Day 286 - Tuesday, October 27

A little out of focus, but you get the idea......going to town to get my nails done.

Day 216 - Wednesday, August 5

This afternoon, I spent a few hours helping Kathryn unpack and get organized in their new apartment.

Oh! Didn't you know they had moved? I'm not surprised.....it was pretty quick - they began to actually move within 3 hours of being approved at the apartment - on Monday.

I used Kath's baby carrier thingy (Lana has one too) to carry Taliah around while I worked. I wish I had had something like this when I had babies! What a great invention!

Here is a photo of the living room from the kitchen. It is not big, but it also does not seem cramped.

And, the kitchen/living room from the front (back?) door.....

One of the best things about this apartment - their own laundry room with brand new machines!

We gave Seth the big bottom drawer for his toy box.

Just had to sneak in another photo of Taliah.....

The kids' room.....you can see Seth's new toddler bed in the corner..... there is room for a double bed, the change table, and a cupboard type storage closet they have - and still enough floor space for Seth to play...

Back at home, and after supper, I took out my 'Hutchy's Cookin Book' to get some ideas for the meals I am responsible for at our campout.......I was very sad to discover that most of the pages are damaged to some extent due to water leaking through the ceiling......I pulled the still wet pages out and layed them across the table to dry. About half the pages, although damaged, are no longer wet.

Oh well.....I guess when Danny gets married, his wife's cookbook will be copied from a copy.

Day 213 - Sunday, August 2

Jim and I spent another quiet day since he is feeling quite sick.

I accomplished a few things, however.....

I picked tomatoes from my inside plant - there were about 10 that had ripened in the last 2 days.

We took a walk around the yard to find a few things that had blown off the deck in the storm the night before......I found this, laying on the ground beside one of the pine trees......

The egg is empty and the nest sports pieces of Lucy's hair!

Later, I spent time in my raspberry patch.....

The raspberries are full of thistles so I must wear long sleeves, jeans, and boots to pick berries. Normally, I take care of this job early in the day so it is not too hot. Today, I went out in the middle of the afternoon - not so smart.

In spite of the heat, I got 3/4 of a pail of berries! Not bad for the first picking.

Day 147 ~ Thursday, May 28

A busy, busy day.

First, take the truck to the glass shop in Camrose.

Then, come back home to drop Jim off.

I went in to Wetaskiwin to give Kathryn a hand - including take her to the doctor.

On my way in to town, I stopped by this pond to watch a Goose family drama.....

Mom and Dad gather their children for a little trip across the pond.

At first, they did not notice that there was a 'dawdler'

But Daddy Goose quickly noticed someone was missing. He fell back and started loudly calling to his wayward offspring.

The little guy hurried to his father's call and soon the whole family was together again.

I dropped Kath at the clinic for her doctor appointment, then helped with some cleaning before Kathryn dyed and cut my hair.

Jim was busy while I was gone....

He made our first Square Foot Garden frame!

He also finished watering the potatoes - a huge job, since he first made a 'bowl' for each plant to hold water, giving each potential plant a good soak.

I was not at home long before we left for Camrose again to pick up the truck.

Back home to drop the truck off.

To Wetaskiwin to see Vinj come off the field from his first league soccer game, see Elizabeth come off the field from her game, and arrange to meet everyone at Rob and Lana's to give Emma a 'mini birthday party'.

We gave Emma her birthday gift.....the kid's version of 'Cranium'.

We did not play the game, exactly, but Emma and Sophia acted out some of the charade cards and the rest of us guessed what they were doing - while we ate the Dilly Bars and Buster Bars Vinj and Kath provided.

You have to wear these goofy glasses in order to read what you are to 'act out'...... then, if you wear bifocals, it is still hard to read because the print is so tiny.

We had a fun, laughter filled evening.

But we ended by taking Kathryn to the hospital for a stress test on Talia......Kath had been a little worried since her doctor's appointment and had not noticed any movement for quite some time.

The stress test showed that Talia's heartbeat was strong and regular - she also started moving around as soon as they put the monitor straps on Kath. So, Vinj and Kath were able to rest more peacefully that evening.

Me too.

Day 119 - Thursday April 30

A busy day......in which I do not feel real good.

I woke yesterday with cold symptoms. They seem to come and go, but I always feel 'drained' and 'headachy'.

In spite of this, we had an appointment in town and needed to pick up the mail.....this is how I entertained myself while Jim went in for the mail:

After supper (which Jim made) we paid a visit to Andrew where Thor posed for a photo.

