Seven Years Ago

July 31, 2009 - Day 212

It was seven years ago today that mom was killed in a head-on collision on the highway on her way home from work. An 86-year old driver heading the opposite direction swerved into her lane at highway speed, directly in front of her, leaving mom no time to react or respond - she was killed instantly. The 86-year old man walked away from the accident with a scratch or two.

It’s hard to believe it has been seven years. Mom is still so much alive in my thoughts and memories. She is also very much alive in the dreams I have of her from time to time. I love mom so much and miss her dearly and even seven years later, it makes me cry to write these words.

Mom was 16 years old in the picture Darlene included in the paper; she was 60 when she died.

Mom lived 18 minutes south of Barrhead when the accident occurred and my sister Darlene faithfully puts a memorial in the town’s newspaper (the Barrhead Leader) on the anniversary of mom's death each year. She also makes sure that we each (her sisters) get a copy of the paper. I haven’t received my physical paper yet but my sister Cathy sent us an online link http://www.barrheadleader.com/update/announcements.pdf to the memorial a few days ago (I printed that copy and took a picture of it).

Sleeping Beauty

July 30, 2009 - Day 211

My sister Darlene watered my flowers while we were away camping. She stopped by today to return our house key and she was so exhausted from packing, moving and working this last while that she asked if she could nap in the guest room for a couple hours. It wouldn’t have made sense for her to drive, through rush-hour traffic, all the way back to her new place on the south side (where her bed is) when she had to be back to her old place (to do some last minute cleaning) on the north side about 2 1/2 hours later.

She asked me to wake her up in a couple hours, and I did. My plan was to “sneak” a picture of her sound asleep before I woke her up but, as you can see, it didn’t work! She was already waking up when I started taking pictures – but that didn’t stop me! lol

Anyone else want to come take a nap in our guest room?

Metis Cookbook

July 29, 2009 - Day 210

Adam went to Grande Prairie on Monday and returned today. My daughter-in-law, Amanda, sent this cookbook back with him as a surprise gift for me and he brought it by on his way home.

The recipes look very interesting. I’ll be able to try many of them but the Wild Game chapter will be difficult since I don’t have access to moose meat (although I love it), deer, bear steaks, grouse, etc.

I love the cookbook - thank you Amanda!

Comforts of Home

July 28, 2009 - Day 209

Holidays are wonderful but it sure felt good to sleep in our own bed last night!

Packing Up

July 27, 2009 - Day 208

Michelle had to work on Monday so she had to leave on Sunday afternoon. Ian also had to work on Monday so Christine's family packed up and returned home Sunday afternoon as well but they returned to the campground to have supper with us and visited until about midnight.

The rest of us (Travis and Adam shown here) packed up and headed home on Monday.

My Children

July 26, 2009 - Day 207

It’s not often that all four of my children are together in one place at the same time anymore so I took this opportunity to get a picture. Left to right: Travis, Michael, Christine and Adam.

5-0

July 25, 2009 - Day 206

Part of the reason for my kids and grandkids making the effort to all be together for this camping trip was to celebrate my 50th birthday. I don’t turn 50 until November but it’s easier for everyone to travel during summer.

It was emotionally overwhelming to come out of the tent (where I’d been putting a few things away) to see every single child and grandchild of mine, and my niece Michelle, walking the path into our campsite on Saturday night. Christine and Ian were in the lead, each carrying a black forest cake.

We played some incredibly fun camping games, ate cake and enjoyed one another’s company. I appreciate my family making the effort – it was a magical birthday celebration I will never forget!

Cold Lake's Fighter Jets

July 24, 2009 - Day 205

Most of us went to town today to shower at Ian and Christine’s. Once my shower was over, I was sitting out on the deck and managed to capture this picture of a fighter jet flying overhead. The base in Cold Lake is Air Force and the fighter jets practice many times on most days. They are incredibly loud, amazingly fast and sometimes fly very low.

Rustic Dinner

July 23, 2009 - Day 204

Ken made burgers over the open fire for our supper tonight and the water is on to heat for washing dishes.

Gone Camping

July 22, 2009 - Day 203

My children, grandchildren, Ken and I all travelled to Cold Lake today to spend five days camping together. My niece Michelle joined us from Friday to Sunday. Ian, Christine and their family didn’t have far to travel since they live in Cold Lake but the rest of us had between three and eight hours to travel. We were unable to reserve camping spots at the Provincial Park but Christine and Ian were able to go out early and secure four adjacent lots (which is exactly what we were hoping for by choosing mid-week to begin our camping adventure)!

