E- Tunnelling for bucks

We had the media come by my work site again yesterday. While this time there were no big name stars to insult (ie: calling Schwarzenegger an "old man"), the media shoot did provide a few pictures for me to post as reminders of my time on the Canada Line. When I found out that the media was coming, I duct taped together the rip in the seat of my pants. I was quite happy that I did as a couple of these shots were shown by the big local media organizations.



Clip

E- This isn't the way to the beach!

As a parent, there are days that the kids seem to get under my skin a little more than others. It's difficult, however, to know whether this is because they are just whining and complaining more than usual or if I am just less tolerant. Les spent last weekend with some friends (and Lucas) in Point Roberts and I was with the girls. They are fantastic children and are a lot of fun to have around. I have so few complaints overall that I feel badly picking on this one issue. However, as many parents know, the whining can get to you after a while. Whether it was missing their mom or what, I don't know, but the level of whining definitely got to me the last couple of days.

Actually, it was probably the combination of whining and not listening that is the most frustrating. My favourite exchange, among many, went like this:

Molly "But Dad I want to go to the beach"

Me "We are going to the beach Molly"

Molly "I want to go. Why aren't we going to the beach"

Me (with a little frustration in my voice) "I just told you Molly, we are going. We are driving there right now"

Molly "No we're not. This isn't the right way to go to the beach. But you promised we are going to the beach."

Me "Arrrrrrrrrrgggggh"

To those people without kids, this may seem like a cute exchange. The 4 year old (who incidentally is getting to know some Vancouver landmarks quite well) giving driving directions/instructions to her father. However, those with small kids will appreciate how annoying it can be to constantly have to repeat things 5 times and then resort to threatening to take away a privilege before actually being heard. Having said this however, it's pretty nice to have children at the stage in life where the thought of losing a bed-time story is enough to coerce compliance just about every time. Too bad they don't listen the first 4 times I say it.

Who can beat a title like Debocceri?

Eric, who has been a blogging machine, has done a fantastic job of updating the blog with details of our stay down in Point Roberts. As I sit in front of the computer here in town, with heat rising off our deck in waves, our time in Point Roberts seems like a pastoral dream.

As an aside, the girls, bizarrely, are on the couch watching a movie...with BLANKETS wrapped around them! Maybe Eric's observations about their temperature inconsistencies are just the tip of the iceberg...? Speaking of icebergs, maybe our blanket-wrapping-in-the-heat-of-summer kids are the perfect modern offspring...immune to the heat of global warming? Anyway...

Our last day in Point Roberts was just our family. It seemed quiet after so many guests and so much excitement. So, in an effort to keep the energy level high, Eric and Molly hatched an evil plan:

Picture me: sheltered in the cool shade of the front porch, cradling a hot and cuddly baby in my arms, reading a book. Along comes the picture of innocence. Molly, with love and tenderness in her eyes, approaches and tells me to close my eyes. Oh, my heart swells. She is bringing me some thirst quenching treat! A popsicle, a drink... Instead, when I open my eyes Moll is gone and so is Lukey's car seat, which had been at my feet. Weird.

Or diabolical.

Seconds later, two high powered water...rockets, there is no other word, shoot around the corner and absolutely drench me. Undeterred by the wee babe in my arms, I chase the smaller culprit (Molly) and tackle her. One rocket is now mine. I deposit baby in a safe spot, then go on the attack. In the ensuing battle, I uncharacteristically WIN. Both Eric and Molly were wetter than me. Hah! Until we all ended up in the kids' pool. Then we were all wet.



Finny was inside and missed the whole fight. The look on her face when she came out and saw everyone (Eric included) in the pool, with their clothes on, was hilarious. A true double take.

I piled everyone inside a ran a warm bath to wash off the grass. I bundled Lukey up in towels (what is nicer than a chubby, clean, cellulite covered baby thigh?) and wandered outside to find a still soaking Eric on the hammock. He looked so peaceful (in utter defeat).

Eric looked up at me from the hammock and said, "It just doesn't get any better than-" SNAP!



Well, karma will get you every time. I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard. That's what you get for an unprovoked sniper attack on a defenseless mother. That, and an embarrassing defeat. In front of your daughter. Beautiful.

