tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342514202024-03-13T14:36:57.227-06:00Our Sesame SeedOUR SESAME SEED<br>
In week 5 your baby is about the size of a sesame seedDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.comBlogger1182125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-23820004732686081602017-01-11T20:28:00.000-07:002017-01-15T20:30:28.794-07:00Online Hot Chocolate TutorialTonight I was stuck in the office until late working on a project, so we had our evening video chat from my desk. Since everyone had cleared out of the office by then, I had the run of the place and I showed the kids how the automatic coffee machine can make a cup of hot chocolate. I also showed them what my desk looks like and the view of the CN tower out the window. Scott says "ooh" quite a bit when I show them stuff. Katie doesn't say much. She either hangs out in the background or she hold up a stuffie to block most of the view.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-16708585581893400912017-01-10T20:21:00.000-07:002017-01-15T20:22:10.511-07:00NightmaresHere is the string of text messages between R and me this afternoon:<br />
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R: About to go into the autobody shop. You didn't mention anything about our spare tire cover to these guys, did you? (I punched a hole in the spare tire cover 2 summers ago when the boat trailer jumped off the hitch while I was driving.)<br />
<br />
D: No.<br />
<br />
R: Ok.<br />
Finished. They will be in touch. I just asked out of curiousity how much the tire cover would cost. The guys said about $900 for a new one. Scott is home at the moment. We think he ate too much pizza and crazy bread last night. Felt sick right after and tummy still bothers him. Hope that's all it is.<br />
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D: Every day something unexpected.<br />
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R: Yup. Katie woke up at 4am having a nightmare. I guess she fell off a cliff in her dreams. Feeling a bit tired. Could be worse though.<br />
<br />
D: I had a dream that investment bankers had kidnapped Katie.<br />
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R: Whoa. Not like you to have bad dreams. That would be so sad. So investment bankers are bad guys in your mind?<br />
<br />
D: I saved her in the end.<br />
<br />
R: Of course you did. Scott wants to know how.<br />
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D: The bankers were a mix between the guys I know in Calgary and my old roommates. Kind of like a cruel prank more than anything. But I don't remember exactly how.<br />
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R: Let's all hope for better dreams tonight.<br />
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D: Mine was a few days ago. During the fire alarm. All good since then.<br />
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R: That makes more sense. Hey have you contacted Travis yet? Don't want you to miss him.<br />
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D: Just did now. Thanks.<br />
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R: Nice. Cross one more thing off. It's soooooo cold here. I think we finally get some relief tomorrow.<br />
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D: Pirates of Penzance just finished playing here and I missed it!<br />
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R: So sad. That would be a good one. Is your Raptors game tonight? Will you be busy at bedtime: I guess I should stop bugging you and let you work.<br />
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D: Ball is tonight. Should be home on time. Travis is coming next week.<br />
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R: Nice.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-55414007084875778772017-01-09T20:05:00.000-07:002017-01-15T20:10:11.507-07:00Running Across an Abandoned Railway High Bridge in the DarkI was standing in the jammed boardroom with 80+ coworkers for the weekly Monday morning conference call and I had to choose between 1) making an awkward mid-meeting departure through the crowd; or 2) possible fainting or throwing up from overheating.<br />
<br />
As per usual, I slept in later than I should have so I made up for it by jogging the 3 blocks to work in my suit and tie. I made it just as people were gathering for the first morning meeting of the new year, and I moved through the throng at the doorway to find a spot in one of the corners. As the meeting went on, I found that I was unable to cool down from the jog. I unbuttoned the cuffs of my shirt. I shifted positions, but I was starting to lose it. Finally, I had to pull the chute. This was my first time attending this meeting and bouncing my face off the corner of the table in a faint was not the first impression I wanted to make.<br />
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Once out the door I immediately shucked my suit jacket and grabbed a cold can of ginger ale from the pop machine, holding it against my face to try to cool down. Before long I was feeling much better. When the rest of the team came in from the meeting they were buzzing about the young female Associate who had fainted in the meeting. Apparently, everyone was feeling the heat in there. Poor girl. I am sure that is not the reputation that she wants to have.<br />
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Finally everyone is back from vacation today, so some of the pressure is off for us. That's good because I have some more insurance arrangements to take care of today, plus a few phone calls with the moving company that is coming today to pick up my truck to ship it to Toronto by rail. It's been a bit of a concern because it has been really cold outside and we've had to leave the truck outside because the boat is now parked on our driveway, because a neighbour near Ross' new house didn't like it on Ross' driveway and complained to the city. R had to figure out how to get the truck out of the garage, and then she had to have Ross help her jump start it in the middle of the bitter cold. The hassle pays off and the truck is finally on its way. The moving company sends a guy out later in the afternoon to do an estimate on the moving cost. Poor R is also trying to paint the master bedroom and organize Katie's birthday party in the midst of all this. And she has to take the car to the autobody shop tomorrow for a quote.<br />
<br />
It's a busy day but I am able to get back in time to meet Gareth J for a run. This time, the plan is to run 7.5 km up to Greektown to meet the Scarborough missionaries for dinner. One of them is Dalton M who was in our 17th ward young men's program where I was the YM President and Gareth was the Scout Leader. Elder M is serving in Toronto while he waits for his US visa to go to the Denver South mission. Turns out his companion is from just outside of Calgary too, so that's fun. This Greek place (Messina) means business. They bring out massive portions and everyone is stuffed, especially Elder M who orders the crazy meat platter that I tried when Gareth and I came here a few weeks ago. It's cool to see him now. When he was young he wouldn't say a word to anyone. Now he has figured out how to handle himself and is doing really well as a missionary.<br />
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We part ways and Gareth and I run off into the night. Rather than return back the way we came, along the Don River Pathway, we mix it up a bit. This takes us, well, essentially everywhere. We go across a huge bridge, then we drop down some sketchy wood stairs to the river, past what looks like a squatter's camp. We only stay down there for a bit before charging up a really icy path back to the top of the ridge. Up there we find a necropolis, a petting zoo, and a police cruiser. After a bit along we the ridge we end up back down at the river, exploring a path that had been blocked off when we came though earlier on the way to dinner. We end up following an unused rail line, which has weeds and bushes starting to grow across it. The tracks hug the side of the river valley and gradually work their way up the slope. On the map we see that we are supposed to intersect with a road, which we plan to follow back across the river, but when we get there, we find that we are way up above it, and these tracks turn into a train bridge high above the Don Valley Parkway. Always the instigator, I say we should run across it. It's a bit freaky, running down the middle of the tracks, looking down at 3-4 inch gaps between the ties beneath our feet. Gareth takes it pretty easy. I take a lot of pictures.<br />
