Day 385 - Packing & Last Minute Things

Today sucked. Tomorrow he leaves. I'm not happy. I spent 5 hours in the city running around. Luckily Trisha called & forewarned me about the horrible accident on hwy 2 & I checked online. If I hadn't, I would have been stuck in a detour on hwy 8, as there was another horrible accident. What's going on? The weather is still good & people are still crashing? I'll be worried once things turn cold & snowy!

I picked up Jaco's pants from Lululemon that we dropped off for hemming, CNF for fruit, Wal-Mart for bins to pack away our things & then fuel, water & the last supper. It was rather frustrating to have to drive in on hwy 22, then all the way up McLeod Trail to Chinook, then all the way back down McLeod Trail to leave on hwy 22. Oh well. What can you do? At least I made it home safe & sound.

Jaco was nearly done packing by the time I arrived home at 2100. I helped him with a few things & did my best to tidy up the house, as I knew Mom would be coming home soon & spazzing about the state of the place. I went outside about 0100 to throw out the garbage & thought I might as well burn it, seeing as we would be up for awhile yet. When I got to the burning barrel, to my surprise, it was quite full. Mom must have put boxes in it & not lit them. I crammed my three bags of rubbish in on top of the cardboard boxes & proceed to light them on fire. I went back in the house & peeked outside every once in awhile to check on the flames & make sure I wasn't burning down the house. I checked out the window & to my surprise, the flames were raging quite high. I got a little nervous and sat & watched the flames for awhile. When I was confident I wasn't going to set K-Country on fire, I resumed cleaning/packing. About 10 minutes later, I looked out the window again. Oh dear. I think it's time for a new barrel. The flames had burned their way down the barrel. The barrel was FULL of holes. I don't know how the flames didn't escape. It was ridiculous. I could see more flames on the sides of the barrel than I could out the top of the barrel. See photo below.

Needless to say, I didn't go to sleep until all was dark & cool out back. I'm typing this from the bedroom, so the house is still standing. I'm telling you - if fire isn't in my demise, you can call me a liar!

Sweet dreams & enjoy the ones you love! I'm going to miss mine come tomorrow!!! xxxxMJV&O

And he was even underweight!

Day 378 - Fire. Again.

This afternoon I was planning on zipping into Bragg Creek to order a replacement driver's license, as I seriously can't remember where I last saw my old one. Of course, I JUST missed the gal who is in charge of licensing. Okay. I guess it's off to Calgary I go. I stopped to pick up the mail before I left. There was a parcel card. The clerk told me she needed to see my driver's license in order to hand over the parcel. I laughed. I told her I didn't have one because the gal had left early. I offered a passport, but she told me I'd need a utility bill to accompany my passport! I guess the parcel will wait until Monday when Mom can pick it up.

On my way to Calgary, on the 22x just west of Red Deer Lake School, I could see smoke. Then fire. No fire trucks. Why did I leave my cell phone at home today!!?? The traffic was slowing down & as I approached I could see the flames high on the left side of the eastbound lane. There were also smaller flames on the right side. There was a house not 20 yards from the right side flames. As I slowly drove 'through' the fire (no fire on the pavement) I couldn't believe it. I could FEEL the heat intensely inside the cab. I had changed the ventilation to recycle inside the cab, so I knew it wasn't from that! SCARY!!! Shortly after I passed through the 'ring of fire' I saw a motorhome on the side of the road. It was towing an SUV with the front left wheel completely destroyed. The driver was pouring water on the wheel & it was still smoking. CRAZY!!! I was pretty spooked! As soon as I got to AMA, I called 911 & thankfully they had received a lot of calls already. The crazy part was when I drove home 1.5 - 2 hours later, the fire department & police were still on site. The flames had really spread & burned a long distance! I was amazed! Thankfully the house didn't burn! What a scary thing! I'm certainly afraid of fire now!!!

Meanwhile, back at the AMA, I sported the blonde wig for my new driver's license... Tee hee hee... I feel like a spy or International Agent. I love it! My real hair is pretty much toast. I have little bits & pieces here & there & it's been quite sore this past week. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's aching to fall out?

I picked up a few small things for Jaco's birthday tomorrow & boogied home. We left for Banff shortly after & drove through a little rain near Canmore. Unfortunately we were too late to stop at the Rocky Mountain Bagel shop. Hopefully on the way home! Mmmm!!!

Our hotel room is REALLY NICE! I was a bit worried, as the photos online didn't do it much justice, but it's very nice! I'm kicking myself that I didn't sign up for their points program when I went to Mexico, as I would have had 29 days the first trip, 17 the second & now these few days here! Oh well. Live & learn!

We had a little nibble at Magpie & Stump & then drove up to the Banff Centre to check out the recital hall we need to be at tomorrow morning at 0900. It's going to be an early/long day! Yikes!!!

Tomorrow is Jaco's birthday, so I'm excited to treat him to dinner! What a lucky girl I am. Such a handsome man with such a handsome personality. It's like it's my birthday & not his!!!

