up and head home, should arrive home on July 21st.

If there is anything we should try to do/see on our trip please let me know, we are open to suggestions, and for any family members, if you are interested in a get together, let me know and we can try to work something out!

Did I forget to mention that three people will be on this trip? Frand and I of course, and his niece Sara is comming as well, and she is 15 years old tomorrow.

Family update.

2007-05-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

So much for the end of blogging! But in my defence I did say I would likley post comments once in a while ( hehehe ).
So I had a phone confrence with my cardiologest today who had phone confrenced with another Dr. I'll be seeing at the end of the month. It turns out that there is a SLIM chance that my condition is hereditary, I should know for sure when more tests have been conducted by this new DR.
I was told that I should inform family of this "developement" incase anyone needs info on it, so there you go. Anyone wanting/needing more specific details for their family medical records please let me know, I can e-mail the needed info.
I see this new Dr at the end of the month and when I get a definate answer on the hereditary thing, I'll post again.
Cheers!
Krista.

End of Blogging?

2007-04-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well, after several weeks of close monitoring ( or more like several months ) I have decided that blogging is not really for me. The traffic on my site is pretty minimal as most of my friends and family & I would much rather catch up via phone every few weeks than read message boards. So for those of you who read my blog regularly ( that would be you Alli ) and those of you who check in once a week or less often ( that would be the rest of you ), you'll have to start e-mailing or calling more often to find out what is happening here in Vancouver. I will likely still post the occasional message or pics for the sake of by-passing the mass e-mails, but that's about it.
Who knows, maybe the itch to blog will strike again at a later date.

Mini Golf.

2007-04-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

On Friday night Frank, Sara and I all went out for a Pizza dinner and a round of Mini Golf. We chose the Coral Reef course because the Jungle was pretty busy, and it was quite an evening! I made 2 holes in one, Sara made 3 holes in one ( including the very last hole in which if you manage to get a hole in one you are rewarded with a ticket for a free game the next time you come ). On the way home we treated ourselves to milk shakes and a leisurely tour through Fort Langley. It was a nice evening!

I was so excited!

2007-04-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

So, after work tonight I headed to the bank to do my banking and then to the grocery store to pick up a few things. In the same complex as the grocery store a new store has opened, a Dollar store, my favorite type of store! Now, BC has 2 dollar stores, Dollar Giant and Everything for a dollar, neither one is a very good chain in my opinion. My favorite is Dollarama, a chain in Ontario and I am always complaining here that the $ stores are no good. Imagine my delight when I saw that it was indeed a dollarama?!?!? I went in and felt just like a kid in a candy store!!! I love Dollarama...

Sneek a peek!

2007-04-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure! Some flowers I recieved for my birthday, my Happy to be Alive day and Easter, as well as a few shots of the quilt that I made in the fall/winter ( note the matching pillow cases!).

Enjoy!

What a day!

2007-04-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

It is an absolutley beautiful day today! The sun is shining, it's a wonderful 22 degrees out and the birds are singing! Isn't that a great way to start the first long week-end of 2007?
I have the house to myself today so I opened all the windows and pulled out all of my cleaning supplies, the living room looks amazing now I might add. Everything was polished with furniture polish, the window sills were scrubbed, the windows were washed and the carpets vacuumed to perfection. I even managed to disconnect Hikes PS2, rearrange the cords and reconnect the thing ( with out any help! ) so that it now sits on top of the VCR/DVD combo unit and frees up some space in the entertainment unit.
So it looks great and now I can't wait to pop in a movie later tonight, light a candle and flake out *LOL*.

Sunday Seven: Reasons I'm proud of my Mom.

2007-04-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I have an amazing Mom, she has been through a lot in her life and yet she still smiles every day! So here are seven reasons I am very proud of my mom:
1) She was strong enough to leave my Dad when she did.
2) She raised three kids all by herself and we all turned out just fine, no criminal records, no drug addicts and no alcoholics!
3) She had a slipped disc in her back that damaged her spinal cord and caused her as lot of problems, some of which she still struggles with today but she never lets that stop her from going to work and from having fun.
4) She never lets me get down about my health problems and is always optimistic that a cure will be found.
5) She always knew I would graduate college, even when I was going for radiation treatments and felt too sick to keep going to school. She knew I'd persevere till I got that diploma and I did!
6) She never killed any of us as kids but I'm sure there were days that she wanted to!
7) She is the strongest person I have ever met, and I have met an awful lot of people!
Love you Mom!
P.S Did I mention she is published? Yep, she has been published and I hope to some day follow in her foot steps!

Just complaining...