E-Debocceri

As parents of young children, our lives are filled with a lot of responsiblity. At this particular stage in life, there just aren't as many hours left in the day for frivilous moments of fun as there were in our early 20's. Sunday, however, was a chance for us to let loose a little when 3 former team-mates from my UBC basketball team, and their families joined us, for a party down in Point Roberts.

John, Trixie, Jack, Hunter,Cole and Gerald joined the 9 of us already down at the Point early in the afternoon. We feasted on onion cheeseburgers with these new flat buns (which I would definitely recommend), chips with gaucomole, fresh cherries from Brady and Lisa's garden, melon, blueberries and beer.


It was great to have the big sunny backyard to host all of these people and to keep the kids entertained. It was really interesting to compare how the girls played on the trampoline (think "Little House on the Prairie") versus how the boys played (think "WWE Smackdown").

At a particular moment in the party I happened to notice one kid playing hockey, another basketball, two girls wading through the pond, one person on the trampoline and a couple of more on the slippery slide. With all these distractions around for the kids, the guys were able to get in a pretty serious game of Bocci while the girls talked on the porch. Just the nature of our friendships, being former team-mates who competed every day in practice, make any activity we participate in pretty competitive. We upped the stakes by assigning shots of rum to the player with the worst ball each round. Things got silly quickly. Having said that, it was a pretty special day to be able to spend some time having frivilous fun with friends, reminiscing about some good old times and creating new memories as well. All the while the kids were safe, entertained and creating some new friendships of their own.

As the afternoon wore on we got the fire going and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. The kids, who seemed like they would never fade, eventually went inside to watch DVDs. (Although it perhaps doesn't seem like such a feat now, in the moment I took a lot of pride in being able to crack the parental code on "Ice Age" and "Strawberry Shortcake".) With the kids thus entertained, we were free to continue the party outside listening to music around the campfire. At this stage in our lives, it was about as perfect an afternoon as possible.

The next morning wasn't so perfect however, as I had to get up early for a test in Richmond. There were about 700 questions from 5 different tests measuring everything from my ability to quickly work with fractions to my tendency to psychopathy. Although I might not have had the perfect preparation for the test, I figured anyone who had been able to crack a Sony Playstation code in my condition should probably be able to get a passing grade on the test. We will see next week.

E- Wonky thermostats

Summer has finally arrived and none to soon. The last four days were hot and sunny, perfect for spending down in Point Roberts, out in the yard and at the beach. Brady, Lisa, Jaeli and Rylan came down from Kelowna to stay with us from Saturday until Monday. Soon after arriving, we set up the killer whale slide which kept the kids entertained for hours. It's amazing how a 3 foot long slippery surface can provide enough fun and adrenaline to make kids oblivious to the freezing cold tap water for hours on end! We headed to Judy and Bryan's place later in the day to be able to barbecue while the kids played on the beach. Brady and I took the kids for a walk along the beach after dinner. They scrambled along logs, dug in the sand and found all sorts of shells and rocks to bring home. After about 20 minutes of walking we figured we had better turn back before everybody got too tired. Within seconds of this thought, tears came separately to Molly, Fin and Rylan. Jaeli had enough of all the noise and decided to run home.

On Sunday morning Les was on the Point Roberts garden tour, so I was in charge of entertaining the rest of the troops. Maple beach can be incredibly beautiful and enjoyable as the tide-waters pour in and warm up over the couple of kilometers of sand flats that make up Boundary Bay. However, our timing was a little off. Some morning wind and clouds combined with a fairly high tide to make our trip to the beach a little chilly. I gave the kids a ride in our dingy but apparently they are only oblivious to cold in very specific water sport environments.

Wet and Wild

This was Lukey this morning during his bath al fresco on our balcony. He was pretty thrilled at being able to water all the (damaged and abused) plants with his energetic thrashing and splashing. Naked. In the sunlight. Wet. Can't we all just wish we were seven months old for a moment? If I fit in that tiny tub...and wouldn't be...you know, arrested...for doing the same thing...,... Let's just leave that pleasure to a vicarious one, right?

Not to be outdone, the girls insisted on some splashing of their own. We rigged up the co-op wading pool (and for those of you rolling your eyes, yes it is communal...how co-op of us). Eric and I played medieval servants to the two surly princesses and hauled multiple bowls, kettles and watering cans full of warm water to supplement the chilly hose. Those soft-shelled little crabbies were demanding. Once we got to a suitable temperature, they were slipping and sliding around joyfully.




