This one is for Amber

In honour of your recent bicycle post.... here are some photos I took in Italy, where cycling is still a major mode of transportation down the ancient cobblestone streets and alleyways:

Of course, it didn't rain a whole lot while I was there, and there are so many cyclists that there is safety in numbers for motorist awareness, so it's not the same as rolling around the lower mainland.... pretty though!

I have an idea!

It's never happened to me before, I have come up with an idea for a novel. I woke up with a dream, and in that one small scene of my dream, a full-fledged novel exists! It was all there, the set up, the vivid details and what would come next. An entire world, and it is waiting for me to write it down.

I am the first to admit, I am not a writer. So is it doomed from the start? Short stories at most seem to come out.... could I do a whole novel? Could I commit to writing it all out of my head, even if only for my own exploration? (I don't want to imply that I have a writer's training, and I don't want to belittle the education, drive and commitment required. But I think I may have to try to write this down!)

LOL. I tried to write the scene I dreamed down before I had woke all the way.... the images, dialogue and nuances came out so fast that I couldn't keep up. It was like trying to hold water in my hands. But I think I caught enough to fill it out.... I am excited!

Kimber.... I am starting to appreciate just how brave you are... deciding to tell a story, it's almost like deciding to get a puppy, there is a huge time commitment, messiness and discipline in the foreseeable future if there is any hope of it turning out, and of course the responsibility for what gets left behind in public.

And now I am looking at this entry thinking "gaad, I have enough on my plate, if I post this, then I have added somehting else." So please, don't hold me to this project. I am excited by it and I am scared of it too. Before I offer up this dream to add to the billions of other works out there, I want to be free of pressure (especially my own).

Caught in the Act

Look at that!!!! He was being goofy, but little did he know I brought me camera!!!! (I got punched in the arm for it... so I decided to put it on the world wide web, just 'cuz. Doesn't he look "graceful" !!!LOL!!!

We have a tough decision to make right away about his teeth... there has been a complication with the front tooth that was knocked out.... ankylosis (ang-kil-LO-sis). It means the bones of his head have fused with his tooth... not good as the tooths is supposed to be attached by a ligament, NOT bone! The side effects are a nasty lopsidedness to his smile as he grows and the tooth will stay dead no matter what.

To quote a medical text I found online: "Possible treatments: Early extraction followed by a series of transitional prostheses or crown amputation. These treatments have variable morbidity and unproven long-term benefit. Decoronation (which leaves the ankylosed root in situ to be consumed by replacement resorption) has been proposed to minimize ridge resorption and reduce the need for bone grafting before prosthetic treatment. (!!!!! BONE GRAFTING!!!???) However, the impact of decoronation on the need for eventual alveolar grafting or on the quality of bone that may receive an implant has not been demonstrated. The choice of treatment depends on the severity of infraocclusion and replacement resorption, the preference and experience of the clinician and patient expectations. The effects of ankylosis extend well beyond the original dental injury and vary with the age of the patient. Oral rehabilitation entails an ongoing investment of time, money and resources and a number of treatment options with no predictable long-term outcomes. "

None of it is good news for his smile.

An illustration of what dental ankylosis is...

And what it could look like in just 4 years....

Or is this any better until they can put the fake tooth in (as a grown up)

It's all so horrible... I look at the dental publications and it's just not an easy thing no matter what..... I keep having to repeat "it could be worse, it could be worse, it could be so much worse"....

Turkey, Ham and Three Dirtbikes to ride

What a great weekend!

Saturday was the big Thanksgiving Turkey dinner at my lovely mother in law's. It was a pot-luck in that everyone brought something to complete the meal. I brought the glazed yam medallions and the brussell sprouts (my favourite!), my sister in law's family brought potato buns, a delicious green salad and some mashed potatoes, my father in law brought the turkey, stuffing and a carrot/squash puree that was surprisingly yummy, and my mother in law provided apple AND pumpkin pies and of course the venue for 11 guests! (And that is an accomplishment in itself as her place is on the petite side). Everything was fantastic! T's entire family is great at cooking, so any event with them is sure to be a culinary delight... I'm not kidding, even traditional foods are done with flavour and interest!

