Happy November! November is a month I'm rather partial to. It is the month that introduced me to the world and it's never been the same! In a few days, I will be 38. For some reason that sounds kinda old to me. I'm still younger than my collection of friends, not that it really matters. It's just so fun to rub in! IN just two years, I will be 40. Yikes! I know it's no big deal. I watched my friend Kim and my Sister pass that milestone this year and they seem to be taking it fine. I'm sure I'll survive just fine!
Way back in January, I alluded to certain events brewing in my head. At the time, I was too chicken to say it out loud. In September I picked up the phone and made a commitment. Scary stuff, that phone! I called the lady who is now my piano teacher. I also called the lady who is teaching me music theory, Judy. She's a big deal in my life. Judy was teaching me voice a couple of years ago. It is she who planted the idea in my head. Voice lessons were interrupted when Judy was in an accident that certainly changed her life dramatically. We have kept in touch and I called on her for input into how I should approach this next step in my life. So the big idea is.... MUSIC!!!!! I am pursuing a career in music. My goal is currently vocal with piano teaching after that. Sure wish I had applied myself when I was younger!
I love taking piano. I even like practicing. I look forward to playing really well someday! It is hard work making one's brain do things it hasn't done for years! All those little black notes are harder to read than they use to be too! I am so excited to finally be taking steps in the direction that I know I'm suppose to go. It just feels right. I think everyone is given a talent and a passion that is theirs to nurture. It is in that field that they will find success and a contentment. Now I do need to find a job to support my studies to get me to the point of generating income through music. Later! Gotta go practice.

In lieu of something profound

Well, school is over finally and we've had our long weekend. And what a weekend it was! I am one of the few adult women who enjoy camping... in a tent! I was uncomfortable and cold and not showered and I loved it. There is something so peaceful about being outside, cooking, eating, playing with the kids or watching them play, playing with fire, drinking "camping coffee", and sitting up late around the campfire watching the flames.

We were invited to a Grand Opening by some good friends of ours. Her sister and brother-in-law have an adventure company, The Outdoor Life Adventure Company. They were offering guided wildlife tours, riverboat tours, and a tour through the Ancient Forest. There was the option to camp. I latched on to that and next thing you know were all camping with the exception of "The Princess". She does not camp.

Friday noon we took off in a small caravan (can 2 vehicles be a caravan?) and drove 160 kms to Crescent Spur where Outdoor Life has carved out a small corner to share with outsiders. The campground is tucked away in the corner of a field with the river on two sides of it. We picked our spots and Paul, Michael and Karl set up camp. We set up a little cook tent too. During this process we kept a wary eye on the other people across the way, one never know what sort of people they might be...

After the inaugural cup of coffee (a "must" with Karl around) and feeding the kids sandwiches to tide them over, we started making supper. We eventually ventured over to the fire. Some of the "other people" were over there. In no time at all we were very comfortably conversing and having a great time with them.

After eating, the kids scattered. Jonathan found a bike and kept himself busy all weekend. Jamison managed to find a hornets nest and got two stings! Adriana went off with the girls and we hardly saw her at all. Much to my joy, there were two boys Michael's age there. He is often the odd man out because he is older than our friends' kids.

Backtracking a bit, Rod, the boat man, took Michael and the two boys across the river to go fishing. They had one radio and I had the other. Two hours passed and it was supper time. I called to the boys on the radio and didn't get a response. So I handed the radio to Paul for him to figure out. Paul could hear them yelling but couldn't get them on the radio. Off goes Rod in search of the boys. Poor stranded boys had gotten over there and the radio had died. A good bonding experience for sure. No fish but they saw a beaver and decided to to eat Dallas if Rod never returned. Never underestimate the ingenuity of hungry teenagers.

After a hefty consumption of s'mores, the kids were packed off to bed. Jonathan had made a bet with Karl and I that if he stayed up until 1:00 we'd each pay him $5. He tried so hard and it wasn't a fair bet since I have the power to send him to bed. When Paul showed up after 12 and made him lay down, he was very upset... and promptly fell asleep.

