First Climb of the Season...

It's been a LONG time since I've sat down in front of the computer and blogged. Days, weeks, months even!

It hasn't been for a lack of anything interesting to write. Since my last post I've been to California and Victoria (wait patiently for Karyn's coming blog but make sure you have a cup of coffee or another beverage of choice while reading it as it's going to be LONG) and this past weekend we went out on our first hike. We climbed Mt. Burke which is located just west of Longview in Kananaskis country. As per norm, we hiked with our great friends Kevan and Leah and had a great time. The weather was beautiful with some clouds that offered great contrast for pictures. At the top of Mt. Burke is an abandoned fire look-out that we took some shots at and then hiked back down. Upon completion we came back to our place for our usual steak dinner apres the hike for a little wind-down.

I've added some pictures below. After continuous requests from Kevan I've started a Zooomr site which has a few more pictures. You can get to it by going to http://beta.zooomr.com/photos/43055@Z01

D

Making Up For Lost Time

I have had a serious lapse in blogging desire lately, which I will fully blame on my addictive personality and the world of Facebook which caters to that personality! I'll try to cover everything (blog-worthy) that might've gone on during my sabbatical from Blogger, but I'm not promising to remember it all!

A few weeks ago Duane and I, along with a few friends, went out to Golden, BC for a weekend of skiing/snowboarding. Well, I didn't...I just went along to get out of the city and to breathe fresh, mountain air! LOVE IT! Going away and having the chance to forget about work for a couple days is just awesome. We rented a 3 bedroom house while we were there, so it accommodated the group VERY well, and it was a great deal for everyone in the end; cheaper than multiple hotel rooms to house 10 people! Leah also didn't do any skiing as she had just had laser eye surgery a couple days beforehand. Besides, she didn't really enjoy Kicking Horse last time we went anyway, so she didn't really feel like she was missing out. Kevan was pretty sick the first day there...he'd been sick all week as well, so skiing wasn't really an option the first day. Was pretty weird going to a ski hill and not having Kevan go skiing! He went out the second day, though. During the week heading up to our ski weekend there had been quite a few days of mudslides, rockslides and avalanches in the Golden area, so the highway had been closed and we were concerned that we weren't going to get there in the first place! On the way there we only had a short delay on the east side of Golden where part of the road was still closed off as they cleaned up from a slide. Our luck ran out on the way back to Calgary, though. There had been another slide that afternoon while everyone was on the ski hill. Leah and I hadn't heard anything all day long, but I guess word got around on the hill, and when the group got finished for the day they told us that the highway was closed again. There wasn't the option of staying another night as most people needed to return to school or work on Monday morning, so the decision was made to take the long way out of town. I don't remember the name of the highway, but we took quite the scenic route! I almost enjoyed it more than Hwy.1! We went through the countryside and around through Radium, BC, where we stopped for some delicious pizza at a small pizza joint in town. There were some really neat rockfaces and mountains to see as we continued on through Radium. We got home much later than intended, but were still able to get a decent night's sleep before the week began.

At some point in March (I think), Duane took a business trip to California where he got to sightsee a few new places. He was in San Jose, San Fransisco and Benicia and was able to get some nice pictures along the way (which he posted a few of while he was still out there). I'll have to get him to post the others from San Fran on here later. I really wish I could go along with him on more of his trips, but I can't take much time off work, and it would get pretty pricey for me to fly with him around the country all the time! I was really hoping to go with him to Helena, Montana at the end of April, and I was convinced I would be able to get the time off work for a couple days, but I was denied the time and Duane will now be going alone. Boo that. It would have been a nice way for the two of us to celebrate my birthday, but I guess we'll have to do that here in Calgary instead :( Duane will also be heading off to St. John's, Newfoundland on the May long weekend, which I also can't join him for, partially because it's too expensive to fly there. I'm really quite annoyed at that, because I've always wanted to travel to the Maritimes and it would be neat to go with Duane so he's not having to sightsee alone. I think there's another trip he's just told me about that he has to go on in May, but I can't remember where. I thought this whole travel part of work was going to slow down to a bare minimum, since he told them he didn't want to do it anymore. I guess not, though.

