Wonderful Weekend

Well this weekend was chocker-block full of good memories!

This was the weekend we took our newly acquired tent-trailer on its maiden voyage, this was the weekend one of my best friends celebrated their 10th anniversary with a fabulous BBQ for friends and family, this was the weekend we got to take our doggie on his first camping trip...... fun was had by all!



Bubbles, food and musical festivities!



We all had fun, but I think the dog had an absolute BLAST!



(You can't even tell he was barfing all night from so much revelry at the BBQ, can you?)

At the campsite there was the typical wildlife: squirrels, blue jays, ravens. And the typical weekend wildlife: partiers, crazy kids. One thing that was markedly absent (though not missed) were the wasps and mosquitos!!!! Don't know where they were and I was simply pleased they left us alone! One interesting site while walking in the woods, by the tall trees and giant mossy boulders...



.... was this interesting canine. He spooked easily, but posed nicely for the photo!



A wonderful evening visit by my adopted childhood family was a real treat!!!!! And we rounded off the weekend by visiting the museum and seeing how many instances of the Bannerman name we could find! Then we saw the aforementioned family walking down the street just as we left the building. (Thanks for the colouring books Mr.B!)

The drive home was uneventful and I think it was a smashing success for the whole family.

camping?

I MAY get to go camping for the first time in 3 years!

And the best part is I get to celebrate a beloved friend's 10th wedding anniversary on the same weekend!

(I only hope Cami is walking by then)

Cast OFF!

The cast finally came off yesterday.

It was a long (and painful) proccess for Cami, there was heat from the friction of the blade, and then the liner had stuck to his skin in many large places, yanking out his hair and peeling his skin off. Can you say EWWWWW?

Poor guy it was quite traumatic actually.

He was still THRILLED when it came off though, we gave him cool cloths to dab on the sore spots. His right leg is definitly shorter for now, and hairy, and flakey and red. But the worst of it is that it REALLY hurts.

After 8 weeks the muscles have changed. They are stiff, short, useless and very sore. He has cried more in the last 24 hour than the last 7 weeks total!



The surgeon is happy with the bone growth, but Cam is to stay off a bicycle for a month yet. First he needs to learn to walk again, poor guy, he is scared to move at this point.

darn casts

WELL!!!!!!

When I went to make the appointment for Cami's cast a couple days ago, the bloody receptionist wouldn't listen to me when I told her what the doctor told me. She kept saying he was wrong. I explained that he said he was in the office that day but he would COME IN especially for this. She said NO he can't. Presumptuous of her.

But I conceded when she scheduled us for 1PM Wednesday (today) and called Tim to take that day off instead of the original Thursday.

I got a call bright an early this morning....

NOW his cast is going to be removed tomorrow at 11:30 (back to the original time)
"Apparently the doctor had made plans with us directly for Thursday at 11:30" -- well DUH!!!!!

So when this lady called, I was LIVID!

I explained that my schedule was now messed up as I had scrambled for arrangements for it to be TODAY! My husband had taken the day off for this! I have friends from ENGLAND moved around for this, and to top it off the booking-lady told me I was wrong when I told her I had made special arrangements!

Grrrrrr...... all she said was "sorry" in a feeble voice and told me that's the way it is.

FINE!

Tim hurried off to work to get at least part of a day in so he could take the time off with Cam tomorrow.

I called my friend who is in from England and asked if she could come visit today, and that is going to be a major shuffle for her schedule too (thanks in advance for that my dear, I know that was a pain).

Arrogant thinking we can drop everything for their scheduling whims!!
And poor Cammi has to wait another day!

You'll never believe this, but Cam has figured out how to WALK in his cast now..... very odd to watch.

a NEW addition to the Family

I am so excited! I am just giddy about it.

T called on Thursday to ask me a very life changing question and I thought he was out of his gourd at first..... "Remember Dor's dog? He's a golden Lab"

"Yes", I reply, "'Bingo' or something?"

"Well, her kids ignore him and he is alone all day, so she wanted to know if we knew of anyone that wanted a well trained pure bred dog...." says T "So what do you think? Are we ready for a dog?"

"Wow" I gasp in complete disbelief. "Can we try a trial weekend before we commit?"

"Dor suggested that too" he says "So is this weekend okay?"

"Yes" Next thing I know Dor is dropping him off with a baggie of food and his doggie bed and a fat blond dog named "Dingo".

He is a dream dog!!!!! Attentive, patient, good listener, doesn't wander and the cat makes him nervous! (I laughed to see him with Mo) The barking is one big "WOOF!" when someone walks in at a strange hour (Uncle D coming home at 2am) and then he's all wags again. He seems to adore the kids and even listens to them! We told the kids we were "babysitting" so as not to get their hopes up.



