Oh my goodness, I worked my Tushka off in the yard today. Got it mowed, did a bunch of other work, including hanging my hammock that I bought in Ecuador. It is so pretty and I love the view from it.
I also built my new cat tree, which I had to modify a little bit because my ceilings are dropped and I had to leave a section out. It took Missy a little bit to get used to it, but I put treats on each level and in the basket and she did claim them all. It is such a better fit for the space as the other one came quite far out into the room. Plus, I think it’s cute as a button.
I also unboxed my new Paderno cooking set and washed it ready for use. I love it very much and got it half price at the Canadian Tire grand reopening.
I took all my recycle and dropped off my old set of pots at the Salvation Army thrift store, stopped to pick up my cooler from Monica’s and drop off a wine holder and was invited to join them for food at the Heid-out and an evening around the fire. Raced home and had a shower and join them there along with Jessica, Jody and Jen. It was truly a lovely evening and exactly what I needed to just hang out with lovely people, cracking jokes and telling stories.
The only disappointing part of my day really was seeing that sometime yesterday someone turned around in my driveway, clearly in a truck and left marks in the new pavement. Sigh I can’t have anything nice.
I was woken out of a dead sleep at 7:30 this morning. The guys were here from the paving crew to move my carport back into place. I showed them how there was a dip right where I have to walk to get into my car that would hold water and freeze in the winter. It is also right under the Cross bar of the carport and it’s supposed to be on level ground, but there is a big gap. Steve assured me that they would come back to fix it. They will have to patch it and then next year come back and seal the whole surface so the patch doesn’t show. For $6500 plus tax you better believe they had Best come back and fix it.
It did get me into the office earlier and I got a lot done today including booking appointments for mom setting up our Canada, dental renewal, etc. etc. I took time to go have lunch with the Watson’s and the Campbell’s at Ella’s and that was lovely sitting out on the deck. It’s been a nice visit and they head home tomorrow. On the way there I noticed on my navigation system in the car that the service BC office looks like a little jail or castle with survive BC lol
During lunch, I apologized to everyone, but had my phone going watching Lukas’s rugby game as Mount Baker is in the playoffs in Chilliwack. It was hard to see on YouTube on my phone as I couldn’t zoom in well I was excited to see that they won 19 to 15 only to find out that the scorekeeper had the scores backwards and they’d actually lost. That’s kind of a big mistake. The scores were correct just for the wrong teams.
After work, I came home and made some tempura prawns to take to Poker night, had a bite to eat and stopped for a short visit with Monica before heading to the game.
I think I was ninth out of 18. I lost my final hand with an ace and king of diamonds. Sad beat but it was fun.
Today I hosted the guest speakers at the Rotary lunch John and Debbie gave a great presentation about Active Cranbrook. They are doing great things to keep people active into their later years
Leanne Rick and I made more plans signing up for the western showcase and dinner event at Rotary convention in June. It’s expensive because unfortunately everything is in US dollars but we decided this would be a fun one to go to.
I went and visited Mom and helped her take care of a few things and picked up paperwork that needs to be dealt with before heading to Encore for Disney Pixar trivia night.
Sean, Diane and Zoe are in town from the island and the whole Watson family joined and we were not even close to winning, but we had a lot. It was good to hang out with old friends.
I was disappointed to get home and see that my carport is still not been moved onto my driveway, which is promised me by the pavers. It was supposed to happen Monday or Tuesday and then today for sure and I hope they do it tomorrow because I don’t wanna go through a whole other weekend with it out in the roadway.
I had to spend some time when I got home clearing all the branches that blew down during the crazy herring weather we had today . A storm blew in and blew out and blew in again over the few hours while we were playing the game. 
I have a widget on my phone and I noticed that I made a bit of a milestone so I thought I would recognize it. Thank you to all of you that read the tedium of my life. I hope that it brings you a little bit of joy.
Today was just kind of regular, except for the fact that I had a tattoo appointment at noon. Jeff once again took what was going on in my head and turned it into the most beautiful piece of art. I want to cry when I look at it because of how gorgeous it is and the memories that it brings back of my trip to the UK. One of the first things we did was go to the hundred acre Wood and then of course we went to Paris for the day, as one does. I now have the perfect permanent memory of my trip spent with the beautiful family Hearnden.
