Day 288 - Bronwen & The Art Class...

Phew. It's a busy weekend! Today Bronwen came to visit. I met Bronwen at a pub in South Calgary when I went to listen to Jessica sing. I commented on her beef dip looking yummy & she offered a bite. I declined, but sat down & visited with her instead. She has a 9 year old Rottweiler, named Roxy, and we had a great time talking about our dogs & traveling. I invited her out to the ranch & she decided to come out this weekend. 

We had a great chat & only realized how nice it was outside when she went to leave! I told her to bring Roxy out next time & we'll take the hounds for a walk. We also went through my beading stuff, as she wants to start making some jewelry... Should be fun to get creative together!!! 

After she left, I decided to visit Janis & Dustin. They were camping at a group campground on the north end of Kananaskis Country. I took the dogs & drove through a flash hail storm on my way. Once there, I met Janis, Dustin, Caleb & all their friends. One fellow had biked from Airdrie (!!), one couple was from Kamloops & the rest were mostly from Calgary. I enjoyed visiting with a Chiropractor & his wife, a Dental Hygienist who works WAAAAAAAY up north for one week a month. She was telling me that South African Doctors fly in & work for one month & then fly back home. That's how desperate they are for Doctors! Hmmm... I could smell a sunny way to make it through winter! :o)

Janis helped me make signs for Jenn's triathlon tomorrow. Janis is an amazing artist, so how happy was I when I realized I could sneak her talents in to sketch some letters! The orange paper was so bright we were colouring in the letters until 2300! It was nearly glow-in-the-dark! 

And Caleb. Wow! What a smartypants! I am so amazed at his vocabulary! He is 21 months & Janis counted over 170 words the little guy uses! I was impressed! I asked her what she's done - her secret - they never talk 'baby talk' to him & they read A LOT of books. 8+/day. My kids will be bookworms! Maybe I'll catch on one day too! :o) I love the fact that I can experience my friends becoming parents & observe the skills & tools they use. No pressure for myself as a parent, though! :oP 

Interestingly enough, I met Carl. Who's Carl? Well, when I met Bronwen the first time, she commented on wanting to go to the World Cup in South Africa. Of course I encouraged her to go, but she didn't have anyone to go with. The next day I met up with Janis & Dustin, who had just visited their friend Carl. Who was going to the World Cup. Who had extra tickets. He was hoping to trade the tickets for accommodation. I immediately thought of Bronwen & my pals in SA who would love to have a few Canadians crash on their sofas. I emailed Bronwen & waited patiently to hear from Janis/Dustin/Carl. But nothing. Oh well. 

Turns out Bronwen watched EVERY game, but in Canada. Carl went & had a blast. Bronwen still wants to get to SA... Anyhow, I haven't seen Bronwen since our first visit. I heard about Carl the next day. Now, Bronwen visits again & I meet Carl the same day. Hmm. Something tells me I should introduce the two of them... Not in a cupid way, but in a 'I feel like I should do this for whatever reason' way. In any case, it just seems odd that the 2 of them keep showing up in my life at the same times!

On that note, I boogied home to try & catch a few zzz's before Jenn's big day! I can't wait!!! I'm such an emotional sap, I'm sure I'll be bawling my eyes out when she crosses the finish line! Of course, after I photograph her winning finish!!!

Sleep well & see you tomorrow! 

xxxxx

Maria, Valentina & Oceana

The guys played soccer whole heartedly for quite a while!

Janis & Caleb - what a pair of cuties!

Day 217 - Running Around In The Snow

Okay, so last night I fell asleep to the sound of rain. I love to hear the rain & have a nice cool room while I'm snuggled deep under the covers. I have a window right next to the bed, so I opened it up a little bit & listened to the drops come splashing down. 


I woke up to the sound of rain & admired at how green everything looked. I love the miracle of Spring & how quickly things transform. Sadly, my admiration turned to disbelief as I looked out the window a few hours later & saw the rain transforming to SNOW! Ugh! Seriously? Yup.


It snowed all afternoon & through the night. Blah. So not excited about that! Mom & I went to town for the late afternoon & luckily it was only raining in the city. I managed to tick all the things off my list (on my handy iPod!). I picked up my engagement ring, as the stone was loose & luckily it was just a prong & not a chipped stone! Gasp! They polished it up & it looks brand spankin' new! Feels like I'm newly engaged again!! :o) 


I stopped at the bank & the teller was so sweet! We visited about wigs & weaves & she's going to include me in her prayers. How thoughtful! I told her I'm going to come back & show off some of my wigs... :o) I haven't been banking at the TD very long, but they are so friendly! I have yet to have a negative experience there! And they're open late & on Saturdays!!! Is there any question I've found a good bank? Especially after the CIBC omitted a digit on my cheque! Ha ha... That will keep my chuckling for a long time!


