'We Are Trying To Get Warm!'

What a treat it was for Cayden to have his cousin JJ have a sleep-over and hang out. They don't see each other often but you wouldn't know it if you had seen them together. I was a little surprised to see that other boys can make as much noise as Cayden. It was actually quite nice. He isn't the only loud one!

We did so much running around from store to store, but this time it was so easy! Even with the extra child. I think I'd much rather take these two together on an errand run than just Cayden alone. They amused each other the whole time and did not stop talking.

After the whole morning we finally made it home. They had some swimming time in a very cold pool. Cayden and JJ were a little cold so they decided to 'warm up' by sitting under the window with the exhaust hose from our air conditioner that was 'cooling down' the inside of our home. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures.

What a great day. Cayden is wishing that his 'best friend' could have ten sleep-overs. The sad thing is that in a few short months JJ will be moving out to the Philippines to start a new adventure with his family. I guess we'll just have to fly out there and have ten sleep-overs at there new home!

“Don't squat with your spurs on”

Tonight we were invited to a dinner at Central Community. It was an appreciation dinner meant for all the many people who take part in helping out in a wide variety ways at the church. The staff and lead team, once again, did a fantastic job at this years Cowboy themed event.

We were welcomed by, as usual, the ever talented at making us laugh, Ernie Charleton. You could have believed you had actually stepped back into the Lone Ranger days as you were immediately surrounded by "Heeee Haws!" and cowboy out-fitted guys and gals. We were served a delicious camp dinner of ribs, baked beans and corn-bread, followed by home-made pie.

There were a number of great door prizes as well as music by the Young Street Vocal Band. Probably the funniest part of the evening was the pig calling competition! Pronounced something like "sooweeing". (probably spelled wrong, but an actually term). Of course Suzanne gave us all a good laugh with her initial ear-piercing screech.

Thanks Central for being such a great place to call home!

A Sad Farewell To Spring Soccer

It was perfect soccer weather tonight. Just enough of a breeze and a perfect cloud cover. Our season ended tonight with a 1 goal loss to the Rosedale Rockers. I have to be honest and say that it was a completely unexpected loss. I'm sure the soccer ball was in their end of the field at least 75% of the night. Unfortunately we just didn't have the firepower to put one in. Oh well. There's always next year. We are all definitely looking forward to the next season of Tsunami Soccer. Great game ladies!

I think Cayden is going to miss soccer season as much as I will. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening was a great social event for him. He loved to come out. Not to watch me of course, but to play with the many other kids who also came out to 'not watch their moms' play soccer.

This Is For Jaelyn!

All boy! Although girls can play with snails too. I remember the days when I had no problem playing with snakes, snails and bugs. Those days, I'm a little sad to say, are long gone.

Cayden was so sweet. He came to me with this snail sitting on a branch. My first reaction was, "Yuck!" He says, "I'm saving this for Jaelyn. She has snails at home and needs another one." I thought to myself that he couldn't possible talking about my girlie girl niece. But he was very insistent that Jaelyn definitely did collect snails.

11 Sail Waits!

A few days ago, I was headed out to Vancouver around 6:00pm. I caught a bit of the traffic report only to hear that there was an eleven sail wait on the Albion Ferry for commuters heading home after a long days work. Eleven sail waits is a mind numbing three hours of sitting in your car in Fort Langley waiting to get across the Fraser River to Maple Ridge.

After at least 3 years of road construction, the long awaited day is very near. The opening day of the Golden Crossing Bridge, which connects the City's of Maple Ridge and Langley. Gone will be those long ferry line-ups! For a measly $3.00 a person can zip across in 10 minutes flat.Who could possibly complain. $3.00 or 3 hours wait. Not a difficult choice for me.

Denbow Transport had a large part in the completion of the Bridge. Not with the actual construction, but with the 'Greening' up of the roadways all around the South end and the North end of the bridge deck.

Deadlines were fast approaching so I volunteered a Saturday to help Denbow meet the completion deadlines. It was a very long but well-spent day. It was the first time I got the experience the complexities of such a major project. My hat goes off to Chuck and Jared. I'm thinking that maybe some gray hairs came with this one!

On this Saturday I made history! I was the first truck driver that got to make a maiden voyage across the Golden Crossing Bridge from the Langley side to the Maple Ridge side. I had my camera handy, so of course I was busy snapping pictures while I was busy maneuvering the truck around the crews of people still working on the bridge deck.

After I dropped of the bark mulch, I thought that maybe I would make the attempt to head South over the bridge. I checked in with Chuck. He figured that it should be OK. So off I went. I followed the signs that said 'Hope', because that was the direction I needed to head to reload. I slowly made my way across the bridge deck, again maneuvering around the crews and finally made it to the South end.

Oh, oh. Houston, we had a problem. I made it to the very end of the off ramp only to come to... Concrete blockades. Immovable concrete blockades. I pulled the parking brake on the truck and got out. I stood beside the truck and actually brought my hand up to scratch my head in wonder. What the heck am I going to do now? I thought. After a few minutes of standing there, thinking that by some miracle those barricades would move, I finally made the only decision I could.

Time for a looooonnnnnggggg reverse. So, not only did I get the opportunity to drive across the Bridge, I also got the opportunity to back-up over the bridge! I found the whole thing a little humorous. Good thing I have no problems laughing at myself.