And as an homage to five years of married life (July 6th, 2002), we did what everyone does for their anniversary--we ordered lunch special Chinese food and ate at our picnic table. Marital bliss? You bet. I'll take take-out and true happiness any time.

E- A good commute?

This week I have experimented with commuting between Point Roberts and Vancouver. With all 4 of my shifts at night, I have been able to spend my days at the Point with Les and the kids, who have been there full time for the last week. The weather has been fantastic and I deem the experiment a success. Even though I only have off 12 hours between shifts, the day somehow seems a lot longer when it is spent outdoors away from televisions, phones and computers.

Yesterday we attended the 4th of July parade and celebrations before teaching the girls how to conduct a water fight. I can already imagine this coming back to haunt Les or me when one of the kids decides to soak us with the hose as we peacefully and obliviously read our books.

Today I played out in the yard for a couple of hours with the kids while Les took her first parenting break in way too long. The girls loved playing with the sprinkler and on a wet trampoline after the initial shock of the cold water wore off. In the late afternoon we took a soft taco picnic to the beach hoping to see the Orcas who feed just off the shore at this time of year. We didn't time things right to see any whales but the kids displayed no let down when they found a dead crab instead.

E-The most Canadian of Canada Days in the U.S.A.

I often hear people from outside of BC say that Vancouver isn't the "real" Canada. Without getting into too much debate about what or where can really claim to represent the "real" Canada, I tend to agree with those people. We don't have the cold winters or wide open spaces and cheap land. Other than the NHL's marketing machine we don't follow a lot of hockey. We even have more places selling sushi then donuts!

Having said this, I am proud to be a Canadian and look forward each year to celebrating July 1st. This year we were down in Point Roberts, which, because of some geographic anomaly, is actually not in Canada. Somehow, without really planning it, we ending up having the most Canadian of Canada Days while in the U.S.A.

It started when I rented a log splitter on Saturday afternoon. For the price of one days rental, I didn't have to have it back until the store next opened on Tuesday. A log splitter is a fantastic machine, making light work of logs that just wouldn't crack with the hand splitter. It is even pretty safe because it works at a very low speed but high hydraulic pressure. The speed factor presented a challenge for me however as I had many tons of wood that I had collected last winter to get through.

What I really needed was a team of people- and somehow, without my asking, in a very helpful Canadian way, the team showed up and worked all day. Les started the splitting, operating the lever with her left hand while holding Lucas in her right. Bryan and PJ came by early in the day, followed a short while layer by Joey who had just returned into town. Our neighbour Bill (also Canadian) came over to see what all the racket was about and joined us for about 8 hours worth of work. All day long the team worked diligently until there was no wood left to split. And then, tired but not hungry (Les made great fried onion cheese burgers for us and there was lots of beer to be had) we did the most Canadian of things- we went over to our American neighbour's house (he was out of town) and split his wood for a couple of hours.

I am appreciative of the help we got with wood that day. However, I am even more appreciative of the fact that I know some good Canadian guys who are happy to spend day this way.

Happy (almost) Canada Day

Lukey is sooo into baskets. The girls put him in all our various laundry baskets and then push/pull/drag/catapult him out and around the house. Who needs a doll when you have Lukey?

E-To Gibraltar and back

Our good friend Joey Vickery is in town for his yearly visit between basketball seasons. He has played in Austria for the last 3 years and will likely go back next year as well. Neither age (40), marriage, parenthood (he only has 1 kid, so why would it) or a highly questionable dietary regime (ie. only chicken nuggets, snickers and pizza) have slowed Joey down. With a shooting release like he has, Joey could play for another 10 years if he had team-mates who wanted to get him the ball.

Joey was a big part of the reason Les and I were able to smoothly transition to life in Europe. He played with me in Paris (Poissy Chatou) in 1997-98 and has been one of our best friends ever since. I say "our" because Joey was a great friend to both Les and me right from the beginning. Joey was a 30 year old star in the league, single, confident and enjoying life in Paris. I was a 22 year old rookie who had to work his butt off every day in practice just to fit in, I had my girlfriend with me and knew nothing of being a professional athlete. These differences meant nothing to Joey. This introduction to living in Europe made a big impact on our subsequent experiences.