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On the other side the tracks continue off through the woods but we still want to get down to the river. We head down the steep slop below the bridge, past yet another squatter's camp, down to the old brickworks, which is apparently now a trendy outdoor market or something. There's nobody there on a January evening, but there's hardly anyone in any of the places we go. We head off down the iciest pathway yet, finally finding our way onto a dry pathway that takes us back towards downtown. Gareth says that he is done running and doesn't want any more detours, as the heavy Greek meal was giving him a bad cramp. When we finally get back, we have logged 21 km for the evening. It is possible that we have burned off all the calories, but that is only because we didn't get the meat platter.<br />
<br />
When I talk to the family they say that they are doing their best to come up with meals that they can make without using the oven, as it is on the fritz yet again. When it rains, it pours.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-37921412635567761642017-01-08T22:50:00.000-07:002017-01-08T22:50:26.447-07:00Good Old Riverside WardI set the alarm to wake up at 8am to have lots of time to get to 9:30am church. I got up only long enough to set it for 15 minutes later. Then when it went off again I ignored it, because I knew that it would turn itself off after 1 minute. Then I slept much later than I should have.<br />
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When I finally got up at 9:00 it was going to be essentially impossible to make it on time, given the nearly 15-minute drive ahead of me, but I ended up only 10 minutes late. I was sad that I hadn't shown up early enough to chat with people before the meeting, but it worked out that I could chat in the hall with Shona, Dan and little Aggiepants while we waited for the sacrament to conclude, and then I got to sit with them for the meeting. Shona was very helpful in reminding me of people's names, as my memory was only slowly bringing the names back to my recollection. It has now been several hours but I finally just remembered Randy's last name while I have been sitting here typing.<br />
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Afterwards I got a selfie with Shona and Harrison that made me very happy (although maybe R would be sad not to be in it), and I got to chat with so many great people that meant so much to us while we lived there. Sadly, the ward has been split since we lived there and not everyone still goes to that ward. I told everyone that we are coming back again with the rest of the family soon.<br />
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Lunch with Darren's fam and then back to the train for the return trip. This place meant so much to me. I am so glad that I got to come back here. Moving to Toronto is going to be tough on us, but being within striking distance of Ottawa is one of the fringe benefits that is going to be amazing.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-54248760640712139772017-01-07T22:49:00.000-07:002017-01-08T22:51:38.132-07:00Back in O-Town For Risk ShowdownI needed to be at the train station by 6:40am. I woke up at 4:30am to the sound of the fire alarm. Fantastic.<br />
<br />
Just yesterday I had been talking to some guys at work about the fire trucks that had been at my building a few nights ago. One guy who lives nearby said that he once saw the mezzanine level of this building on fire. Huge flames coming out the windows. That means that they aren't all false alarms. I stayed in bed all the same.<br />
<br />
I figured that I shouldn't leave unless I took all my stuff with me, otherwise, I might not be able to get back inside in time to get my stuff for the train, and then that would be a huge mess. But I didn't feel like getting up, because I didn't want to kill time for 2 hours either. I just pulled my covers over my head and tried to sleep throught the racket.<br />
<br />
A disembodied voice told me that the alarm was on the 6th floor and that the fire department was on the scene. Both of those things sounded good to me. I would stay on the 25th floor for now.<br />
<br />
The alarm finally turned off by about 5:00am, but I couldn't go back to sleep. I kept thinking of things that I needed to do when I got up. Plus I worried that maybe I would sleep to long and miss my train, even though I had set 5 alarms on my phone. Eventually I gave up and got ready. I suppose it was a good thing, because I was able to have a good breakfast and take out the garbage and take care of a few other things.<br />
<br />
I made it to the train well in advance and boarded without any trouble or fuss. I had the window seat, which was nice, although I was on the side facing north, so I didn't get all the great views of the lake and the St. Lawrence River. Instead, I saw the backside of buildings in the more unfavourable parts of several eastern Ontario towns.<br />
<br />
The seats on the train have much more leg room that an airplane, which was much appreciated. Pretty much everything about the train was preferable to an airplane. You don't have to shut off your phone, or put away your tray table, or raise your seat to the upright position. The windows are huge, there's plenty of space in the overhead bin, and you can show up 10 minutes before your departure time because you don't have the hassle of check-in, security, baggage handling, or any of that. And then once you get on the train it cruises at 160 km/h (100 mph), which eats up the distance very quickly (I have a speedometer app on my phone which comes in very handy).<br />
<br />
If you ride all the way to the main Via Rail station in Ottawa then the trip from Toronto is about 4hrs 40 min. It could be faster if you didn't have to stop and decouple the cars at Brockville so the rest of the train could head off toward Montreal. I got off the train one stop early at the Fallowfield Station SW of the city, so it was 20 minutes faster.<br />
<br />
My friend Les W picked me up at the station and we got 2 huge shawarma platters on the way to Darren's place, where the troops were gathering for an epic game of Risk 2210. When we first moved to Ottawa we had a lot more spare time and I was able to play board games frequently with work friends when R was teaching in the evening. We loved playing Risk 2210, which was a variant of the traditional Risk board game. I haven't played it for years, but it worked out that Les had just taken a different job and was going to move away and I had just moved back out East so we could get together for a grand event. <br />
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Although more than 9 years had passed since I had last been in Ottawa, it felt so great to step back in time with old friends. The battle raged on for at least 4 hours, and in the end I came 4th out of 5, but it was still a great way to spend the day. Darren was able to dig the game out of his storage room and found it with all sorts of hilarious paraphenalia from those days, including 2 copies of a corporate poster that I had designed using a Risk 2210 theme, which ended up being selected and displayed around the building.<br />
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The hits continued after the game when another great friend / former-coworker showed up with his wife and daughter for dinner. He and I immediately devolved back to the inane antics and inside jokes of our years working together in the cubicles of room C521. He now works in the Privy Council Office, and it is really neat to see how each person's career has taken a different direction that seems to really suit them. Their daughter played with Darren's son, and they are all about the same age as Scott. Can't wait until we can all get together again when I can bring the whole fam.<br />
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I even went to bed at a reasonable hour, which was very welcome, given the unfortunate circumstances of my morning alarm.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-17461984921131396712017-01-06T22:45:00.000-07:002017-01-08T22:46:14.612-07:00Eating From a BowlToday was a decent day, even though I never actually got the chance to go downstairs and get lunch. Fortunately, I had another bag of vegetables to snack on and there were some cookies available. Hopefully, the two ends of the spectrum combine to create a healthy balance.<br />
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Spent a lot of time on the phone. There was a long client call (which wiped out lunch) and then I was on the phone with the insurance for quite a while about the car. It sounds like there will be a bit of inconvenience taking the car in to get it fixed, but it will all work out.<br />