Our Express Blower trucks in action on the North side.
Wow, look at that bridge! It is an amazing site.

Approaching the middle of the bridge deck.

The above is a picture of the point where I could go no further. See where the road continues into four lanes. Not on this day!

Our Langley reload center is in the thick of things with the whole project. Our poor drivers had many long waits through the past few years of construction!

9 Days And Still Alive!

A few months back, Cayden got his first pet. A fish with a new name every few hours. He loved this fish. He'd make regular visits and chat with his fish. I was quite impressed by how much he enjoyed it. Well, unfortunately this little fish with many names went to "fish heaven" only 1 week later. Cayden bawled when I broke the bad news. After a whole week of his pestering for another fish, we finally set out to the new pet store in town.

I let Cayden choose his fish and off we went home fish in hand. This fish was lucky enough to obtain the name 'Piper'. Jeremy, Cayden and I spent much of that afternoon outside and 'Piper' familiarized himself with his new home. A few hours later, Cayden asked to go inside to see his fish. I told him that it would be okay and reminded him not to put his hands into the fish tank. A little later, I thought that it was time to check up on him. It had been a little too quiet. And you know what that means... I found Cayden with his hands in the tank and water everywhere. Not only this, but bubbles in the fish tank! Poor little Piper was struggling for clean water to get some oxygen, but there was none to be had. Needless to say, a few hours later poor little Piper joined Cayden's first fish in 'fish heaven'. I have to say that I do have some regrets at how angry I had gotten at Cayden when I found him "cleaning the fish tank".

After this fish episode, Cayden had to really earn his next fish. A month of waiting and once again we were off to the pet store to make yet another fish purchase. This time he chose a yellow Beta fish. Even before he picked his fish out, he'd had a new name picked out. 'Goldi' has now been in our home longer than the previous fish. Here's to a long and happy life with our new fish. Three's a Charm, right?

It's Barbeque Time

For the past three summers I had full intentions of upgrading our barbeque to a sleek, large, stainless steel barbeque. One on which I would attempt to prepare a feast for family and friends. A few weeks ago we finally made it happen. Jeremy and I decided to treat each other to a practical Mothers Day and Fathers Day gift. We finally came to a mutual agreement on a Broil King Stainless Steel barbeque from the Home Depot. What a test of patience that purchase was!

Home Depot had a special offer one weekend where they would throw in free assembly. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it would be a good idea to make the purchase at this time. It took almost an hour to make the initial purchase. Seems they only keep one person on staff in the seasonal department, even when there are ten people trying to purchase barbeques. I finally completed the sale and was told to come back to pick-up our purchase later that week.

I went back to pick it up, only to find out after another 1/2 hour wait, that they had built the wrong one. As patient and polite as I am, I waited patiently for another 1/2 week and again made the trip to Abbotsford to pick the barbeque up. Well, lo' and behold, they did not have one waiting for me to pick up. Again, as patient and polite as I am, I politely told the clerk that I would not be able to go home empty handed this time. So I ended up taking a slightly dented floor model home.

Another 1/2 hour later they finally managed to round up a staff member to help me load the very large item into my truck. Yes, they found one person. And he was a small, not very strong one at that. He managed to drop his end, do a little more damage to the barbeque and I was rescued by a very nice gentleman in the parking lot who offered to assist me in loading up the monstrosity.

I finally managed to get the purchase home. It has been everything I had hoped. Already I've managed to make some very impressive meals on it. I even managed to make a stir fry meal!

Tonight was probably my most original dinner yet. I found this recipe in The Weber Barbeque Recipe Book. Wow, was it ever good. Two thumbs up for this one and hopefully many more.

Chicken Involtini with Proscuitto and Basil

When You Want To Save Money...

When your on a budget, I highly recommend one thing. If you manage to follow this one recommendation, I guarantee you will save money. I speak from personal experience. Not only will you save money on gas, you will also save money on your purchases. What is this secret "one thing", you ask. Here's the secret. When your heading Westbound on highway 1 out of Chilliwack, keep yours eyes on the exit signs. When you come to the Whatcom Road exit sign, take the off ramp. At the top of the ramp, turn left. Go over the bridge deck and immediately turn left again. Now you should be heading Eastbound, back to Chilliwack.

If you follow these directions, you will bypass all those wonderful stores in Abbotsford where it is easy to take your wallet out many times over and spend money. You can avoid Costco, Home Sense, Winners, Home Depot, Micheal's, and Waalmart. Trust me, I know from personal experience how easy it is t spend money in this town. On another note, what a gorgeous day! After a busy day I managed to make it once again to the soccer field well ahead of most other players. You may be thinking, "whoopee". But my teammates know how amazing this is. Last season I was lucky to make it to the field at the start of the game, often even a few minutes late. My teammates all keep thinking that they are hallucinating when they show up to the game and I'm already there. I like this new leaf. I think I'll continue to work on this timeliness. It sure is nice not to be rushing onto the field.

Off to the soccer game with a cool drink in one hand, and a lunch bag full a sharing treats for all the other kid fans watching their moms running up and down the field chasing a round ball.

Hoping for a better finish at the end of next game! Definitely not one of our best efforts.