When I got home, it was really hot 41° on my weather station outside and way too hot inside
It is 1010 at night and still 20° outside remarkable for this time of year
I got myself to the office in time for a 930 zoom introduction to the upcoming Rotary international conference. I learned a lot about what to expect and was grateful to learn about downloading the app that would show my schedule and all the events of the week.
After getting a ton of work done, I headed to Key City Theatre to volunteer for the Mount Baker scholarship awards night.
I was so impressed with how the parents and grandparents and family friends were dressed to the nines for the night. There were very few who weren’t. The whole evening was lovely and I’m so impressed with Cranbrook and all the organizations and companies that support our students. There were 81 awards in all and I was super thrilled to see that Jake Wishart, one of Gene’s best friends received two awards.
The morning was lovely as I got all the boys off to school. I had treated them with my Revive smoothies which made them happy. I drove Will and Sawyer to school before heading home to shower and ready for the day.
I got a lot done at work and then headed to Cranbrook Golf Club for the Rotary installation dinner where the torch was passed from President Joe to new President Rick. A good time was had and a good laugh when I was fined $2 by Sargeant at Arms, Darcy Kennedy for telling him I was Hot. This of course, was in reference to my sunburn. He is passed fire chief. I knew not to argue with a sergeant at arms. So I waited until 50 bucks and then gave five dollars to say.” when you’re hot, do you not ask for a fireman?” The crowd laughed, and it was a hit of the night. I do so love being a Rotarian.
Norm MacGee getting his special presentationEdNew present Rick JensenPast president Joe Gowan
I’m not sure why I woke up so early but I had a nice morning and Gene decided that we should all go to Mineral Lake and bring hotdogs and he’d bring the paddleboard for me but I asked if we could stop at my place and put the proper roof rack on for my kayak and bring it instead, which we did. I had a little bit of PTSD driving out to the lake as the last time I had it on the roof was when the whole rack came off on my old car and destroyed the roof. The new holder seems to work really well though, and the kids were super helpful and we had a lovely time out there only Paul wasn’t with us as he had stayed overnight at a friends. Before we left Lukas and Gene prep the ham and put it in the oven on a timer so that we could have family dinner tonight.
Sawyer came with me on the way back and just the two of us managed to take the kayak off the car and put it back at my house and then get him home in time to take a shower and I dropped him off at a birthday party at Idlewild Park disc golf . I then stopped at Savon and picked up Caesar salad and a couple of kinds of ice cream and strawberries and cookies and waffle, cones, and all the good stuff. In the meantime Gene made roasted veggies to go with the ham and everyone was excited to eat out at the picnic table and enjoy the glorious day a bit further.
The guys all played to spike the net game and really enjoyed the competition. It looked like eventually it was time to calm down the two younger ones so will Sawyer and I headed in to ready for bed. I took a shower only to discover that I had put sunscreen on everyone else but myself. Will nicely got the aloe vera Aftersun to put across my back and shoulders and then I put it across my front and arms and hope for the best that I don’t blister and peel like crazy. I should’ve known better first time out this year. Actually, I did know better. I made sure the kids are all covered.
We played a couple Mario party mini games before sending them off to bed and once again I am playing a little bit of Tetris before I have an early night from all of the sun and fun.
I set an alarm and got up at a decent time because it was ABC Zoom morning. I spent an hour and a half or so chatting with them and then Will Sawyer and I took all my thrift store stuff and Ashlée’s reusable bags to the Salvation Army after dropping off my cans and bottles to Lukas, who was sorting them with Pere. From there, we went to the 1 o’clock movie of Minecraft. It was actually a lot of fun for his little as I know about the game. I knew enough to be entertained and of course Jack Black and Jason Momoa were brilliant.
EliasPaul and Max
Afterwards we went to Canadian Tire as it was there grand reopening and 30 times the Canadian Tire money so I bought stuff that I needed for the yard and a new set of Paderno pots. They were on basically 52% off. Then we went to Top Crop so I could research flowering and or pretty bushes for my yard. Came away with quite a few, and the plan managed to fit it all, including the dirt and mulch and everything needed for planting into my car. We went to my house and spent several hours getting it all done. Will worked very hard and Sawyer was a good helper. I think it looks very, very beautiful. We gave it all a good water and then came home.