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Cheese tortellini and smoothie again for dinner. This time I threw in some pre-cooked pieces of chicken. And I ate it out of a bowl. No Raptors game tonight. They play Saturday. I worked on getting my stuff ready for Saturday morning, planning to get to bed earlier. I got a new phone today, so that took up a fair chunk of time getting everything transferred. It will be nice to finally have reception at the office. My previous phone worked fine in Calgary but the network in Toronto can't handle the density of users in the core, so it basically conks out from 9-5 every day. It works if I go underground into the PATH concourse level, where there are different antennas and fewer people. The new phone should solve that problem.<br />
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R and the kids were at R's parents' place for dinner, which was nice for them. My first phone call was a test call to them. It works! Got off to bed by 11pm, which is a record for me this week.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-49530024103057984212017-01-05T22:43:00.000-07:002017-01-08T22:44:28.333-07:00CollisionI can't seem to put myself to sleep at night, so I sleep in a bit later than I would normally would at home. However, it doesn't really matter, because I can get to work in less than 10 minutes, and a good portion of that is riding the elevators on each end.<br />
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My breakfast is an English muffin with cream cheese and some orange juice that I drink from the jug because I couldn't be bothered to wash a glass afterwards. It's just me in this place, after all. I also chop up some veggies to take to work for a snack.<br />
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The work day is another busy one. This time I go home for a dinner break. I make pesto cheese tortellini and a kale smoothie. I eat the tortellini out of the pot but this seems a bit ridiculous so I decide I will use a bowl next time. The Raptors game is on TV. It is a home game so that means they are playing just 1 block away to the east. They are playing against Utah and they are trailing at halftime when I finish eating. While they break for half, I pull the tights on and I run a 4.5 km loop to the office to finish off a few more things. It is cold and windy tonight so I have my face covered like a ninja with a neck tube. It is camoflage. Maybe that is why a guy calls out to me "That's a great pace there, soldier!". I say thanks.<br />
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I pick up the 4th quarter of the game while I work in the office. Utah has held a lead on the Raptors the whole game, but somehow the Raptors pull ahead with a few minutes left and hang on for the win. Great finish.<br />
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When I hear from the family the news isn't quite as good. R had been over to pick up the kids from some friends and when she backed out of the driveway there, she backed into a car that had just pulled out of another driveway 2 houses down. She was just sick about it, especially since she was worried about getting back to the house by 7pm to have some people come and look at the house to possibly rent it. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and the damage will all be covered by insurance. Still, I am sure R could have done without the heartache. I looked up the process to report it to the police and told her what she would need to do. I would take care of the insurance part for her.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-21366008419806276842017-01-04T22:42:00.000-07:002017-01-08T22:42:17.167-07:00Big Ships Need TugboatsWednesday, Jan 4, 2016<br />
When I wake up I can see the lake, but it is a bit cloudy and there isn't much of a sunrise. The bedroom window faces south and I am on the 25th floor, and I have partial views of the lake between buildings. There is one new building going up 2 blocks to the south, otherwise I would have a great view of things.<br />
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You have to decide what balance you want between privacy and a view of the outside world. Off to the south there aren't many residential buildings, so it feels fairly private with the blinds pulled back. The exterior wall is curved, so the other bedroom faces more to the east, and there is another condo quite close. I see people in those other units doing things, but whatever they are doing isn't so interesting that I feel like watching. Back in Calgary we keep our blinds open in the kitchen most of the time, but the neighbours across the pathway behind us mostly keep their blinds closed, so it is a pretty good arrangement for us.<br />
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It is a busy day in the office because we are short-staffed, and by the late afternoon I am ready for it to be done. Back before Christmas I had been filling in on one project and I made a mistake that now required some fixing. Plus there are 2 more projects that are coming down the pipe and we are busy with those. Gareth wants to go bike riding at 6:30pm but I am on a client conference call until 7pm, so that doesn't work out. It wasn't raining this time. It will probably be raining the next time I go. It has rained on me almost every time I have been out riding here.<br />
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I finally do break away and I arrange with Gareth to hit Ali Baba's for shawarmas. It is 2.2 km away so I pull on my running stuff and jog over there. The shawarmas are good and cheap. It's only $6.50 and it comes with a free drink. Afterwards, he hops back on his bike and I run a different way home, making a 5km loop, ending up at the grocery store across the street. I will finally have food in the apartment, but I won't need to cook tonight. I mostly get healthy stuff for simple meals, plus I snap up some chocolate-covered pretzels rolled in candy cane crumbs -- they were on clearance in the Christmas section.<br />
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I have 5 bags of groceries but it is a short trip across the street to the apartment. However, there are 3 fire engines outside the building, and it there is a wait to get on the elevator to go upstairs. That is a bad thing. I suppose it is a good thing that my place isn't actually on fire though. While waiting for the elevator a lady tells me that she is an owner in this building (which is a little more than a year old) and she can't wait to move out to another place down the street because this place keeps having issues with the fire alarms. I don't know what to say, but it reminds me of a time in Ottawa when R and I had to stand outside in the cold in the middle of the night because of a fire alarm in our apartment building. I don't want to have to do that very often.<br />
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I get upstairs and get a call from the family while I am putting the food away. R reads the scriptures and I say the prayer. Afterwards, I read books with Katie. We have matching copies of "The Little House on the Prairie" that we usually read together, but she needs to read something for school, so she reads to me. I learn that big ships need tugboats. Katie does really well reading, but occasionally he has to spell the words out for me to help her. I notice the ones she needs help with are usually things with multiple vowels put together to make a different sound. She needed help with "boat", "tugboat" and "out" maybe a few others. She did great though. My little tugboat.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-48826766164344317552017-01-03T22:40:00.000-07:002017-01-08T22:40:41.580-07:00FarewellsTuesday, Jan 3, 2016<br />
The kids are back to school today and I am working from home so I can see them off. First, help Scott get ready and watch with him for his car pool to come pick him up. He has his blue and orange toque on and the blue winter jacket that we bought him from MEC. He has red and white Nikes that look bit like the original Jordans that he never unties, so he has to spend a minute or two each time, working his feet into them. I ask him if he should be wearing his boots to school, since it is -20C and there is snow on the ground. He says no, since it is going to be a "blue day" at school (they will stay inside during the breaks). I get down on my knees for a long good-bye hug. He is my good buddy and I am going to miss him. And then his car pool pulls up and he says goodbye. There is a hint of sadness in it, but he still gives me a big smile.<br />