After we left Andrew's, we dropped some papers off at Kathryn's and went in for a bit of a visit. Of course, I took photos of Seth.....

He sat on Papa's lap with his blankie - as soon as he sees the blanket, he starts sucking.....

but, after a cuddle with his blanket, he got off Papa's lap and entertained us with his playing - and jumping - and tickling his mommy's feet.

Day 103....Tuesday, April 14

Started a project today, before we went back to babysit for Lana while she had a doctor's appointment (to get the staples removed)....... I began to clean out my kitchen 'china cabinet'. I washed all the glasses, etc from the bottom shelf and washed the shelf itself......the glasses look so pretty, all dust free and sparkly.......



When Lana returned, we met Andrew for lunch.......

Day 71....March 13

I got my new glasses today.....


A new perscription is always a challenge....especially with 'old people glasses' (progressive lenses) so my eyes are a little sore tonight.

Michael, Andrew, and Daniel play hockey every Friday night in Wetaskiwin. It is a 'for fun' league....pretty informal, but they have a good time. Considering that none of them played on a league when they were kids, they do pretty well. They enjoy it when all 3 can be on the ice at the same time.

I joined Victoria in the bleachers tonight. We were the only fans - could be the fact that they start at 10:00 pm keeps the rest of the spectators at home.


I've seen Michael and Andrew play before, but never Daniel. I was a little surprised at how well he skates, actually, considering he did not have as much opportunity as the other 3 boys to skate when he was in his teens - after all, the other 3 boys had each other, at least to play with. Daniel was an 'only child' during his teenage years.



Michael is the black skater....going pretty hard.



Andrew, in the dark jersey, did the face offs for his team.



Mike and Drew......team mates, on the ice together.



All three boys taking a rest on the bench and concentrating on the game, by the looks on their faces. There weren't many guys out tonight so only 3 players got to rest at a time - they all had plenty of ice time. From left to right.....Michael, Daniel, Andrew.


After the game.....they didn't really want their picture taken because they were all sweaty, but Victoria coaxed them out of the dressing room for their mom. :D Again, from left to right (for those who may not know the guys by sight) Michael, Andrew, Daniel.

Day 69....Wednesday, march 11

I spent the day with Kathryn today.

First, she had a pre-natal checkup....I supervised Seth while he played with the 'balls on the twisted wires' toys in the waiting room.



New baby seems to be doing well, BTW.....it is a little on the small size, but the doc says "no worries".

After putting Seth down for his nap, Kathryn dyed my hair......it has been needing a color for several weeks now, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay the exorbitant amount the salon charges anymore and Kathryn hasn't been available, what with moving and performing in Calgary.



While my dye was setting, I applied dye to Kathryn's hair, although I am not as proficient as she. She supervised by watching my every move in the mirror. Vinjelu asked her to make herself into a blonde! We were both sure it would not look good, but......she also bought a brown dye so she could re-dye it after he saw it.

Here she is with a bag on her head, letting the bleach do its work.



During this time, she applied highlights to my hair then gave me a trim.

Andrew showed up just as we were finishing up, then Daniel appeared - he misses Seth alot.






We decided to all go out for supper (Kath doesn't feel free yet, to take over the kitchen in her shared house in order to feed all of us)

First, a photo to send to Vinjelu at work so he can see what he asked for:



After supper, we stopped and she bought a 'toner' to hopefully remove some of the orange color.

And here is a shot of my finished look - a bit redder than I wanted (only because red tends to fade to orange) and the lighting isn't real good, but oh so much nicer than it was!



Here is Seth in the restaurant, smiling at his Uncle Andrew:




On my way home, I was startled by the enormous orange moon just rising above the horizon. By the time I could pull over at a place where trees were not obstructing the view, it had risen high enough that it was not quite so large....still orange, though.

Day 42 - Thursday, Feb 12

Jim's and My 32nd Wedding Anniversary. He's working out by Caroline. I'm at home. Oh well.

We celebrated with love notes over the phone.....he drew a picture of flowers, took a photo, and sent it over the phone - along with a note......I sent him wedding photos via e mail......I scanned several of our wedding photos into the computer, edited and stored them. This is how we celebrated loving each other as man and wife for 32 years.

I forgot to actually take a photo, but since I worked with photos most of the day, I don't feel it is cheating to use a scanned photo or two for today.

Oh, and a card arrived today for us.....complete with a loving note from Mom and Dad. The front of the card was a photo of the beautiful roses Jim had delivered to Curves on our 26th Anniversary. (Yes, it is a card that I made for Mom to give away.)