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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Bad Dog

Pippi--Mistaya dressed her up all disco and put on the disco lights and dance music. 
I have a problem: FERNANDO. He bit Pip again. This time on her neck. She has three puncture wounds. He thinks she is another dog. She thinks she is another dog. Since we adopted him they do nothing but rough house. It has gone too far. I have tried dog whispering. I have tried everything. So, as a last resort, I am sending him back to my sister the vet. Theresa has volunteered to have him until he out grows some of his horrible puppy habits, i.e. thinking Pippi is another dog to snap at when the mood strikes.
On to some Zen Buddha Mama wisdom. The cook must always cook what she loves. If she cooks only what she loves, she will be inspired. This is from personal experience. I have just started following this advice. Tonight it is Japanese rice and slow cooked Indonesian Ginger chicken with broccoli on the side. 
The Dalai Lama is coming! Yippee-yahoo! He will be in Vancouver in September. I will be there. Also, an interesting talk about the Dalai Lama when I am in San Fransisco--The heart and Mind of the Dalai Lama. I might attend that as well. 
South Africa's loss is our gain. Their decision to ban him only freed him up to come to Canada. Desmond Tutu will be in Vancouver as well and Eckhart Tolle too--for a peace summit on "Educating the Heart."

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Monday, March 30, 2009

Midnight at Lac Du Bois

Here are the pics I promised of our night hike. The top is the entrance where we park our car--beyond the gates--pure wilderness. I loved it and could have explored far and wide. I am not fearful of wilderness, probably because I was raised on acreages across western Canada (and it is too cold for the rattlesnakes to be out of their winter den). Peter, he's not so into night hiking. He's a city boy--born and raised.
The last pics are of Earth Hour. Peter and I went to a dimmed Cafe after our
wilderness jaunt.

The girls are back at school after a two week holiday. Tabs is still covered in hives.
 Mistaya has drama practice after school and then I will take her to ballet.
 I have decided to change the way I cook. I only make things I love. I am hopeful this will inspire me to keep cooking. Tonight it is homemade cheese pizza with raw veggies on the side.
I tried to dismantle the bunk beds and move them into Pip's room on my own. As it stands now, they are precariously and dangerously hanging in mid air-- the room is shut off until Peter arrives home and can help me finish the job.
This morning, since I am finished my class assignments early, I worked on my art/book web site. I am photoshopping another book cover for the site. I hope to have it up by the time I return from San Francisco. 
Pippi and Fernando are playing rather noisily behind me. Pip is turning into another horribly picky eater like her sister Tabitha. It is very stressful to prepare meals for children who refuse to eat. All she wants to eat is peanut butter, And 

then all she does is say, "My tummy hurts!" 
She even wakes in the night to say it. She seems healthy though. And I took her big sister to the doctor many times for the very same complaint and to no avail. 
I am off to a new yoga class tomorrow. I need to stretch even though I find yoga boring. I've tried many kinds, many times. But as I feel I am not as flexible as I have been...so, it's back to yoga once a week to supplement my cardio/weight workouts.

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Sunday, March 29, 2009

Lac Du Bois

A quick weekend trip to Kamloops, BC. I didn't have a class after all and finished my paper a week early. So we headed out to visit my parents. My mom prepared a ham dinner--so delicious with scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts and a scrumptious strawberry cream square. We spent the night and I had a really great sleep. Much more restful than I've had in months. I dreamed I gave birth to Penelope in Disneyland though--weird. Pip got to sleep with her Granny and was ever so thrilled. My parents dog (Toby) hated Fernando though.

                                                                                                      Peter and I headed out to one of the 
most beautiful places on earth: Lac Du Bois Grasslands, just outside of Kamloops. The top photo is of three brilliant mountain blue birds.
Peter and I hiked at night too--I will post those pics next.
Hiking on the wonderful hills always inspires me to live my life to its fullest. I love it out there. 
This summer I have classes and Peter teaches a class, so we are going to spend our time doing weekend trips around. One trip will be a camping trip to pan for gold. We will pitch tents near a creek in the Boundary 

 country and start looking! 
The next trip will be a ghost tracking trip at night to the old abandon TB sanatorium near Kamloops. I'll bring along a little posse as Peter never goes for these kinds of adventures. Mistaya has signed up and I am counting on KW to join the troops. We missed the Sasquatch trek last summer--though I am still planning a trip deep into the Northwest rainforests to attempt such an adventure--research for a junior fiction novel.
Enjoy the pictures of Lac Du Bois.







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Friday, March 27, 2009

IT'S GONNA BE A BRIGHT,BRIGHT,BRIGHT, SUNSHINEY DAY

PIPPI, ME, FERNANDO, HOLLY AND TABBY AT THE PARK.
PIPPI
CLIMBING THE WALL...KILLER ON THE HANDS.
FERNANDO & PIP
HOLLY & TABITHA
It was a beautiful afternoon at the park. We left shortly after this to take Tabs to piano lessons. Pip and I hung out at Starbucks while Mist stayed and played with her friend Maddi, who had only just returned the night before from the Mayan Riviera. She told me that you can no longer climb the pyramids. It is a good thing to, hundreds of thousands of people stomping on those old stones every week would surely erode the entire pyramid. However, I feel lucky to have been able to climb them freely when I was there many years ago. I even climbed the hidden stairs inside to the top where a jade jaguar stood in a small chamber. 
Mist had a sleep over last night at Maddi's. Tabs and I spent way too much time at the doctors. She is covered head to toe in giant hives. These came on gradually after I noticed a red "slapped face" rash on her chest and face on Monday. I am wondering if having (the virus) fifth disease could have brought on this explosion of hives. It is always a worry. She's only ever been covered in hives before from taking penicillin. 
San Francisco is coming up rather quickly. Peter and I are staying in a suite at the Fairmont for a week while my mom spends Easter in Kelowna with our girls. Auntie Theresa and family are planning to come up for Easter too. My girls are looking forward to that week. Tabs plays piano at the music festival that week, so Granny will have to take her. 
When we get back I start a new class and Peter starts teaching a new grad class: instructional design. He is teaching half of my fellow grad students.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Hansel & Gretel

