Camping and driving

As usual I can't believe it is July and my last post was on June 4th!  I promised to keep myself up to date with the "training" for the half marathon.  Well there wasn't much to report.  My training regimen went sideways but I did manage to do a few long walks with the group.  The mosquitoes remained vicious as ever and on one particular outing a couple of weeks ago no amount of bug spray could keep them from circling and biting. 
A group of us started off from our house, walked clear across town and back and then headed north up to the road that goes to the garbage dump.  Bernie said it would be about 15 km if we did that.  Of course I got left behind in the dust because my feet do not allow me to go very fast - but I plugged along.  I tried to move as fast as I could thinking that the blood suckers would not be able to catch me but I wasn't very successful with that plan.  I made it there and back and I walked even faster when I saw our car approaching.  It was Bernie, being kind, asking if I wanted a ride to escape the mosquitoes.  I got mad and told him no thank you, I could walk just like anybody else......On I marched, bitten but not defeated.

The time has just gone by so fast and my long awaited vacation arrived.  I never took vacations before since I always worked for everybody else in the summer time.  I worked hard to get ready and we finally left on July 4th in the wind.  Yes, the wind howled all night and we put off leaving until close to noon because the weather report said it would be calmer by then.  Pulling a trailer on a windy day is no picnic, but then I wasn`t driving either. 

We drove all the way to Golden, stopping for gas once and a couple of times to let the dogs air out a bit.  I packed a lunch and we ate on the run.  We had a spot at the Whispering Spruce Campground, the same place we stayed ten years ago when we did the Tour du Canada.  We remembered it somewhat, but things have changed in ten years, including the highway which is better now. 

We got settled in to our spot and I opened the freezer to take something out to barbecue for supper only to discover melted ice cream and a fridge that was not operating.  AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH.  Lovely.  I was mad at the world, and hungry.  I eventually got it cleaned up and we ate and even had time for a walk.  The fridge is working now...........the propane was turned off and it needs to be on to run the fridge when we are driving........I thought he knew that......I guess not.  Well, we should have gone on a weekend test run with the trailer so Bernie could reacquaint himself with our little holiday trailer.  We also had water problems and we still need a new plug to really fix the situation.  Of course we only knew we were going away at this time about six months ago and that surely wasn`t enough time to get things road worthy......Oh and did I mention that we only had one full tank of propane??  Gee I guess we needed to get ready last year by the sounds of it. 

The day after we got settled in we drove in to Golden and found a place that would fill our propane tank.  We also bought some more water and I felt so lucky that I also bought a lottery ticket.  Anyway, if you need to get propane whilst travelling west on Highway One at Golden just go to Free Energy which is right beside the A&W. 

We left for points south on July 6th.  We had a nice drive through Roger's Pass, first time we drove in a vehicle going this way.  The first time was on our bikes and it sure is seen from a different perspective.  We ate on the run again.  The day got hotter and hotter and Bernie finally gave in and turned the air conditioning on.  I think he was concerned for the dogs.......The longest drive was from Kelowna to Penticton due to the high volume of traffic.  We got to the Camp Along rv resort and campground in good time and then the problems began!

After much maneuvering Bernie finally got the trailer parked.  Suffice it to say we won't be staying here again....we'll be lucky if we get out!  I had a hard time getting to sleep last night; visions of a truck trying to push a trailer into a spot that was as big as a postage stamp with trees on both sides....visions of our truck at a right angle to the trailer.....visions of our truck's left fender tucked right into a tree stump that served as a petunia planter......watching helplessly as he finaly got the sway bars off (I actually suggested that he do that before he started twisting our trailer around at unnatural angles......what do I know?)  I tossed and turned and finally got to sleep about 2 a.m.

Anyway, the neighbour helped him out a bit and for that I am grateful since it saved me getting hollered at for not giving the right hand signals!  Laugh out loud!!

