Month: July 2012

The Daily EO: July 29th, 2012

I call it the Holland Hangover in honour of my father-in-law.  That feeling that you are in the perfect place at the perfect time, and it is the place you should always be.  I sat in Yaletown (Vancouver), enjoying a high quality chai tea and a beautiful sunny day – no humidity.   People were walking to their destinations, smiling in the lovely weather – and were out and about enjoying the city.  I was with a friend I value very much and I wondered why people ever live anywhere else.

This type of moment invariable occurs while you are on vacation – which as we all know is not normal life.  It is better life – with better food, special “catch-up” get togethers, no work to concern yourself with and other hedonistic pursuits.  Sleeping in late, touring notable landmarks, and void of any annoying things like errands, deadlines and budgets.

My father-in-law has it every time he visits The Netherlands – he gets together with all of his friends and family and in the best moments wonders why he ever left.  Is the grass greener in Holland?  It’s hard to tell when you’re wearing sunglasses and sipping a perfectly chilled glass of wine.  It could just be an illusion.  Or it ould be that life is just better here.

Where does the hangover end and where do your true desires begin?

July 29th, 2012 Extra-Ordinary:  Wanting to snatch the moment like a hen on a junebug in Vancouver, BC.

The Daily EO: July 28th, 2012

Kids, young Adults – don’t count on the world keeping its promises.  Chances are, at some point, the world is going to screw you.  It’s going to set up you and then when you think you’re riding high, or well protected, suddenly you will find yourself saying “What?  That wasn’t the deal!  This isn’t fair”.  It will happen.

So, I offer some advice for those times.

1.  Wear sunglasses all the time – they were protect your precious and susceptible eyes and although you may feel like your 55, your eyes will never show their true age.  But no sunglasses inside unless you’ve just had cataract surgery.  Inside makes you look ridiculous, pompous and vain.

2.  Get as much varied experience as you can.  Trades, higher learning, different industries, varying cultures, etc.  So when you think that your extensive experience and education in your chosen field is enough – and it turns out not to be, you’re ready with a back-up plan.

3.  Don’t rely on retail as a back-up job.  It’s thankless, boring and the pay is crappy.  If you love it, okay, otherwise, stay away.  And this advice should certainly be considered when you’re shopping at H&M.  That kid who is doing an okay job finding you your size 10 pants doesn’t have the best employment.  Give him a break.

4.   I hate emergency funds – they don’t make sense to me.  But make sure you can handle a fluctuating income.  Have credit, a rich relative, valuables to sell, whatever, just count on needing money than planned at some point.  Chances are you will.  But spend it too – what are you saving it for?   So maybe One Day you might do something?  You’d better do it now – things changes and opportunities disappear.

5.  Consider trade school or consider taking some years off to decide what to do.  University is great for some people, for others it is a waste of money.  Consider where you are trying to get, what you are trying to do.  Don’t just go to school because you think you should or someone else thinks you should.  Really think about – don’t tell you’re parents that you aren’t going to post secondary school because some random blogger told you not to.   Think about it, what do you want your life to be?  How are you going to get there?  These aren’t easy questions to answer, so it’s not a weekend process.

6.  Don’t listen to me.  Don’t listen to anyone if it doesn’t jive with what your heart is telling you.  Don’t wear sunglasses, let your money slip through your fingers, go to university for a women’s study degree that means nothing to you.   One day you may wish you listened to me, but hey, you’ll have some good advice to give first hand (if you can still see to type through your sun damaged eyesight).

 July 28th, 2012 Extra-Ordinary:  Doing my part for the next generations.

The Daily EO: July 27th, 2012

It’s my favorite time – it’s Olympic season.  I see Brian Williams every two years and greet him like an old friend.  I cheer on the athletes and share their stories with all that I know.  I tear up at the commercials, I awake up and watch overnight footage.  I become an export in all Olympic sports.  I know the Olympians and their stories.  And I truly believe that sport, commitment, honourable competition are something we should all strive for.

The Summer Games in particular I admire because there is no expensive equipment needed to get started.  If you want to run – run.  If you want to swim – swim.  Get a ball and play.  Dream.  Strive.  Go.