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A little while later I take Katie to her bus stop. There is only one other kid that catches the bus at her stop, but they usually drive right to the school on blue days so it just Katie and I at the stop this morning. We park the car around the corner and then we wait in the bus shelter. She has her snowpants on and her puffy purple coat under her overloaded backpack, so she looks twice as wide but just as short. It's very cute. When I see the bus a long ways off I crouch down to get a good hug from her. I feel fortunate that I got to take her to the bus stop today. It seems like a good way to say goodbye.<br />
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I still had some packing to do that I put off in favour of movies and swimming, but then work got in the way again. We have bbeen working through the holidays on a big transaction and pretty much everybody on the team is on vacation so nobody can quite get away from work. Finally it is getting close to panic for me, but I get the final bits of work handed off and I finish off packing with a bit of time to spare. I am able to take 5 extra minutes and put all the camping stuff away. I had been looking for a pocketknife on Sunday so that we could use a corkscrew just for fun (leftover from NYE), and had ended up pulling out essentially every bit of camping gear in the search.<br />
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R takes me to the airport and now it is our turn to say goodbye. Everyone feels the stress of the changes we are going through, but R takes the brunt of it. She is wonderful. I ask her if I should stop crushing her beautiful curls with my hugs, since she just finished doing her hair. She laughs. She always laughs. So great.<br />
<br />
The flight is uneventful. I have 3 duffle bags that bring as checked baggage, plus 2 carry-ons. This is what it is like when you move by airplane, I suppose. At the Toronto baggage claim a boy about Scott's age stares while I pull a folding luggage dolly out of one of the duffles and then stack them all on the dolly and wheel it away.<br />
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"What do you think?" I say to him. "Do you think it will work?" He exclaims, "That's cool!" I wheel the whole caravan off to the train and soon I am at my new apartment, a block away from the train station in downtown Toronto. It turns out that I got a free upgrade to a 2-bedroom place because the other one I was supposed to be in wasn't available. Shortly after I get the tour, my cycling buddy Gareth J shows up at the building with yet another piece of luggage. He brought a suitcase full of dress shirts and pants for me. It is a good thing that there is an extra bedroom because one small closet wasn't really going to be enough for all this stuff.<br />
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Gareth and I get subs together because it's nearly 10pm and hardly anything is open. He had been out cycling all evening (weather was 4C and raining) so he is also famished. While we eat we watch the Raptors get smoked by Memphis on TV at the apartment because Quiznos was closing.<br />
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He heads back to his hotel to call his family and I connect with the family back home to give them a video tour of the apartment. The kids are quite impressed with the cabinet-style fridge, freezer and dishwasher that hide away behind wood panels. They laugh at how small the oven is, since it looks to be the same size as the microwave.<br />
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I feel hungry for maybe one more snack, but there is no food in the place yet except for an extra orange juice I bought from Quiznos. I drink some of that and I am ready for bed.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-68854973351399626452017-01-02T22:37:00.000-07:002018-01-16T08:47:25.807-07:00Public Swim Without the PublicSince New Year's Day was a Sunday, Monday is a day off (at least it is in principle). For the kids it is the last day of vacation before school starts up again and my last full day in town before I head off to Toronto. The to-do list is long, but I feel a strong need to spend time with the family before time runs out.<br />
<br />
I had planned to spend much of the morning packing, but instead I get pulled into doing some work for the office. I can tell Katie is getting a bit sick of me sitting at the kitchen table staring at a computer, but she is excited when we come up with a plan for the day. This afternoon she can have a play-date at Evie's house while the rest of us go see the new Star Wars: Rogue One movie, and then I will take the kids swimming after dinner. Katie says that she would like to see the movie when it comes out on video and she can watch it at home.<br />
<br />
We order reserved seats for the 3:30pm show, and we think about calling some family to see if anyone wants to come, but it's pretty last minute so we just go ahead. The show turns out to be really great, and when the lights come up we find out we were only 2 seats away from R's sister and our niece and nephew. What are the chances? Scott is a bit jealous that they got pop and he didn't.<br />
<br />
Time is a bit tight to get off to public swimming at 6:45pm, so we grab Wendy's on our way to pick up Katie. The kids much prefer the toys from McDonald's happy meals, but R much prefers the gluten-free selections available at Wendy's. As it turns out, Katie gets a duplicate toy to the one she got last week when we did our road trip to Idaho. She is a bit sad about that, but she bounces back pretty fast, especially since we are in a hurry to go swimming, which was her idea.<br />
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As we sit at the table I get a little choked up inside, since I will be missing these family meals for the next few months. Even though we are scarfing burgers out of paper bags, I savour the moment. I am going to miss this.<br />
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Katie had said to me the previous day that she wanted me to take her swimming before I left. Honestly, if that is the only thing she wants, why shouldn't we do it? We had considered going to the pool in Cochrane, but Scott recently went ot Shouldice Pool for a cub scout activity and really wanted to do the diving boards again. Sounds like a great idea, plus I still have some pre-paid credits for that pool from when I was triathlon training a few years ago.<br />
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We show up at the pool and I worry that it might be closed, since there are 3 cars in the lot and I can see through the window that the pool water hasn't got a ripple in it. But I had looked up the hours online and it specifically said that there would be public swimming tonight. <br />
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As it turns out, the pool is open, but there are only 3 guys hanging out on the side of the dive tank, plus 2 lifeguards running the place. Maybe there is one more person in the steam room, but that's it. We have the main pool all to ourselves for swinging on ropes, playing on a floating hippo mat and a green duckie mat. We have all 6 diving rings. The kids show me how they can swim the length of the 25m pool. They do great. Katie is absolutely adorable. She can swim the whole way if she stays on her back. She alternates between an expression of concentration and a smile of delight. Scott moves everywhere wtih comfortable confidence. I climb up on the hippo mat and Katie pulls me around the deep end.<br />
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Eventually we take our turn in the dive tank while the other guys go play with a ball in the main pool. Scott shows Katie how to bounce off the diving board and she gives it a try. The diving board doesn't move when she leaps off of it but she gets great distance out of her jump and she immediately scrambles out to do it again. After a few rounds on the little board Scott jumps off the high board. Katie doesn't hesitate to follow, and it seems Scott and I are more concerned about her than she is. She does fine, but she prefers the little board. I think she got a lot of water up her nose on the high board.<br />
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Finally, we hit the steam room. The kids have never been in one. I love introducing them to things. It is so fun. We hit the button to turn on the steam cycle and the kids seem like they can't handle it trying to breathe in there. But just when I think they've had enough and we start to leave they tell me that they want to hit the steam room one more time. Apparently they love it. We are running a bit late getting out of the pool when Scott suggests we get donuts. I say, "Donuts? Where are we supposed to get donuts?" He says "Safeway" and I realize that there actually is a Safeway just down the street, and donuts are 50% there after 7pm. That sounds like a great plan for last night with Dad. We get the donuts and we are on our way home to find that Mom has shovelled the driveway while we have been gone. Poor lady. She didn't want to get cold in the pool, so she went outside in the snow instead.<br />