After we got parked - snugged right up to a tree branch, but that's okay since there is no damage to anything else thank god - I served cold beers on the patio.  We got a new mat to put beside the trailer and I really like it.  That and our gravity chairs made me feel better; not to mention the three beers I had before I cooked supper.  The fridge was working splendidly since I convinced him that the propane had to be turned on at all times.  We have cable t.v., wifi, water, power and thankfully the air conditioning works.

Today we drove into Penticton so Bernie can get his race package for the Granfondo which he is cycling in tomorrow.  I hope he does all right in this heat - it is thirty degrees C. right now at six in the afternoon. 

Our neighbours to the left gave us cherries they grew in their back yard.  They have two dogs and one isn't very friendly.  Our dogs are behaving all right so far.  The neighbours to our right are not home much, but the guy did help us out yesterday.

Well I will try and post some pictures of our little adventure here in B.C. and I will blog later on, maybe after we get home.

Blast from the past

I had a comment from one of my long ago friends and walking partners which made me smile with the memories.  Many years ago we used to get up early in every kind of weather and go for a brisk walk before going to work.  It was my habit to set my clock for 6:20 a.m. and be out the door and down the lane by 6:40.  The two of us would head out on the same route every weekday morning with our dogs Sasha and Sondra.  Back then we just let the dogs go wherever they wanted without us hanging onto a leash.....my how times have changed!!  The dogs did everything together; and I mean everything.
We would head out of town and go down the same country road talking away; I think we solved every problem known to man.  One time someone commented to me that when we walked past her place she thought it was geese flying overhead - nice.  I didn't care.....well, I care less now than I did then!
We had a few adventures on those walks.  Once we turned to go west we only went past one yard and on occasion the man of the house would be out driving around without his headlights on.  I can remember giving him hell one morning!  Another time we could hear this man's voice softly calling out, "Precious", or was it "Cuddles" or "Lovey", or something like that..Anyhow, it turns out he was calling his little dog.  Thank goodness for that!  We sure had a laugh over that one.
Some days it was foggy and on one extremely foggy morning we set out, picking our way along the gravel road.  We could see a shadow looming up ahead. The dogs were no help since they were off somewhere in the ditch chasing imaginary rabbits and looking for an opening in the fence since it was so much fun to roll around in cow poop.  We were on our own.  The shadow floated closer and we clutched one another in fear; I still get goose bumps thinking about it.  Finally one of us found our voice (not me) and she called out, "Is someone there??"  Just then the shadow turned into a local lady out for a walk and she says, "You two aren't the only ones who go for a walk you know."  With that she kept on walking and once we recovered from shaking in our running shoes we continued on.
In the winter time we missed a few walks due to extremely cold weather but for the most part we carried on all bundled up against the elements.  There was the odd occasion when we walked in town because of snow and ice and wind.  One of those extreme mornings we decided it would be best to stay in town.  It was really icy.  We slipped and slid along but it was manageable.  Well, it was all right until the dogs decided to run close to us.  They picked up speed and came barrelling towards us only to discover that neither one of them could stop due to the ice.  They both skidded into us and down we went like football players, tackled on the streets of our little village by a Black Lab and a German Shepherd.  We were both laughing and howling and as we tried to get up we slipped and fell down again, rolling around with our heavy winter gear.  Good job it was dark and early, although I am sure somebody must have seen us go ass over tea kettle that fine morning!
Oh those were good times and I haven't had as great a friend and walking partner since that time.  We moved here almost nineteen years ago and those days will never be repeated.
Thanks for the memories.