2007-03-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have updated but life has been so busy lately I hardly have time to sleep!
We have been short staffed at work for a month now which has thrown a real kink in everything. After my accident I was not supposed to go back to work full time until late March and had arranged with my boss to come in for half a day for a few weeks until my back/hips had gotten stronger, but things happened and I had to go back full time before I was ready and before I was supposed to. There were a few days last week that there were only 2 people at work, myself and one person down in the laundry, seems everyone is getting sick! Because my body was still in a weakened state from the accident I was more susceptible to things like colds & flues and ended up with the mother of all colds that ( as you already know ) turned out to be pneumonia. I am still sick with it, can't breath through my nose at all, can't taste anything yet and now working my way through box # 12 of tissues. Every time sneeze I end up with shooting pains in my back and hips so it looks like the road to recovery will be a lot longer than anticipated. It really sucks, I hate being sick and because I've been sick for a while I am getting super crankie not to mention that I have no energy at all. What does everybody else do when they get sick?

Sunday Seven: Pets I have had.

2007-03-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

As we all know I love animals ( hence the 3 years of Vet. Tech in College ), and through out my years I have had several pets.....
1) My childhood dog Ajax, she was the kind of dog that would follow us every where, including onto the school bus if we had let her because every morning she would walk us to the bus stop and then go home again once we boarded the school bus.
2) My childhood cat Pointer, she had a long pointy tail that she would wrap around your arm when ever you pet her.
3) My other childhood cat Stranger. He was a stray cat that got lost and started to hang around our house a lot. He managed to tare a hold in the screen of the front door and he'd jump in through the hole every chance he got so finally after a week of this mom decided that he could stay.
4) Two hermit crabs named Lunch & Dinner. One day lunch actually ate Dinner, and a few months later Dinner passed away as well.
5) Moms dog Spirit. She was a stray puppy that wandered onto the farm of a family friend. One day when mom was visiting our friends they tried to convince mom to take the puppy because they already had 3 dogs and didn't have room for a fourth. Mom refused several times, and when she opened the car door to go home, Spirit jumped in and sat there looking at Mom with those big brown eyes. Mom just couldn't refuse her then and the rest is history.
6) Moms cat Kali the Killer Kitty. She is a VERY pretty calico cat, but she is a real Bitch as well! We rescued her from an abusive family when she was about 6 months old and because of the way she was treated her growth was stunted and at 8 years old she is only about 3-4 lbs. She bites, she hisses, she swats and she scratches, so we always tell people not to pet her ( for their own safety ). Why do we keep her? She and Spirit are best friends and play all the time! In the Hat she would curl up on Papa's lap and let him pet her for hours. Sometimes she crawls into bed with you and sleeps on your chest till you wake up and pet her. She has attitude, but we love her anyway.
7) I had 2 white lab rats names Nonan & Pilar. They were actually 2 of my & Danielle's rats from our second semester of Vet Tech, at the end of the year we had to euthanize them, or take them home. Easy choice.

Happy "Happy to be Alive Day!"

2007-03-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, on March 23, 2001 I had a Medtronic Dual Chamber Kappa Dr pacemaker inserted into my chest. My heart had just decided that it didn't need to beat all the time and so just stopped ( frequently ) for no reason and with no warning. This pacer keeps my heart going and so on March 23rd I celebrate my Happy to be Alive Day. I thought I'd add a few images, I hope they worked. One is a chest x-ray that shows an implanted pacer ( though not like mine ), one is a diagram to show where it is, and one is of a woman holding a device very similar to mine except that mine is a really pretty shiny blue. I have been implanted with what is referred to as "the Cadillac" of all pacers because of the nature of my condition., its called dual chamber because unlike most people, I need to have 2 leads threaded through my artery, one leading to my right atrium, and the other to my right ventricle. Crazy huh? I hope every one had a great Happy to be alive day!

The mother of all colds.

2007-03-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

OK, so after work tonight I went to the walk in clinic because of this cold. I figured it must be a sinus infection of something like that because my head aches are getting stronger in the sinus areas and for the past few days not only can I not breath out of my nose, but am having a progressively harder time breathing through my mouth as well, I can't take a deep breath at all. The first clinic I went to had a 3 hour wait and told me to come back at 8:00pm, so I left and went to another clinic I know of only to be told they were not seeing any more patients tonight. The third place I went to had a 20 min wait and a really cute young Dr working who also had a great bedside manner. He checked out my symptoms and put the stethoscope to my back, had me take a few "deep breaths" and was shocked at what he heard. He was surprised I could breath at all and announced that I have got pneumonia. He jotted a few prescriptions down on his little green pad ( 3 to be exact ) and asked if I have a drug plan. "No I don't" I replied, and to my pleasure he exited the room for a second and brought me back one of the prescribed meds. He told me its over $100 for just that one and because the other two would be about $100 as well he thought it would help! Wasn't that great? So I got the meds, started them tonight and hope that I feel better soon. I really hope that every one else is feeling a lot better than I am, and if you have a cold that lasts longer than 2 weeks, head to the clinic!!!