In that first year we played, partied, studied (Joey and Kory Hallas made a mockery of Les' Canadians in Paris book club)and travelled together. We went West to Brest (where Kory and I somehow ended up drunk enough to dance in a cage at the club), East for a weekend skiing and partying in the Alps, North to Amsterdam to see the liberal side of Europe and South to Spain.



At the end of the season, Joey, Les and I decided we wanted to put some miles on the team car so we drove all the way from Paris to Gibraltar and back. By the end of that trip we were either going to slit each other's throats or know that we would always be friends. Luckily everybody survived, as did our friendship. Apart from the daily battle between Joey wanting to go to McDonalds and Les wanting to find a quaint Spanish cafe, we formed a great travelling team. The highlight of the trip was definitely the day we spent at the festival of El Rocio where a million people from all over Spain congregate in one tiny village to commemorate (by eating and drinking to excess) the sighting of the virgin Rocio. (I'll save that story for another Retro-blog. Below are a couple of pictures of the festival.)



The best of all our trips together however, has to be a couple of years later when we were team mates again in Austria.
The time Joey headed up with just me in a tiny plane and we flew for a couple of hours over the Hungarian country-side (where navigation is really dangerous with every village looking the same and air traffic control incomprehensible) was a highlight in bravery but not fun. No, the best trip we ever took was when we flew to Kenya in November of 2001. The team made the mistake of telling us we had 7 days off in the middle of season and we took full advantage. We left a sub-zero Vienna airport, flew all night and arrived in a tropical paradise just outside Mombasa. Although the team threatened to cut us for taking the trip, I think the physical and mental break we got on this trip was one of the biggest reasons we won a championship that year.

Before you criticize...

...it's like I said before: I am out making memories and that takes time. Awhile ago (10 days, in fact), I declared the blogging gloves off. My dad asked me this evening if in fact the gloves weren't still very much on...and possibly impeding my typing? Hmm. Fair enough.

HOWEVER, Eric is basically retro-blogging. What is that, you ask? Choosing random past events and writing about them. Interesting? Maybe. Easy? Definitely. Cheating? Arguably, yes.

So, in the interests of timeliness, I will blog about today (Eric, take note). The kids and I dropped Eric off for his OFA exam (see post below) and then proceeded to Ikea. The corporate geniuses at Ikea headquarters have concocted a devious plan of luring mothers into their stores with free childminding, ice cream ,stickers, hot dogs, refills and devilishly good macaroni and cheese. Oh, and they sell...um...furniture or something? We spent almost three hours there. We didn't buy any furniture. We did however buy lots of other little things I had no idea I needed. Damn you corporate, Swedish Pied Pipers!

As an aside, while eating FREE frozen yogurt today, Molly ate about a third of a brown (I called it whole wheat) napkin. I noticed, but then hesitated to tell her because she can be a little sensitive (too bad for her that I am her mother...haha!). Kudos to that little girl. I pointed to her cone and informed Little Miss Eager Bite that she had consumed a hefty dose of serviette. She looked down and laughed, then said, "It's like I'm a goat!" Ha. We've read a couple of goat stories where wash gets eaten off the line and tires are washed down with gasoline. She embraced her inner goat-dom and showed her mother that I should not underestimate her ability to laugh at herself.

Since the girls were so good (having been drugged by those tiny little Ikea meatballs into some sort of hypnotic state of goodness), I promised them a trip to Science World. Off we went for a FULL day of science. It's a great place for the kids. Contained. Educational. Warm. Plus, I could watch the honey bees for hours. By myself. The girls are good for about forty-five seconds of bees.

Nearly a perfect day. We are all tuckered out...and don't worry, Lukey made it to a real bed!

E-Testing season

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me, packing 4 tests into an already hectic schedule. The first 2 tests were of a physical nature and were required as part of the Richmond firefighting application. Although the tests cost $425 and my prospects of getting hired are slim, I had to try my luck with the department given that no other applications are currently open to me. Among other things, the harder of the tests measured push-ups, sit-ups, flexibility, dummy drag/obstacle course, and a 1.5 mile run. I was proud to get a score in the top 10% and was pretty surprised to be able to improve on my results from November 2005.