Mosquitoes and determination

So....today will be day three of the "training".  It is Sunday and I am wondering if maybe it should be the day of rest.  This is a different program than what I am used to following but I am going to stick to it since I love a plan and I love it even better when somebody else maps it out for me.  That way I do not have to think....just do.  On Friday I was up very early since I had to work at seven in the morning.  After work I ran around doing things that I had put off doing earlier on in the week.  I told my husband he was in charge of supper since I couldn't think of anything to have anyway and I headed out for my 6 km "run" around five o'clock - roughly twelve hours since I pulled myself out of bed to start the day.
I sprayed myself with OFF and away I went. I set my watch (yes I tested it and did it properly this time) and had it set for intervals of 1 minute 30 seconds with a 30 second walk in between.  I found my little belt holder thing from Running Room and filled my bottle with water, not the right water bottle because I couldn't find that one.  The temperatures were lovely and warm and the day was sunny all day long making for nice running conditions.
The OFF didn't work very well; I should have used more heavy duty stuff.  The mosquitoes were everywhere and my arms got a good work out slapping at the little bloodsuckers as they came in for a landing.  I did not let that deter me and I tried to stick to my running and walking intervals.  I let my mind wander to more happier times when I had resolved to never put myself through this torture.  I don't know why I would want to revisit the sore hip joints, lower back pain and aching feet.  Why oh why do I do this to myself?  I know the answer and I tried to avoid it to no avail.  Songs always go through my head as I "run" but I was getting sick of the Black Forest Polka. To get the Polka music out of my head my mantra becomes:  "You paid for this; accept the pain." and "Watch those pounds melt off."
Soon I was no longer able to keep up with my plan as I reached the last little stretch before the turn around at the cemetery.  The rest of the way home I only broke out into enthusiastic running when a vehicle approached.  Well.....I didn't want them to think I was just out for a little walk, no way, I am a "runner".
Laugh out loud if you want but it works, especially if there is a lot of traffic.  It took me about forty-five minutes to go the distance which is not too bad really.
Last night I discovered that I had gone too far.  Oh no!  The plan has been compromised already.  It was only supposed to be a 4K run and I went 6; well almost, but who's telling.  So today it is supposed to be 6K.  I guess I could go 4 and get away with it but I have a running partner and if we talk during our walks it will probably turn into 6.
I have my watch set for a minute and thirty second run and a two minute walk.  I like the recovery time better than just a mere thirty seconds.  Half a minute doesn't even give me a chance to swat at the mosquitoes and take a drink of water.
We'll see how today goes.  I have more powerful mosquito spray; still haven't found the right water bottle; ten thirty is a different time to go out; who knows what will happen.  I do love an adventure.

Day One, let the pain begin

I considered starting a brand new page and calling it "Jog Blog".  I have since reconsidered after this morning's performance since I do not want to draw too much attention to my physicality.  Yes this morning was "Day One" of the "program"; or at least it is a twelve week program that was e-mailed to me by one of my partners in crime.  Some of us have undertaken a local challenge to run a half marathon in August and that would be twelve weeks from now.  
I awoke at five thirty (that would be in the a.m.), did the usual stuff one does upon getting out of bed, and sipped my morning coffee while sorting through my e-mails and checking everybody's status on Facebook.  Once dressed for the outdoors I actually looked outside to discover that it was windy, cool and trying to rain.  Oh well, I have clothes for that and what would it matter anyway since I knew I would be all hot and sweaty after my three kilometre "run".  My little dog wanted to come with me but I left him at the door and away I went.
I started off at a not so brisk walk because my bunions hurt even in my brand new Asics.  I decided to ignore the pain because my feet hurt all the time and it doesn't get me anywhere to complain and give in to the agony.  Away I went picking up my pace a bit as I covered two blocks walking.  I ran the next two blocks, almost and then decided to turn left up Royal Street and head to the dam and back - surely that would be far enough.  The wind was coming from the north west and the rain had turned to mist; what a lovely day.  I checked my watch and set it for one minute and thirty second intervals with a thirty second walk in between.  I was sure I could handle that.  No more excuses now since I readjusted my hood, checked my shoe laces, and glanced at my watch.........let the run begin.  
So far so good I puffed along cursing the day that I ever agreed to do this; my morning coffee sloshing around my stomach and the mud flying behind me........(must remember to ask why we can't pave that road, probably no money, yes I'm sure that's why...)  I was starting to wheeze and I checked out my watch......59 seconds to go????  Good grief, I am so out of shape, I can't believe my boot camp fitness level was shot all to hell in such a short time.  Past the condos and out on the open road, into a stiff wind, my glasses covered in fog and mist; I re-checked my watch......58 seconds.......Oh wait!  I made a BIG mistake and set it for 59 minutes and thirty seconds......what a joke.......I slowed down to a walk, relieved that I was just stupid and not as out of shape as I thought I was!
I turned the interval stuff off on my watch and just ran and walked the rest of the way up and all the way home. I am not sure how far it was, I will check later.  I know that I started off at 6:15 and was home half an hour later, that's all I cared about.
Once in the door, the shoes came off, I peeled off my sweaty running gear, dripping with sweat I reached for my ratty old housecoat to discover the little dog all curled up on top of it.......well at least it was warm when I put it on!!
Now I am having a cup of  Jamaica Me Crazy coffee and not really enjoying it that much.  Should have just had a shot of rum in the usual blend.
Tomorrow is another day and I will keep you posted.