Spring cleaning has begun!

2007-03-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

I am still suffering from that blasted cold ( box # 7 now! ) but wanted to get some spring cleaning done today, so first I tackled the linen closet and packed a grocery bag full of items for the donation bin, and then I decided to stop there and make cookies. While in the kitchen I happened to glance up to the top of the fridge and thought Holy Crap! How does the top of the fridge manage to collect so much stuff? I cleaned it off and found a lot of old receipts that should have been thrown out once they were brought home, a few old lottery tickets ( I buy maybe 3 or 4 tickets a year and never remember to check them till I find them again later ), 2 old ice cube trays ( and that's in addition to the 2 in the freezer that we actually use for ice ) and a lot of other crap that shouldn't have been there. Once it was cleaned off I took a bucket of hot soapy water to clean off the layer of icky duct that was all over it. The fridge is less than a year old and still managed to have that gross dust layer on top of it. What is up with that? And since I was feeling on a role, I even cleaned the oven! I really hate to clean the oven but now it sparkles. And oh yes, I made meat loaf for dinner, and Lesley, thanks for the tip! It was pretty good and I'll probably try it again.

Sunday Seven: Sample of my portfolio.

2007-03-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

OK, this is my 4th attempt at this blog entry today, I think blogger is having a bad day so this will be my final attempt, I hope it works!

I am posting a sample of shots from my portfolio. As anyone who knows me knows, I am pretty passionate about photography and love my old manual camera. all my friends and family are used to having it pointed at them often and I am always trying to do it with out being noticed. The best pics of kids are the ones taken when they aren't posing for the camera!

P.S If anyone knows yet how to make the text appear before the pics, please let me know! It just kills me not being able to put the explination before the images!

Box # 5.

2007-03-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

Box of what you may be asking? Tissue! I am still sick with a cold, and its a bugger of a cold at that. I am now working on box # 5 of tissues. That's 3 boxes of regular tissue, and now my second jumbo sized box of the extra soft lotion tissues, and this cold is not going away. For a few days I felt as though I was getting much better, but than it took a turn for the worse again. Ugh. I have been getting a lot of helpful ideas from customers at work who can't help but notice the fact that I have a terrible cold, but so far nothing has helped except to take a nice long hot shower at night. This helps my sinuses, but it really drys out my skin which can get pretty painful/itchy. I am using all the old wives tales for cold sufferers, lots of rest, chicken soup, orange juice & vitamin C, lots of water but no luck getting rid of this! Anyone out there know of anything that might really work? I'll try almost anything! I am pretty limited as far as meds go though because of my heart condition, I was begging the pharmacist tonight for any thing that night help!

I usually like grocery shopping!

2007-03-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

I don't really mind grocery shopping, in fact, I usually enjoy it and most times I go I try to pick out something different to try, but that's another blog. Last night I was looking through the local flyers and notices that Supe* Sto*e was having a dollar days sale, and for once there were a lot of things in the sale that I would typically buy. So after work tonight I went to do the shopping, and, list in hand, made my way to the produce section where I looked for the first 2 items on my list that were on sale: mushrooms and broccoli. I found lots of mushroom and lost of broccoli, but they were each in the $3-$4 range, not the $1 advertised in the flyer, so I asked the next clerk I saw and he pointed me in the right direction, nest to the garlic for the broccoli instead of with the rest of the broccoli, and the mushrooms were next to the bananas. Hummm. Ok. I put them in my cart and started my search for the bread and pita bread on sale, and again had to search for it because it wasn't in with the rest of the bread and bread items. They were sold out of the pop corn and the hot dogs ( something only Hike tends to eat in our house ), and of all the places to find brown sugar, it was in the chip/candy section.
I remember shopping at Supe* Sto*e in the Hat ( I used to work at the malt shop inside and would shop before heading home at night ) and it was never that disorganized! And to make matters worse, it seamed every time I had something in my hands ( I am a label reader after all! ) there was someone breathing down my neck to get me to move ( when did the words "excuse me please" leave the English language? ) and one woman even had the nerve to try and take a package of soda crackers out of my hand and then out of my grocery cart once I placed it inside! I gave her a few dirty looks and snatched the package back and quickly ended my shopping trip. I almost never shop at this store, and every time I do its a negative experience. Have all the stores in this chain turned out this way?

Sunday Seven: Things I like to do on a rainy day.