Right after finishing these tests (and all the preparation/training to get ready), I had to switch my focus to my first aid qualifications. I passed my MFR (Medical First Responder) exam pretty easily after completing a 40 hour preparation course. However, my OFA level 3 needs to be re-certified every 2 years and the deadline is fast approaching. The normal course of action is to take a $900, 2 week, 80 hour course to prepare for the exam. I decided to combine the experience from the MFR course with some practice and review sessions so that I could challenge the exam. The good news is that I would only have to pay a $100 exam fee. The bad news is that if I failed (and the failure rate is pretty high for this exam) I would lose my license and therefore my job until another test date became available.

The exam was 8 hours of sometimes stressful, sometimes tedious scenarios in addition to a 100 question multiple choice test. It's not the most fun way to spend a day but I was pretty ecstatic to walk out with scores of 97% on the written and 100% on the practical. If only I could have an interview panel judge me so kindly I wouldn't have to go around jumping through all these hoops.

E- Birthday overload

Finny is now 3 years old! It will be hard for her to forget her change of status after 3 days of celebration this week. The main reason for this deluge of partying is the proximity of Granddad Bryan's and third cousin Sally's birthdays. The bottom line however is that a lot of cake and fun were to be had. We picked Joey Vickery up at the airport on Wednesday and headed straight for Point Roberts. We spent some time driving around the Point and throwing a football on Maple Beach before we went for dinner at the McKnight's. We had steaks, Caesar salads, and ice cream cake as the warm evening sun set over the Strait of Georgia. The last rays hit our balcony around 9:15. On Thursday we spent most of the day hoping the rain would stop, and preparing regardless, for Finny's birthday beach barbecue. Apparently luck was on our side as the sun came out just in time for the party to start. Finny was pretty happy to be surrounded with friends, playing in the sand and eating hot dogs, chips and cake. It was a nice evening but I was disappointed to see our tax dollars wasted by 3 Vancouver Police cruising up and down the beach on ATVs. Our cooler full of cold beer managed to stay concealed but I couldn't help but think how stupid it is for anyone to harass responsible adults enjoying our beaches while areas of our town are crime ridden, drug infested wastelands.


Immediately after the party, Les had a bout of vertigo come on with a vengeance. Luckily for me, Rich Anderson had come back with us and was able to help me bring in all the goods from the party and help put the kids to bed. Fresh off a week of playing Kindergarten Cop, Rich had no problem getting the girls attention as he read them a bed time story.

E- Beers at Jaegers

It's kind of funny how life and circumstances change. Not so long ago we saw each other 7 days a week, took about 20 flights a year, worked out, studied, showered, partied and roomed together. Now, we have to make a big effort to drink a beer together once every couple of years.

On Friday Ken Morris, my team-mate for 3 seasons at UBC, came into town. John and Trixie, Gerald and Shelly and I met up with Ken for a couple of beers downtown. Ken may be losing some of his hair, but he's not losing his ability to talk. I have never met someone who can carry a conversation like Ken can. He has an amazing knack at being able to create an interesting conversation about any thing at any time. There's never an awkward silence when Ken's in the room. Considering he is one of the most competitive people I have ever met (he is still bitter about Mike Oord riding him like a bus in practice) and has a steel trap memory, I imagine he is a pretty intimidating lawyer. Here's a picture of Ken, Gerald and me about 75 pounds and 10 years ago.

E-Ode to Sakinaw

For 11 years our group of friends have invaded the Halls cabin for "The Sakinaw Bash"; a weekend of drinking, games, urinating in Jaquie's garden, bonfires, watching The Bulge streak (which took five minutes and involved too much hand shaking this year) and of course playing in the water. In fact, we have been going to Sakinaw regularly for 20 years, since the Halls originally piled almost a dozen 13 year old boys in the back of their big red van to spend a weekend in their one room cabin featuring no running water or electricity.

During those 20 years I have never stopped admiring and learning from the generosity shown by the Halls. There have been so many moments that would have driven most people to say "enough is enough" or "we can't take the risk" or "that's the last time I am having my flowers killed". And yet I have never even sensed irritation over our presence, let alone feeling unwelcome.

And the best part of the culture that the Halls have created at their cabin is that it is contagious. It didn't happen right away, or without having to use a chore-board for many years, but eventually everybody who came learned to pick up a broom, beer can or a dishtowel and pitch in to do their bit.