Happy New Year Wishes 2012

Personalize your own free greeting Happy New Year to all our family and friends. Today is December 30th, tomorrow will be the Eve of another Year and a new beginning........again!!!! Thank goodness for new beginnings! Over the years I have made umpteen promises, mostly to myself, which have included giving up certain habits that would increase the likelihood that my health and body shape would improve. Lately I have quit doing that........at least I have quit saying things out loud.  I mean, really, how stupid is it to say you are going to eat healthy when the last box of chocolates is still sitting on the dining room table?  Besides, chocolate itself is not unhealthy it is the amount that you eat at one sitting that causes clogged arteries.  I am not having a hard time with that one because we have always made healthy choices in the eating department.  My biggest failure is the inability to quite cramming it into my mouth without even tasting it.  My sister, after observing how I cooked a meal and then consumed it, pointed out that I "eat to live" while she on the other hand "lived to eat".  Okey dokey, whatever works for you.  I think it had something to do with the food itself and the flavor..........who knows, since I could care less (and that was her point).  Enough about eating. I do not smoke and I don't drink alcohol in excess unless I am at a bonspiel or a convention so I think I pretty much have the bad habits covered.  I did want to start a project this year collecting all our pictures and getting them scanned and categorized and make them into digital scrapbooks and slideshows.  I think I will get a good start on that so that will be my New Year's Resolution.  There, I feel so much better now that I have made one.......not.  Happy New Year to all who read this.  To our family we love you all and to our friends (well we love you too.....after all it is the time of giving! )......seriously, we value and cherish each and every one of you and we wish you all a happy and healthy 2012.  May all your wishes come true.  And now in the words of an old friend who has inspired me, supported me through some very tough times and who has also drawn strength from me:  "Love, luck and laughter" to all from Bonnie and Bernie.