2007-03-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

It's been raining here in Burnaby for over a week now, and while I am at work its fine because I don't really notice the weather outside as I am too busy, but on the week ends there are limited options for things to do, so here are some of the things I like to do on a rainy day.
1) Catch up with old friends on the phone. I did this today and had a great chat with my friend Yvette, she is an amazing woman for many reasons and one of the people I miss most from the Kingston area.
2) Watch a really long movie from under some blankets on the couch with the balcony door open so I can see/smell the rain and air out my place.
3) Sleep in and then reach for a book and stay in bed reading for a few hours.
4) Crank the tunes and go crazy cleaning. I didn't do this today because I was so beat ( I did go to the Rod Concert after all, but that is another Blog ) but on rainy days I I like to throw some music on and clean. Not just clean, but pick a project and clean it to perfection, you know, scrub the grout in the shower, use that old cleaning tooth brush to scrub the floor around the toilet, wash walls etc.
5) Bake/cook. I really do enjoy cooking and baking, so when I know I'll have all day to "play" in the kitchen, I really do! I love to try new recipes and make new variations of old favs. And that reminds me, if anyone has some recipes they really like to make, please let me know, I am looking for a few new ones. And oh yeah, if anyone has a good recipe for meat loaf or a really nice home made soup, please let me know! I have never made meat loaf ( Don't think I have ever even eaten it really ) but would love to try.
6) If I have a project started I love to work on it on a rainy day. For some reason, I always seem to get more done on a rainy day than a sunny one!
7) I like to go to the movies on a rainy day but I hardly ever do because usually a lot of other people have the same idea and I hate being in a crowded theater. If I do go, it would be to see a movie at the end of its theatre run because its usually a lot less crowded than the other ones playing.

Happy Birthday Peck!!!

2007-03-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

Today Zachary turned 7! He is so grown up now its hard to believe that seven years ago today I was telling Alli to breath and then holding my first squirming nephew! I love you Peckstaroonie!!!

The cold.

2007-03-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

Yep, you guessed it, I caught the cold that is going around. I woke up around 4:30 with a runny nose and popped some C*ld f X ( didn"t think I should spell the brand name ) and climbed back into bed only to wake up every 15 min to blow my nose again and sneeze a lot. Well, the sneezing is really killing me as my back and hips are still pretty sore from the accident, and I have been blowing my nose so much it is already raw, and I am using those ultra soft tissues with the lotion ( you know, the ones that are $6.00 a box? ). I have been taking the cold tablets, Dimatapp for the symptoms and a vapor thingie to help with the congestion not to mention the nasal strip plastered across my nose to try and help me breath. I am starting to get really worried because the last "cold" I had lasted almost 4 months and turned out to be a pretty bad sinus/lung infection. I had to visit 2 different clinics to convince a Dr. that it wasn't just your average cold and I hope this isn't going to be the same thing! To make matters 100 times worse, Frank and I have AMAZING seats at the Rod Stewart concert this Saturday...I hope I can go!!!
Hope everyone else is feeling better than I am!!

Zachary the almost 7 year old!

2007-03-04T16:34:00.000-08:00

Hey Zach, just in case these gifts arrive late in the mail I wanted you to see that they are comming! Here is what you should be looking for in the mail!

Love you Buddy!

Auntie Krista.

Sunday Seven: Sewing Essentials.

2007-03-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

Here are Seven items I find most important to any sewing/quilting project.

Hike The Gamer.

2007-03-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

Ok, so, Hike called me at work this morning ( it was his day off from work ) to tell me that he had bought a new vide0 game. For those of you who do not know Hike very well, he is a fanatic. He can sit and play for hours with out stopping! This of course drives me nuts because his cons0le is hooked up to the big tv in the livingroom, and even though we both have smaller tv's in our bedrooms, its always nice to watch a movie ( or in Hikes case play a game ) on the big tv. Well, this is what I came home to after work: Hike had the coffee table pushed back, a snack and a drink and was sitting on the floor playing away. Well, before I went out for dinner with Sara and Frank, I went to tell him I was leaving and he was gone, but the game was still in full swing! I was kinda confused, and as I entered the living room to investigate the game, I noticed Hike sitting out on the balcony looking into the livingroom. He had gone out for a sm0ke and instead of putting the game on pause, he took the controller with him and played through the glass door! This is a no smoking house and so he has to go outside to do so, but being caught up in the new game he didn't want to pause! Enjoy these pics!

Anna and the Bay Leaves.

2007-02-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

OK, so Anna and I both enjoy cooking and we often try a new recipe and then bring it to work the next day to share, and today while munching on the oatmeal raisin cookies I made last night, we started to discuss Bay Leaves. She uses them often, and I never use them. I know what they are because growing up I often found one in something my mom had made ( soups and sauces ), but I have never used them myself. Really, I don't know what they do! Do they change the flavor? I know that you are not supposed to actually EAT them, just cook with them and then remove them, so my question is this: You you ever use Bay Leaves? And if so in what? Do they change the taste or are they just something fancy to add? Let me know faithful Blog readers! (And yes, I do know that there are at least 9 people who read this Blog page at least once a week, so I want to hear from you! )

Song List.