Once here we all had something to eat and then Elias made it home and we all played Mario party and of course the team of Will and Elias beat Sawyer and I, but it was very close and we had fun. I am now playing Tetris 999 which is a game. I have always loved very much. I shall try not to stay up all night, but there are 999 lines to beat
I realized as I lay in bed that the pavers were coming today and that I was staying over with the grandkids the next three nights as R&R went to Mazatlan, so I got my butt out of bed to pack and load my car.
It was mid afternoon when I got a text from Tracey that the pavers were at my place. I raced over there in time to show them where I needed the fence post holders hammered in. I really enjoyed watching the whole process of the bathing and had some great chats with the guys. Even Rick the owner of power paving stop by laughed and called me Foreman. It’s perfect timing since I’m staying at the kids as I can’t drive on it for three days. They promised to come back next week early and put my carport back in place. I flipped the loony into the middle of the driveway and it landed heads up and they paved over it for good luck.
Back at the office I got a lot done before meeting Rosie and Mom at Ella’s for dinner where Rosie uncle Bryan & Auntie Lynne bought mom (& me) dinner for her birthday. it was a lovely visit and a delicious dinner.
I then came to the house and laughed because I had so many texts from the boys or the last couple hours checking in and asking for friends to stay over and places to go, etc. It actually was pretty great. Once I got there, Sawyer and his friend Jacob and Will and I all played Mario party on the switch. It used to be Jake and my favourite game. We had a lot of fun and then came downstairs to settle the three of them in the living room where they desperately want to sleep. I sat at the dining room table, reading my book and waiting for Paul one of the Homestay student and his friend Max to come home. Everyone has been very respectful and I am heading off to bed because I am exhausted.
Got a lot done at work, enjoyed Rotary lunch. It was special that Rick acknowledged the crib board I made and how much it earned at convention he also told the story of spilling his beer on me to much amusement. I told about my visit to the Vancouver meeting and we all sang happy birthday to Ashley.
After work I stopped to put things in Gene’s freezer and had a good hug from Will. I met Sawyer in the street and we had a good snuggle. We are all looking forward to me staying there for the next three nights as R&R leave for Mazatlan tomorrow.
I had a short visit with Rae-Anne at Encore before Brett and then Ashley showed up for trivia. We had fun and came in second winning tickets to a show that we agreed the birthday girl should have.
Up and off to Home Depot for fence post holders that can be put in and paved in.
Worked all day with a client’s auditors. Had a nice lunch at Firehall with Rae-Anne to catch up.
After work I headed for dinner at Dave and Deb’s to plan the details of our Rome portion of the trip. A search of many spots led us to a condo with two bedrooms and two bathrooms in the Trevere area where we wanted to be at a reasonable price. It was a lovely evening and another part taken care of made us more comfortable.
At o e point in the afternoon a couple arrived at my office door to drop off the painting that Dan Riordan did for me. I had bought the painting and was going to pay for it to be shipped but his sister and her husband were coming through on the way to Alberta and brought it. Very kind.
I had a decent sleep last night and woke up at a decent time, thank goodness. I was enjoying my first coffee when I got a call and power paving was in my neighbourhood and ready to come prep. I asked for half an hour so I could jump in the shower and be ready and suddenly there was a whole crew at my door. They were absolutely amazing because I was not at all ready for them. They even dug up my bulbs and put them into pots moved to all of my things very nicely, unscrewed all the fence and things that needed to be and started removing the pavement in my three car parking area and the walkway to my steps. Thank goodness the landscapers came yesterday lol
At the office, I managed to get a great deal done on an audit for one of my main clients as well as some other things before the day was suddenly over. I swung by Encore for a bevvy and a catch up with Rae-Anne. She didn’t have much time so we are going to try to get together for lunch tomorrow. I was so thrilled when I got home to see the prep work. I hope they can pay it soon because my carport is against my neighbor’s fence on the road.
I do need to go get a couple of fence post holders put in place so that they can be paved in and solid. I should probably do that tomorrow.
After the call from Sawyer last night, I could not get to sleep so I crashed once I finally fell asleep and got out of bed at 11:30. I really needed that. The family made a beautiful final resting place for Obi and Rae shared what Sawyer wrote in the book out at the cabin. So so very touching.
I went to the office and ran one of my payroll before Ashlée came and picked me up to go for lunch at Quesada. We had a nice visit and I was happy to hear it was just a visit. There was no bad news to share. She had come down from Edmonton since she has a dentist appointment in Calgary tomorrow and thought it would be great to see the family. I am happy that she wanted to spend time with me.