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All in all, a great last day at home with the family.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-6480693443804208942016-11-22T21:18:00.002-07:002016-11-23T11:12:36.712-07:00A Little About KatieKatie - Family Letter - Circle of Courage Spotlight - Grade 1<br />
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Most people are born when they are babies. Pretty much all people, really. Most babies are born at the hospital. Not all babies, though. Katie was supposed to be born at the hospital, but then she was in such a hurry to be born that her mom didn’t have time to go to the hospital. Instead, they filled up the bathtub with nice warm water and Katie was born in the bathtub at home. Most times babies cry a lot when they are born. Katie didn’t cry at all when she was born. She was so happy in the warm water of the bathtub. It has almost been seven years since that happened and she is still a very happy person even when she is not in the tub.<br />
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Katie likes to help other people. She also likes to cook. She really likes it if she can help other people cook, because then she get to do two things that she really likes. It’s like being happy two times. She also likes treats. So if she gets to help other people cook treats, then she is happy three times. Just last night she helped her dad make a delicious Mexican rice drink called horchata. Usually she stands on a stool to make her taller so she can help other people measure all the ingredients or mix things for treats on the stove.<br />
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Katie loves to laugh and tell jokes and dance around and be silly. She could make us all laugh even before she could talk and say words because she knew how to make funny faces. She loves to watch shows that are funny, but she hates things that are scary. She especially hates scary movies. Actually, she hates all movies, but if a movie is scary then it is like she hates it two times. It makes it tough to go do a family movie night at the movie theatre, so instead we watch shows at home. There is this one show all about the earth and the different animals and we can all watch that together because it isn’t a movie and it doesn’t have any bad guys or any scary music, and it certainly doesn’t have any bad guys playing scary music. Katie’s favourite part of that show is when they show the baby penguins or the little bear cubs or any of the animal babies because they are super cute.<br />
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You may have noticed that Katie loves stuffed animals. She used to have a big doll house that she got for her birthday a few years ago but she hardly played with it. Instead, she sold her doll house to somebody else and spent a bunch of the money to buy new stuffies. Stuffed animals are usually cute like baby penguins and little bear cubs and they are super soft and Katie loves that. <br />
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There are lots more things that we could tell you that we love about Katie but I think we have probably run out of time and there are so many things to say that you would have to stay sitting there all night without any breaks for a snack or potty or anything, and even then we probably wouldn’t say everything about her because she is pretty special. Just try to remember the important things: Happy babies, warm bathtubs, helping cook treats, no bad guys playing scary music in movies, stuffies, baby penguins, and little bear cubs. The End.<br />
Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-88808276336825819252016-11-03T16:37:00.000-06:002016-11-22T21:19:55.469-07:00Journey to the Center of the Universe<p dir="ltr">Some people are confused where we come from. Some people in Calgary think we are from Ontario. Some people in Ontario think we are from Calgary. Most people in the USA think we are from Canada and leave it at that.</p><p dir="ltr">R and I were both raised in Calgary (although she was officially a BYU baby), and we both went away to other places for University, and then we took off on an adventure to Ottawa shortly after we were married. We honestly had the time of our life out there for 5 years, doing everything together. We both served in the youth program at church and we lived really close to my office and I was home early enough each day for us to cook together and we loved all the time we got to spend together. We went on road trips and overseas trips and all sorts of fun stuff.</p><p dir="ltr">But we still did lots of trips back west to visit her family in Calgary and my family in Idaho/Utah and we missed being with everyone. I remember one time it was time for us to fly back to Ottawa after a good visit and we were saying to each other, "Why are we leaving? We should just stay here." Well, eventually we did come back. We were starting our family and we came back to Calgary to spend every Sunday over at Grandma and Grandpa's house with all the cousins running around. It was awesome.</p><p dir="ltr">But the move to Calgary included a change in my career and that meant long nights studying finance and then long days commuting downtown so there was less of the cooking together and the trips involved a lot more carseats and strollers. Those early years with diapers and toddlers were tougher, but we still had a great time and now suddenly 9 years has gone by since we left Ottawa to come back to Calgary. I still find myself saying that we recently came back, but I suppose a decade doesn't count as recent anymore.</p><p dir="ltr">Now it looks like we are heading East again. At work I was offered a really good opportunity right at the epicenter of it all, on the corner of Bay Street and Wellington in Toronto. We had been looking towards the next step in my career, but this took us a bit by surprise. The timing was challenging because the kids had just started a new year at school and R's mom had been in the hospital with some significant health challenges, so it was not an easy decision to make. </p><p dir="ltr">But we took it. And now we are determined to really make the most of it.</p><p dir="ltr">I just finished up my first trip out to Toronto for the week, working with my new group. I will be back and forth between the Calgary office and the Toronto office for November and December, and then in January I will be there full-time, living in a temporary apartment until we find a place to rent for the whole family to join me in March.</p><p dir="ltr">I think everyone has up and down days when they think about this move. I am probably the most excited about it, because I love this sort of thing. Plus, I have a clear vision of what I am getting into. I have already seen my office and I know the people I will be working with. Still, it is tough to think about leaving behind so many people and places that I love. I think it is even tougher for the rest of the family, because they don't know who they will be friends with and they still can't picture the different places and things that we will yet discover together.</p><p dir="ltr">Think of this as an adventure. An extended vacation to a place, to really explore it and get to know it. We are not likely to stay in Toronto for the rest of our lives, so we should try to take it all in. Do all the things. See all the places. Eat all the food. Do it together. Get the know the city so well that people will wonder if we really are from Calgary after all.</p>Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-26312848379698886562016-01-26T08:48:00.002-07:002016-11-23T11:21:00.977-07:00A Little About ScottScott is shooting up like crazy. He is now up to R's shoulder. He is thin as a rail, but you can tell when you grab his hand that he is so much thicker than Katie now. He is about 60 pounds or something like that. He is a total fiend for anything to do with sports. He is reading the Harry Potter books and he is onto the 6th one now. Last year he was just getting into chapter books and now he is blasting through 700-page novels. Wild.<br />
