Canadian National Canthem - Happy Canada Day!

Wishing you all an Early Happy Canada Day!

Keep Safe and Don't Drink and Drive!

Watch these people - crazy and talented.  

Its been a Wee Bit Rainy here..

I have been whining and complaining about the cold rainy weather  we have been having in the Sunny Okanagan.

Whining and complaining is what I do best. 

I excel at it.

We can't go boating.

The beach?  Forget it, wet sand is nasty.

The hiking trails are treacherous.

My cherries will not be sweet and juicy because they need SUN! darn it.

The peonies and lilies are flattened and soggy.

Archie the Dog hates getting wet.  He has a rain coat that he can wear but it's wet feet that bother him most.  

It has been said that people and their pets are similar - I concur.

My gardens are full of weeds.  

And the lawn is covered in toadstools.

However,

Sicamous, a town about 45 miles north of us,  has had a lot of rain too.

Photos: Contributed - Donna-Marie Gregersen

 

I'll take the weeds and toadstool any day over this.

Anyone know how to build an Ark?

RUN! (toward the forest) RUN!

Cholera did not happen.

Neither did pneumonia, small pox or influenza.

So I sucked it up and joined the girls for The Run.

They are girls - I am not.

Here is what I discovered during my run:

1.  My skin (and parts) move a lot with each jarring footstep, quite an unpleasant sensation.  Gravity, you are not my friend.  

2.   My cardio condition sucks!  I was seeing black spots by the time I had run about 1/4 mile.

3.  The girls can run backward while shouting encouragement.

 4.  A sprained ankle or pulled muscle does not cut it with them - "work it out!" was the call of the day.

 5.  To the highway and back, which is 4 miles, felt like 27 - I hit the wall (as I mentioned earlier) at the 1/4 mile mark.

6.  Going slow enough so they could pick me up on the run back  didn't work - they insisted we all stick together and "isn't it beautiful out at this time of day?"
 I couldn't reply - no oxygen.

7.  Running in Son #2's old grade six sneakers was not a good choice of footwear but it was that or my flip flops.

8.  I had a good time - in spite of the cramps in my side and the burning in my lungs and legs.

Do it again next Friday? they ask.

Sure, love to.

If I'm able to move by then.  Or if Yellow Fever doesn't finish me off.......



http://egotvonline.com/

Some Friend.....

Her call started off innocently enough.

Her:  What are you doing on Friday?  Still have the day off?

Me:  Yes.

Her:  Want to get together in the morning?

Me:  Sure.

Her:  There will be three of us.  We're going for a run.

Me (silently, in my mind):  I don't think so!
Me (out loud):  Sure.  Love to.

Her:  Great!  See you in the park at six.

Me (silently, in my mind): Six? In the AM?   $hit!!!
Me (out loud):  Okay,  see you then.


Seriously, I hope I get  cholera before Friday.

Make Your Own Luck

It is the last week of school for the boys.

It is also exam week.

Son #2 is his same casual self, thinking 'it is what it is'.

Son #1 is a pleaser and is worried that he may not get over 95% on all of the exams.

He has three Provincial exams to write.

Chemistry, Calculus and Socials.

He is fine with the first two but is worried about Socials - even though I helped him a lot with the 50's and 60's!

He looked a bit pale as he got out of the car and walked toward the school.

I rolled down my window and honked the horn and yelled,

"Don't Worry! You're wearing your lucky underwear"

50 heads turned.

I think he hates me.

Father's Day Doll

My Mother In Law bought  us this book when Son #2 was just a few months old.  

She had been talking about it and I was unfamiliar with the story so I think she bought it for me as much as for our boys.

I love this book.

It's always the last few lines of the book that get to me

It brings tears to my eyes each time I read it.

About William's Doll

"William wanted a doll.  He wanted to hug it and cradle it in his arms..."

What happens when a boy wants a doll?

William's brother and friends and the boy next door call him a creep and a sissy. His father gets him a basketball ("He practiced a lot / and got good at it / but it had nothing to do / with the doll. / William still wanted one, and his father bought him an electric train set ("The tiny train/ threaded around and around the tracks/ with a clacking sound./ William made cardboard stations / and tunnels/ and bridges / and played with the train/ a lot. But he didn't stop wanting / a doll..." ).

Finally, his grandmother comes to visit --- and at last William is understood. She gets William the doll (he "loved it right away"). And she explains to William's father (who "was upset.")  'He's a boy!' he said , 'Why does he need a doll?'" This is why William needs it:

"so that when he's a father like you, he'll know how to take care of his baby and feed him and love him and bring him the things he wants, like a doll so that he can practice being a father. "   Have a Happy Fathers Day  weekend, all you wonderful dads and moms!