Next stop - Chinook. (For those of you reading from overseas, it's actually pronounced 'Shin-ook' (ook as in hook)) (It's a warm dry wind that blows down the east side of the Rocky Mountains during winter months.) If you're lucky, it melts MOST of the snow & then refreezes as slippery ice & then it snows again, leaving parking lots & streets a disaster to navigate! One of Calgary's bigger malls is called Chinook Centre. I popped into SportChek to see what kind of stuff they had for the World Cup. It's in South Africa this year & I thought I could find Jaco something with the South African flag on it. All they had was a t-shirt in a hideous shade of yellow. Never mind. Their flag is really pretty...

I was returning a luggage weigh scale that I used once in Mexico & then it broke. The lady wouldn't give me a refund & offered me a credit. I told her I had great luggage & enough handbags & wallets to last a lifetime. (Don't tell Jaco the handbag thing - a gal can NEVER have too many!) :o)  Mom had went to a restaurant to order some supper to go. I left the shop without my refund or credit & also forgot my keys there! I found Mom sitting at Starbucks. The restaurant was closed for renovations! Doh! I realized the keys were missing about now. We walked all the way to the other end of the mall & sure enough, there they were. As we left the shop, Mom pointed out the kiosk outside. They sold wigs. I told Mom, 'Nah, they're not my style & they are fake & they are expensive.' She said, 'No, come here. Look.' She pointed to the name of the kiosk - Oceana. Hah! Imagine that! We made our way back to the car & left the city.


We headed towards Longview. Tonight was Fawna's evening with some spiritual speakers from Australia. Of course we arrived late. I wasn't sure where exactly it was & I phoned Fawna's house to see if her husband was home & could tell us where to go. Her daughter answered the phone & I nearly bust a gut from laughing. Here's a recap of the conversation:
'Hello?'
'Hi, Fawna?'
'No, she's not here.'
'Oh, is your Dad there?'
'No, he's with my Mom.'
'Oh. We're supposed to be going to the event your Mom has arranged this evening, but I'm not sure of the location. Do you know where it is?'
Okay, this is the one that got me. In a totally posh British accent, she says:
'I'm not sure of the specific location of the exact event you are referring to.'
Are you kidding me?? I'm sure she's only about 8 or 10 years old!!! Too funny!


Anyhow, we found the place & of course, we were only 40 minutes late. The couple that were speaking were most talking about the Course In Miracles & how it had changed their life. The wife had just wrote a book & the husband did most of the talking. He was quite entertaining! We finished up about 2230 (!) & then headed home.


Before we left, we let the dogs out for a wee. While they were sniffing around, I hear this REALLY LOUD 'CRACK'! behind me. I turn around to see that someone has just SMASHED into my car!!! Oh no!!!! Poor Contemplate!!! I go over to inspect the damage & sure enough there is a big dent in the back bumper & there were bits of shattered plastic lying on top of the bumper from the license plate area. The trunk was also open. I tried to close it. Nope. Again. Nope. Again. Repeat 60 times. Nope. Oh dear. I know it gives me hassle from time to time, but NEVER this much!!! Finally it closes. The lady gives me her address & phone number & I am to call her with the cost of repairing the damages.


We drive home. It's a freaking blizzard. The slush is lying on the road & splashes up over the car, pulling it all over the road & making visibility zero. Add in the falling snow & the visibility is less than zero. (Negative visibility?) We drove about 60km/h the whole way home. I chatted with Jaco for a large chunk of it.


I just don't think he gets it. I tell him it's snowing (on the 27th of May) & he says, 'Oh, cool. That must be beautiful. You must enjoy it!' Are you kidding me? Does he have any idea how stressful driving in this 'stuff' is?!? Pretty? It's dark out & you can't see a bloody thing!!! And this is why I don't want to live in Canada!!!! I'll take an Australian dust storm any day!!!! And the debate goes on...


We arrived home about midnight, with a fair bit of organizing to do before the 0530 wake up call for tomorrow... Wish me luck, it's going to be a short sleep! xxxxx


Maria & Valentina

Oh so pretty.

Blah.

Not cool for the end of May!