I made an excursion to answer the call of nature at 5:30 the next morning. It was so peaceful and glorious. I went down by the river and would love to have spent an hour drinking coffee and enjoying the solitude. Somehow sleep called me back to the tent.

There is nothing like crawling out of the tent and being handed a cup of steaming coffee. It didn't exactly happen like that but a girl can dream, can't she?! After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon and coffee, we went on our wildlife tour. With five 9-11 year olds, sneaking up on wildlife was a bit of a joke and not likely to happen. I felt like the pied piper. Every time I tried to approach the guide to hear what he had to say, all the kids followed me and I could not escape! I'm sure he was a wealth of knowledge. Paul would know... I just enjoyed being outside walking with all the kids and seeing them have so much fun just "being". We did spot a mamma black bear with a cub while all the noisy ones (Karl and the kids) were lagging behind.

After lunch, we went to the Ancient Forest. I wish I could remember all the scientific information about it, but it was so beautiful and something I would highly recommend. There is more biomass located in that forest than in any other inland rainforest. It is one of only two inland rain forests in the world. The other one is in south america. "Ours" is the more impressive of the two. 5% of the worlds carbon store is in our rainforest. "The Princess" showed up and actually was seen hiking in the forest. Like Michael said, "I haven't ever seen her outside her house before."

While we waited for our last adventure of the day, Paul and I played with the GPS and had our first venture with geocaching. It was kinda fun and we almost missed our boat ride.

The riverboat was a blast! Rod is an extreme sportsman and known for his wild side. He's goal was to make his passengers scream. I think he was a little disappointed in that I was not getting freaked out! It was kinda fun messing with him. Ultimately, he did succeed. I was too relaxed and lost my seat and banged my arm. I confess, I screamed. I'm sure it was the pain...=D

Karl and the kids packed up and left us there for one more night. It rained. The air mattress is now just a rubber flat thing destined for recycling. Adriana and I finally went to sleep in the van at 1:00 AM so Paul could sleep on her mattress and at least one of us would get enough sleep to drive home in the morning. We woke to a wet world, fed the kids what we could without cooking and headed home.

I can't wait to do it again!

Yikes a Mighty!

It has been over a year since I last posted. I'm sure no one is out there anymore. I have given renewed thoughts about blogging on a somewhat regular basis! Yeah right!

OK, so new year, new ideas or rather old ideas recycled. I have plans for this year that I'm not sure I've ever put into play before. A year ago, I had stated out loud that I wished to teach knitting classes. I love, love, love, knitting! I found out that the owner of the local yarn shop taught classes and had a teacher for them already. I kind of forgot about it early on in the year. I went to the Stitch and Bitch and generally had a good time. The lady teaching is older and has had cancer before and seems to have a reoccurrence. This is sad news. On the other hand, she wanted out of teaching the class. In December I was asked to teach! I was so excited. Still am. Today was my first class. The girls had a great time and the pattern I chose will definitely challenge and expand their knowledge. Whoo, I rock!

OK, this has been fun and refreshing, I should do it again sometime. I'm off to see Jesus Christ, Superstar tonight with my friend B. I have so many other plans rattling around in my brain. I'm not ready to spill yet, but it's coming!

If anyone is still out there , drop me a line and let me know! Thanks, K

Moving!

We are moving. Seriously, we are moving in two weeks. Five days before Christmas. Who in their right minds would add something else into an already chaotic month? Apparently us! We have been wanting a bigger house for a while. We've seriously outgrown our current house. Paul and I went looking on Saturday and saw THE house and made an offer. We finally had all the kinks worked out by noon today. What a relief! So now I will begin packing like a mad woman and do all the other busyness associated with the blessed Christmas season and on Christmas day my new house will be filled with the delicious smell of Golden Turkey, Pumpkin Pie and peaceful children pleased to be in their new bedrooms, which incidentally they are getting for Christmas! Merry Christmas Everyone!

What's with people these days?