As a result, there have been many moments at Sakinaw Woods that just wouldn't have happened anywhere else. Here are some of my favorites:

Ted finally hooking up with a girl- and then marrying her
Holly and Les spanking on the hammock
Steve demonstrating his skills on his codpiece during the team cheer
Mardis Gras-there were too many moments to name
Mark avoiding a spinal injury while drunkenly stumbling off the bluff
Pete waking up and greeting my sister with "I love Mandy" Jiffy-Marked to his face
Mike's skill running the best ever Alazumba game
Mike's worry over losing all 10 chest hairs after he was dethroned in Alazumba

We took the weekend off...

Sorry for those of you just warming up to Eric's and my big battle. We were temporarily pulled away from our computer. We went to the 11th annual Sakinaw Bash. The Bash is a (formerly) huge party hosted by our good friend Steve up at his cabin on the Sunshine Coast. The best description of the festivities is that it's an alcohol fueled elementary school sports day.

Eric has attended all 11 bashes. I am 9 for 11. I missed last year because I was quite pregnant and I missed 2004 because Finny was four days old. Every year has a theme and this year our theme was The Future. Sadly, it appears that there are fewer people in the future, or at least fewer Bash participants. It was a low numbers year: only 16. Down from the all-time high in 1998 of 74.

But the good news is that in the future...I am a winner! As team captain, I led my loyal followers to victory for the first time ever.

Some of our more responsible readers may be asking, where were your kids? An excellent question, since the Bash is no place for kids...or at least MOST kids. Lukey came with us, while the girls were well-taken care of by Eric's mother. Lucas had fun, but I had to tell him at the end of the weekend that it would be his last Bash for a while...like, 20 years.

Here are a couple of pictures from our Mardi Gras Bash a few years ago:

E-The best vacation deal ever!

It's that time of year that we are thinking a lot about vacations and this brings back memories of the trip Les and I took in June 2000. We set the "fantastic deal" bar so incredibly high that I really doubt that we can top it. At the end of every season in Europe, Les and I would try to go on a trip before heading home to Canada. We managed to see a lot of Europe this way. However, because we would be in the playoffs, we never knew exactly when the season would end and our vacation could begin. This made planning a bit difficult. This particular year my team, the Kapfenberg Bears, lost in the finals. The next day we met with the management and negotiated a deal to stay for the next season. We had 2 weeks to kill before Les flew home from Heathrow and I flew out of Vienna. At 10am the following day, we went to the basement of our building (we lived above a mall and train station)to ask the travel agent if there were any good deals. We were told that there was a 4 star, 2 week, parking and transfers included, all-inclusive roulette (meaning they won't tell you which resort you are actually booked at)leaving at 1:30 pm from Graz for the Turkish coast. However, we barely had time to make the flight (Graz was an hour away)and Les wouldn't make it back in time for her flight to London. We were so disappointed! Then the travel agent informed us that our charter plane would actually be flying home from Turkey to London the day before and it could work perfectly for Les. We were sold. After ten minutes and a couple of T-shirts and shorts were thrown in a bag, we were zooming down the Austrian back roads in our Green Hyundai Atos.


The only disappointment of the trip came early as it seemed like everyone on the plane but us was smoking. From then on we were blown away. We hopped off the plane onto a brand new Mercedes bus. We then drove down to just outside Bodrum where the bus stopped at the famous Austrian resort chain "Magic Life". Still expecting to be dropped off at some shady motel with 4 stars hanging from a dilapidated sign, we were ecstatic when we were whisked away for fruity coctails while our bags were taken to our room. We were told the ground rules before being sent out to explore. "There are 5 restaurants to chose from, a bakery/cafe, 2 night bars and a wine cellar/cave. Alcohol is only served until 2 am. Everything is free, including hair cuts, and no tipping is permitted. There are fishing trips, sailboats, kayak, windsurfing (I thought Les was going to get blown out to Lesbos one day) and water-skiing.

There are 5 pools to use during the day, a waterslide, Turkish sauna and theatre performances each night". We were in heaven. We routinely double fisted our drinks while we played Schnapzen beside the pool. For 2 straight weeks we lounged, read books, played games, swam and had the time of our lives. We only left the compound once, to visit Bodrum and a big water slide park. All of this cost us, including taxes, 6,000 Austrian Shilling (just under $600 Canadian) each.

Les flew back to London and I flew back to Graz with 18 hours to kill before going home to Canada. The team decided at this point they would change the agreed upon deal- I said no- so they said see ya! I had half a day to gather everything we had left in our apartment with the assumption we would be returning. Les was having a blissfully ignorant flight home while I packed, cleaned and threw out as much as I could, as quickly as I could. Really it was an event typical of our time in Europe- the best of times and the worst of times- but always very memorable.