(I took hundreds of photos and plan to upload several of them to an album in Facebook in the coming days...after I get caught up on P365 :-)

New Mother Cup #2

July 21, 2009 - Day 202

Earlier this year I asked each of my four kids if they would buy me a new “Mother” or “Mom” cup sometime during the year. On June 29th I received my first new cup, it was from Christine (and was my Project 365 picture that day). Today I received my second cup – this one was from Travis. I absolutely LOVE both of my new cups! (and also can’t wait to see the cups Adam and Michael find (if they remember)) :-)

An Enchanted Afternoon

July 20, 2009 - Day 201

I spent the afternoon at Fort Edmonton Park with my son Travis and his family. The weather was beautiful, I took a ton of pictures, and we had a great time together!

From left to right: Owen, Travis, Hannah, Faith, Madison (Travis and Amanda’s niece) and Amanda.

A Stack of Family

July 19, 2009 - Day 200

Travis, Amanda, and their kids (their three plus their niece Madison) arrived this afternoon! They’ll be spending a couple days with us before we all go camping together.

Amanda slid further and further down on the couch as more of the kids added themselves to this pile. Stacked from top to bottom are: Owen, Hannah, Madison, Faith and Amanda. And Travis is on the phone in the background talking to his auntie Darlene.

The New Tent

July 18, 2009 - Day 199

Ken went out in search of a new tent first thing this morning. He bought this one at Walmart; it sleeps six and he thinks it’s a good quality tent. It’s about 2 feet wider and longer than our four-person tent – not as big as I was hoping for, but I feel sorry for Ken; he's trying so hard to find us (me) a tent and I don’t want to complain. Perhaps it will feel big enough once I’m in there going to sleep but if it doesn’t, I’m just going to have to force myself to sleep in it whether it feels big enough or not – and I have Ativan for backup if absolutely necessary.

More Camping Prep

July 17, 2009 - Day 198

It frustrates me that I suffer from claustrophia, but I do.

A couple years ago we bought a tent that sleeps four. It’s a great little tent but the problem is just that – it’s little and I felt too claustrophobic to sleep in it. Luckily we were only “camping” in the backyard of my sister Cathy’s home when we used it and I was able to go into the house and sleep on a bed.

Thankfully I’m not so claustrophobic that I can’t sleep in a tent at all but I do need more space around me than our four-person tent has. Ken, the good husband that he is, has been out a few times searching for a larger tent for us to use on our upcoming camping trip. He bought this eight-person, 12’ x 12’ tent at Canadian Tire tonight. He was going to set it up to check it out but even before it was set up, he realized it was poorly made and he didn’t think that the poles would hold up under any kind of inclement weather we may have. So he packed it back into the box and returned it to the store.

After returning the tent to Canadian Tire, Ken went to Sears to see what they had for tents but there was a big sale going on; the tents were picked over and he wasn’t able to find one.

The Red Serge

July 16, 2009 - Day 197

Today was simply a fun day at “work”. We were allowed (as we are every year) to go outside and watch the parade. That basically took up the morning - and we had our annual Justice picnic on the grounds of the Legislature Building in the afternoon. It was difficult to choose only one picture for Project 365 today but I chose this one from the parade because I love the red serge. Watching the RCMP doing their march dressed in it makes me feel proud to be Canadian.

Mowing the Lawn

July 15, 2009 - Day 196

Ken mowed the lawn this evening. It’s nice and lush after the work he’s put into it this year: he planted grass seed in the bare spots, waters it often and regularly, fertilizes it and pulls the weeds (and their roots) that try to sneak in.

Summer Fun

July 14, 2009 - Day 195

The Capital Ex, or what I know and still refer to as “K Days” is coming to the city. It all kicks off on Thursday morning with a parade and some downtown businesses, including the building I work in, are getting decorated in preparation for the festivities.

Going Camping

July 13, 2009 - Day 194

Ken and I are both getting excited about our upcoming camping trip. We’re adding items (to buy and to pack) to a list and Ken has begun to stack our camping gear in a pile in the garage.

Internet Games

July 12, 2009 - Day 193

The last thing I need is another hobby but I started playing FarmVille two days ago and Farm Town today (both are Facebook applications). I’m finding both games to be very addictive! At some point, I know that I’ll have to allow my farm to become negleted and my crops to wither but for now I’m just going to have a little fun!

The Pepsi-Points Wallet

July 11, 2009 - Day 192

Adam came to visit this morning. He brought breakfast (sausage and bacon McMuffins from McDonalds and Caramel Coretto coffee from Second Cup). It was delicious and much appreciated as always.

I gave Adam his birthday gift and he loved the new wallet, said it was “perfect”, a “man’s wallet”. I asked him to pose his old wallet for a picture and here it is! This is the wallet he earned with Pepsi points when he was about 13 or 14 years old (he couldn’t remember exactly how old he was). It’s not quite blue canvas as I thought - but it definitley was time for a replacement. :-)

My Flowers

July 10, 2009 - Day 191

A close up of a couple of the pansies in my flowerbed.