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I was running Scott's bball practice last night and it was soooo much fun. I had the kids doing this really complicated 5-man, full court passing and shooting drill and they were getting it. Crazy how much they have improved this year. After practice was over, a few of us lingered and did a 3-on-3 game of fast breaks. We had an adult on each team and the kids would tear off down the court after every rebound and we would lob passes to them for breakaway layups. We kept at it for about 30 minutes and Scott was beet red and exhausted at the end. I carried him up to bed. It was so great. Kids are great. So is basketball.<br />
Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-2215975184964611082015-12-30T07:00:00.000-07:002015-12-31T08:55:00.030-07:00Books I Read in 2015<b>Extreme: Why Some People Thrive at the Limits</b> - <i>Emma Barrett and Paul Martin</i> (Audio Book)<br />
My reading list always has some bizarre titles on it. I this one was a recommended book on Audible, which is my service for audio books. The author's British accent is delicious and worth the price of admission, smoothly recounting harrowing accounts of explorers freezing to death at the poles or dying at crushing depths. The conclusions are fascinating, although it seems like the analysis is mainly based on anecdotal evidence, rather than clinical trials. Each story seems more like a plausible launching point for more research, rather than the basis for conclusions, but hey, I am no expert here. I think I still haven't quite finished it off, but there is no over-arching narrative here, so I don't think that I missed a surprise ending or anything.<br />
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<b>The Rent Collector</b> - <i>Camron Wright</i><br />
This is the second book I have read about a family that experienced great hardship in Cambodia (the other book was <i>To Destroy You is No Loss</i> about the Khmer Rouge's seizure of Phnom Penh). This book didn't have a harsh Marxist Dictator oppressing everyone, but life in the dump seemed pretty harsh on its own, and it was fascinating to think about how a family could adapt to this situation and have deep and meaningful relationships, despite the backdrop. Good book.<br />
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<b>1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed</b> - <i>Eric H. Cline</i><br />
This book discusses the causes of the end of the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean, which is a topic I previously knew nothing about. The book is perhaps more scholarly at times than I really required, but it was fascinating to learn how a sophisticated and very interconnected world like that could suddenly collapse in the face of a series of disruptive challenges, including drought, mass migration, and interrupted trade routes. The lesson is that nothing lasts forever, and because there really isn't one factor that causes this sort of collapse, it is hard to say what it might take to have another one.<br />
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<b>The Martian</b> - <i>Andy Weir</i><br />
I hadn't even heard of this book or the Hollywood movie that was based on it until a friend at work mentioned that he had just read it and really enjoyed it. I devoured the book in the course of just a few days and then watched the movie about a week later. My personal preference would be to have less cussing, but I have nothing but good things to say about this story. The bulk of the book, especially at the beginning, is just the protagonist's log entries of his effort to survive, and that is the best stuff. On a literary level, those parts read like a good friend of yours sending you a really long email, but that doesn't mean you can't love it. I wish more of my friends would send me gripping emails like this from Mars.<br />
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<b>Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie</b> - <i>Jordan Sonnenblick</i><br />
My sister Allyson and I share a Kindle account and this popped up from her side of the library. It looked like something targeted at her teenager kids, but I am not above such things. I really enjoyed it. I think the author tried a bit too hard to have a teenager's voice, and I think the resultant word choices were sometimes distracting, but overall the story about being an awkward teenage boy coping with the family strain of a sick younger brother was compelling and heart-wrenching. I learned later that the author is a school teacher and the story is inspired by the experience of one of his students. I recommend it.<br />
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<b>The Watch That Ends the Night</b> - <i>Hugh MacLennan</i><br />
I had ordered a used copy of this book off Amazon and it sat in my bedroom for about a year or more, until I couldn't remember why I had decided to order it. It was published in 1959 and I had an old hardcover library copy that had been signed out only twice. I read the whole thing on our anniversary trip to Mexico and it is the best book I have read in a long time. I particularly appreciated the historical setting in English Montreal during the 1930s - 1950s, which happens to cover the short period when my grandparents lived in Montreal and my mom was born. There are a lot of symbols and parallels and I can't say that I quite grasped the significance of each one but the author spends some time wrapping it up for you at the end. Individual people, married couples, nations and civilizations all show the ability to have growing pains, crises of faith and ultimately a spiritual rebirth, but all this take place within an accessible narrative that was pretty engrossing. No wonder this book was twice honoured: 1) Canadian Governor General's Award for literature in 1959; and 2) A Tragically Hip Song in 1992 called <i>Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)</i>. I am pretty sure that I was sparked to buy this book by reading about the <a href="http://www.hipmuseum.com/hugh.html">lyrics of the Tragically Hip song</a>, which paraphrases this passage: “But that night as I drove back from Montreal, I at least discovered this: that there is no simple explanation for anything important any of us do, and that the human tragedy, or the human irony, consists in the necessity of living with the consequences of actions performed under the pressure of compulsions so obscure we do not and cannot understand them.” This book is not even considered MacLennan's finest. There is more reading here for me to do.<br />
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<b>Tunnel in the Sky</b> - <i>Robert A. Heinlein</i><br />
In the Q&A at the end of The Martian, author Andy Weir said that his favourite book growing up was <i>Tunnel in the Sky</i> (published in 1955). I had never heard of it, but I figured that was a good enough reason to give it a try. Fantastic book. The futuristic setting is explained quickly but with enough detail that the rest story can stand alone without the reader constantly questioning the framework. The beginning reminds me a little bit of reading the book <i>Hatchet</i> when I was a kid, except in a much more menacing environment, with a <i>Lord of The Flies</i> dynamic going on. I learned later that this book was published just one year after <i>Lord of the Flies</i>. Really good. Highly recommend for young readers.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-27177092191874107162015-12-03T10:30:00.002-07:002018-09-24T10:42:10.685-06:00She Makes Friends EasilyI got a call from Katie again yesterday. She said, "Hi Dad. I am near your building right now. I am on the bus with Mom." R was a parent-chaperone for a school outing to see the play "Legend Has It" at the Epcor Performing Arts Centre downtown, just a few blocks from my office. Katie told me that she had her lunch in a backpack and they were going to eat their lunch and then go watch the play.<br />
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When I got home for dinner I heard more details about the day. While waiting to leave on the theatre trip, R had seen Scott go past on his way to the library. Today Scott played the piano at school in a talent show of sorts. He had played the piano in this same event last year, but this time around he was a bit freaked out and kept saying he wanted out. In the end, R helped him figure out what he was most nervous about (standing and introducing his songs to the group) and made a plan to have the teacher introduce the songs for him. He played the Star Wars Theme and Rudolph. Everyone started singing along for Rudolph, which both surprised him and pleased him. Also, when the time came his teacher offered to introduce the songs for him but he was okay to do it himself. At home he told us that sometimes he doesn't want to do something but then he does it and he is glad that he did.<br />