She dropped me back at the office and I got another big payroll done and a bunch of data entry before coming home to find the Weed Warriors had been here and done an amazing job on my yard. They left the hose draped over the fence and didn’t put up my lights in a nicer way in the tree as they had promised, but I was so happy with the results it didn’t matter. I spent some time putting my hoses back down where they belong and just enjoying how beautiful it all was. A little later I received a message that they had to hurry to get to the transfer station and we come back tomorrow to deal with the hoses and the lights. I highly recommend them and think I will use them more often.
I was very happy to find that my Fluevogs came with treats and a card. This whole experience restored my faith in the brand and I can’t wait to wear my new shoes tomorrow if it’s not raining. 
I had a day of unpacking and resting and then I just received a very sad call
Sawyer called to tell me that Obi had died. My poor sweet grandson was beside himself with grief. Devastated that he couldn’t say goodbye because he was already dead. Hearing the pain in his voice was so hard. It happened out of the cabin and they will find him a proper resting place. It will take Sawyer the longest probably because he has never known a world without Obi. Here are a few of the pictures that I have.
I got up and ready, had coffee with uncle Bryan and aunt Lynne, breakfast with Rosie, and then loaded stuff and Mark into the car and off we went. Thankfully, it is a nice day. We only went in and out of a couple of little cloudbursts, otherwise it was sunny and pretty. In spite of it being Saturday of a long weekend, there weren’t as many idiots on the road as my mother calls them.
We listen to Daisy Jones and the six on Audible, chatted a bit, and made it to Kaslo. Town is very busy as it is May days there. I drop Mark with assurances that he would be fine before finding a parking spot and wandering down town to the market to pick up some food to eat before going to see Daphne and meet her partner Dean. They have a wonderful kayaking/adventure store. We had a nice talk before I left. She called me an angel, but I think she is as she really spends a lot of her time looking out for Mark because he has no one else. I did the perceived hero thing by driving him there and being at the hospital and getting him back, but that was a short term thing. He is very grateful and he is making a plan to pay me back for gas and parking which I would really appreciate. And if he does, we can claim it on his taxes next year so win win.
While I was sitting waiting at the ferry at Balfour I noticed a ghost car and I marked RCMP vehicle show up. When the ferry arrive from the other side, the ghost car parked, waiting for the cars to begin unloading. It looked like crew must’ve reported people drinking in a car or errant behaviour as a car was pulled over and a guy very amiably seemed to get out of his car in front of everyone in the parking lot before being breathalyzed, patted down, etc. I don’t think he was going anywhere in a car unless it was the backseat of the cruiser.
I made it home just after 8:30 mountain time and unloaded the car before settling down to have the last of the food that I had purchased in a beverage and relax in my La-Z-Boy with my foot up which really needed it. And I say my biggest disappointment was that the landscapers didn’t come when I was gone like they promised and now it’s even more work than before. It is nice to see how much my trees filled in while I was gone though.
I don’t know how to sum up the last two weeks that started with Rotary convention, involved so many good visits and Vancouver experiences, and included the stress of all things related to my friend having surgery. I like to think that I was a good friend to him, but I also know that I was a little short as I was also grieving the loss of my Jackie. I think the best part of the whole thing though was the time that I got to spend with my Jake. We haven’t spent that much time together since we lived together and it was just easy and good for my soul. I love him so and now he is in Taipei for a bit of a vacation and a trade fair . I look forward to hearing about it almost as much as I look forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight 
I had a decent sleep. Ran to payroll first thing and then enjoyed a delicious Rosie prepared poached steaks on toast with the most perfect bacon ever. She cooked it on parchment in the oven and it comes out to the perfect crunchiness. I didn’t mind playing server to mark over the course of the day, bringing him meals and beverages, etc., as he seems to be doing better. I am really glad that we took this day to relax here though. I love hanging out with Rosie. We went to get some groceries for dinner and I paid 129.99 for gas rather than the 169.99 in Chilliwack.
Uncle Bryan took me to meet a neighbour who is a serious collector. Mark was kind enough to let me take a couple pictures of what was only part of his massive collection. He also owns one of two produced mad Max vehicles!