2007-02-25T20:26:00.000-08:00

Favorite song from Childhood: Some where out there.
Fav. High School Dance Song: Red Red Wine ( probably because of the memory its associated with).
Fav. Senior Year Class Song: Don't remember but I think it was Brian Adams Every Thing I do, I do it for you.
Fav. Song that makes me think of College: Too many to recall!
Fav. Rock & Roll Song: Pour Some Sugar on it.
Fav. Disco Song: Disco? Huh? If I say John Travolta, will that pass?
Fav. Country Western Song: Black Eyed Susan.
Fav. Pop Song: Lets just say that I enjoy music from the '80's!
Fav. All time love song: One that was written just for me in College! Sigh...
Fav. Break up song: I want to know what Love is.
Fav. slow dance song: One more night.
Fav. Song that makes me cry: Angels among us.
Fav. song about my kids: I'll let you know when I have kids.
Fav. Song that reminds me of my Husband: I'll let you know when I am married.
Fav. Christmas Song: I have a few, Away in a Manger, Frosty the Snowman, I'll be home for Christmas, and Last Christmas.
Fav. Gospel Song: A Child's Prayer.
Fav. ring tone for a cell phone: I don't have a cell phone ( is that weird? ) but I think my fav is the one that sounds like an old telephone.

Tag! You are it!

Sunday Seven: Seven things I did today.

2007-02-25T18:35:00.000-08:00

This Sunday Seven is about the things I did today. It was a nice quiet Sunday, what did all of you do?

1) Had breakfast in front of the TV ( Underworld was on Chanel 47 ).
2) Called Alli and talked to her for about 15 min. I didn't have a lot to say because we spoke yesterday when I called to wish my Mom a Happy Birthday.
3) Cleaned out the fridge ( in doing this I decided to make stir fry for dinner tonight to use up some of the veggies before they went soft, and we had a few left over chicken breasts to chop up and toss in ). This also ended up with me doing the dishes to clean up the kitchen again.
4) Took a nice long shower, I am doing this at LEAST twice a day now because my back and hip[s are still really sore because of the accident.
5) Played some video games on the PS2 when Frank came over.
6) Went to the Dollar Store and Zellers.
7) Made 2 Lemon Meringue Pies with Frank for dessert, one for Hike and I, one for the Ichiki family.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!

2007-02-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Mom! I wish I could be there to help you celebrate, but I am thinking of you. Lots of people love you Mom, here are just a few!!!

Here comes the Judge!

2007-02-20T16:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, so in my past few weeks of recovery, I have had a LOT of time on my hands. My mobility was pretty limited, and because of the injuries to the right side, I could not even couchette until a few days ago. So, with all of this spare time, I have to admit that I have been watching ALOT of daytime television. I am not normally a big TV watcher, but with nothing else to do, I would watch TV between frequent medication induced naps! So to get to the point of this blog entry, is anyone aware of just how many Judge shows there are on TV? You know, the televised small claims court shows? Well, today I counted, and I came up with 8, maybe 9. Can you believe that? How many do we really need? And they are ALL american, go figure.
1) Judge Judy
2) Judge Joe Brown
3) Judge Millian
4) Judge Mathis
5) Judge Christina
6) Judge Alex
7) Judge Hatchet
8) Judge Maria Lopez
9) Judge Wapner - I don't know if he is still on TV or not, but I do
remember the name! *L*

FeFe & Alli.

2007-02-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

So what do you think? Who does FeFe look like???

The Accident.

2007-02-18T18:48:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, I know its been a while since my last update, but being hit by a bus has had me pretty immobile. I am still pretty sore and bruised and swollen, but at least I can walk with out assistance now! Trust me, that is a huge event for me these days. So anyway, here is my Sunday Seven: Seven people I think about often but rarely get to see.
1) Yvette Kyes ( sorry if that's spelled wrong 'Vette! ). We met in 1st year of collage but didn't really become good friends till second year. By third year we spent a lot of time together, both in classes ( Mr. Stevenson's Chem lab! ) and out of class ( movies ).
2) Abby Woods. We were never really close, but we always seemed to have serious chats with each other at the oddest of places ( while washing dishes at the Restaurant, or pumping gas at the Esso ). I wonder what she is doing now?
3) Jackie Baxter. I have known her since grade 7, and in high school she moved to Surrey. We kept in touch for a while but then drifted apart. I wonder if she is still in BC or made it back to Ontario.
4) Kim & Tamara. I baby sat Tamara all through high school, and she always gave me a run for my money! This kid had more energy then an entire class full of pre scholars. Kim is her mom, and we got pretty close.
5) TJ, my little brother. Enough said.
6) My Papa. I have not seen him in a few years, and though I send letters now and again, I don't get replys because his penmanship has gone downhill. Even though I don't hear from him, I do hear how he is doing from family members. I miss him, and think of him often!
7) My fellow Katimavikers! Some of us got closer than others, but I still think of all of you often and love to look through the photos of our adventures together!
8) I know this is the Sunday Seven, but I can't not add the Shkwarek Family. They are family friends, and its been years since we have visited, but I do think of all of them often!