The fight is on (and the gloves are off...)

So here is my question...what kind of a jerk takes photographs of his wife's 100 year old grandfather (that I specifically emailed my brother to get) and publishes them on his own post? I mean, c'mon. First come first served? Geez. Want to hear the worst part? He scooped those pictures out of our email inbox while I was out with the kids. And he knew it. Low, huh?

So, how do I trump him? Get pictures of granddad on his actual 100th birthday. None of this "on his 90th birthday" garbage. How relevant is that? (Answer: not very...although the motorcycle picture basically rocks!)

Check it out:



Plus, how great does that 100 year old guy look? We should all be so lucky!

Also, a quick story from today. The girls were playing outside with some of the older kids in the co-op. They took out a snack but came back distressed when their crackers were eaten up by other girls. I gave them more and not 5 minutes later, they came running home with a tale of daring and bravery. They had defended their second batch of crackers through teamwork and a quick sprint. They were very pleased with themselves and declared Team Butler Girls were unbeatable. They were so chuffed, I had to take a picture:

E-first come first serve!

Here are a couple of pictures of Les' Grandad. The first is from the 1930's with John looking like a bad-ass biker in his leather gear.

This next picture is from 1997, on John's 90th birthday, with his late wife Sue. They seemed like such a great couple, which makes it all that much more amazing that John continues to have such a strong will to live in her absence.

And finally, last week John made it to his 100th birthday, cracking jokes and talking to guests for 4 hours. At the end he hopped out of his chair and walked back to his room, looking as spry as many of the guests 60 years younger.

So far, we're tied

So, as has been noted by my father and his inflammatory emails, since our blustery words a couple of days ago, there haven't been all that many postings. In our defense (that's right, I am defending King Blog too), we were in Point Roberts. And contrary to some slanderous jotting, it didn't take me the better part of a century to stain a fence. And for the record, King Blog (let's just call him KB from now on) DID NOT complete even close to 80% of the steps he hyped up in his posting. Puh-lease.

We have also had another distraction around here. Celebrating the monumentally fantastic 100th birthday of my grandfather. My dad's dad is now a centenarian. Now if those aren't some great genes, I don't know what. And not only is he 100, he doesn't seem a day over 85 (not very often that's a compliment...). He is truly an inspiration in my life, reminding me that positivity, optimism and a sense of humour are the secret to good living. He has it down to a science.

We had a big tea reception to celebrate, a family reunion BBQ at my parents', a dinner on the actual evening and there was even a champagne toast yesterday. He did it up in style. Which is fitting because he is a stylish guy. Not to mention, he endured each event with aplomb and spunk. He even managed to heckle my dad through his entire birthday speech. Now there's a guy after my own heart. Cheers Grandad. See you in the morning's milk.

E- Oscar, Sophie, Flower and Rex

How do you argue with someone who says America's Next Top Model is fantastic, but that she is not sitting around watching it? Is this person merely going on the review on Perez-Hilton? Having said this, my point was not that my wife spends all of her time watching trashy TV, but that she is currently spending none of her time blogging. I guess she proved me wrong by immediately posting her first entry in over a month (no Lesley, I do not count putting up a picture of you and Ruslana as an entry).

I will give my wife credit however, for the great job staining our fence in Point Roberts. In slightly less time that it took Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, my wife managed to get 80% of our fence stained. She did do a nice job! Meanwhile, I re-covered our stairs and collected a couple of tons of Maple. I guess I am a bit like a hunter however, who enjoys bringing in the prey but really doesn't want to deal with it afterwards. I now have about 5 seasons worth of fire wood on our property and very little of it is split or stacked.

The girls are great at entertaining themselves now and devise very elaborate games, which usually require our participation to some extent. Mostly, we are told our new names and positions in the game and then expected to stay in character. "Daddy, your name is Oscar and you're the grandpa. I am Sophie and this (pointing at Finny) is my daughter Flower and (pointing at Lucas)my dog Rex." The games tend to work pretty well though, because the girls stay entertained, and as long as I stay in character and answer to Oscar, there is no objection to me continuing to do my work. I guess it's just another example of the multi-tasking that seems so important to parenting.