A Special Bone

July 9, 2009 - Day 190

Little Bear gets plain rawhile bones regularly but he only gets this special flavoured kind occasionally; he loves it when he does!

Rainy Days

July 8, 2009 - Day 189

We’ve been getting some much needed rain over the last couple of days. Home always feels extra-cozy to me when it’s raining. It came down pretty good off and on this evening and during one of the downpours, I had this idea for my picture of the day.

I guess it's too little too late for the ducks at the pond just north of us though; Ken said they've all left. I imagine some of them had to leave their eggs behind. That makes me so sad.

A Little Something Sweet

July 7, 2009 - Day 188

My biggest dieting downfall is carbs: I love pasta dishes, mashed potatoes with gravy, homemade perogies with sour cream, a hamburger with fries and gravy, etc. I would rather have a second helping of something from the main course than dessert (and, yes, I know that neither of those choices are good ones). :-) However, I have been craving ice-cream a little bit lately. This is the fourth container of Haagen Dazs I’ve bought this year. Just a scoop and I’m satisfied but this craving for something sweet is unusual for me.

Happy Birthday Adam!

July 6, 2009 - Day 187

It’s Adam’s 27th birthday today. He’s going to be busy this evening - moving out of the apartment he’s been living in for the last seven years. He’s been in his new apartment since the middle of June and he has the old one rented until the end of July but he wants to get the last of the moving over and done with and his Uncle Barry is free to help him tonight. I won’t see Adam today and may not see him until the weekend to give him the gift I bought for him so I hope he doesn’t see it on Facebook first! (he never checks my blog) I don’t know if he even has access to the internet right now though and even if he does, I don’t think he checks my pictures regularly so I think I’m “safe” to post this. :-)

As part of Adam’s gift, I bought him a wallet because he’s still using an old one that he’s probably had for 14 years. It’s a blue canvas wallet he earned free with Pepsi points and it’s getting worn out; I hope he likes the new one!

BBQ

July 5, 2009 - Day 186

Ken barbequed hamburgers for supper tonight; they were delicious. We watched a movie (12 Rounds) while we ate.

Congratulations Adam and Marni

July 4, 2009 - Day 185

We are over-the-fence (deck to deck) friends with our next-door neighbours, Adam and Marni. They have one little boy that is almost 3 ½ and they had a baby girl on June 3rd. We bought a baby gift when the little boy was born and now a gift for the baby girl. Inside this wrapping are two cute little Tommy Hilfiger dresses and a pair of baby-sized white tights with ruffles on the bum. I won’t pass the gift over the fence though - I will take it to them at the door. :-)

An Unexpected Turn of Events

July 3, 2009 – Day 184

When Ian arrived with Ashley on Tuesday, June 30th, his plan was to meet his ex wife in Jasper on Wednesday, July 1st to pick up his kids for their summer visit. He left Edmonton as planned, but his van broke down about an hour and a half outside the city.

Adam drove out to rescue Ian and his kids and bring them back to Edmonton; Ian had to pay $222.07 to have the van towed to the nearest town (Edson).

On Thursday, July 2nd, the garage in Edson called Ian with the result of their inspection. The engine would need to be completely replaced, at a cost of $5,000 - $6,000! Ian and Christine decided to buy another van rather than pay to have it repaired.

Ian went out Thursday afternoon to look at vans; he took a couple out for a test drive – and put a deposit on one of them.

Friday was a crazy-busy day for Ian. He was up early to drive Adam to work so he could borrow his car for the day. His first stop was out to the military base (in Edmonton) to print out a couple of his last records of pay from their intranet. Then he was off to Edson to clear up matters with the old van: sign it over to an auto wrecker, remove his license plate and collect items that were left in the van. He had to be back to Edmonton for a 2:00 appointment at the bank - then off to pick Adam up from work! Adam drove Ian to the car dealership where he paid the remainder on the van and it was his.

Ian and his kids returned to our place to pack up their belongings and I fed them a quick supper before they were on the road again. Destination: home. They arrived in Cold Lake around 9:30 last night. I hope Ian is able to relax and unwind from all the stress of this whirlwind of activity before he returns to work on Monday!

Ian was in a rush to get things packed and get on the road when I took this picture so it was just a quick snapshot (and they're facing the sun which is a big no-no photgraphically speaking) but regardless, it’s the one I’m choosing it for my picture of the day.

Run For Cover!

July 2, 2009 – Day 183

I had my tripod set up at the front door this evening. My plan was to take a picture of the rain for Project 365 but Adam stopped by for a quick visit while I was set up and it was raining so I was able to get this funky picture of him running to the house for cover.

Ashley

July1, 2009 – Day 182

I did a photo shoot for my granddaughter Ashley, my sister Darlene, niece Cheryl and a few more photos for Michael and Kristy today. We all went out for supper afterward. I had a wonderful day and this is one of the shots I took of Ashley.