Sunday Seven: Favorite Deserts!

2007-02-04T20:05:00.000-08:00

OK, I love Desert so much that sometimes when we dine out I order desert first just to make sure I have room for it! Some of my faves are:
1) Mountain Madness at White Spot. Frank and I have to share this one because its a huge mountain of cream puffs with real whipped cream stuffed in the crevices and chocolate and carmel sauce drizzled over it, its great!
2) Chocolate Tuxedo Muse cake from Save On Foods. One night I was craving cake ( and that is really unusual for me, I HATE cake ) so we picked one up at the grocery store, it comes in full slabs for $14.99 or half slabs for $8.99, so we got the half slab and ate the entire thing for dinner with big glasses of milk! It was great, but man were our tummies full!
3) Ice cream. 'Nuff said.
4) My moms Apple Pie, its so good, not to dry, the crust is nice and fluffy...yummy!
5) Cheese cake. I make a great no bake cheese cake that is just amazing! Every one loves it and when I top it with fresh strawberries, it disapears fast!
6) Lemon squares, these are great, when I make them they never last long enough for desert the next night. I think they are one of Hikes favorites!
7) Home made Chocolate Truffles, Hike is not really a Chocolate lover ( is he strange or what?!?!? ) but he can sit down with a tin of these and pop them into his mouth all night! They are easy to make, and oh so good!!!

Laundry night.

2007-01-31T19:51:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wonder what happens to that one sock that you always seem to loose en rout from the dryer to the sorting table? Well, tonight as I was pulling the cloths from the washer and loading them into the dryer, I matched all the socks just to make sure they were all there, and when I took them out of the dryer and started to fold the cloths, I still ended up with 2 missing socks! I had one white and one black sock with no matches! Exasperated, I searched the washer AND the dryer for the missing socks and came up empty handed. Now frustrated, I started to put the laundry away and started to drop the single socks into the old La Senza bag I toss all the other single socks into, and then I thought maybe I should just toss them out ( I don't know why I keep them, maybe for nights like tonight ), and picked up the bag. Well, I glanced inside and low and behold, I spotted a match! So, I dumped out the bag onto my bed and started sorting the socks and managed to pair up all but two socks ( and those two socks just happened to belong to Zach, he must have gone home with a miss matched set when he was here last spring, oops, sorry Alli! ). Now I have 8 more pairs of socks! How I managed to start out with the right number of matched socks to miss matches are beyond me, but hey, I found them *L*.

Sunday Seven: Favorite pass times.

2007-01-28T19:08:00.000-08:00

Here are Seven of my favorite ways to spend my leisure time:

1) Reading a good book. I love to read all types of books from Adventure to Romance, Young Adult to Fantasy, as long as it captures my imagination and pulls me right into the lives of the Charatcher, I'll read it!
2) Taking pictures. I love photography and have a portfolio that my friends and family all love to look at.
3) Playing with kids. I love to spend time with my nephews ( Hi Guys!! ) playing with their toys or outside, playing games and reading stories. Kids always remind you that no matter how clouded our views on the world can be with all the negativity we see in the news, there is always something great about it, even if it is something as small as watching a snail work its way across a rock or counting how fact it takes to run from the swings to the slide!
4) Sitting in the living room with all the lights off except for the one in the aquarium and watching the fish. Its so relaxing because they are so graceful.
5) I like to take a nice warm shower and then climb into bed between some crisp cool sheets and watch a movie or a good TV show.
6) Walks along the beach. I love to walk in the surf and collect interesting rocks or sea shells.
7) Going on long drives. I love to go on road trips.

Bowen Island.

2007-01-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

Frank and I took a day trip over to Bowen Island yesterday. Neither one of us had even been there before, but it was a pretty nice little community. The Ferry ride only took about 20 min, and we were able to drive all the way across the island ( length ways ) in under 10 min. We got some great photographs that I'll post when they are developed, and had lunch at a Galley that had an amazing view of the ocean and the mountains. The view reminded me of why I love to live on the west coast. In case nobody has heard of Bowen Island, it is the Island where the movie Double Jeopardy was filmed, you know, the one with Ashley Judd. Hope every ones week end is going well!

Birds...lots and lots of birds!