Auntie Lynn, Rosie, and I hung out and chatted before a delicious barbeque pork dinner. After dinner, we watched Albert Nobbs, starring Glenn Close. It is odd and amazing in the same breath.
I laughed when I saw the sticker on the side of their microwave
It was a very nice day and I’m very glad we stayed
 I was awoken by a text for 730 this morning. It seems that the plans for 10 AM. Were shifted to noon. I proceeded as planned originally and got myself ready and Jake helped me pack my car before he was ready to leave for work. As it happens the extra time I had available allowed me to take him to drop off the vehicle. He was driving for work and we stopped at his favourite coffee shop, which I love the name of. Well there I bought a travel version of the coffee maker that I have been using at his house for the last week now. It is truly the best coffee I’ve had in a long time.
I realize that he was going to have to take a skytrain and help to get to the office where his car was and I had the time so I drove him to work and had our last little visit. I have truly enjoyed this time spent sharing a space with him again. We haven’t had opportunity to spend good quality time together for a long time, and I treasure it deeply.
Then I drove back to make it to the hospital by 11:30 only defined that my friend was in no way ready to leave yet, and it was several hours before we could. This caused me a little bit of stress as now we were going to be leaving the lower mainland during rush-hour. I offered to get him a wheelchair as the exit was a long way away, but he was sure he could walk When we made it out of the street I told him to take a time and go sit on the bench and I will go get the car. I came out of the underground parking lot to go where he was supposed to be sitting only to find a meal on the ground with someone near him in the safety vest as he had had his legs give out under him and was kneeling in the rain. I was horribly distraught, but he was OK and we got him into the car and on our way. I can’t say I wasn’t annoyed by the whole situation as a wheelchair would’ve avoided that problem. It took me a while to calm down.
The freeway was very crowded and at one point I was amused to see collectors plates on a Honda Accord. Many years ago, I wondered what would be the collector cars of an era where many things were made out of plastic. Question answered.
 it took a very long time just to get to Chilliwack to fill up with gas and I was getting Hangry as it was already 5 o’clock and I have had a muffin and a small yoghurt all day. There were three hours left to go, however, so we continued on and God bless auntie Lynn for making dinner and keeping it for us when we arrived finally just after eight.
I got him settled and then I had something to eat and talked to him so that we agreed to stay for another night in order for us to relax tomorrow and allow me to get my payroll done that needs to be done. My ankle needs the break from the driving and so does his body. I felt much better after making that decision.
Rosie and I watched the Greta Garbo documentary, which was very interestingly done and a fascinating look at a complicated life. I think she would’ve been great being a theatre actress and avoiding the publicity of the machine of Hollywood.
I got a good chunk of work done today and then I went to visit Mark to bring him his bag of clothes as it seems they are going to let them out around 10 AM tomorrow. He sent me home with a couple of bags of supplies that he will need at home. It is good to see him progressing.
On the way to see him I did stop at two of the stores that I walked past the other day. That each appeal to a different part of my personality. The corset museum was beautiful, and I loved the smell of leather in the Re-rides store.
Next, I headed to Richmond centre mall as they have the Lego store. It was is nice to wander a mall and I wish that I had gone sooner because the Hudsons Bay was still open and there was some great deals on really nice clothing, but I didn’t have time to try anything on. I did, however buy a mannequin head. It was $50. Everything else was 200 and up. And there was only one of it left. I wish I could’ve brought the Moose home. It would’ve made a great lawn ornament.
I did drop a little bit at the Lego store and even got a gift for Jake. They gave me my own Lego passport with a whole bunch of stamps from today’s visit. Fun, fun.
I also managed to find two different pairs of hiking sandals, so to speak, as mine were so worn out I left them behind in Ecuador. That’s enough for the shoe shopping this trip lol OK really for a while.
Other than that, I just bought a comfy pair of pants on sale at Old Navy and I’m looking forward to wearing them on the trip home.
I ended the day with happy hour appys at White spot, which were delicious and then I was getting tired and came home to organize and sort my things and have everything ready to load the car and go in the morning.
Not sure where Jake is I thought he was home, but I think he used his app to turn the lights on for me before he even got here It has been funny to have the lights suddenly go on or off during my day. Of course I love automation and technology.
I almost bought one of these adorable items but I refrained
It’s time to go home because I like it here too much. The sites and smells and shapes and colours of the city fill me up
triumphgal 