July 27th, 2012 Extra-Ordinary:  The beginning of a next part of Olympic history.  It’s you and me, Brian.  Let the games begin!

The Daily EO: July 25th, 2012

So as I write this, I am eating some Hersey’s Kisses that I stole from the freezer in the common room at the retirement home.  I mean, seriously, I am stealing chocolate from seniors.  In walkers.  This is an example of the things that I do when I go home.  I eat more, I do less, I apparently steal, and I generally regress.  However, in my defense, I probably would steal chocolate from seniors while at home.

I have one of the best aps for my Android phone:  CardioTrainer.  Like many training aps available, it combines GPS, step counting, maps and my dimensions to calculate distance run and calories burned.  It’s fantastic.  It’s free.

On this trip I was determined to not regress too far.  Sure, I’ll fight with my brother, but maybe I could do alright.  I awake early each morning – thanks to time zone changes – and I have to make a decision each morning to exercise.  And I’ve done pretty good I think.

July 25th, 2012 Extra-Ordinary:  According to CardioTrainer, I’ve run 42.2 kms since we left from Huntsville.  I think that is 5% of my lifetime total.

The Daily EO: July 23rd, 2012

Greetings from Burnaby, BC at the Mulberry Retirement Residence!
Cranbrook to Burnaby.

Hours (door to door):  11
Kms driven: 864
Money spent:  $116

We departed the house at 9:00 am exactly.  We had targeted leaving between 9 and 9:30 am, but my mom doesn’t understand time ranges and therefore she amended our departure time to 9:00 am.  When she climbed into the car, she gleefully announced that we were exactly on time – 9:00 am.  Emile couldn’t let that slide – he announced back that it I keep the clock 2 minutes fast.  But, I’ll bet we actually pulled out of the driveway at 9:00 am.

The drive on Highway 3 – Crowsnest Highway – is tremendous.  There is no shortage of glorious twisting turning mountains passes bored through the mountains dotted with picturesque – and now growing – towns.

We stopped frequently on this trip – we needed to help Mom spent her Tim Hortons gift cards, and we needed smoke breaks and pee breaks.  And food breaks.

When my parents were first married, they moved to Trail BC, and often returned to Vancouver to visit family.  This meant much of the trip was spent recollecting family lore stories about the travels.   Next time you see my mom, ask her about “Never Again (subtitled “The Whipsaw” and the “Sidewinder”)”, “I’ll Shut Up Now about the Sewing Machine” and “CastleGAAAAR” – they are stories worth the time.

I told you about Christina Lake visits when we were kids – it was 3.5 hours for my mom driving a 1969 Barracuda over two mountain passes.  To keep the peace, she bribed at us always with a visit to the Castlegar Dairy Queen on the journey.  It was old, brown and decorated with Dennis the Menace cartoons and we loved the stop.  We stopped on this trip also and found to my dismay that the place – although still in the same location – had been modernized and updated.

We stopped in at Christina Lake at the house we always stayed at and found to my delight that although some updates had been made – it had been left almost totally alone.

We pushed through the Okanogan pleased to see the same fruit stands advertising local cherries and other fruit.  We timed our arrival into the Lower Mainland perfectly – little traffic and still light.

Grandpa is so pleased to see us all.

July 23rd, 2012 Extra-Ordinary:    Standing on the Christina Lake beach recalling long summer days and times gone by.  Wishing so much that things didn’t change and that youth didn’t fade.

(Photo Credit Emile)

If Only Wishing Made it So.

 

 

 

The Daily EO: July 22nd, 2012

I sat on the couch watching Lethal Weapon 3.  We watched the first two the previous two nights.  Despite the efforts of Danny Glover, Mel Gibson and Rene Russo, I wasn’t giving it my full attention because all I could think about was it was my last night in Cranbrook.

I sat beside my brother saying nothing – and him saying nothing in return.