2007-01-26T21:07:00.000-08:00

My office faces a railroad track, and every day lots of locomotives haul their cargo past my office on their way to their destinations. I find it quite relaxing to first hear the train coming, and then see the engine roll by pulling either cargo or passenger cars. Well, today I did not hear the trains, but the birds, thousands of crows had swarmed my work complex and the tracks, and they were so loud! I would look out the window and the buildings on the other side of the tracks and see hundreds of birds lining the roofs of the buildings, the phone lines, the parking lots, railway tracks and trees/bushes surrounding the tracks. It was pretty creepy to hear them up on the roof, I could hear there feet scratching at the roof and more than once my office would go dark because a huge swarm of birds was flying at my office window. Now, I have not seen that movie about attacking birds, but I have seen clips on the Space Channel and man was I nervous. Walking home was hard because they were every where ( surprisingly enough I managed not to get pooped on or bomb dived ), and I am really scared of birds. When I was little, Nanny Sample had me help her gather the chicken eggs when we were at her place in Quebec ( Spring Road??? ) and I was so scared I was going to get pecked that I refused to go inside the coop, she thought she'd help me get over my fear of chickens by locking me in the coop, needless to say, the fear is now a phobia, and chickens are the worst for me!
So anyway, it was a strange day because of the birds, and I will never watch that scary bird movie. EVER.
Oh yes, I should mention that they were all there bacause a train hauling grain had passed by this morning, and it managed to spill a lot of grain all over the tracks in fromt of my office building. Trains often stop on the tracks right outside my office, I am not really sure why.

Papa's Pics.

2007-01-25T21:19:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of my favorite photos of my Papa, I'll try to add some from when we were younger when I get areound to digging out my photo boxes.

Thinking Summer...

2007-01-25T19:34:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking a lot about my Papa these past few months and remembering all the talks we had while together a few years ago, and I miss him. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with my Grand parents when I was growing up, but I do remember that every time they visited us in Kingston they took us to DQ for treats, and even in Medicine Hat Mom Papa and I used to walk over to DQ on a hot summer night and get treats, Papa always chose his favorite Dilly bar! I seem to remember a few treks over in the middle of the winter ( think - 20 ) to pick up a box of Dilly bars too! Papa always had a big grin on his face when he saw that box of treats! I think I may have inherited my sweet tooth from him! Anyway, Frank and I got to talking about a possible road trip out to Alberta this summer, so if we can both get some time off we'll be heading out to The Hat to spend a few days with Papa. I just hope we can manage to get the time off.
I am not at home right now so I can't add images to this post, but I will add some of my fav. Papa pics later this week/week-end.

Sunday Seven: A day late!!

2007-01-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

I missed my Sunday Seven yesterday, so here it is; I love to read, and here are 7 books that I have read in the past and really enjoyed!

1) The Cladi Collection, by Tanith Lee. It is a 3 part book that I read this past fall, and I loved it so much I finished the entire collection in 8 days!
2) The Seventh Princess, I forgetthe Authors name, but I read it back in fifth grade, and I really enjoyed it. I have read it over and over again!
3) I love the Xanth series by Pierce Anthony, its fiction and a lot of fun.
4) I have recently started to ready Nora Roberts non-fiction work. I was drawn right into her books and an now reading a third book by her.
5) Charlotts Web, an all time favorite!
6) Beauty and the Beast, I got it in a hard cover special eddition for Christmas one year, it is covered in royal blue velvet with a satin book marker, I believe that the cover and the ribon made reading the book all the more enjoyable!
7) There are so many more books out there that I really enjoyed, but being only able to list one more ( it is the Sunday Seven afterall! ) I would have to say I love the Childrens collection of I Spy books and Where's Waldo books. It's always fun searching for things!

All You Can Eat.

2007-01-20T20:43:00.001-08:00

Tonight a group of us went to an all you can eat Sushi restaurant for dinner, and man did the guys eat! Its a pretty nice place, and even though I only eat cooked things, Hike and Frank managed to eat enough for 4 people between the two of them! It was a fun night, but needless to say, both Hike and Frank are complaining of sore tummies tonight! I was originally planning a little Chocolate Fondue tonight while we watch a movie, but every one but me pigged out and I don't want to be the only one enjoying the Fondue, so it'll have to Wait for another night. I guess that is what I get for just eating enough to be comfortable full and not stuffed!

A Quiet Week.