Mistaya, Tabitha and their friends write and perform a play based on "Hansel & Gretel."
At unemployed-father's request, Mother leads her hungry children into the forest, to abandon them.
The children, hungry and cold, fall asleep on the forest floor.
A nice witch invites the children in for cookies and cake.
The nice witch turns mean and locks poor Hansel in a cage. She tests his finger to see if he's fat enough to eat yet.
The children escape and are reunited with their guilty parents. All ends happily ever after.

A quaint day out with my girls. Attempted to take out books from the library down town, but alas, my daughters had late fines from 2001. My card? No good either--late fees from 2006. The library is backward! Punishing children for 8 year old late fees? Denying my family literacy for eight years because of late fees? And not to mention I payed them $60, a few years ago to replace two books Tabs had spilt chocolate milk on. AHHH! And of course, the dinosaur of institutions, doesn't accept credit cards or debit cards to pay off the fines. So what do we do? Let me see...hmm...little Pip has never had a card before, that's it! And three cheers for us: we managed to escape with all eight of our books proudly borrowed on little Pip's brand-spanking-new library card--much to the frowns of the library staff.
And good news, The Bread Co. (Our favorite bakery/coffee shop) has finally finished rebuilding after the fire that destroyed it last fall. We finally had tea there this afternoon.
Trouble with Fernando. He bit Pip's face yesterday. I am cracking down on him. Pip can no longer play with him unsupervised as he treats her like another dog. 
Tomorrow a hair appointment for me. I had to cancel my teeth cleaning as I had double booked myself. What looks worse? I thought, My teeth or my hair? My hair won out. Tabs has piano in the late afternoon, will take the other girls out for our constitutional coffee while she plays. 
This weekend my final day for the class I am currently taking. Then we are off to visit my parents in Kamloops for the night--we will return Sunday late afternoon. 

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Spring has only Just Begun

Sword fight in the back yard: my girls plus the neighbors. Spring is here! 
We'd no sooner hauled our luggage in the door from Nelson and Mistaya received an invite to a sleep over party--dress as a nerd. She went, thoroughly enjoyed herself, and won best nerd! She looked adorable in her thick glasses frames and two high pony tails. When Sara's(Mists new friend from school) mom asked all the girls how much pizza each girl would eat, Mistaya topped the list by ordering 6 pieces! Sara's mom said, "It's always the skinniest kid who eats the most!" And in this case it is true. Mistaya must have the fastest metabolism on the planet.
Took the girls shopping yesterday for spring Capris from the Gap. Also,  some Vampire t-shirts for Mistaya: Vampires prefer Blondes etc. Vampires are all the rage thanks to the "Twilight" series. Pip purchased a little pair of Keds with little whales all over them--so cute. 
We just got back from a new park near here. We walked there with Fernando.
It is a very quiet week and I have very little to report. I don't even have to stop myself from typing any political rant bubbling beneath my finger tips--nope, I am a little zombieish this week. No burning passions to express.  
Still getting up early to workout, though--all is not lost.

Monday, March 23, 2009

The Hume House AKA Hart House, Nelson, BC

A brief tour of Theresa's home on an early Saturday morning...
Tea for Theresa.
Caroline, Theresa and Aidan--Saturday morning coming down...
Joop...preparing to enter the bathroom.
The children:(top to bottom) Miko, Kyran, Pip, Aidan, Tabs, Misty and Marley.
The boys: Peter, Joop and Brent in the living room.
Breakfast for the children with Piper (the cockatiel) behind.
Best buddies: Hermie and Fernando.
Joop assisting the children with their oatmeal biscuits.
Theresa showing off her Zen closet--even her tights have labels!
The family room--kids and their games.

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Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Hume Hotel, Nelson, BC

Breakfast at the Hume Hotel--Tabby calling Auntie to see if they're up at the "Hume" house yet.
Peter and I at Breakfast.
Tabitha Lydia & Penelope Scarlett, inside the Hume Hotel, posing beneath pictures of the original hotel proprietors: Fred & Lydia Hume--coincidentally, the same couple that built and lived in Theresa's house up the hill from the hotel. So we stayed in the Hume hotel and visited the Hume house--both are said to be haunted. I myself, have experienced a dog ghost(during the night, a strange yet friendly dog, came to the end of my bed and rested her head), while sleeping in the attic of my sister's house. And later on, while they were refinishing the attic, they found an old dog collar named "Lucy" under some floor boards.
Checking into the Hume Hotel.


Peter, Tabs and Pip--down town Nelson, BC
View from our hotel room--the "Rapunzel" room.
Another view from our hotel room of Kootney lake.

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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Nelson, BC: Road Trip

We've arrived! The historical "Hume" house in Nelson, BC. The oldest occupied home in Nelson, owned by my sister Theresa.






One of my favorite farms along the way.The beautiful Ponderosas down south near Middway, BC.
Driving down main street, Greenwood, BC. "Snow Falling on Cedars" filmed here.
Descending the beautiful Blueberry pass--known for its high altitude, fog and grizzly bears.