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I learned more details about the theatre trip too. Katie said she made a new friend on the trip. A boy. Katie couldn't quite remember his name, but R said that they were walking and holding hands by the end. Katie told me that recently she'd had another new friend that was a boy for a few days, but not so much anymore.<br />
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The way things are going, this girl may need a chaperone to come with her to school every day.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-53362760343645330522015-12-02T09:34:00.001-07:002015-12-02T09:34:21.225-07:00Friendly Bagel ManYesterday I left the house very early to get to work. It was about 4:30am and stars showed brightly with no hint of dawn. A few blocks from home I turned a corner and saw the shadow of a figure running towards my vehicle, waving a hand to get my attention. Confused, I stopped, and rolled my window down a few inches. A young man came to the window out of breath and told me "Hey, I just hitchhiked all the way here from BC and I stashed my backpack over there and I haven't had anything to eat. Do you know where I could get something to eat?" In one instant my mind quickly evaluated a number of options that included him and I driving around in the dark looking for food, then I realized I was already chewing on a bagel, so I offered it to him. I had split the bagel in half and I still had one half sitting on the passenger seat so I handed it to him through the gap in the window and said, "I don't think anything around here is open, but does this help?" He said he had been starving and that this was perfect and amazing. I felt pretty good about it as I drove away, even later, when I was a little bit hungry. I told the story to a friend and he gave me a rice krispie square. People helping people get snacks.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-75860648281048399982015-11-30T13:31:00.003-07:002015-12-02T15:09:59.705-07:00Deck the Halls and Other Sad SongsAfter Scott's rousing basketball victory at midday (where he scored his season-high 8 points), we spent the rest of Saturday decking the halls. First, Scott and I took the stepladder out to hang lights around the edge of the garage door, which is mainly a process of Scott climbing up and down the ladder and fastening zip ties to various hooks that I put in place in a previous year. There were no incidents, as he is a pretty careful ladder-climber and I hovered at his elbow at all times. He retreated to the house, citing the chills. I think it was because he was wearing thin warm-up pants over his basketball shorts and the pants are about 1 year too short for him now.<br />
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Katie came bouncing out the door with a big smile and her jacket unzipped to pick up where Scott left off. Katie was a wonderful assistant and we made rapid pace along the front gutter to the front door where Scott slid the window open a crack to play Christmas carols on the piano for our entertainment. All was well through very polished renditions of Jingle Bells and Rudolph, where Katie and I managed to wrap the lights around the railing and one of the trees out front, but then we hit a snag at Deck the Halls. Scott was struggling with the song and eventually R must have tried to give him a hint about the note that he was missing and he broke down in tears.<br />
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Later on it was my turn to break down, as we discovered that the new white lights that I had purchased at Canadian Tire for the Christmas tree were actually the wrong colour of white. I had purchased "cool white", while the pine & holly garland that we got for the railing had "warm white" lights in it -- even though both of lights were made by the same company and you would never guess they were different until you lit them up at home like we did. We had to strip the tree of its cool white lights and replace them with our old multi-coloured lights, since the stores had all closed for the evening and no one really wanted to put off the rest of the hall-decking, especially hanging up all the cool ornaments that the kids receive every year from the Dustan Family out in Ottawa.<br />
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Fa-la-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la.<br />
[Sobbing]Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-15679953401038770072015-11-27T16:13:00.000-07:002015-11-30T10:02:24.006-07:00Kids on Bikes, Dad on Foot Downtown[Sep 26 2015]<br />
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Fall has been absolutely beautiful this year. The weather has been reasonably warm and we haven't had one of those big windstorms yet that pulls all the leaves off the trees so the colours have lingered longer than usual. We tried to take advantage of the weather to ride bikes downtown. It was an interesting adventure.<br />
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We loaded the bikes on the car and headed downtown, planning to ride for a bit before grabbing dinner and having a grand time at Dad's office. As we unloading the car, I realized that Katie's helmet was still lying on the floor near the garage door at our house, protecting no heads. I faced a moment of indecision. To return home would be nearly an hour round trip, effectively using up our allocated riding time. However, I had already learned my lesson years ago about putting Katie on bikes without a helmet. I considered whether there was a bike shop close enough to buy one. As my mind raced from one idea to the next, Scott stood nearby making his own observations:<br />
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"You can't let a kid ride without a helmet. That is against the law."<br />
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That's right. Kids under 18 have to ride with a helmet, but adults have the option of riding without a helmet. Wait, that is the solution! My helmet has an internal head-band type adjustment that I cranked all the way down to Katie-size, and then adjusted the straps to fit. It wasn't perfect, but it was a helmet, and we were back in business.<br />
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After just a few minutes of riding, I realized I had a flat tire on my bike. we came back to the car where I filled it again. A moment later it was flat again, and the valve seemed to be broken. So I took the wheel off the bike and jammed in the back of the car and I ran behind the kids as they rode. Man, at the beginning of the summer, that was an easy task, but both of these kids have gotten a lot faster this year! It was all I could do to keep up, trying to shout directions to them as I gasped for air.<br />
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After riding by the drop-in center and the old Cecil Hotel, we loaded up the bikes again and drove to the nearest McDonald's for some happy meals. However this McDonald's is half-way down the block on the pedestrian avenue and doesn't have a drive through, so we had to walk in. Since my fairly expensive bike was dangling on the back of the car, I decided to bring it with us into the restaurant. We navigated between various tables and [ahem] less refined characters to a spot by the corner window where the kids could hold onto my bike and still see any incidents that might happen along the avenue. I have been in the McDonald's a few times late at night and I have witnessed some interesting things, including the time that a man had to shoo away someone who was trying to pick through his meal while it was still sitting on the order counter. No incidents to report this time, but we did end up having a discussion about what responsibility we have to help less fortunate people to get back on their feet and find meaningful employment in the world.<br />
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After that we went back to the office to get some work done. Then I remembered that they were planning to shut the power off in the building in just a few minutes, so if we didn't get out soon, we would be taking the stairs down 38 floors in the dark. We high-tailed it out of there.<br />
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Things are never dull with Dad.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-90313629029594541862015-11-27T15:45:00.000-07:002015-11-27T15:53:01.638-07:00Basketball in the Big Gym[Sep 3 2015]<br />
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To be sorted into a team in the appropriate division, Scott had two evaluation sessions, including one at the University of Calgary massive main gym. He had to write #99 on his leg and do a lot of drills. You know, aside from the parking lot of an LDS chapel or a screening of Napoleon Dynamite, basketball evaluations is one of the most likely places to encounter LDS people. I saw pretty much everyone I know there.<br />