Honestly! I've been listening to the news today, not something I usually do. What a bunch of IDIOTS! These people pretending to help rule this Country are trying to throw it under the bus! Who in their right minds would in these unstable times, try to pull what they are trying to pull? Come on! I'm no financial genius but like anyone who thinks with their head, I realize that serious things need to be taken care of. Our entire society needs to pull up it socks and become responsible for ourselves. Stop spending just so we can have stuff that complicates our lives. How many TVs does one person actually need? So Steven Harper, who we voted in not once but twice, is an economist. We have had years of Liberal spending and NDP credit card spending. What do you suppose we should do to recover? Who should we rely on to fix our country? We could be a powerful country again. We have so much to offer the world and ourselves. I really want to protest  and yell and rant and rave to get some sense into those spoilt politicians trying to destroy this country. I don't want to be answering to China or India. I AM CANADIAN!  

My trip to the Dentist

I'm trying to keep up with my witty friend and fellow blogger, and adopted niece and... I'll stop there. She's really indescribable. www.randomhillary.blogspot.com  Anyway, I had to get a filling replaced today. I found out something really interesting. I'm not a nervous patient. I like my Dentist and his team. It is always a good time. Well, except for the part where my mouth is full of hands and I can't be sassy!

Anyway, after he injected the pain killer stuff, I started getting really jittery. Kinda like I was on way more coffee than is good for me. I told the assistant just because my mouth wasn't full of hands yet and I had to get some talking out. I found out that they use epinephrine in the painkiller stuff. Some of it got into my blood stream and made my heart race. The reason for this is that epinephrine shrinks that blood vessels to keep the drugs localized longer for effectiveness. Isn't that smart? I was impressed. Shortly after that, the dam was placed in my mouth and with it they lost their opportunity to teach me.    

Windows and Computers

Windows are and should be pleasant items, or at least a portal to a beautiful view. When Mr. Gates started out, I wonder if he thought about that. I'm sure when he started out he never intended to cause more headaches than he solved. He has made his gazillions and moved on I'm sure. I've heard he and his wife are good people who do lots of great things for people in need. Good for them. 

Now, for us. I recently bought a new laptop. It was a nice little laptop. I liked the graphics, the feel of the keys, the new model. I was very excited to bring it home. I had the good staff at Future Shop do the set up on it. I paid about $300 over ticket price for this handy unit. I brought it home. I connected it to the ethernet cable. Nothing happened, unless of course, you count the can of worms that opened up. Nothing was coming up. So I called my own personal geek. Well, not mine per say, my friend's husband. He talked me through several options and nothing worked. He came here on Monday and couldn't find anything. I called my IPS (internet service provider)at least once a day all week long. I made two trips to the Future Shop. I left the computer with them for an hour for testing. No surprise it worked for them. We narrowed it down, it had to be the ISP. Once again I was on the phone with them, sometimes I was speaking to someone in India, sometimes in New Brunswick. The one person I couldn't speak to was the tech. I cannot count the number of times I restarted my computer, how many times I access the command prompt. Nothing worked. Doing the same thing over and over and over gets the same results. It is pointless to tell them that I'd done it all before. At one point I was so frustrated and threaten to call the competition, the genius on the other end stated that they couldn't help because they weren't my provider. Duh! I guess some people have to have everything explained to them. 

Finally, I talked to the actual person who could help me from our ISP. We spent 1 hour and 10 minutes on the phone. We did finally break through and got connected to the internet! Yea! oh, wait! I can't use any of the sites I check everyday. No facebook, no Mary Kay site, not even hotmail. Isn't hotmail owned by microsoft? Their own site doesn't work with their software! I finally lost it! I had had enough! Still not sure what took me so long to lose it! I called Gord, the geek, he said, go buy a macbook. 

I went to Future Shop and with a firm rein on my fuming temper, I told them what was happening and what I wanted. I could tell that I wasn't believed. Do you know how many times I was told that no one has ever had a problem with Vista and Windows Onelive? Funny, it must just be me! 

I am now the proud owner of a macbook. I will never go back. I cannot believe the difference. No setup required. 

Only takes a second to start.

Everything works.

No 'thinking' time

Everyone needs a mac.