Back in time a bit. In February Duane and I went to Whitewood, SK to visit with Sherri and Joe for a few days. FUN FUN FUN! I think this trip was probably the most fun out of all of our trips out there. Other times were fun, but this one actually had pre-planned events ready for us to partake in! We arrived pretty late at night(which isn't abnormal when you leave Calgary at 5:30 or 6 at night for a 9 hour drive!), and immediately crawled into bed. Saturday brought an afternoon of curling and mingling with church folk :) Man, that sport is PAINFUL! I felt like I was 80 years old! I think if I were actually doing it RIGHT, it probably wouldn't have been so bad, but gosh I had no idea what I was doing! My knees were sore, my arms, my back, and yes, my rear end too. Saturday night we all sat down and watched Ice Age. After church on Sunday we left to spend the evening in Fort Qu'Appelle with other pastors and their wives from the area. We were the odd ones out in that crowd! We went to a pizza place for dinner and just sat and chatted. There just happened to be a 5 week old baby boy amongst the group, and Sherri and I were quick to "borrow" Xander for..well...most of the evening. What a gem. Until he puked on me. Although, that wasn't really so bad either. It's pretty much just milk at that age anyway. I think he about threw up his whole body weight in milk all over my back, though...and I was lucky I had my suitcase and clean clothes to change into (which I didn't even do until we were at the camp for the evening). Man, was he cute! Once at the camp, we all sat down to play games, and after that went downstairs for a movie. Another late night! Monday morning...Family Day..Duane and I hopped in the car and headed home.