Merry Christmas 2011

This slideshow design created with Smilebox I finally figured out how to do this on Smilebox and I am delighted with the results.  I hope whoever sees it likes the pictures of our "Year In Review".  Another year has gone by since I last "blogged" (I still can't get used to that word).  Now it is almost Christmas time and here I am doing the usual run to the finish line trying to get something accomplished by way of Christmas Greetings.  In fact, I should be getting ready to go to work this morning so I will try to get this done as quickly as I can! A good discussion about how the year progressed must include the weather, especially if you live where we do!  It snowed so much we thought it would never end.  At first we were both good sports and shovelled.  However, it got increasingly difficult since it snowed all the time and it snowed a lot.  Not only that but it was darn cold too.  Bernie, who likes to be fit and who sometimes does things the hard way (I think just to annoy me) jumped in the truck one day and when he came home he had a snowblower in the back.  Even he had to admit that it was too hard to do everything manually.  It was kind of comical the way he would plow down the sidewalk and do the entire block and then the neighbour (who must be eighty by now) would follow him with his little scraper.......what is a guy to do??  Enough about snow. We kept ourselves busy with bowling every week and I curled with the ladies.  We are so dedicated to curling that we drove in a blizzard to Brownfield, not once but twice, just to curl in their bonspiel.  They ended up cancelling some of the curling and the banquet (shucks, that's the best part) so our bonspieling was curtailed to a certain degree.  I also curled with my team in the Coronation Ladies and in the Oil Ladies.  We ended up winning the second event in the Oil Ladies.  That was a busy weekend since I also had my head shaved to raise money for the Ride to Conquer Cancer. Bernie and I both signed up to ride with Team Travis in the Ride to Conquer Cancer so we were busy trying to find ways to raise the money to ride in this event.  Generous donations from family and friends and then the incredible support from the whole community for the Head Shaving Event provided enough and then some. Many thanks to everyone who supported us.  Of course my head was cold and I had to wear a toque for a month until I had a little growth; but it was worth it and I would do it again.   Bernie spent a good part of his time substitute teaching in Veteran and Coronation and then for the whole month of March he was at the Veteran Hutterite Colony......that was different.  In his spare time he worked in the basement trying to solve problems and then he started to clear out a crawl space and build a new basement wall.  As a result of all this we have a yard with piles of dirt.  I have given up telling people who ask what that is all about.  One of these days it will look like a normal yard and I won't be looking out my west windows praying for the dirt to go away!!   In September Bernie came out of retirement and took on a full time teaching contract.  That was a change to our lifestyle since I was just getting used to him being around the house more when I was home. I spent a good part of 2011 helping  the Coronation Centennial Celebration Committee get ready for our Centennial celebrations in August.  It was a huge undertaking for our community and a lot of extra time was taken up with meetings to organize and prepare.  I go to a lot of meetings anyway as a result of being on Town Council so this was just one more thing to do.  I still work at Assisted Living (well it is now called a Designated Supportive Living, but none of us answer the phone that way!  ha ha) and I now have a permanent part time position there.  I am also on the Home Care casual list but I can't seem to find any time to do that anymore. This past summer we managed to get away on a couple of little holidays with our trailer.  We joined our niece Susan and children William and Sarah from Calgary for a camping trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park in July.  We took my mom with us and then my sister Carol and brother-in-law Gord from Saskatoon joined us.  It was Gord's 65th birthday so we celebrated that as well.  Happy Birthday Gord! We spent a weekend at Wizard Lake in August which was lovely and then towards the end of August just the two of us and the dogs travelled to Whitney Lake Provincial Park.  The weather was perfect, hot and sunny and the camping spots were perfect......secluded and lots of trees.  That was it for the summer and I thought that we would get away again in the winter to San Diego but this year it isn't going to happen since Bernie is back to teaching.  I guess we will wait until next year and see what that brings!! Emma and Auntie at the wedding. The September long weekend saw us travelling to Regina for our nephew Royce's wedding.  Nicholas and Pam travelled with us as well.  Congratulations Royce and Elaine!  It was a great weekend, we got to see and visit with all of Bernie's family and the weather was perfect for an outdoor ceremony.    Everyone had a fabulous time. We left the dogs at home and Susan, Will and Sarah came as usual for the traditional Coronation weekend and Labour Day Classic event.  (it is a Rider thing).  Niece Tracy and daughter Becky came from Saskatoon so Grandma had lots of company and the dogs were happy as well!  Thank you girls for keeping things going at home while we were away. Noah and Auntie hamming it up for the camera. Leah and her daddy.

Leah dancing with mom.

At the end of September my two cousins Sandra and Barb brought their mothers, my aunts, Norma and Joan to Coronation to see mom.  Mom was over the top to see her sisters and they had a wonderful two day visit.  

Mom will turn 87 years old on January 3rd and she enjoys very good health.  She had a hip replacement done in July of 2010 and it made her as good as new.  She lives in one of the Seniors Manors in town and life is good.

Nicholas and daughter-in-law Pam are fine and well; we don't see as much of them as we would like, we'll have to change that.  Nicholas is a journeyman electrician and he is working up at Ft. MacMurray right now.  Because of his work and the distances to travel back and forth from home they will be spending Christmas in Edmonton.  