2007-01-18T18:24:00.000-08:00

There has been nothing much happening here this week, its been pretty quiet, though it has gone by pretty fast! Every morning this week I have hit "snooz" on my alarm because I didn't feel well when I got up, and every morning I thought I may head home from work early for the same reason, but each day I felt much better by mid morning. It seems there is a bug going around and I am fighting it pretty hard! I really don't want to get sick right now, especially since I am concentrating on other health issues right now.
WARNING!! Stop reading here if you are squeemish!!!
It appears that my pacemaker has shifted. Again. The last time this happened I had to have surgery to adjust it ( that took place on 9/11, I remember being in pre-op with my friend waiting for my surgery. I was prepped and the news was on, all Hell broke loose because Kingston is so close to New York that our hospotals were being closed for emergancy over flow ). Metal stitches were used to close the muscle pocket in order to keep the device in place, so how it managed to shift again is beyond me. So now I have a bump the size of a tennis ball ( imagine the ball cut in half, it sticks out that far ) on my chest with a sharp edge poking up under my skin. It is irritating right now, and I am hoping that it manages to fix its self very soon! I hate visiting the Dr.
So, I hope you are all having a more exciting week than I am, but you know, quiet weeks are nice now and then, especially ones that tend to go by fast!

Sunday Seven: Pet Peeves.

2007-01-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I don't have a Thursday Thirteen like many other Bloggers do, but I think I may start my own personal Sunday Seven. So here goes:

7 Pet Peeves I Have:

1) Adults who go outside in cold weather and get all bundled up in boots, a hat, a scarf, nice warm mittens or gloves and a warm winter jacket, and they dress their kids in a spring jacket, running shoes, no mittens hat or scarf. While I was out today in -13 windchill, I saw this scenario 18 times.
2) People who spit.
3) People who talk on cell phones and yell into the receiver. Its like they forgot that it is a phone and not those tin can phones they made as children that are attached by a length of yarn.
4) People who walk directly in front of you just as you snap a photo.
5) Irresponsible pet owners. People who do not clean up after their pet and people who leave their pet outside all day/evening/night when he is barking to be let in ( happens every evening across the street where the dog stays outside tied to the front railing, and he barks for hours non stop. Rain, snow, hail, wind storm, hot and cold, he is always there ).
6) People who do not wipe the seat in a public bathroom. I mean, no body ever actually SITS on the seat, but at least clean it off anyway!
7) People who find it necessary to sit in the seat right in front of you at the movies when there are only a handful of other people there and PLENTY of seating room!

So, there are seven pet peeves of mine. and the funny thing is, I happened to encounter all seven of these things tonight!!!

Random Acts of Kindness.

2007-01-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had some stranger do something really nice for you, for no reason at all, and not expect anything in return? I have, and for some reason I was thinking about some of those kind strangers from my past today and thought I'd share with all of you...
One year, on December 13th, I was on my way home from picking up a friend at the air port when my car broke down on the side of the Highway. It was 11:00pm and -35 outside, so the roads were pretty empty. We sat in the freezing cold car for an hour waiting for my mom to come get us, but because it was so cold outside, she was unable to start her car! Luckily I had an emergency woll blanket and an emergency foil blanket in the car, but it just wasn't enough to really keep us warm. All of a sudden, a huge 18 wheeler pulled up behind us and a man dressed in a warm red sweater and a Santa hat climbed out and offered us a ride back to the rest stop & motel we had passed about 25 min before the car broke down. He loaded us into his Rig while he told us that he had passed us a while back and thought he should stop. It took him a while to find a place he was able to turn his huge truck around, pass us going the other way, and then turn it around again to come up behind us. Once we were loaded safely into the truck, he turned around again about 15 min up the road, drove us the now 40 min back to the rest stop. We were so thankful for his help that words can not express our gratitude!
Another time I was being driven to the air port o catch a flight when Hikes truck broke down. Again, a truck driver stopped and picked me up and drove me to the City Limit of Calgary where he had a cab meet me to take me the rest of the way to the air port, and I just barley made the flight on time!
If you are avid blog followers, you all know about the Doll of a Hair Dresser who worked for almost 2 hours to get the brush out of my hair with out chopping it all off!
When Ontario had the Ice Storm ( '96?? ) we were without electricity for almost 8 weeks ( yes, I said eight weeks ), and so we had no television. One of the towns about a 40 min drive away who had electricity by then also had a small movie theatre, and so Alli & I went to see a show. The next night, we returned to see the movie that was showing on the second screen. The next night, out of sheer bordem we decided to go back and see the first movie again! When the man who owned the theatre saw us back again he laughed and we started up a conversation. Well, he offered to let us in with no charge considering the situation, and he never let us pay again for the shows when we went to see a movie. What a nice man!!
Do you have any random acts of kindness to share? I know that I myself have bestowed random acts of kindness on several strangers because I have been fortunate to have been the recipient of so many, only a few of which are mentioned here.

Updates from Krista

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Mama Mia, post #100.

Concert review ( a bit late! )

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For your viewing pleasure!

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The mother of all colds.

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Box # 5.

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Happy Birthday Peck!!!

The cold.

Zachary the almost 7 year old!

SORRY!!! LOL