Fast forward a bit to the end of March/beginning of April. I was off work for a week while the kids were on Spring Break, and initially Duane and I were going to head out to Chicago for a work trip, but that fell through and our plans changed. We decided it would be really fun to surprise the parents and show up in Abbotsford! So we did! I had Jody do some sneaking for me to find out when mom would be at work, so we were able to plan it well :) Friday night we drove to Salmon Arm and spent the night at Carene and Dave's place...I think I've had enough sleep-overs in the last year to make up for all the nights Carene left my place in the middle of the night as kids! Right Carene? *wink* We owe them big-time! That was fun times, as always, and Saturday morning before Dave left for work, we all went out for breakfast. Check out the size of my pancake!! AYE CARUMBA!! Needless to say, I didn't eat it all. It was a lot of pancake. Good, but a bit much. We got on the road again after breakfast, and just outside of Hope we stopped for a break at Othello Tunnels. We really didn't have a time schedule for the day because mom was working and we didn't know what dad was up to. We knew we could surprise mom at work or at home and probably get the same reaction, so we weren't in too much of a hurry to get to the mall before it closed. I hadn't been to Othello Tunnels since my grade 7 campout in '94 and I thought it'd be fun to see it again...and I figured Duane would enjoy a photo opportunity or two...and he did! I don't even know how long we spent there, but we got quite a few pictures(again, I'll get Duane to add some once he's edited them). We left there with enough time to surprise mom at the mall before it closed, and boy was she surprised! I honestly wish we had taken the camera in with us because it was PRICELESS! We got the reaction we were looking for, that's for sure :) That night Duane and I made dinner for the parents (which turned out AMAZINGLY!) and then the rest of the evening was spent relaxing at home while watching a movie. Sunday was a regular church day and lunch at home of soup and grilled cheese as always! We had the chance to go visit Karen and Graham that evening and take Ava her present...a new outfit that I bought in Golden when Duane was skiing. Shopping for babies is so much fun! Anyway, we had a great night visiting, and Ava was allowed to stay up late to visit with us :) Early Monday morning we left my parents house to catch the 7AM ferry to Victoria so Duane could start work by 10AM. Well, about halfway to the ferry it started snowing! Driving turned slow and mucky, and it was still dark. Neither of us really remembered how to get to the ferry from the last time, so the snow and dark didn't help. In the end, a couple wrong turns cost us a lot of extra time, and we only got to the ferry at 7 and missed our reservation. That pretty much sucked and we were both in a foul mood for awhile. That is, until we realized that it wasn't really either of our faults. It was really a BORING two hour wait until the 9AM ferry. Duane phoned his boss and let him know that we were watching the ferry pull out of the dock, and we weren't on it! By the time we got there, Duane didn't start working until after 1. I spent a lot of that day walking around downtown just checking things out, as well as a short drive into west Victoria just for the sake of something to do, and then I relaxed and watched TV until Duane finished work. We took a late-night walk into Beacon Hill Park, but it was pretty dark and we couldn't see much, so we didn't spend too much time there. After Duane and I went for lunch with his boss and his wife on Tuesday afternoon(when I just happened to wake up with a cold), I got my hair permed, which took up a good 4 hours of my day, and the girl doing it was new and had only been at the salon for a week. She did a pretty good job, I guess, but it took WAY too long in my opinion! It was kind of fun to spend the day with a bunch of girls my age joking and just talking about stuff though! There were only a few male customers in during my whole stay, so there was a lot of girl-talk! Duane was nice and surprised when I returned to the hotel room with curly hair! We headed out to Beacon Hill Park right away to take some daylight shots with his new lens before it got too dark. Our walk ended up being 2 and a half hours long! That park is huge, and we didn't realize how close the ocean was to where we were, so we took a short walk on the beach as well and saw the very end of the sunset. Our tummies were extremely hungry by the time we were done, and we went straight for food. I went for breakfast with Duane early on Wednesday morning before driving back to the ferry terminal so I could go home. I had a chiropractor appointment late that afternoon, which was most definitely needed! First, however, I needed to GET home! Let me explain. Getting to the ferry in Victoria was nothing; I had to take one road from the hotel and keep on going until I got to the terminal. Easy. Getting back to my parent's place on the other side? Apparently not so easy. I thought I knew how to read signs, and I also thought I knew how to get home! It turns out that I misread a sign, and in the end I was heading to the US of A! By the time I realized where I was bound, I had a few seconds to whip into the very last exit on the Canadian side of the border to get myself going the right way. I had to stop at a couple gas stations along the way to ask for directions(what ever would I do without the direction-giving gas attendants?), but I FINALLY made it home....in time for my chiropractor's appointment. And I think I'm at the point where I'm needing another one. I spent the rest of Wednesday by myself because I still didn't feel 100%. I really didn't want to share my cold with anyone...and I think my friends are glad I didn't! However, a few days ago I received an email from Karen announcing that she and Ava had yet another cold!! She wanted to know what she should expect from this particular bout, and I think she's getting over it now, but Graham has caught it. Oops, my bad. Duane returned to the mainland on Thursday evening, so Stacey joined me for my journey to Tsawassen to retrieve him :) Fun times! We didn't get lost! Yay us! We made Duane drive home though...I didn't want to risk ending up at the border again :) Once back in Abby, we went for dinner, which was a MUCH longer process than you would think. It happened to be a Canucks game night, so most restaurants with TVs were full, and staff levels were down. It pretty much sucked, and by the time we actually got to order we were starved! The food ended up being sort of anti-climactic since we were so darn hungry. Our tummies got filled and we wet home for a long night of sleep :) Although it wasn't TOO long because we had to get up in order to go to Good Friday service at mom's church. It was a beautiful, music filled service which brought me to tears.
Our weekend consisted of a walk through the park, taking pictures, going to an inaugural bonfire in Mission at Darla's house, and spending more time with Karen, Graham, and Ava. We went for dinner at a brand new White Spot in town(and it was pretty cushy!), and had a great time just chatting and filling our stomachs with yummy food :) Oh, and taking pictures of Ava, of course..what a sport! She quite enjoys the camera and smiles when a lens is pointed at her! Irresistible! It was hard, as always, to say goodbye at the end of the night, but it's good to know we'll be back in a couple months for more fun! Maybe I'll even get to go to another night of fire...THAT was entertaining! I still can't get over how super yummy those cosmopolitans were!! Thanks Darla and Stacey! We might just get me loopy yet! ;)
Sunday was our last day and we spent it at church, eating with the whole family, and playing games. We had our big Easter turkey dinner that evening, and we had a great time laughing and catching up. Then it was time to say goodbye to my sister and her boyfriend as they headed out, and Duane and I headed to bed before our early send-off on Monday morning. And boy, was it early. Thank goodness mom woke up with the birds and made us some coffee to tide us over! Thanks mom! We did stop a short ways down the road for a re-fill though :) And, of course, then we had to stop shortly after THAT for a potty break...and more coffee ;) It took us awhile to get going that morning, but we did eventually make it home in great time. It felt really good to be back home and sleep in our own bed, let me tell you! Sleeping in the car and sleeping in strange beds really doesn't do well for my system, or Duane's, but we made it through with enough sleep to keep us functioning!
I'll be sure to do another post with pictures...because there are SO many, and too many to fit on this already-too-long post! Man, why can't I just paraphrase??