15 More Things to Teach my Boys and One New Thing I Learned Myself.

Raising boys is starting to become a job!  Who knew there was so much they need to know.

Here are 15 more that they will be quizzed on later.

1. The kitchen? Not just for girls. Learn to use a stove.

2. If a girl tries to change you she doesn’t really love you no matter how much you want her to.

3. Shower daily, keep your nails trim and use deodorant.

4. A dutch oven* is never funny.   EVER

5. It is never acceptable to break up with a girl over the phone. 

6. Understand how to use basic tools. 

7. When you ask a girl, “Is something wrong?” and she says, “No.” She’s lying.

8. The job of a stay-at-home mom is equally as hard as yours. 

9. Table manners. Use them.

10. You will never know a stronger pull than that of your friends trying to get you to participate in their wrong doing. Resisting makes you a man. Succumbing makes you a coward.

11. Never use your fists to solve any dispute. One wrong punch could take a life and it could be yours.

12. Condoms will save your life.

13. Never use the word gay in a derogatory manner. It’s ignorant. 

14. Sexting is a federal offense.

15. Not all real girls look like Victoria’s Secret models.

*  I didn't know what #4 was so I looked it up -   Dutch oven is a slang term for while lying in bed with another person, pulling the covers over the person's head while flatulating, thereby creating an unpleasant situation in an enclosed space.^[1] This is done as a prank or by accident to one's sleeping partner.  ^- and now I know so Thank you Wikipedia. - unpleasant situation indeed.

I've Come A Long Way, Baby!

Son #1 is taking Socials this semester and has moved into discussing the 1950 - early 70's era.

He came home yesterday and said - "You were alive during that time right.  Freaky.  Boy things sure were different.  You had nothing!"

"Not so,"  I said. "I was born in the 50's and while many of our neighbors didn't have indoor plumbing - we did.  We had television , but only two channels, one radio station and a car.  But we lived in the country and technology was slow to come to the country."

(age 4 - when chickens were our toys)

"I went to a one room elementary school - grades 1 to 8.  There were seven of us - we were all related. "

"No, No!"  he said," I mean you didn't have computers, IPods, or cell phones..."

"Cell phones! we were on a party line - pick up the receiver and make sure no one was on the line.   'Busy?' was the common query.  Turn the handle the appropriate number of rings to alert the person we were calling - we were Ring 4 by the way."

His face was  a blank sheet of paper so I decided to write on it.

No,  I wasn't raised in the digital age and, because I was isolated on a cattle farm, I was quite removed from current affairs and the way of the world.
 In fact, until I moved to The City I did not know there were gays and lesbians.
'She's a bit 'off' ' , they would whisper.  Really, that's what they said.

It was an era of Valium, unhappy housewives  and cigarette commercials.

I was in my late teens and early 20's during the burn your bra era, the Viet Nam war demonstrations and peace rallies, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and Timothy Leary ...and Woodstock. 

It was a big eye opener for a naive farm girl.

It was long hair, flashing the peace sign, water buffalo sandals and granola, brown rice and the Ting Tea Room.
 It was an era of hippies and VW buses.

It was  hitch-hiking, tie-dye shirts and finding yourself in Europe - on a dollar a day.

It was a time of freedom -  but not for everyone .

"Sheesh, mom, I didn't want the History Channel documentary - I just wondered how you managed without electronics!"


But we had TV! and Hockey Night in Canada!




I've come a long way.
Except for the IPod.  I still don't have one of those.

Listen Up, Dyson!

Archie the Dog is a shedder.

Happily, he and the vacuum are good friends.

He lays in the sun while I vacuum his loose hair.

He will not allow his belly to be vacuumed as the hose end often sucks up his extra skin and it scares him.

So this is a small request to you, the folks at Dyson.

"Is it possible to make a small and gentle beater bar for vacuum grooming a dog?"

I would buy one for sure.

Archie the Dog thanks you in advance.

And please, not one so powerful that it will remove the smiley face from his hip.

Little Things

Life is filled with commitments and obligations, stress and tension. 

I was going over my to do list in my head after I dropped Son #2 at school.

I was stopped at the intersection and I was going to be late for work.

Cars, trucks, kids on bikes, kids on scooters, my kid on his motorcycle (wave hello!)

Everyone in my way.

I spot an opening - just after this big 4 x 4 350 diesel work truck. 

 I am craning my neck trying to see past the bushes to make sure all is clear once this truck turns.  

$hit! another kid on a scooter. 

 I sit back, breathe slightly, kid passes, the big truck turns and driver gives me a nice smile and little wave.

That little gesture turned my day around.

I am still smiling, still feel good and tried to pass on that smile to other drivers I saw on the rest of my trip into work.

It truly is the little things that make a difference