Sunday morning me, T and the boys all loaded into the truck and went out for a dirt bike ride at a local coal pit. (lots of pictures in past posts) It was terrific fun! I started off on my bike, then I tried Steve's bike (hilariously small, but really powerful and zippy), I laugh out loud the whole time bouncing around up and over whoops and stuff.

Then I rode my husband's trials' bike. Man, that thing is a good time! I have to concentrate with all of my being to get it going, and there is no seat, so everything I know about gripping with my thighs and sitting back to prevent twisting the throttle accidentally is completely useless! So the first thing I did was grab the throttle too hard and take off like a shot!!!!
I have no idea how I managed to NOT do a wheelie -- but I didn't -- and there was enough room in front of me to calm down and release my grip to slow down before hurting anything (or myself). My wonderful husband (bless his soul) thought that I took off like that on purpose. After the initial OMG moment, I got the hang of the extremely sensitive controls and really had fun standing up, riding around and cautiously exploring the phenomenal traction and maneuverability of it. My skill level is a JOKE for what that machine is capable of... but I want to ride it a lot more, it was just a joy to be on such an amazing bike.

While I was scaring myself and still loving my husband's ride, my darling Stevie had taken MY bike out for a spin! O man, he loved it! It looks huge on him, but he CAN tippy-toe off to the side to touch the ground, and launch himself forward to get going, and after he is going, look out! He knows what to do! He did dump it once (but I didn't see it). He took my bike in places I dare not go, so he was obviously comfortable.

Cami was his usual dare-devil, pit riding self, I barely saw him the whole time, except when he would ride up all flushed and dirty and blow me a kiss and give me the thumbs up before taking off in a cloud of black dust again!

Once I got my bike back, I rode around for another hour or so, really feeling wobbly in the knees with all the standing that has to be done on such uneven terrain. It was exhausting and exhilarating, and it felt so good to be out with the family having fun. (And the dog had the time of his life running up and down and back and forth and chasing sticks).

After coming home and washing up, the family headed out for Thanksgiving dinner #2, a HAM dinner at my Step dad's. It was a good ham too, with mixed vegetables with cheese sauce, potatoes au gratin, and a mandarin pecan and goat cheese salad. Mmmmmm... two amazing feasts in a row! A nice long soak in their hot tub made the evening complete.

2009 Thanksgiving weekend is now history, but I can honestly say it was yet another thing to be thankful about..... of course my legs are so sore that I can barely walk right now, but I am thankful for that too!

Weirdness

My dreams have physically threatening lately.

Nothing like being hunted down in the snow before having a bonfire lit on top of you to mess up your head for a bit. Thankfully in the dream most of my body was somewhat protected in a hollow in the snow, just my foot burned alive while my captures revelled in my defeat-- pun intended. On the bright side I think my capture helped my partner escape! So the rescue remained a possibility.

Pain seems to be the theme, rarely self-inflicted (I think that may be a positive thing), but always some outside force out to get me. In the dreams I am not myself, and the threat is not new or surprising, as if leaping from rooftop to rooftop to escape the arrows and spears was something I normally dealt with! Or how about being a house slave to a larger alien race, and working towards my freedom by displaying a mechanical aptitude for my master and being prudently very quiet (and invisible) to save my hide around other large aliens.

There is the usual "I'm late and lost" dream. Only a mean twist added that my life and the lives of my friends depend on my punctuality! I'm riding the elevator up in the hospital only to get out on the wrong floor and being poked with needles... then escaping in a paper gown to look for someone's room and slipping down the escalator on the balls of my feet.

Then there was the one about being in a proper business lunch meeting and then slipping out to go to the bank machine and getting chased down by a car and having to smash through a window to escape.