~K~

Good Gosh!

Ok, seriously! I really need to post something worthwhile soon! Right now I'm posting just so there's a post :) And if I don't get going, I'm going to be late for work;can't have that! I have a bit of exciting news to post about, but that'll have to wait until later...and really, it's just a BIT..nothing to get worked up about ;)
Ciao for now!

~K~

For Mom

Hi mommy! We got your message! Don't worry, we're ALIVE!!! We've been busy like bees, but we'll update soon!! Golden was good to us though we almost got stuck another day...thank goodness there was another road out!
Alrighty faithful readers..we'll be back!

~K~

And Away We Go!

We're off to Golden for the weekend...and we're pretty sure we can make it there. We weren't so sure until 4 o'clock when we finally checked the road report. The reason for our concern was because there have been two highway closures in the last couple days because of mud slides and rock slides on the Trans-canada JUST before Golden. Anyway...we're going as soon as our last passenger gets here...Duane just said he hates waiting around. I was home REALLY early from work today, so we could've left about an hour ago if we would've known I'd be that early. Matt had to come all the way from Lethbridge first, so he probably couldn't get here any sooner anyway.
I wanted to apologize for my lack of blogging. I've been addicted to Facebook since I joined. I have been spending EVERY spare minute loading pictures and adding new things to my page, so I haven't bothered blogging 'cause most people who read the blog are also on Facebook. Today I spent my 5 hour break...yes, the WHOLE thing...on Facebook playing with pictures. Sick.
I think I need to pry myself away from the computer for now and go wait with the rest of them.
~K~

So funny!

All you Abby-ites...check this out!! Found it on Facebook :) Yes, I caved and joined in on the new craze.

~K~


You know you're from Abbotsford when...