That pretty much brings us up to date since after that weekend we did not go anywhere, working too much.  Bernie settled into teaching every day and I carried on with my usual routine.  I started going to bootcamp in March and again this fall and I really enjoy the benefits of staying in shape and getting fit.  I am all signed up to go hard again in January.  We are so lucky to have a fitness instructor like Kendra; it is a great benefit to our community.  

Our household increased in size in March with the addition of a new puppy - Sarge.  He is a shih-tzu crossed with something we are not sure what......poodle maybe?? He is a delightful little guy and we really enjoy him.  We thought Duke needed some company and they have their moments but for the most part they get along.

I will be working Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.  We are going to go to Invermay and to visit with Doris and Baba during the week between Christmas and New Year's day.

I hope whoever reads this enjoys the commentary and the pictures.  We are enjoying our life and we really don't have anything to complain about and if we did we wouldn't anyway!

From our house to yours Merry Christmas to all and we hope that 2012 is a year blessed with love, luck and laughter.

Bonnie and Bernie

Brrrr, it is cold out there.  Yes, December 6 and I haven't been very consistent with this blogging thing.  I do love to write and ramble on and on so it is odd that I haven't written anything for a while.  My biggest enemy is time.
The election went well on October 18th - well at least it went well for the seven people who were elected.  We have a totally new look including four new councillors, a new CAO and a new Admin. Assistant.  I am very pleased with how things turned out.  I am not feeling like I am off to war each time I attend a council meeting! 
Most of the Councillors and our CAO were able to attend the AUMA Convention in Edmonton.  As usual it was a good learning experience as well as a good opportunity for us to get to know one another a bit better.
Coronation has been bustling with activity this past month.  Preparations are well under way for our Centennial Celebrations which will take place July 29-August 1, 2011.  I am the Secretary of the Centennial committee and that keeps me involved in everything.  Secretary is one of my favorite jobs and I actually volunteered.  I have been busy keeping a record of everything and passing along information to the whole community as well as keeping the executive committee connected and "in the loop".  This is a huge undertaking and all of the people who have stepped forward to take on the planning portion are to be commended for their actions.  We are going to need several more volunteers and I just hope they come out of the woodwork sooner than later!
The Kids Christmas Shopping day took place at the hall on December 3.  I was not able to get there due to other committments but I understand that it was a roaring success.  Thanks to the individuals who planned this the children were able to get their Christmas shopping done.  Kind of like going to the mall since it was 'one stop' shopping!  This is a worthwhile event and it is just one more reason why Coronation is a great place to live.
The Community Christmas party was held on December 4.  Once again this was made possible by individuals in our community who put it all together, advertised, arranged for a caterer, volunteer help and a DJ for the dance.  I would consider it to be successful and next year will be even better.  We were part of the Town of Coronation contingent.  I was a little disappointed that not many of the town employees chose to attend even though they were all invited.  Perhaps they will attend in the future once they see what a good time the rest of us had!  Thanks to a very capable and creative office staff we managed to win the prize for the best decorated table.  I know I had a good time, perhaps a little too good of a time, but then I rarely have a bad time - no point in going out if that's the case.  If anybody is actually reading this, please send me the pictures you took.  Just leave a comment on my blog and I will give you my e-mail address.
The school Christmas concert is this Thursday, December 9th.  A week later Gord Bamford is coming to town for a concert.
Anybody who thinks Coronation is a dull place to live just doesn't get out much I do believe!
I am hardly ever home between working, making sure my mom has everything she needs, meetings, curling, bowling and lately going to Christmas parties.  I haven't even done any Christmas shopping yet and it is not on my list of priorities.  I just like to know that I have the "fixings" to have a good meal, and have people around me to enjoy it with.  That is basically my priority since I don't think it is necessary to spend vast amounts of cash to prove we had Christmas.  That's just me.