Being on vacation and getting separated from my friends, following a garden path, climbing hundreds of stairs to a rickety scaffold system on a historical and scenic cliff face, and as the weight of all the tourists starts to make it collapse, none of us can get off, or get back as hundreds more people are still pressing to get ON! As it falls, the weight of all the other men, women and children force me into the wire fencing, cutting into me and crushing the breath out of me as I see the ground rapidly getting closer.....

Those are the ones I remember. I can't tell what my subconcious is trying to say! But I am waking frequently.

AHA! Reading all these things together I'd say I need to set some time aside to watch a few action movies (or maybe I am watching too many?)

It's Hard to Explain

I haven't been feeling quite right today. Not really sick, just not right.
Kind of "off" or soemthing. And my language skills are really wonky today too. More wonky than yesterday, like the language is just temporarily leaving me or something. So pardon me if I am not making sense.

Good news is I am almost done 2 major work projects, so my ability to communicate can take a little break. More good news is that it's the Thanksgiving long weekend, so I have 3 days to rest my typing fingers, and eat way too much if I want.

What's up? I am not sure. But I think I will ponder my thick tongue with a large glass of red wine now.... in a quiet dark room if I can manage to slip away to that.

It's just gotta go

The decluttering is going on at a furious pace. Another season of hot weather is just a memory, so I went through the summer shoes (again) and got rid of every single pair that I did not wear this Summer! That make five more pairs of shoes OUT OF HERE!

I also went through the sun hats and found my boys' heads have grown too big for some of them -- OUT!

Packing up their shorts, etc, I found some clothes that are too threadbare or will definitely be too small come next Summer -- OUT!

In MY drawers I found Summer tops that I thought I would wear at the beginning of the season that I did NOT wear -- OUT!

And digging out the winter duds, I found some stuff of the boys' that doesn't fit this year, Including mittens, toques, a couple pull-overs, boots and even a raincoat -- OUT!

Also, T got me a terrific deal on an excellent quality work jacket. So I got rid of TWO mediocre coats that used to do that job.

I am becoming a regular at the Salvation Army drop-off door. I am not stockpiling it, I am getting it out of here entirely before it integrates itself back into the house. Feels good too.

(Don't worry Spider, there is a nice box with your name on it, and a box for little Z too.)

Car Hunting

shhhh.... be verwy verwy qwiet, we're hunting autos!

Car hunting is thrilling for me, I love the search! I love the chase! I love the negotiations!

But I HATE to idea of parting with a lot of money too.

Our old VW is on it's last legs. The engine is terriffic -- BULLETPROOF deisel! --- but as reliable and fantastic on fuel that the engine is, the body is rusting away around it. Not just cosmetically either, there is rust in places that make it unsafe and one day the struts will just come right through! So it is not the best family car anymore. It's given us SEVEN YEARS of flawless service (that is a record for us by about 3 years!), and it is time to look elsewhere.

We have decided that we have the cheap, functional truck and we want a really DECENT car. Something that will still get T to work with nice fuel efficiency,

seat everyone safely,

and be good for long-term

and functional.

So we are looking at late-model, compact, hatchback Japanese cars. Though I am a die-hard german-engineering fan, it is just too much money for too little fuel efficiency for us. (Oh how I thought I would get a BMW this time!) We have test driven all sorts of mini-cars in the last couple weeks and have pretty much decided the Toyota Matrix is the best fit for us. (And yes we tried the Honda Fit, it's the runner-up). Toyota has an extrodinary reputation, and the vehicle itself (though ugly and vanilla) fills every need and then some.

We NEED 4 doors, 5 seatbelts, hatchback space for the dog, fuel efficiency, reliability

We WANT power door locks, cruise, A/C

It would be NICE to have power windows, automatic tranny, mud tray in the back, cupholders (we have NEVER had a car with cupholders, isn't that odd?)

Of course in this range we will be letting go of LOTS of money and giving the government LOTS ot taxes too. What a racket that is. oh well. Lots of people do it. Time to take a chance and drive something NEWER