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The second evaluation session was held at an elementary school. Kids were told what time slot to show up for, with the understanding that they might be asked to stick around for subsequent sessions. Scott was kept there for several sessions, which turned out to be quite a long time, so we hit Menchie's on the way home for a frozen treat.Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-18816916314976547292015-11-26T14:22:00.001-07:002015-11-26T14:22:36.493-07:00Letter from Gramma WI got this great letter from my Gramma Gloy and I wanted to post it here so that I don't lose it. She is such a wonderful lady and so funny. I love the line at the end: "Forgive all mistakes. I am old and feeble."<br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LZwV4plAMuiEii3s3jhpaf1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YSITuQEuYL4/Vh8zOkN0ifI/AAAAAAAEQv0/aUX8BbGZsYE/s800-Ic42/20151004_165747.jpg" height="800" width="450" /></a>Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-19521236721002637062015-11-26T14:20:00.001-07:002015-11-26T14:20:43.987-07:00Harvest Half Marathon 2015[Oct 3 2015]<br />
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When Troy and Gareth said they were going to run this half marathon I HAD to be a part of it. Even though we got soaked in a slushy rain the whole time. I didn't train that much this year, so I didn't have any misguided hopes about a personal best, but I beat Troy and that's all that really matters. Official time was 1 hour 37 minutes, which was good enough for 24th place out of 730 people and my 2nd best time to date.<br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/vG3IPTY-SDezAriXDL1Db_1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V_ZiILOFgQ8/Vh8zJhKfeDI/AAAAAAAEQho/VLpKpJIgjLQ/s640-Ic42/20151003_095756.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a>Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-31938085229604339502015-11-26T14:14:00.001-07:002015-11-26T14:15:17.305-07:00Trick Riding in Bowness Park[Oct 2 2015]<br />
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We met up with the Jones and Staples at Bowness Park for a picnic dinner. We knew that the forecast called for rain that evening, so we tried to hurry. Things were pretty good at first, and the kids had fun roasting hotdogs and doing bike tricks for while, until suddenly a wall of black clouds rolled in and blew every leaf off the trees, sending us all scrambling for cover. When we got home we had a thick layer of leaves in the bottom of our cooler, and several stuck in our clothing. Summer is officially over, people.<br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/kseGmkC0Tx1KWMxKsD-lLP1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ho80G_KP_TQ/Vh8ygItSBiI/AAAAAAAEQho/vc9qXAQopsc/s640-Ic42/20151002_184107.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/DxiwuqsshH6hKT7itlzkc_1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RQ0bcGIaaV4/Vh8yuXNJ26I/AAAAAAAEQho/E8zRzQY9zoo/s640-Ic42/20151002_185854.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/t7Ee8huhDMd7HBM6RHT6fP1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0TGMEQbe9mc/Vh8y24cRnOI/AAAAAAAEQho/B34kelO6YiE/s800-Ic42/20151002_191209.jpg" height="800" width="450" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LdCIOhllRO3UsDyw5HTxl_1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V3cWbM9Ehg8/Vh8zAsgP4mI/AAAAAAAEQho/TCMaumWfX2Y/s800-Ic42/20151002_191238.jpg" height="450" width="800" /></a>Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-6468042110280482072015-11-26T14:08:00.002-07:002015-11-26T14:28:16.380-07:00Sunday Afternoon Cycling[Sep 20, 2015]<br />
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Now that R has a new bike AND a new helmet, it was only fitting that we go for a few family rides. There is a new pathway along the north end of town. It isn't totally finished, so we had to go off-road for a short section, through a spot that looked like someone's informal campground in the bushes. We have raised Katie's seat to help her get more leverage on the hills, and it has helped her quite a bit (although she was a bit uncertain about not being able to plant both feet flat on the ground while mounted).<br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Igd38YXpfjhe_fO9EWYqk_1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k7i9Y7hNad8/Vh8t0J_ZUdI/AAAAAAAEQho/7hqoDlpMuok/s800-Ic42/20150920_143003.jpg" height="800" width="450" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/mMvRqicOCfX3JqRBoCfzK_1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BZaxqsZM2rQ/Vh8t9o8j5qI/AAAAAAAEQho/djZkXoOh2EQ/s640-Ic42/20150920_143057.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a>Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-84619707948004291902015-11-26T13:56:00.000-07:002015-11-26T13:56:46.862-07:00High School 20th Reunion[Sep 12 2015]<br />
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R and I both went to the same high school, but somehow we had never made it a high school reunion. We both disappeared from Calgary for most of a decade after high school, and we had lost track of most people from high school. We weren't sure what to expect, but it seemed like we shouldn't miss this chance to see everyone again.<br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/K4ifyJAhuxCnju7V8bqS_v1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B9dHj8f_x8k/Vh8rc1HHl3I/AAAAAAAEQho/5Z6hnGKsg3s/s640-Ic42/20150912_145046.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/WATbYDHV5D6F_pKkmxy9M_1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XD9cCwTZTbo/Vh8rk4GllHI/AAAAAAAEQho/GX6Gn3axp9o/s640-Ic42/20150912_145323.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a><br />
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I rushed back from our overnight camping trip at Barrier Lake to meet R at a Wendy's near Bowness Park, so we could grab a picnic lunch and so I could try to wash the smell of campfire off of me and change clothes. It was fun to catch up again. Many people had no idea that the two of us had gotten married. One of our classmates said hi to me and tried to introduce herself to R, and then felt silly when she found out that R had also gone to our school. I don't think it's fair though -- I look essentially identical to high school, but R has gone to great lengths to disguise her identity. In school he had long, straight blond hair and no glasses, but now she has curly reddish hair and wears glasses. Sometimes I don't even recognize her.<br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lLqf0wmjyMwELUU-Pz7MR_1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Pd4SowRflOs/Vh8rmtOtB7I/AAAAAAAEQho/h4rkbK3B974/s640-Ic42/20150912_214303.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a><br />
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R went to school all the way from kindergarten to grade 12 with a group of a few really close friends, and most of them were there at the park and again at the evening pub event. She was right at home with all her good friends. I realized that I hardly have any friends in the whole world, and I spent most of my time chatting with people that I may not have ever had a conversation with in high school. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34251420.post-62888521464660393032015-11-26T13:39:00.000-07:002015-11-26T13:42:48.297-07:00Trail Hunting at TwilightScott and I hurried outside for a bike ride before the sun could go down. In anticipation of our bike camp this weekend, he wanted to find a trail where he could try his off-road skills a bit. We ended up going 8km in 46 minutes. We rode down a muddy trail into the ravine, pushed our bikes back up another muddy trail, tried a washed out gravel trail along the ridge, but his favourite part was coasting down the grassy hill near his school. There was some complaining, but Scott didn't let it bother him too much.<br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Baf2SY6CpMqTyke1weRTDv1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IuYz1hF3Oac/Vh8oMl9PV-I/AAAAAAAEQho/qxT-s2t_-NA/s640-Ic42/20150907_200355.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/A0yQ8jgX_H3FqxqTmUNVaf1HiqgJCXfqgFQXy2c8VfA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--YEV8Sxjbfw/Vlduro19B3I/AAAAAAAEQvc/smnRv5aWX-M/s800-Ic42/Sep%2525207%2525202015%252520Bike%252520Ride%252520Map.png" height="512" width="519" /></a>Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18112193831851712108noreply@blogger.com0