We're also meeting my friend Karen for lunch tomorrow. She called yesterday & said she was coming through Calgary & wanted to meet up. I called her back to tell her we wouldn't be home because we were going to the Film Festival. She phoned me back to tell me she was going to the Film Festival too! We're meeting after our morning films to have a visit! Awesome!

On that, I'm off to bed! It's an early start tomorrow! Sleep well!
xxxxMaria & Jaco

 Just in case Jaco hogs the blankets.

 Magpie & Stump

Day 375 - Driving Like A House On Fire & A House On Fire

Today was my acupuncture appointment. Today was a day I should have just stayed in bed.

We left late for the appointment, so Jaco was speeding. I usually do a pretty good job of backseat driving, but today I felt weak & sick again, so I wasn't watching the road. We met a cop. Jaco was driving 142 km/h in a 100 km/h zone. We got stopped. It gets better. Jaco doesn't have an international driving license. The cop didn't care about his SA license. I couldn't find the insurance. I could find plenty of expired insurance in the glove box, but not the current one. He also got upset when I found an extra license plate sticker. (?!) He really got upset when he couldn't read the VIN# & thought the car was stolen.

Thank goodness he didn't ask me for my license, as I haven't been able to find it since last week. We received a $281 fine & I had to drive. In the end, the cop was actually quite nice about the whole ordeal. It could have been a lot worse! Apparently he could have towed the car & given Jaco a much heftier fine, but he didn't! Additionally if Jaco had added a mere 6 kms more to his speed, he would have had the lucky opportunity to meet some of Canada's finest in the Judicial System!

Thankfully Dr. Zhao still held my appointment, even though we were 50 minutes late!!! (for a one hour appointment!) I think I neared 30 needles today & I was quite restless for the last 10 minutes - not sure why.

Our next stop was Fishman's to pick up my wedding dress. I dropped it off on March 18th (coincidentally our anniversary) & told them I would pick it up in June. It's November. When I went to pick it up, I asked them to put it in one of those special boxes that helps to preserve it. The gal at the counter told me her boss would have to do it, so I need to come back another day. I hope they don't mind waiting another 8 months!

Next up was Safeway for oranges & Banzai Sushi for... SUSHI!!! $4.50 makes for a great supper! We drove home to greet the girls & unload the car. Mom arrived shortly after & asked if we wanted popcorn. I told her not really, but I'd probably end up eating some. As I left the room, I heard her bragging to Jaco about a new 'popping technique' that Ken had showed her. Whatever.

I'm in the bedroom on the laptop (as usual) & Jaco came in to join me. I commented to him that Mom must have forgotten about the popcorn because I could smell something burning. He giggled with me - remembering our 1/2 hr whistling tea kettle from a few weeks ago. The next thing I hear is Mom stomping into the kitchen muttering about her burning popcorn & then it turns into, 'JILL! JACO! We've got a FIRE! You better come help me! HURRY! WE'VE GOT A FIRE!'

I fly off the bed & into the kitchen, grab the water jug & start coughing like crazy. Before I get anything wet, she tells me 'It's okay. I think I've got it out.' Meanwhile the entire kitchen is a white haze. I'm not sure if it's the burnt popcorn or the baking soda she dumped on the flames. We're all coughing & hacking & standing out on the deck. There isn't much air circulation, so she drives to the bunkhouse to get a few fans.

When she returned, she told me how she removed the lid off the pan & it burst into flames. By the time she went to the cupboard for the baking soda, the flames had doubled. That was when she panicked. I asked her why she didn't just put the lid BACK ON the pot & to that she replied, 'I didn't want to burn myself!' Hmpf. Needless to say, it was a little smokey on the homefront tonight.

When I had called her prior to the fire & told her of our police fiasco, she said, 'Sometimes these things happen to remind us of what's really important - what we have on hand.' So I told her after the fire fiasco, 'Sometimes these things happen to remind us of what's really important - what we have on hand.'

Somedays are just better spent in bed. Under the covers & relatively safe. And I use the word 'relative-ly' rather loosely. Thank goodness the day is done. Sleep peacefully & safely.

Oh! I also talked to Sylvia tonight. She told me about the surprise party her girlfriend's threw on the 23rd. She asked me if I went to Extra Foods in Athabasca, which I had. Why? I asked. Her friend was in Extra Foods & later looked at Sylvia's photos & saw the same chick with a henna'd head in the photo as she did at Extra Foods! Hah!

xxxxA charred Maria, Jaco, Valentina & Oceana

What do you say? 

 Cough! Cough!

'At least it wasn't your good pan!' 'It was my good pan!' (All Mom's pans are good pans, FYI) 

When I went in to take the photos, the left front burner was actually on & sizzling away. Was she trying to start ANOTHER fire?  

 Good ol' baking soda. Here's another use!

Oil, baking soda, heat & a good pan. Just what the Doctor ordered for a night of mayhem.