He is 6 years old though, so he has definitely hit his half-life for a large breed. T is sceptical about his hips.... however he is packing some extra weight from his sedintary lifestyle, but that will change with my kids around!

He has added something to the family without too much sacrifice at this point (3 days and nights so far). He has taken everything and everyone in stride and when Sunday afternoon came around and Dor called to see if we had made up our minds, I said we would be happy to have him be part of our family. Poor dear, that dog is her baby and I know it wasn't an easy thing to decide to do. She is looking out for his lifestyle I guess and kids are good for him. She asked that we please only feed him the excellent food he was raised on, keep up with his training and if we ever change our minds, then return him to her. We asked the kids if they thought we should keep Dingo and they just about split open with excitement! All good.



So far we have taken him out in the truck and on a walk and to a lake and he was at a family dinner with no surprises. He does tend to go into the neighbour's yards but only for a minute before coming back, like he's seeing what's new, not being pesky.

Hooray for us! How often are you offered a registered pure-bred dog that has been thoroughly trained and socialized?

D-I-N-G-O and "dingo" was his name-o!

: )

Deep Thoughts

http://www.rense.com/general72/size.htm

We are so SMALL!

How can our individual problems seem so BIG!

If I can feel insignificant next to a mature maple tree, and lost in the scope of the forest..... how do I feel looking at the scale of our planet? the solar system? the Galaxy? the Universe?

Just a speck of dust, an atom in the infinite forever.

Then there is the whole concept of linear time!

Humans changing the very face of our planet profoundly in a mere 100 years, as a species are so far back that the planet has erased where we started. Before humans (relatively new creatures)so much has come and gone that we cannot even comprehend (try as we may), and life itself has only been here for such a short part of the planet's history, revolving around our young sun like electrons around a proton.... tiny tiny tiny and temporary!

Why does TIME just go in one direction? Is time only for living cells that must be born, grow and die? When we die and our energy is released from our mortal shells, what happens then? Is there another measuring stick besides matter, light, time?

I can't comprehend anything without time.... if I did then my father would mean nothing-- his life, his death, my blood, my children, future-past-present-seasons-history -- nothing at all would be anything to remember, memories are gone when we die anyway, they are part of our living time.

I could go mad thinking about it, but then I am so insignificant in the grand scheme of things that it doesn't even matter.



BUT



I am the universe to my children!
In the HERE and the NOW, I have this life to live and cannot think beyond the impact I will make on this little planet for better or worse.

~~~~~~~

refreshing bit of rain

I enjoyed the bit of rain yesterday. It washed the dust out of the air and hinted at fresher and greener things.

After the rain I took the boys for a walk up to my sister's house (my nephew fell down the stairs and got a hairline fracture on his collarbone, but he is really fine without even needing to wear a sling often). ---- ANYWAYS --- Walking up there it wasn't as cool as it seemed, but even so, I couldn't help noticing the beauty in the tiny puddles, the way the plants looked relieved somehow, the hint of autum already beginning on the edges of the outermost leaves on the broadleaf maple trees.

I gave into my urge to pluck the very largest leaf I could reach, it was bigger than my head and I was SO HAPPY to have it in my hand. It was just one of thousands on the grand tree, insignificant in the masses, but with the one stem between my fingers it was immense and I am the small one. Trees simply make me happy.

We had our visit, we walked home lightly with Cammi spinning and fluttering the massive leaf all the way home.

The rain was very appreciated.

I am looking forward to Autumn again!

blah blah blah

My mind is pretty vacant right now. Space for lease.

Lets see where it goes, shall we?

Nothing yet......

Oh YA!!!! Family weekend!

Sway-a-lana park where uncle D came with us (on the bike). Some "hotties" were brazen enough to squeeze his butt while he pedalled by!



There was a swing actually suitable for Cam to fit safely in! And a small ramp park for the boys to wheel on.







We all went to Parksville Sunday! It was a beautiful day with the promise of Summer rain, we had a fancy lunch and let Stevie ride bumper boats -- with T! Cammie had to sit it out, but he was fine.



Then we drove out to one of my favourite places on the planet, Cathedral Grove! I took tonnes of pictures (until my battery ran out on the camera).



These are some pretty big trees!



We spent hours there and then got some icecream at the Whiskey Creek Icecream stand on the way home. YUM! There must be 100 flavours there though I have never counted.

So there you go, a slow start to the entry, but lots to say!

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