I reviewed the week – and it always seems to go so fast when I am at home – I have a healing Juniper rash, a burn, white paint on my hands and shins, a broken nail, pine sap all over my flip flops, an assumed 5 extra pounds and two ruined shirts.  I dug around in the shrubs; removed painted over wall paper with a heat gun; taped, sanded and painted the white trim; cleaned up after the storm; ate a lot of carbohydrates and fat; and carried, toted, cleaned up, lifted, cleaned and generally did my share of the house maintenance.  

My brother doesn’t say much, and when he does it is often sardonic wit.  He smirks at me often – like he’s caught me being an idiot again.  Rarely do sappy words leave his mouth.  And Rarely is probably too strong a word.

He has to be at work each morning at 6 am, and therefore is almost always in bed by 10 pm.  As the movie progressed, the clocked ticked on – and soon it was 10:30 pm.  Then 10:45.  And then the going to bed process finally began.  I got the message.

July 22nd, 2012 Extra-Ordinary:  I’m going to miss you too Todd, thanks for that extra hour together.

The Daily EO: July 21st, 2012

I don’t like fish or seafood.  No, really, I don’t.  Please don’t try to tell me “It doesn’t taste fishy at all”.  It does.  It takes like fish.  Salmon does.  Tuna does.  Yes, even the lobster and crab do.  Even if you drown it in garlic butter.   I have sensitive taste buds.  I can taste it.  It tastes like fish.  I don’t like it.

This eliminates traditional sushi as a pleasant food item for me.  I enjoy going to Japanese restaurants for dinner with friends and my husband, as I can order the vegetarian options, but it usually means a tofu dish, or avocado rolls or cucumber rolls.  And let’s face it – both of those rolls are boring.

When we are in Cranbrook, we always go for sushi.  We always talk about trying one of the 3 other places in town, but always end up at Sakura.  My brother – who also has the sophisticated anti-fish taste buds I do – always orders the beef and chicken teriyaki rolls.  Emile always orders at least one salmon roll, and I always get the edamame and tempura veggies as starters.  For a main, I skip around the menu ordering the vegetarian dishes or sometimes order a meat noodle dish.   But I am usually disappointed in my choice of rolls – I can’t ever order from the “Special Roll” section because of the fish problem.  You know – the rolls that come on a sleek long dish and you say “Oh, how beautiful” when it arrives at your table.  Sauces artfully placed, and garnished carefully positioned.  Sigh.

On the special menu this evening a “special veggie roll” was offered.  It featured asparagus, avocado, spinach, mango, and sweet potato with a cream sauce and a blueberry sauce.  I shared it with my mom, and it is the first time that I got to truly appreciate “roll art” arriving at the table.  The dish was the perfect line between savory and sweet, and utterly delicious.

July 21st, 2012 Extra-Ordinary:   Edamame, tempura vegetables, teriyaki tofu, “special veggie roll” and deep-fried mango ice cream.  So Good.

The Daily EO: July 20th, 2012

Mostly pictures today because my words will not convey the whole story.   There is always a sense of community when these things happen and soon after the storm during our drive around town, neighbours with chain saws were helping each other out.  Trees blocking roads were quickly dispatched by citizens.  There is still a lot of clean up to do, and many places do not have power yet, but the town is returning to normal.

July 20th, 2012 Extra-Ordinary:  Massive Wind Storm Blew through Cranbrook (and much of the interior of British Columbia) taking our multiple trees and leaving 1000s without power.  No injuries in Cranbrook, one death in the province.

Trees on an SUV
Crushed Garage and Roof Damage on the House (three doors up the street from our house)
Nervous Sleeping Tonight (across the street from our house)
Ripped up Sidewalk
Crushed Beverage Cart and Golf Cart at Cranbrook Golf Course
My Brother Surveying Damage at Back Shop (he’s the manager) at Cranbrook Golf Course
Asphalt Ripped Like Paper
Tree on Club House at Cranbrook Golf Course (that’s me and my brother gawking to give you an idea of the size of the trees going down)
Massive Roots Ripped from the Ground
Roofing Ripped off Apartment Building
Tree on Power Lines

PS – a 100′ 75 year old grand old pine was removed from our yard about 3 months ago.  It is likely it would have toppled if it were still standing doing much damage to either our home or our neighbours:

100′ tree Removed from our house.