1. Everything can be normal until you are infested with the deep scent of curry.
2. You find out Abbotsford has the worst property crime in the country... usually by experiencing it.
3. You aren't sure whether marijuana is legal or not.
4. You think that you've grown up in India
5. Everyone in West Abbotsford knows how to swear in Punjabi and everyone in East Abbotsford knows how to swear in Korean. 씨발!
6. You see a gas station on every corner.
7. You see a church on every corner.
8. You see a grow-op on every corner.
9. Five degrees is really cold and twenty is really hot.
10. Going to the only mall is really boring and stupid.
11. Rain is a part of daily life.
12. Berries are the best thing from Abbotsford.
13. You live right outside the barrier of "Greater Vancouver"
14. You live in the crappiest metropolitan area in the country.
15. Street names aren't numbers, but names of birds, mountains and everything that starts with "Mc/Mac"
16. You don't think seven hockey arenas is enough.
17. Your mayor is an octagenarian.
18. You know when the Diwali festival is.
19. You know when the Berry Festival is.
20. School is cancelled when there is only 10 centimeters of snow.
21. You've grown accustomed to the smell of cow manure in the morning. *deep inhale* ahhhhhhh!
22. Going to Vancouver is a long day trip.
23. You use the Trans-Canada highway to get around
24. It takes 10 years to plan and build a hospital, and your council wants to complete all Plan A projects in just over a year.
25. Someone asks you where you're from, and you answer, "Vancouver."
26. You tell someone you're from Abbotsford and they ask, "Where?"
27. Bowling is the highlight of your day.
28. Blueridge is the hot nightspot.
29. You know what the "big orange bubble" is
30. You know how to spell and pronounce "Trethewey"
31. You know where Hedley came from and are ashamed of it.
32. You don't need Playland, because we have the Agrifair.
33. You've noticed our 'water tower' is really a cheese tower.
34. You pretend to like everyone because you know that once you graduate, you're outta here.
35. You spend way too many nights hanging out in the 7-11 parking lot
36. You know what the 'mechanical vacuum gorillas' are.
37. You know that Wonderland is not a place in Ontario
38. You sit on a bench which is actually a paint palette, farm machinery or a creepy guy.
39. You've never been on public transit until you move to Vancouver.
40. You know that, despite what the sign says, the name of our club is Shitty Limits.
41. Tim Hortons.
42. You miss seeing the mountains after moving away
43. You can't wait to move somewhere else.
44. The flea-market is a must-go-to-event on Sunday... after everyone goes to church of course
45. You have been part of the glory days partying up on Sandy Hill before there were houses there
46. Castle Fun Park (Wonderland) is the "choice" site for drug deals and criminal activity
47. The street chosen to host our biggest hotel development plan is known as "Hooker Ave"
48. You see ten people that you know walking two blocks to a convenience store
49. A "fair fight" consists of you eating the boots of 20 of the toughest people in existence.
50. You realize the automall is bigger than the actual mall.
51. You hate Chilliwack. I mean the Chillbillies.
52. You develop asthma.
53. You are the drainage center for all of Washington and Vancouver's pollution.
54. You get excited when 10 cm of snow is forecasted, since school might be cancelled.
55. Your school board is retarded because they made decisions about opening school before it has started snowing.
56. Your city was the murder capital and bible belt of Canada.
57. You don't get excited about Christmas lights anymore because people keep them up all year round.
58. Selling crack is a rewarding and prosperous career.
59. You can't help but notice the odd piece of clothing on your cab driver's head. If you ever take a cab.
60. The flea-market is a must-go-to-event on Sunday... after everyone goes to church of course.
61. Someone tell you what their religion is, you usually have to ask them to repeat themselves.
62. School lockdowns and school vandalism are no longer a reason to gossip. Days where nothing happens however...
63. You've seen all the signs, yet you still have NO idea what "PLAN B" is...
64. You know that the 'Grand' cinema is not so grand...
65. The banning of firecrackers/fireworks only increases sales
66. It takes moving to Ontario to appreciate Abbotsford
67. Castle Fun Park will ALWAYS be Wonderland...
68. You have two movie theaters in your town yet you still go to Mission or Langley to catch a flick.
69. Going into town means going into an actual town ie. Vancouver. Nobody even bothers to mention that they're going to Sevenoaks anymore, it sucks too much

Pretty Flakes!!

While Duane was gone, we had a bit of snow again. I really have this thing with flakes. I love them! They're so intricate and individual. Beautiful, really. It's pretty amazing to me how they're ALL DIFFERENT! Not one is the same. I was heading out to my lunch shift and had a few flakes fall on my coat and I had the camera, so I took some pictures :)
I thought I'd share a couple with you all!
*You'll have to click on them to see the actual detail*(sorry for the blurry-ness...it's kinda hard to get detail without getting really close)

What a guy!

Duane returned from his week-long escape to sunny San Jose on Wednesday afternoon. That afternoon I had left the car at home and walked to work thinking, "If I leave the car here, maybe he'll pick me up at 5." Wrong. Sadly, he wasn't there when I leapt off my bus at the end of the work-day. I had pretty much expected him to read my mind and be there. I set myself up for disappointment. I sulked home, trudging up a slippery, muddy back alley hill/mud bog with a throbbing headache. I think that is thanks to the current chinook winds we've recently had...they seem to cause headaches in quite a few people I know. Back to my point.
I made it home in just over 10 minutes...a little longer than the usual 7...and noticed that the car was backed into the driveway; that wasn't how I left it! Duane's been out. I figured he'd gone to drop off all the gear from the trip back to the office. I slowly climbed the 6 or 7 steps to the front door and flopped inside expecting Duane to come a-runnin'. Nope. I stood there for a minute or two and said, "hello?" in a meek, sickly way, and finally he came! I actually DID feel sickly; headachy and lightheaded actually. I welcomed him home and suggested that we BBQ for dinner because it was so nice outside. Apparently he'd already thought of that...he'd gone out and bought STEAKS for dinner!! He mashed up potatoes and cooked up veggies and he even decorated the table so nicely!! What a guy! He gets home from a long trip and cooks up this big, fantastic-tasting dinner! For me!! I think I pretty much love him! *giggle*

Here's the sight I came home to!

For dessert, he had a yummy peach-raspberry pie warming in the oven!

The way to any girl's heart is through her stomach, right? ;)

~K~

Pictures from San Jose

As some of you already know, from reading Karyn's blog, I'm currently in San Jose as part of a trip for a library conference and a deployment at a library. It's been a long trip thus far and it's only been 3 days!

I left the house Thursday morning at about 4:15am and arrived in San Francisco at about 9:00am. From there I drove to San Jose and immediately went to work setting up an internet cafe for the PLA Spring Symposium. During the course of the day I ended up working about 14 hours and was exhausted by the end. Yesterday and today I was at the conference tending the internet cafe and networking with librarians starting at 7am. Yesterday I had to stay until 6pm, today I was done the internet cafe at 12:30 and then spent about an hour and a half tearing down and packing. By about 2:00pm I was done for the day and had a chance to go explore San Jose.

This city certainly offers a number of neat buildings to photograph. I was especially impressed by their City Hall as it has a glass dome surrounded by metal bars (see below). I really liked shooting reflections of buildings in windows and had some neat perspectives from those.


Tomorrow (today now I guess!) I'm off to Benicia to do my system installation and hopefully I'll have a chance to take some pictures there as well.

D

Random thoughts...or not thoughts so much...

Good gosh, I've been bad at blogging lately! There's so seriously nothing going on in my life that is WORTH blogging about. Or maybe there is, but it wouldn't make for a very interesting blog. I know these first few lines are reminiscent of one of my last posts, but hey, what can I do? We're not moving so I can't go on about that. I work the same job, with the same kids, every day all day. My evenings consist of eating and watching TV before I go to bed at 9. Surprisingly, I'm usually tired at that early hour. The kids wear me out...just from talking to me! Somewhat ridiculous, don't you think? This is a great illustration as to why I don't want to have kids right away! I'm tired after TALKING to them! I sure wouldn't be able to handle working and then coming home to my own and having to DO something with them! Kidding...I'm sure we'd work it out. :) I love little kiddies. OOOHHHH!!! Speaking of kiddies...my dear and wonderful friends Katie and her husband Allan, are having a baby in September!! WOOOHOOO!!! I'm pretty excited that Duane and I are going to be able to spend quality time with them, rebuilding our friendship that had kind of fizzled. And then we'll move. But I'm really glad that I'll be able to be here and watch her grow and learn to be an amazing mother! I know she and Allan will be FANTASTIC parents!
Ummmm...my driver was sick today...I really wanted to be more sick today so I didn't have to go to work. Unfortunately, when my regular driver is off, I have to train someone else and not focus on the kids. Yes drivers have mapbooks, but there are so many tricks to driving on Calgary's roads, that I feel the insatiable desire to tell them how to drive and which are the best roads to use at certain times of the day. Besides, if a driver goes "the wrong way", the kids absolutely freak out! They have no fear in telling the driver so, either. Then I pretty much don't need to bother. Except that I have the ability to explain, then, where the "right way" is.
Duane is gone for a week...or almost a week, to sunny San Jose, CA. Pretty much wish I were there. I'm absolutely tired of driving on the yucky, ice-packed sidestreets in this city. They're do-able, I guess. And since I have no other option, I guess I should deal with it.
Speaking of the car...I washed it today! It's blue again! We haven't washed it in, what, a month...almost two maybe?! There's no point when the roads are the way they are. Slush and muck. I figured since Duane's gone, it's the weekend, I won't be going too far....so it can jolly well sit in the driveway for a couple days and look pretty again. :)
Sunday afternoon will consist of joining my bro-in-law at Karen's orchestral performance at the Rosza Centre at the U of C. She plays flute, and I haven't had the opportunity to hear her stuff yet. Should be enjoyable!
Ok, this is seriously the most boring and random blog I've posted in awhile. I suppose it beats nothing though!
I'm gonna go eat my mac and cheese. I eat really healthy when Duane's gone :)
And I'll probably end up having a movie marathon night...alone...since I don't have to go to bed!! Alone...yup, fun.

~K~